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Le Paradis Brasserie Bistro
Category: Restaurants French French [Edit]
166 Bedford RdToronto, ON M5R 2K9
Neighbourhood: The Annex
(416) 921-0995
- Hours:
Mon, Sun 5:30 pm - 10 pm
Tue-Thu 12 pm - 3 pm
Tue-Fri 6 pm - 11 pm
Sat 5:30 pm - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
26 reviews for Le Paradis Brasserie Bistro
Review Highlights
26 reviews in English
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Review from Christian P.
Toronto, ON
3/7/2012
A pretty good restaurat with real French food and not fusion food, in a setting quite looking like French troquets and bistrot.
I will go back and have evrything on the menu!!
(not 5 because it can always be better, with finer things here and there, especially when it is French cooking!) -
Review from Bob R.
Etobicoke, ON
2/22/2012
2 good friends,a bottle of good Corbieres and bistro food.Parfait?
The 'special' was a pork chop with melted cheese . Yum good German food?Greasy consistently terrible frites. Seafood stew a klutzy bouillabaisse ( this ain't L'Express)God awful looking pates.Fresh from the tank trout.Kidneys ,not overcooked
this time ,with port sauce the latter thankfully replaced on request by a red wine mustard sauce(not a la moutarde)Out of season asparagus fresh as the air on a 767 flight from Lima.
icecreams served with canned ersatz foam.Warily friendly staff.
Ou est la France?Not in Toronto.
C'est triste. -
Review from Maria D.
Toronto, ON
2/10/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Walking into Le Paradis I got a little memory of Paris... Starting with the waitress who spoke to us in French, as soon as we walked in, and keeping true throughout the dinner, with French decor, French-language plats de jour scribbled on the blackboard, to the authentic French dishes and wines on the menu.
The food was terrific. Everyone in our party ordered from the daily specials and we all saw different ways that French finesse and taste was brought forward. The homemade smoked salmon was scented with fennel and lime and was intriguing. The mussels in white wine sauce were surprisingly addictive. The plate of warm salt cod and potato, part of the regular menu, was subtle and intriguing.
The highlights were the main dishes and the wine. I had a "Cote de porc facon Train Bleu". For those not in the know, the Train Bleu is one of Paris' most exclusive restaurants at the Gare de Lyon train station, actually situated right inside the train station. The porc was nicely Frenched (bone trimmed) and was decorated with a slab of perfectly grilled and melted swiss cheese on top and surrounded by a beautiful red wine sauce.
The wine was a Premier Cru Chablis, at only $50, which is unheard of in Toronto.
We ended up with a cheese plate (bravo!) and a fabulous coconut ice cream with bananas and chocolate, with just the perfect amount of everything blanaced to perfection.
By the way, the staff were amazing and very cordial. A combination of French pride and also friendliness... -
Review from Stefanie D.
Toronto, ON
9/19/2011
Le Paradis is one of my favourite go-to spots for French food. I have been frequenting this little neighbourhood gem for many, many years, and I have never once been disappointed with the food or service.
Restaurant is always busy, so I would recommend making a reservation in advance; you can usually make one the day of. The food is always consistent - my significant other and I usually tend to order the same items on each visit. I would highly recommend the Raclette as a starter: warm delicious melted raclette cheese tops seasonal vegetables. The Bavette and Pave de Boeuf are succulently prepared steaks, accompanied with frites and seasonal veg - all perfection.
The service is always consistent and professional, the wines are delicious and reasonably priced, and the food is superb. Le Paradis is also an interesting people watching spot as it is always busy, and you will find different, interesting mixes of people.
Back and front patios in the summertime are quaint and charming, as is the bistro-esque seating area on the inside. Neighbourhood locals tend to frequent the bar area to have a glass of wine or come for a nice dinner and some engaging conversation with the staff.
We have taken many out-of-town guests and clients to this venue and no one has ever been disappointed with the food, service and price. I would definitely put this on your list of little hidden gems to check out in Toronto. -
Review from Lauren M.
Came here on Friday night on a last-minute date whim. We didn't make reservations and the place was packed, but we managed to snag a table on the back patio.
3 star food but everything else is 4+ star worthy.
Lots of classic French bistro dishes. The prices are extremely reasonable. Entrees around $14-$17, appetizers for $5-$7 and desserts for only $5. Even the wine was cheap - $15 for a 1/2 liter of house red or white.
The menu changes daily but they had a varied selection with 4-5 fish dishes, plus plenty of beef, chicken and lamb.
Very excellent and attentive service.
The interior is quite large and made up of several oddly shaped rooms; I imagine it was some kind of manor house turned into a restaurant. There's a small patio at the front but a way better patio at the back.
Lots of OLD patrons eating here. I'm talking 65+.
