The Chase

After all the great reviews I’ve seen for The Chase, we must have been exceptionally unlucky. We arrived promptly for our 6:30 reservation. The restaurant itself is beautiful. It was very busy and from the outset the service was incredibly slow. It took ½ hour to receive 1 glass of wine and bread. We even had to ask for bread, even though it was on all the other tables. The focaccia bread with melted strawberry butter and chives was absolutely delicious. We were happy the portion was large as we waited so long for our other courses that we ending up devouring the whole loaf.
We decided to splurge on the appetizer and ordered the Burrata for 2 which cost $ 44. What a disappointment. Burrata is supposed to be served at room temperature so that it is very creamy and runny. This was straight out of the fridge and as solid as any regular mozzarella. The sour dough crisps that came with it were delicious but so thin, you couldn’t put the cheese on them, they just disintegrated. It was supposed to be served with guanciale, and there were 2 crumbs of it on the plate. The dressing was so scant as to be tasteless, and there were a few other small drips of things on the plate. This was a complete fail and incredibly over priced even if it had been served properly.
Then the real wait began! Our server periodically reappeared and said our mains should be up soon. After being there for over 1 ½ hours we spoke to the manager who went to hunt down our food. After about 5 minutes our food arrived and it was cold! However there was no way we were sending it back because we were starving.
I ordered the butter poached lobster ($ 55). There are 2 main pieces of lobster, one of which was completely overcooked and rubbery, and the other one was perfectly cooked and delicious (but cold). My husband had the Arctic Char, which was delicious (but cold). The frites were so cold that we didn’t eat them. Key lime cake for dessert was excellent. The manager very kindly took care of our bill due to the poor service and cold food, but I would have rather had a great meal and paid the bill.

Found this gem after walking to another restaurant around the corner that was closed. Nice location, although the porta potty across the street was a definite turn off to sit outside. Not very busy on arrival however it soon picked up at the end of business day for local offices. Oysters to start were amazing and set us in good steed to continue. Shrimp and grits for main course was great with the poached egg a top addition. The only groan for me was how small the shrimp were, there needed to be a few more and/​or larger. But all in all a great late lunch experience, banana cheesecake topped it off nicely

This review is for The Chase Fish and Oyster. I enjoyed the service and ambiance, but wasn’t too impressed with the food.
Ordered:
Asparagus — nicely roasted, but too salty
Lobster roll — roll was a bit too sweet and dense for my liking (more of a brioche)
Clam chowder — comes with a dropper bottle of rum, which you are supposed to mix in. This was one of the best dishes of the night. Would order this again
Oyster po boy sliders — these were nicely done. Would order this again.
Octopus — there was quite a bit of lobster on the plate and very filling. But I wasn’t a huge fan of the sauce it came in.
Pork rib taco — too much bbq sauce! Didn’t enjoy this.
Shrimp and grits — this is categorized under the ‘large’ plates but there really isn’t all that much food in the dish. There were about 7 small shrimps. I liked the flavour of this dish though!
Key lime angel cake for dessert — this was probably the highlight of the night. Angel cake with key lime layers all coated in a marshmallowy fluff. And with toasted coconut on the side. It was very sweet, and portion big, so I would recommend sharing this.
Overall, I found the food in general to be too salty/​seasoned in that the sauces overpowered the food flavours.

A friend organized a Monday night $ 30 per person AYCE oyster night. Chase didn’t disappoint!!!
Made RSVP for 10 people at 8pm, sat down and was told Kushi was sold out. They served Malpeque oysters instead. The oysters really were all you can eat, I had just over 100 oysters for $ 30… Hence a 5 star rating.
Towards the end, they ran out of Malpeque and started serving us Komamoto’s which I didn’t like but are more expensive oysters…
We also ordered tried many of the other items on the menu, all were pretty tasty. But, $ 30pp for truly all you can eat oysters was unbelievable! We asked the bills to be separate, my bill for 1 person came up to $ 130 including tip, so other items are pretty pricy (but I definitely good my money’s worth and more). Overall a great experience! Bread was really good too. — should definitely ask for it!
Would totally recommend Monday Oyster night and a «special occasion dinner» consider the plating, service, and food quality.

