The Distillery District is one of my favourite areas in Toronto. The older architecture, cobblestone paths are charming and warm. I love spending the afternoon Window shopping with a wonderful selection of specialty stores and small galleries, seeing a show at the Soulpepper theatre or enjoying the delicious gelato and fresh chocolate at Soma. There’s usually events going on in the area during the summer, and it’s a great busy location to visit. The Mill St Brewery Pub offers all of their beers on tap as well as their special seasonal brews.

Atmosphere: It was a super busy night, luckily we got a table near the bar instead of having to wait for room in the dining area. The decor’s very industrial and there’s a souvenir shop off to the side. It’s not tacky and set up unobtrusively.

Service: Our server was great. It may have been because we were closer to the bar and didn’t have an assigned server, but we got a lot of attention and it was food arrived quickly. Our main server was personable and chatted with us about the menu.

Food: My dinner partner and I opted to share our dishes and try their sampler drink selection consisting of four 8oz glasses. I had the (left to right) Original Organic, Lager, Ginger, Lemon Tea and Raspberry beers. I’ve always liked the Organic, very light and it was good palate cleanser between the other beers that had stronger flavours, like the Ginger. The Ginger was overwhelming, so much ginger flavour and a bit bitter. I really liked the Lemon Tea and the Raspberry beers. My friend thought the raspberry flavour was really strong but I didn’t taste it as much. She also ordered the Cobblestone, which grew on her as we ate but it didn’t agree with my tastebuds, super bitter.

For food, we shared the Pulled Pork Tacos and the Lobster and Avocado Club sandwich. The size of the tacos were just right, with a good portion of pulled pork. I liked the corn, but the guacamole was too creamy for my taste. I prefer a chunkier texture. The avocado lobster club was very good. It had a lot of seafood, didn’t skimp on the protein with a nice multi-grain bread, fresh tomato, lettuce and avocado. The coleslaw on the side was also very crisp, not too much creamy and a good bite, sour kick.

Coquine is a French Bistro, just south of Eglinton on Yonge with an amazing covered patio. It’s one of a few mid-range restaurants in the area, which I will be adding to my lunch rotation when in need of finer fare.

Atmosphere: We opted to enjoy our meal outside, on their patio and it was a beautiful day. Tables were well set, although a touch small for all the cutlery and dishes. The cover was nice, as it provided fresh air and sunlight, without baking in the sun.

Service: Service was pleasant. The server opened with introducing the daily specials and bread was delivered to the table promptly. The bus girl also tried very  hard to arrange all the dishes (bread plate, fries, main, etc) on the limited surface area.

Food: The omelette of the day sounded very appetizing, with bacon and dried blueberries, however we were looking for something more filling. I ordered the Moules Frites (mussels and fries) in a white wine sauce and my companion the Grilled Salmon. The white wine sauce was delicious, I may have polished off a lot more bread than necessary because of it. The mussels were really fresh and not over cooked. I personally like fries that aren’t crispy (a la Swiss Chalet), and these were perfect. The portion was also quite large and I only finished half the bowl myself. The ketchup and mayonnaise served with the fries were fine, nothing out of the ordinary though. All in all, a good meal, a higher price point for every day lunch but perfect for a treat.