For the past two years, I have been trying to get a reservation at Alo in Toronto. One morning, I woke up 2 minutes before they released their next round of reservations and was able to secure a table. Alo is currently ranked 90th, in the World’s 50 Best ranking.
The meal started well with an amuse. Everything packed a lot of flavor.
Next cherry tomato.
This was followed by Plum, lemon verbena, corinth grape, and cucumber.
Next was the best finish I ever had. Kanpachi, with black truffle, dashi and watercress. The fish was cooked perfectly with a raw center. Excellent texture with some chew. The sauce was divine and had good acidity as well. I would happily eat this all day!
Next was a king crab dish that was also extremely delicious and well executed.
The meat dishes started with veal sweetbread, Iberico ham, yellow plum, and corn. I usually do not like sweetbread but this was a good dish.
From here the meal went “downhill”. I did not enjoy the next two meat dishes. Starting with the pork belly, which I found to be dry.
The restaurant was supposed to offer a choice of lamb or wagyu next, but for some reason, they brought us the lamb without asking. It was ok, a bit too strong of a gamey lamb taste.
We were then provided a number of desserts which were good.
…and some petite fours.
Overall, the service was excellent. The food was outstanding except for the meat dishes. I would return to see if it was an off night for meat, or if the restaurant only excels at seafood. I will report back in another 2 years! 🙂 8.5/10