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C5 Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Nightlife Bars Lounges Restaurants, Lounges [Edit]
100 Queen's ParkRoyal Ontario Museum
Toronto, ON M5S 2C6
Neighbourhoods: Discovery District, Downtown Core
(416) 586-7928
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 pm - 3 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner, Brunch
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- Yes
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
20 reviews for C5 Restaurant
20 reviews in English
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Review from Lynn T.
Markham, ON
5/22/2011
Went here on a quadruple date (4 couples just in case...). We had made reservations but still had to wait about 20 min. The waiting wasn't too great but we ended up being seated near windows so that really made up for it, the view and atmosphere of this place really appealed to me, I'm all about dining in the right spot and I know that if you get seated somewhere you're not happy with, it could put a damper on your whole evening, I'm sure everyone has had one of those experiences, so I always ask to be seated elsewhere if I'm not happy......why torture yourself? But fortunately, this was not the case, besides that, the wait staff was warm and attentive, the food was great, not 5 star but definitely no complaints. I especially loved my main, the fish was seasoned and cooked perfectly, so well in fact that I think I was one of the first in our party to finish my main course so quickly! There was also some kind of Australian wine at dinner which I had a small sample of, it tasted pretty good to someone that doesn't drink much.
Our group was quite happy with the whole evening from start to finish minus the first 20 mins. I can see myself going back there but I think I would be pretty disappointed if I didn't get a window seat again. -
Review from Jiao S.
10/17/2011
To start, have to admit that I am such a bad person to judge fine dining places. Reasons as fellows I don't like to go/see the place have more than one set of knife and fork the table and I can't pronounced most of the French words on the menu and I love to tell/listen to jokes while eating, sometimes..fine.. Most of the times, I talk with my folk in hand,waving..for service, as long as I don't have to get my own food and I got a smile I am good. If you are not like me, which most of ppl will not be, this review is not that useful.
First time i went to C5 was at night. with a engagement party going on at the other half of the room, this place seems incredible romantic. Although I was not as impressive for the food.
Tasting menu has 5 or 6 courses. I remember the appetizer with crab meat is very good. I think the course has 2 mains, the steak is well cooked,but not amazing and I am sorry to say that I didn't like the dessert at all.
I went back again during summerlicious time. I went during lunch so seems less romantic, I had an amazing tender pork shoulder and wonderful chocolate cake. The only one case I actually liked the summerlicious better than the original menu.
In conclusion, very comfort to dine in, actually more than comfort,great fine dinning experience, just, I think I fit bistro more -
Review from Spencer F.
12/18/2010
First time at the C5 and it will be the last. The decor is modern, with hardwood floors and slanted walls. This quickly became a major flaw in restaurant design. When the restaurant was just 25% full, the decibel level became unacceptable. The walls reflected all the noise back to the tables. Next, there were fruit flies trying to land on our lunch!
For starters we had the Cabbage & Black Truffle Soup, which was tasty but the Smoked Salmon Salad, was salty. A sign that it was not the freshest fish.
For entrees we had the Hokkaido Scallop sandwich which was breaded and fried to a dark brown crust. Not very appetizing and the bread coating looked industrial, in other words, straight from your grocer's freezer. The Speckled Trout did save the day.
The service is good, but the bread was rationed. Fair enough, since we are at war.
Over all, C5 is expensive, overrated, and not a good value unless it was 50% cheaper. I would have given it one star, but 2 of the 4 dishes were acceptable. -
Review from Lauren M.
C5 for my 100th review!
Tonight was my 3rd time dining here. The food and service have been exceptional on each visit.
This evening we scored a table with a great view (you can request this when you call to reserve) and we had a pretty fab view of the city.
I noshed down on Hokkaido Scallop appetizer, the Surf & Turf, and a 7 layer chocolate cake for dessert.
The surf & turf = FREAKIN EH! Came with a 60 day aged Ribeye, prawn terrine, boar bacon, served with potato hash and green beans and some spicy sauce. Soooooo good, highly recommended.
Scallops were tasty, but most of the table ordered a charcuterie plate which I was eyeing from afar and silently berating myself for not choosing. Oops. Order that.
Cake was lovely, it was quite small but after the surf & turf I could hardly complain.
Overall, you go here for the view, the experience and the presentation/taste/creativity of the food. If you want huge portions, go somewhere else because you'll be disappointed. -
Review from Maureen P.
Toronto, ON
2/16/2009 3 photos
I've got one word for C5.
Overrated.
I had high hopes for this fine dining restaurant. But how quickly my hopes diminished... twice! That's what I get for giving second chances.
I've been here for both dinner and afternoon high tea.
