The Red Tomato

We tried the lobster bisque which showed up with a pastry poof, which if opened from the centre resembled those pods from the movie Aliens. The arugula apple salad was nice. The Peking duck pizza captured that Asian flavour pretty close and tasted great. The slow roasted venison pasta was more of a venison stew with long pasta mixed in. The flavour was rich and tasty similar to lamb. I would have preferred smaller pasta pieces. Definitely enough food that could take some home. The cheese cake is just okay. The tiramisu was more like Tira’mousse’u but was nice. The bathroom stall is small like an airplane bathroom. Over all good experience, we’ll go again to try some more pizza.

My friends and I arrived for our 7PM dinner and we were promptly shown to our table. Once our drink orders were taken, my friends and I discussed the menu and how we wanted to approach our dinner. I suggested that we each order an appetizer and a main, and share them — so that we can try as many of the menu items as possible. So that’s what we did. We each ordered a different appetizer and main, and passed it around, with each one of us taking a small portion of each.
This is what we ordered…
Appetizers
BAKED LOBSTER & CRAB SOUP
GUMBO SAUSAGE & CHICKEN WITH CORN BREAD
FRIED & SMOKED «JERK» CHICKEN WINGS
CRISPY COCONUT SHRIMPS WITH THAI DIPPING SAUCE
CALAMARI
What we loved…
The lobster and crab soup was our absolute favorite! It was creamy and aromatic with lobster and crab flavors well infused into the broth. I also loved that it came with phyllo pastry baked over the bowl. It made the process of digging into the soup very dramatic and a bit of a spectacle.
Our 2^nd favorite was the gumbo! It was rich, well-​balanced with just the right amount of spice, and the cornbread, though not appealing to look at, was flaky and buttery. Yeah, noticing a pattern here; they know how to make soups! Which, I must say, I find pretty damn impressive since from my experience, infusing deep flavor into a soup is not an easy task!
Both the calamari and shrimp were tasty, but I was not a huge fan of the batter and the seasoning — I personally found the two a tad bland and overly battered.
What we did not love so much…
Our least favorite were the wings. Unlike the soups, the wings tasted like the seasoning and flavor was superficial, and not absorbed into the meat. The wings tasted bland and incomplete. I also felt that with a side of rice, the dish would have improved since they were bulky and awkward to eat on their own. But then again, if you add rice, then they are no longer a starter. Hmm
Mains
MUSHROOM AGNOLOTTI WITH MUSHROOM TRUFFLE BUTTER SAUCE
JALAPENO LINGUINE CHICKEN ‘CALYPSO” WITH MUSHROOMS, SUNDRIED TOMATOES, WHITE WINE JERK CREAM SAUCE
GARLIC SHRIMP ANGER HAIR PASTA MARINARA
MEATBALL GNOCCHI
PORK BELLY PIZZA (no longer on their menu)
What we loved…
The angel hair pasta with the garlic shrimps! Hands down the best main! The pasta was cooked to perfection — not soggy and not tough. The shrimps were plump and juicy, and the sauce was creamy and well-​seasoned. To be honest, I hated having to share it. :(
My second favorite was the meatball gnocchi. The gnocchi was also cooked well (too often I find they are too soggy and cloggy-​tasting) and the meatballs were placed on a delicious rich red tomato sauce that helped them stay nice and moist.
A dish that my friends really enjoyed but I didn’t was the mushroom agnolotti. I love mushrooms, just not as a filling. That’s just a personal preference, but that said, and to be fair, my friends really enjoyed this dish.
What we did not love so much…
Our least favorite pasta was the linguine with the jerk sauce. The jerk sauce just did not work for us. I am not sure I understand why this restaurant is so adamant about using jerk seasoning. It’s not working! In fact, this was the only pasta dish we could not finish. Imagine a brown sauce meeting a cream sauce resulting in a brownish mess on top of pasta. And then to your horror, the two hate each other and the poor pasta and chicken are the victims of this disaster. So very sad.
The other item we could not finish was the pizza. But there is no point discussing it since it’s no longer on the menu, and if you read my earlier post on the pizza menu launch, you will see that I was never a fan of their pizzas to begin with.
Desserts
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
CREME BRULEE
BREAD PUDDING
What we loved…
We loved all three desserts, but being a bread pudding lover, my expectations were set high! And they delivered! The bread pudding was not soggy, yet creamy, and not overly sweet. Good texture, and just the right amount of sweetness — score! Oh, and I can’t forget the caramel sauce! Who does not love caramel?!
The crème brûlée was creamy with a nice and crispy sugar-​coating that we enjoyed cracking.
The chocolate mousse was rich and the combination of light and dark chocolate was a nice touch — not everyone loves dark bitter chocolate.
In sum…
My friends and I had a fantastic experience at The Red Tomato. For me in particular, I was relieved to see that they were able to overcome and repair my last experience there. The service was on-​point, the food mostly did not disappoint — amazing bisque, gumbo, angel hair pasta, meatballs, and desserts — and the vibe was relaxing and friendly. For these reason I suggest you give them a try. Though I would stay away from any menu item with the word «jerk» in it.
P. S. I don’t have anything against jerk spices. In fact, I love it! When done right.

