Thoroughbred Food & Drink

Wanted to find somewhere in Toronto with a tasting menu, and found this little gem.
Chose the «let us cook for you» at $ 45pp and got 5 delicious courses. Kung pow cauliflower and the flaming chorizo was a hit, and the beef tar tar melted in your mouth.
Every item they brought out they explained incredibly well, and the service was top notch. Would definitely recommend.

We came as a group for a birthday and all had a pleasant experience at Thoroughbred.
The service was impeccable, fast, courteous and just the right amount of small talk with the table from the server. Food came out reasonably fast, and everyone said great things about their dishes (our table had the butternut squash lasagna, pork belly spagehtti, dry-​aged sirloin, albacore tuna, octopus, quinoa beet salad and a few oysters to share and some usual drinks). Everything was delicious and delicately cooked. However, to the cook’s own admittance, they could have given us more pork belly spaghetti (which they voluntarily provided more for the boys at the table, which was very nice). My only criticism is that the main’s are in my opinion, tapas, but well worth the price considering the quality of the food.
Like the previous reviews suggested, it is a hidden spot with little signage outside, so you really need to look out for it. It’s not a place where you go and stuff your months out, but it is a fun spot to go and share a few tapas with friends with drinks. Our group was pleasantly surprised and will definitely return.

After a long night bar hoping, we ended the night at this restaurant. We were seated promptly upstairs and were only here for drinks. Upon heading to our table, we had passed by the chef’s table that was located next to the kitchen in its separate room.
Drinks were same as anywhere else but service was great. The restaurant is hidden and without my friends leading the way, I would not know about this place. Definitely will try the food here next time.

I wasn’t overly impressed by this place. The décor was suitable for a small dinner group (no more than four people). The service was pretty good as well.
We order the following:
Brussels Sprout Caesar Smoked Egg | Brioche | Manchego
— I could not try this dish due to an allergy, but my dinner companion was quite pleased with it.
Pork Belly Spaghetti Squash | Apple | Pickled Ginger
— This was not bad, I would like to have had it a bit more crispy, but the Squash was the highlight in this dish
Octopus Carrots| Sumac Yogurt | Pumpkin Seeds
— This was just ok — I have had far better in many other places — would not recommend if you order octopus on a regular basis
I wouldn’t make a concerted effort to return to Thoroughbred any time soon, but at the same time I wouldn’t be upset should I eat there again…

The food quality was good but a bit pricy for the portion. I went there for a dinner and drink night. I ordered the cauliflower and octopus. The cauliflower was delicious and I would definitely order it again. But the octopus was a bit disappointing. The portion is so small and it doesn’t have too much taste.
The service was good and it is a very cozy hipsterish environment. I would go back there for drinks with friends but not for dinner. They don’t have too many options on the food menu and too little food for each dish.

The daily special was fried chicken and crazy cheap champagne, but it was a tasting menu kind of night for us.
The food was good and served in some interesting ways: the Assador de Barro is house-​made sausage set on fire in a pig clay dish.
The cocktails and conversation were flowing. I loved the bourbon and fig pairing in the Otto e Mezzo, but the highlight of the evening was connecting with a kindred spirit.
Not a bad Tuesday night.

What a pleasant find! Located right across the Scotiabank theatre, this is a 2 story bar and eatery converted from a homey and rustic house on Richmond street.
Relatively small and cozy with comfortable noise level and lighting, the atmosphere of the place was great. The most surprising part was the entrance of a DJ at around 9pm on a Friday to play some live beats right on the first floor dining area — what? Love it.
They have a relatively small menu with the food being mainly sharing plate style. Portions are on the smaller side but we got a bunch of things to share and plate by plate there was an unanimous thumbs up from us — loved all the dishes!
To start, we got some oysters ($ 3.5 each) — fresh and lots of onion in this which I’m a fan of. We couldn’t pass up on the popular Kung pao cauliflower ($ 12) — coated in a thick and sticky sweet and sour sauce, the taste and texture reminds me of breaded sweet and sour shrimp. A TAD too salty for my liking but delicious nonetheless. The flaming pork sausages were also a highlight and our group devoured the 2 links within minutes!
Dessert was also pretty bomb. We ordered all 3 options on the menu. The baked cookie ice cream was too sweet but the apple crumble was really good — tangy and refreshing.
Great experience here and was able to soak in creativity from the food and plating to the environment. Will be back!

