Olivia's at 53

53 Clinton Street

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Olivia's website boasts "With her new name, owners and menu, this once-quirky cantina has morphed into the only resto in town with its own microwinery..." I have to wonder, what exactly does the new management provide? And is the only attraction the restraurant has is its microwinery? Because the food certainly isn't good. The only positive thing I can say about Olivia's at 53 is that they have a great patio spot - tucked away behind Cafe Diplomatico, on quiet Clinton, but still close to the College West scene.

However, when a chef can't cook fingerling potatoes, I have an issue with that. My partner and I took a friend who was in Toronto for the evening due to her career as a flight attendant to Olivia's, thinking she would have a great TO experience. Let me also mention, this friend is from the south of France. Which basically means: food is damn important. So we thought with the way the menu looked online, matched with the location, this would be a great choice.

Among the three of us, we ordered trout, pork and lamb as main dishes. However, between the three dishes I couldn't distinguish one flavour except for boring. From $25-28.00 per plate, I was severly disappointed to find that I could've made each dish at home, and better. Back to the fingerling potatoes - originally overfried, tasted like they were left to sit around all day, just to be reheated per dish, and then hardened due to this fact. As the chef at Olivia's, he should have been embarassed to put that on a plate.

I will never be going back to Olivia's at 53. The food is extremely overpriced for the astroundingly poor quality that is received on the plate. I do not recommend this restaurant for anyone, unless you're only sitting on the patio for drink.