Garlic’s Of London

4.5÷5
I have been to Garlic’s 4 or 5 times in the past few years and have always had a pleasant experience. Their service is always friendly and the food is consistently amazing. My favourite dish here is the Muscovy Duck Breast paired with gnocchi, a blend of veggies and some kind of sauce reduction. I’ve had duck breast at a few other places in Toronto and London but nothing really measured up to how tasty it was at Garlic’s. In fact, my friend and I were just raving about it a few days ago (hence me writing this review haha). Their garlic fries are also worth trying for an appetizer.
The only downside to this place is that it is a bit pricey — the duck breast alone was $ 29 so it can really add up if you order an appetizer and drink as well.
Ambience wise, it is quite similar to a few other fancier restaurants in London (Tasting Room, Blu Duby) in that they are dimly lit and very cozy.
All in all, Garlic’s is a great place to visit for special occasions or a date night. I will be going again in two weeks to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I guess you know what I’ll be ordering ;)

I had the gnocchi and it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be, but it was adequate. My boyfriend got the seafood pasta and he loved it! We also loved the bread and we got the mussels and they were the best part! Giving it 3 stars because again, I didn’t think my entrée was that great especially at the price at Garlics.

When I think fancy pasta and garlic, I think of Garlic’s. I don’t go often but the food is always good, I have never had food or bad service here. Even though they are known for garlic dishes they are have enough choices to please even non-​garlic lovers. The Garlic ice cream is always the highlight.

My husband and I were traveling through London on his birthday and stopped here for dinner. Atmosphere in the restaurant was very trendy and chic, but the service was slow. The food was good — nothing incredible. For an appetizer we ordered the garlic frites. They came with a creamy garlic and onion dipping sauce that was very good. I had the cast iron skillet Mac and cheese with chicken. The chicken (free range) was excellent, but the noodles were somewhat mushy. The meal was overall good, but not really worth what we paid (about $ 100) for it.

The place is beautiful and upscale, the service was fast, but I didn’t find the food was worth the money I spent!

Food: ⁵⁄₅
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Location: ⁴⁄₅
Three words: LOBSTER MAC & CHEESE. It will change your life.
Garlic’s is one of my favourite restaurants that I’ve dined at in London so far. The dishes were rich and flavourful, the atmosphere was cozy and romantic, plus the service was great!
We started with a brie and garlic toast — absolutely incredible! It was served piping hot and the perfect amount of gooey cheesiness on top of crusty bread. But the piece de resistance was definitely the cast iron skillet mac & cheese. We had the option of adding lobster for an extra $ 9 and it was probably one of the greatest decisions of my life. The dish was presented beautifully and it tasted like heavenly comfort food– the right amount of richness and cheese with the lobster as an added premium touch.
This is a great date spot, but fresh breath beware — the place is called GARLIC’S after all! Bring a pack of gum and a handful of mints if you’re trying to go in for the smooch later on.

My FAVOURITE restaurant in London! Service is very quick, servers are extremely knowledgeable, and friendly. I had the privilege of dining there a couple times while I was working in London, and I am excited to return just to eat there! I recommend it if you want a guaranteed great meal with a warm and welcoming atmosphere :)
Favourite dishes:
— Brie & Garlic Toast
— Garlic Bisque
— Smoked Garlic Fettuccine

My husband and i went to garlics for our one year anniversary. The meal was great. I had the special which was a sirloin steak with mashed potatoes and veggies. My husband had the mussels and cod in a tomato broth. It was really great. We had garlic fries as an app. They’re amazing.
One thing that wasn’t great was that the server was tending to other tables a lot more than ours. He asked every party who came in other than us if there was a special occasion they were celebrating. He also got a tables order and server their apps to them before even getting us wine when they had come in after us.
I would normally never complain about that but when it is an occasion and you are footing out over 100 $ for the bill, the little things matter.

Great food! Garlic fries were awesome. I ordered the duck with gnocchi and it was delicious. Service was incredibly friendly and wonderful. A little hidden gem!

