Review of Luma, an Oliver and Bonacini Restaurant

Website:  http://www.oliverbonacini.com/Luma.aspx
Address: 350 King St W, Toronto, ON
When I visited: March 2014, dinner
Rating: $$$, 3.5

Luma has prime real estate in the heart of the entertainment district and upstairs in the TIFF Bell Lightbox building. The restaurant was a hot spot on a Saturday evening.

The restaurant was bright and had an airy feel with a large window overseeing King St. I was there for my cousin’s bachelorette with over 20 girls spanning two tables. The restaurant was a terrific spot for a large group because the restaurant did not impose a set menu and the gratuities were set at 15%, rather than 18%. That was very accommodating! We had great servers and attentive service but the kitchen was backed up and our mains took a long time to arrive. I am not sure if this was the norm, but do keep this in mind if you have a large crowd and a tight schedule.

The Luma menu was simple and featured a combination of seafood, meat and vegetarian options. In the appetizer section, customers have an option to upgrade to a starter meal for $5 more. Great idea!I ordered the romaine salad, which was essentially their Caesar salad, I split a dinner sized steak tartare and had the Luma shrimp and lobster burger as the main.

In the recent BlogTO article (read the Blog TO article here), they had listed Luma’s Caesar salad as part of the “Top 10 best Caesar salads in Toronto”. I was expecting big flavours and something extravagant, as the author had mentioned that he had a quail egg on top of his salad. I clarified with the server that there was only one Caesar salad on the menu. As mine arrived, there was no quail egg! I did enjoy the flavourful bacon and large parmesan shavings but wasn’t blown away with the salad.

As for the steak tartare, I enjoyed the de-constructed presentation. The steak tartare itself was delicious and well seasoned. At $21 for the dinner size, I wish there was more steak.

My favourite dish was my main; the shrimp and lobster patty in my burger was juicy and was bursting with flavour. The light and beautifully plated cucumber salad had a light vinaigrette topped with sesame seeds. I would come back to order this over and over again. At $23, this was an excellent deal!

Overall:

I had a good time at the restaurant with attentive service and would recommend the restaurant for large groups, as long as you are not pressed for time. Stick with the Luma lobster and shrimp burger and you won’t be disappointed.