Summerlicious: Bent

Bent

777 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON M6J 1V2

(647) 352-0092

We risked rainstorms warnings and floods to have dinner at Bent. In fact, the moment we stepped out of the car and walked towards Dundas, lightning struck. Right across the street. Boy was it loud. I don't know if you've ever seen and heard lightning that was just a crosswalk in front of you, but it is scary. Your heart flutters and yours ears require adjustment. You might shriek and jump a little. Smile nervously at your friends. Then you're left with the pounding of your heart as you realize that you were darn lucky escaping that.

But we lived to tell you about our Summerlicious experience at Bent!

Our group of six was seated near the front and our server took our drink order. Note to self, ask what the price is for drinks that have none listed! They had a great mojito line up in which most of us took part in, but it was expensive and took us by surprise when the bill arrived. On one hand, I felt it was expected as they needed to make up their costs elsewhere, but for that price, I would have expected a pitcher, or the world's best mojito!

While we kept perusing the menu, we actually took to ordering some appetizers off of the Summerlicious offerings because they sounded so delicious!

Here's one of them, a spicy tuna and watermelon ceviche with shaved red onion, cilantro, crispy shallots, fresh citrus juice, Rocoto chili, and Chinese doughnut fritter. I really liked the addition of the yau ja gwai, this was unique and we've never seen it done before. The tuna and watermelon was a good combination and we liked how juicy and large the chunks were.

The second one we tried were the duck confit spring rolls with braised onion sweet tamarind sauce. Quite filling as the spring roll was stuffed to the brim! Admirably, the duck wasn't dried inside and had a good sauce to it.

This was the popular Summerlicious appetizer choice as we saw servers carry these olive trays out of the kitchen again and again. Shrimp tacos with charred onion tomato salsa, chipotle, and avocado in a taro shell. Mini bites consisting of a great flavour combination.

I had thought the shells were fried wonton wrappers since the taro didn't stand out, but the filling more than made up for it.

Howard's Summerlicious appetizer was a crispy chicken dumpling served with roasted chorizo, a maple syrup and smoked chili lime glaze, and Parmesan emulsion with salad of watercress and frisée. This surprised me the most as it had quite the kick. Not the pick for those who can't handle their hot and fiery, but for those who can, this was delicious!

Time for our mains! I had the crispy Assam-styled salmon with tamarind, ginger flower, four citrus, mustard and fruit. That's right, fruit! Little bits of green grapes and grapefruit, accompanied the perfectly cooked salmon.

Howard had the largest ravioli I've ever seen. Pulled beef ravioli with Malay black pepper emulsion, garlic mushroom, and confit tomato. This dish won raves all around the table, from those who had ordered it and from those of us who were lucky enough to try a bite or two. It was so good that our friends joked about ordering another one.

Finally, they also switched it up by not having you pick one of the three dessert items on the Summerlicious menu. You get all three! From left to right: strawberry, rhubarb, and lemongrass compote with a Grand Marnier crème fraiche and a butterfly pastry; passion fruit and mango panna cotta topped with coconut tapioca, pineapple, and passion fruit granitée; and profiterole with vanilla custard served with hot chocolate sauce and sesame brittle.

The all-round favourites of the trio was the mango panna cotta and the profiterole! Please Sur (see what I did there?), can I have some more?

The next time you're walking down Dundas Street West and you see that arrow? Go in.