Review Chiado Restaurant - Toronto

This is a beautiful restaurant with excellent service. Our server was the best. He gave us the best pairings and recommendations that night. He also was very attentive. Our food was also amazing and the seafood was fresh. It's very simple but just like how we like our seafood. Definitely enjoyed ourselves here and would come back!

This restaurant was such a nice surprise! We absolutely enjoyed every meal. They serve a variety of breads with olive oil and olives with roasted garlic, and everything is delicious. Our server gave us amazing recommendations and was very patient as we changed our decision. For food we shared: Goat Cheese Toasted Over Eggplant, Portabella Mushrooms, Champagne Vinaigrette as the appetizer. We maybe spent 15 minutes deciphering every vegetable in this dish as each one had a different taste and sauce, and it was utterly perfect! Nova Scotia Lobster On Risotto Of Saffron as the main. This was one of the best risottos we have had. In comparison to many other restaurants in the vicinity, this was possibly the best. It is not at all fishy, and the lobster is very tender and delicious. The risotto pairs perfectly and this was overall a great dish! I will definitely be going back to try more of their menu, and I have already recommended this restaurant to my seafood-loving friends. Must try!

beautiful food with excellent service. The waiter made excellent recommandations with good wine pairing. The food was very fresh and arranged beautifully. I really liked the dessert, the citus fran is light and i think it would go nice with some coffee. I feel its the perfect way to end the meal.

Loved our dinner here. Service is top notch. Food well...you have to try it, make up your own mind. But, really, pretty great.

This is a little hard to review because there were great elements and good elements about the experience. Good isn't bad mind you, but at the price of the dining experience, good isn't great. First, the staff was welcoming, kind, and a pleasure to chat with. They were very keen on ensuring everyone had everything they needed. Drinks were lovely and their menu is as large as it is creative- the rosemary negroni is a must have! The only slight was the table charge for still water which was an unexpected throwback to Europe and something I'm sure most patrons don't expect. The food was good, which is the biggest sore spot for me. Whilst I can't fault them for being bland I honestly didn't have anything outside of the chirozo sausage appetizer which made me say wow. Again that's not indicative of a bad experience but at the price point I was just hoping for a more inspired presentation and offering.

Nice new discovery: a very elegant decor including some beautiful paintings, the food absolutely outstanding alongside a decent wine list. The lunch menu is substantially pricey, potentially a major drawback for many.

Best fish in the city. We went to Chiado for my wife's 42nd birthday. I must admit that my first impression was not that great. The atmosphere is slightly stuffy, dated, and the service was "ok". But then the food came... My gosh. Every dish we had in our group of 7 was exquisite. We tried 5 types of fish. All were cooked and spiced to perfection. A taste-memory that will last for a long time. I see myself frequently saying "This fish is good... But not as good at Chiado's" if you are about the food, especially seafood, you can't go wrong here.

Truly an amazing experience! The food and the service is top-notch! Great seafood, appetizers and olive oil, not to mention desserts and warm bread! Whether it’s for a dinner party or a romantic dinner for two- you can’t go wrong at Chiado. I have been coming here for years and I have never been disappointed!

I visited Chiado for the first time during Winterlicious, and I'm so happy I discovered it. The food, wine and service were all first class. I had the sardines appetizer and capon main course. I didn't have room for the amazing pecan tart, which tasted delicious!

Great atmosphere, great service, well presented dishes. Highly recommend this experience to anyone.

Excellent variety and the dishes are delicious! The wine selections are superb and from Portugal regions such as Alentejo and a Douro. Outstanding service. A hidden treasure in the city.

Best seafood experience this side of Portugal. Excellent attentive service from the valet to maitre ‘d to waiter and beck to the valet.

Great culinary experience. Presentation of market fresh fish upon receiving our drinks. Appetizers are the perfect size, main course and dessert were big enough to share and beautifully presented. Amuse-bouche was a nice touch. Sophisticated yet laid-back atmosphere. A restaurant reserved for special occasions.

Service was surprisingly amazing and food... don’t start me at the food. It was absolutely delicious. 5 Stars well deserved.

Nice place, delicious seafood dishes, really yummy presented desserts and excellent service... First time visit for me and my husband, we enjoyed it and we'll be glad to visit it again in the future

Absolutely perfect dinner service!!! Very professional staff thank you guys highly recommend you guys !!

Best portuguese restaurant in TO! Amazing food and friendly staff. We had the chance to experience Chiado at it's best! Congrats, keep up the great work friends!

Service food and wine were impeccable. I highly recommend.

Amazing ambiance, great service and the food was outstanding. Always a great night out.