During our most recent visit to Toronto, this was the best restaurant we had. Recommended by our hotel concierge, we had no particular expectations about the food or service. The entrance is in an alleyway, and you enter the bar/​oyster bar restaurant where a hostess meets you. Unless you ask to dine downstairs, you are directed to an elevator which takes you to a top floor with a huge dining room and outdoor terrace bar. The multiple hostesses who took people to their tables were gracious and elegant without pretension. The servers were efficient and personable. The food, especially the seafood, was sublime. The wine list offered few inexpensive options, but made up for that by having a lot of wines that are highly allocated and not available in retail outlets. We ate upstairs the first time we went, then came back two nights later and ate downstairs. The experiences were differenrt but both were wonderful.

This review is for the downstairs of The Chase. I think it’s named slightly different. The Chase Fish and Oysters?
Food:
Barbecue broccoli: 3 stars
Bay platter: 2.5 stars
Key lime cake: 5 stars
I thought the barbecue broccoli was alright. My friend really enjoyed the broccoli relish, but I found it a little tasteless and I wasn’t even sure what it was until I reviewed the menu just now. There was also crispy chicken skins?! I thought it was just deep fried dough around the broccoli, but it did taste great. Not a bad appetizer but best broccoli award still goes to the broccoli yakitori at Yokohama.
Bay platter was really just an overpriced seafood platter. I think I was too hyped up about it and it led to disappointment. The only remarkable parts of the Bay platter were the clams and the tuna. The raw tuna was prepared with some sort of sesame oil and it was delicious! Clams and oysters were fresh and nicely shucked. A few clams had some sand in it but not really an issue. Lobster was a good size but no seasoning whatsoever, just cold plain lobster. Menu says there is crab but what they really mean is a chunk of 3 crab legs… not A crab. Both the lobster and the crab was underwhelming. Scallops came as a ceviche and there wasn’t much of it. I think among the 3 of us, we each got 1 – 2 small pieces of scallop. For $ 110, you’re really just paying for the privilege of fine dining.
Key lime cake was AMAZING! Never really had key lime anything before but I might start now after this cake. Soft and creamy. Slightly tangy with just a hint of lime. I would say this was the best part of the meal.
Ambiance: 4 stars
Very nice and classy interior. We changed our reservations from upstairs to downstairs so they could only accommodate us with a table at the lounge and the lounge was nice so no complaints. High wooden tables and chairs. The only odd thing is the entrance. It’s located down an alley way on the side of the patio.
Service: 4 stars
Our waitress was wonderful. Friendly and on top of things. Our table was always cleared with each new item being served. Water was refilled periodically. We actually had another gentleman who served us near the beginning and he was also very helpful with the menu. Great service overall.

A colleague and I recently stopped by the Chase for dinner. I was very impressed by the restaurant, especially the décor and view. It has great ambiance and service was impeccable.
I thought the food was decent, but not amazing. For the prices, I expected more. We started out with the salmon crudo and the avocado roll. For entrees we went with the spinach pasta and artic char. The wasabi was overpowering in the crudo dish and there were more mushrooms in the «pasta» dish than pasta. The waiter also pushed us to order the frites, which were nothing special — just the basic truffle fries you can get a lot of places.
Important note — they have no vegetarian food on their menu!

I think 4 stars should have been the natural rating for this restaurant. I believe service and ambience is good. The ambience is a good balance between homey and quiet elegance. The idea of being able to enjoy good seafood in downtown Toronto alone, should have been a sure win. Fisherman’s Wharf fanned on that shot greatly and folded. So let’s face it, The Chase can win this without even breaking a sweat. Where did they go wrong?
Simple, the food was just simply not that stunning. They had options, but only just. This restaurant may have been accidentally bowled over by its own internet presence, because the Unilocal reviews surely catapulted it to heights that it never could beat. I found that the lack of choices in late June seemed a bit unusual considering how great my fellow Unilocalers were raving about this place.
Choice being an issue, the next was really the portions. Did I say quiet elegance earlier with regards to the ambience? That’s because it had that hint of upscale posh. It brought with it a swagger of confidence, that it will attract the young and ambitious. I felt it, looking at the menu, the meal being served, and felt that I just wasn’t one of those young and ambitious young people who are often stereotyped to require a high class gym membership, a high kale-​based diet, complete with a strict adherence to eating very little. All of that, topped with a very luxurious paycheck that allows them to go through with this meal without hardly blinking an eye. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think less of the stereotype I just listed, I just know I’m not really the type of person The Chase is trying to cater to.
In all honesty though, the food tasted great (especially if you ordered the more flamboyant choices or the seafood bake). I just can’t help but think, I could have a better spend of money elsewhere and feel more fulfilled in the end. It felt like going for a fancy meal, but all I ended up getting was fancy, but not much of a meal.
Will I come back? I have my doubts. I won’t discourage people from going, but I think you really need to pre-​eat before going. Wait, doesn’t that defy the purpose of going to a restaurant to eat in the first place?

