Cluny Bistro

We had dessert first in the little shop next to the restaurant. The presentation of the desserts is completely adorable in the display cooler. My BF had the key lime dessert and loved it. I ordered the chocolate dessert (can’t remember name). The problem is it’s too cold when they serve it and the lame plastic fork cannot get through the very cold chocolate and wafer. That’s the other odd thing. This is a completely adorable french dessert bistro with NOT inexpensive espressos from a top of the line espresso machine and you’re serving drinks in paper cups — CUPS. You serve the desserts on beautiful china and have plastic utensils. There’s a serious disconnect here that needs to be fixed. Get real utensils and proper real ceramic cups for espresso.
We then moved to the bar in the restaurant for drinks. The marble top and everything about the bar and restaurant is just stunning. The restrooms are beautiful. It’s as though you’ve walked into an authentic French restaurant. The drinks were good (after I made bartender ‘rack’ his brain to remember the recipe ??). What’s funny is I later saw the bartender take a half full glass of wine a guest had left unfinished and pour it into a separate glass behind the bar. I hope he enjoyed it later at clean up.

My husband and I came here for our one year anniversary and overall it was a great experience!
1. Ambience is amazing. Looks like you got swept off your feet into an upscale French restaurant but you can wear regular, casual clothing without feeling self conscious. The cute little bakery at the front is so cute! Loved the tiles on the floor and the layout is very intimate but open-​concept. I would love to come here again but sit outside next time for a different «feel»
2. Service was SLOW. We waited close to an hour for our food. Our waiter was good about bringing extra bread and the other bus boys/​hostesses did a good job of keeping our water filled.
3. I ordered the small seafood platter and my husband ordered the steak. My platter was absolutely amazing! Delicious and perfectly made. Oysters tasted fresh. Tartar was buttery and melted in my mouth. Shrimp was tasty. I loved it! My poor husband’s steak was overdone and took forever to come out. He was hesitant about asking for it to be redone but it was just so chewy that he had to. Even then, not only did it come out way after I finished my meal, it was still overdone (but at least it was better than before!). Our waiter handled the whole situation well, although he didn’t even give us a discount for the inconvenience or offer any kind of way to make up for it. The frites were tasty though!
4. Added bonus: the hostess remembered it was our anniversary and brought us two freshly baked croissants at the end of our dinner (on the house). Besides the great seafood platter, this is prbly what saved this review from just being a ³⁄₅ rating.
5. Price is very high. Too high for the quality of food that they’re sending out. I think I may just stick to desserts and/​or appetizers next time!

The interior of Cluny is beautiful and the staff and plating presentation of the food is lovely. But the actual food themselves are a big miss. The atmosphere and ambience is what you come here for, it is a shame that the food is not up to par.

Comfortable environment with a lot of open space and interesting decorations. A nice mix between fancy and casual, I think. Although French food is not necessarily my favorite, this wasn’t bad at all. Wine selection was excellent, but pricey as you might imagine. Beef Wellington was really good. I personally think this is a great place for lunch in the Distillery District. Be sure to stop by the adjacent bakery to grab some macaroons.

The Striploin Steak frites was perfectly done. It was cooked at a medium rare as requested but what made the meal stand out was the frites! Reminded me of frites I had in France.

What a nice ambience! Definitely a good place to celebrate special occasions or to have relaxing brunch on the weekend. My boyfriend and I were here for Winterlicious 2016, so I can’t really say much about their regular menu items. Although I enjoyed the 3-​course meal that day, I felt like it was overpriced. I guess we paid a good amount for dining in a good ambience.
I plan on going back in the near future to try their brunch menu! I would love their assorted baked items.

