the carbon bar

a few weeks ago my husband took me here, it was our first time. it doesn't look like much from the outside but wow, it is huge! it is definitely a live spot and i would recommend making reservations as we did. my expectations were pretty high, but i was kind of disappointed. first of all, the service was nothing special at all, our server was very inattentive. i loved their shrimp ceviche though, hands down delicious! their octopus was cooked beautifully but i found the beans and egg that came on the same skillet didn't enhance the flavour profile one bit. beans were pretty bland, so pretty disappointing. their deep fried beef brisket was on the salty side so it was hard to enjoy.  the duck tacos were delightful...that and th ceviche alone is enough to bring me back here though.

nova scotia lobster burger with gourmet pit-smoked bacon, truffled hollandaise, beefsteak tomato and old bay mayo at carbon bar. torontonicity was invited to carbon bar on queen street east

a lat minute decision to go to carbon bar after work on friday was a good one. my friend got the $5 wine deal that gives you a onus tapas bite. she had 2 glasses of wine soi got to try one of the chorizo bites and it was fantastic. we also shared the shrimp and grits appetizer which was prepared in deep fred sticks. crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. we had the brisket burnt ends lettuce wraps for our main. smokey and tender brisket with slaw and butter lettuce. a super chill place with great food. i hope to go back again soon.

we were here for dinner today (2 of us) and we had a great experience with our food. the place opens at 4pm serving drinks and snacks and the dinner device starts only by 5pm. we walked in a little after 4pm without a reservation, and there were only 3 other people here at that time; but by the time we finished they were pretty crowded.

the tables are very close to each other - so if the place got full, it might not be a great place for a personal conversation.

for starters - we had a k.f.c. from their snack menu. korean fried cauliflower and it was delicious. we loved it. we also got corn bread with whipped maple cream on-the-house and it was very good too.

for mains - we chose to go with their salad options, as their main portion sizes are known to be little large. we had a pulled pork and brisket burnt ends. both of them were yummm.

for drinks - we had singles of whiskey (collingwood & canadian club) and a glass of house white wine.

the cost of the dinner came to $68 including hst.

came here for dinner with 2 other people on a thursday night. the restaurant looked great. wonderfully high ceilings with cool light fixtures & lots of seats. food was also great! ordered the pit master platter, kale caesar salad, lentils with scallops and bacon and finished with the carrot cake & some skull chocolates. everything was super tasty!

i'd rate this place higher if the noise level wasn't so high. we could barely hear ourselves just sitting across the table from each other.

overall the carbon bar is good, its very much a networking/business atmosphere. not the best place for families or a romantic date. its really urban, and industrial looking. the service is awesome, the only thing i didn't love was the menu. good food but not great, still really worth the money.

decent cocktails, great, friendly service, and good portions. love the reworked industrial interiors, made cozy by lighting and leather-stuffed, round banquettes. the food itself was mediocre. we had the pitmaster platter. the smoked brisket lacked seasoning and had an odd tang of vinegar at its edges; and the fried chicken batter was so thick it verged on being hard to crunch. the ribs were the exception: they were tender and finished with a perfect brushing of smoky sweet, tangy bbq sauce. collard green side was disappointing as it was simply steamed, salted and buttered, and the mac and cheese was ok.

for dessert we had a bourbon skull each, which was cute and amusing, in addition to being tasty. it was basically a chocolate truffle, masquerading as a metallic coloured bite-sized skull.

loved our personable server and surroundings, but not sure we would return for the unexceptional food.

i've been meaning try this restaurant for the longest time a d glad we finally did. we were throwing a friend a surprise party and the staff were very cooperative and accommodating to us. the waitress ashley was very helpful to use the entire night from start to finish. we ordered the "kfc" which is korean fried cauliflower, a common staple here. it was quite good and i loved the batter used to make it this way. the entire table ordered their signature dish which was the meat platter filled with beef brisket, ribs and fried chicken. it was so good and really love the juicy parts of the brisket. it came out to $30/person but well worth the price to try their awesome meat. our waitress ashley was super nice and friendly as our host for that night. great ambience and dining experience. highly recommend it to others and meat lovers alike.

a short haiku review from me to you! hope you enjoy it!