Wonderful service and ambience. We had a fantastic lunch: fresh grilled sardines, skate, risotto. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for a great culinary experience!

I was looking for an authentic Portuguese Restaurant and came here. The food was excellent but I was disappointed with the lack of Portuguese dishes. Did not give the feel of a Portuguese Restaurant.

Simply the best seafood in Toronto. An amazing array of Portuguese wines. Knowledgeable and very helpful staff. Hats off. I was impressed as a restaurateur myself!

Was amazing! My husband took me for my birthday dinner!! If you like fish this is the place! Fresh variety of Portuguese food and service was top notch as well!!

Highly recommended! A truly 5***** restaurant. The service is top notch.

Everything about Chiado is first class, the food, service, and ambiance. Will certainly go back for more.

Took my Family to dinner to Chiado, I have no words.... Very very recommended, service, food, atmosphere, all 7 stars!!!❤️❤️❤️

Fantastico service, food and ambiance!<br/><br/>Fantastico service, food and ambiance! Winterlicious is on. Try this restaurant! We had a late lunch and enjoyed every course.

I LOVE eating at Chiado's! From the warm welcome, to the delectable dessert, it's always a wonderful evening. The waiters all seem like shareholders; they know the menu intimately and are proficient with recommendations and advice (and super attentive and stealth!). I always eat fish and there is such a variety of fresh options I feel dazzled every time. The non-fish eater at our table was absolutely thrilled with his steak and tidy stack of fries. We LOVED the house wine. I am also surprised with the very generous portions.<br/><br/>As if all that isn't enough, I especially appreciate the ambience -- the long and narrow room, the lighting and the interesting mix of original art makes you feel engaged in the crowd without really feeling you've lost your private little space. <br/><br/>Bravo!

We had the most amazing time at Chiado. Great Portuguese food, impeccable service - thank you, Paulo. Beautiful presentation. Large selection of Portuguese wines. Unfortunately, too pricey.

A pleasant surprise. Went for winterlicious lunch. Sampled the salmon tartare, roasted eggplant and goat cheese apps, sea bream, shake fish and immaculate desserts.<br/>. I frequently find (at other restaurants) staff can be you indifferent if you are doing winterlicious.... So a true test is the service. The staff at Chiado didn't miss a beat. Attentive and pleasant and very knowledgeable about the menu. <br/>The experience is well worth a return visit with friends.

I visited this place during the Winterlicious 2014, and I have to say that the desserts are absolutely delicious and unique. Well, at least the blueberry chocolate tiramisu I had was delicious. However, the service I received was not entirely welcoming.

I was not impressed. There are so many great places to eat, this was not one of them. Too fast and I felt I was swallowing my food as I was leaving. The place wasn't busy either. The word is getting out. Stay away

We went as a small group of six for dinner. Service was quick however the place was not busy. Service was very attentive and plenty. I ordered the cod and was impressed by the flavor. Friends had grouper and equally happy. Price was as expected given the caliber of dining. I might return...

Don't bother. Went during Winterlicious...<br/>Service colder than a well digger's ass. Should have left right away.<br/>Puny overpriced portion of mushy unseasoned monk fish and stodgy beans.<br/>Tiny watery skate also unseasoned. Overpriced cheapo wines by the glass. Very disappointing!

Visited Chiado as part of Winterlicious 2013. Nice ambiance. Very cold staff from host to server. Small portions. Bland food. Overpriced.

Sitting at the table we scanned the barcode of $50 bottle of wine that was recommended to us by waiter with LCBO app. It came back as $10 at LCBO. I would probably classify that as an insult. That was also consistent with markup on the food that was served. Great conversation with friends saved the evening.

Poor dinning experience. My wife and I had the most disappointing dinner on March 17th - the food was bland at best, the ambiance very much lacking (it could be that we were seated by the kitchen area but nonetheless, the fee for the food was not discounted) the wine list seemed rather expensive if not extensive). The service was spotty at best sometimes very quick and other times took forever as when it was time to clear our plates. We are only passing through from our home state of New Hampshire so may not have the chance to repeat the experience but even if we were to return to Toronto we would never go to this restaurant again (even if someone else was paying) ---pretentious.

Big disappointment. Took friends from out of town to sample food from my cultural Heritage and I was thoroughly embarassed. Bland, boring and offensively priced. My Portuguese mother would have stormed out after the calde verde!

Winterlicious prices make this place a Lot more affordable as the a la carte menu is very pricey (probably around $110 per person with wine). Great fish dishes and nice sized portions. I tried skate fish for the first time and really enjoyed it. The Portugese wine selected by out waiter was also outstanding ($60 bottle was one of the least expensive on the menu). Really enjoyed our evening there.