Went to Thoroughbred a couple of days ago, I had last been about a year ago.
The food was quite good, with the star of the meal being the Kung Pao Cauliflower. It was quite tasty and the only disappointing part about this dish, is the plating otherwise its a definite must order.
We also ordered the pork belly with spaghetti squash. The pork belly was slightly overcooked but the dish still had plenty of flavour.
The only downside of the meal was the time it took to get my drink (one of their specialty cocktails). I ordered my drink when we arrived and I didn’t receive it till well after all the food had arrived. The staff was quite attentive, checking on us multiple times, and I brought to their attention that I was still waiting on my drink. Sadly this still did not expedite the order. In the end they comp’d the drink and apologised.
Overall the drink was good (when it arrived), the Kung Pao Cauliflower is worth having again, and the service is quite attentive. I just hope that next time attentiveness translates to action.

We were looking for a place to have our staff dinner and I suggested Thoroughbred based on the awesome meal that my boyfriend and I had here a couple of weeks ago. I think it’s safe to say that everyone loved the food and had a great time.
We sat at the Chef’s Table and watched all the food go out. The $ 55 pp tasting menu was great and probably the perfect amount for everyone.
Service was wonderful. We had several people helping us out but they all communicated well and it made for a great night out.
Thanks, Thoroughbred. You are a new favourite of mine!

Excellent service — original cuisine. I had the Brussels Sprout Cesar which was really tasty and the Kung Pao Cauliflower which is big enough for a satisfying meal (for me, at least). But most of the dishes are sized so you can share them which is recommended because there are lots of tasty items on the menu. My server and the bartender were attentive, made excellent and thoughtful recommendations… It’s right across from the Scotiabank Theater.

It’s a Saturday night, and the temperature’s perfect for a drink at a patio. Scoured the streets for a gastropub and our feet brought us to an unassuming spot with a tiny patio. With the name Thoroughbred — I thought it would be a carnivore’s paradise. I was mistaken, pleasantly at that.
This gem of a place features regular ingredients and turns them into stars in their own rights. Take the lowly cauliflower, it used to be just an add on to stews or stir-​fries, but at Thoroughbred, it was the crème Dela crème when transformed into Kung Pao Cauliflower. The blend of cashews, chilies and Cilantro proved to be a winning combination to warrant a box office hit.
The next was the Brussels sprouts Caesar salad. I wasn’t a big fan of this veg, but after last night, I was converted.
We also ordered the albacore tuna tartare with asparagus. It was a very small serving for its price, but the explosion of flavours, I can be forgiving.
Last but not the least, the Reuben sandwich — pickled veal tongue with generous portions of sauerkraut and Gruyère cheese. The crunchy toast with the juicy tongue I’m in tongue high.
With decent options for craft beers and a subtle hipster vibe, I wouldn’t be surprised if this place becomes Toronto’s fave hangout place.
And did I mention service was superb?

Kung Pow Cauliflower! All the way! Never did I think cauliflower could taste so good. Also had the Brussels Sprouts Caesar, also never thought brussels sprouts could taste so good too. I think Thoroughbred has successfully made me like food I never thought I’d love. I also love the atmosphere here — mood lighting, big wooden communal tables. Service is top notch too. The only downside is that it can get really loud.

I came here on a Tuesday night for dinner on the patio.
The food was amazing. I recommend ordering a few items from the menu to share, one from each of the sections. We ordered the Kung Pao Cauliflower (after raving reviews about this), the Beef Short Rib and the Albacore Tuna. The portions were enough for a light meal for two. My favourite was the tuna — it had the perfect mix of citrus flavours with the fresh tuna. We also decided to try the RhuBarbara Streisand (a mixed drink with rhubarb, lemon-​thyme and soda), which was very refreshing. My only pointer is that some of the dishes are more expensive for the amount of food provided — for example the beef short rib was $ 24.
Note that the patio is very small — it fits at most 3 – 4 groups of two. There is however a lot more room on the inside for larger group seating. One good thing about the restaurant’s vibe in general is that it is relatively quiet with not many patrons — this makes for a great place for conversing. I would definitely come back here in the future, hopefully to try the low tea menu on Sundays!

