Bar Begonia

I really thought the arrogant, «Bar Tender as God» attitude was happily gone. But it seems to be alive and flourishing at Bar Begonia. I can’t speak of the floor staff, since we were at the bar, but this Tuesday night, the service was inattentive and purposefully rude. I can’t speak to the food, as my food order never arrived. We even had to put coats on to pay, despite empty glasses that drew no attention for a very long time.
I’m really not interested in spending an evening being treated like that.

French food and French attitude. Another customer service fail at a place with such great potential. A large front patio with an outdoor space in the back and a tasteful high quality menu with a great looking bar.
Our server was rude all the way up until it came time to collect her tip. Typical at all of the rose & sons related venues. Good food, bad people.
I would come back to enjoy the patio but my expectations for quality service are nonexistent.

Anthony Rose is doing something different (again). This time he turned an oddly shaped edifice (was once a pretty good sushi spot, then a weird moon themed place that nobody went to called nite caps). Here we have a brilliantly decorated French inspired bistro snack spot. Sorta a French-​Bar Isabel. 100 seat space opening in the back should inject some youth into this place, still searching for a demographic identity. Lots of fancy older people enjoying fine meals inside. Big patio space in front. The back space is mostly gravel, picnic tables (bocce ball area and bean bag throwing game incoming). Excited.
Food: fois gras dish (not too salty) and mushroom duxelle dish are both phenomenal. Lots of flavours. Both served w/​or on nice bread. I’ll be back. Dupont represent.

Great place for a casual dinner with friends! Tables and portion sizes are small as you can tell from the $ 7 price tag on most items. We got 6 plates between 3 people for dinner.
Order one of the signature cocktails, they are so creative and well presented!
Lost a star because I showed up before my friends and the host awkwardly asked how long they would be because he wanted the table back for other guests. Rude as there wasn’t even a line, just one other group waiting!

I really enjoyed the food and service here. It’s a lovely addition to the hood! It’s a bit pricey but it feels like a dining experience. The deserts were incredible and I my daughter enjoyed the oysters.

Meh. My second attempt at a Rose joint. Service was quite slow despite being almost 2pm.
The steak tartare was missing something — capers, I think. The texture was fine. The size of the yolk was too big for the amount of beef there was. Needed one more itsy bitsy tablespoon of meat for the amount of yolkiness.
The country terrine was stiff and not appearing like the pics I’ve seen online. It was served with 3 small crosscut baguette slices. 3. Not even long diagonal cuts, but 3 almost stale baguette pieces that would be better suited to top a bowl of French onion soup. Even if we cut the terrine into 3 equal ridiculous slabs, they’d still be too big to top the 3 slices of baguette provided. We had to ask for more bread.
We also wanted a sardine tartine, but the power went out so their toaster oven didn’t work and according to the waiter, they could do it in a pan but that would «just take forever.» That does not take forever. Making a grilled cheese takes longer than it does to toast 1 slice of bread in a cast iron skillet. Bitch, please.
We left unsatiated in more ways than one.

Went here for lunch as I’ve been eyeing this place for months. Food was great, but service was awful.
It was our first time there so we needed some guidance on the menu. I mentioned this to the server, but she offered no help at all. It wasn’t even busy. We ordered 4 dishes and after we finished 2, she thought we were done and asked if we wanted anything else. We had to remind her that we still had more to come. Those are not the only examples that totally turned us off, but too long to mention.
The chef and cooks in the kitchen seemed to have a much better attitude than the server. In fact, one of them greeted us when we first came in, as our server didn’t show up until a few minutes after we were seated.
Due to this awful experience, my hubby swore he would never eat here again. Me? I would give it one more chance. I did enjoy the food.

Went here with some colleagues for some cocktails and bites. The interior design is lovely and the location is great, across the street from Dupont station.
Fancy cocktails aren’t really my thing, I’d rather a glass of wine or a beer but I did enjoy my gin cocktail «The Sun Also Rises».
We shared the salt cod croquettes which were tasty, like a crab cake, but I didn’t find there was enough cod flavour it was a bit potato-​y. We also had some tasty olives, bread, and a cheese that I can’t remember but was served with honey and baguette.
All in all a nice spot but not my cup of wine.

A fun and fresh interpretation on delicious french countryside snacks. Cocktails are given some thought as others have noted and the dishes are rich and interesting accompaniments, and also quite visually inspiring at times — bonjour, le grand aioli!
It’s been open for a few months, but BB still feels like a place that you’d have to know about as it’s not immediately obvious from the outside how to enter and what exactly this space is used for. (Although, with that being said, it may be a bit unusual for a serious Torontonain to be unfamiliar with Anthony Rose’s spots at this point I would think)
Anyhow, they should probably work on the step situation… perhaps I’m already a senior-​in-​training but I managed to trip on the way in AND on the way out. Now that’s talent!

I came here over the weekend and ordered the below items
1. Gougeres — alright
2. Steelhead trout — it looks really good but it was way too salty
3. Duck Confit — the duck was juicy but I didn’t like the sauce on the white beans and the escarole. It overpowered the duck.
4. Foie Gras & Liver Parfait — the patee was good but they skimped out on the brioche
5. Sardiness — alright…
The service was attentive and quick. I don’t think I need to come back but interesting flavours overall.
p. s. I think they need a new dishwasher, every plate I used had some left over crust.