I attended a media event for The Red Tomato, a pizza and pasta wine bar underneath Fred’s Not Here (both owned by the same owner). I rarely eat on King Street West so I always assumed that prices at the restaurants would be super expensive. However, when I saw The Red Tomato’s menu, I was pleasantly surprised that the prices were quite fair (ranged from $ 13-​$ 18 for a full size pizza).
My friend and I got to try a nice array of pizzas that were offered at the restaurant. My absolute favourite out of the bunch was the Peking Duck Pizza ($ 18), which was one of their Asian fusion items. If you love Asian food, I do recommend the Peking Duck Pizza! My friend however thought it wasn’t that great and preferred «The Hangover Cure» ($ 16) without the egg. I enjoyed every single pizza at The Red Tomato that I got to try (which is rare!). Each pizza is savoury and you can taste how fresh they are!
I highly recommend The Red Tomato if you want to get some delicious and uniquely flavoured pizzas at an inexpensive price!

I picked this restaurant to have dinner before my husband and I see a movie. I had high hopes that food will be great but I left disappointed. Why?
Food: we ordered peking duck pizza and pork belly pizza for our main. So the peking duck pizza has an overwhelming amount of shitake mushrooms and onions. Therefore, I couldnt appreciate the taste of duck. I’m afraid the duck wasn’t the freshest too. I love duck dishes so much and I was sad to have a dish that all they did was dump fried skin, mushrooms, onions, tons of Hoisin sauce. I wish the layering of flavour and texture was there but it was just a sweet shitake mushroom pizza.
So for the pork belly pizza, the taste was so plain. It is llike have cheese pizza (no red sauce) then add think slices od pork belly. I don’t know if they put shredded cabbage to add texture/​crunch to the pizza. Again, I was let down.
The Asian & Italian fusion idea was great but the excusion was poorly poorly done.
We had no problem with the service and surely it was not the waiters fault what goes on the pizza.

