Ursa, Toronto

Urs
I was in Toronto for the evening and my friends took me to Ursa for dinner.   I wish I had spent some time in the neighborhood that Ursa resides in.  You can see the changes taking place.  Lots of funky coffee shops, art galleries, clothing stores, etc. 

Ursa has a great vibe.  The room is simple and I’d guess about 50 seats.  In the back is the open kitchen.  The menu is small and changes seasonally using fresh local ingredients.  Each plate is beautifully presented and you can see that a lot of detail goes into everything that comes out of the kitchen.

Hamachi
I started with slices of Hamachi laid over a house-made miso, pickled ginger and a swath of preserved lemon, kumquat and buttermilk.  Creative.  I loved the little dandelion flowers that were placed on top.

Tofu
My friend had the house-made tofu served with freshwater bonito, radish, ginger and yuzu.

Salad
We all split one of the salads called winter roots.  Root vegetables served either raw, dried or preserved with a walnut vinaigrette and kefir lime.

Pork
For my main meal, I had the pork.  Whey brined Niagara pork loin with a apple cider glazed pork belly.  The pork belly cut through like butter.  The mixture of flavors with this were fiddleheads, lentils and a sunchoke puree and some blueberry mustard.  A light brown sauce was poured over.  Everything was really delicious and although deconstructed it all worked.

Chicken
My friend had the chicken served with an amaranth and quinoa polenta, wild leeks, smoked mushrooms and preserved lemons.

Whitefish
My other friend had the fish.  Georgian Bay Whitefish with northern white beans, cauliflower and almonds.

Milk&honey
Of course we had to split a dessert.  This was called Milk & Honey.  Sweet whipped ricotta with Rosewood honeycomb, Leatherwood honey, Bee pollen, dried pear and spelt rye.  We each got a small shot of the spelt rye.  Quite delicious. 

Very cool restaurant with a unique blend of flavors, vibe and a good menu.  Best part, of course, was the company.

Comments (Archived):

  1. rebeccastees

    What does spelt rye taste like?

    1. Gotham Gal

      strange.

  2. William Mougayar

    You were in Toronto while I was in NYC? That area you were in is Queen West- it’s the closest to the Village (in NY) that Toronto can offer. Ursa is on our list to go to actually- it’s fairly new. By the sound of your review, it looked pretty good and a keeper. Thanks.

    1. Gotham Gal

      really liked that area.

  3. The Gal's Got Game

    What a find! Time to be a tourist in my own city, eh? Actually need to find a restaurant for a dinner next month.  Will definitely add this to the list. Thanks Gotham Gal!

  4. Niclaire

    Oh! i love food like that. Thanku very much