CHIADO ...should be called CHEAPado. Just had a 'tasting meal' at Chiado with a Groupon...the meal is valued at 200 dollars and sadly...it's a joke. You could<br/>put the entire meal on a small sidedish and still have room<br/>for your bread. The owner Albino seems to be using Groupon to get you in the door with a 75 dollar bait and then<br/>forces you to pay another 25 dollar service charge. Don't fall for the trap.

Almost great. Everything was perfect, food, service, etc. until it came to our main courses. We both ordered rack of lamb ($45) medium rare. We received three solid, grey lumps of meat on our plates. Generous servings, well presented, well seasoned, tender but beyond well done. We told the waiter who said he'd let the kitchen know. We told the owner who said he'd seen our plates in the kitchen and that they should never have been served to us like that, however he " did not want to spoil our evening" by doing anything about it! We will not go back. By the way, this restaurant is very expensive so be prepared to dig deep for your dinner.

Either overly salty or incredibly bland, cold service. We purchased the Groupon 5-course tasting menu. I thought the purpose of the Groupon was to peak interest and gain new clientèle by offering delicious menu items... wrong. <br/><br/>If the dish wasn't over-bearingly salty, it was numbingly bland. Portion sizes are non existent, even for a "tasting menu". Sardines were a huge let down, tiny and soggy... go across the street to Grappa; bigger and crispier there. <br/><br/>Although service is on cue, it is rather impersonal and quite snobby. <br/><br/>Even though we paid for the entire meal already through Groupon, the restaurant charged us an ADDITIONAL $25 "service charge" that is not considered a gratuity to your server. $80 Groupon + expensive wine +$25 Service Charge + Tip = Overpriced unsavoury food served by snobs!

Wonderful experience. Took my dad to the tapas bar for dinner tonight and we had an absolutely wonderful meal. Service was fantastic, I don't know what people are beefing about in some of these other reviews. Every dish was delicious and the dessert was so gorgeous I took a picture (still on my phone). My dad has spent time in Portugal annually for over 25 years and he said you would have a hard time finding food that good in Portugal. He was also very impressed with the privately imported wine available by the glass.

I got pulled in here for lunch today and even tho it was Paid for in full by my client I feel ripped off, the food in this place is laughable at best, the wine they seved us at the best in the house tasted like boxed wine at best, the staff was rude bathrooms unkept and when we asked to speak with the owner we were told he spends most of his time in Portugal with his girlfriend. I will never be back, not even for free.<br/><br/><br/>-----26 Oct, 2011-----<br/><br/>I went on here with the wife last week and we both left hungry and angry, the portion sizes are tiny yet the price is way above reason the staff were stiff snobby and rude and the overall atmosphere in the joint made us want to get up and leave, when dinner was served wh almost laughed at the portion but found it hard to laugh remembering the massive price. We will never go back here in fact we may move out of the area just to be further away from this dive.

Delicious! Attentive, knowledgeable service. A little pricey but well with it if you are celebrating. Dessert samples were to die for. Tried the Groupon tasting menu and cannot say enough about all the courses, well maybe except the lobster bisque, did not care for it as much. Will go back soon!

I typically don't write resto reviews, but I felt the general public should have a good idea of what they're getting into before they eat. In short, food prices for dinner are between $40-$50. The menu has little Portuguese influence, and the dishes are flavourless and extremely petite in portion. The waiter was more like a used car salesman. Would never go back.

Nothing special. The service was very good. My bitoque steak was full of veins. Didn't seem very Portuguese to me... I'm Portuguese so I should know. Lol

Excellent! Great food though it's pricey

Amazing. I went there the night I proposed to my fiancé and the food was amazing! An incredible dining experience.

Attentive service and delicious food keeps me coming back but it's an added bonus if the soup of the day is my favorite- asparagus! One day I'll try the asorda - a dry, bread soup. One of my favorite Toronto restaurants.

So-So. For me, the cuisine here had more of a Greek influence than a Latin one. Minimal spices, lots of fish, almost bland, muddy flavors.<br/><br/>It was ok - I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't go here again if I wanted to indulge in Latin food. The service was great, it was the meal that was disappointing.<br/><br/>It was pretty pricey on top of everything else.