Dinner was for an intimate birthday dinner with a few friends. This place burned a hole in our pockets. And what for? For edible art, a couple of teeny complimentary dishes (from their guilt of abusing our wallets) and passable service. Breaking your bank account for dinner can be worth it. Just not at C5.
Apparently, C5 has a spectacular view. I wouldn't know. On both my occasions, we weren't seated by a window.
I was promised the round table by the window for a surprise afternoon high tea birthday party I was coordinating. But they lied.
This time I burned a hole in my other pocket. And for what? For tea that can be bought at a store (they didn't serve loose leaf tea, wtf?), for pretty dainty rations looking lonely on the tier plates and slightly better than passable service.
However, should you be unaffected by my discouragement and you succumb to C5's hype. There are 2 noteworthy items from my experiences, the boar (sounds freaky but trust me, overcome your initial reaction and order it for dinner. It melts in your mouth.) and the quiche served as our first course for high tea was the best quiche I've ever had (and I'm not even fond of quiche!).
But trust me, you'll only be getting less bang for your buck here. -
Review from Denise S.
4/5/2010
Expensive, yes BUT food is excellent, service impeccable, and the space/view is truly unique.
I have been here twice so far. The first time, I took my Dad for lunch on Father's Day. I had the most amazing gnocchi. For dessert, we had a banana split (modern interpretation, with a rolled up crepe and tiny scoops of ice cream scattered on the plate) and they wrote "Happy Father's Day" in chocolate sauce -- good thing they assumed correctly that he was my dad... How awkward would that be if he wasn't?!?
The second time, I took my mom for afternoon tea during the holiday season. I forget how much it was, around $35-40 for full tea (Mighty Leaf + a selection of mini-sandwiches, pate, and desserts). -
Review from edwin h.
Scarborough, ON
3/19/2010
Despite all reviews to the contrary and the reports of C5 being 'overrated', it most definitely is not.
Once you get past the rather cold and uninviting entrance, you will find yourself in the cavernous angular room. Try to get a table by the window as this offers some fine views of the city. (Once the sun goes down, the restaurant is a bit dark in the interior and makes reading the menu somewhat of a challenge).
Service by the older gentleman was warm and friendly. We were totally in love with him. The somellier was helpful as well.
The chef seems to have simplified the menu since the last time I was there and C5 is better for it. Everything was nicely done. There wasn't anything that we were disappointed with but at the same time, there wasn't anything that was massively impressive either. We had the 'From the Land' platter to share and then the black cod .. supplanted with a bit of arugula salad and a tasting of prosciutto. (yeah - the menu tips mostly to the carnivorous).
We couldn't get enough of the sour cherry sour dough bread however- much to our detriment - as it was difficult not to get too stuffed on bread to save room for the delicious meaty courses.
A good dining experience overall and most worthy of repeat visits. -
Review from Helen L.
Toronto, ON
11/10/2009 1 photo
C5 is a restaurant located in the top of the fifth crystal of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the ROM. Despite the fact that it's in a museum, the restaurant is a destination on its own as it's not where one would typically go to grab a quick bite to eat when visiting the museum. Our 3 hour brunch consisted of 3 courses. The waitress was gracious and helpful. The speed of service was relaxed and slow so there were plenty of time to catch up with friends but not to a point where you wonder if they even ordered your food.
The menu had a heavy emphasis on meat and they even have a menu just for bacon. As a vegetarian, my options were mostly sweets so I decided against the pastry basket and went for the Poached eggs & soldiers (bread for dipping) to start, chestnut & banana crepe for my main and an apple baba dessert to finish.
Of the 3 courses, the dessert was the most memorable and least self explanatory. The apple baba was beautifully presented and oh-so-cute. It was an apple donut-like cake with ice cream on top. Beside it were pomegranate marshmallows, apple gelee and fried squash chips that were all cut into various leaf shapes. There were also crumples of maple candy that looked like little rocks and a rake made out of chocolate.
There were way too much food for brunch so if I were to come back, I'd probably not do the prix fixe again. Overall, the experience was great. I'd definitely come back again to try their lunch, dinner and afternoon tea options. -
Review from Tina S.
9/26/2009
Knew it was going to be overrated, knew it was going to be trying very hard to be very fancy and pretentious, knew we would spend a million dollars for four bites of food, and we went anyway just for the helluvit, because we're ballers like that.
It was a great experience! We just rolled with it - when given a complimentary and delicious drop of a watermelon champagne thing as an amuse-bouche, we expressed our gratitude and relayed that indeed our bushes were very amused. We enjoyed how the staff tried to keep up the pretentious front but really didn't know any of the ingredients of anything. It's all about the cube - don't take it too seriously. Everything was very tasty, the fish dishes were the biggest winners, and the drinks were delicious.
Had just a few bones left over to hit up the strip club on the way home. Nooch. -
Review from Gideon F.
