While I’m not really to splurge on Alo yet, I figured that Aloette would probably give me a sense of Chef Patrick Kriss’s cuisine. Also, being the only Canadian restaurant on the list of World’s 50 Best Restaurants, it is impossible to get a table at Alo without booking at least one month in advance. On the other hand, Aloette is a more down-to-earth and accessible!

Locating at the corner of Spadina ave. and Queen st. west, a very low-key front door, I would not have found the entrance if I visited in the evening! While the exterior is painted in all black, as soon as you walked in, it has an old-schooled vibe with a leather-upholstered barrel ceiling and penny tile flooring, narrow but not too tight!

It’s always nice when restaurant offers complimentary bread (quite a lot of restaurants start to charge the bread). The cheese brioche with whipped yeast butter. The brioche was toasted till very crisp and the crust was a bit flaky; the butter was super light. It’ll leave you with greasy fingers, but worth it!

The roasted squid with pork belly, granny smith apple, kimchi, and furikake was a very Korean-inspired dish. It was the first dish we got, but probably my least favorite. There were way too much sauce, decent amount of squid and pork belly but all broken into small pieces and drowned in the sauce. Thought the radishes and granny smith apple would balance the richness, but in the end, they were all coated with the sauce too.

My friend was also interested in their tuna tartare. It was served on tapioca crackers, and seasoned with yuzu. It was a light appetizer! (especially after having the heavy dish like the squid and pork belly dish)

The chickpea fritters were the most memorable one! Honestly, the first bite has a very weird, distinct taste that reminded me of Chinese medicine. However, the texture was very pleasing! It’s like egg tofu; very smooth and tender.

These agnolotti were filled with ricotta, served with manila clams, and smoked butter sauce.  The skin/wrapper was too thick and too hard for my liking, but the claims with smoked butter sauce was delicious!

Last but not least, the famous lemon meringue pie. I’ve never seen such a perfect piece of lemon pie! I’m not a fan of lemon desserts, but my friend strongly recommended it, and even the waitress said that she’s not fan of any lemon desserts (just like me), but it is worth having it once. I took their words and ordered it. Honestly, I loved it, and I would recommend it too. The meringue was light and airy, the lemon curd was custard-like and super smooth plus the buttery crust. Perfect ending!

Visited Aloette on a Thursday for lunch, and the restaurant was around 90% full at noon! My friend and I sat at the bar, and the waiters are super friendly! When he saw me taking photos all the time, he even recommended “table 16” (as pictured) as the prime spot for photos! It is a restaurant that you will not want to miss when visiting Toronto!

Aloette
163 Spadina Ave., 1st Floor, Toronto
Tel: +1 (416) 260 3444

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