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The Wine Bar
Categories: Restaurants Tapas Bars Nightlife Bars Wine Bars Tapas Bars, Wine Bars [Edit]
9 Church StToronto, ON M5E 1M2
Neighbourhood: St. Lawrence
(416) 504-9463
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 4 pm - 12 am
Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 1 am
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
21 reviews for The Wine Bar
Review Highlights
"I loved the peanut butter creme brulee."
(in 3 reviews)
"...the butternut squash risotto and the artisan cheese platter."
(in 1 review)
"The Niagara Sour Cherry Bread Pudding was also ordered."
(in 3 reviews)
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21 reviews in English
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Review from Hussain S.
North York, ON
2/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
This is a great place for a quite dinner. Ambiance is beautiful and relaxing.
Service was very fast, faster than a fast food place, for lack of words. The waitress was very nice and warm.
I am not expert on wine, but the selection is not your typical LCBO selection.
We have orders several dishes, steak was tender and tasty, I really recommend it, but the scallop was even better, probably best I have ever had.
Prior to visiting the place, I have checked out the reviews on Yelp, some customers were complaining about the food portions, so I went to the wine bar with that review in mind, but once we ordered the food, it became clear to us that those reviews were not fair, the portions were right, this a tapas place, if you honestly concerned about the food portions, then tapas is not for you.
One thing I have in mind after I visited this place is that this place is all about taste and beatiful ambiance. -
Review from omar k.
Toronto, ON
1/21/2012
the wine is pretty good, but the food is atrocious, and that takes away from the wine drinking experience. the poutine is perhaps the sorriest effort i have ever seen in a nicer toronto restaurant -- just cheap fries with a bit of melted (melted!) cheese on top, with non-descript other stuff. the server couldn't seem to figure out what soup they were serving, and when they finally brought it out, it had changed again! and yet instead of telling us beforehand, they brought it out.
sigh.
i wanted to like the place, but it needs a lot of work. ONLY drink the wine. -
Review from S W.
Mississauga, ON
1/8/2012
My wife and I had gone there to try the resto since it changed from Jamie Kennedy. The service and food were fine and until I wanted to used my groupon (which was the only reason that made me want to try that resto again). They refused to honor it citing reasons of small print and that it applied to the regular menu, which wasn't available for a few more months due to the summerlicious menu.
Your money is better spent elsewhere that can easily provide a better eating experience for less money. Try Table 17 instead, delicious food and they provide corkage as well so you can have your favorite bottle of wine with the duck and risotto. -
Review from Courtney B.
Pickering, ON
1/5/2012
I would actually give this a 3.5 if I could.
A friend and I went to use a Groupon on a Wednesday night. The place was really quiet, and we were the only ones sitting at the bar. As a result we got our waiter/bartender's full attention, which was great. I was excited to try this place because I am a wine nerd. The guy behind the bar was really enthusiastic about wine and let us try a bunch of them to decide whether or not we wanted to commit to a glass, which was nice because the wine is pricey. They have some amazing non-LCBO wines, but you are definitely paying a premium for them.
I can't really comment on the food -- we were mostly there to drink -- but we did have the seafood chowder which was tasty and seriously full of seafood.
The ambiance was great -- dark wood and colours and as many other reviewers mentioned, would be a great place for a date.
So to sum up, amazing wine, really good service, but it's priced accordingly! -
Review from Rona M.
Toronto, ON
2/8/2012
A Groupon offer lured my husband and me to The Wine Bar on a Monday night. Because we live in nearby, we wanted to like it. But the only thing to like is the wine list. The food just doesn't have enough flavour. Calamari looked pale and rubber; the beef cheeks tasted like my own cooking (heart in the right place, execution a little off the mark). When I sit down with a nice glass of wine, I want my meal to meet the same standard. I'd rather open a good bottle at home and phone out for pizza.
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Review from Cindy H.
Toronto, ON
11/14/2011
Celebrated a Birthday with friends at the Wine Bar.
With our reservation, we were seated in a more private area of the restaurant (nice wall of wine behind us). Ambiance is nice - dark, romantic mood lighting, candle lights....