Came here for brunch on the weekend — this was actually my second time coming for brunch.
Chilled Layered Crab Salad ($ 24)
The bottom layer was avocado spread, next layer with quinoa mixed with raisins, then topped with cucumbers and crab, and finally topped with 2 crispy poached eggs. The ingredients were fresh, I liked how the crab salad was real crab meat. The poached eggs were more towards the cooked side and not runny, which was a bummer. I gotta say this salad was really good, really refreshing to have on a hot summer day — but probably something I could make on my own as well. Way overpriced I must say.
Pork Banh Mi Benedict ($ 20)
Roasted pork on a grilled sourdough, topped with pickled carrots and turnips, and 2 poached eggs. There was a lot of meat so that was good. I didn’t like how the sourdough bread — it has a hard crust which made it really hard to cut and eat it without all the ingredients on top falling apart. The pickled carrots and turnips did not go well with the eggs benny and hollandaise. The dish comes with fries — I love skinny fries and these were really crispy so that was good. But I presume they were old fries since they were double fried.
What really bothered me the most was the drinks. They had a special feature, strawberry guava juice for $ 6. Sounds great, made with fresh fruit so I ordered one. When it came, it was served in this tiny glass cup (similar to champagne glasses), but more importantly it was half full. I’m not drinking wine here, why are they not filling it to the top? What ticked me off the most was I saw them serve another table with the same drink but it was filled to the top — clearly they are inconsistent with their pouring skills. My boyfriend ordered a mimosa with peach juice, costed $ 16 and it was served in the same half full tiny glass as mine!!!
This place is ok, but overpriced for sure.

Great atmosphere on the patio, weather was great when we passed through! Beautiful flower arrangements and fun seating, though the food was okay – not bad for a touristy place.
We ordered the tuna burger, seafood stew and the lobster Poutine. The tuna was cooked well, came with an egg and fries. The stew was okay, as well as the Poutine – a little heavy for my taste. The lobster Poutine came with curds and shishito peppers.

Very good ambience. The decorations are ornate and complex, tables, chairs, space — everything is done in excruciating detail to mimic a high-​end place in Quebec. I am sure American tourists are very impressed.
The wine list is extensive (and expensive), but I opted for beer. Sacrilege, I know. I started with the Onion soup and my girlfriend with salad. The Onion soup was probably in the top 3 I’ve ever had, hands down, in Toronto, Quebec or France, amazing and the cheese on top was actually top-​shelf — you could taste it.
Then we had Baked Sauvagine for 2 to share, and it looked small initially, but man was it filling! My gf gave up after a few bites, so I had to finish the monster — talk about stomach overload. The amount of fat in that thing must have been incredible — and it tasted every bit as marvelous.
Overall a great place for French food in a great ambiance with an emphasis more on the ambiance than the food.

Atmosphere: Great!
Food: Meh
Some friends and I decided to do brunch here on Saturday, and I must admit that overall, the experience was good. For starters, they allowed for a reservation on the weekend, which is always a big plus, and although this is the case, I’m not sure we would have needed one as the restaurant has a very large and nicely spaced out seating area. The first thing i noticed when I walked in was the bar made out of what appeared to be white marble, which was spectacular. The servers and staff were very courteous, attentive, and seemed generally happy throughout our whole experience. Our table ordered a variety of different dishes, all of which were «ok». I wasn’t disappointed, but also not blown away. I had the three cheese omelet, which I must admit is a bland dish to begin with, which was well prepared and nicely presented. Some deserts were ordered as well, which were very well presented. Overall, if you have friends in town and need a decent, accommodating brunch experience, this place shouldn’t disappoint.

I went here with some friends for a birthday and expected a lot since this is considered Toronto’s #1 French restaurant according to
. Wow were we in for a disappointment.
Ill make this review short and simple. This is more like the «Dennys» of french cuisine if you know what I mean. Some prime examples were the frogs legs I ordered came battered, fried and served with what seemed to be Frank’s Red Hot sauce… if that doesn’t blow your mind the sea food platter I had as my main came out deep fried and greasy like I was at the CNE food building getting my carnival fix.
Needless to say this is far from french cusine, but more like what Mr. Greek would be to greek food. Would I come back here again, simply put no.