Rating is 3.5 rounded up.
Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge by the restaurant. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.
I was invites to check out the pizzas at The Red Tomato during their Pie Tunes media event. That night, I got to taste 6 of The Red Tomato’s 10 pizzas. Toppings ranged from classics like Margherita to fusion flavours like Peking Duck. Each pizza was 11″, cut into quarters and a hefty meal for one. My four favourite pies were The Hangover Cure with tomato, olives, double smoked bacon, fresh mozzarella, chilies and topped with fried quail eggs. Toppings were loaded on the crispy crust and each ingredient complimented each other. In general, I found all the pie creations at The Red Tomato to be well paired.
Another favourite was the Peking Duck Pizza with roasted duck breast, enoki mushrooms, shitaki mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, hoisin sauce and crispy duck crackling. That crackling was amazing! Crunchy, savoury and just bursts of flavour (seriously, this is why I can’t fit into any of my pants). After two pizzas with bold flavours, the potato pizza with slices of Yukon gold, caramelized onions, fennel, grana padano and fresh mozzarella was a nice mild break for my tastebuds. I did find my slice needed an added sprinkle of salt to brighten the natural potato taste. Lastly, I really enjoyed the garlic shrimp pizza that was the simplest with a walnut pesto and fresh mozzarella. Fresh, plump shrimp dotted each slice of pie.
Service was a bit messy as there were a ton of people. At first pizzas came of the kitchen and circulated, but many didn’t make it far from the kitchen before all of the slices were snapped up. At one point, the server asked us to share slices between people. Cutting the pizzas into smaller slices (instead of quarters) would have helped alleviate some of the demand. Later on in the night, we were invited to place orders for pizzas that we had yet to try. This meant there was a huge influx of orders into the kitchen, way more than their capacity. In general, I enjoyed the pizzas at The Red Tomato, the dinner event itself had some logistics challenges keeping up with the crowd’s demand.

Stopped by for a quick bite to eat before a event. We were told no tables available but could sit at the bar which was fine. Until we saw available tables.
Anyways after being kinda ignored we finally were able to order. We decided that the Duck fat fries and the jerk chicken pasta sounded good. We decided wrong.
To be fair the Duck Fat fries were good — crispy thin fries with parmesan cheese fried in duck fat were hot, crispy and tasty! I could have licked the plate clean until i realized i was out in public!
The jerk chicken pasta was probably the worst thing I have ever put in my mouth. Overly salty dried up pieces up meat with some congealed looking sauce on the pasta. If I wasn’t so hungry I wouldn’t have eaten it but it was that or my socks. I should have just eaten my socks :(
The restaurant is downstairs– decorated with cheesy lamps with red tomatoes on them. Good place to watch a game but you aren’t going to impress anyone here.
Service was slow as i felt we were ignored right up until we paid.

This was definitely one of the worst restaurants I have been to. The servers were blatantly rude, asked if they could take something away or if we were still «picking at the food,» and didn’t bring our salad because «there was nowhere to put it on the table,» when there was plenty of room. The food was nothing special, but the service was downright awful.

*I admit, I was invited to an event for their new pizza menu (not Unilocal event), so if this review is against the policy, please let me know and I will remove it :)*
*I would have given this restaurant a ³⁄₅ because the pizza was some-​what decent, however I gave ²⁄₅ because of the attitude and professionalism of the staffs.
*Staff talked behind my back (literally) for not finishing my pizza crust…
*Refused to serve me food because it was only given to food bloggers, however on the invite it did not mention anything about that, and I am a food blogger…
*Social media manager gave my friend an attitude because she was not a blogger.
-«The Hangover Cure» pizza — Tomato, Olives, Soppressata, Double Smoked bacon, Fresh mozzarella, Grana Padano, Chillies, topped with fried eggs
The first one we got was the hangover cure pizza which I quite enjoyed, however it was extremely salty and there wasn’t anything to cut down the salt level at all. Not sure if I would want something overly salted as my hangover food, but overall it was decent.
–Peking Duck Pizza — roasted duck breast, enoki & shitaki mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, hoisin drizzle w/​green onions, crispy duck crackling:
This was my favorite of the night. The moment it arrived, there was a strong aroma from the sweet and pungent hoisin sauce, and duck was moist and tender. It tasted just like a real Peking Duck but on a pizza instead of being wrapped in a thin pancake.
–Pork belly pizza — Slow roasted pork belly, roasted sweet balsamic onions, fresh mozzarella, balsamic tossed radicchio:
The pizza was a bit too oily from the fatty and succulent pork bellies, however the balsamic onions and radicchio brought some tanginess and helped to cut some of that down.
–Prosciutto pizza — grilled artichoke pesto, fresh mozzarella, fired roasted sweet pepper & arugula:
The prosciutto pizza had the potential to be good, however I was slightly let down by this. The prosciutto wasn’t salty enough so the entire pizza tasted bland, maybe it would have been better if the prosciutto was slightly cooked to bring out more flavors. The sweet pepper was a bit … too sweet and contrasted with the savory pesto sauce, not really a good combination.
–Smoked Chicken — tomato, mozzarella, caramelized onions, sweet peppers, chipotle BBQ sauce:
I couldn’t taste any «smokiness» from the chicken, however I thought it was pretty good and the chicken pieces were juicy. The sauce was a bit sweet but had a slight kick from the sweet peppers, I quite enjoyed it.
–Margherita pizza — tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella:
The tomato sauce was tasteless and there were barely any cheese… I thought nothing can go wrong with a classic and basic pizza right? Oh boy I was wrong.

