pure spirits oyster house & grill

overpriced and lousy. we had friends visiting from australia, originally from the gta and they hadn't been back to to in 5 yrs. i picked this place from the great reviews and the menu looked promising. we enjoyed the potato fries and the oysters appetizers. our salt and pepper calamari had no black pepper. our main courses were bland, pasta was crunchy and flavor was lacking. our waiter asked my husband how he wanted his braised meat: rare, med rare? we all looked confused because as far as we knew you could only get braised meat one way - braised, but what do we know.
perhaps it was an off night but the outrageous prices for our main meals with the lackluster flavor in almost all the dishes certainly left a bitter taste in our mouths.

enjoyable meal. after a bad dinning experience at ciao, i finally got a good meal here. service was prompt and the waiter was knowledgeable about what's on the menu. the manhattan clam chewer was lightly spicy and chock full of vegetables but the baby clams were bit hard to find; nonetheless, it was a delicious soup. we both had the seafood paella was also delicious and have enough seafood in it. it came with a nice big serving of a juicy cooked square of cod. it was cooked just right so that it is not dry and the flesh flakes off the way it should be. definitely an excellent meal and recommended.

you just never know. had been here last summer and had a very good experience. the oysters were a very good selection and thought the service was good. i have since read all of the negative reviews about the service and was considering whether or not to go back. i did today and it was a great experience again. the oyster selection was good again, they were nicely shucked - no shell fragments others had complained of, the mussels were very good, and the service was amazing - ironically one of the best servers i have encountered anywhere, she was exceptional, efficient, knowledgeable and ver pleasant and kind. i think service may often just be a matter of the luck of the draw, but both times i have gone to pure spirits i have nothing but compliments on both the seafood and the service. i will return!

should have ordered the mussels. perhaps it was a busy saturday and they forgot individual service but this was a disappointing experience. i ordered the oysters of the day plus three others. the oysters were gritty with pieces of shell in the meat so much so that i could not enjoy the yummy juices at the bottom of the shell. i was so busy taking small bits of shell out of my mouth that i could not really enjoy the oyster itself. and the grit! i do not like sand with my oysters and that was not on the menu.
we must have been at pure spirits during shift change because all of a sudden we had a new waiter who did not even bother to introduce himself. the prices were reasonable enough. my husband enjoyed the mussels provencal. i would never order the oysters from that place.

inside brick, wood, black counter tops - looking great. a bit of a cellar feel, from the grungy lights and the racks of bottles on the wall. we were given a spot outside.
the patio is the perfect proportion - definitely not tiny european style, but rather laid back enough to notice but not be in people's conversations. again dark tables, shiny chairs, big umbrellas and flowers on the side.

terrible service. i was there with a group of people, all who do not know eachother, but we were celebrating a common friend's birthday.
they would not split up the bill, they would not clarify what the short forms were on the bill. we couldn't even see who ordered what.
my friend planned the party and so she had to pay the difference. she had to front $120 extra dollars, and we don't even know if if was something anyone in our party ordered.
i would never go there again.

in the heart of toronto’s beloved historic distillery district is pure spirits oyster house & grill. my boyfriend took me here on one of our very first dates and then we came back here on our anniversary. it’s such a nice little sweet spot, with such a rustic historic feel from when you walk through distillery district right up until you get seated at your table. what intrigued us the most was that they had a selection of oysters to try. pure spirits may not have the most expansive list of oysters to try, or the most exotic, or even the best, but what they do have on offer is a wide variety of menu items...

dissapointing. the oysters are amazing, but everything else in this restaurant is disappointing. we got our entrees before our appetizers. everything was cold. service was horrible. our waitress was rude and made a point of it. we left early because we couldn't stand it. my husband and i have worked in the restaurant industry for years and we were shocked at the behavior of the staff. i would not go back to this establishment.

terrible service. we waited for 2 hours and still had not received our meals.
so , we finally gave up and left without our food being served...walked across to the cafeteria style bakery
and ordered panini sandwiches.
would never go back. pathetic.

