Veritas
234 King Street East 
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Phone: 416.363.8447
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Veritas likes to keep it local. On a recent visit we start off with the daily soup - a puree of green peas with bacon. While I'm not usually a fan of peas, this beef stock-based soup was comfort in a bowl and I suspect fellow diners could hear the scraping sounds coming from me trying to savour every last ounce.
Next was a green salad. Nothing to write home about, although the locally sourced lettuce was super fresh and crispy.
For my main, the buttermilk and honey-glazed chicken was hands-down the best fried chicken I've ever had. It may not be the best looking chicken breast, but was incredibly tender and moist. The batter was a herb mixture with a lightly sweet honey taste. All fried chicken should taste like this one at Veritas.
Sadly, the Braised Venison Osso Bucco (pictured at top) was under-seasoned and a bit bland. The roasted butternut squash it was served with was delicious though -- sweet, smooth and creamy goodness.
The Nova Scotia Lobster Lasagna with Vanilla Foam was the best dish of the night (even eclipsing the chicken). It came with perfectly cooked pasta sheets, fresh lobster, watercress, cheese and an excellent sauce reduction. We really couldn't taste any vanilla, but it was still excellent anyway. Unlike traditional lasagna, it wasn't heavy and every bite was as good as the next.
For dessert, we couldn't resist tasting the homemade Four Layer Carrot Cake with Marscapone and Brownbutter Frosting. The cake was perfectly moist and the cream cheese icing not heavy or overpowering.
The milk chocolate and fresh fruit parfait on the other hand was a miss. There was something not quite right with the texture of the mousse. It was grainy instead of smooth.
Still with dessert, the Maple Crème Brûlée was good but standard -- eggy, creamy and slightly maple sweet with crisp burnt sugar top that was light and crunchy.
A few other notes....Their wine list has a good selection of reasonably priced VQA wines. Service is attentive but the kitchen snail slow. Even though the restaurant was half full on a Saturday night we still must have waited 30 - 45 minutes between our appetizers and mains.
Photos by Michelle See.
Comments (10)
I live in kings court next to Veritas... and I wasn't impressed with Eggplant. But, I went back to try their reworking and I LOVE the place. Its actually crowded some nights! The food is local and delicious.
Today these folk just smacked the words local and organic onto some dry, plain and uninspired food. Veritas that is strike one. I'm coming back because everyone has bad days, and a few dry mouthfuls isn't going to make California organic taste any less like global warming, but let me tell you --you best sauce, steam and sizzle me during round two or strike two might have to be the dinner your waitress brought me to pack up my own meal.
A friend in the neighbourhood took me to Veritas for lunch. Very nice; a vegetarian cassoulet and an heirloom tomato and cheese omelet. Sleek decor and quiet. The service is a bit slow but the food was fantastic.
Grilled cheese with pulled pork appetizer was excellent, alebit a bit greasy - portion was large, even a bit oversized for an appetizer. But that is not a complaint. The elk shepherd's pie was excellent, strong meaty taste, not too gamey but definitely a different aroma and texture to normal shepherd's pie. Small portion size was perfect, and it was extremely filling. The desserts are nothing to write home about.
I wonder if you were there the same day I was. Our parfaits were grainy too and we sent them back. There also wasn't much fruit. A friend who went the week before had a parfait that was NOT grainy. The regular chef wasn't there when I was.
Sadly, no. It was Wednesday the 14th, for Localicious. This means that the parfait was grainy on more than one evening, which is a bigger problem.
I'll go back anyway and try different menu items.
Let me know how you find it next time, and what you had...I'm looking to go back too, and I'll order what you had that was good :)
I have emjoyed the food on at least six different occassions and I can't believe how superb Veritas is...I tell all my friends and business associates to eat there...This place has to be Toronto's greatest restaurant secret...I find the atmosphere excellent, the food beyond belief and the prices incredibly reasonable...I am a huge fan of Veritas and will be looking forward to eating there this week with a couple of my client's to celebrate a major success..They also have a fantastic wine list...
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