The Harbord Room

I had the pleasure of being taken here for another great post-birthday dinner and it was simply amazing! This place has had a lot of buzz about it since opening one year ago and it still lives up to the hype! The 35 seat restaurant is lively with engaging servers, a great wine list and a sophisticated chic atmosphere and is open until 2am -7 nights a week so a great place for late night snacks and people watching!

Ok onto the menu- which is divided up with small, medium and large plates. My friend and I decided to share the vegetarian risotto which is on the 'medium' part of the menu. It comes topped with fresh argula and is just delicious. The rice was creamy and you can taste the hint of white wine in it and the argula added a bit of texture to it. I would highly recommend starting with this!

For mains we ordered the duo of lamb and the special of the day which was a yummy pork dish.

The lamb leg was cooked perfectly - it was tender and pink in the center and also came with a lamb sausage which had a very sweet and unique taste. It was sided with braised Swiss chard and a buttery cauliflower-potato purée which were both so decadent. The pork came from a Mennonite farm and was simply delightful. Mennonite has become a marketing buzz word for ethical treatment of animals but I think at the Harbord Room -they seem to be a socially aware resto. It was juicy and tender but had a bit of fat on it. It was also sided with delicious creamed greens pared with heirloom tomatoes and a mash of sweet potatoes. I pared my main with a glass of the 'duoro' - it was very fresh and had a good intensity and was a really good paring for my meal.

For dessert- we had the flourless chocolate tart and the restaurant sang 'Happy Birthday' to me. Another great dinner!! Thank you Jen!
Harbord Room - 89 Harbord Street, near Spadina

**** stars (out of 5)