Stratford, ON
10/19/2010
The service at this restaurant was not bad. Its got a cool atmosphere, and the food is very tasty. We ordered off the menu instead of getting the tasting menu because they said it would not be worth the price with the ingredients they have for the people I was with, who did not want to order meat. The problem is you are paying top dollars for incredibly small portions of food. I'm all for small portions, but when you are paying for 6 or 7 courses, we had a three course meal: appetizer, main course, and dessert, and by the end you are talking about going to the bar for nachos. This is not a good sign. I have a feeling this restaurant may be a lot better if you go with the tasting menu and have the several courses, because the food was really good, just was not filling at all, so for us was not a good experience
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Review from Jennifer L.
Toronto, ON
2/13/2011
The food here is delicious and innovative. My fiance and I went here for a pre-Valentine's brunch, and both of our meals were impeccable. My expectations weren't super high - I feared it might be an overrated tourist trap, but I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered the lobster english muffin, which was a lobster, egg, and peameal bacon sandwich with gruyere and emmenthal. I thought the flavours blended very well together and were well-balanced, with the choice of cheeses especially complementing the lobster. My fiance had the bacon-stuffed pancakes, which were a marvel. They were like two distinct and yummy dishes in one: one bite could be savoury, with the bacon and foie torchon dominating and elevated by the hint of sweet and tangy blueberry. The next would be a traditional sweet pancake, with blueberries and whipped cream and a surprising salty bacon kick at the end. Although the combination was surprising, it worked out beautifully and yielded a nuanced, delicated explosion of flavours.
Service was especially considerate. Our server specifically asked whether we had any food allergies, and didn't mind adding our members' discount to our bill when we forgot to tell him ahead of time. Our water glasses were never empty.
The space is light and airy with great views of downtown and the UT campus. It is noisy, but not so much so as to interrupt conversation.
While this place is pricy, it's not terrible with the ROM members' discount and if you only have main courses. In the end, our excellent meal entirely merited the $50 (including tax and tip) bill. I would highly recommend their brunch to all. -
Review from Juan Miguel S.
4/20/2009
Ahh, reminiscing about my Toronto trip..
After spending the whole day getting lost in Toronto and at the ROM, I was getting really hungry and I've always liked dining options at museums. C5 was a very nice place to lunch at. They have such a stunning space and the decor was nice. It was empty when I got there, which is a plus because I kind of like dining alone in an empty restaurant.. I don't know why.. Ordered the best mojito ever, made with a heavy hand on the rum.. Mmm.. For lunch, I ordered the calamari sandwich which was very nice and so delicious.. Only sad part is the portion, which was kinda small, but its haute cuisine I guess. I really loved that they give you butter choices as well as bread choices. The apple butter is AMAZING! I will come definitely here again, when I visit TO again. -
Review from Joe N.
9/26/2009
Went there for brunch with a group of 20 people...The food was nice, nothing really special. maybe their lunch or dinner is better. We were with 3 toddlers. They had only 2 high chairs... they gave us one.. as the other was occupied but another sweet baby at another table... I wonder if those people really dont want kids around...?!? It made the brunch a very challenging experience... as we had to sit the kids on our laps and try to eat... when the kids were a bit edgy because of the uncomfortable situation the waiters were very annoyed by it... maybe they should say that they dont cater to kids or families... or just buy few more highchairs (it cost few bucks in IKEA)
the view is amazing... and the decor is very nice... the service a bit stiff though -
Review from Nick P.
Toronto, ON
1/9/2011
Excellent resto in the avenue road/yorkville area. Located inside the ROM in the Crystal. You do not need to pay any admission, just walk in and tell them you are going to C5. Very inspiring space, great views, superb food. I had the cabbage/black truffle soup, fried chicken, a small home made noodle dish, and the lamb confit. The chicken stole the show, though all of the food was very good. I left very happy and satisfied. The service was good.
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Review from Christine C.
Etobicoke, ON
7/30/2009
Hello.....(echoing).....hello.....hello.....hello. ....
Whatya say? Speak up! I can't hear you (insert clanging, banging, crashing noises here) I hated C5. So much hype. So much glass. So much noise. Such a big fat lunch bill. For three of us the bill came in around $160 bucks, yup, you read that right folks. A $160 (before taxes & tip) bucks for lunch in an echo chamber. When you step into this large glass emporium you think wow but after sitting there for 20 minutes my head began to ache at the echo of almost every single moment in the glass house.
I'm not ignorant to the fact that I knew this place would be pricy and this lunch was a special occasion so we were prepared to pay but what we weren't prepared for was to pay for such average food and little itty bitty, artsy fartsy, nouveau cuisine that left you feeling like you've just been hosed and checking your blackberry for the nearest takeout place once you left the museum.