We tried a fish terrine and the Auvergnate salad with blue cheese, walnuts and apples to start. Both were just OK. The mains were much nicer, I had lamb shank (yum!) served Moroccan style with chickpeas, etc. My date had some kind of beef dish which was really good too.
The creme caramel was HUGE. Double size of what I've had in other restaurants. I only tried a bite but it was delicious. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
Le Paradis Brasserie has such nice patios, both front and back! I would have really enjoy my lunch if I able to get a table there... but unfortunately if it was raining, I got one of tables inside the stuffy dining room.
Lunch Specials always the way to go!! They have reasonable daily lunch specials written on the chalkboard or in the paper menu that has open sandwiches with choice of a cold or hot soup and choice of salad or frites for $10.
Decisions! Decisions! Which sandwich should I have?? How about the soup?? oh should I be healthy and go for salad but frites supposed to be really good here!!
Grilled Salmon Sandwich with Cold Cucumber Soup and Spring Salad
- Chilled Cucumber Soup for sure is the highlight of my lunch. Zesty, refreshing and seasoned really well... spoon licking delicious!
- The sandwich is A-OK... seasoned with a dash of herb vinaigrette
- Salad is a disappointment, just a boring boring salad that is not even fresh! Go for the frites!!
Services was excellent!! I feel welcome and comfortable dining here as a single diner... nothing to complain when my waiter kept coming around checking on me and feed me more baguette!! -
Review from Niko M.
Toronto, ON
5/22/2011
As a foody, I have to say I love Toronto. I love the fact that when i am craving for an international cuisine, I can almost find everything here.
For this review, I am featuring a French restaurant that I learned through word of mouth from other people who also love doing what I love doing, eating.
I highly reccomend their Auvergnate ($7) salad to start. It's a very simple salad made up of Fresh Arugula, Belgian endives, walnut, apples and blue cheese and drizzled with olive oil. A great start that was followed by a juicy piece of peppered Flatiron steak with pepercorn sauce (Pave de Boeuf au Poivre) for a bargain $17. I honestly would have paid $35 for this steak. Both the salad and the steak went really well with the bottle of Malbec ($23 - what a deal!!) which we ordered. I wanted to order dessert after but I felt stuffed after gobbling up a fair share of their complimentary yummy french bread.
Service was professional. Ambience was a bit loud at one point of the evening during the rush. Rest assured, it will not feel like a sports bar.
I have to thank this restaurant for making me fall in love with French food and culture. I also have to thank my friend Lito and Bruce for introducing me to this restaurant that's nicely nestled in Avenue and Davenport. You may have to look a little bit to find this place but it is worth the effort.
Happy Eating!!
Niko -
Review from Gunnar S.
East York, ON
1/10/2012
This brasserie serves French fare at a very reasonable price. Great food, service and ambiance. A must for anyone who appreciates French cuisine (et maghrébine).
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Review from Marcel L.
Toronto, ON
5/3/2011
Up in the sky among Angels and Stars...Le Paradis.
Food is properly prepared right in front of you, the kitchen is right there. I can smell and taste the food even before it reaches my table. It feels like a true Bistro', simply the real thing...good food, and Incredible value for the price. Of course you can find many good bistros in toronto, but not the same value for the price.
I keep coming back, and knocking on heaven's door over and over again.
I know, a reservation is suggested...but I often find a little table available... -
Review from Nunya B.
Toronto, ON
6/2/2011
Just ok - but this might be biased as French food is not really my thing. I found the ambiance nice enough and the dessert was the highlight of the meal.
Service is definitely something that can be improved - I saw some of the waiters give quite a bit of attitude to customers. Anyways, I guess this is the "french experience" after all. :) -
Review from Claudia C.
Toronto, ON
12/11/2011
I just came here today and was very impressed. The hostess may have been a touch stuck up, but our server was lovely and totally made up for it.
We had an early dinner seating on a Sunday night, so we were the youngest people in the room by about 40 years or so. The menu, from what I understand, is rather seasonal and the plats du jour make up about a third of the total offerings, I would guess.
I started with the tartiflette from the du jour menu, which involved potato, bacon and cheese. What's not to like? It did have a strange handful of fresh greens on top, but I wasn't complaining. My husband ordered the same and our friend had the charcuterie, which we shared. It was also pretty good, though not at all memorable.
For the main, I had my standby French order - cassoulet. The confit au canard wasn't as impressive as the one at Le Select Bistro, but it was still well prepared and delicious.
We couldn't believe how well priced the desserts were, so we couldn't pass up ordering the creme caramel (yummy and about 5" in diameter by 1" thick), flourless chocolate cake with almond, and cheese plate to share between the three of us. We were all pleased with our choices.
The recommended red wine went well with the meal, and was reasonably priced, the food was very reasonably priced. I will definitely come here again the next time I crave French food. -
Review from Sandra T.