Chiado serves haute-Portuguese cuisine on the distant corner of little Italy, far enough from the thuggish street that has such icons as Dolce Gelato. An antiquated room is dressed with period paintings, and staffed by kind, overly-gracious but forgetting waiters who serve wrong mains but are quick to correct their mistake. A work of art arrives as an amuse bouche, the first of its kind in summerlicious. Rosemary swim in a globule of honey beside a streak of balsamic reduction to decorate an austere slice of fermented cow milk cheese undulati

...The skate was tender, its texture unlike any fish I’ve had. The flavour could not have been more spot-on. I really liked the peppery crust, which added a nice kick. And the risotto, oh the risotto. It was savory, delicious, and served as the perfect complement to the skate. All of the components of the dish worked so well with each other.

As for Chiado, it’s a cozy place which nicely represents the beauty of what the ocean and Portugal has to offer. I agree with the reviews which question the prices but I can’t agree with those who call the service cold and pretentious. I found it professional and if anything confident, especially when he dissected my fish with the precision of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Chiado dining experience is top drawer with a focus on creating a relaxing and refined atmosphere with knowledgable and well groomed staff. Our waiter paired each course with the finest Portugese wines. Each plate was perfectly prepared with a focus on highlighting and contrasting flavours and textures. I started off the meal smiling at two huge jumbo shrimp and skipped out of the restaurant after several spoonfuls of their decadent chocolate mousse.

For those of you unfamiliar with Chiado, (there shouldn't be any of you) this restaurant has been a staple in the fine dining scene in Toronto for many years. It is my favourite Portuguese restaurant in Canada but not only because the ratings say so. It consistently delivers great food, amazing ambiance and service that is unparalleled in this city.

Specializing in pristine seafood and providing impeccable service one can understand its longevity and success. They fly their seafood...

I felt like I was in a fine dining restaurant in Portugual when the server brought the daily seafood platter to our table. I had the option of going with the Chef’s Special or choosing one of the daily imported seafood. (If you have a preference of how yo

I went to Chiado for lunch today and I was impressed by the food and ambiance. Sadly however, I remember little else than the lackluster service now that I am back at home thinking back to my lunch experience. My 7 friends and I were shocked by the service we received. We had heard such amazing things about the service at Chiado, that we were left speechless by the attitude we felt by the staff. Maybe a lot of it had to do with miscommunication, but it certainly could have been handled differently. <br/><br/>8 of us went to Chiado for lunch today to try their Winterlicious menu. When we arrived the first feeling I got was that they were under-staffed. The staff seemed to be rushing about and acting very clipped and abrupt. They weren't necessarily being rude, but they were not being friendly either. But we were okay with it. We understood that things get pretty busy during Winterlicious and the staff can get overwhelmed. That's ok. <br/><br/>We were all able to order very quickly and the food did not take long to arrive. I had the grilled squid and it was spectacular. My friends had the bisque and salmon tartar and they loved it too. For my main I had the salmon, and loved the crust on the salmon and the array of vegetables that came with it. We ordered pretty much every main dish in the menu and everyone cleared their plate. The desserts were small, but very beautifully presented and packed with flavor. Again, we cleared our plates. We loved our meal. <br/><br/>And then it all went down hill from here....<br/><br/>1 person in our party had ordered a glass of wine, one had a sprite and 2 had coffees. We received the bill and we were charged for 2 glasses of wine, so my friend asked for the correction to be made. No problem. Then we all calculated our totals, and had to call our waiter over several times to ask questions (how much tip were we being charged for example), but getting our waiter's attention was like pulling teeth. He was always around us, but just seemed to not be able to see us. I had to raise my voice to have him come over with a machine so we could take care of the bill. We all added more than 18% to the tip because we really did like the food. When we thought the bill had been settled, the waiter came over to our table and made an "announcement" that our bill was short by a few dollars. "Odd" we said, "we all put more than 18% in tip." So we did the math again and could not figure out where we went wrong. So we called the waiter over and requested the bill. The waiter then proceeded to tell us again that we were short. "We know." I said. "But we want to see the bill." I felt like I would have to get up and physically go grab the bill myself by the way he seemed to stall. But eventually he brought the bill. He then proceeded to condescendingly break down the bill. A friend of mine grabbed the bill and noticed that we were charged approximately $18 for the water. Huh? It turns out that we had 2 bottles of water that cost approximately $7.50 each. We wanted tap water, but instead we got bottled water. We could care less about bottled water. It tasted like tap water to us. But my friend acknowledged that she was asked when she arrived (she was first to arrive) if the table would want sparkling or still water. She said still. She figured still water was tap water. Well, apparently not. Every restaurant we have ever been to, we have been given the choice between "tap" water and bottled water. Even as we realized why there was a discrepancy in the bill and were telling the waiter that now we understood why we were short, he was still repeating that we were short. We were trying to acknowledge that we made the error of not accounting for the water but he continued to speak over us and telling us that we were short. This whole situation could have been handled differently. The minute we learned of the water, we took care of it. We did not complain about the water or the cost. We never said we wanted "tap" water, so the responsibility was on us to be more clear. But the way our waiter spoke to us; it was not very professional.<br/><br/>So, would I return to Chiado? The food was amazing. But the service killed my entire experience. During lunch I was already thinking of all the people I wanted to bring here over the next few months. By the time I was putting on my coat, I wanted to get the hell out of there. It was such a disappointing end to what could have been an amazing lunch.

