Bosk
188 University Avenue (in The Shangri-La Hotel) | 647.788.8888 | shangri-la.com
Located in the new Shangri-La Hotel, Bosk is mostly known as the restaurant that isn’t Momofuku, the towering three-story Asian food palace located next door and the one that got all the buzz. Bosk, it seems, was simply overlooked, perhaps obscured by the throngs who lined up to get into Momofuku.
Bosk opened quietly in September of 2012 and immediately ran into turbulence. The patio, a glassed-in paddock on the corner of University Ave. and Adelaide St. held a lot of promise, but construction delays meant it couldn’t open last year. The much-hyped chef, perfumier and biochemist, Jean-Paul Lourdes of “molecular gastronomy” fame did not (according to rumours) respond well to being asked to dial back his visionary dishes (“The Journey of a Single Langoustine”) to suit the more pedestrian appetites of Torontonians and left, never to be seen again. And there was the whole falling glass thing in January, but that’s just an average day in downtown Toronto.
All of this is a shame because Bosk has begun to find its feet. The twee menu nomenclature has been banished, replaced by descriptors instead of exultations. And the space is gorgeous. As you enter, you walk past the enormous sculpture of menacing birds (or are those menacing…hands?), through the lounge with the elongated fireplace, past the bar with green and glass art bubble lights and into the elegant dining room. I pass a fashion shoot en route, which only confirms the chi-chi-ness of the whole place.
The full-length windows on two sides of the restaurant mean the dining room is full of light, something that is accented by the pale coloured stone floors and walls. Along one side is an illuminated wall of wine. There are oceans of space between tables and this lends the whole room an airy, almost spa-like feel. Bosk is a quiet place, which means it’s possible to carry on a conversation in, well, conversational tones. Even the waiters (or at least my waiter) sneak about on little cat feet and are ethereal in their service.
And the service is good. I went twice, in part because the first time the otherwise excellent service was marred by two spillages, a tableside burn and a fumble with the decanter of water. The water decanter is two feet long and shaped like an alpenhorn so I’m amazed we escaped with minor dampness instead of being run through with a shard of glass. The second time, the stars were aligned and the service was seamless, with nary a spillage, burn nor fumble.
Bosk claims to bring to life ingredients “harvested à la minute from a network of global suppliers,” and with this in mind, I try the Alberta beef tenderloin and short ribs with potatoes, mushroom and onions ($45). I note that my foregoing description of the dish contains seven fewer adjectives than the one provided in the menu. It arrives and the first thing I’m struck by is the artful use of the empty space on the plate. A cube of tenderloin here. An onion over there. A puddle of reduction, a smear of potato. Which is to say, the actual amount of food is a little on the scant side. However, what is there is good — the beef tenderloin is tender and juicy (though a bit cool) and the short ribs are fork-tender and have enormous depth of flavour. Everything else, the assorted blobs and smears, is really just artistic embellishment.
My companion has the seared scallops with avocado, hon-shimeji and crunchy rice with a toasted sesame ginger dressing ($23). It is beautifully plated (more green blobs, this time with tousled sprouts). The scallops are excellent and have been seared without reducing them to rubbery nuggets. My companion, however, balks at the fact that two scallops cost $23. She points out that this is about $12 a bite and by that metric, she rules, they are underwhelming.
On another occasion, I order the roasted onion and potato soup ($21) with crispy bread. The soup is thick and nutty tasting, but the crispy bread is a little too crispy to be useful. Or tasty. For my main, I choose the pork chop with coconut rice and broccolini and sweet and sour glaze ($26). The plating is elegant, but the pork chop looks pale and wan. Its pallor immediately prejudices me against it, so I’m several bites in before I realize that it is, in fact, a darn good pork chop. It’s succulent and dense and actually tastes like a pork chop. The broccolini makes for a nice pairing with the sweet (I couldn’t detect any sour) glaze.
My dining companion on this occasion chooses Alaskan sablefish with soba noodles, shiitake mushrooms, snap peas and a dashi broth, source of the spillage and tableside burn (our server apologizes through clenched teeth and hurries off, I hope to put ice on his hand). Replacement broth appears moments later, brought by a replacement server, and is poured over the fish and noodles. The fish, says my companion, is…good. Not transcendent? Not soaring? Nope, he says, chewing contemplatively. Good.
And that is the problem with Bosk. You are set up to expect so much more — the posh hotel, the upscale dining room, the servers impeccably turned out in white jackets. Linen! Glass! Light! The soaring ceilings lead to soaring expectations. And Bosk isn’t bad. It also just isn’t soaring.
Judge Foodie’s verdict:
Highs: Service is some of the best in the city; plenty of space and quiet to hold conversations, beautiful lounge and bar
Lows: Underwhelming
Kirsten Thompson is a Toronto-based research lawyer and commercial litigator. Since her call to the bar in 2000, she estimates that her restaurant to courtroom ratio has been approximately 14:1. Thoughts? Comments? Ideas for a review? Email her.
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