Fat Friday - Queen Margherita

Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. And for me, that means trying out new restaurants that Matt has read about in Toronto Life (I know, harsh life, right!?!). As you all know, we both really enjoy food, but I would have to say that it really has been Matt’s influence that has developed my taste buds. He’s always on the look out for great new restaurants that have either unique ideas, or have a classic take on some of our favourite foods. This last mission was to try out a new pizza place in Leslieville, Queen Margherita (the link is to an article in Toronto Life; their official website is coming soon).

I’ve written about our dining experience(s) at Libretto, a pizza place in Ossington, and while we really love the food there, the actual getting a table can be a bit challenging. We’ve heard the wait can be up to 90 minutes, but since we’ve always planned our dinners for about 4:30 on a Sunday, we’ve been fortunate to get a table. But when Matt read about Queen Margherita, and the rivalry it has with Libretto, well, that’s where we were headed next. And the huge bonus – they take reservations!

Although we dined on a Thursday, it was our version of Fat Friday, and we headed there with my friend Christine. As with Libretto, they have a Fixed Price menu, which lets you choose an antipasto, a pizza, and a dessert. Let's start with Christine’s meal.

 

To start, the Antipasto: ricotta cheese with dried cranberries, lettuce, and a drizzle of honey, and she finished it all, so it must have been very good! For her Pizza: cherry tomatoes, olives, and capers (she said pretty much the most intense flavour combinations all on one pizza! We let her eat that one all herself...). 

Matt's meal was very refreshing! For his Antipasto: A fruit salad consisting of watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries, and light dressing of olive oil. His pizza order: a plain pizza with mozzarella and fresh basil. (Matt likes to try out the very basic of pizzas, I guess so that he has an even playing ground for comparison.)

And for my meal, it was very meaty... My antipasto was roast beef with pickled carrots and arugula, which I wasn't sure I would really enjoy, but it was darn good! That's the great thing about trying new dishes. My Pizza was a spicy sausage, hot peppers, and goat cheese, and even though I couldn't finish it all, it was great!

And to cap off the night, we all enjoyed our desserts. Matt had the lemon gelato served with a shot of limoncello, a shot of lemon liqueur, while Christine and I treated our taste buds to the tiramisu.

We were stuffed by the time we left the restaurant (Matt more so than me, since he likes to finish off the crusts of my pizza), and since they do take reservations, we will most likely be heading back there some day soon...