I say the Wine Bar is more of a late night (snacks & drinks) place, rather than having full dinner.
Portion sizes are quite small. We knew it was Tapas style; however, still felt that the plates could have been improved. For example, the seared scallop dish came with ONE scallop. Just one lonely guy.
Lots of good drinks/wine selection available in 3oz or 6oz.. The menu has pairing recommendations - great if you like variety.
Some of the highlights were the butternut squash risotto and the artisan cheese platter. However, I don't recommend the sausage and bean poutine or the short ribs. They weren't great.
Flow of the food was slightly off. Our waiter mentioned that our dishes would come out slowly, rather than all at once. But after we placed our order 70% of our dishes came at once; then, we waited quite a while before the remaining ones. It was odd.
Costs run between $5-$15 per dish. Expect to spend over $50+ for your meal (our waiter recommended 2-3 tapas per person). -
Review from Charlotte W.
North York, ON
8/16/2011
I came here at the suggestion of my friend who lives within 4 minutes of The Wine Bar. This was my first time here and first impressions were dark, woodsy, and modern décor. I arrived first and was seated in a little alcove where everyone else was sitting - for a Monday night it was quite busy!
As the name suggests, The Wine Bar does offer many glasses of wine in 3oz and 6 oz size. The price of the 6oz portion varies from $12 - $24. I had a glass of the Maconne which can be considered a Super Tuscan so in this sense it was nice to try a glass, but expensive. For main course my friend and I had the Yukon Fries which comes with Ketchup, Mayo, and Spicy Aoili; Beet Risotto; Chorizo; and Fried Calamari. I have to admit that every dish was average...nothing out of the ordinary. For dessert, we had the bread pudding which was by far the best dish of the night in my mind. Needless to say, this isn't a dinner venue, but rather, a pop-in for a bite and a drink place. And because of that, it's not bad. If you wanted to have a glass of wine and some nibbles in proper style before a show at The Sony Center, then this place would be great.
Service was efficient and the bill came out to almost $100 plus tax and tip for two so this place is not the cheapest. -
Review from Yvonne T.
Came to Wine Bar with my co-workers for some Summerlicious lunching. The restaurant itself is rather small, with the bar being the focal point of the restaurant. It is owned by the same owner as Hank's and the Great Burger Kitchen.
Our orders were promptly taken, though the order to table speed in which the food arrived was rather slow (so if you work on a punch card system, this is not the place for you to eat lunch!) The portion sizes left more to be desired as all 3 of us left feeling as if we could eat more. But then again, this is a tapas/wine bar - so I suppose its forgivable.
For starters the following were ordered: chilled asparagus soup, mini burger poutine and a broccoli salad. Of the 3, I ordered the salad and it was quite tasty. The broccoli was blanched and sprinkled with almonds and raisins with a honey balsamic vinaigrette.
For mains we ordered: salmon open-faced sandwich, wild mushroom cakes and grilled quail. I knew that the quail would be small, so I didn't order it because I knew it would not fill me, so I opted for the salmon open-faced sandwich. It 1/8 of a whole baguette in size, topped with some average smoked salmon (even store-bought stuff has more smoked flavour than this stuff!), and spread with some dill spread. It was quite tasty as a sandwich, I only wish the serving size was a little more generous. The grilled quail was indeed tiny, though my co-worker did comment that it was quite tasty. The mushroom cakes were really tasty and was held together by some sort of creamy, glutinous ingredient that I suspect was a mix of flour and potatoes?
My favourite part of the meal was dessert. I ordered the Chocolate Tart, which came with the thinnest crust possible. I really hope that I will be able to find the recipe someday. It wasn't buttery like most tart recipes, nor flaky like phyllo... It had me guessing as to how it was made. But I didn't care - a thin crust meant that there would be more chocolate filling! It was extremely good - a dense chocolate tart, but it wasn't heavy nor too sweet. I absolutely adored the chantilly cream. The Niagara Sour Cherry Bread Pudding was also ordered. This was served with a rum-butter sauce. My co-worker's only regret is that the serving size was so small. She wanted seconds!Last but not least, a Peanut Butter Crème Brûlée. How could you go wrong? What a genious idea to incorporate peanut butter. This was served with an almond shortbread cookie.
