Cabal

Not a fan of this place. I have no idea what is. Is it a restaurant? If so, they really need to work on their food? Is it a club? If so, they really need to work on attracting better customers because it’s just plain creepy. Whatever it is, I likely will never be back.

I just read some reviews of this place — because honestly, this place is just confusing. I think Melissa F’s review is bang on.
In terms of a restaurant, they’re not really. In terms of a lounge, they’re not really either. There’s a reason why this place is so empty and it’ a little sad because they have the potential to be so much more to the locals.

Haven’t had the food at cabal but I can confirm that the space is swank and perfect for a ldn industry night or rented space.
Went on a Friday for a networking event: the music was too loud and the bartenders were light handed, but we all had a good time.
Would go back but
I RECOMMEND– ordering wine instead of cocktails. The drinks really are watered down, especially as the night goes on (tricksters!)
EXTRA TIP– it’s easy to miss the entrance from outside but it has a patio in front of it.

Cabal has potential. As a plant eater, my options were limited. I ordered the warm mushroom arugula salad which which had a great sauce. Then I tried kal guk su (modified for vegan) — which was an interesting and tasty bean flour pasta with spinach. We found out the kitchen chefs were Korean, which explained the Asian influence in the dishes. I’d like to see more veg options (especially for desert) and I’ll go back again.

Well, we tried Cabal on Saturday night, and I’m afraid it was a swing and a miss for us. On the plus side, the space is nice: lots of brick and high ceilings, and it has a cool warmth to it. On the negative side, there were a few major misfires…
We arrived at 8:00 on a Saturday night, and we were the only people there. (Probably not a great sign.) The server was friendly, and she handed us a wine list. Unfortunately, there are only 8 different wines on the entire list (4 red and 4 white), and while that isn’t a massive issue for me, they were ‘sold out’ of 3 of the 8. I was a little stunned by this: how can you be ‘sold out’ of 3 wines when we were practically the first people there on a Saturday night? She told us that they were apparently late in placing their wine order the previous Monday. (Uh, a trip to the LCBO wasn’t an option? These weren’t exactly the most exotic wines!)
As for the food, it was alright. I had some type of salmon tartare appy, and although it was tiny, it was ok. My lovely date had a salad, and it too was ok. (Neither was to die for.) We both ordered the peppercorn steak, and although it tasted wonderful and was perfectly prepared as per our order, it was barely lukewarm when it arrived. We sent both back at one point for reheating, but they came back just as lukewarm as when they left. By around 9:00, other people started arriving — mostly a young 20’s crowd there for the dance club portion. The music was ok (deep house), but i definitely got the impression that Cabal is REALLY just a dance club with a restaurant included as an add-​on (or perhaps a liquor license obligation?). Then again, if you’re a dance club/​bar/​restaurant, shouldn’t you have more than 5 types of wine on hand?

I REALLY love the space. I just think everything they do here is pretty average. Food, drinks, dj/​dance. It’s not as good as it could be– not meaning that they have bad service or bad anything. they actually have quite fair and good everything– but the space is SO amazing. You could throw EPIC evenings here and they don’t.
What kills me is the big fail of a sound system that they have.
Dear Cabal– Help me Help YOU, get better. Please.
It’s such a promising space but you’re doing it all wrong…

We asked our server for appetizer recommendations, he said the karaage was really good, and also the calamari sausage, so we ordered both. Both were dry, karaage much worse than the sausage, to the point where it was actually hard to chew (I know karaage is supposed to be crispy on the outside, but I’m talking about the actual meat on the inside here that was very dry and chewy). Furthermore, when we brought these issues up to our server, he shrugged dismissively and said «Oh?» and did not make any attempt at restitution.
Mains were the chicken and salmon, which were passable, but nothing to write home about. I guess the first sign should have been the place being very quiet on a Saturday night. Definitely will not be returning here any time soon.