Organized a bachelor party here and the planning and service was awesome. We actually dinner at Chase Fish and Oyster for a group of about 10 guys. We pretty much shared the entire menu and everything came out tasty. Of course you gotta be into seafood at a place like this and the oysters are the way to go. Fancy drinks and apps are available to get you started. I would pass on he soups though and just get the main. Def would try this place again!

Note: this review is for their Winterlicious menu however, I have been here during their regular menu and I’d rate it a 3.5 out of 5.
Started with the salmon tartare and I loved it — it was probably my fav part of the 3 courses (although my cab sauv was pretty fab too).
Entrée was the Atlantic char and although it was also really nice, my friend got the braised ribs that I contemplated and eventually tried and they definitely tasted better.
And finally got the donut, which was also really nice but I thought it could have been a little more fresh/​warm.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen any of these options of their regular menu and I typically find myself at The Chase for work events and I always enjoy my meals here. So, I definitely recommend this spot — especially for the wine list/​cocktails after work.
Also note: they have $ 20 valet available

The Chase was the only Winterlicious restaurant I attended this year and I was ecstatic, I’ve heard great things about the chase so at a $ 35 price point I thought it was a steal considering an entrée can range from $ 25 – 60 a plate.
We started off with around of oyster shooters for the table, it was fresh and light without an overly alcholicy aftertaste. It was a perfect way to start off a great meal.
I started off with the Salmon Tartar (Horseradish Crème Fraiche, Beet Relish, Crispy Capers). I loved everything about this dish, from the delicate salmon to the sweet beets and the salty capers. Everything was perfectly balanced and the lightly toasted bread was a great vessel without being overly crunchy.
The Lobster & Tomato Bisque (Brandy & Green Peppercorn Cream) was the other appetizer that was one of the other choices. The soup was creamy and full of flavour but I felt like it was more like a tomato bisque with chunks of lobster.
The Pan Seared Arctic Char (Potato Rosti, Braised Red Cabbage, Caramelized Apple, Chestnut) was hands down the favourite of the night. The star of the dish was the char skin, it was incredibly crispy and was cooked to perfection & light.
The Braised Beef Short Rib (Stone Ground Grits, Wild Mushroom & Charred Scallion Relish, Crispy Onions) was a great choice for meat eaters, super hearty and fulling. The dish as a whole was a little too heavy for me from the creamy grits to the meaty short rib all topped off with fried onions but nothing to cut the richness.
I’m always on the fence about ordering donuts from restaurants because I’m not a fan of cake donuts, so when our server mentioned it was a yeast donut I had nothing else on my mind, donut for dessert it was! Donuts (Cinnamon Apple Compote, Caramel, Calvados Cream).
My favourite dessert was the Caramelized Banana Sundae (Peanut butter Ice Cream and Warm Date Toffee) something about the deliciously sweet toffee & caramelized banana with the contrast of the salty peanut butter ice cream was heavenly. Sweet, salty, hot and cold, everything in one dessert.
I’ll definitely be back for their regular menu and will be a must for all ‘licious events. I must say it was one of my favourite restaurants for the $ 35 price point.

I was incredibly impressed.
The food was incredible. I got the Avocado appetizer which is healthier version of a California roll: an avacado roll with shrimp on the inside and little pieces of grapefruit on top.
For my main I got the Halibut and I was blown away. The fish was perfect and well complimented by the capers, the browned tartar sauce, and all the veggies.
Everyone was satisfied with their meals and I would definitely go again. Service was slow though so budget time.

This review is based on just the service.
Originally my boyfriend and I were booked for Winterlicious. After being seated for 5 mins unattended, the fire alarm went off. How lucky eh? We spotted the staff letting tables know what was going on, but no one came to our table. We continued to sit through the alarm and after another 5 minutes our server finally came to ask if we were ready to order, not addressing the alarm issue. It wasn’t until we asked, the waiter said he will get more information and let us know. He did not come back. Not knowing when the alarm would stop, we just decided to leave.
Not the kind of service I was expecting at a restaurant like this.

