Antler is a restaurant in Toronto which “…is a celebration of regional ingredients…to define Canadian cuisine highlighting local seasonal and wild foods”.
We arrived for our reservation at 9PM. Despite them calling us to confirm the reservation the day before, upon arrival, we were told that the table was not ready and they suggested we have a drink at the wine bar down the street. After about 20 minutes, we got a call that the table was ready.
There was some apology upon arrival but it still took a long time to bring menus, water, take initial orders etc. However, after the initial delay, service was very good.
Here was the menu.
We started with some delicious wild boar corn dogs. I would of been happy eating those all night.
I also had this smoky cocktail which is probably the best smoke flavored cocktail I have ever had.
After the corn dogs, we had the foie gras. Perfect portion, nice sear, and perfectly balanced with sweetness.
Next, pheasant charcoal grilled yakitori.
Next were a couple of pastas. The first was the taglioalini alla chitarra.
The flavors were good but I found that the lasagna type noodle did not work well in this dish as they were difficult to eat. The next pasta dish was also good, but I would of preferred a different noodle. This is a perfect example of why Italians are very particular about matching the noodle to the sauce. A ragu needs a thicker long noodle to stand up to, and deliver the sauce correctly to your mouth.
The final savory dish was the bison rib eye. It was very good.
For dessert a smoked s’mores.
Overall, this was a great meal. The two downsides were the slow initial service and “wrong” pasta noodles. However, the menu is interesting and delicious so I would go back and try other things…and have more corn dogs. 8.5/10