Awesome meal! Really delicious food; almost like a home cooked meal but MUCH better. You can tell they put a lot of time and effort into it.
The ambiance is a bit strange tho… it’s almost like they can’t quite figure out what they want to be — either a restaurant or a lounge. Only the front of the house has tables for a sit down dinner (can sit a max of 50 ppl I think), while the back seems to be permanently setup for a dance floor. Wait staff is friendly, but again they don’t quite feel like real waiters… more like people who just wait tables in their spare time before the lounge opens up later at night. Hard to explain…
I really liked the food and will definitely be back. I just hope this place will be around when I do!

There are reasons that I don’t like using deal voucher as sometimes how business just imposed terms and conditions without being upfront.
Armed with a $ 60 voucher promised food and drinks I merrily made a reservation at Sazerac Gastro Lounge now renamed to Cabal as required and hoping for a night of fun. Apparently, I need to order a 3 course (app/​main/​dessert) each for both of us in order to use the voucher, not even item from the Snack Menu, which was never stated in the terms?! Finally the management make a deal with us and reluctantly let us ordered:
63° Duck Egg ($ 12)
— love the taste of truffles
Croquettes w/​Dill Aioli ($ 8)
— deep fried snack with great flavour
Rouge Chicken ($ 22)
— love the corn grits on the side, the chicken is dry and bland…
Sazerac ($ 12.39) & Marc Etting ($ 9.73)
— made quite well and balanced
I might come back for a drink or bar snack but doubt will be here for a full sit down dinner.

This was another stop on a recent Unilocal pub crawl event. I thought the lounge looked great but wasn’t very busy on a Saturday night. We settled into a couch /​table area for a few drinks. Didn’t get a chance to try the food, other than an odd bite so I will focus on the drinks. They had a good but small selection of beers on tap (about 6 – 7, mainly European) were priced between $ 7 — $ 9. I had a few Weihenstephen Weiss at $ 9 each. They have some really interesting cocktails including punchbowls that serve 4 – 6 people. They are about $ 60 but didn’t notice anyone having one. Other cocktails were in the $ 12 — $ 20 range.
I will stop by again and try some of the food options and maybe a few cocktails.

