Rasa

I came with a group of 6 for their Monday set menu. I must say, everyone was pleased with the various dishes; the only thing that wasn’t a hit was the matcha glazed donut one of us ordered. Everything else from the chopped salad, the po boys, chicken wings, truffle gnudi, burgers, and bangkok bowls were a hit. Service was friendly and informative, and all around made for a lovely experience. I will happily return to this restaurant and spread the word.

We had an amazing experience at Rasa this evening. We went in a group of 10 and the manager Adam was so accommodating of our requests in organizing the evening. Loved the size and atmosphere of the restaurant. Our server gave us incredible service, very knowledgeable and helpful with menu guidance, attentive and didn’t rush us in the slightest. And of course, the food — everything was delicious! Chopped salad totally lived up to the reviews, we also enjoyed the Bangkok bowl, burgers and short rib. Our server even arranged for cheese-​free individual portions of our apps for a party member that is lactose intolerant, without us even asking!
10 out of 10 on all counts! Thanks Rasa!

Came here for a second dinner while restaurant hopping. Walked in and there were no spots but we checked out a dessert and came back after two hours and got seats at the bar! What a viewww! We loved checking out the dishes as they were prepared and given out!
We just ordered a couple of dishes to try.
Strip steak — gorgeous presentation and subtle flavors! The med rare thin slices of steak went well w the jalepeno, picked shrimp, schmaltz, subtle fish sauce mayo and yummy chicken skin! Couldn’t stop eating this one!
Smoked branzino w dill crème fraîche, orange caviar, beets and mustard crisps — the mustard crisps went really well w the dill crème fraîche and smoked fish! Omg yum! Maybe I’m biased BC I loveeee smoked anything but my friend and I both loved this dish!
Sticky bun w walnut praline, cream cheese anglaise, n candied bacon — when we both laid eyes on this, we knew this was the One … dessert that we HAD to get! It looks like a huge cinabon topped w drizzled goodness, walnuts and omg of course two strips of candied bacon! Totally had me at bacon and totally had me at cinabon. It tasted as good as it looked. Definitely the choice for those w an extreme sweet tooth !!
Food was awesome. I’m definitely coming back to try their cumbraes beef (which looked rly good n filling) and their burger!
Service was great! The bartender was really attentive and the owner was so nice!

Came here for dinner for 2 on a Thursday night. It was very busy — no one was waiting for a table but almost every table was full. It was mostly an after-​work crowd. Dress code seemed to be casual or business casual — you could be dressy if you wanted to. I would recommend for 2 – 4 people and not for a large group. Reservations are a must — especially on a Monday night when they offer a $ 35 tasting menu and $ 5 drinks.
Food: ⁴⁄₅ — we had the «The Experience» which is a tasting menu for $ 60 per person. These are the dishes we had listed from most to least liked (along with their individual plate price if you don’t get the tasting menu):
1) Truffle Gnudi ($ 19)
2) Burger ($ 17)
3) Jerk Fish Board ($ 29)
4) Chopped Salad ($ 14)
5) Bangkok Bowl ($ 24)
6) Dessert — Sticky Bun ($ 10)
7) Shawarma Toast ($ 13)
8) Veg Slate ($ 15)
9) Brussel Sprouts ($ 10)
10) Complimentary — Mini Muffins
— this was a great experience to try most of the plates for your first time at this restaurant
— fairly small tapas plates but some were more filling than others
— almost all of them were tasty and well-​balanced. If I had to choose what I would order again, it would be the truffle gnudi, the burger, and the chopped salad
Service: ⁵⁄₅
— no complaints — great service
I will definitely be back here with a reservation on a Monday night.

Rasa deserves an updated review.
In my experience this is a winning neighbourhood spot. I have returned to it a few times and will gladly go back again.
Everything from the complimentary mini cornbread muffins to the addictive and beautiful mains (e.g. Bangkok bowl, octopus, truffle gnudi) are hits. I’ve had less success with a limited experience of their desserts, but who even needs them with the solid apps, salads and mains?
Tasty food with flair, but a relaxed feeling inside and out, which eliminates pretension.

Stopped in here on a whim on a busy Saturday night. There weren’t any tables or bar spots available, but the gracious hostess let us wait inside for a place at the bar and took our cocktail orders. How civilized! And the wait was worth it. Highlights were the shawarma toast (excellent flavours), smoked branzino board, and scallops with lentils. Warm, rich, wintry and delicious. And there was so much more on the menu that looked promising. Great date night atmosphere and really special food. Can’t wait to go back– next time with a reservation.