I’ve been meaning to check out this joint since it opened and am overall very satisfied with my dining experience at bar begonia. In my opinion, it has a very similar vibe to black hoof or bar raval… good drinks, tapas style dishes meant for sharing, small intimate space… just a good place to drink, chat and snack away. I don’t think they take reservations so there might be a bit of a wait at peak hours and/​or on the weekend, especially given the size of the place. We were able to snag a table for two on a friday night around 7, but by 8:30−9 there seemed to be a few groups waiting for tables.
Our server was very friendly and helpful with recommendations and also very knowledgable about everything on the menu. We ordered a couple of dishes from each section of the menu and I would say that there were a few standout dishes but the rest were average. My favourites were the gougeres, sardine tartine, salami savoie, and the chocolate ganache dessert. I think my least favourite dish was the duck rillettes. I’ve heard many people rave about the beouf bourguignon but I honestly thought there was nothing special about it. It was tender and nicely seasoned but I’ve made braised beef at home before that tasted just the same. I didn’t find it to be a standout.
We ordered beer and wine so I can’t comment on the cocktails but I will say that the bar was definitely poppin.
I would come back for drinks, the gougeres and tartines.

Drinks are mixed well here but my friends and I arrived a bit late, atmosphere seems very welcoming. It is nice and but can get a bit loud.

Went to Bar Begonia with a couple of friends and managed to get the last table of four available during a busy dinner service — what a great atmosphere to walk into!
The simple but tasty looking French menu covers all the bases of appetizers, entrees, and desserts, but really brings the noise on cocktails. Our group wanted to try practically everything, so we ordered at least 2 – 3 from each section of the menu, as well as a cocktail or two each.
To start: the drinks are strong and delicious. What more can you really ask for? I ordered the Brooklyn Cocktail to start, which was a great balance of sweet and smokey, with just the right alcohol kick. After that, I followed it up with the house draught Manhattan, which I wanted to gauge the quality of something made en masse, and I was not disappointed. Am a huge fan of Manhattans, and considered finding a way to serve draught Manhattans in my own home. To myself.
Now, the food. My goodness the food. I won’t go into every detail, but we ordered gougeres, pommes frites, salt cod croquettes, duck rillettes, steak tartare, tartines, beef bourguignon, and duck confit for the apps and entrees, and ended our meal with a crème brûlée and beignets. My favourites were the pissaladiere tartine, duck rillettes, fried egg with wild mushrooms crème fraîche, and the duck confit.
Would highly recommend going there for a night out with friends, and splitting as much of the menu as you humanly can. Can’t wait to go back!

This place it great, wonderful menu (food and cocktails) and great service!

As a local and a huge fan of Rose and Sons, I was looking forward to the opening of a bar on the DuPont strip. While the food is great, the service has been consistently poor. We probably won’t go back. Would recommend Anthony reevaluate the culture and try to recreate the level of service found at his other restaurants.

Overall experience: ⁹⁄₁₀
Food: ⁸⁄₁₀
Atmosphere: 8.5÷10
Service: ⁸⁄₁₀
The friendly happy face greets you outside and the cozy, dark atmosphere keeps you feeling good once you walk in the door. Sure to be an annex staple, the place is buzzing, so there is no doubt that Bar Begonia has got the vibe part down.
Food is shared. My party of four had a number of dishes from each portion of the menu. Whitefish bouillabaisse is delightful, as was the duxelles tartine. Gougeres, which I had seen photos of, disappointed me by being cold and underwhelming. New Brunswick oysters were being served, which were delish!
Cocktails are definitely part of the schtick here. They have negronis on tap! I also tried The Sun Also Rises (think gin, grenadine, sparkling wine) which was citrus-​y and refreshing.
THE BOTTOM LINE: food’s good but can be underwhelming, but the place makes up for it in atmosphere and a feel-​good vibe.

Great new addition on Dupont and to the cocktail scene in Toronto. Very cool, warm and inviting space. I didn’t try the food; came late and we were seated at the bar. Fantastic back bar and cocktail menu including a killer Lot 40 Manhattan on tap. Super nice staff and very cool crowd. Will definitely go back for the food very soon!

Noisy, fun, fast, place. Great cocktails, a speciality. Limited wine list. Sardine tartines to die for, as was the Belgian endive boat-​like salad. the unusual mushroom egg dish was very fresh, the beef bourguignon small for $ 16. Clearly Begonia will be an «in spot» for a while.

The good: Great French inspired spot and a welcome addition to the neighbourhood. French tapas style food. The gougeres were phenomenal and the Tartines certainly standout!
Drinks and cocktails are on point with a varied and innovative cocktail list to please anyone. We had a consistency issue with the Manhattans coming with a cherry one time or an orange peel another, but both were great and flavourful so no complaints there.
The ok: the «grand aioli», their sort of French Antipasti wasn’t so «grand». The steak tartare was good but not exceptional and its flavours were overpowered by the chips it’s served with (We probably had high expectations for it).
The bad: nothing was truly bad but the service was a bit slow (very friendly though) on a busy Saturday and remained so even as it emptied out. So order your 2^nd drink the moment your first arrives. It’s only been open a few weeks so will update if the service changes on our next visit.
The only sight disappointment was the Beignets’ apple sauce, not the beignets themselves, but as the menu is supposed to change seasonally that apple sauce will not be missed if changed.

Great new place. They have captured the essence of a French bistro. Tapas style servings with great cocktails. Likely to be a hot spot in the city