Verdict:
Good food, but small portions. The service was good, but slow. Would probably come back here for tapas and wine, but not for an actual meal.Listed in: aX-ed, St. Lawrence Eats, Classy ladies don't chug...
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Review from Dimitrios D.
7/26/2011
Friendly waiter and good food. The scallops were the best item we tried, though the chorizo was a close second.
Nice place for a date. -
Review from Michelle T.
6/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Don't come here if you're hungry or broke. Or if you're not a cheap date.
We weren't broke, but we could have eaten a cow. It's not that the tapas were small portioned and expensive. They were small portioned and ok priced. It was the 13 dollar p/glass (and up) or the 10 dollar half glasses of wine pairings that we decided to indulge in for each tapas plate that broke the bill.
Ok, so we didn't have to do it that way. But we figured, why not? They suggested pairings on the menu with each plate, and they know better, right?
We had the poutine, duck, scallops, the cheese plate, and the expresso creme brulee. Our favorite was the creme brulee....it was pretty amazing.
The cheese plate came with 5 cheese items, and for each, they put down 5 glasses of wine for each pairing for the both of us. That's 10 glasses of wine on our little table and a little plate of cheese. Yeah, we looked like total lushes.
If you come here, try that creme brulee. And if you feel like splurging and trying different wines, then go do the above route. However, if there's a next time for me, I'll just do something normal like, get one carafe or something. -
Review from Robin D.
10/15/2011
Just came back from the wine bar. Peanut butter brulee... wow
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Review from Lynn C.
2/20/2011 1 photo
Expensive, but enjoyable.
Regular 6oz glass of wine will cost you anywhere from 15-20 dollars. Half litre 50 to 80 dollars. Each tapa is small in proportion and also approximately $12-$15 dollars.
I love the food there though. We had the risotto, steak, duck, and peanut butter creme brulee. The risotto was really good, but i didnt like the mix of goat cheese. The steak only came in two pieces, but the best of the three tapas we got. The duck was made well. I loved the peanut butter creme brulee...couldn't stop eating it!
Service was mediocre for the price. Wine is as expected. -
Review from Zoe R.
3/5/2011
Pretty good, but it'll cost ya.
The French fries, came with a great trio (aioli was our favourite).
Our bill came to $89 + taxes, + tip. For two people. We had 6 main dishes, and 2 desserts.
Service was nice, but then the restaurant became busier (Hanks opened up - and our waitress was shared with that other restaurant).
Food was very good, but if you are at all a strict vegetarian or vegan, look elsewhere.
I had the lemon on shortbread (puckeringly lemony), my companion had the mocha creme brulee.
Washrooms were clean, and the restaurant's whole ambience was very warm, inviting, and fun.
pros: good & quality food, good service, nice decor;
cons: costly, a drag to walk to while we're TTCing it and it happens to be raining outside. -
Review from Kevin F.
9/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
The best wine bar/tapas place in the world---flat out! This place is totally happening. I got there at 5 and was the first person in the joint and asked if I could sit and have, you know, wine. The guy spent a minute or so trying to find unreserved seats AT THE BAR! Yikes! I did, er, I mean, they did....and proceeded to have the best time of my life at a place like this. I almost shoo'ed my driver away at 9!
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Review from Denise S.
Updated - 7/8/2010
Went here again this week. For the month of July they have a "G-ate" promotion - $25 for 3 courses. Basically trying to support businesses that lost money during the summit. However, depending on what you order, 3 "courses" may not fill you up. The ravioli for instance, was literally 3 pieces of average-sized ravioli on a bed of veggies. For $10, that was pretty steep. The delicious fries offered the most bang for your buck - a good-sized mini-bucket for $6, served with delicious spiced aioli, herb mayo, and homemade ketchup. Food was good but I felt like the portions have decreased significantly since my last visit.