We greatly enjoyed a recent night at Rasa. Rasa is doing something special. It’s tricky to put into words actually, but I’ll start by saying it’s a place I’d like to come back to regularly — and not because it’s easy or predictable. Rasa’s got personality, and a unique point of view. Rasa feels like a work in progress, and this a very, very positive thing. There is play happening here. There is growth. There are risks being made, chances being taken, and this often works very, very well. Rasa is engaging and surprising, and our meal here was both tasty and entertaining.
Dinner at Rasa starts with mini muffins rich in herbs and flavour. Two bite savoury wonders,
the muffins are a warm, comforting, supremely welcoming opening act.
Cocktails — Respectable bartending happening here. I loved their unique take on a mojito, and they do a great job with classics like an old fashioned also. Staff is super helpful, and can recommend wine or cocktails to pair with each dish, even dessert!
Service — Very happy with the service. Not too much, not in your face all night, able to answer all questions quickly and credibly. Simple. And owners very responsive! I’d made some comments about a previous off the mark brunch, owners responded quickly and respectfully. I was blown away.
Let’s talk more about the food, these dishes were stand-​outs:
Chopped Salad has a secret — jalapeño feta schmeared on the inside of the bowl beneath the veggie and quinoa salad, encouraging you to stir, play and scrape up a little creamy spicy goodness with every bite. Crunchy harissa chick peas add an unexpected crunch and satisfying texture to the dish.
Brussel Sprouts — This dish was a huge hit with us. Absolutely an inventive preparation for Brussel sprouts, with a vinegary kick and again, satisfying texture for the win. I asked — the «crispy onion» on top is actually crispy shallots, which bring not only crunch and that onion-​y kick, but also a defined, unmistakable sweetness. I could eat this every day of the week.
Shawarma Toast — Lamb neck was wonderfully flavourful and melt in your mouth tender. Love the pickled jicama accent too. Delicious.
Bangkok Bowl — Perfectly prepared tuna, with fresh, vibrant mango jicama slaw. But the star of this dish was the crispy fried squid. My fiancé (generally pescatarian, but with a strong «no tentacles» policy) was ready to fight me over the perfectly seasoned, crunchy yet tender fried squid in this dish. Yummmmm.
Truffle Gnudi — Sooo savoury, and the gnudi another masterpiece of texture. Just perfect.
Scallops in Oxtail Risotto — I love a scallop, and I love a risotto. This was heaven.
And for dessert, Cereal! Like the chopped salad, the schmeared chocolate ganache in the bowl makes this dish for me. I’m going to steal the schmear trick for cooking at home, it’s that good.
Now let’s think about this — you are looking at a menu that includes crunchy chick peas, brussel sprouts, lamb neck, tentacles, oxtail. You may be thinking, but I don’t like any of those things. Well, guess what, you owe it to yourself to go freaking try it, because these dishes are all FABULOUS. Just super yummy delicious. And FUN. And I think that’s the point — go and eat! Try something new! Experiment and play and enjoy something different. With the diversity of the menu, you can easily stop in just for drinks and apps, or hang out for the whole night and do the pre fixe. Rasa may not get it perfect every time, but they are really doing something interesting, and they may just change your thinking about these ingredients. I’m giving them mad respect for trying something new, and I can’t wait to go back. Thanks Rasa for a wonderful meal!

This place was great. I was dropping some friends off at ROM so we parked and headed down Danford on foot, looking for a place to have lunch. We spotted this interested looking place and stepped in, knowing immediately we would stay for lunch. It has a great steampunk decore.
There was only room at the counter to sit but it turned out to be a great location as we could watch the coming off the grill and getting plated. Everything looked good. Presentation was great and literally everything caught my attention.
The waiter said the breakfast burger would ‘blow our mind’ and he was spot on. Out friend had the Huevos Rancheros. It too was unique. It earned a big thumbs up and seemed to disappear before I could ask for a taste.
I have no hesitation in ranking this place a 5!

I’ve been a fan of the Food Dudes’ food truck for a while, so I was legit excited to finally try this place out.
It’s not brunch without a Caesar so I started with the Rasa Caesar, but I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of this drink. It was just much, much stronger than I would’ve preferred. And extremely spicy. It was fine, I guess, but I did make a point of finishing the drink before I finished my meal, so I wouldn’t be stuck with that taste in my mouth afterwards.
We started with the latkes, which, as per the menu, come accompanied with «smoked sour cream.» Aside from the fact that the sour cream wasn’t even a little smoky, these latkes were definitely delicious and very different from the norm. They were comprised of thin potato straws, which ensured that the exterior was extremely (and pleasingly) crispy.
For my main, I got the Huevos Rancheros, which is described thusly: spicy black bean, avocado, fried eggs, cheddar, pico de gallo, smoked crema, salsa verde, tostada. This was a very, very tasty dish. It’s probably one of the better Huevos Rancheros I’ve had in a while, as the ingredients were all cooked perfectly and it came with a very generous helping of delicious guacamole. There is one pretty major caveat, though: it’s not spicy. Like, not at all. And when I asked for hot sauce, our waitress brought over a bottle of Frank’s. Yeah, no, that’s not at all what I meant.
Finally, we finished off the meal with the Rasa Donut. I was expecting just a generic donut, honestly, but there’s nothing generic about this monster. The donut arrived at the table still warm and covered in a melted marshmallow topping. It was pretty exquisite, I gotta be honest.

