Best of Toronto
The Best Steak Frites in Toronto
Steak and frites. There are few dishes more basic. The combination of meat and starch is primal; a product of earth and pasture that needs precious little embellishment. It's also a great test for a kitchen's basic competence at cooking a good piece of beef, and treating a fistful of julienned potato with respect. The quality of the grill and the temperature and purity of the oil are at the heart of the matter, as is the chef's ability at sourcing a decent cut of meat that they generally can't sell at steakhouse prices.
Steak frites used to be a mainstay of bistro menus; today, they show up nearly everywhere, and seem to be proliferating as austerity and budget-consciousness preoccupies diners and chefs. The following dozen plates of meat and veg show a remarkable range of price and variation, but they were all given thumbs up by our carnivorous readers.
Here are the 12 best steak frites in Toronto as voted by readers of blogTO.
Czehoski
The number one entry breaks the rules right away. Czehoski's frites are more like fries, thick and stacked like cordwood next to the pre-sliced flatiron steak from Cumbrae Meats. A medium steak comes nicely pink on the inside, served with a blue cheese aioli and the very substantial russet fries cooked in canola oil. More »
Sidecar
The College St. eatery is the only one on our list that serves the elusive “baseball” cut of top sirloin - a juicy, peppery hockey puck with a good, beefy taste. The Yukon Gold frites are classic frites – crispy little twigs cooked in canola, served with a smoky chipotle aioli, and a great deal at only $18. More »
Le Select Bistro
Very likely one of the first places you might have had a traditional bistro-style steak frites in Toronto, Le Select – first at its old Queen West location, and now at its “new” Wellington Street home – has been offering its bavette and frites for years, but only recently upgraded, with much fanfare, to a more choice Kobe/Black Angus flatiron cut from Alberta. It was worth it – the new steak is more tender, with an almost “liver-y” note underneath its sweet carpet of caramelized shallots. More »
Weezie's
Chef Constance Guitard's Black Angus striploin is presented simply with classic frites and garlic mayo, and it's a testament to a well-seasoned grill – perfectly-seared on all sides, with a smoky taste that magically suggests wood charcoal. The frites are just as simple – Yukon Golds cooked in vegetable oil, with a crispy skin and sweet insides. More »
Drake Hotel
The Drake presents its short skirt steak from Cumbrae Farms pre-sliced, with a pile of crispy Idaho spud frites and a big disc of Montpelier butter – an herb, shallot, anchovy, caper and lemon-studded pat that still doesn't overwhelm the meat, which arrives reddish-pink on the inside and full of flavour. More »
La Palette
This bistro is also Kensington's unofficial spiritual centre, and features a rustic strip loin that gets an extra smoky boost from a pat of home-smoked tomato and garlic butter. The frites are short and crisp, and the medium-cooked steak arrives reddish-pink in the centre, not bloody but full of meaty essence. More »
Starfish
Surprise, surprise – an oyster bar makes the top 12 with its steak frites, built around a Flintstones-thick rib-eye. It's a very well-aged and marbled piece of meat, but it's almost upstaged by the P.E.I. Yukon Gold frites, which come redolent with heady, aromatic fresh thyme. More »
The Rushton
This St. Clair West eatery’s flank steak comes as flank should, tender but full of texture, and they know what medium means. The Rushton’s justly famous fries also nearly steal the show – a mix of sweet potato and Ontario Yukons that deftly balance the salty with the sweet. More »
Table 17
The top sirloin steak at this Queen East restaurant is brimming with beefy, almost gamey flavour, thanks to a long wet-aging. The frites – Russets cooked in canola oil – come with a lemon mayo, and match the restaurant’s rustic interior, twiglike and with a chip-like crunch. More »
Jules Bistro
The steak at Jules is truly original – a flank steak cut along the grain, butterflied and opened up before being finished on a flat grill. Most chefs would try to hide the texture of flank, but this accentuates it – to marvelous effect. It’s a generous platter, with a salad and ratatouille included along with Dijon and mayo for the frites, which are unfortunately outsourced,and not quite up to the steak’s forthright standard. More »
Tati Bistro
The rib-eye entrecote is big and rustic – there’s more steak than frites, and the meat has the same rich, liver-y aftertaste as Le Select’s high-end bavette. The frites – Yukon Golds cooked in canola oil - are short and crisp, with a sweet finish. More »
Rosedale Diner
This Yonge Street institution serves a 28-day-aged strip loin with a meaty and solid – but not chewy – texture and a peppery finish, topped with a buttery mix of sundried tomato and finely chopped collards. The Yukon Gold frites are suitably crunchy, but the addition of fried onions is a wonderful enhancement that it’s shocking no one has stolen yet. More »
Discussion
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A French restaurant or bistro can get away with it, but I find it sometimes incredibly pretentious when other restaurants do it. On occasion, I've been served frozen McCains that had been listed as 'frites' on the menu. Been given 'frites' at an <b>Irish</b> pub that just happened to be -slightly- more upscale than the usual pub, but was hardly Canoe.
The term has pretty much been destroyed by people who have used it to indicate quality where there is none. Steak frites at a French bistro is probably the only relevent use left. It's not really any surprise that I've been seeing upscale restaurants drop the frites moniker and go back to fries or chips, because, really, who wants to be viewed as being pretentious?
Timely post. Today is National French Fries Day.
Also, I know it's silly to play the "not enough north of Bloor" card (yes, I see we made it up to St. Clair this time)... but unlike faux-dive bars with vintage furniture, custom cocktails and live indie bands... steak-frites is something you would expect to be a North Toronto kind of offering.
Anyone have recommendations?
I've yet to try the steak-frites at Coquine, but have not heard anything negative about the restaurant. It's across the street from Quince.
http://www.coquinerestaurant.com/
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Even if you check the site daily, some days there are so many posts that a post that went up at the beginning of the day wouldnt be shown on the first page by noon (this often annoyingly happens to me with the morning brew!). I bet there are a lot of people that dont go to page 2 to see if they have missed something.
When you guys have noms & votes it would be great to have some kind of really noticeable perma link on the home page to get more participation. I bet you would get more votes, better lists, and less complaints!!
I also enjoy the steak frites at Provence Délices on Amelia - although I find the atmosphere less than welcoming.
All home baked breads, and other touches made it a fantastic meal.
It was so good that for the first time ever, I was the last one to finish my meal, savouring every bite.