*Summerlicious 2015 dinner
–Chicken Liver Mousse:
The best dish I ate there. The mousse had a smooth consistency that was in perfect contrast with the heavy and rustic spiced carrot bread. Since the chicken liver mousse can be a bit rich, the huckleberries gave a hint of acidity and sweetness to help cut out the fat. However my only «oh no» with this dish was how there should have been more pieces of bread, but I licked the plate clean and I would have gone back just for this dish.
–Kung Pao Cauliflower:
it really tasted like kung pao chicken! The cauliflower had a crisp exterior, not too saucy and had some crunchy texture with the cashews. I believe there was some acidity in the sauce, so the cauliflower was really easy to eat and prepare us for the next course.
–Mushroom Wellington:
The buttery and flaky puff pastry encased the beefy portobello mushroom, and it was seasoned well so I didn’t miss the beef at all, this is a perfect dish for a vegetarian :)! The truffle enhanced the earthy flavor of the mushroom and the tangy onion jam really helped to cut down the heaviness of the wellington.
-‘Fish & Chips’:
This is Thoroughbred’s take on the typical fish and chips. The fish was an Ontario rainbow trout, it was not pan fried nor deep fried so I think it was cooked with by sous-​vide technique?
The fish had a soft and delicate texture, and the homemade chips were lightly salted, which went really well with the fish. With that said, I wish there would have been more pieces of potato chips though :(.
–Chocolate Hazelnut Tart:
To be honest I was quite disappointed when I realized that there was only half of the tart on the plate, I felt cheated lol. Luckily my friend was already quite full from her previous dishes, and the tart itself was quite heavy, so I can forgive that half-​a-​tart issue lol. The tart had a nice crust to fillings ratio. The filling was a semi-​dark chocolate which didn’t overpower the hazelnut taste. Overall the tart had a perfect level of chocolate flavor with a little sweetness!
–Buttermilk Pana Cotta:
I’m not sure what were they trying to do with the presentation! When the bowl arrived, the ice cream already melted, and the pana cotta had a really weird texture… It was melting as well. The slightly sour rhubarb cut through the sweetness of the pana cotta, and you are getting some crunchy texture from that… triangle foamy thing lol… It tasted like yogurt hahaha. I just though the portion was small and had a messy presentation, otherwise it was a pretty good dessert.

Tried again for a full proper dinner and had a much better time. Place was so quiet — very few other people.
Shared the reuban sandwich, broccoli salad, brussels sprouts caesar and the albacore tuna. Everything was really good — the tastes and concepts reminded me of Daisho, which is funny, since the manager at Thoroughbred used to be the manager at momofuku…
Reuban sandwich was made with warm, pickled veal tongue, which was great. Messy, but good. The brussels sprouts were fried and they came with a runny egg to mush about. Sashimi style tuna matched well with crunchy cut up asparagus.
I would definitely go back for dinner, and would recommend dining family style/​sharing. I stayed away from the cocktails this time and just had wine, which was lovely. High price point for what you get because of the area, but overall a good, positive experience.

I came here thinking about the kung pao cauliflower but ended up getting the brussel sprouts caesar, which was superb. Loved the runny egg yolk that dressed the caramelized sprouts. The beef tongue reuben was so tender and flavorful. Unfortunately the bottom piece of bread was completely soggy, but the top was nicely crisp. I sat at the bar and the bartenders took great care of me.

