Monsoon
4 February 2005, the wee hours
Winterlicious is a good time to try out new restaurants in Toronto. For two weeks plenty of very fancy places offer up fixed menus at very good prices. This past Wednesday my friends and I decided to try out an Asian Fusion restaurant in the city called Monsoon.
We originally had a party of four, which included myself, Carvill, Rishi and Mezan. Dave’s return to Toronto from Ottawa bumped us up to five, and inadvertently bumped us up to a nicer table—well, I thought it was nicer. We were seated right in the centre of the restaurant. The tables around us were your normal dining tables capable of seating four comfortably. The table we were seated was a giant orange-brown slab of wood, metal, and plastic enclosed on three sides by booth-sofa-style seats. The table looked great, but was so big having a conversation proved difficult.
Monsoon is a nice looking place; both the bar and the restaurant have been designed well. The restaurant was quite busy while we were there, and was filled with a good number of attractive looking people—always a bonus.
The service was quite good. Everyone except for Rishi arrived on time, and while it was just the four of us we couldn’t go a few mintues without a waiter coming to check on us. That changed when Rishi arrived. It took a little while to be served, but once they got our order the service was back to being quite prompt. Everyone at the restaurant was quite friendly.
I was less then impressed with the food. None of my dishes were that good. They weren’t bad either, but I was expecting more. My appetizer was a butternut squash and apple soup, it was interesting to say the least. It looked and tasted like baby food. I enjoyed it, but didn’t think it was stellar. My main was a veal dish, which tasted like mutton, served on top of some mash potatoes. I can’t say I enjoyed it at all. I liked the desert a lot, but I think it’s hard to mess up a chocolate cake. Everyone got the cake except for Rishi. His green tea crème brulé was apparently quite amazing.
I don’t know if I’d go back to Monsoon to eat, however the place is nice enough that it’s probably a cool place to go get drinks.
You forgot to mention the extremely low level of the sofa compared to the table. I could barely eat.
I thought the food was pretty good but I normally wouldn’t go back there for dinner due to the price. Then again, I’m typically eating things like pho or McD.
by mk on February 4 2005, 2:53 am #
I think I enjoyed the meal most out of everyone. I was thoroughly satisfied with my meal, although having tasted what Ram ordered, I can agree his food was less than impressive. At least the wine was good, right? I would go back, but only if I was seated at a normal table. The centre tables are waaaaay to high for those benches.
by rishi on February 4 2005, 11:32 am #
The wine was really good—even though it didn’t taste like old leather. I liked the bizarre center table. I think being at a normal table would have been boring.
by ramanan on February 4 2005, 11:49 am #
Don’t get me wrong, it was good.
by mk on February 4 2005, 2:47 pm #