I do like the fact that the menu changes daily, so you can go back and try totally different things.Listed in: Not your average EtOH
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/10/2010
I ate here last week for dinner. I had been several times when it was "Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar" and… Read more »
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Review from Elle P.
7/2/2010
Meh, for an upscale restaurant, I expect better.
Not that the food was bad, it was pretty good, albeit overly salty. For the price that we were paying, I wanted to be amazed. We overheard another couple ask about the pre-fixe dinner, which our waiter had failed to tell us. The pre-fixe ended up being a much better deal as you could get three different small plates for $25. If we hadn't asked for the pre-fixe, we would have gotten only two of the plates for $26 or $27. The Wine Bar offers half-glass options, which make it easy to do a wine pairing with each little plate.
We had the flat bread, fries, scallops, perch, goat cheese ravioli, and the rib eye steak. And then we had the pavlova with strawberries for dessert. All of the small plates were good, but not particularly creative or interesting. In general, I felt that I could have eaten what I had there anywhere else. The food was overly salty, even for restaurant fare. The pavlova was way too sweet. I did really love the homemade ketchup that they served with the fries. The ketchup was thick and luscious, with a very good mouth feel. I truly felt the umami soul in the ketchup. But you wouldn't come here, just for the ketchup.
While not a bad dining experience, I don't feel that The Wine Bar warrants a visit. It's seems overpriced for what you get.
I asked my companion how he felt about dinner and he responded with, "The company was better." -
Review from david l.
10/22/2011
This was a wonderful find. We split the beef pontine, duck breast, and cheese plate. These were all small plates but exceptional in their detail. Service was attentive and genuine. We chose the locally grown Norman hardie Cabernet franc as accompaniment. Expensive but worthy of a treat.
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Review from Eugene M.
Toronto, ON
1/10/2011
Very nice ambiance; a cozy place. The quality of the tapas fare, however, is somewhat incongruent with the price. Those sampled (poutine, duck, scallops) were all good, the service is fine, though its just difficult to recommend this place due to mismatch of cost and quality.
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Review from Steve M.
Updated - 4/8/2010
I ate at this place again in February 2010 and took a work colleague since I enjoyed so much the last time. It was even better the 2nd time, although sigh..they ran out of my fav. Duck Confit to early for me to get my 2nd order in
Remember it's Tapas style so if you go with a group, and like a dish, just order again.
Love the Wine Somelier, very knowledgeable and let's face it, it's funny when austraulian guys talk...just to hear him ...
Let me know how you fare there...1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/18/2009 First to Review
I live in Austin, TX and am a frequent business traveler, constantly eating out and I always seek… Read more »
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Review from Olivia L.
Etobicoke, ON
1/5/2011
First time at The Wine Bar with 10 friends. Very quiet evening for the restaurant which allowed seating at a large square table promoting engaging conversations. Their menu changes daily; my favourite savoury tapas was the P.E.I Mussel Risotto and my favourite sweet tapas was the Banana Bread Pudding. Overall, good food but a little on the pricey side!!!!
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Review from Anastasia S.
Toronto, ON
9/28/2011
Came here with a friend after work. The place wasn't busy, but it was a Tuesday night. The waiter told us that it's a sharing menu and that we should start with 4 dishes and see how we feel after (good thing he didn't say 4 dishes each). So we agreed on the mushroom and eggplant soup (very good!), cheddar and green apple salad (equally good and fresh tasting), butternutsquash risotto with goat cheese and the ribs. The risotto was a bit salty and if by goat cheese they mean a tiny piece on top of risotto to decorate the dish, then that's what we got. Risotto wasn't al dente, but the butternutsquash was tasty. The ribs weren't the ribs I pictured. They were more Korean style, very thin slices of meet with a sweet marinate. The side dish (creamy polenta) was my fav! My friend kept getting tiny pieces of bone stuck in her teeth while eating the ribs (hmm, not good). For dessert we decided to go with the dark chocolate mousse. The color was not of a dark chocolate. It tasted okay, a bit too sweet for me. When I picture a dark chocolate dessert, it should taste a bit bitter. Overall, I might go there again for a glass of wine if other people are going, but I don't think I'd go there for their food again.
