Wildfire Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Update: Restaurant has closed. 

July 22, 2018

*Items I would order again for Summerlicious 

Escargot Provencale

Roasted garlic butter and escargots together make the tastiest combination - but it's really heavy.

Grilled Calamari

I love this appetizer! The calamari is perfectly grilled and the warm salsa is delicious with it.

Handmade Whisky Striploin Burger

An excellent burger

Caesar salad

I can't say I'm a fan of wedge salads in general - I'd skip this as an appetizer. 

Crusted basa

Bavette steak

This was a really sad portion. I'm kinda disappointed by it. 

Carrot cake

This was pretty good

Tartufo

I liked that they poured chocolate over it to make a coating as opposed to just chocolate powder. 

April 3, 2016

Last time we were here, we saw some promotional signs advertising their Social Meet.  

This was a great deal since most of their entrees are $20+ and their steaks are great! 

Grilled Calamari

Their grilled calamari is probably the best I've eaten. The sweet tomato sauce, salty capers and grilled calamari (with lots of spices and flavour) combination works really well.

8 oz. New York Striploin

Not as nice as it was at our last meal, but it's also a promotional event going on - so I guess I can kind of understand. 

Full Rack of Back Ribs

This was great! The sauce was sweet and savoury (which I prefer over smoky sauces) and it was such a huge rack that it spilled over the plate a bit! I'd definitely come back for their ribs. 

March 29, 2016

I came back for my birthday steak (in the month of March)! 

New York Striploin

This time I read the menu and noticed that you could add toppings to your steak like sauteed onions and garlic butter - so I took advantage of that.  The steaks were much better this visit than they were two weeks before (maybe it was the March break rush). 

New York Striploin

Huge and so yummy with the garlic butter and sauteed onions!

March 13, 2016

Shrimp and Steak combination with shrimp skewers and a 6 oz. sirloin

The quality of the meat wasn't very good - it was stringy and tough.  The shrimp were nicely seasoned and the mashed potatoes were delicious as usual. 

New York Striploin

The meat of the striploin was better than the steak served above. I like they way they season their meat and the grill marks look great on the striploins. 

March 29, 2015

It felt a little darker inside Wildfire than previous years. 

12 oz. Striploin

I really find that they do Striploins the best here at Wildfire. The meat is juicy and packed with flavour.  This year they added a dollop of aioli onto the steak. 

The plate looks a little sad with the small baked potato and the grilled veggies seemed particularly oily this year. 

 

16 oz. Striploin with mashed potatoes and veggies

The side dishes here were also a little sad looking - with the tiny bit of mashed potatoes on the huge plate and the oily vegetables (these didn't even seem grilled). 

The experience this time didn't live up to the last time we went to Wildfire. 

March 12, 2012

 

Love their bread and it usually comes accompanied by the most amazing garlic hummus ever! I credit this restaurant for starting my current obsession with hummus - mmmm delicious. The bread is always soft and warm and with the hummus, you can't go wrong. 

They also have some amazing appetizers - the grilled calamari is probably the best I've ever had (we keep coming back for that and the steak) and the escargot Provencal with the garlic butter is delicious! (For an extra treat, try the bread + hummus + garlic butter, it's heavenly)

The Classic New York Striploin (12 oz)

The Porterhouse (20 oz)

I love the way they do their steak - it's always cooked well and I can trust them to do a good medium rare that is tender and full of flavour. It's a lot of meat and I think well worth it for $44 (excl. tax). The vegetables are always nicely cooked too - and they're seasonal which keeps it interesting (I love their grilled red peppers, yum!)

To celebrate my birthday, they gave us a free dessert! Mini chocolate covered ice cream - what a nice way to end the meal! Another dessert I love eating here is the Creme Brulee (They have an amazing dessert chef here)

Conclusion: This is one of my favourite steakhouses in Toronto. Slightly on the pricey side, but they serve consistently great food.

Website: http://www.wildfiresteakhouse.com/

Granite Brewery

Another Summerlicious adventure!

*Items in red are what I would order again*

Soup of the Day (Vegetable) and Bruschetta

The soup portion was pretty big, but it was on the watery side. The bruschetta was interesting - it had avocado spread on the toast and then the bruschetta toppings on top. 

Steak

It was a big portion, but it looked a little strange (like a gigantic beef patty or something). It tasted okay with the mushroom gravy and the vegetables. 

Cake and a tiramisu

The portions were big, but they weren't particularly tasty - the strengths of this restaurant aren't really in the desserts. 

Overall: The Summerlicious was kind of mediocre. The brunch table looked pretty good thought and there were a lot of people were eating from the buffet - so I might come back for that. 