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birthday group dinner.
pricey seafood and meat mounds.
food for everyone.
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i went there for winterlicious menu.

great service as usual. the menu didnt have that much of variety but still great!

they always have good food and services, and they have not disappointed me this time!!

their apple crisp was a delicious dessert! yum yum.

i can never say one about bad thing about this restaurant.

tip to restaurants: when you proclaim a menu to be an “experience”, be confident you’ll be able to provide the entire package. it’s not a “tasting menu”, where food is king; you’re now promising diners something more that extends beyond the stomach. which is exactly why the carbon bar needs to rethink if they’re able to execute on the “experience menu”, unless you want a frustrating start and ending to be what diners remember.

when a group of friends and i went for the carbon bar experience menu ($49 per person having dropped the fish course), we were expecting tons of food, served family style, which would leave us in a meat coma.

what we didn’t expect was having to wait over half an hour for

the best way to describe this place is a sophisticated barbecue restaurant. forget going to places where servers wear plaid and the decor is down south old wood.

and be prepared that the prices are more upscale than other bbq places around but what you get is very good

we started with a couple of their house special drinks... a dark margarita and a gin based cocktail. both were good and strong and combined cost $29

for appetizers there is a single sized portion and a sharing tapa sized section. we got the kfc... korean fried cauliflower, the croquettes and the burnt ends.

the kfc was very good but we longed for more sauce. the burnt ends came like a cold lettuce wrap set up and we're very good as well with enough to make three small wraps each. i didn't love the croquettes which were lightly battered pieces of brisket which came with a horseradish chipotle mayo. i found it bland but my partner really liked them.

we shared the beef brisket dinner. it was good but not great. it was very tender but needed more than just a rub of salt and pepper. the bbq sauce was very yummy.

for dessert we endulged in the apple crumble and the banana split. the split at $14 was delicious but not worth the cost. it had two small pieces of caramelized banana three small scoops of ice cream and a couple of chocolates.

the cobbler was very fresh tasting and a better deal at only ten dollars

the bill with tip was 160 for two of us. we were stuffed and really enjoyed. it's a good place for a sophisticated once in a while date night.

this post contains images of our recent lunch at the carbon bar on queen street east in toronto. the place itself is a big, modern bistro, brick walls, maroon booths and a dozen spherical light fixtures suspended from the ceiling on pantographs. this building previously housed a disney rehearsal space, a city tv broadcast studio (famous for the 1970s baby blue movies) and the electric circus nightclub. a few design details pay homage to that history, like a clubby neon sign and a collection of 15 donald duck figurines remembering the building’s former life as a disney rehearsal space. there are 104 restaurant seats, 45 bar seats and 30 seats in the second-floor private dining room. it took eighteen months and three million dollars to renovate the historic building. we drank a cottage life caesar - beefeater 24, clamato, jalapeno garlic, rosemary, wasabi pea rim $12 and a dockside sangria - havana club rum, st. germain, wine watermelon mint shrub, strawberry $13. we ate caesar salad - romaine, bacon, six-minute egg, oak smoked bacon, garlic croutons $13; cumbrae farms steak tartare - puffed beef tendon, makers mark, tajin $16; bacon cheeseburger - oak smoked bacon, gouda, pickles, mustard mayo, fries $20; and bbq mac & cheese - pit-fired pork, aged cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella $20. as it was lunchtime, we passed on desserts.

this review of the carbon bar is based on my "happy" hour experience when beers and bar snacks were all going for $5. so is this review bias? i guess kind of....

bbq dusted crackling ($5) with sweet chili vinegar

k.f.c. ($5) korean fried cauliflower

goose island ipa ($5)

and complimentary snack

only offers at the bar area and served thursday through saturday (11pm - 2am)

i love the bar area as it feels spacious and if you don't want to sit on a bar stools, there are small table for 2/4 on the side. service was fast and efficient.

i haven't try any bbq items on the menu which the restaurant is famous for. i guess there will be a next time....

we definitely enjoyed the cottage experience menu when we returned to the carbon bar on queen street east in toronto for the cottage life (where every day is the weekend) to enjoy "the cottage experience menu" which was $59.00 per person and was designed and created by chef hidde zomer who has been the executive chef at the carbon bar toronto for over two years. we chose to drink beer and enjoyed a 16 oz. rolling rock premium extra pale lager draught and a labatt 50 ale (710 ml.). we ate smoked salmon on saltines; mesquite tortilla chips and with guacamole and smoked oyster sauce; oysters and condiments; heirloom tomato and& herbed cottage cheese; wild shrimp salad, watermelon and feta. the main part of the dinner was a massive platter called the cottage bbq platter consisting of st. louis cut ribs, jalapeno/cheddar sausage, cumbrae farm sliders and buttermilk chicken. this was accompanied with corn on the cob and tcb slaw. dessert was campfire s'mores and a large slice of niagara peach pie with ice cream. the food was tasty and the service exemplary. the décor pays homage to the building's history which included a walt disney studio, a discotheque and the city television studio during the baby blue movie era.