Absolutely loved everything we are here!
We started with the frog legs which were crispy and flavourful.
I throughly enjoyed my pot-​any-​phở. Each bite filled with flavours dancing in my mouth.
I asked for GF bread and got my own little loaf which was freshly baked and I was able to enjoy my bread and butter as well (which is a rare treat for me and I always enjoy it when I can get it). Bonus: they don’t discriminate by charging extra for this gf option.
Service was prompt and friendly. We were tended to on a regular basis.
The décor is very French with a modern twist to it. Is go back again when in Toronto.
Bön appétit!

So there seems to be a few themes in previous reviews for this place. Mine is fairly consistent with what others are saying but I’m a bit more generous with my star awarding — and for a few good reasons.
First of all — the service. Basically — terrible. Our cocktail order took forever to arrive (so much so that we questioned whether she forgot). At times our server was attentive — at others, gone for good. Overall, this was a disappointment. She redeemed herself however by noticing a special occasion card on the table and bringing free dessert to celebrate. This was something I’ve never seen done before — noticing the card but not being asked for anything — and I was quite touched by the gesture.
Food wise — very mixed. Two of us had salads to start — both were OK. I tried the fancy Caesar which I spent more time cutting up than eating. The other two had French onion soup which was, to be honest, terrific. Our mains were two steak frites — delicious. The other two had the lamb which was so bland it was literally shocking. I felt bad for the two that ordered it — listening to us rave about the steak while they ate salty, tasteless meat.
Would I go back? Maybe for soup and steak. The reviews are very mixed for this place and I believe that’s definitely warranted. Seems to be a toss-​up whether you’ll have good food or service. Something to be aware of.

I visited Cluny for Winterlicious very recently. My 3* is being a bit generous and can be partially attributed to the fact that I really really want to like Cluny.
Nestled in an old building in the historic Distillery District, Cluny is quite simply a beautiful restaurant. The décor is so cute and unique. I loved little touches like the large bread table in the middle of the restaurant where servers went to cut fresh bread for their tables. The bread was delicious too. Service was great all around with friendly attentive servers and quick, well timed service.
Now if only the food matched. I had a salad for my first course which was large pieces of lettuce with sparse additions. It was also weirdly salty. For my entrée I had a duck confit, sausage, and white bean casoulette which was just… Weird. It just didn’t taste good and was an odd combination of items and was thoroughly unsatisfying. I will say that the raspberry profiteroles for dessert were delicious and beautifully presented.
I would come back here to try their regular brunch menu just because I want to like this place so much! But this is one of my not-​so-​good Winter/​Summer-​licious experiences…

This time, we went for the winterlicious menu 2016, which has very high points and low points. I was really disappointed in the duck confit entrée which tasted like spaghetti sauce in a can. I don’t even know if duck was part of the dish. I told the waiter my honesty because he asked. He didn’t respond at all. Service was slow, we were at the restaurant for a good two hours. For the dessert, I decided to get a French press and he gave me a whole lot of attitude that it cannot be shared among two people. We shared it anyways and it was more then enough. I do like more cream in my coffee anyways. It was disappointing, and the menu lacklustre.
I would not pay money for the regular menu and definitely not the winterlicious menu which is supposedly a ‘deal’. Not worth the time or effort.

Came in here as a walking break from the Christmas market; it wasn’t too packed because we went at an off time for brunch at around 3 pm.
As others have noted, the ambiance was very pretty and picturesque. I loved the marine-​inpired starter plates — different from the typical standard white plates. Very cute. The service was great from beginning to end.
I ordered the pulled pork eggs benedict. Personally, I thought that the English muffin was too hard and made it a bit difficult to cut into smaller pieces. I personally enjoy a softer English muffin for my benedicts to make it comforting enough for brunch. Eggs were poached fine and the hollandaise was good too. I thought the fries were delicious! It was crispy and I couldn’t get enough.
For dessert, I ordered the bittersweet chocolate truffle bar, which came with cotton candy and marshmallows. It came with the grape (?) cotton candy covering the entire plate and was quite a sight at first that I thought I ordered the wrong dish! It was very memorable as I have never had something presented that way.
Overall, the food wasn’t bad but it also didn’t blow my mind. I think it is a decent place to grab a bite if you’re in the area!