Rasa is a fantastic dining experience. The atmosphere is very warm and cozy.
We had a number of things including the delicious chopped salad. The octopus was cooked to perfection and the beef ribs are mouthwatering and to die for! These were the best beef ribs we have ever had.
Besides, we had some digestif cocktails and the aperol spritz was a delight. As for the dessert part, the sticky bun with candied bacon hit the spot and my husband has not stopped raving about the candied bacon since.
A big thank you to the Rasa team for a perfect dinner! We will be back

Very impressed with the food at this retaurant — I mean come on, the Food Dudes opened it so the food should be good — and it was. I went in for a birthday dinner with 6 lovely ladies so we tried pretty much everything on the menu. Great for sharing but bigger than your average tapas place so 2 dishes per person was certainly enough but I think we averaged 3.
I know everyone raves about the chopped salad but seriously, the chopped salad was something I could over and over and over. I was happy to see it’s offered on their brunch menu because I would be interested in that for sure. Lots of fresh veggies and a light flavourful dressing. a total hit from start to finish.
Next I tried the Bankok Bowl: yellow fin tuna, fried squid, mango jicama slaw, smoked peanuts. DELICIOUS. The yellow fin (a sustainable tuna — points for that!) and fried squid was cooked perfectly and the mango jicama slaw a lovely pairing. I could have eaten two of these…
A third dish I split was also off the charts delicious — but a bit heavy for one person, you’ll definitely want to share — the TRUFFLE GNUDI with local mushrooms, portobello soil, pickled shimenji, walnut pesto. I love mushrooms so this was a no-​brainer and come on, add truffles and I’m in heaven. Decadent is how I’d describe this, soulful and made with love.
And while there is a lot of meat on this menu that I couldn’t speak for myself, I did listen to my favourite ladies who tried the bacon and tomato (decent but not amazing), the lamb neck (really good but a bit too much on the plate, could be a smaller portion), the chicken and waffles that were the nightly special and enjoyed by all but big enough to split instead of for one person, side stripe shrimp (good shrimp but didn’t need the sauce).
They brought us complimentary mini corn muffins which were quite delicious and they nicely brought out a dessert for me while I was in the loo which I couldn’t eat because it was the sticky bun with candied bacon on it but I was so stuffed (and I’m not a dessert person anyway) so I happily sent it home with one of my friends. Not sure how that was reviewed.
All in all, I think for a sharing style restaurant, the portions are on the large size which for a table full of guys is probably a good thing but do consider that if you’re not starving when you arrive. The prices are not cheap but the food is good quality — we had a cocktail (a very good old fashioned for me) and two bottles of wine (a delicious Italian red I can’t remember the name of at the moment) and we each paid $ 100.
Our server also gave me a mystery gift card for my next visit — not sure what it’s worth but it is good incentive to come back, although the food itself will likely bring me back anyway.
The décor is nice — a bit of an odd shaped corner patio but a decent size and then it’s a couple of steps down off street level to the restaurant that is a mix of grey stone and warm wood that feels intimate. A great date place but also perfect for our group of 6.

Everything we ordered was deeeeelish! But… For the price ($$$) I’m not sure I’d be back. We ate on the patio which is nice (though noisy with traffic), but I don’t think I’d enjoy dining inside… Seems a little dark and dingy.
Was worth a try but I think there’s better out there to blow my dollar dollar bills!
P. S. Sticky bun desert was fantastic!

How this place isn’t a 5 star winner boggles my mind! I went for the Set Monday for $ 35 and was blown away. The chopped salad was the best (bold statement I know but I’m still thinking about it to this day). The chicken wings were my least favourite item ordered and they were delicious. Even the veg dishes were yum. And don’t even get me started on the cocktails… ah-​maz-​ing!
The thing that really blew me away was the service. Great bunch of people who work there. Very friendly, helpful and chatty. I requested some recommendations and they were spot on. I was really impressed with their ability to go above and beyond their normal duties.
Yes portion are a bit small but worth the money once the flavour hits you. If you haven’t gone yet you’re missing out. I will definitely go back to sit on their quaint patio to sip on more cocktails and try the regular menu.

My husband and I came here with our one year old on a Saturday early evening. They warned me beforehand they did not have any high chairs so we kept our little one in the stroller. We were given a table close to the doors and had plenty of space.
We ordered a few dishes including truffle gnudi, pork wings and popcorn chicken but the popcorn chicken stood out. The pork wings were very good and it was a large portion. We couldn’t finish and took this home. My only regret was we did not have time for dessert. We will be sure to come back for that!

