Summerlicious @ Hot House Cafe

So it’s that time of the year again, as you can probably guess, Summerlicious is back! So throughout the past years, I’ve only done Licious dinners and probably just one lunch years back. That particular lunch experience, I wasn’t too impressed, which left me sticking strictly to dinners.

Anyways, this year I wanted to try something different. I came across Hot House Cafe (@HotHouseTO) while reading another friend’s food blog and was quite intrigued. A few clicks later, reservations were made for  Saturday afternoon.

My mom & I arrived a bit earlier than the reservations time. We were seated promptly at a window seat facing Front Street. I was quite surprise at the little amount of people at the restaurant, though more patrons were sitting out in their patio. Our meal was moderately paced under the attentive care of our friendly waitress. She came back a few times to check up on us while not being intrusive. Though, one thing I did find it a bit odd was that the hostess did not ask or even give us a summerlicious menu until we asked our server for one (I noticed that happening with the 2 tables around us).

Soup of the Day / Clam Chowder

  • Made fresh in house daily
  • My mom thoroughly enjoyed the soup and so did I (I had more than a few sips)
  • It was a delicious, traditional, cream based chowder. Every sip was filled with onions, celery, large chunks of potatoes, clams and cream – served steaming hot.
  • A great portion for an appetizer.

Louisiana Crab cake with Chili-Lime Aioli

  • Crab cake fried to a golden brown served with a tangy Aioli sauce and crispy Shrimp Chips on mixed greens
  • They used to serve 2 crabcakes for previous lunch licious’ from what I’ve observed, so I was a little disappointed with the portions.
  • The Louisiana crab cake was fried to a nice colour – paired with a nice tangy Aioli sauce. I wished they had given me a little bit more mixed greens

Italian Veal Sandwich

  • Veal cutlet lightly breaded and pan fried, Smothered in our house made Tomato sauce topped with Balsamic caramelized Onions and grilled Banana Peppers, Served with Hot House Fries
  • My mom ordered the Italian Veal sandwich which I was surprised because she rarely opts for anything that is fried. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the crispy pan fried veal and didn’t find the tomato sauce to be too heavy
  • I tried some of her entree and didn’t like it as much as she did only because I’m not a huge fan of sandwiches to begin with – The skinny fries accompanying the sandwich was great! Crispy & lightly salted.

Smoked Chicken and Goat’s Cheese Agnolotti

  • Agnolotti stuffed with smoked chicken and goat’s cheese baked in a tomato cream sauce and topped with fontina cheese
  • I’m a sucker for pasta. There’s not one day that I don’t crave for it. So this was a pretty obvious choice for me. However, I’m not a usual fan of goat cheese because I personally find it has this weird taste to it. Anyways, I’m guessing because the goat cheese was baked, the taste was subtle
  • I’m always down for anything that’s baked and drenched in a tomato cream sauce. This agnolotti was very filling and a down right satisfying indulgent.

New York Baked Cheesecake

  • A rich and creamy piece of New York style cheesecake smothered in strawberry sauce
  • My mom and had asked for the strawberry sauce to be placed on the side.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

  • A piece of tradition served warm with a dollop of cinnamon infused whipped cream
  • So being ridiculously stuffed from my agnolotti pasta, I should have totally gone for a light sorbet for dessert. But I wanted to try something different and slightly regretted it. The Sticky Toffee Pudding was really sweet for me so I had only a few bites.

So I was completely stuffed coming out from this lunch and didn’t even need to eat dinner that evening. The quality of food and portions were quite decent for a more than reasonable price.  Would I come back for a regular meal? Yes, I would. They have a great Saturday lunch menu & patio.  That being said, they also offer a BBQ pizza & Kale salad on their Summerlious menu – there’s still time to book your lunch at Hot House Cafe!

Price: $15 + taxes + gratuity

Hot House Cafe on Urbanspoon

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