Toula

Located on the 38th floor of the Westin Harbor Hotel in downtown Toronto, we kicked off Winterlicious 2007 at Toula. Jeff tried making reservations there last year...but confused it with Le Mezzin (on the first floor of the hotel)...so we finally got it right this year.

I was pretty disappointed with the food and quality of food. Appetizer was good (jumbo shrimp wrapped in procciutto (?))..but there was only two shrimps..so just enough to get the taste buds going. For main dish, I ordered the Salmon originally. It was a small 1-inch thick piece of salmon on a bed of risotto. Had a fishy smell to it..which good, fresh cooked salmon should not! Jeff ordered the rack of lamb, which had a very game taste and he didn't like at all, so we switched dishes..I didn't mind the game-ness of the lamb too much. Lamb was covered in a gravy-like sauce, so it took away from the taste a bit. Wasn't too impressed though, since the dish tasted like something that was prepared in the morning and quickly re-heated for dinner. For dessert I had the apple strudle with a chocolate glaze. Once again, disappointed! Dessert did not taste fresh at all...almost like a store-bought pastry taken out of the fridge and sliced up.
For $45 (after tax & tip - w/o the wine) it was definitely not worth it...and if the quality of the Winterlicious menu is the same as the everyday menu, I'd definitely not go back.

The restaurant ambiance and view did make up for the taste-less food. Being on the 38th floor, we had a beautiful view overlooking the city...kodak moment type pictures! =) If you don't want to go up to the 360 at the CN Tower, the view from Toula is still an option. Although the restaurant does not rotate like the 360, you can still enjoy a nice view and if you really want to see the city, just walk around the restaurant =) A nice place if you want to go for drinks.

Overall rating: 5/10 (wine and appetizer was still good..but main and dessert...probably never again).