Website: http://www.granitebrewery.ca

Mochica

After coming back from Peru, I have a whole new appreciation for Peruvian cuisine. I was really excited to see a Peruvian restaurant in Toronto offering Summerlicious!
*Items in red are what I would order again*

Pisco Sour
A popular Peruvian alcoholic drink


Tiradito
This sashimi plate was really interesting and beautifully plated. The passionfruit was a nice compliment to the fish.


Alpaca Tartare
Alpaca meat with a quail egg, Inka bread and avocado spread. The presentation was really nice!
The alpaca was tasty and nicely seasoned and the Inka bread was great.


Alpaca A La Cuzqueña
Alpaca meat braised in a Peruvian drink with vegetables - this was pretty good. The alpaca meat was yummy and the mushroom sauce was good. 


Panqueque con majarblanco and Mazamorra morada
The panqueque were crepes with dulce de leche and they were really yummy. The Mazamorra morada is an Inca pudding with purple corn and fruits; it wasn't too sweet, but I didn't really like it.

Overall: Really interesting Peruvian food and I was happy I got to eat Alpaca meat again!

Website: http://restaurantmochica.com

7Numbers (Midtown)

July 13, 2017

I was really impressed by their lasagna last time, so I couldn't wait to try their Summerlicious menu and try their other great Italian home-cooking dishes. 

*Items in red are what I would order again

Funghi - stuffed mushrooms with spinach, cheese and breadcrumbs
The tomato sauce was delicious! The mushrooms were pretty good too and the toast was a nice accompaniment.


Gamberi Shrimp with arugula, red pepper herb purée
The shrimp were perfectly cooked with a nice char from the grill and the sauce was nice.


Cacciatore
Hunter-style braised chicken with carrot, celery, onion, tomato, olives
The chicken looked a little lonely on the plate by itself with everything piled up on top. I couldn't help thinking that there should be something accompanying it.


Lenticche con aglio
Lentil mash, roasted garlic, chilli oil
The lentils were good, but it still felt strange that they were separate from the main dish.


Zucchini alla griglia
Grilled summer zucchini
Still not knowing what to make of this.


Lasagne with fresh ricotta, organic baby spinach, mozzarella and Polpette - Mozzarella-stuffed veal meatballs, house-made sauce 
The vegetarian lasagna was okay, but I remembered their meat lasagna was much better.

The meatballs were delicious! The meat was tender and juicy and I enjoyed the nice cheesy surprise in the middle.

We were still hungry after this, so we ordered an additional portion of their meat lasagna

Lasagna - large size
I was actually kind of disappointed by this considering this was supposed to be the large portion. The lasagna was good, but it definitely wasn't really worth the price tag.


Biscotti plate and Key lime pie
The key lime pie was pretty good, not too tart and not too sweet.

Apple crumble cheesecake
The cheesecake felt a little flat to me. The crumbles weren't very crumbly and it felt a little one-dimensional.

Overall: The food is good, but the portions are really small for Summerlicious. I'm not sure I'd come back again for it.

November 18, 2014

7 Numbers on Eglinton is actually one of two restaurants owned by the Marinuzzi family. The website is great! It gives off the impression that you're going to eat real classic and homey Italian food with a friendly Italian family.

Menu

My friend and I decided to go family style for $30 per person so we get to try all these different menu items with antipasti, primi and secondi (and contorni)

Calamari with lemon on the right and beet gorgonzola almond salad, caprese salad and arugula and pepper goat cheese salad
The calamari portion was really more than I expected and it had a nice simple and clean flavour with the lemon and sauce.  I liked everything on the salad plate - very distinct and strong flavours from the two salads: the gorgonzola cheese and beets with balsamic was done quite well and the peppery arugula and goat cheese was nice too.

First pasta course: veal lasagna, farfalle with ricotta and linguine with rapini
The lasagna is one of the dishes they're known for and it was probably one of the best lasagnas I've had. I didn't know fresh pasta could make such a difference until I tasted this - I was really wowed by it - each bite just seemed to melt-in-your-mouth! The veal was the perfect meat to add into this lasagna too because it complemented the soft pasta and the lightly tangy sauce just brought it all together. So good!!! I definitely have to come back for more.
The farfalle and linguine were both cooked to a perfect al dente and were good, but I think the lasagna just eclipsed everything else on the plate.

More food! Onto the meats like the carnivores we are...

Top: Osso Buco, asparagus and salad and Maile (grilled pork chop)
The osso bucco was tender and covered with a onion and tomato sauce which suited it. The pork chop was a LOT of meat - especially after those other courses we had. It was seasoned and grilled perfectly with roasted red peppers on top. Everything was really well done!

Overall: Fantastic place for simple and classic Italian food (no fancy fiddleheads or stinging nettle here). It's almost rustic in its simplicity and it seems like one of those great Italian restaurants using recipes passed down through generations. The service was great and the food was even better - the best part was I didn't have to break the bank eating everything I wanted off the menu! :D

Website: http://www.sevennumbers.com/