C5 at the ROM

[SYoung]

Dined at C5 with my wife last night. Overall, excellent experience.

C5 is located on the 5th Floor with a separate entrance off Bloor on the west end of the Crystal. The room is designed beautifully modern chic dominated by off-white colour not unlike the original Lobby restaurant (as I remembered it). About a third of the room was the lounge area which sat mostly empty throughout the evening, which was too bad because the beautiful modern design makes for an excellent lounge experience.

Our reservation was 7:45pm early evening and the sun lit up the room through the almost floor-to-ceiling V-shaped windows which made it seem almost outdoor-like. The ceiling was high which made the room big and spacious. After the sun set, the room ambiance changed to a modern elegance feel. The kitchen was open concept and sat quietly and unassuming at the "back" of the restaurant.

The menu is 3 courses plus dessert (like the menu at George restaurant - price-wise as well), though we both ordered only 2 of the 3 courses plus dessert. For appetizer, my wife ordered the Dungeness Crab salad and I ordered the grilled foie gras on top of a ravioli (forgot what it was called). My wife absolutely loved the crab and my dish was very good though the foie gras was slightly overcooked. We talked with the couple next to us and he had the C5 Raw Tasting which he said was absolutely amazing even though he didn't normally order raw food!

I had the rib eye special for the main and my wife had the black bass which she said was excellent. My 5 oz steak was cut into 5 small pieces and was very well flavoured. The guy next to us ordered the strip loin which he said was the best steak he has had in a long time.

Dessert was excellent as well. I had the panna cotta which was firm in texture and very good to taste. My wife had the waffle dessert (forgot the name) which was quite original and she said was fantastic! We were also served 2 amuses and the 2nd one was after the dessert - some kind of a banna bread pudding cake. Very nice!

Service didn't start off very well but got better as the evening progressed. The waiter - a very nice soft spoken gentleman - forgot to give us bread (we had to ask another waiter) and forgot to tell us about the specials until we were in the middle of ordering. The wine (we ordered by the glass) we wanted on the list wasn't available (Joseph Phelps cab), however, the lady who took our wine order offered to let us taste another on the wine list before ordering which was very nice. She also, without asking, was very quick in getting my wife a bread knife after it was accidentally dropped on the floor. This attentiveness was very much appreciated, thank you!

Overall, C5 was an excellent experience (much better than our last Susur experience at not nearly Susur's prices) and we would definitely recommend C5. In fact, my wife was so impressed that she booked C5 for next Saturday with her parents.

Overall, compared to other Toronto restaurants: Food = A+; Service = B; Ambiance = A

[Nondoctor]

Nice... thanks for the review!