O & B Canteen - glorified cafeteria

Canteen is one of the new Oliver & Bonacini restaurants to open up amongst it's esteem collection (Auberge de Pommier, Canoe, Biff's Bistro) to name a few in the gorgeous Tiff Bell lightbox.  With the reputation and force of O&B, I came expecting more from the experience.  Overall it was a thoroughly middle of the road 'canteen' or cafeteria. The interior is an open concept white space with a fresh market cafe and bakery so you can 'grab and go' before heading to catch a flick at the Bell Lightbox or  you can wait to be seated and dine in. 
 My friend Tracy and I were meeting for a long overdue catch up and after waiting about 10 minutes to be seated, were taken to a table.  It was busy during the dinner rush and there was a constant flow of people coming in.  The menu was quite simple with pizzas, sandwiches, salads and a few specials.

We started with the beet root salad ($7), a little bowl of red and white beets with hazelnuts and fresh tarragon. The portion size was a small appetizer serving.  It was a healthy and good choice The nuts were nice and added a crunchy texture to the beets.
We ordered the vegetarian curry and it came out in a large yellow tangine.  It was humongous and I was definitely glad we were sharing it.  While the presentation was great; the dish was bland. There was really no potent or curry like flavours and it just flopped.  We also had the proschiutto sandwich - which was nothing special and only a thin layer of proschiutto was offered.

The one saving grace for us was the french fries.  They aren't on the menu but you can order them and they are very good! They are a small red Le Cruest bowl of parmasean fries with house made catsup.  YUMMO!
I can see this would be nice in the summer with it's patio as a prime people-watching spot and would only come back to snack on fries or have a cocktail before a movie.
** stars
 O & B Canteen

Address: 330 King St. West
TIFF Bell Lightbox
Toronto, Ontario

Phone: 647.288.4710

www.oliverbonacini.com