good food. mediocre service. we've gone here several timed over the last 9 years as we live across the street. consistently the food has been good. i liked my branzino a lot. and my companion liked her duck on our last visit. but the wait staff just isn't up to par. they forget to refill wine glasses, neglect to take orders in a timely fashion and while polite just don't seem to be on the ball. because its regularly crowded it doesn't appear that they have to work hard to make their tips. management doesn't appear to care since they make do much money anyway.

oysters divine. try the breen-- don't forget to eat the fish cheeks. the mac and cheese is filling. awesome service! love that our city has a new oyster bar. make a rez.

similar experience. after reading some of the reviews on urbanspoon i was reminded of my experience at this restaurant in august of 2011. we had similarly poor service and were treated with disinterest by the hostess and the two different waiters who served our table. the food was so-so but the service was below standard and we left feeling dissatisfied. we have not been back and after reading the above mentioned reviews, that is not going to change.

i had the oysters and tried the calamari. both yummy but pricey. half a dozen oysters were $18 and 2 pieces of calamari were $14.

wow. wow, there's a lot of negative reviews here on urbanspoon ....i can't say i have experienced bad service in my times of eating here. i would say the service is ok (not bad but not a standout either). i would recommend this place if you like shucking raw oysters. this place has excellent oysters (order the virginicas, these are good)! it's a bit pricey in my opinion thats why i dont go that often. patio is also good in the summer. we had our puppy time one time and they sat us down at at the edge of the patio so we can tie our puppy to the side, so that was nice.

great winterlicious experience. i had been to pure spirits once before, but this time was for toronto's winterlicious festival, which i will admit can be hit or miss. sometimes you feel like you are getting rushed through your meal, but i didn't feel that way at all here. the waitress was quite friendly and helpful, and overall it was a great meal and experience.

the menu for winterlicious was good - there was a nice mix of options to choose from. sadly there were no oysters though (which i have only recently discovered that i like so was excited to have them again… plus how can you go to a place called an oyster house and not get them?!?) we ended up ordering half a dozen malpeque oysters along with our prix fixe appetizers, and they were delicious. the oysters were served with 3 sauces to choose from: a traditional seafood sauce that had too much of a horseradish aroma for me to even attempt, a spicy option with chili flakes marinating in it (my sister toyed with this and said it was certainly hot, but wasn't anything special otherwise) and then my favorite - a red wine reduction with shallots in it. the shallots are a nice addition to the oysters and work well with the wine. the oysters themselves were a nice size (not too big), were especially salty which i love and tasted super fresh.

there were 3 of us at dinner and surprisingly we each ordered a different one of the 3 available appetizer options. i had a very nice clam chowder; creamy but not heavy. only thing i would change would be subbing some of the potatoes out for more seafood, but it was still a good soup. the spring rolls were a let down, but i guess if you want good spring rolls, you should stick to asian style restaurants. the spinach salad was just that - nothing exciting but looked like a decent salad.

for my main course i had the baked filet of sole. it was coated in delicious provençal bread crumbs, but was very lightly breaded and was absolutely delicious. it was served with whipped potatoes, some wilted spinach, a beet, and then the best part: was covered in baby scallop and shrimp butter. it would have been even better if they were large scallops, but the small ones and the baby shrimp were still a nice addition. and no one is sad about a butter based sauce…

the prime rib was also apparently delicious. it was a giant piece of meat that looked like it was cooked to perfection, and was also served with the potatoes and veggie sides that mine was.

by that point i was beyond full, so when my dark chocolate gateau served with milk chocolate sauce came, i really didn't want it at all… i am more of a savoury than sweet person anyway, so typically i would rather eat more dinner and pass on dessert, but given that it was winterlicious i had ordered the dessert. the cake was alright… frankly it was a bit of chocolate overkill. it should have been served warm with a side of plain vanilla ice cream. maybe then i would have finished it. instead i just had a few bites and passed on the rest. the bread pudding was pretty awesome, it was warm and sweet but not so much that it was painful. overall for $35, it was a fantastic dinner and i would certainly go back again. there are a lot of things on the regular menu that i think sound pretty awesome (seafood mac and cheese???) and a seared ahi tuna that i'd love to try. it is a little on the expensive side, but i would say well worth it. a definite recommend for anyone that likes seafood!