After a pipe burst at Adega, my group was rerouted to Chiado on College street. It’s a quaint, attractive venue adorned with colourful paintings and well dressed waitstaff. We were seated promptly and received a very good explanation of the menu. One of the signatures of the service is the presentation of a fish platter; a visual aid boasting the wide array of available choices from the sea. Included in the mix were three whole fish choices. For the indecisive, they also offer a tasting plate featuring three cuts chosen at the chef’s discretion.<br/><br/>Like soccer, the wines of Portugal are overshadowed by the products of Italy and France (I will politely leave Spain out of the equation). My experience with Portuguese wine has been limited to my mother buying one bottle of Mateus a year, having one glass and reserving the rest to clean silverware or something other household use. I was pleased to see a huge variety of wines from the mother county featured on the menu and quite enjoyed the poppy, fruity Luis Pato wine made with the Marie Gomes grape. I’m a sucker for a fringy type wine (I love Austrian Gruner for example) so I really liked it…maybe a little too much.<br/><br/>The amuse-bouche was a beautiful cheese served with a balsamic reduction and drizzled with honey.For an appetizer I ordered the grouper carpacio atop white asparagus, topped with pine nuts and seasoned with citrus. It was quite a sizable portion and was more like a ceviche. It wasn’t the prettiest dish and probably would have benefited from a little colour and/or spice. Maybe some green asparagus instead of white might have worked. Other than the appearance, I enjoyed it but there was way too much.<br/><br/>Also at the table was the grilled squid w/fresh coriander, lemon, garlic, extra virgin olive oil served with roasted sweet peppers, charred tomato and caramelized leeks. It was a very well executed dish and rivaled any calamari those Italians make. Once again, it was simply presented but lacked a visual punch.<br/><br/>I like the thought of playing with my food so I tackled the whole ocean perch. I was also sold on the promise of a large and tasty cheek. The fish arrived with the token potato and vegetable side. The ocean perch is quite bony so I felt a bit like a nervous surgical intern, especially when I offered a piece to a colleague at the table and failed to remove all the bones. I think the waiter sensed my frustration and politely offered to remove the other cheek for me. With my knife and fork he worked with a surgical precision and pulled out a large cheek which made the whole experience worth it.<br/><br/>I had an indecisive friend sitting beside me who ordered the sampling plate. Much to my delight, she was kind enough to share a little of her octopus, monkfish and skate. The skate and octopus were delicious but the monkfish stole the show. It was easily the best thing I ate all night. I was tempted to cause a distraction to swipe the remaining filet but kept my composure. As an afterthought I should have showed her a picture of a monkfish and asked her if she actually felt comfortable eating one of the ugliest fish on the planet. Damn hindsight.<br/><br/>For dessert, I went for the molotof which was described as a light meringue of egg whites served with vanilla cream sauce. The irony of this is that I think meringue is one of the most ridiculous food trends going but I was intrigued by the promise of the lightness compared to the brick hard meringue served everywhere else. It was a good call. Unlike the starters, it was presented pretty. It was light and delicious and my friend cashed in the IOU on the monkfish and scooped a few bites.<br/><br/>She ordered the peras cozidas (poached pears with Madeira wine, citrus, cinnamon and saffron). The pears were attractive, fresh and laced with punchy, spicy flavour.<br/><br/>My Take<br/><br/>I don’t mean to pick on Portugal but they are an easy target just like us Canadians (plus I haven’t forgiven them for ending England’s slim world cup dreams in 2006). The food, however, is underrated. It has the same philosophy as Spain and Italy in that it focuses on the freshness of the ingredients. As for Chiado, it’s a cozy place which nicely represents the beauty of what the ocean and Portugal has to offer. I agree with the reviews which question the prices but I can’t agree with those who call the service cold and pretentious. I found it professional and if anything confident, especially when he dissected my fish with the precision of Cristiano Ronaldo. Speaking of which, a few more monkfish filets may make me forgive him for scoring one of the penalty kicks that knocked England out of the world cup for good 8 years ago.