Toronto, ON
10/17/2010
Okay, so I've maybe eaten at 5 french restaurants in my entire life - one of them being the Paris Paris buffet in Las Vegas ... so, my understanding of what constitutes good french cuisine is pretty limited.
That being said, I love Le Paradis! Food was fantastic!!! I had the lamb shanks with scalloped potatoes. Portion was huge! Had a taste of the seafood stew - OMG, so good. Appetizers were mussels - yum - and pate and fois gras - which I enjoyed until my mom reminded me of how foie gras was made :( I could not eat another bite after that.
The complimentary bread and butter was one of the best complimentary bread and butters I have ever tried! The butter was absolutely delicious...
Prices are extremely reasonable. Entrees are about 15 - $20 which is a steal considering the quality and quantity of food.
Atmosphere is friendly and bustling. I could hear french being spoken all around. The lighting is warm, soft, and flattering. We sat in the non-reservation section of the restaurant so we were directly in front of the kitchen. So unfortunately, we left the restaurant with our clothes and hair smelling really smoky. -
Review from Chad M.
7/21/2010
We came here on a Weds evening, drawn in by the good reviews (also helped that it was on the way to Loblaws). I liked this place right away, the entire staff was warm and friendly and we were quickly seated at an outside table.
If you eat here and the weather is nice, do your best to sit on the patio as it's really nice.
While the atmosphere and service were suburb, they royally screwed up my trout. Bland, fishy - mushy even. Not good. The rest of the meal was good but nothing really stood out.
On a positive note the prices seemed rediculously low for the setting and nabe. $14-17 for entrees and $7-8 for apps and salads.
This place deserves a second chance and I'll update at that time. -
Review from Frank L.
Toronto, ON
10/19/2010
This restaurant is recommended, so there we go. I ordered the Pave de Boeuf au Poivre, as told by the waiter that it is not the most tender one but very tasteful with strong seasoning. I myself find it a bit oily. The fries come with plate are one of the best. The dessert is good.
Service is very friendly. Although we booked at a much later time, due to schedule changes we are accommodated to an earlier seating. If during a warm day, the patio is excellent as it sits on a quiet street with lots of greens around. -
Review from Jan C.
10/14/2011
Beautiful little French bistro with a wonderful patio in the back. The weather was perfect and the sheltered patio made it very comfortable. We had a reservation, which was good, since it was quite busy. Our waitress was very knowledgeable and steered us in the right direction for our meals. The wine was reasonably priced. I would definitely go again.
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Review from Antonio A.
Toronto, ON
11/2/2011
A lovely little neighbourhood bistro modelled after a Paris bistro. Very good food and quite a reasonable wine list!
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Review from Fiona L.
Toronto, ON
1/13/2009
Such a great find! The food there was fantastic - very french with a little bit of a flare. I've lived in France in the past, and this place definitely compares with the typical French Bistro in Paris. Service is fast and friendly. Bread is fresh and food is yummy. I've only been there for lunch, but the croque madam and monsieur are awesome and worth going back for.
Parking is a bit tricky as I could only find street parking around there, but it's worth the hassle. -
Review from Luke A.
10/8/2009
My companions enjoyed a delicious dinner here. The menu is classic French bistro and whatever it lacks in originality it makes up with tasty dishes and affordable prices (especially given the location).
The main courses include a four or five fish options as well as a full range of meat (pork, rabbit, veal, liver, etc.) and poultry. The dishes range from pure French to Moroccan in influence, although when we asked about the tagine, we were told it wasn't actually served in a tagine dish because "this is a *FRENCH* restaurant".
Portions are generous -- my companions and I each ordered a starter and main and we were all stuffed by the end. In hindsight, I would have happily shared a starter and saved some room for dessert. (The fresh bread and butter that arrives at the start doesn't help.) There's also a "table d'hôte" menu with 3 courses for $20. Otherwise, if you order à la carte, mains are all between $10 and $20 and sides less than $10, so for a full meal with wine, you're looking at about $40 per person.
The wine list has many affordable options, either by the bottle ($30-60) or by the glass or half-litre.
I had the pâté to start, which was a huge portion served with bread, mustard and little "cornichons". The flavour was excellent. For my main, I had the half-chicken which was served with delicate julienned vegetables, cooked to perfection, and a generous serving of the excellent frites. The chicken was comfort food, to be sure, but very tasty. My companions all enjoyed their salads, and mains -- a grilled salmon, a Moroccan tagine, and the flatiron steak.
All in all I wouldn't hesitate to return. My only complaint was that our waitress was quite flippant regarding my companion's food allergies, and refused to permit any changes or even check with the kitchen. The restaurant was packed at the time, so it's understandable that changes would be difficult, but the attitude was unnecessary. -
Review from Sandy L.