I ordered the Charcuterie Plate, which in my mind is something a kin to an antipasto plate that is heavier on the cured meat, pates/terrine etc. What I got was a rectangular plate that had a few tiny pepperoni sized slices of a cured meat, a small scrunched up piece of oily, room temperature smoked salmon, a minuscule and paper thin slice of some sort of pate (it wasn't a foie gras of any sort) and a little foam blob of something or another that completely deflated the minute I touched it. The price tag for this was $15.00. Not a good start.
I ordered the steak (ok, so I'm predictable and I'm a beef eating chick!)
which hailed from Cumbrae Farms. It was small and was slightly overcooked. It came with onion rings and I asked if I could substitute the frites instead which I was told no. I could order the frites and that would be a side dish (another $6 bucks) on top of the $24 price tag for the steak. My guests, one ordered the pasta, some sort of tiny serving of pappardelle served on one giant mutha of a plate. It had a few mushrooms and some peas and was barely coated in some sort of butter sauce that had been completely absorbed by the Parmesan they had sprinkled all over it. My other guest ordered Fish and Chips which came in at a hefty $21 price tag. The chips by the way aren't frites but rather some sort of house made kettle potato chips and this was sided with an odd slaw that had a vinaigrette dressing with lychee juice in it. Ugh. Again, small servings, mammoth plates. In the middle of our meal the waiter serving a table a few tables away from us dropped his tray of cutlery and talk about an ear shattering disturbance. We choose a middle of the road bottle of red wine, some sort of Cabernet and that was $60.00 .
I didn't order dessert. One of my guests had some sort of ice cream sandwich concoction that was uneventful. I didn't even bother with coffee because at that point my head was pounding and the echo chamber dining room had pretty much worn me out.
I was completely disappointed with this restaurant. I suspect the evening dining might be somewhat interesting what with seeing all the night lights of the city around you but if you are looking for a quiet, intimate spot, it ain't C5. I've been in a McDonald's in the height of the lunchtime rush that has been quieter. Save your money and your ear drums. -
Review from Kim A.
5/26/2009
Sunday brunch here is great, especially if you're from out of town. The waitstaff is friendly and jovial, the portions are just right, and the plating is thoughtful. By the way, perfect Sunday morning Bloody Mary!
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Review from Betty H.
Toronto, ON
12/10/2009
One word describes C5 - avant-garde. It has ultramodern decor and cutlery and menus (the bacon menu is cut like a trapezoid). The waiter appeared to be wearing purple guyshadow to match the purple waiter shirts, but maybe it was just my imagination.
I got the soup and the brunch sandwich. The sandwich was served on a fresh english muffin and was delicious. I had never had a sandwich with scrambled eggs and bright orange cheese in it.
Service was slow however. But after walking around the museum for two hours, a long sit-down rest might be just what you want.
Worth it for the unique menu and views of the city. -
Review from Chance X.
QC
3/24/2009
I'd highly recommand a Sunday brunch here. Sunday brunch at the museum, isn't it as classic as it can get? :-) The restaurant has a stunning view of the city. Super chic decor and very good service. The $36 3 course brunch menu is delicious and well worth the money. Try the white russian with a cup of coffee. It will be a perfect Sunday morning. ;-)
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Review from Eatie M.
Mississauga, ON
3/13/2010
Food was boring, bland and expensive. Not a good combo. Nice views of the city and great service.
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Review from Enrico P.
Hamilton, ON
12/30/2009
Where do I start? How about, "Don't go!" We went today, Dec. 29th, 2 adults and 2 older boys (9 and 12). We were there for a total of one hour and waited about 1/2 an hour for the main dishes to arrive which were 2 grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, one plate with 2 pieces of meat with rice and another of buttered gnocchi. The waiter came to our table during the half hour to say the food would be ready in 2 minutes. We waited 15 more minutes after that. Yes, the lunches were tasty, but the portions were small. My plate of meat and rice was $21 and it was about the size of a deck and a half of cards with lots of rice. My husband's portion of gnocchi was equivalent to a big scoop from a ladel. The sandwiches were fine tasting. I actually busrt out laughing when I saw the "dessert" that the children received. Their menu read "holiday cookies and ice cream" for $7. They received 2 golf ball sized scoops of vanilla ice cream and 2 cookies each of hard shortbread with sprinkles which they described as "yucky." The bill came to $150. The only foods I didn't mention were my husbands itsy bitsy salmon souflee and my soup which had a nice flavour. What a total rip off. The waiter tried to make up for the long wait by offering to take our picture with our camera. We were all practically falling asleep with the wait. That would have been an interesting picture. If you want to go to c5 to avoid the noise in the other restaurant at the ROM, just order a quick sandwich and coffee and be prepared to spend a lot more than the food is worth.
