The Swan used to be one of my regular stops…

I liked the comfort food-y menu and the feeling of being inside an Edward Hopper painting. But then the Swan fell off my map. Having been dissed by Delux,** we found ourselves on the Queen West strip at 8:00 on a Friday night sans reservation. Fortunately the Swan had a free table and won us back with a warm welcome.

We started with a bottle of Spanish Jurmilla, an easy drinker for around $48, and picked at some fairly standard white bread (still satisfyingly squishy). The room was cozy and dark, perfect for a fall evening, and we were happy and warm by the time our crab cake appetizer arrived. As a part-time New Englander I’ve become a connoisseur of crab cakes, and the Swan’s version rates well. Two small disks were served with a mayo-ish dip, sparked up with just the right amount of heat. The cakes were substantial but not too bready or gluey — truly a respectable rendition.

For our mains, we opted to split the pork chop and the short ribs. Mr. Rabbit started with the ribs, a glistening mound of meat in a sticky marmalade and molasses sauce. The meat was plated with potato and turnip mash and some veg.  The sauce was a bit heavy on the corn-starch, but still satisfying. Serving sizes here are very generous, but Mr. Rab was still reluctant to hand over the ribs — recall that Plan A involved sharing.

However, this dishonesty was forgiven because I was equally happy with the pork chop. A very hearty chop was served with sweet potato mash, corn bread, veggies and a baked apple. The meat was tender and juicy and the sides had a nice variety of flavours and textures. Both entrees proved ideal autumnal comfort food and in both cases (and with respect to the menu in general) interesting and imaginative sides are a real bonus.

Finally, we split the bread pudding, a buttery rendition with fat juicy raisins and a tasty hot caramel sauce. The dessert was again well executed, but service started to fall off at this point. Mr. Rab’s coffee refill never appeared (except on the bill) and we had trouble getting said cheque. 

Overall, this was a good meal. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the Swan as a destination, but it’s a fine option if you’re in the neighbourhood. The food is solid, although we were disappointed that initially excellent service fell off a cliff once it was clear we were done spending money.

 ** The Problem with Delux - The chef at Delux is a protege of Lydia Shire (one of our favourite Boston chefs) and were were looking forward to trying her cooking.  I called Delux on Wednesday evening to make a Friday reservation. Victor promptly returned my call. He informed me that all tables were booked, but offered to write us down for the bar at 8:00 even though they “don’t usually do that.” He was clear that they “could not promise anything” but there was enough wink-wink, nudge-nudge that it seemed appropriate to cab from the ROM to Ossington.

When we arrived as Delux the host was aloof and dismissive. He told us they had no availability and acknowledged no anticipation of our arrival although our name was to have been recorded. We were quickly shoo-ed away without apology. 

 While I recognized there was a risk that we could not be accommodated, our arrival should not have been a surprise. Even if they could not seat us, I would have expected some recognition that we were inconvenienced: “oh, we’re sorry you went out of your way”… “it’s awkward when this doesn’t work out”… but we got nothing.  

In fact, we didn’t even get a “please do come back another time.” Don’t worry, we won’t. 

Posted on October 20th, 2008 by rabbit
Filed under: Toronto, Restaurant Reviews