Toronto, ON
6/29/2011
I had the arugula salad and the lamb shank, and the Cote d'Ivoire for dessert.. A decent meal for a fair price and my only complaint was that the dessert was mostly whipped cream and very little coconut ice cream.
Just because this restaurant is French does not mean that it is fine dining, because it is definitely not. As a foodie, I would like the option of paying a bit more for a dish with higher quality ingredients (eg. rack of lamb instead of lamb shank, or duck breast instead of duck leg) and those options are simply not available here. -
Review from Monique L.
5/26/2009
My parents are a big fan of this place and finally brought me for dinner. A random Monday night at 7 and the restaurant was almost fully booked, with only 1 or 2 open tables. There was even a couple sitting on the patio in the 10-12 degree weather (that's in Celsius, which is not patio weather for Californians).
To start, we shared the mussels and the gravlax (cured salmon) which were very good and 2 appetizers were enough for 4 ppl. Our main courses were the duck leg in a wine reduction, roasted chicken, calf liver and onions and a spicy seafood stew. My favourites were the roasted chicken that was very tasty and the spicy stew. The calf liver was sweet but some parts were a little tough. The duck leg tasted good too, but was a little over cooked for me.
One of the favourite parts of the meal, according to my brother and father, was the butter and bread. The butter actually had a very smooth texture and taste.
I'll probably go again because they are constantly changing the menu and so many people I talk to LOVE this place. -
Review from Leeor J.
5/14/2010
This place is over-rated. Its true it has a nice atmosphere. Kind of a cozy place and has the "feel" of a french bistro. But its loud in there. and the food isn't spectacular.
One time I went there and ordered the special for the night. It was monk fish served on a bed of ratatouille. The fish was terrible. So dry you could choke on it. In fact everything felt like it had the life sucked out of it. Like it had been sitting around for a while. In retrospect, I should've taken Anthony Bourdain's advice and avoided the "fish special".
Anyway, I have had other things on the menu and they are nothing special at best. Unfortunately, I can't say i've had any really incredible french food in Toronto like i've had in other places (most notably France and if you can believe it - Mexico - man they cook their asses off over there..). So far, Auberge Du Pommier is the best I've had in this city. Go there instead. -
Review from Paul R.
Toronto, ON
9/15/2009
I stumbled onto this place after it popped up on UrbanSpoon. It seems to have quite a cult following for the reviews I've read around the internet.
I went on a busy Friday night once and I was impressed with the atmosphere and general positive and classy disposition of the clientele. Service was nothing to write home about and the sauce on the steak was cold so it made the steak cold. For some reason I think this was an honest mistake and I'm willing to give them another chance based on all the other positive reviews I hear. If it improves I'll definitely up my rating.
The price is certainly right, not very expensive at all compared to other restaurants serving similar dishes. -
Review from Erin H.
Toronto, ON
8/29/2008 1 photo
Of late, there has been a strain of French Bistros opening up in Toronto but Le Paradis most definitely got here first.
I usually have something witty to say in my reviews but for some reason, when it comes to this particular restaurant I don't. Perhaps I am coming up flat in the comedy department because this restaurant has nothing funny about it. Not that it takes itself too seriously, but it is what it is; a French restaurant.
Everything from the charming but casual, European décor, to the fresh baguette at every table, to the daily changing menu filled with Fruits De Mer and Pomme Frites reflects its staunch French sensibility. The restaurant is busy, comfortable, and reasonable for Rosedale. But, come for the food not the fun. -
Review from Francis R.
Toronto, ON
7/15/2010
This place serves excellent Bistro food in an unpretentious manner. You come here for the food and great value for money, not to hang out at some trendy joint .... I've never had a bad meal here and the prices are soooo reasonable.
It's definitely one of my go to places in town. Can't fault it really. -
Review from Christian C.
Toronto, ON
12/14/2009
Good French food.
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Review from thomas g.
Toronto, ON
5/20/2010
It's the second Toronto's French restaurant I am eating in, and it is a second great evening! To begin with, people were packed on the patio so we could enjoy the luxe, calme et volupté of the cool backroom. By the way, people saying that this place has the feel of a french bistro obviously never went to a french bistro. It looks more like a New Jersey pizzeria. The day when french bistros (or brasseries) will have AC, sofas and fake renaissance paintings, Sarkozy will be president. Second, some kind of Yorkville nouveau riche sent back his bottle of St Emilion probably because it was tasting like wine, so we had it for half the price, and by itself it justified the name of the place. Third, the waitress had the real french attitude with all the appropriate french frowns and scowls that challenge you to be so funny that she will eventually smile. Finally the food was amazing. Sardines grillées and jarret d'agneau à la Marocaine for me. Lots of food, great food, good times!
