Bent

I must say the food here is definitely good. You can tell the chef, I presume Susur Lee, put a lot of thought in designing these dishes to be rich in flavor and complements of each other.
I had the winterlicious menu, and the presentation was excellent. It’s especially rewarding as the servers explain the dishes as you glare mindlessly at it with your mouth drooling. Makes it that much more enjoyable.
I definitely recommend it. Be prepared for some good food that is cooked to perfection.

OMG! Amazing food! Cozy, quaint and super friendly staff. Full disclosure, I was invited by business partners so I didn’t pay, nor did I see the prices, therefore I’m not going to judge on value for the money.
That being said, we started with the Susur signature Singaporean style slaw, a salad that easily had 15 or so ingredients and was light and crisp with a delicious vinaigrette.
The second course was a black pepper charred salmon with a vinegar sauce and cut to perfection.
Following was a watermelon and spicy tuna ceviche to die for.
A fourth course of Szechwan style garlic bean crumble prawns with chili sauce, probably my favorite dish of all!
Then on to Caramelized Black cod — absolutely flawless!
We also had the Chickpea tempura tofu… Amazing!
Then braised spiced short ribs, they were good, but didn’t come close to the rest of the meal.
Desert was the signature Tong Yiun and Indian pastry that ended a perfect dinner on a light and beautiful sweet note.
Overall, one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I’m now, and forever more BENT!

The food was good, but they charge $ 8 for regular water. The waiters were wonderful but at the reception were these horrible, stuck-​up girls who think they own the restaurant. Bad attitude and customer service, suggest you find new people to replace them.

This was the most memorable meal of our trip. The worst part was having to choose from the menu because everything sounded amazing. We ordered a couple appetizers and entrees and every dish was exceptional. The salmon tartare and the oyster shots were great. We ordered the game hen special and wow! Also have to mention the superb service. Can’t say enough great things about this gem.

Busy for a Wednesday so we had to wait at a nearby bar for 30 minutes before getting a call to return. Generally through out the night there was some slightly longer than normal waits but the service was superb through out and the staff really courteous.
The upstairs is pretty normal, the downstairs if you use the urinals is kind of freaky, having school pictures of young kids in the washroom. Get Rid!
There were four of us so we shared a bunch of starters. My favourite had to be the Lobster Tacos, they just tasted so refreshing. Also we tried the signature singaporean slaw but did not really impress me as much as the tacos and the spicy tuna ceviche.
For mains I went and ordered the south indian rack of lamb. The lamb itself was beautiful, done just right but did not really have anything south indian about it. That came more from the lentil stew and mint chutney. It was great but could have done without the banana fritters. Maybe that is a south indian thing but I didnt think much of them.

Singaporean slaw. That’s all.
Nahhh just kidding. There’s more to this restaurant than their bomb slaw, like their Vietnamese ceviche. But seriously, slaw was super yummy. The waiter was super friendly and made some great recommendations for drinks. We had the house special cocktail. don’t remember what was in it but it was stiff but delicious.

Uninteresting and weird.
Uninteresting food. The only thing I liked was the Vietnamese ceviche. The lemongrass was a very nice touch and it infused well with the ceviche recipe. The lobster taco was OK. Other things we ordered were just meh. Nothing very creative.
Weird service. I get the vibe that the waiter is very proud of what they do here, and tells us how unique their style is but honestly they just recommend sharing food. Its called family style. You didn’t invent it. Thats how people eat dinner normally. Seriously. The waiter was very didactic the whole time.
Dude, I really dont care.

Very nice décor and great food
So much has been said about Susur and if anything his name is what I associate with Asian fusion in the Toronto area if not all of Canada
Service is very polished and at times invisible
My wife asked what sake do you recommend? Blah blah blah… it turns out the $ 130 bottle… not nice… it came out to like $ 20 a sip…
One thing that was a great idea was that if the dish had 4 items then they can do up a extra serving to serve our table of five
My favs were the oyster sake shooter served in a nice little wooden sake cup
The slaw of course is a must as it is a classic dish that has survived
The best way to enjoy the meal is to order multiple plates and share among your friends
The tacos were awesome but I would skip the lamb unless you like it raw then of course it would be perfect
The rose water dessert was very nicely presented it the don’t price it on the menu so expect a sticker shock
Overall, a wonderful space for dinner with a great menu but do not listen to the waiter on sake recommendations because really no one has $ 130 sake… but he does get a easy $ 20 tip of that bottle so now it cost $ 150

My husband and I attended a Lincoln event in this restaurant tonight and must say that we really enjoyed it.
It was a 3 course meal which we shared. We had the Singapore Slaw and Coconut Shrimp + Green Curry Soup for our appetizers. I liked the slaw but did not care for the soup. It tasted more like something to put on top of rice than soup. The temperature was just warm, not hot. It might be a preference but I like my soup piping hot. For mains, we got the Caramelized Salmon and Chicken Jerk Roulade. I loved both main courses. They both had nice flavour combinations and the sides were delicious too! We cleaned these plates. For dessert we got the Warm banana and chocolate chip cake and the apple crumble. The banana and chocolate chip cake was great. It had a subtle Asian flavour to it since they added a Caramelized jackfruit on the bottom of the cake. The apple crumble was just ok.
Service was amazing and very professional. All in all, we were really impressed with everything.