I’ve been wanting to check out The Chase for a while, and Winterlicious was offering a pretty decent-​looking menu, so that settled that.
We decided to veer away from the Winterlicious menu and order six oysters to start with. I’m no oyster expert, but these were very tasty, meaty, and shucked extremely well. A promising beginning.
I decided to start with the Salmon Tartar (Horseradish Crème Fraiche, Beet Relish, Crispy Capers). This was definitely a decent appetizer, though perhaps not as flavorful as I might’ve hoped. More seasoning might have helped, probably. But the chunks of fish were delicious and plentiful.
(A brief digression: I think it’s extremely odd that a seafood place would have only one seafood option for the main course. Who goes to a place like this and orders vegetable lasagna or beef short rib? Psychotics, that’s who.)
So I got the Pan Seared Arctic Char (Potato Rosti, Braised Red Cabbage, Caramelized Apple, Chestnut) as my main course. I’ll start by saying that the fish was cooked perfectly and that the potato rosti was surprisingly delicious. But, like the appetizer, this essentially came off as a decent dish that simply wasn’t elevated at all. It feels like something I could’ve made at home with a little effort, and if this is indicative of the kind of dishes on offer at The Chase, I’m surprised the restaurant was as crowded as it was.
The dessert, Caramelized Banana Sundae (Vanilla Ice Cream and Warm Date Toffee), was an extremely underwhelming note to end on. The banana, what little there was, was hardly caramelized at all, and the overwhelming taste was vanilla ice cream.
If I had paid 20 bucks for my meal, I probably wouldn’t be this disappointed. I doubt I’d ever go back.

Long overdue review of the Chase! I came here last week for Winterlicious with my friends. I was excited to try the Chase since I heard great reviews.
First off — I heard the restaurant has multiple floors. We were seated on the main floor. Love the décor, modern and sleek design. They have a lot of staff running around serving people and Managers walking around to check in on guests. Great customer service.
I ordered the salmon tartare to start. It was good but I didn’t like the bread/​crackers that came with it. It was a chewy and crunchy type of bread if that makes sense. I wish they served it with just a crisp bread or cracker. For my main I ordered the Arctic char. Delicious and cooked wonderfully. Loved it. The cabbage I wasn’t a big fan of but overall the dish was excellent. Finally for dessert we all wanted chocolate cake because it sounded amazing! But when we got it, it was super dry like a muffin. We were hoping for a super moist chocolate cake but got a dark chocolate muffin with caramel popcorn and peanut ice cream. The ice cream was delicious but it couldn’t save this chocolate cupcake/​muffin thing. The manager checked up on us and we gave him our honest opinion — not a fan of the chocolate cake. And so he said he would bring out another dessert for us to share (so nice and made up for it)! So we end up sharing the apple donut with caramel sauce.
Those who are getting the dessert, get the donut, it was recommended by our server but of course me loving chocolate I ordered the wrong thing. It’s not a bread donut. More like a cake style donut with caramel drizzled on the plate.
I would love to come back to the chase. Hope they do summerlicious!

I came here with my friends earlier tonight for winterlicious after reading so many great reviews about this place! And I’m so glad we came! The entrance is a little tricky to get into, it’s actually at the side in the alleyway!
We had a super nice server who kindly gave us his recommendations (he said get the donut for dessert). I ordered the salmon tartar with three small pieces of bread and that was really good, I found the beet relish paired quite well with the tartar. For main, I had the pan seared arctic char and I think this would have to be my favourite out of the whole meal. The skin was crispy and the fish wasn’t dry at all. Highly recommend.
Lastly, for dessert I had the chocolate cake with peanut ice cream and little bits of popcorn. The chocolate cake didn’t taste exactly like cake. more like a muffin or a cupcake kind of texture. I did like the ice cream though. One of the managers came by and asked how our desserts were, and my friends gave their opinion (we all had the chocolate cake except one friend). And the manager decided to give us a complimentary dessert (the donut) and thanked us for our feedback! The donut was great btw, it had apples and cinnamon inside. so yums!
Honestly, this is such a great place! I loved the service! It was excellent there was even one server who folded my friends napkin while she was in the washroom! Like wow! I’d definitely wanna visit here again especially for their oysters (drools).

