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Tom Jones Steakhouse & Seafood

By on May 6, 2011

I’m a total foodie and being fortunate enough to live in this wonderful city of ours allows me to indulge myself. Whenever one restaurant closes, another opens and I am always spoiled for choice. Toronto is so multicultural that we all, no matter what our tastes may be, have the opportunity to be exposed to the diverse cuisine options the city has to offer.

I really enjoy exploring new restaurants and, as a lover of meat, on this particular day I found myself craving steak. I’ve already experienced a few of the best steakhouses this city has to offer and I continue to be convinced that many aren’t given the credit they deserve. After a twitter poll asking my followers to suggest a steakhouse, I decided on Tom Jones Steakhouse & Seafood, a “timeless classic” nestled downtown beside the financial district.

The restaurant is located just east of the Bay and King’s financial district and is a Toronto’s restaurant scene. It has been at 17 Leader Lane since 1966 in a building constructed in the early 1830s when this narrow alley was known as Berezy Street in Old York Towne. The building has a hand carved oak entrance way which (the publicity promises,) leads to an elegant setting with soft lighting from gas burning chandeliers, leaded glass windows and high oak paneling. We are told that this gives the restaurant a combination of extraordinary charm and relaxation.

I did some brief research on-line after I made the reservation and didn’t find too many reviews about it that were worth reading. This made me hesitate for a moment and rethink my decision but I figured I’d stick with my motto of giving everything a chance at least once and deciding upon an opinion of my own.

As my date and I pulled up into the parking lot beside the white building that stood alone, I discovered that I recognized this unique building and had always wanted to visit. I then chose to ignore my skepticism and indulge in my excitement.

Walking toward the dark over-sized door we cracked jokes about Tom Jones greeting and if it would be impolite to just walk into his house without knocking, but decided to enter anyway. Walking through the famous entrance way we stepped into a dimmed candlelit room where we were greeted by two men in tuxedos. Fancy!

I did my usual glance around the room to scope out the scene and noticed it to be quite empty but chalked it up to it being a weekday and the few gentlemen that were there were perhaps wrapping up a business meeting or were long term regulars. We were quickly escorted to our very cute and intimate table. It was nestled in a slight corner and resembled that of a rounded booth. Our waiter lit our candle and left to fetch our menus. So far so good!

However, when the waiter returned to our table with our menus he brought with him a sour, irritated look. Both of us commented on the negative feeling he left us with as he went to find the wine menu he had forgotten to bring. After giving us the wine list he brought a pan full of delicious garlic bread. As he slipped the oil-drizzled bread onto my plate I noticed right away that it had sesame seeds and quickly warned my date who is allergic to them. This is where the disappointment began.

Instead of showing any concern to the allergy, removing the bread from the table and offering a fresh loaf minus the seeds or perhaps suggesting something in place of it, he left the loaf of bread on the table, smirked in a “tough luck” kind of attitude and walked away.

Now, I consider myself tolerant and understanding so we laughed it off and put it down to the older gentleman being tired and joked that if we had been working there since 1966 we would also be feeling pretty miserable.

The waiter returned to our table to take our orders and being as indecisive as we both are naturally, we asked if he could suggest an appetizer or two or perhaps inform us of the chefs specials etc. In his irritated voice he quickly answered that everything is good and left it up to us. We went with shrimp cocktail to start, Caesar salad (simply because that seemed to be the only thing that brought some excitement into his voice) our two steaks and a bottle of wine.

Aside from the interesting service at such a pricey venue, I knew I would be writing a review so I took a step back to check the place out again and I must admit I loved the rustic feel of the building. Exposed brick, stained glass windows, a dark feeling to the place and very romantic.

I’m the type of woman who dislikes negative energy and I’m always trying to lighten the mood if I sense any. So, on a mission to do so, I started asking our waiter questions about the Caesar salad he was preparing in front of us to try and include him in our positivity. This seemed to work quite well. He became more animated as he explained each step and I grew more excited as in anticipation of this delicious salad.

To our disappointment but, by this time, not to our surprise, the shrimp cocktail never arrived so we moved right into the salad which was delicious, but at the same time no different tasting than the one I tried at Jacobs. The bottle of red wine we chose, a French Châteauneuf, was divine and probably the highlight of the experience. That’s right, our steaks were good but not great and certainly not above average. If anything, my filet mignon was slightly dry and the side of vegetables at The Keg were better.

I have to point out, nothing except the service was terrible, just not as impressive I had expected it to be. However, that is usually what happens when you set your expectations too high – you lead yourself to disappointment.

All in all my date and I both rated Tom Jones Steakhouse a 6/10 mainly because of the intimate, romantic atmosphere and the wine. After it was finished we stopped caring about the rest.

Would I return? Maybe! If the timing was right. As I said it wasn’t terrible, but would I recommend people when asked which steakhouse to visit in Toronto? Probably not.

17 Leader Lane
Toronto, ON M5C 3B2

Tom Jones Steakhouse on Urbanspoon

About Natasha Nicole

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