The food is excellent, but the servce is really off putting.
My boyfriend and I came for dinner on the patio on a Friday night. When we arrived around 6:30 it was not busy aside from 3 other tables on the patio. We were offered water and not asked for a drink order. We waited 15 mins for a drink and food order. Since it was our first time the waiter let us know that it was small plates encouraged for sharing. He told us about 3 – 5 dishes. Since we had plans to go elsewhere for dessert we selected beef taco, lobster taco, and a green bean salad. All very delicious !
Here’s where it gets weird.
Another waiter came to refill water. I said no thank you, but he insisted on filling my glass, reaching across me, my plate, and my drink, very awkwardly to do so. A different waiter came to ask how everything was, and then another to see if we needed more drinks.
I value service that is discrete and polite, and bent simply did not deliver. It is ostentatious with 5 differnt people helping you for every little thing. I want to feel that the one person serving me is attentive to my personal needs and have some sort of personal interaction with them even on a miniscule level.
Too many waiters!!!
Even walking to the washroom from the patio is difficult because there are about 10 waiters standing beside tables you need to navigate around.
After we ate, my boyfriend asked for the bill and the (original) waiter said to him «oh are you sure you don’t want to order anything else?» He said no thank you and the waiter pressed him again saying «really? Nothing else???» Very awkward and very pushy!

Amazing! Went here in the last few days of Summerlicious, and it was soooo goood! We lucked out with sitting outside and the service was always fast and attentive. We got the additional tuna tartar add-​on, which was amazing. Beautiful presentations all the way through on each course. But the tartar and the tuna/​watermelon cerviche were gorgeous.
I had the mushroom and polenta dish that was outstanding. I LOVE when the polenta is all gritty.
Can’t wait to return to Bent!

I came to Bent for Summerlicious 2015 and ordered from the special set menu consisting of the duck confit, the fried jerk chicken, and a dessert I ended up not having.
The duck confit was simply amazing, and the clear highlight of my meal. It was crispy on the outside and deliciously tender on the inside, and it surpassed every single one of my expectations. I’ve heard lots of good things about Susur Lee, head chef of Bent, but I attributed most of it to hype. The duck alone proved that the acclaim was well deserved.
The jerk chicken was also a pleasant treat. Just spicy enough to provide that «kick» that you want, but not too overboard with the flavour.
All in all, a fantastic experience from a restaurant I’ve been meaning to try for ages.

I’ve never been disappointed by a susur Lee restaurant. Everything from service to ambience to food was on point.
We made reservations easily online in advance. Showed up and had to choose between all the amazing dishes.
These dishes are small appetizers meant for sharing, there are also some mains. If you decide to go with a main, go with the lamb rack!
I went with my fiancé but if you have issues deciding what to choose, go with a group! That way you can try more.
It’s definitely a really good fusion of Asian cuisine, south or east.
Will definitely return :)

My friend and I went to Bent last night for Summerlicious. Even though we were embarking upon a 3-​course meal (which really, feels like a 6-​course meal because it’s tapas), we had to get the famous 19-​ingredient Singaporean-​style Slaw. And I’m glad we did — it was amazing. I don’t think we said 2 words to each other until the plate was licked clean. I’ll be coming back for this signature plate alone.
The Summerlicious plates, on the other hand, were average but the presentation was on point. Could it be that the slaw was packed with so much out-​of-​this-​world flavour that everything else I had after the matter was just «meh»? Who knows. I’ll have to come back to check out the rest of their menu once Summerlicious is over.
A few more noteworthy mentions are the attentive and knowledgeable servers and the overall warmth of the restaurant. Try to get a table on the patio if you can!
Susur Lee is a slaw genius. That is all.

2.5 stars if we are speaking strictly about the food however I will give them 3 because of the chaotic yet somehow impeccable service (seriously, how does that happen?).
The precedence was set as i came to this establishment with sky high expectations all thanks to the Food Network & Co for really sensationalizing Susur in the recent years. And… I was met with nothing but disappointment. Maybe it was the summerlicious menu or perhaps the heat wave in Toronto really hindered my senses but the meal was bland at best.
There were a few notable mentions such as the Tuna ceviche and the trio of desserts (O so satisfying!). The jerk fried chicken tasted like flavorless, soggy, overnight orange chicken from Manchu Wok. And the sides that came with it… confusion is the best way to describe them. Last but not least… I am not sure that the duck confit (spring roll?) really deserved a 3 inch thick wrapper. This thing can stop a bullet in its tracks.
After many years of seeing the man himself on TV, magazines and online, I was met with disappointment to say the least.
O, the service was impeccable!