This is a great restaurant if you’re not hungry. The food portions are very small, so you can just keep spending your hard earned money on over priced hipster nonsense.
Honestly, I had to go somewhere else and have a second dinner after ordering their $ 29 beef ribs… Which came with a whopping 2 ribs… With no sides. How can you run a restaurant that doesn’t serve damn food?
Do yourself a favor and avoid this overpriced trap of a restaurant.

I was very excited to try this place. The Stars this place earns are through the roof — almost all 4 or 5 star reviews. However, what confuses me is if you actually READ the reviews, they are sprinkled with negative feedback. How this feedback doesn’t affect the overall stars people are giving, I don’t understand! At the end of my experience, my dining companion and I discussed the flaws in our experience and then he said he’d still give it «4 stars because you have to»!!
Well, I certainly don’t have to. I will discuss the pros first: the food. That’s a huge pro Dr a restaurant, clearly. The food was interesting and delicious, although the burger was insanely overpriced (only $ 2 less than the delicious Harbord Room burger across the street).
The flaws were mostly the pacing and just how effin long everything took. Drinks came out 15 – 20 minutes after ordering them, round after round. We got two food dishes quickly but the other two came at least 45 minutes later, and if only we had had drinks to fill that time! I had said no cilantro and an hour and a half after I ordering, she came by to say the gnudi had parsley. 1) different than cilantro 2) couldn’t you have brought this up 90 minutes ago? Are we ever eating?!
Space was dark crowded and loud. Bathrooms uninspired for a redo. I’d go back but let them know I’m in a rush and see if that changes the pace.

This restaurant is location right on the corner of Harbord and Robert St, though the sign is a subtle and easily missed. Parking is a pain (street parking) before 7pm as you need a permit.
I came here on a Saturday night with my boyfriend and we were late due to parking. The servers were super nice about it. Originally, we had wanted to try the Rasa Experience, however, due to time constraints (there was another reservation for our table after us), we decided to order two appetizers and two entrees each and then share a dessert. We ordered the Smoked fish and chicken dumplings to start. Boy, these were delicious and perfectly seasoned. We loved the crunchy dumpling exterior and the lovely broth they poured on when they presented it at our table. The smoked fish was presented beautifully and paired well with the citrus fruit (mandarin, maybe?).
For the entrees, we ordered the Octopus and the Wagyu ribs, which was upgraded to flank for that night. I was not a fan of the octopus due to the mushy texture, but the pork belly and the slaw was great. The wagyu flank was seasoned well but was too tough. The entrees were seasoned well, but were disappointing compared to their appetizers.
Although we were full by the end of it, we ordered the Cereal dessert which turned out to be thoroughly satisfying. Both my boyfriend and I fought over who got the last spoon of the ice cream.
Service is great here, even if the food is a little slow. However, I had no complaints as each dish was presented beautifully and tasted great.

I don’t know what took me so long to come here. Regardless, I’m so happy I did. Right away, my life was made easier by being able to make an actual reservation for brunch. There’s nothing worse than waking up and running to a brunch spot and getting in line, not sure if you’ll make it before closing or not.
The décor at Rasa is very trendy and chic, yet rustic and cozy. The brunch menu has familiar classics with a twist. We decided to go with the sweet plate of the day, which consisted of buttermilk waffles with rhubarb jam and earl gray ice cream and the burger melt, as well as a side of cheddar biscuits with chili jam.
The side of cheddar biscuits consisted of four fluffy biscuits that were magically so light. The chilli jam gave it a sweet and hot kick which elevated them to a whole other level. The burger melt is not for those that want to play around. It is juicy and stacked; however it does not come with any sides. The buttermilk waffles were like pillows of heaven, and the earl gray ice-​cream gave it a refined michelin-​star dessert feel – for breakfast. The service was excellent, and I walked away without that heavy brunch feeling. I can’t wait to come back for dinner.

A friend had his birthday dinner here and it was a great night.
The service was friendly and prompt and the food was great. It was mostly small plates that were good for sharing. There wasn’t a single dish I didn’t enjoy. Loved the chopped salad and the baked octopus with pork belly, in particular.

I once read that Madonna was a genius and that she has a very high IQ. I only say this because I’m reminded of her «Ray of Light» video when I open the website. After I dined here, I concluded that the food dudes have food IQ. Every dish was smart and well constructed. The chopped salad is a fattoush salad on steroids. The spare ribs are a carnivorous version of a root beer float. The cereal dessert is greeeeeaaaatttttt! (the sticky bin isn’t bad either). The service was courteous and attentive.
From the attention to detail in the dishes to fact that the music is good but set at a decibel level lower than a Chiefs game, Rasa is an enjoybale experience. I can see myself going regularly to see what new projects they dream up.