LE BARATIN WITH FASTVENUES

I first visited Le Baratin back in June when the restaurant first opened and became a big fan of Chef Jean. Le Baratin’s menu was filled with dishes that were homey and comforting, but with all the sauces and flavours that teleported me to France. From their house-made gravlax to duck confit, I was blown away by the quality of food truly good value price point. When Fastvenues.com invited me to try out their service, which included a set menu at Le Baratin, I couldn’t refuse.

Disclaimer: All food and drinks reviewed below were provided complimentary. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

Fastvenues.com is a new online service in Toronto that connects diners with restaurants to make special occasions easy. From “just a night out” to a “working lunch”, users can choose from a variety of set menus created by restaurants specifically for the website and filter for amenities like “full bar”, “patio” or “rooftop”. If you’ve every tried to make a reservation for more than 10 people in Toronto, you know it’s incredibly difficult and involves making a lot of phone calls. Fastvenues simplifies the process a ton by laying out all the information needed to book a venue from menu to cost to capacity in a single place. Their selection of restaurants and set-menus are continuously growing and evolving. I also liked that the restaurants are the ones setting the menus and availability, which allows them to update as needed and over great deals for non-peak values. I booked a prestige dinner for two at Le Baratin ($45 + tax and tip), and the the value of the dishes ordering straight from the menu would’ve been $20 more expensive. Seriously, a great deal.

Now onto the food. With the $45 prestige menu at Le Baratin, my friend and I had our choice of two appetizers, a main and dessert from their full menu. I chose the Blue Cheese Salad while my friend had the Soup of the day. For our appetizers we made the easy decision to split the House Made Gravlax, one of my favourite dishes in the city, and the charcuterie plate. When the boards arrived, the aroma of freshly toasted bread was mesmerizing. My entree was the fish special of the day, which was Mussels with Frites and my friend had the Steak and Frites. The thin cut fries were crispy, seasoned with herbs and I could not stop eating them. My friend’s steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare, tender and juicy. I would’ve loved a loaf of bread to soak up the sauce of the mussels, even though there was already more than enough food for the two of us.

Dessert was a combination of sweet and savoury with a rich Chocolate Mousse and delectable Cheese Platter. Dinner at Le Baratin was a great night out, perfect for catching up with friends or a special occasion. To book Le Baratin’s set menu, which is exclusive to FastVenues.com, check out https://www.fastvenues.com/restaurants/le-baratin.