My friend and I came here for Winterlicous. We had heard about Susur Lee’s famous Singaporean Slaw Salad and decided to order that on top of our three course meal. The food here was amazing. The aroma and the variety of ingredients that are used for each dish goes very well with each other. The staff was friendly and told us about each plate of food that was put on our table.
I had the peking crêpe with braised beef as an appetizer and the flavors were bold and tasty. For entrée I had the Asian duck confit and it was cooked to perfection. For dessert, there was a trio. I found it a great finish to the night.
Everyone has to try the slaw. With over 15 ingredients, it’s delicious! I will definitely come back here.

My experience at Bent started out pretty rocky. We had a reservation for 9 on the patio. We were seated at 9:45. It took another 30 minutes to get out first drink.
The manager came over and apologized for the wait times and sent us a round of drinks. From then on, everything started changing for the better.
We ordered our food from the summerlicious menu, which had great selections, and ordered a slaw for the four of us to share.
The staff were very attentive and accommodating to a food allergy one of us had.
The slaw was amazing, I order this every time I go to Lee and is always one of my favourite parts of the meal. I had the duck confit roll with goat cheese and tamarind sauce, the black cod and the dessert trio. All were amazing! I also tried some of my companions spicy tuna ceviche and fried jerk chicken. So delish!!!
This was an epically amazing meal and the best summerlicious/​winterlicious I have ever done (and I have done a LOT!!)

Excellent overpriced coleslaw.
They have the nerve to charge $ 26 for a serving of this coleslaw.
They tell you a story about how there are nineteen ingredients in the fancy coleslaw. They feverishly keep explaining to you how this is Chef Lee’s signature dish.
It’s probably his favorite dish because it’s the running joke he tells his friends at parties. How he charges suckers the price of what my Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge tour tickets cost me in 1994 for a bowl of coleslaw.
If this was reality, we would be allowed to bitchslap the waiter for even suggesting this ridiculousness. Let’s be honest, this is one of the only places on earth where you can buy coleslaw that costs greater than was originally paid for the island of Manhattan.
It’s very good.
Unfortunately, very little else at this restaurant was memorable in the slightest. Much of it fell into the traps of «unnecessarily ostentatious» that seems to plague many of these type of faux-​fancy restaurants in the city.
You don’t feel special here. And it’s nothing that you can’t find on Spadina street for one quarter the price and triple the experience.

So this will probably only one of many reviews as this one will be based on the NYE 2015 set experience so to be fair I never had their normal menu.
We booked our reservation for 10:00pm on New Years Eve hoping we would get our food on time to celebrate for the countdown. Turns out it did not work out as planned.
We were seated on time and took awhile for the waiter to ask us if we wanted drinks. Given it was busy but it would usually be the first thing done within the first 5 mins of seating.
The menu was set so there wasn’t much choice. It was set at $ 85 for the following (
):
Amuse Bouche — Lobster Panna Cotta with Coconut Lemongrass Foam
French Salsifi Puff Pastry Tart — Purée of Apple, French Truffle
Assam Crab Salad with Avocado & Potatoes — Avocado, Baby Shrimp Thailandaise Lotus Root Chip
Coffee Marinated Bison — Foie Gras Marsala expresso Emulsion, Cranberry & Raspberry Jam, Swiss Cheese Rosti, Roasted Brussels Sprouts
French & Chinese Tong Yuen — Banana Blueberry Compote, Orange Crème Anglaise
All was delicious but I was hoping they would also sell some of the usual items from their normal menu. Especially their famous Singaporean Slaw. I get it is from his dad’s restaurant Lee but I know they serve it here as well.
Given that it was a NYE event, you would think they would notify us of the countdown. Turns out NO ONE was following the countdown and I had to wing it with my own watch. Once we manually counted down, only our table tapped glasses and then back to eating. It was pretty sad and not what I had expected for New Years.
Oh well lesson learned.
But overall the food was great, the staff could be better but I’ll give it another chance when i go on a normal day.
Still recommended.

You can’t miss this place, literally. It has a retro flashing arrow pointing to the restaurant from the outside.
Really enjoyed dining here. Going with a group of 4 is perfect for trying 7 – 9 sharing plates.
My choice for must-​try dishes (in order):
1. Spicy tuna and watermelon ceviche — everything on this plate complemented eachother perfectly. That sauce brought all the flavours and textures together. I could’ve drank it… Yum!
2. Braised spiced shortribs — the tender meat, rich sauce, smooth pureed parsnips and yellow carrots made for a tasty meal
3. Truffled Japanese carpaccio — love the use of the hickory stick like chips paired with the meat
4. Lobster ravioli (special feature) — the champagne bisque sauce should be on the menu as its own item it is that amazing
5. Lobster tacos — liked the shell (think it was taro or parsnip), thought the mango sauce nicely offset the heat of the chili
6. Sashimi tasting — you get to try 3 types of sashimi (2 pieces of each)
For dessert: Banana cake — the homemade jumbo toasted marshmallow and salted caramel sauce won me over
I do not recommend the pressed poached octopus.
Bonus: tons of street parking and good selection of sake
Diners beware: the portion are a bit small for the price and there is no beer on tap