Toronto, Annona Restaurant, Park Hyatt Hotel, Shrimp, Squash & Manchego Empanada

Annona Restaurant, Park Hyatt Hotel, 4 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON, 416-324-1567

An attempt for a Saturday after yoga brunch at a bakery with a European feel resulted in discovering that Toronto’s “Pain du Quotidien”, my favourite brunch place discovered in Brussels and when living in London, is now under bankruptcy protection! Do Torontonians not appreciate over priced French baked goods and Italian buffalo mozzarella as much as the Parisians do? Now, what are two hungry girls to do?

The Toronto Metro Library to the rescue! A quick cross of Yonge street and a free online search later (yes, I am a luddite without a data plan), Cecilia and I were headed through Yorkville towards the Park Hyatt!

Overall Food Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars: A nice afternoon lunch atmosphere with good, but not great, food. Previous experiences at Annona have been more satisfying than today’s.

Atmosphere Rating: 4.5 / 5: I find the restaurant clean, classy, and the seating particularly comfortable. The best views are along the windows or the banquette seats facing them, which allows one to admire the urban business of the edge of Yorkville, Avenue road, or the entrance to the Park Hyatt.

Service Rating: 2.5 / 5 stars: Cecilia and I were starving. And we had to ask for the bread 3 times and it arrived after our appetizers.

Value Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars: A Winterlicous 3 course lunch at $20. Cecilia’s salad was much better than my deep fried dumplings. The fish was fresh but the taste was just okay, while Cecilia’s beef brisket tasted better. The desserts were a fine but needed to be a bit more substantial.

Appetizer/Starter Rating: Shrimp, Squash & Manchego Empanada Avocado Lime Dipping Sauce, 2.5 / 5 stars: Since I had no clue what an “Empanada” was, I mistakenly asked, “How many shrimp are there?” to which I was left uncorrected (I was told “There are 3 shrimp”). When I ultimately found out that Annona’s version of “Empanda” meant “Deep Fried Thick Flour Wrapped Dumpling with a filling”, it was a bit of a letdown, so they are not even the focal point of the pic above.  The table setting is pretty though, isn't it?  The guacamole dip was good though!