I love French food, so when a friend of mine wanted to do her birthday dinner here, excitement ensued.
The décor is very pretty — old-​fashioned Parisian salon, with a bread-​cutting station in the middle of the dining room. The restaurant is located right smack dab in the Distillery district, so makes for a romantic little walk too.
The food. Oh god, the food. First, we ordered the Tasting of Cluny ($ 13 per person). This has BBQ sweetbreads, crisp fried frog legs and the chef’s daily selection, which was seared tuna with pesto. Lacklustre, verging on inedible… The frog legs and the sweetbreads were both doused in this «bbq» sauce that more closely resembled Frank’s Red Hot sauce and was, confusingly, way too spicy. It didn’t complement either food. The frog legs were just MEH and were certainly not crispy. The seared tuna received an unanimous opinion…”…is this canned?“
Anyways, for the mains, the BF ordered the Seafood Shore lunch ($ 25.90), which was essentially deep fried seafood (mussels, white fish, oysters) with fries. It was just ok, nothing spectacular and not outstandingly fresh. I ordered the Cacoa nib crusted terrine of Quebec Foie Gras. This was the highlight, but came with no brioche or toast points for the terrine. Of course, the bread station and gracious server fixed this, but it was not a well thought out dish. And it came with 3 chocolate macarons…(???) Taste good, but I stand confused.
Our friends ordered the Pot Au «Phở» ($ 24.90) and Roasted chicken. No comments from my friends on what they thought of it. They did give a glowing review of the Melted Gruyère ($ 15.90), the french onion soup.
Overall, I’d say half a star for the décor. Half a star for the foie gras terrine dish. A full star for the service, which was top notch, and very gracious. Even when they mistakenly gave me a foie gras side dish for my main, rather than the foie gras appetizer dish, they gave us the foie gras side on the house as apology for the mix-​up. Very classy. But no… I wouldn’t recommend to those who love food.

Walk in to nice décor, atmosphere not too loud and not too dark.
Average service like other reviews have listed
Higher end price point, I could expect a bit more of attentiveness from the service
I would highly recommend the french onion soup, good amount of flavorful cheese on top.
Salmon could use a bit more salt.
I mean… it is good from a date point of view but did not much justify the value.

I came here for Sunday brunch with no reservation. Luckily, there was space in the lounge area so we were seated immediately. But if coming here, reservations are probably a good idea because we peeked into the dining area, which was big, and it was PACKED!
It took a little bit of time before they let us order, but after we ordered, the food came SUPER fast. I got the pulled pork eggs benedict and my friend got the Wagyu Hache. Both were absolutely delicious! The thin little fries that came with them were awesome! I hate home fries at brunch that are always under cooked and gross. Awesome brunch!

This place does not disappoint… until you get the bill.
Love the décor and the feeling that you just stepped into an elegant/​romantic bistro somewhere in France. The patio is a quaint little setting but wish it got sun later on in the day (stupid surrounding tall buildings). The food is great too although I can only speak to the brunch menu. The brunch dishes are full of flavour, fresh, and never heavy in the belly. That jam that comes with the complimentary bread is worth buying its so tasty. Those skinny fries and aioli — yum! The cocktails — fabulously lushy for a Sunday afternoon.
But why oh why was the brunch bill $ 350 for 4 on my first visit and $ 100 for 2 on my second??? I probably do indulge in food/​drink more than the average person but this is definitely one of my most expensive bills for brunch. With all the brunch places that Toronto has to offer, one could find another restaurant that is satisfying for both the belly as well as the wallet.
Since I am a sucker for the Distillery District and am interested in trying the dinner menu, I will probably be back… sorry bank account.