Toba
243 King Street East
Toronto, ON
416-367-8622

Located on the southwest corner of King/Sherbourne.

Went there for dinner last night with a friend and had an absolutely lovely evening. It's a small place, about 15 tables or so just east of the downtown core. Nice decor, funky/jazzy/downtempo music in the background that provided a nice backdrop for dinner.

Appetizers:

Pan seared sea scallops with crispy pancetta and baby spinach
Beef carpaccio with fresh buffalo mozzarella, capers, parmigiano, balsalmic drizzle and baby spinach

I had the carpaccio, but tasted a bit of the scallops. Both were delicious. The carpaccio was presented a little differently in a roll format with the mozzarella and capers inside. The flavours blended together perfectly.

Entree:

Braised lamb shank with tomato jus, asparagus, and soft polenta with fontina

We both ended up ordering the lamb since they were sold out of their veal chop with chipotle jus. The lamb was delicious. Perfectly cooked and moist. It was a "stick to your lips" kind of shank with the gelatin and polenta. The polenta was soft and the bit of cheese really added an extra element.

Desserts:

Double-chocolate and raspberry terrine
Poached pear with creme anglaise

The terrine was definitely the better of the two. Don't get me wrong, the poached pear was delicious (especially the creme anglaise), but terrine was simply delectable. My friend and I were joking that we should take a half dozen to go.

Wine:

The wine list is not bad for such a small place. About a dozen each of red and white, with bottles from Italy, France, Australia, and California. Markup is about double across the board since I know that the '98 L. Righetti Amarone Classico was $55CAD (retail ~$28-30).

The service was spectacular. Jonathan was very friendly and attentive all night, but not intrusive. Definitely a place to return to.