June 10, 2015

Restaurant Review: Jazz Bristro

So I love to explore the city and check out new spots from time to time, more frequently so during the spring and summer months. Now the weather is getting warmer, the time has finally come for my various explorations!

So my friend from Guyana was recently in town, I got a few of the girls together and arranged a dinner outing to catch up with our visiting friend. I didn't really want to just go to one of our regular dinner spots, so starting googling away in search of somewhere new to try. I'm really into places with live music, it adds a more fun an interactive vibe to a dinner, so in my search I came across the Jazz Bistro which is situated at 251 Victoria St. just behind Dundas Square in Toronto. The atmosphere looked nice, the menu looked good and there was going to be a all female Cuban band performing that night (and I love me some Latin music) so I decided we'd go there and check it out.

The place looked just as nice as the pics. The band had not started yet when we arrived so there was time to get situated and chat a bit. You have the option to sit at the tables downstairs for a main view of the stage (There is an extra $20 per person), or you can be seated at the tables upstairs where they have TV screens that show the bands performance as well (no fee). We decided to sit upstairs lol, well more so because our main focus was having dinner and also figured it would be too loud dowstairs so would be difficult for us chat and hear eachother.

Nevertheless, ordered our drink and appetizers. I got a nice fruity cocktail, which was very delish!...Sorry forgot to get the name of it :(. My friends really enjoyed the drinks they got as well, so I can safely say that you will most likely enjoy any of their selection of drinks.
For an appetizer, I ordered the 'Butter Chicken Curry Balls with Fresh Cilantro and Mint Yogurt Sauce' It tasted really good, but obviously not so much of an authentic Indian Butter Chicken flavour. Well that's usually the case when you order ethnic food from an non-ethnic restaurant.
For my main, I was trying decide between the steak or the lamb. So of course I asked our waiter for their recommendation. He suggested he Lamb, so I ordered the 'Marinated Rack of Lamb, Mini Sweet Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables and Mint Sauce'. It was not the best lamb I've ever had, but it was a very large filling portion size and tasted good after my addition of a bit of salt and pepper. Well... maybe more like after adding a lot of salt and pepper.
While we ate, the Cuban Jazz band 'Jane Bunnet With Maquequq' began their set. They played a variety of Cuban rhythms and a mixture of up tempo and slow beats. The lead singer had a very lovely sultry voice but at the same time hit us with some powerful notes. Though we were seated upstairs, it was still pretty loud, so very difficult to talk over the music. All in all it was a great show. My friends and I found ourselves dancing it up a bit, trying to do our little Latin dance steps which was hilarious to watch...except for me since I know how to do Latin dance properly ;) hehehe.

In the end I did enjoy all the food, drinks and the vibe with the live band. I will definitely go there again and definitely recommend that you check it out!

~G~

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