La Palette

La Palette is a pretty interesting place. If you want to go out for a very non-​kosher meal, this is a decent spot. Lots of exciting meats like horse and musk ox. I tried at least 3 meats that night, including horse, musk ox and bison. I liked the horse and the bison but could’ve passed on the musk ox. It tasted kind of like organ meat (liver maybe) and I can’t stand that taste.
The décor is relaxed. The atmosphere is cozy (read: stuffy). Service is friendly.
The wine was mediocre, actually, somewhat disappointing for the price-​point.
This location is closing down. A new one opened on Queen West.
Overall, meat was cooked properly and served with some decent sides, none of which I can retain in my memory (that good huh?)
Definitely worth a try, but I doubt I’d be going back. I’d say 3.5 stars if I could.
To put in my 2¢ about protesting horse meat: I think all animals should have equal treatment regardless of how cute and cuddly they are or how much they remind you of My Little Pony, and that fair treatment is to be raised humanely and then cooked to delicious perfection and served alongside some equally tasty carbs.

Went to this place on the basis of Unilocal reviews and the fact that I wanted great food but not necessarily the Canoe or other super-​fine dining experience. Also, I love the buzz of Kensington market.
I certainly got buzz. Upon entering, my server told me that they were expecting an anti-​horsemeat protest in 30 minutes and that they wanted to warn customers who might want to reconsider. «Neigh,» said I. «Feed me.» (Okay, I didn’t say neigh but it’s a better story that way).
Small place — main floor of a house. Kinda like Grandma’s, if Grandma lives in the south of France. Dining alone, I sat beside the bookshelf and browsed through a book on sausage-​making while watching the show unfold outside.
Staff was young and friendly. The owners were also bouncing around putting up counter-​protest signs talking about their commitment to sustainable food and opposition to speciesism (why horse and not other critters?) in the planters in front of the restaurant.
Naturally, the complimentary amuse bouche was a horsemeat tartar canapé — it was very nice, lean, tender, and a bit sweet.
I had the prix fixe menu (about $ 30) for appetizer, main and dessert
(about 4 choices for each).
Appetizer was a sunchoke soup. It was lovely and creamy — best thing I had eaten on a long, cold, drizzly day. Topped with crunchy ground up hazelnuts (toasted? sauteed?) and fresh parsley.
Main was the duck confit. What I Ioved about the food in this place — evident in all the dishes but especially in the duck — was the effort to provide a balance of contrasting flavours and textures in everything. The duck was rich and tender, contrasted with slightly al dente lentils and maple roasted root vegetables. It was excellent.
Dessert was crème brûlée — part of my hunt for the perfect brulee. This one was mostly excellent. Creamy, nice flavour and texture. Perfectly caramelized topping. The one criticism I have (and this may just be a personal quirk) is that the crème was fridge-​cold in places not heated when the sugar gets torched. Do they teach this in culinary school? Keep the brulee in the the fridge until the last moment? Imagine how much nicer the crème would be if it was a warmish, unjarring, uniform temperature all the way through. Aside from my extremist views on the dessert, this was a wonderful meal. Highly recommended.
In the end, the horse protest provided some interesting street theatre (horse head costumes and ketchup — you figure it out), but was pretty feeble all in all. Staff was vigilant to make sure customers came and went unmolested.

A cozy smallish restaurant, where I found myself eavesdropping on the table next to us from time to time. For our appetizers we ordered foie gras and escargots. While I did enjoy the foie gras i thought the escargots were a bit too greasy, but then again it does say on the menu it’s baked in garlic butter.
After much deliberation, I finally agreed to be adventurous and ordered the horse tenderloin, I was glad I did. One of the best piece of steaks I’ve ever had. The meat was rare, tender, juicy and lean. There is a subtle difference in taste from beef and from horse meat, but after the first few bites I started to enjoy it. My date ordered a duck confit. That dish was disappointing, the dish was a soggy mess.
For dessert we ordered a lemon tart and a vanilla crème brûlée. Both desserts were disappointing. The lemon tart did not have that lemon zing to it, and the crust was mushy. The crème brûlée was OK, nothing mind blowingly good. I would come back for their horse tenderloin, and maybe try other items on their menu before I write this restaurant off.

