Last week I was treated to an assortment of delicious dishes from Little Fin, the tiny gem on Temperance Street in Toronto’s Financial District. Not only did Little Fin warm my heart and fill me up, it gave me an entirely new perspective on “fast food”. I don’t even feel comfortable calling their delicious menu items “fast food”, but Little Fin does serve up fresh food quickly (and in compostable take out containers too!) and they know how to cater to the on-the-go folks of the Yonge and Adelaide neighbourhood of Toronto.
Dining at Little Fin with the help of Sidewalk Hustle’s pal Yael (who was a fine dinner date, and gave us insight on Chase Hospitality’s food ventures), opened my eyes to a new level of take out food that is (hopefully) emerging in the Toronto dining scene. Little Fin is the latest restaurant venture from The Chase Hospitality Group, who have made their mark in Toronto with The Chase Fish & Oyster as well as Colette Grand Cafe. Little Fin opened about a month ago, as the “quick, witty little sister” of The Chase Fish & Oyster.
If you’re familiar with The Chase, you’re aware of the fine dining experience they have to offer- here at Little Fin, you get fine dining in a compressed, accelerated style. The tiny bistro can seat approximately 30 people at their bar height tables, and aim to deliver culinary supremacy at lightning speed. And that they do- Yael and I sat waiting a mere 6-7 minutes for our food to arrive, and as we waited, the dinner queue grew longer. Open until 8pm, Little Fin aims to feed the suits and ties at lunch, as well as around the dinner hour. Have a look at their tantalizing food below, as well as my thoughts on each dish.
Little Fin had custom design done by Deck Agency, a local boutique communications and design firm in Toronto. Offering a fresh, slightly quirky take on “fast food”, Little Fin’s logo is simple, cute, and straight to the point. Fresh colours of sky and navy can be seen on their menus and signage, however the restaurant itself features classic bistro style bar chairs and glass food cases; you can even watch live lobsters crawl around in their glass aquariums right in front of the kitchen window.
Above is the Seaweed Salad, a far cry from the slimy green (although yummy) seaweed salad you’d normally associate with Japanese cuisine. This seaweed salad had a multitude of ingredients that I couldn’t even rattle off the top of my head- one thing is for sure though, the flavour was incredible. The textures were everywhere- ripe tomatoes, sliced crunchy cucumber, soft seaweed, crispy onion flakes- they all worked together to create a salad experience that I’ve never had before. This side salad (“side”- it’s a hefty portion!) comes with any main sandwich dish along with potato crisps, and you can get that entire gourmet combo for anywhere between $9- $15! Incredible value.
This is the Lobster Poutine, made with fresh lobster and a bisque gravy. Rich and delicious, this could be shared between two people! Definitely one of the better Lobster Poutines I’ve tried in the city.
Pictured above is the Lobster Grilled Cheese Sandwich. To be concise, it was buttery indulgence. Rich, flaky, cheesy- it was perfect. Comfort food at it’s finest. And of course, the flaky, buttery bread is provided by Colette.
This glorious sandwich is the Fried Chicken BLT, one of the only menu items not coming from the sea. It was wildly satisfying- crunchy yet juicy, and had this amazing avocado mayonnaise-like spread on top. It was a large sandwich as well- would be incredibly filling in a combo with the aforementioned Seaweed Salad and chips. A must for any fried chicken lover.
To end things right, we were treated to 2 of Little Fin’s bakery goods (of course provided by Colette.) The square chunk is a chocolate chip brownie, and the disk of deliciousness was the salted Rye and Chocolate cookie. To be blunt, the brownie paled in comparison to the cookie (don’t get me wrong, the brownie was tasty but the cookie was truly unexpected). The combination of dark chocolate with the saltiness and sharpness of the Rye flavour was an interesting and incredibly delicious adventure. I will be trekking to Colette just for this cookie sometime very soon. Little Fin impressed me in a big way. Be sure to stop by if you find yourself among the power suits of Yonge and Adelaide. You won’t be disappointed- the hearty portions, quick and friendly service and amazing price point are the reasons why this little bistro will be renowned in Toronto very soon.
Little Fin, 4 Temperance Street Toronto | 647.348.7000 www.littlefin.ca