Harvest Kitchen - Toronto

2017/05/04<br/ One of our sons (who is vegetarian) and his girlfriend (who is vegan) took us out to Harvest Kitchen for a belated birthday dinner for SWMBO. HK has several options along the meat/vegan spectrum, so there was something on the menu for each of us. The restaurant has a very comfortable, homey feel to it. The two hours we were there did not feel rushed at all. <br/ <br/ We started out by sharing a dish of Crispy Eggplant (vegan), which was battered with a fresh herb tempura. The outside had a nice crisp to it, and the inside was good, soft and mushy. On the side was a pleasant tahini sauce for dipping. <br/ <br/ SWMBO had the Southern North American Bowl, and added organic chicken. This was a brown rice dish with many Tex-Mex ingredients, such as retried beans, pico de gallo, cheddar, lime, cilantro, salsa verde, guacamole, sour cream. Fresh ingredients and tender chicken made for a nice dish. <br/ <br/ I ordered the Napoleon Printemps, which was a portobello mushroom cap with many other things. However, after ordering, our server came back and said they were out of them. While I was contemplating other options, our server came back and said, although they didn't have anymore prepared ones, the chef was going to put one together for me. <br/ <br/ Imagine a large mushroom cap, sitting upside down, like a small bowl. Now stack it high with grilled eggplant, goats cheese, sautéed spinach. Then wrap the whole thing in rice paper, and bake it. Put the round mound on top of a beet coulis, with wilted greens, and sprinkle toasted almonds on top of everything. Sweet from the beets, salty from the cheese, crunch from the almonds, soft from the eggplant, earthiness from the mushroom. Each bite had something going on. <br/ <br/ Good conversation good food very good dining experience.

Last lunch meal in Toronto so I let J pick. She went with one that she frequents from time to time, Harvest Kitchen. <br/ <br/ The inside is bright, cozy and laid back. We didn’t have any trouble grabbing a table as it was a Wednesday so we sat by the window to watch all the people scurrying by in the 40km/hr winds. The chalkboard houses all their specials for the day.<br/ <br/ Coffee $2.95) coffee came out cold. Our server rectified the issue and brought out a new one when she inquired. <br/ Hand cut russet fries $5.95) the fries were great.<br/ HK burgers $12.95) with kale salad $5.50) I had a bite of the burger and it was pretty good but I can’t believe they charged $5.50 to add a kale salad! Not sure if that was a mistake menu says $3.95) but I guess you pay a premium for kale.<br/ Daily sproutzzadilla $12.95) I went with the soup as my side, which was a mushroom almond puree with crispy onion and olive oil garnish. Wasn’t a fan of the flavour combination. Pretty bland and boring. The sproutzzadilla was better with toasted grill marks and tender duck meat. The portion is small though.<br/ <br/ Decent enough but it’s pretty standard cafe fare.

I particularly enjoyed the mushroom french fry salad, consisting of kale, spinach, fries, mushrooms, poached eggs, and hollandaise. It was mostly made up of french fries, but the salad balanced it out perfectly. My husband enjoyed his chicken breast sandwich and baked home fries. Although the service was a bit slow and they forgot my tea, I still had a great brunch experience. I apologize for not taking photos of the delicious food; I was too hungry to remember.

If you're looking for a great brunch spot, I recommend checking out Harvest Kitchen. They have options for vegetarians, which is a nice touch. The food was carefully prepared and the service was excellent. Despite the small size of the restaurant, it was busy when we visited. The servers were attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. I would definitely go back to try their dinner menu. Thank you again to Zomato for this fantastic meal!

'We were tempted by their small street level patio with it 's bright flowered planters. The interior was a popular choice trendy and bright but we wanted the fresh air and sunlight. We were glad that our determination was not challenged and we asked for their upstairs backyard patio, which was fortunately open. '<br/ <br/ 'A lot of care went into making every dish at Harvest Kitchen and we felt deeply rooted in the local. Our experience came together from the small details that matter an intense chive flower, an attentive waitress, carefully seasoned and grilled asparagus, hand cut coleslaw once put together, one can feel a true touch of a great food experience. Highly recommended. '<br/ <br/ Just a few bites from our full experience...