My fiancé has been wanting to go here for the longest time, but part of me has kinda given up on fine dining in Toronto. I’m tired of going out, spending a ton of money and leaving disappointed. Since it was her birthday yesterday I decided to give it a go and booked us a table for 2.
Upon arriving at the restaurant it looked really quiet in the main floor. Fortunately we weren’t dining there as that is their other restaurant, which I’m sure is great, but is nowhere near as beautiful as their top floor main restaurant.
We rode the elevator up with a staff member who had been there since it had opened who mentioned that he loved working there since most of the staff stayed the same and we’re all basically the same ones who opened the restaurant (a good sign). Upon exiting the elevator we were immediately greeted by a hostess who already knew who we were (probably notified from the downstairs one) and are coats were taken and we made our way through the stunning restaurant.
The restaurant sits five floors up on Temperance street and has a Vegas style feel to it. By that I mean very elegant, high ceilings, big chandeliers and more. A room they clearly put some thought into knowing people are coming to spend a nice chunk of change to eat there. The tables had a bench which was basically a sofa on one side and an extremely comfortable chair on the other. I felt super comfortable there immediately and it has a classy yet cozy feel to the place.
Service was spot on throughout the entire meal, what you’d expect from fine dining. By this I mean napkins folded when you get up, cutlery changed at every course, never having to ask for a drink or water refill and very friendly with a smile. The staff all seemed to love being there which makes the experience even better.
We ordered the avocado shrimp dish and octopus to start along with the tuna and the Arctic char for mains. The apps range around $ 20 and the mains between $ 30-​$ 60 (with minimal sides). We ordered a bottle of a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand which was to die for ($ 87) to wash it all down. They brought an amuse bouche which was nothing special and some of the greatest bread I’ve ever tasted to start with a nice apple butter glaze on top.
The octopus was the best I’ve ever had, the avocado dish delicious but forgettable when compared to the octopus. The tuna was so tasty and the Arctic char had incredible flavour and texture contrasts. They were even kind enough to bring a chocolate desert for my fiancé since I mentioned it was her birthday which was chocolate heaven. Overall this was the best meal I’ve ever had in Toronto.
Total came to $ 225 + tip so it’s more of a special occasions place (unless you are balling out of control) but we will definitely be heading back hopefully sooner than later.

The experience for me was quite average. As a huge seafood fan, I had high expectations for this place. I absolutely loved how the place was decorated! They had huge sails hung up in the ceiling with nice light blue furniture giving a sense of the ocean. However, I was as impressed with the food as the interior design.
The experience started quite well with the appetizers. The «Bigeye Tuna Nachos» was quite nice. The tuna was light yet flavourful and both the nachos and the shaved carrots added a nice crunch to the texture of the dish. Quite pleased as I would give this dish a 4 to 4.5 stars out of 5.
For the main course, I had gotten the fresh catch of the day. I was told by my server that the texture and flavour of the fish resembled that of the sea bass. When the dish arrived, I had a bad feeling that this was not what I had expected. Nevertheless, I love fish so I was not too picky. The fish was overcooked, flakey and had a strong «fishy» flavour to it. I was looking for something on the plate to balance the ‘fishy’ taste, but there was only coleslaw left since I already ate the grains (My asian genes kicked in and went for the grains first) :”(
I did not have a great experience like most of the people on Unilocal did, but I think it may be due to my poor decisions in ordering. I would definitely be willing to give this place another try. Hope your experience and my next one will be better!

Love this place!
Brought my boyfriend here to celebrate him passing the CPA exam:). This restaurant definitely lived up to my expectation! Reserved a spot online at OpenTable and got a table on the 5^th floor.
I ordered the octopus for appetizer and scallop risotto as a main dish. Taste pretty awesome! The Main dish took a while to come but the waitress was very attentive and kept following up for us.
They gave us complimentary dessert at the end because of the long wait which is a plus!:)
Will definitely come back again.

Service and venue makes The Chase happen.
Went for a nice dinner at another restaurant but decided out of the blue to try The Chase for drinks. We were welcomed by two hostesses who directed us to the elevator to the rooftop patio. Upon exiting the elevator we were greeted by another hostess who seated us immediately outside. Our waitress was there in seconds to greet us and was amazingly friendly.
We only had a glass of wine and a cocktail but found the atmosphere, the drinks, and the service to be fantastic. Prices are a little higher here (just under $ 50 for two drinks, tip, and taxes) but worth it.
Will be back to try the food.