Happy to have stumbled upon this cute converted Victorian house turned restaurant. This was a good choice for cocktails with some sharing plates. We let the server make recommendations for food and drinks and was satisfied with the choices made.
Ended up trying the kung pao califlower (signature dish it seems — saucy and flavourful but missing a crunch or crispiness in the texture), brussel sprouts caesar (tasty and unique but I wish there were more brussel sprouts), the pogos (yummy but small), rueben sandwich (the meat was almost too soft for my liking) and tons of cocktails (too many to mention and admit to having, but all were deliciously boozy). Ordering bartender’s choice was the best decision of the night since I got to try a variety of cocktails not listed on the menu.
Verdict: The staff is very friendly and helpful, the atmosphere is not douchy or too hipsterish, and the cocktails are lush-​worthy, but the price of food is a tad high for what is it. All in all, a good experience but nothing there that wowed me to definitely return. Although, seeing jello shots as an option was a funny surprise.

Despite the horse logo, Thoroughbred does not serve horse. Nor do they sell live horses. I mean, I didn’t double check with the waitstaff or anything, but I’m pretty sure it’s a negative.
Even though I feel that everyone has a horse except for me — and that visiting Thoroughbred has brought me closer to a real, live My Little Pony, my experience here tonight was a positive one.
The vibe is, of course, a little hipstery with the unvarnished tables, generally dim but cozy interior and vintage-​style cutlery. I say «of course» because it’s pretty much in the Queen Street West district. In a nice way though. No pretentions and no staff who pretend to be too cool to emote. As I mentioned before, these peeps are nice. Shoutouts to the gentleman who greeted at the door and Sandra, the pleasant lady who provided friendly service and great dish recommendations.
My date/​main girl for life and I split the Kung Pao Cauliflower ($ 11) and Chicken Seine ($ 79). Soigné, says Google, is essentially being dressed in fancy gear, and a term generally reserved for the hoomins. Cuuute.
The cauliflower had a crisp exterior, with a great ratio of sauce to keep it interesting without making it soggy, almost like tapping through the top of a crème brûlée. My companion remarked that she loved the almost lemony acidity of the sauce. Helpful to make way in our tummies too, as it was followed by a two person share of the chicken.
Packed around a finger’s width of foie gras, the chicken is rolled, packed, and cut into neat 2-​inch circles and topped with a sliver of black truffle each. The chicken is served with a gravy of the chicken jus mixed with Madeira and other ingredients. The most important part of the gravy is that it’s served in a little pouring container (my guess is it’s meant for milk in coffee) which is shaped like a miniature white cow. The gravy comes out of its mouth. I found this pretty much hilarious! I am easily amused, but I digress. The chicken was moist and juicy, and I suspect sous-​vide was at play. Even without the gravy, the chicken was delicious. My only wish is that the foie gras was seared, but that’s always my preferred method of eating foie anyway.
For dessert, we had truffles. A choice of 5 flavours, each truffle is $ 2.50, or $ 10 for the flight of all flavours. M’lady enjoyed her peanut butter in dark chocolate, and while my honey ganache milk chocolate was too sweet for my personal tastes, I would still be willing to try the others.
All in all, I would be willing to come back again, and would recommend it as a cozy date spot where you can actually chat and enjoy the food and company.
Tip: Ask for seating upstairs, which is much quieter than the downstairs bar seating.

Giving them +1 star because after reading my Unilocal review, they not only reached out to me to apologize for what happened, but also invited me back to try and remedy the situation.
I must give credit to a business when they make a good attempt at service recovery because it shows they do listen to their customers and they do care. I couldn’t return but I still appreciate the notion.

And they’re off…
No mechanical bulls, country karaōke or horse tartare at this place. Instead you get fresh, attractive and innovative bar food in a cozy yet funky setting. The owners are present and together with the waitstaff work hard to make your experience ideal.
There is a decent cocktail list and a handful of draught and bottled craft beer available.
At this time, the bar menu is surprisingly vegetable based but one can still indulge on hot dogs, burgers and sweetbreads and seafood snacks.
Personally, I had the olives (with slim jim and pepperoncini peppers), roasted broccoli marrow (a vegetarian version on bone marrow), the bloomin’ scallion (a twist on the Outback’s bloomin’ onion) and the summer squash. Each was well balanced and visually appealing.
There are big plans for this place including a 35 seat dining room upstairs and a chef’s table offering flexible and unique dining packages for 6 – 10 people.
This place can either have the success of Secretariat or the unfortunate fate of Barbaro but if the initial experience is an indication of what’s to come, I’ll place my wager on the former.