Far Niente Nappa Grill

187 Bay St (At Wellington St.), Toronto                                                     RATING: Fair to Average

“Poor to average food, too-small portions”

I lunched at Far Niente with three coworkers during the week before Christmas. We were seated in a comfortable booth and given the specials by an attentive, pleasant waitress. Each of us ordered a main course only, no starter, which was a mistake because the main course was not filling enough for any of us to make it through the afternoon without snacking. 

Two of us had the special of the day which was northern pickerel in a roasted red pepper sauce accompanied by couscous and steamed arugula. I hadn’t eaten pickerel since my uncle Walter caught one out of the back of his boat in Northern Ontario when I was a kid; so I was anticipating the taste of this unique mild white fish. It was indeed nicely cooked: tender and moist. The sauce was fine, the couscous okay, but the steamed arugula was not edible. Why serve such an incredibly overpowering bitter accompaniment? Neither of us enjoyed that part of the meal and pushed it around our plates after one small bite. It was an average meal at best. 

Another coworker had the Crispy Chicken which were deep fried chicken pieces, with an average tasting coleslaw. Average. The last of the four of us ordered the Fish n’ Chips, which was beer-battered haddock, and fries that looked mouth wateringly good. He’s a guy, so he didn’t go on and on about the food, but I could tell that he was really enjoying that meal. I was almost tempted to hand back my pickerel and ask for the haddock, because it looked that good. 

I would say three thumbs down and one thumb up for this meal. Good wait staff and comfortable seating, too-small portions, and prices are not cheap – we split the bill four ways and each paid $32. No alcohol, only a main course. And I had a bagel in the mid afternoon because I was still hungry. This is definitely not my favourite restaurant, so if you can choose another location, and there are many to choose from in the financial district, do so.

Restaurant website: http://www.farnienterestaurant.com/