My friends and I visited Byzantium Restaurant this year during Toronto’s annual Winterlicious event that ran from January 29th to February 11th. Winterlicious allows foodies such as myself to visit restaurants and eat dishes from their menu for a special price. We choose to eat a 3 course dinner meal at Byzantium.
Byzantium is located in the Church and Wellesley area. It’s sandwhich between two other stores and features a small balcony area at the front of the restaurant that can be occupied during the warmer months. Upon arrival we were seated in a location away from the windows but still provided a direct view into the balcony and streets.
I had the Calamari as my appetizer; it came served nice and warm. About 2-3 calamari pieces came served on a bed of greens and red onions. They were grilled with lemon vinaigrette, parsley with tzatziki sauce on the side. This was a light and satisfying appetizer; the calamaris were grilled well enough and were not chewy. The lemon vinaigrette was not overpowering and it cut out the fishy taste that seafood can have.
For my main course I ordered the Roasted Organic Salmon served on a bean and rice cake, pico de gallo, avocado cream and jalapeno rings. The salmon was flaky and moist. It was lightly seasoned and cooked to perfection. The rice and bean cake was ok; I found it to be a bit dry and bland in flavour. However, it did pair well with the avocado cream (which added a bit of flavour to it). The jalapeno rings were a great surprise! They were crunchy, flavourful and not too spicy.
For dessert I choose the double chocolate layer cake; it was an extension to my birthday weekend and I had to indulge! This cake provided all the chocolate I’ve ever needed; it was more like a triple layer cake! It was a moist, rich chocolate slice of heaven.
xo,
Eseeri