My boyfriend surprised me with dinner at La Palette for our anniversary. Though I’d walked by the restaurant many times, I’d never been there before. I could see where he was going with his choice — the décor is quaint, the atmosphere is cozy, romantic, and not pretentious. Unfortunately, we didn’t luck out with a table on the patio, which was completely packed, but the dining area was fairly empty when we arrived and we got a table near the front. An hour later, the whole place was packed (including a party of ten who were taking up literally one third of the small restaurant). Tight seating doesn’t usually bother me, but the volume level was so high, we practically had to shout across the table to hear each other. I guess those are the perils of Friday night at a popular dinner place.
Though the evening started out with extremely attentive service, by the time La Palette was at capacity, the three servers on duty could barely keep their heads above water. I’ve waited tables, and I can sympathize, but waiting 20 minutes for a server to take your credit card is annoying (to be perfectly blunt).
Anyway, on to the food. We started with a plate of charcuterie which had delicious smoked meats, pâté, and foie gras. My boyfriend played it safe with steak frites (with delightful, crispy, thin fries) for his main, but I decided to get experimental and I ordered the horse steak. I can honestly say I’ve never eaten such tender, melt-​in-​your-​mouth meat. It’s incredibly lean, too. We were both wowed by the horse. We ordered the crème brulee sampler for dessert. The texture seemed a bit runny (though this is a French restaurant, so perhaps this is more authentic than the standard crème brulee?) and I tend to prefer firmer, more custard-​like crème brulee — though it’s difficult to really go wrong with this creamy, sugary goodness. The amaretto flavored one was good, though the standard vanilla one was the best. The third crème brulee was flavored with some liqueur that I can’t remember, but I found it bitter and only had one bite.
Overall, this is a great date spot, dinner was delicious, and I’d love to come back (perhaps on a weekday evening).

Favorite special occasion restaurant in TO.

La Palette is one of my favourite special occasion dinner places. Great food, awesome servers, and a friendly, laid back vibe.
To start we had Mussels in Thai Curry Sauce ($ 12 for ½ lb) from the daily specials, Escargot ($ 7), and the Charcuterie Board ($ 15 for a small). The Thai curry sauce wasn’t very authentic, but the mussels were awesome nonetheless. The escargot are served in mushroom caps and they don’t go overboard with butter or garlic so you can actually taste them.
As for the charcuterie, all I ever hear people talking about these days is fucking charcuterie. So, I figure it was about time I try it for myself. Call me a philistine, but I don’t see what all the hype is about. There were maybe 8 different meats — most made in house — and two tiny pieces of each. Although I have nothing to compare to I’d say it was good and it probably took a lot of skill and effort to make. Still there’s a lot of other things I’d rather eat for $ 15.
They usually have a variety of interesting meats on offer. I’ve seen horse, bison, boar, elk, venison, and caribou. On my most recent visit, though, I went for straight up Steak Frites ($ 27). The frites are shoestring style and were served with a tarragon mayo; perfectly cooked and season, they kicked ass. My only complaint about the whole meal is that I asked for my steak rare and it came overcooked. I rarely eat steak, but when I do I like to taste the blood. It was still damn good though.
Highly recommended. I’d give La Palette 5 stars if it wasn’t for the steak being overcooked.

This is one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto. The small space and eclectic artwork give it a unique ambiance and a French feel. The spacing is tight, but I’ve never been bothered by the proximity to other diners. The owner is always there interacting with you and he is definitely proud of and attentive to his establishment. His chef is skilled enough to deliver consistently great culinary experiences year after year.
Their french onion soup is one of the best I’ve ever had because they don’t make the cheese the focus and use bison stock to give it a uniquely rich flavour. They also do game meat very well. I recently tried their venison and horse, with the latter being surprisingly tender. Their wine selection is not large but is well composed.
I could go on and on about the little things I enjoy about La Palette, but I’d rather leave it to you to explore it for yourself knowing that you won’t be let down.
PS: If you’re into it, try the strawberry wheat beer.

It’s difficult for me to say enough about this place. Brilliant! Delicious! Quirky! I honestly felt like I was in Paris from the experience and the flavors.
I have to point out that there were some funny moments at the beginning of the meal, but some people may not find them very funny. This was back in November 2009 and they had just that day painted the edges of the front door. The paint was fresh and the insulating layer for the front entrance kept coming unglued and smacking people with wet white paint. I saw a few ruined jackets that night, but it was almost comical as the waiters would run to the door as quickly as a patron had arrived, attempting to stop them from getting a splash. In any case, I was sitting near the door and had an incident where I spilled water on my girlfriend — all because I was trying to protect a couple from getting a nice white stripe on their coats.
On to the food. They had a very custom handwritten menu with specials. It was very involved. I stuck with some basics though. Started with a seasonal butternut squash soup. What I really wanted was the french onion, but they were out that night. I’m not disappointed though because the butternut squash was more than a suitable replacement, it made me forget that it was a replacement at all! Next was the Duck Confit (Confit de Canard) — mouth watering overpowering flavor — seasoned perfectly. Made me forget about how cold and rainy it was outside. I felt like I was in a comfortable Parisian café in the summer.
Service was excellent, friendly, conversational, yet prompt. I guess if I was on the receiving end of the paint though, I might have dropped them a star, so consider yourself lucky, La Palette! Haha.
One of the top-​10 meals of my life. Period.

