Avant gout - Toronto, Ontario

It is a nice restaurant with few tables. We were the first to arrive and only a couple of table were occupied when we left. The food was only so so. The crab cakes consisted of two small way overpriced and not very tasty deep fried cakes accompanied by a tiny portion ... of sauce ( hardly enough for one) and few greens. The shrimp appetizer was better but way overpriced for 5 tiny shrimps. It would have been better if we could have had some bread to soak the sauce with. Unfortunately the waiter never came back. The lamb shank was not bad with the vegetables nicely cooked. The steak and frites were quite good. What really ruined the meal is the service. The waiter was bored, uninterested and just going through the motions. Considering that we were the only customers he ignored us once we ordered. It certainly not because he was too busy. He brought the appetizers with the bread and disappeared. We kept looking back to try and get his attention to get some more bread but he continued to ignore us. He ignored us again after he brought the mains only to return at the end to clear the dishes and bring the bill. Only then he replenished our empty water glasses. The service was not any better at an adjacent table. He equally ignored them. Even though our reservation stated a birthday celebration no mention of that on arrival and no offer of a dessert to celebrate even though we did tell the waiter it is a birthday celebration. I doubt we will return in spite of the food being not too bad. Read more

The food was good but our dinner experience was extremely disappointing and ruined by the appaling service. The one person providing service could not handle the amount of tables (9-10 small parties while we were there) and was almost defiantly inattentive to our table. We understand that sometimes there are ... staffing issues, but then it is best to communicate that fact to diners and apologize. Only some dishes were cleared after the starters, the other dirty ones had to wait until the main courses were cleared. We asked for a second glass of wine, it arrived 15 minutes later. We ordered 2 desserts, only one arrived. Had to ask for water twice before getting any. The waiter delivering and moving our water glasses by the rim was both unprofessional and unhygienic. We waited 30 minutes for the bill, until finally going up to the waiter (owner?) in order to have him print the bill and collect the payment. Have not had such poor service in a Toronto restaurant ever. There seems to be a lot of regulars, as the person working there was hugging and chatting with many patrons. Maybe they have enough customers, because they definitely made us feel that no effort is needed to host new customers, like us. Read more

My fiancé and I really enjoyed your vday dinner here last night. Service was excellent and kind, food was succulent, and people around us were classy. Only complaint would be that the restaurant is small, which means that when the door to the business is opened by the occasion Uber ... eats, it tends to slam behind them, reverberating across the restaurant. Easy fix though, if they put in some sort of soft door stopper. Really enjoyed our time at Avant Gout, and would highly recommend! Read more

It was alright. The food was good without being fantastic. Portion size was great though! Service was ok, we had ordered one dish of escargot to share but the server brought out two (benefit of doubt, it was a little loud inside so he might have misheard). We tried the ... lamb and the prawn pasta, both were cooked well and tasty. At the price point however, I'd be just as willing to try somewhere new as to return. The restaurant is also really small and the tables are quite close together so we could easily hear pretty much every conversation in the restaurant which isn't necessarily a bad thing but if you're looking for something a little more intimate I'd go somewhere else. Read more

Overall delicious French food in a cozy atmosphere. Do try whatever specials they have for the day! They do not have much outdoor patio space. My only issue was with the grilled calamari app - the calamari was over cooked, and under seasoned… think they forgot the salt