Top-notch, approachable Modern Canadian food (COVID-19 takeout edition)
Just a block south of Queen subway station is Richmond Station. Except it’s a restaurant, not a subway station. The choice of name is deliberate. Its logo even features a subway train. Think of Richmond Station as a stop on the metaphorical culinary train.
It’s difficult to put a finger on the cuisine served here. It ranges from pasta to braised meat to ethnic inspirations like mulligatawny (British-Indian curry soup). They are dishes that you might have seen in other restaurants but with Canadian twists. The menu changes seasonally. So, I would say Richmond Station is the exemplar for Modern Canadian cuisine.
The food
Richmond Station has adapted well to the era of takeout. Its cutlery kit is the most thoughtful one I’ve come across since COVID-19. It’s packed in a translucent pocket and all takeout materials are biodegradable. The utensils were more sturdy than plastic ones. Not luxurious, but I appreciate a restaurant that pays attention to small details.
If this is your first time here, I recommend the Station Burger. It’s also pretty much the only constant item on the menu, and for good reason. A juicy, intensely savoury beef patty paired with an earthy beet chutney. The secret ingredients are the braised beef ribs. It’s one of my top 3 favourite burgers in Toronto.
If this is your second time here, go crazy with whatever is seasonal. When I visited last winter, it was braised grass-fed beef shank with carrot purée, potatoes, maitake mushrooms, and fried rosemary.
I liked how they paid attention to plating even for takeout. Purée as base, potatoes on one side, mushrooms on another, and the star of the dish off-center between the two. Remarkably, the sprinkling of herbs on the beef shank stayed intact after transit.
The beef was cooked beautifully and flaked off easily. But I was expecting it to taste more rich. The sauce was too liquid and lacked salt and fat to stand against the beef; it was better suited for the accompanying vegetables. The beef shank became monotonous near the end and felt like just a hunk of meat. The carrot purée should have helped but there wasn’t enough of it. It was sweet and creamy. In fact, I preferred the vegetables of this dish. The potatoes and mushrooms were roasted well and still had some chew in them. Not a bad dish but I would try something else next time. 8/10.
The Berkshire pork and mushroom cavatelli graces the menu regularly. It includes white bolognese, grilled hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, marjoram, and parmigiano.
This was one of the most flavourful dishes I’ve had in Toronto. Because I’m biased towards great mushrooms. The aroma wafting from the takeout container was irresistible when I was bringing it home. The hen of the woods mushrooms were slightly smokey from grilling and had a satisfying crunch. Berkshire pork was present as little bits of ground sausage. They brought bursts of foreign flavour, albeit a tad too salty. My favourite part was the small amount of broth left in the container. It was like a foresty consomme, full of umami.
The pasta itself was all right and not as remarkable as the other ingredients. The cavatelli looked like maggots but that’s how it should be. Perhaps a different pasta like pappardelle or casarecce would be more visually appealing. 9/10.
Richmond Station does a modestly elevated version of mushroom soup. It only had a few ingredients but that means that there were less things to detract from the mushroom flavour. It was finished with a drizzle of parsley oil. It added a vibrant green hue but honestly I couldn’t taste it.
The soup was all about the mushrooms. The grilled maitakes were plump and almost crunchy. It made for a satisfying mouthfeel. The puréed mushrooms infused the soup with its unmistakable flavour. 7.5/10.
I almost never order salad but I took one for the vegetarians. The kale and brussels salad was not 100% vegetarian though. It had shaved beef pastrami, along with smoked almonds, mimolette cheese, and brown butter vinaigrette.
The pastrami was sliced so thinly that I barely noticed it. Its purpose was to add whispers of saltiness and meatiness. Same for the cheese. In contrast to the mushroom soup, this dish had a plethora of ingredients. The pastel colour palette put together by the ingredients was immaculate. Kudos to the chef for thinking about colour coordination and flavour combinations.
I love brussels sprouts so I was easily satisfied with this dish. The brussels sprouts were roasted just enough for a light char. Personally, I prefer them more well-done but that doesn’t take any points off the dish. One nitpick is that the almonds felt disjointed from the rest of the dish. They were noticeably large and hard. If they were slivered or sliced, they would have blended in more. 8/10.
Polenta fries are a fan favourite. It may not always be on the menu but when they are, they are a satisfying alternative to fries. They are made from organic cornmeal and sprinkled with chopped basil and parmigiano cheese. It comes with a truffle aioli dip.
As usual, the food was photogenic. The fries were geometrically shaped.
Polenta is a mild-tasting corn porridge. It could be cooked with stock to give it different flavours but the ones at Richmond Station seemed neutral to me. Polenta fries are a fun invention that involves deep-frying of polenta blocks. The intent is a crisp and caramelized exterior and a creamy center. Richmond Station certainly achieved a crisp exterior but I felt the interior could be more mushy.
The cheese and basil provided the necessary flavour. I was happy to eat the fries on its own, without the truffle dip. In fact, I did not like the truffle aioli. It had too much truffle oil and easily overwhelmed the other flavours on the fries. I wouldn’t mind if there were actual shaved truffles on the fries but that would make the dish twice as expensive. 7.5/10.
The place
From the outside, Richmond Station looks small. The bar takes up most of the space. But hidden at the back is a huge dining area that can accommodate large groups. It also has a view of the open kitchen. The interior design comfortably sits in the upscale casual category.
Richmond Station is one of the enlightened restaurants to abolish tips. They call it “hospitality included”. They get bonus points from me for that. Now, if we could petition businesses to have tax-inclusive prices…
Verdict
Unpretentious Modern Canadian food with quiet flourishes of creativity. Quality and variety suffers a bit with takeout. 8.5/10.
Practical information
- Name
- Richmond Station
- Rating
- 8.5/10 (takeout)
- Recommended dishes
- Station burger
Berkshire pork and mushroom cavatelli
Kale and brussels salad - Prices
- Braised beef shank: $30.51 ($27.00 excluding tax)
Berkshire pork and mushroom cavatelli: $28.25 ($25.00 excluding tax)
Mushroom soup: $11.30 ($10.00 excluding tax)
Kale and brussels salad: $14.69 ($13.00 excluding tax)
Polenta fries: $10.17 ($9.00 excluding tax) - Address
- 1 Richmond Street West
- Hours
- Monday to Thursday 1200h – 2100h
Friday to Saturday 1200h – 2200h
Sunday 1200h – 2100h - Date of visit
- November 2020, December 2020, May 2020