Great food. Service a little tardy. Had the garlic shrimp $ 18 delicious. Highly recommend and iceberg lettuce which was lacklustre.

This was my 2^nd time here in as many weeks and both times were spectacular. From the very attentive service, the great 80’s music playing on my 2^nd visit to the really delicious food this is certainly worth visiting again.
The atmosphere is cozy with a large bar which takes up most of the room and some kitschy «red tomato» lamp shades along the bar area. There are very comfortable chairs and booth areas along the walls as well.
On my first visit I was invited to try out their new pizza menu. There is a wide variety of choices with very unique flavors and toppings all on nicely crispy thin crusts.
From the Reds I thoroughly enjoyed the Sausage Pizza which came with tomato, caramelized onions and fennel. Just enough kick in the sausage to be enjoyable. Another Red which was interesting was the Hangover Cure. Although a bit salty for my taste it certainly was a taste treat with tomato, bacon, olives, chilies and soppressata.
From the Whites there was also quite a bit of choice with a Mushroom Pizza, a Smoked Salmon (which ended up being my favorite), and a Potato Pizza.
The Mushroom Pizza consisted of a variety of 4 types of mushrooms with truffle oil drizzled on top. Quite tasty if you like the different textures and flavors of mushrooms as I do.
The Potato Pizza had Yukon Gold potato (of course) along with caramelized onions and thinly sliced fennel which gave it a lovely flavor.
My favorite as mentioned above was the Smoked Salmon Pizza. A thin crust with mascarpone spread, grana padano, thinly sliced apple and arugula. The arugula gave a very nice peppery taste along with the creaminess of the mascarpone.
There are also some very interesting marriages of ingredients with the Peking Duck Pizza and the Smoked Chicken with chipotle BBQ sauce. The Peking Duck Pizza was very flavorful with the crispy duck crackling but I found the hoisin sauce drizzle too sweet for my liking.
The Smoked Chicken was very interesting with the tiny bit of spice with the addition of the chipotle BBQ sauce.
All of the pizzas are reasonably priced from $ 15.00 to $ 18.00 each for 4 large slices.
On my 2^nd visit I was lucky enough to share in a sampling of several appetizers, some mains as well as 3 of their desserts.
Our group shared 2 soups, the Baked Lobster and Crab soup and the Gumbo Sausage and Chicken w/​corn bread. Both soups were very rich and the melding of flavors made them delicious. The Gumbo had tasty corn bread to sop up even the last drop where the Lobster and Crab had what looked like beautifully toasted bun on the top. Again to sop up every last delicious drop.
We also shared the «Jerk» wings, the Calamari and the Coconut Shrimp. All 3 were tasty but nothing out of the ordinary.
We decided to try some of the pastas and share them as well. The favorite by far was the Garlic Shrimp w/​Angel Hair Pasta. Plump shrimp and the past melted in our mouths. We also tried the Mushroom Agnolotti w/​mushroom truffle butter sauce. I was partial to this as I loved the mushroom flavors with the truffle butter sauce. Another favorite was the Meatball Gnocchi with marinara sauce w/​sausage and Angus beef meatballs. Nice flavors in the meatballs and the Gnocchi were nicely done and held on to the marinara beautifully.
One cannot have a lovely meal such as this and ignore dessert. We decided to share again with Bread Pudding w/​chocolate and banana, Chocolate Mouse and our waiters favorite, Crème Brulee. All 3 were tasty with their own unique flavors but I agree with our waiter and will vote for the Crème Brulee as my fave!
Although I have tried almost everything on the menu I will most certainly go back as some things are worth repeating!