Pass by here for a conference and this is definitely one of the prettier restaurants in the city. When I saw the menu I knew I had to try the lobster poutine for sure, being a poutine fanatic. I think that everything sounded better than it tasted on the menu. Needless to say my expectations were quite high for this poutine, but the egg was dry as was the lobster (which was expected since it was unlikely to be fresh) but the most disappointing part was the fries didn’t go w the cheese or the sauce. They really need these components to tie everything together and complement the lobster. The fact that I didn’t finish it said it all. Not sure if parmesan cheese was the best choice but it definitely contributed to the overall dryness of the dish. I think all the ingredients were of good quality but just didn’t go together and may need a better sauce.
My friends said that the gnocchi and the fettuccine were pretty good. For desserts I tried the roasted garlic ice cream and tiramisu parfait. Frankly the garlic ice cream was not my cup of tea, tasted kind of like cold garlic mashed potatoes. The tiramisu parfait was okay but the ratio of the ladyfingers bits to the cheese needed to be more equal, because a mouthful of mascarpone was not good. This may be the best of London relative to some other restaurants we tried but still need some improvements in the food but service was excellent!

Great little restaurant. Always good quality food and not bad value. Once I had a wonderful blue potato pizza there and the chef was kind enough to write the ingredient list for me so that I could recreate it at home. Highly recommend.

my mother-​in-​law, my husband, my sister, my 3 years old boy and I went to Garlic restaurant to celebrate my sister’ dance recitals last night. We were all so disappointed at the service there. We were waiting for 20 min before someonecame asked us what we wanted for drink. we waited another 20 min until the waiter came to take order for us, we tried to be patient so we keep the smile on, asked him about the pasta in the menu, he explained to me but right after he said he will be right back, tookhim another 15 min to come back and I started to lose a bit patients. He took our order and we waited for ONE FULL HOUR for the food to arrive. The food was cold and we were so not happy about it. He probably forgot about us so another waiter had to bring the food out for us. We finished the dinner and no one came to give to serve us the dessert that we ordered as a fixed dinner. I ended up had to wave at him then he came to ask if everything is ok, I said I am here for too long that Ive been just waiting for him to come to our table, and told him that its been over 2 hours and our parking is due. We ended up had to packed the dessert to go. I think the food is good but its not fantastic especially when its cold. we’ve spend an expensive bill but was hoping it will worth the money to get the service and good food there, but we did not that’s for sure. :(

Cozy place downtown London. waiter James said they just opened up after some Reno work. Starters-​Prosciutto wrapped Boccaccini very good. From the specials list; Trout, Muscles, Carrot cake for desert.
The portions were not what I’m used to in the states but I can adapt. The difficult part will be getting accustom to the glass of ice with a slight mist of Crown. Don’t get too stingy it may keep your biz crowd at bay. 2 drinks and two specials for 2 $ 120.

Went to Garlic’s last night for my husband’s work Christmas party… This was our first time eating there and it was fabulous. We really liked the romantic atmosphere and the staff was friendly.
We did have to wait to be seated even though we had a reservation but the manager (owner?) was very apologetic and offered us a free round of drinks to compensate… Very thoughtful! Thank you.
The server was understanding and helpful with our allergies and diet (peanut allergy and vegetarian). I had the garlic bisque as an appetizer which was delicious and vegetarian fettucini as my main dish. I thought that the fettucini could have been creamier but it was still very good.
I had no room for dessert but I had a bite of my hubby’s crème brûlée and his co-worker’s churro — amazing!
I would definitely recommend Garlic’s and I’m looking forward to going back.

Almost everything on the menu is organic and/​or locally-​sourced. They have a wonderful menu, and it all looks good! The artisan board appetizer was incredible!
The staff is very helpful and friendly. This is probably one of the favourite restaurants of all-​time.

We were looking forward to trying Garlic’s, but were worried we would be let down from the restaurant being overrated. We were happily surprised and had a great experience!
Garlic has a great downtown feel in London, its on a main business strip and near the University Strip and right beside the theater. The ambiance is good and the staff was attentive and helpful.
They have a smaller menu but it is because most food is homemade and fresh, which is a great change for traditional boxed food.
I had the Margherita Pizza, I really enjoyed how it was made Fresh to order with specialty dough. The Pizza was solid, fresh, and had good taste. They also bring bread to your table before your meal, it was tasty and you could tell it was homemade. We also tried the Bruschetta and Garlic Fries. The Garlic Fries were GREAT, I thought they would be standard but we really enjoyed them and they complemented our meal.
For dessert my wife had the Cinnamon Sugar Churros, and they were presented well and tasted DELICIOUS. I had the Strawberry Cheesecake for $ 12, I am happy to pay it but expected more. The portion was HUGE and presentation was nice, overall the Cheesecake was good but tasted a little «Floury» and «Tasteless» Possibly I am being to hard on it because I love Cheesecake and expected more because it was homemade. I am sure others love the Cheesecake and would like to hear those opinions.
We would go back to Garlics and also recommend it to anyone visiting London Ontario looking for a solid and unique dining experience.

