$$ Restaurant
About
Le Swan is a French Diner located in the heart of Toronto's Queen West and Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood. The menu consists of a variety of french classics like Steak Frites ($34), Beef Bourguignon ($31), and Salad Salad Niçoise ($18); as well as a selection of classic diner staples such as their Meatloaf and Mash ($19), Chicken Fried Steak ($26) and Corn Dogs ($10). It seemed at first a very unlikely combination, as we usually associate french cuisine with bistro's and American cooking with diners. Le Swan found the one common denominator between these two styles of eateries and cuisines and that is 'comfort food'.
As you peruse the menu you can see more clearly how they connect the 'French' and the 'Diner'. The menu is separated into 2 columns, with the left list of items making up the 'French' and the right items listing out the 'Diner'. Each item shares characteristics with its counterpart - for example - under 'French' their first item is a Smoked Trout Rillette ($16) and beside it under 'Diner' is the American equivalent Tuna Melt ($17), which helps guests to see the similarities between the two.
Atmosphere
We arrived for our reservation made through Resy, right at 7pm. The sun reflected off the glass of the restaurant windows, making it easy to spot the white Swan painted in the centre of the glass to the left of the entrance. Below the left window the words 'Air Conditioned' and on the left side 'Booth Service' are written in bold cursive letters and the latter in a more narrow modern font. On top of the door in gold letter 'Rench Diner' can be read, the 'F' must have fallen off at some point. Once you enter the space you can start to see the work of Jenn Agg come into play, who is the author of 'I Hear She's a Real Bitch' and a Partner (and in charge of the vibe) of Le Swan. The space's booth style, wood paneling, glowing sconces remind me of a diner as if it were to exist in Paris. Simple plates, Laguiole style knives, bottles lining the bar gave it the feel that it could belong in the award winning film Amélie's Montmartre.
We were sat half way down the line of booths, parallel to the bar, from which we could had an uninterrupted view of Le Swans bar tender, as he created their fantastic cocktails. Each booth comes with hooks, making it easy to hang up your coats, close by. Before I jump into the food, I must say, the atmosphere did it's job to make us feel comfortable and cozy. The volume was not too loud, which was perfect since we did not have to raise our voices or lean over the table to speak, which seems to be coming more and more frequent in Toronto establishments. If the music is too loud, especially as a restaurant, then it almost becomes a necessity to find another place to be able to chat and eat.
What We Ordered
We perused both the 'French' and 'Diner' Menu's and decided to go for 'French' this time, and return another night to try out some of their 'Diner' offerings. We began by ordering our drinks. I ordered their Swan 75 ($16), which is their take on a French 75, it was made of gin, five alive, lemon and bubbles. It was perfectly refreshing and citrusy. I highly recommend it on a summer's day. My friend went for their Roses & Thorns, made from mezcal, grapefruit, ginger and elderflower. Both were stunning cocktails, and perfectly refreshing. We decided to order a few items to share and go from there.
What We Ordered
Salad Niçoise ($18)
We decided to begin our meal with their Salad Niçoise, which is a dish originating from Nice France. It is traditionally made with hard boiled eggs, olives, anchovies or tuna and tomatoes. Le Swan's version of the salad was made with a raw tuna, which we were a little surprised to see since good quality tuna is hard to come by in Toronto; however we are happy to report that it was quite good. The hard boiled eggs were cooked to a perfect jamey consistency and brought a lot of colour to the dish. Before I go into the tomatoes, I'll first have to mention the vinaigrette. The vinaigrette of the salad was a bit on the strong side, each bite tasted mostly wine vinegar which despite the beautiful presentation made it a little disappointing. Sun dried tomatoes were used instead of fresh tomatoes which is a little unusual for Niçoise salad; however, the bites of of salad with the sun dried tomatoes helped cut the vinegar drastically.
Jambon and Raclette ($16)
I can't even begin to describe how good Le Swan's Jambon and Raclette was. We weren't expecting little toasted baguettes when we ordered it, but it is the best surprise we could have asked for. The French Baguette was perfectly toasted, the Raclette which is a melted semi-hard mountain cheese, blended perfectly with the ham and berry confiture. I cannot recommend this item enough, every bit was an absolute pleasure.
Steak Frites ($34)
When ordering this evening, we debated for a few minutes between the Steak Frites and their offering of Fondue. But in the end we decided we both wanted and needed protein and that the Jambon and Raclette would satisfy our needs for cheese this time. Our steak arrived perfectly medium rare with a circle of an herb butter on top. The Frites were perfectly fried, perhaps in fat? We forgot to ask, but they were delicious. The steak was tender, but after spreading the herb butter, the taste became prominent and overpowering taking away from the steak. Overall we found it to be a similar situation as the Salad Niçoise, where the wine vinegar overpowered all the other ingredients. The steak was delicious, just make sure to be careful when spreading the butter and use it to taste.
Apple Cake ($10)
Lastly, we ordered a slice of their Apple Cake. It was quite good and had a nice little cream sauce on one side which really elevated the cake. My friend thought maybe a small scoop of ice cream would work perfectly with it but all in all it was enjoyable.
Service
The service was excellent, we were attended to and checked up on every so often but not to much that we felt annoyed and bothered but enough that we didn't need to wait to get someones attention. Between each course we were provided with clean plates and cutlery, which truly elevated the experience. We did take some time to finish our fries and cake, but at no point did we feel rushed making it a very comfortable and more intimate evening.
Conclusion
Overall we had a very good experience at Le Swan, the atmosphere was perfect for reconnecting or just for a night out, the service was impeccable and the drinks were refreshing. However, some of the menu items that we tried do need some work balancing and blending flavours as I mentioned for the Salad Niçoise. Menu items like the Jambon and Raclette really show what Le Swan is capable of and we will definitely be back to see how they've grown and to explore other items across their menu.
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