Great little place to eat. Very friendly staff. Knowledgeable too. Solid wine list, too.
Foie gras… of course. Very tasty. Steak/​frites, cheval and confit de canard were all tried and all enjoyed.
A few more french places to enjoy, but will definitely return

Pretty amazing at this place. The food is some of the best french food I have had outside of France, the atmosphere is great also. Friendly staff, very intimate and exclusive, but without any pretention. Simple menu and great simple wine list with a knowledgeable sommelier.
Price is very much right as well. So far on a few visits had great chicken, touladi (fish), charcuterie, parsnip soup, lemon sorbet was great as was coffee.
Definitely try this one.

Amazing French Food!

I continue to return to La Palette because of the food, the atmosphere and the people. A few weeks ago, I really wanted to take my BF’s mother to La Palette as I knew she would love the whole experience. Problem though… she is a vegetarian. With the restaurant having a dominantly meat loving menu, I called ahead to see if there was anything they could do for us.
Although they only have 1 Vegetarian option on the menu, they were willing to offer up suggestions of items that they could make vegetarian. they were helpful and it made the dining experience amazing once again.
Friday night, I went back yet again… To my surprise, they are now serving Thirty Bench wine on the menu. Bravo La Palette. You have made this Torontonian VERY happy.

La Palette serves what Top Chef folks aspire to make. Yet, they are able to keep local food on the menu and not rely on French/​American imports.
For dinner on a Friday night, La Palette was cozy, so full the room was hot despite the freezing weather outside. The Staff were super friendly. They obviously know a lot of the regulars. The wine list is extensive, but the beers on tap are more extensive and offer a more unique selection than any bar I know.
On the menu tonight was a new vegetarian entrée, but too similar to what I eat at home. So, I got the house-​smoked Lake Huron Trout with panko-​encrusted egg and this lucious leek and potato thing all together this was 10 star-​worthy. On the other side of the table was the meat-lover’s dream, with no cow in sight. Bison-​cheeks with bacon as an appetizer, and Wild Boar (Manitoba) and Caribou (Nunavit). The boar won rave reviews, but the caribou was still 5 stars.
The only down side was the dessert. As most good chefs don’t love to do desserts, La Palette was no different. The Tarte au citron was too tart, but I was full anyway.
With plenty to drink, bill was about $ 60 per person plus tax and tip.
Prix Fixe is just $ 32, but no boar on that menu.

Great neighbourhood restaurant. The first night I was there seemed to be packed with regulars who all knew each other. Recommendation flowed between customers at different tables with a big push for the game meats. While I wasn’t ‘racing’ to try the horse, several other customers were recommending it.
Other great thing is they are a BYOW restaurant. They have a $ 25 corkage fee which is the same as their markup, as far as I can tell, on wines and they are very happy to see people bring in their own wines.
In closing, great spot and I wish it was in my neighbourhood because it place you could keeping going back to…

for a Humpday night treat with a three year old it was a pleasant place to eat. if you are a Bison fan, which mean you eat meat, this place has some great treats. we all ordered from the Prix Fixe menu i had, Joues de Bison — Slow-​braised, bacon-​crusted bison cheeks w/​maple braising jus, heirloom tomato salad & corn fritters, this went well with the bison barley soup with big chunks of beefy barley in a well rendered stock that had the sweetness of a rich red wine. my wifey partial to quail eggs had Perche Jaune — Potato-​crusted Lake Huron yellow perch filet with haricots verts, heirloom tomatos, nicoice olives, capers, soft-​boiled quail egg and an anchovy-​dijon vinaigrette,
her appitizer of pâté was a little too smooth as she prefers a firmer pâté, however with the bread and extra crisps that were supplied i made a meal of it.
their desserts were wonderfully classic, crème brûlée with the custard still warm, and the sugar caramalized and crispy, my chocolate flouorless cake with vanilla icecream and pralines was eaten by my three year old. and he loved it.
for my 3 year old we ordered him a chicken breast a la carte and they charged us $ 20 for it was basically, Poulet Bonne Maman — Juicy free-​range & organic chicken breast w/​roast fingerlings, vegetables, zesty onion-​red peppercorn compôte & black currant-​raspberry jus, without the roast fingerlings, vegetables, zesty onion-​red peppercorn compôte & black currant-​raspberry jus.
we should have asked the price first.
the new waitress was pleasant, and there were only two people staffing the restaurant. it seemed like there were a lot of repeat clients there that night, as it has a lovely street front patio in front of a car filled with dirt and plants.
over all a charming bohemian experience complete with absinthe.
other than the $ 20 chicken breast it was a great hump day restaurant