Not bad. We ordered the vegetable soup which was a little spicy but gave it a nice kick. The «pulled pork quesadilla» was okay. could have been better. Our favorite was the crab and seafood fondue dip

Very disappointing — and I’ve been to this place numerous times and used to really enjoy it.
The atmosphere was still awesome, the wait staff attentive and friendly, and the food delicious.
So why only one star?
My pasta dinner was so small we had to go for a second dinner to another pub afterwards.
I had the stuffed pasta in a tomato sauce. Really good, but at $ 15, and listed as an entrée I expected it to be bigger than an appetizer.
My girlfriend had the roast beef and risotto which was succulent and tender, and slightly more filling. But still an incredibly small portion.
The Red Tomato’s menu lists more shareable options than entrées so perhaps that is what they are known for.
However, if you order something for dinner that is suppose to be an entrée, then it should be filling.
Those just wanting a good drink and some ambiance will enjoy the restaurant in Toronto’s Entertainment District. Just go someplace else for food, unless you want to leave hungry.

Bit disappointed with the food at this restaurant.
I had the Seafood Orecchiette w/​Calamari, Lobster Tail, Shrimps, Mussles, San Marzano Tomatoes, Saffron and Garlic ($ 18). The orecchiette were clumped together and the sauce didn’t have much flavour and was much too watery — it looked like I had ordered a bowl of tomato soup.
My friends had:
Salad Caprese — fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, EVOO ($ 9) — meh, nothing special.
Blackened Salmon w/​corn and black bean salsa ($ 8) — again, not much flavour.
Sauteed Garlic Jumbo Tiger Shrimps with angel hair marinara (18) — nice size shrimp, but again, the marinara sauce was very runny.
Location was great, we sat on the patio and it was a good place to people watch, however, I’m not sure if I would eat at this restaurant again since there are so many restaurants in the area.
Cheers,
— T

Red. Red. Red.
How I love thee bar!
Went after work between the hours of 4:30 and 9pm. It was a lot of liquor.
So they have a great bar menu. If you sit at the bar (seating is very limited and it’s packed early but dies down after the theatre starts) they have a special menu of $ 5-​$ 6 drinks and a whole bunch of food for the same price. It was absolutely worth it. Value and quality do match up!
Things to try:
1) Pulled pork quesadilla
2) Duck wings (!) — right?
3) Crispy coconut shrimp
Just tell the lovely bartender Jordan (albeit all sass) that I sent you. And ask him for the blue gin drink… If you like gin and the colour blue of course.

I agree with other reviewers about the décor and being misled on where you will be eating. I was hoping for a table on the patio, but then we were lead to a weirdly lit and decorated basement. The basement had boxes and the broom in the open and the ‘please wait to be seated sign’ was hand-​written with pen — I knew then what I was getting into but decided to give it a shot…
Our waitress seems out of sorts and maybe because it was TIFF/​Madonna last night and people were in a rush, but as a customer coming to your establishment, I don’t really care and honestly the place wasn’t very busy. Her attitude softened later, but initially my friend and I were going to walk out when she condescendingly asked if we were ready to order…
If we wanted to get the $ 5 and $ 6 dollar drinks, we had to sit at the bar and there was a different menu.
As for the food? Not a fan. Coconut shrimp was dry and didn’t taste fresh (4 pieces for $ 8). Peanut sauce that came with the chicken satays was really, really bland (3 skewers for $ 7). Bruschetta was okay (3 pieces, I think $ 6?). Didn’t order drinks because I didn’t fancy the price. $ 9 for a 6oz glass of wine, and $ 38 for a bottle at the least. I’m a foody and recognize that those are average prices but there’s something about adding to your bill when you’re not already thrilled with the food…
I couldn’t wait to leave. The red lighting was giving me a headache and didn’t make me want to stay. :(When I stepped out, I felt happy to see normal colours again. Won’t return unless I’m looking for a cheap drink — but then again there are quite a few places on King with cheap drink specials…

Great place for small plates… and the lobster and crab soup is incredible. It was a great introduction to Toronto.

