Lee Restaurant - Toronto, Canada

Given Susur Lee’s accomplishments, any meal at his restaurant Lee will command very high expectations.  After all, Susur’s first restaurant Lotus was named best in the country.  He has also had one of the Top 50 restaurants in the world, as well being one of the Top Chefs of the Millenium.  He was also on Top Chef Masters, and placed in a tie for second several years ago.

Lively Dining Room

Lee is situated on busy King Street.  There are large plate glass windows offering an open view of the craziness on King Street, as well as a small outdoor patio which is nice when the weather cooperates.

Given Susur’s accolades it is somewhat surprising that Lee has such a lively atmosphere, rather than the quiet and subdued feeling in most fine dining establishments.

Singapore Slaw with Tuna Sashimi

The signature Signapore-style slaw ($20) with tuna sashimi ($10) contains a list of 19 ingredients which they name as the slaw is mixed tableside.  I couldn’t quite get all of them but does include bean sprouts, ginger, carrots, peanuts, pea shoots, sesame seeds, and noodles.  Although the list of ingredients is long and impressive, the only thing that stood out to me was the sesame seeds, the occasional sharp tang of ginger and the overall sweetness of the dressing.  Everything sort of got lost in the mix.

Wild King Garlic Shrimp

The Wild King Garlic Shrimp ($29) come five to an order.  These are very large shrimp, probably U12 and are perfectly cooked, firm yet still tender.  The sauce of tomatoes, mangoes and green papaya are well balanced, but just a bit on the sweet side for me.  The potato pea croquettes taste more like something that would be found in an Indian restaurant, but was expertly cooked.

Slow Braised Beef

The Slow Braised Beef ($25) is a generous portion of very tender beef that falls apart at the nudge of a fork.  Unfortunately, the meat itself was not well seasoned and was lacking in flavor.  The sauce did help to uplift the flavor profile, but what is a good dish could have been spectacular with a few flecks of salt.

Korean Style Marinated Beef Striploin

The Korean Style Marinated Beef Striploin ($35) was the overwhelming winning dish of the night.  The steak was cooked to a perfect medium.  The blue cheese and dill sauce added a sharp flavor contrast to the beef.  The roasted pears adds a hint of sweetness, while the garlic mushrooms give the dish even more body.  The arugula adds a peppery bite to the dish.

Dessert Trio

The Trio of Desserts ($32) was a disappointment on several levels.  We were not told that the dish would consist of 3 full desserts, nor were we told the cost.  I thought it was going to be more of a dessert sampler type dish.

The special was a Blueberry type cake, which was nothing special at all.  The Warm Molten Chocolate Cake was okay.  The jackfruit adds an interesting flavor to a classic dish.  The Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar was akin to a grown up cross between a Twix Bar and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  The dish is rather rich.

Given that I was fully stuffed and the normal portion sized desserts, the overall enjoyment of the desserts was not there.

Although the shrimp and striploin dishes were complete winners, the overall meal was somewhat of a disappointment, which is sort of what I expected coming in.  With the high expectations, it would have been a miracle for the meal to live up to my expectations.  Am I glad I ate here?  Yes, since I’ve been wanting to try Susur’s food for many years.  Would I come back here?  Not likely given the other interesting choices in Toronto.