a la carte at the Gardiner

My mother and I make a point of visiting the Gardiner Bistro every year during the Twelve Trees of Christmas show. It's a beautiful space, the service is attentive but not obsequious, food is delivered promptly (they knew we had to be out of there for a post-lunch appointment).

An excellent restaurant on the top floor of the Gardiner Ceramic Museum for lunch, dinner Friday evening and brunch on the weekends. A gem...good food, pleasant service...great ambiance. After lunch, visit the gift shop where they will give you 10% off any purchase on presenting your receipt. A unique selection of ceramic artists' creations. Highly recommend a visit.

I've become a lunch regular at this beautiful spot in Toronto's jewel of a museum. Always interesting menu and the ambience of the room is great. Diners can also actually hear each other. The terrific service excels and amplifies the experience with particular kudos to Andre who always makes a visit worthwhile. Don't forget to visit the museum and the terrific gift shop also. Ver carta

One of us had the roast chicken and the other had the crustless quiche, highly recommended by Andrea. Both were beautifully presented using the freshest of the season vegetables. Seasoning was just right. The opener with French bread and zaatar was amazing - we will definitely try it at home. Beautiful location - go for a slow long lunch with a friend. The service was impeccable.

We were at the back of the room. I prefer the front, but we had light and views at the back. Food portions were small, but this is Summerlicious, and the price was small too. Chicken and stuffed Calimari were deliciously tender. All ingredients were tasty. Dessert was basically just Apple, but skilfully prepared to bring out the full taste. Service was very good. Altogether a very pleasant experience.

I had lunch at this restaurant recently with a larger group .The restaurant has an upscale feeling with a beautiful location on the third floor of Gardiner Museum. The group leader arranged ahead of time a 3 course meal for the group. Unfortunately in spite of this the service was extremely slow. The food was tasty and very presentable but portions were very small. In my view the restaurant needs to improve their services for larger groups. Ver carta

And expected her to sit in her soaking wet trousers for the rest of lunch! I am not sure what more there is to say, he brought a few napkins and left it at that. The other servers seemed embarrassed and just avoided our table altogether. We had to ask if there were any hand-dryers in the building (there were none). No one made any effort to help and just waltzed around avoiding eye contact until we complained. In the end, they comped the summerlicious lunch as we had gotten increasingly frustrated by the lack of apology for ruining a lunch that was to mark a colleague's departure.My poor friend went back to work with very damp beige trousers.

LIving around the corner, summerlicous was the perfect excuse to visit the Gardiner restaurant. The room is devine--light and airy and you can actually hear yourself--even when the dining room is full.The restaurant is only open until 3pm so they only offer lunch selections. For my Summerlicious prix fixe of $18 I had the wilted kale salad to start. It was very interesting and delicious--with bits of olives so be sure that u are an olive lover if u order it.My main was the crustless quiche--yummy. For dessert I chose the brownie. Beautiful presentation with whipped cream and berries, but somewhat disappointing in taste.My server was a doll. He offered to bring me another dessert but I was si...

After a visit to the museum across the street, we arrived at the Gardiner around 1 p.m. Since this was 2 days before New Year's I think too many servers were allowed vacation. 3 people managed the room which seats I'd guess about 100. The restaurant was packed and we waited a long time for our food to arrive. Our server was very attentive apologizing the latte machine was on the fritz. My friend ordered a coffee but was a bit disappointed. We ordered the crustless quiche and smoked salmon plate, which were both very good. Our server returned with a latte and replaced my friend's coffee - very nice we thought. His manners were exquisite. Please, thank you, you're welcome - so refreshing. The... Ver carta