Southern Hospitality… is to be desired. After all we’re in a Metropolis, not N’awlins.
A deal-​voucher dispute with our server went to settlement, left neither side pleased.
The hipster buddy working the doors was a more pleasant staff that night, kudos.
At the end, what we settled for did not provide this Gastro Lounge any betterment.
Hospitality aside, cuisine goes a little something like this…
63° Duck Egg, Pumpernickel, Potato Foam, Shaved Truffle
~~~~ Horizontal slice. Vertical slice. Four portions of perfect consistency Duck Egg.
Every single mouthful explodes Truffle on the tongue that lingers. Delicious.
Croquettes w/​Dill Aioli — Fried Okra, Pickles & Chantectar Rouge Chicken[Snack Menu]
~~~~Crisp Nuggets with an Aioli that provides a bit of spicy kick, appreciated as always.
My favourite aspect is the Fried Okra, lovely crunch texture. Snack on them all day.
Chantecler Rouge Chicken, Corn Grits, Apples, Collard Greens, Brussels’ Sprout
~~~~My least favourite simply as Chicken is in itself too plain otherwise boring.
However, the sides all can stand on their own. Creamy Grits, a nice light version.
I imagine an authentic light Tempura batter would do beautifully for the Chicken.
[See what happens when we have to settle?]
I’m quite new to the world of cocktails so I’ll leave that comment to the experts.
Overall, I’m not adverse to coming back for the New Orleans inspired Cuisine.
Definitely would have preferred to have a sweet dessert ending, if given a choice.
Toronto is lacking in the Southern Food movement, Happy to have Sazerac on-​board.

Introduced through FabFind, I came here with $ 60 to spend with my fellow diner. The ambience is trendy and chic, offering both casual and lounge seating.
We started off with a sazerac each, which is a rye whiskey with simple syrup, bitters, absinthe, and a lemon twist. A strong drink, but delicious! This came to us at the same time as the complimentary corn bread and yam butter, which was wonderful!
Then we moved onto food, beginning with the Chef’s tasting platter, which included two of the listed appetizers (apparently the chef decides what to provide specifically for each order):
(1) Smoked Trout, Corn, Spicy Mix, Quail Eggs, Dill Crème Fraîche, Tapioca Crackling — this was absolutely delicious! The smoked trout was well prepared, and complemented nicely by the dill crème fraîche. If you are not a fan of strong-​tasting fish, I would note recommend this… (⁸⁄₁₀)
(2) 63° Duck Egg, Pumpernickel, Potato Foam, Shaved Truffle — this was quite an interesting dish, never eaten anything quite like it. While it missed the mark for my palette, my fellow diner raved about it… (6.5÷10)
For our mains we ordered:
(1) Chantecler Rouge Chicken, Corn Grits, Apples, Collard Greens, Brussels’ Sprout — a generous portion, cooked to perfection, this chicken was very simple but delicious, and accompanied by some great extras on the plate.
(2) Bourbon Rib Eye, Chantrels, Carrots, Potatoes, Smoked Garlic Pureé — super tender and flavourful, I’m not usually a fan of rib eyes but our server insisted that it was spectacular and she was right! I would definitely order this again.
No room for dessert this time, but we will definitely be back!
Highly recommend!

Came here with Ms. Brooks Brothers on a $ 60 Fabfind. With $ 60 of food to clear through, we could indulge a bit sampling more of the menu.
Sazerac seems like an aspirational bar in transition, expanding into «foodie» territory with some southern (US) inspired items to compliment its extensive cocktail offerings. It still looks more aspirational bar than gastro lounge that loosens its collar after 9.
The meal opened with some complimentary cornbread with a yam butter. Both were excellent but I wouldn’t mind seeing a bigger portion of cornbread. Harlem restaurant seems to do something similar. Cornbread but it’s like a few bite sized pieces, versus a robust basket. The yam butter was awesome.
We had the smoked trout and the pork hock apps to start. The pork hock was a nice treat. The smoked trout was a bit more salad like. My main was the bourbon rib eye. It was a nice hunk of meat and tasty. Way better than the crap steak I had at Alice Fazooli’s a few weeks back.
We ordered both the desserts. Like the cornbread, desserts ($ 9 each) were on the small side.
All ‘n’ all, Sazerac could really knock it out of the park portion sizes were a bit better. That said, it’s a great romantic date place. Where you can indulge in some fine, candle lit dining but not worry too much about having to get all gussied up.
Like diner Wendy W. noted, service was excellent and attentive.

I read a review about this place trying to be different from the usual clubs/​pubs of King St., and definitely wanted to give it a try. I live down the street and have been looking for a Cheers of my own (nice looking place for a drink sans 905ers and drunk frat boys). I walked in and was pleasantly surprised, the space was large with high ceilings, lots of wood, ample seating, nice lighting — everything i’ve been looking for in a neighbourhood bar. I had a few of their inventive mixed drinks — and i have to say, they were only ok (I hate to say it… but Barchef does it better!). And at 1.5 — 2 oz per drink they ranged from $ 9-​$ 14.
It was a Thursday night around 8pm and it was not too busy, great to sit down and catch up with friends, a live band (neo soul) was setting up) and it started to fill up.
I didn’t stay too long but the pluses: service was attentive, they had great attention to detail in the décor of the place, interesting drink selection, nice atmosphere. I like what they’re trying to do with the place with different music nights and live bands. Great place to have a birthday party for sure.
Cons: Drinks were a bit pricey (jäger shot — $ 8+ waaaaay too expensive) and kind of weak. Weak drinks were the general consensus in my entire group, hence the jäger shots, weak drinks, more shots (you know how it happens), and it was pretty slow.
It is new so i think it should pick up in the future, i would definitely encourage people to check it out and support a new, local business! Definitely gets a thumbs up for trying to do something different on King and I’m going to try to wrangle all my friends into going here from now on for casual drinks… just pour with a heavier hand!