Avant Gout

It is a nice restaurant with few tables. We were the first to arrive and only a couple of table were occupied when we left. The food was only so so. The crab cakes consisted of two small way overpriced and not very tasty deep fried cakes accompanied by a tiny portion of sauce ( hardly enough for one) and few greens. The shrimp appetizer was better but way overpriced for 5 tiny shrimps. It would have been better if we could have had some bread to soak the sauce with. Unfortunately the waiter never came back. The lamb shank was not bad with the vegetables nicely cooked. The steak and frites were quite good. What really ruined the meal is the service. The waiter was bored, uninterested and just going through the motions. Considering that we were the only customers he ignored us once we ordered. It certainly not because he was too busy. He brought the appetizers with the bread and disappeared. We kept looking back to try and get his attention to get some more bread but he continued to ignore us. He ignored us again after he brought the mains only to return at the end to clear the dishes and bring the bill. Only then he replenished our empty water glasses. The service was not any better at an adjacent table. He equally ignored them. Even though our reservation stated a birthday celebration no mention of that on arrival and no offer of a dessert to celebrate even though we did tell the waiter it is a birthday celebration. I doubt we will return in spite of the food being not too bad.

May 26, 2024 on Google

The food was good but our dinner experience was extremely disappointing and ruined by the appaling service. The one person providing service could not handle the amount of tables (9-10 small parties while we were there) and was almost defiantly inattentive to our table. We understand that sometimes there are staffing issues, but then it is best to communicate that fact to diners and apologize. Only some dishes were cleared after the starters, the other dirty ones had to wait until the main courses were cleared. We asked for a second glass of wine, it arrived 15 minutes later. We ordered 2 desserts, only one arrived. Had to ask for water twice before getting any. The waiter delivering and moving our water glasses by the rim was both unprofessional and unhygienic. We waited 30 minutes for the bill, until finally going up to the waiter (owner?) in order to have him print the bill and collect the payment. Have not had such poor service in a Toronto restaurant ever. There seems to be a lot of regulars, as the person working there was hugging and chatting with many patrons. Maybe they have enough customers, because they definitely made us feel that no effort is needed to host new customers, like us.

May 13, 2024 on Google

Ordered through uber eats approx one hour before they closed yesterday. Menu seemed great but we were extremly disappointed. Food came cold which obviously could be on the delivery side but the fries were far from fresh as they were crunchy and full of oil with no seasoning. My steak came in well done with no sauce (was supposed to be peppercorn) and my friends salmon came smelling very fishy like it wasnt fresh. Our desert was the sticky toffee cake and both came with the caramel sauce burnt which overpowered the taste and was very bad. We also threw those out. Both pops came warm. Felt like their last orders of the day didnt matter at all. For 130$ ill go somewhere that has a bit more pride in their quality and service.

April 26, 2023 on Google

Went here with a group of 10 and the server took really good care of us. Water and drinks were always topped off. Ordered the steak and it was cooked to how I requested/liked it. Had a great intimate atmosphere

February 9, 2023 on Google

It was alright. The food was good without being fantastic. Portion size was great though! Service was ok, we had ordered one dish of escargot to share but the server brought out two (benefit of doubt, it was a little loud inside so he might have misheard). We tried the lamb and the prawn pasta, both were cooked well and tasty. At the price point however, I'd be just as willing to try somewhere new as to return. The restaurant is also really small and the tables are quite close together so we could easily hear pretty much every conversation in the restaurant which isn't necessarily a bad thing but if you're looking for something a little more intimate I'd go somewhere else.

October 28, 2022 on Google

Overall delicious French food in a cozy atmosphere. Do try whatever specials they have for the day! They do not have much outdoor patio space. My only issue was with the grilled calamari app - the calamari was over cooked, and under seasoned… think they forgot the salt

September 5, 2021 on Google

Great food and ambiance. The owners are nice. fair prices for the good food and service. Everything I had tasted amazing

March 4, 2020 on Google

Avant Gout the Cozy Restaurant on Yonge Street. I had dinner here with friends. French Moroccan-inspired cuisine I ordered liver, and it was delicious prices are a reasonable variety of wine

July 24, 2019 on Google