5th Element

1055 Bay Street

Toronto, Ontario

I went to the 5th Element for the very kind owner's participation in the annual Winterlicious festival...a three course menu for $25.oo basically.

This restaurant was completely booked solid for the Summerlicious festival in 2007, so I figured I had to book early to get in there and see what all the fuss was about.

So, what was all the fuss about?

Well, the dining atmosphere was pleasant, and the wait staff were competent, if not a little stiff. The menu, however, seemed to be a little confused. With mix of nouveau Indian Canadian flavours, the taste ended up missing the mark entirely.

I went with the blackened shrimp and scallops to start. I will say, the scallops were certainly melt-in-your-mouth, but like the rest of the meal, completely lacked in any sort of flavour. To follow, I had the red snapper fillet on a bed of mushroom tri-coloured linguini. Now, here I was disappointed. The snapper had absolutely no taste, was dry and didn't seem to even be fresh. And the pasta I could've made at home.

My partner's beef carpaccio to start, however, was marinated to perfection and once again, melt-in-your-mouth flavours. So what happened?

I think this is just a hit or miss type of place, meat can be okay, flavours are plain though; and it's definitely one way or the other when it comes to the fish.