Carben Food + Drink

Just came back from dinner with group of 6. Service was perfect and food was delicious! Everyone ordered something different and everyone was very happy! Would definitely recommend and will be going back.

Amazing smoked mushrooms, great service. The Citizen review was right, the food is wonderful.

Delicious food and friendly and attentive staff. Innovative dishes that are meticulously prepared which results in very tasty and flavourful food. Staff were able to explain what is in our dishes. Chef was able to carefully prepare our food and the waiters cheerfully brought our food out of the kitchen. The diner is just across the block of Hintonburger and can be walked or driven to at 1100 Wellington St.

Decided to try the brunch at Carben. Ordered the Eggs + Bacon for $ 12. The potato cake was a nice alternative to the standard home fries — very tasty, great combination of crispy on the outside and pillowy potato on the inside. The foccacia was very nice as well. The bacon was actually a 2 inch piece of pork belly, which sounded good on the menu…(there’s a but)
Now, I’m a big fan of pork belly (the Korean Pork Belly sandwich at Flying Banzini is amazing). but the «bacon» was such a poor cut, I’m not really sure how it was acceptable to serve what I received. It was an extremely fatty piece with very little meat, it was basically inedible. Based on this experience, I would not return. For $ 12 I was expecting a little more quality, but I will definitely not be back for brunch.

Amazing. We went here as a large group and were really treated well. Exceptional service and some really amazing, thoughtfully prepared dishes. We had pork belly, mushroom, beet salad, and salmon carpaccio starters and lots of wine and drinks. Everything was a surprise and looked like a piece of art. The beet salad looked like an abstract painting with tiny steamed baby onions each filled with a pea — really whimsical and full of flavor. I could have drank a cup of the avocado mousse on the carpaccio, and the mushrooms were indescribable. All the flavors stood out individually but were also interesting when put together on a fork. I think we tried everything on the menu. I had the duck, which was delicious and unexpectedly rare — which I would never have ordered but which was perfect with the preparation — every bite was different — some with fennel and some with crunchy hazelnut. I was not adventurous enough to try the beef tongue (ew) but several of my friends were, and most were pleased. We had a vegetarian with us and they special-​made a plate for him that looked delicious. A real treat.

It had take me 3 years to go to the previous restaurant down my street, so I figured I should go to Carben sooner than that, and man, I am glad I did. The service was great, the food was excellent, and the space is really well designed.
We popped down on a bit of a whim, looking for a new place to try (and it’s down the street from me). When we arrived we were greeted by a very friendly waiter and offered a table next to the big open windows by the street. I love the open concept windows, provides a hybrid patio/​indoor atmosphere and is great for people who like to watch the comings and goings of the street.
We decided to go straight to main course, I had a lamb dish that was excellent, a terrine-​like tower of moist and delightful lamb served with smoked vegetables, olive soil (you read that right), which is a sort of flaked olive garnish and hommeade riccota. The lamb was really flavourful, cooked to perfection. My lady had a fish (forgot the name) that was served with mushrooms, squid ink (yes you read that right too), and a potato like thing. She said it was really good, flavourful enough but still able to capture the subtleness of whitefish.
For dessert we split something called cinnamon crunch, which is essentially a ball of ice cream wrapped in chocolate on crispy shreddies like things. The waiter proceeds to pour warm milk on the ball that partially melts the chocolate and exposes the cinammon ice cream underneath, really tasty. They also have cocktails, I didn’t try one (I had a glass of wine) but they looked tasty.
This is a really great place, and the prices are not exorbitant. Most of the mains are in the $ 25 range, which for the quality is a good deal.

Awesome! As an appetizer we shared the pork belly and the wild mushrooms, both were excellent. For dinner I had the veal cheek, which was incredibly tender, and very flavourful. Honestly one of the best meals I have had in a long time; highly recommend this place. I wish they had corkage, the wine list is a little weak.