Restaurants
Bent
Bent is the newest member in Susur Lee's family of restaurants and recently moved into a cozy spot at the corner of Dundas and Markham. The highly anticipated new eatery sees Lee in charge of the kitchen (helmed by chef de cuisine Bryan Gunness, formerly of Lee), while sons Levi and Kai Bent-Lee step into the spotlight and oversee the dining experience.
The space is designed by Lee's wife Brenda Bent, and partner Karen Gable, and is a stark contrast to Lee. The decor here is light and fresh - described to me as "vintage industrial." The predominantly white room is enriched by patterned tiles and warm pieces of vintage furniture, like the striped table tops and long, wooden church benches. Fun touches like vintage Pachinko games (a Japanese arcade staple) and the terrarium hostess stations add character and a dash of whimsy.
The menu features Asian flavours prepared with European techniques and vice versa; international flavours prepped with Asian techniques. Plates are small and meant for sharing, and the menu includes offerings from both the hot kitchen and raw bar.
The Peruvian Style Ceviche ($15) is a brightly coloured plate of citrus dressed fish, generously topped with squid, clams and vibrant garnishes.
The Nigiri Tasting ($14) showcases four selections from the raw bar served traditionally, but each enriched with a touch of something special. For instance, the hamachi is sprinkled with nori seasoning and scallion, and the magoro is brightened with red shiso and a white soy glaze.
The Cantonese-style Braised Spiced Short Ribs ($22) are Susur's take on comfort food. Though incredibly elegant in its presentation, all the flavours here evoke home cooking. Tender beef is dolloped with chive sour cream and sweet black garlic cloves, and it arrives served with duck fat confited potatoes, parsnip purée, and the deliciously rich braising liquid.
There is no dessert menu, but a trio of sweets arrives unsolicited and without any objections. Like the custom of serving an orange after the meal, the philosophy is to finish with a complimentary favour from the kitchen so, as Susur puts it, "you'll leave happy and with grace."
These are certainly generous offerings; the milk foam topped panna cotta, the lemon curd with wild blueberry juice and Ontario blackberries, and the improbably light Chinese rice doughnut coated in toasted sesame, and unexpectedly filled with peanut butter and chocolate.
Sake is the beverage of choice here and the extensive selection even includes a locally-produced house blend. Also on offer are unique cocktails like the Asian Caesar ($16), spiced with a mottled blend of chili oil, corriander, sriracha, hoisin, soya and ginger.
Bent aspires to be a casual destination and is sure to attract a mixed crowd of long-time Susur fans and local food enthusiasts alike. It's been open less than a week and is already a hotbed of activity.
Photos by Morris Lum
Discussion
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As sharing plates, the prices seem a bit steep.
kids who happen to be more fortunate than you.
I didn't see anywhere in the article mentioning reservations, do they take them?
Hopefully, though, the salad really lives up to its 16 dollar price tag.
$16 for a cocktail is steep, but you're not exactly at a crappy corporate chain restaurant in the burbs. for an establishment of this calibre, that's a fair price to pay for a drink.
went there on Friday night, and we did order a $16 salad from there. it was the duck salad, it does NOT compare to the $20 Singapore slaw that we all grew to know and love. and the portion size is significantly smaller.
the rest of our meal was great, i much prefer the food that came from the raw bar than the hot kitchen, tho the braised short ribs was the clear winner for me that night.
Chef Lee was in the house schmoozing that night, and I can only imagine he would for the next little while as the restaurant finds it's way.
Levi & Kai were obviously in the house, while they were doing some FOH stuff, i think they're mostly just eye candy for the ladies.
http://www.wikito.org/Lee
It is a shame that the place is so packed with seats that it is hard to move, but it is the same at Lee's also. Love the decor. Did not see Susur Lee or his sons when we dined.
Does not accept reservations and there is little else nearby to choose if they are too full.
Overall, a good venue with great service but not value for money.
"Overall, a good venue with great service but not value for money."
How can one say that a 7$ delicious coconut shrimp soup is not a good value, COOKED BY how JOANNE KATES SAID one of the top 3 chefs in CANADA
I quote
"Here, we have one of the three best chefs in Canada selling coconut shrimp soup for seven bucks! "
-joanne kates.
@Jim, it's not the first time Joanne Kates has misfired or the last, go in for yourself and judge the $7 soup you SOB.
The food was OK.
Lobster tacos were boring, just take it off the menu. The braised beef ribs were the second best I've had in TO (RIP Briscola).
After waiting sinking I was hoping the food would change my first impression. It didn't.
Will not be back. In fact, I wish I hadn't went in the first place.
We had a reservation for 9:15 and when we arrived our table wasn't ready. The hostess said it would be an additional 15-20 min max, so we figured we would have a drink at the bar but that was impossible because the poorly designed space didn't allow for people to wait at the bar - they opted to cram it with additional 2nd tier seating instead - SO we went for a drink at a local bar down the road and gave the hostess our cel # to call us when it was ready....... 10:15 rolled around and we still hadn't heard from the hostess so we walked back - the table was still not ready AND she informed us that it would most likely be another 15-20 min!!!!
My party was so upset and so was I - especially considering I was out with clients. We left and went to another place deserving of our patronage. We weren't even offered and consideration...sad. I WILL NEVER GO BACK! from 9:15 to 10:35.... really>? Horrible Management.
After talking to a few friends that have been before they pretty much ALL had to wait an excess of 30min +.
Do not waste your time or money.
Disclaimer: before you read, please note that we are young professionals who have lived in the downtown core for many years and enjoy trying new food and new restaurants. This is my first time ever writing a review, but I felt compelled to do it. We are not looking to be treated in any special way - we are just looking for good food, in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.
Bent was just the opposite of that.
I went to Bent with my partner for our anniversary. I had read about it in various blogs and was excited. Our overall experience was extremely disappointing and we left the restaurant angry.
To begin with, we made a reservation but the host could not find it. It took a few minutes but we were seated promptly.
The initial encounter with the waitress seemed ok, but right away we felt a sense of urgency or pressure. We wondered if they had taken a reservation right after us and needed us to leave early.
We quickly ordered the special mojitos, a bento box appetizer and the ribs for an entree to share (as recommended).
Soon after the bento box arrived, the waitress pressured my partner to order another drink, before he had finished even, asking him no less than three times if he was done and if she could remove his glass. She came back regularly asking if we wanted more drinks, even though we hadn't had a chance yet to look at the wine menu, which she had literally brought us minutes before asking what we wanted.
The bento box, which included various seafood items, came in and although the food was good, a different waiter brought our main dish, warm ribs with parsnip puree, barely a few minutes after we had started our appetizer. We found ourselves trying to eat everything at the same time, enjoying none of these two very different dishes, while the waitress came coming back asking if we had made our choice for further drinks.
The worst is that when she realized that we weren't happy with the service that we were receiving, instead of offering genuine apologies, she used a condescending and arrogant tone to explain to us that we should have sent back the food that had arrived too early. Unbelievable.
By that time, considering that the waitress was constantly aggravating us and making this evening worse, we expected that the two managers who were hovering around would come and try to resolve the issue in some way (we still had hopes that the evening would turn out ok at that point). Instead, nobody came by and the waitress continued to show us attitude, mumbling under her breath that the ribs were on them. As if that mattered. Our evening was ruined and we left quickly, after paying a hefty bill for an appetizer and two drinks.
This place embodies for me the attitude and arrogance that has, sadly, taken over many of the new Toronto restaurant scene. It might be fashionable, and the food may be good at times, but it's not worth the arrogance, the pretentiousness, and the complete hypocrisy.