Frequent this place for Brunch on Sundays as it has some of the best food and value in the city!
If you’re a fan of soup, this is the place to go! Its rich, creamy and has the perfect about of favor combinations.
Other fav’s are Eggs Benny served on a fresh croissant and croissant niciose which is a croissant with cheese and roasted veggies inside.
Fritters are also perfect, shoestring and cooked to a perfect crisp accompanied with a delicious garlic mayo dip.

Possibly the greatest date restaurant anywhere that I have seen. Too bad that I was there alone, but I still enjoyed a great meal and a very pleasant experience.
We are talking about a hybrid décor of French «country» and retro arty; a small shelf of books with titles such as French Country Cooking, Home Sausage Making, and Lautrec by Lautrec; that absolutely perfect light level and lamp-​lit color; fun but casual music at just the right volume; and warm, friendly service to top it off. I also enjoyed the front doors standing open onto the warm night, but I would bet that even in winter this place has charm coming out of its ears.
Oh, and the food was great too! In addition to the regular menu, they had about half again as many specials; so if what you see online doesn’t tickle your fancy, go anyway. I started with the soup du jour and the escargots. I had never had the latter before, not because of any bias, just never feeling the desire in the right place and time. But theirs were good – or good enough for my first time. (How would I know?) They are served in mushroom caps and garlic butter, with a few chopped red peppers. I can’t compare it to other escargots, but on its own I give it a thumbs up. The soup was pureed red pepper with chorizo, cilantro, and crème fraîche. It perhaps was not as lively or flavorful as I would have liked, but overall pretty good.
The crowning glory of my meal was the entrée: I chose the mixed grill (your choice of two or three meats from wild boar, horse, caribou, and bison) which felt a little like cheating because other than the cheval, none of those are traditionally French. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add another «exotic» meat (caribou) to my scorecard.
Both meats were amazing. Truly cooked to perfection, somewhere between rare and medium rare. I’ve had wild boar a few times, but never like this. Imagine a cross between a great pork tenderloin and a really really good New York strip. And the caribou – if you’ve ever had elk, imagine that, but more tender and somewhat more savory. I’m not sure if they seasoned these meats at all; if so, you couldn’t tell, and if not, they didn’t need it. Wonderful, wonderful flavor. Both were all-​time 99^th-​percentile pieces of meat.
I got a little adventurous for dessert and chose the special crème brûlée: pink peppercorn and Drambuie. It’s an intriguing idea, and I can see how those flavors would complement, but I simply didn’t like it. The peppercorn left a bitter aftertaste with each bite, and I was still tasting it several hours later. I will say this though: whoever was wielding the torch back there is an expert at putting a crust on a crème brûlée.
Somehow this humble little place has three beer taps, as well as several bottles, not to mention a respectable wine selection. I could easily see spending several hours here soaking up the ambiance and the great food and drink (and, if you’re lucky, the company). It’s tough for me to give five stars after one experience, but if I were local this would definitely be a regular spot and get the precious fifth star.

I went here to celebrate with my girlfriend, it was Valentines Day. It was very cozy inside as tables are very close together. It was dimly lit with lots of candles. This place reminded me of eating at a friends house as it looks like a home converted into a small restaurant.
This small little Kensington Market french restaurant is surprisingly delicious. The food is fresh and there are many different meats on the everchanging menu like elk and warthog. The prix fixe menu is affordable and has a lot to offer. Service is fast, friendly, and very knowledgeable. French food here is done very well and is full of flavor and they have a large list of beers to go with your meal.
Overall the food was very good and the atmosphere was very intimate with close tables, candle light, small kitchen, and friendly service. Good place for a date. It’s a little pricey but it’s expected especially since you can order meats you can’t get anywhere else. With great French food to boost, it’s hard not to like this little hidden restaurant.

I recently went to La Palette for a family birthday dinner and I was pleasantly surprised at how accommodating the server was of my dietary preferences — I am vegetarian and I thought there would be NO way that a meat-​centric restaurant known for its unusual offerings would have anything vegetarian, but the server pointed out several items that could be modified and even offered to specially make a pasta dish customized to my request. I ordered an outstanding creamy pasta dish with fresh peas, green beans, mint and broccoli.

Update: Went to La Palette for brunch and fell in love with the Challah bread french toast topped with fruit. Decadent and delicous!