Excellent restaurant! excellent food!
Came here for dinner and everything from service to food was excellent!
The food (⁵⁄₅): We started with the brie and garlic toast which was delicious. Beware, it is VERY garlicy, so if you dont like strong garlic flavour, you may not be a fan, but I was :) Main course was the Duck, which came with gnocci and a cream sauce. OMG this was AMAZING! Very rich, but very good. My friend had the mushroom alfredo. It also was delicious, though a little expensive for pasta. Finished off the dinner with maple pecan cheesecake. Soooooooo good! I believe the caramel sauce is made in house and was delicious. Overall, ⁵⁄₅ for food
Service/​Ambiance (⁵⁄₅): Very attentive service. The waitress was constantly filling my water glass, asking if we were ok, without being too intrusive.
Price (⁴⁄₅): While the food was delicious, price was a little steep. $ 22 for mushroom pasta and $ 10 for dessert is on the high side. However, I find that London tends to be overpriced for it’s food in general.
Overall, great experience :) Will return when I want to splurge

LOVE this place. It is my favourite gourmet place in London. I always go when it’s a special date and when I feel like splurging. They have a really romantic, intimate setting and the servers have been quite nice (on non-​busy nights).
AMAZING: I usually never order appetizers, but their garlic soup is too good to pass up (despite how odd that sounds). Also a sucker for their melted brie on bread (it comes with a homemade sauce that makes the combo irresistible).
They make their own bread and butter, so fresh, so light. I am a bread eater so getting a chance to eat fresh homemade bread is like heaven. Plus whipped butter. Yummy. However, as a result, my taste buds have upgraded as I found it difficult to swallow down hard baguette and commercial butter at another restaurant.
The food never disappoints! I like that they change up the menu often to incorporate more local ingredients in their dishes. Compared to other gourmet places, I think the portions here actually fill you up quite well.

Ate there thrice.
Loved it thrice!

It was actually more of a 2.5. Off the bat, one thing I have to say is that, I love how they are really into free-​range, organic things, and it does transition in their food. Going in for dinner on a Monday night, it was pretty empty. Due to this fact, our waitress was very attentive and very helpful. I started off with the butternutsquash soup with maple syrup, while my boyfriend opted for eating the bread. Actually, he was quite traumatized by the fact that this Garlic restaurant didn’t serve his favorite garlic dish of all time, garlic bread. I have to admit, I wept a little inside too, knowing they didn’t even have a garlic spread option.
My soup was delicious, and it went very nicely with the oat bread with molasses that came in the bread basket. However, for the white bread offered, there was too much salt in it, making you reach for the water glass a bit too many times during dinner.
I got this handmade pasta with chicken and shiitake mushrooms, while BF opted for the mac’n cheese. My pasta was perfect, and the chicken in it was absolutely delicious. The little bits of roasted corn = amazing. And the roasted garlic pieces that were tossed in was mushy and delicious. I am a BIG fan of garlic, it was perfect.
My BF’s mac’n cheese however… Instead of macaroni noodles, they attempted the hand-​make them, which just translated to thick pieces of undercooked dough that was chewy. Chewy macaroni = not cool.
Still hungry from his disaster on a plate, he wanted to give dessert a try. He isn’t much of a health food nut, so the least offensive thing for him on the menu was a flourless chocolate cake. When I saw Garlic ice cream, I somehow managed to push down my delicious pasta dish and make room.
The flourless chocolate cake was a let down for him, but I have to admit, one of the better flourless cakes I have had. My Garlic Ice cream was delicious, with the the right amount of garlic blended in for a perfect mixture of vanilla and Garlic. What would have been better, if they toasted the garlic pieces until they were crunchy, and sprinkled them over the ice cream. The roasted garlic bulbs on the ice cream was a little overwhelming, especially for dessert.
I would have given my food a solid 4 – 4.5 star, while my BF had to give is a 1. This was technically average the stars out to a 2, but because of the great service, I bumped it up a star. I would definitely return, BF definitely won’t