REALLY didn’t enjoy my meal here last night.
I walked into the restaurant and saw all the nice candle lit tables with fresh white tablecloths and great atmosphere. THEN the waiter told me to decend down the stairs to where Red Tomato really was. I was then met with red booths, tables and cheaper tealights — Bummer.
I have a thing about restaurants who present themselves well with nice table settings — usually means you get a better meal and they take pride with their appearance.
Anyways. Red Tomato also had Tv Screens in different areas. I hate restaurants that have that. You should be there for dinner with your company to engage in conversation — not watch the Leafs Hockey game score.
I had the 2 course meal with a drink for $ 26.99
I had the 6-​hour oven roasted beef brisket with grilled mushroom risotto.
GROSS.
The sauce that drenched my meat was WAYYYYYY TOO SALTY. Omg it just took away from the whole meal. Then I digged into my risotto and it was undercooked.
The only thing I enjoyed was my glass of wine.
The server just basically came to take our order and never checked back in with us and didn’t have much of a personality for that matter.
I wouldn’t come back here — There are other restaurants that look promising and a few which I’ve been to. Most of the restaurants on that stretch have prix-​fixe menu.

The location is bizarre. I felt a little embarrassed when I walked in with my boyfriend and was told we were eating in the basement.
The server was fun and friendly.
The décor is atrocious. Anyone who’s been knows that I’m referring to the God awful murals. I did not feel like I was eating somewhere classy by any means, but that didn’t mean the food would be bad.
My boyfriend had spaghettini and meatballs. The meatballs were as big as my fists, but the lighting made it impossible to tell if they were really cooked when he broke one up because there’s this red glow to all the lights. He didn’t get sick, so I guess it was good.
I found it hard to order since everything was basically made of the same ingredients and prepared in an unusual way.
I definitely wasn’t impressed when the waiter informed me that because I have an allergy to mushrooms I have to order something without mushrooms because everything is pre-​prepared.
They do have some really unique beers and that was a pleasant surprise.
All in all, I’d say this is a place you go for drinks and not to eat.

Yes, their location is weird. Fred’s Not Here is the restaurant next door and to get to the Red Tomato, you go downstairs to this basement, albeit snazzy basement area. While looking for a place to eat before the baseball game, we were drawn in by their 2-​course dinner + drink special for $ 25. I’m not a big drinker and I didn’t think I would have room for an appetizer or dessert, so I opted for the flat iron steak with rosemary thyme garlic flavored with baked gorgonzola polenta. The steak was tender though they did not cook it medium rare. The gorgonzola polenta was really good. Since it was a Tuesday night, it wasn’t really busy. The desserts are petite sized so don’t worry about not having room for it!

Yeah! And yeah for the Unilocal app or I would have never found you in my tourist wanderings through downtown Toronto. I wanted a bar that was cozy, dimly lit, and cool for the single lady just lookin for some vino and food. Loved IT!
First, hellooo is this the cutest, hippest, most relaxing bar ever? ! «Yes», I’m going to have to go ahead and answer my own question. Yeah! Second, the bartenders were beyond nice and so hip! I felt like I was in a neighborhood bar back home. Third, food? Ummm yum! And they may a very special vegetarian pasta dish for lil’ ol me! Awww. Love u Red Tomato! I told all the other people at the convention about you! If I’m ever in Toronto again, guess were I’m hangin? I’m a lil’ «j» of all that Toronto has to offer. Can u open a locale in CHI town?