31 Trinity Street, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
(416) 815-9898
After spending the most of January hibernating from the frigid temperatures and snow, I finally decided to leave my cocoon and check out a restaurant for Winterlicious. This time it was Archeo at the Distillery District.
We decided to have lunch at Archeo and luckily after dealing with a snow storm just a few days earlier the weather was comfortable enough to wander around the Distillery. For my three-course prix-fixe meal I ordered a local green salad with oat honey crumble, cheddar goat cheese and maple vinaigrette for my appetizer, a piadini manzo with short ribs (basically a flatbread topped with short ribs) for my main course and a maple pecan tart with brown butter gelato for dessert. I enjoyed my entire meal, but my favourite part was dessert. I love butter tarts and this was exceptionally flaky and buttery and the gelato was one of the best flavours I've ever had. Sean had an antipasti platter for his appetizer, followed by pappardale bolognese and flourless bittersweet chocolate cake for dessert.
At point I have gone to almost all of the restaurants at the Distillery District and I think I can confidently say that the majority of them are quite good and I can add Archeo to the list. Typically, the portion sizes for Winterlicious (and Summerlicious) dishes tend to be small but Archeo's were quite big, especially for a lunch.
Despite the food being good, the service was subpar. When I booked my reservation on Open Table there was a note saying that there was a 90 minute limit for patrons to stay at the restaurant, which I'm totally fine with, especially during busier periods like Winterlicious. My issue came when our server came out with our desserts before I had even finished my main course. Even though I am a slower eater than your average person, I didn't like feeling rushed. Luckily, they apologized (after returning the food back to the kitchen) and came out with dessert a second time after I was done eating my main course.
Archeo is seemingly wheelchair accessible with plenty of space inside but the accessible door button at the main entrance did not work when we were there, making it challenging to push doors open.
With another season of Winterlicious over, I look forward to warmer days and drinks on a restaurant patio.
