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Dining: Soaked at the Harbour 60 Restaurant
Wed, 11 May 2005

The Harbour 60 restaurant is one of Toronto's premier steakhouses and I recently had the good fortune to pop by for an evening of dining and conversation with friends. While a wonderfully historic building, I left fealing a little lacking... so I rate her a majestic 3 stars out of 4.

Toronto is a wonderfully diverse city in terms of culture, dining, theatre, nightlife and even history (being one of Canada's oldest cities and the capitol of Ontario) - but if you're shopping around for a world class steakhouse theres really only a few to choose from -- Ruth's Chris, Morton's, The Keg Mansion, Chans and a few others... and Harbour 60. Now I don't get out for a giant monster steak too often - maybe once every year or so, but over the years I've managed to catch most of these fine places .. usually just once. For my mini-comparison of Steakhouses Around Toronto, see here.

I thought I'd share my thoughts about Harbour 60, since I always wanted to record such things and pretend to be a Dining Reviewer (what a great job!), but I must admit that I didn't gather the opinions of the other guests I was with nor order my usual (New York strip or petit filet) so perhaps I'm a tad slanted. So this is of course my low-brow opinion and not that of some professional reviewer.

Aside: Bob Newhart is a vampire. I know this because he showed up in Desparate Housewives looking the same as he did in his classic show Newhart some 23 years ago.

Ambience/Environment: 8

A very nice establishment really, set inside of what I assume is an old Port Authority building. Theres some interior photos on their website (I didn't have the nerve or cahones to annoy all the other patrons) but I snapped a few outside shots on the way in..
- - walking from Bay and Lakeshore towards Harbour St. (approaching the restauraunt from the rear, as it faces Harbour St.)
- - A little closer still, but still at the rear.
- - Up in front beside the awning, but too close to get the whole building in my tiny phone-camera's view
Harbour 60 doesn't feature the uber-manly heavy oaken table approach such as Ruth's Chris would offer, but it does have a very nice atmosphere and style d'elegance -- dim lights, some oil paintings up on the walls, and even a stained glass door entrance into the main dining area.
Food: 6.5

As I mentioned above I ordered a prime rib instead of my regular steakhouse fare - medium well with a side baked potato. The others ordered communal vegetables - roasted peppers and asparagus. Hungry yet?

Prime rib is always softer than other steaks I believe, but this came quite medium.. I'd say on the rare side, since it was pink all the way through with (and a red center) a half inch of red (for my younger readers..) water at the bottom. I prefer medium well (pin at the middle, brown through) but I was starved (and the smell of steakeons permeating the soul) and dove in. Not bad, but it was very plain.. entirely unadorned. No salts or spices or butters or wine marinates or the like. I must admit that when it arrived we denizens of the table were aghast at its sheer size and ferocity (a foot across, and a full 2" deep I'd say), but the overall flavouring wasn't what I'd expect from such a fine establishment and that is really what you're paying for at a steakhouse. The potato was of course enormous, the peppers and asparagus nice.. but I was a little let down by the meat itself.
- - Oh the bovinity!
Drink: 10

It was a long day that began with a headache so I decided to kickstart the brain with my staple rum-and-Coke up front (a nice sugary caffeine drink is always a good thing...) and later a nice Scotch to warm the belly through-out the evening. They had a decent collection of Scotch though not so many as a double- or triple-digit location may have like in the finer pubs around town. I'm not much of a drinker (which I'm told that when you reveal this its akin to saying publicly you're not good in bed, but I beg to differ) but I do enjoy a fine whisky (and fine girlie drinks like pina colada..). For this occasion where a long evening of friendly and interesting chatter was to occur I ordered a very expensive whisky.. the Bowmore 17-year Scotch (at $20 a glass, for a shot or two in the glass). I'm not into the oily whiskies like the Irish Whiskies or some of the well respected Scottish brews, but usually into the drier slightly peaty bunch like Bowmore falls into. This is a smooth pollished beverage that tastes delightful without that traditional kick-in-the-crotch Scotch drinkers are used to... the age really lets it mellow out and I'd have to say this was probably one of the best Scotch's I'd ever had. A good thing (and a shame) the waiter didn't give me an opportunity to order another.. the pocketbook wouldn't have approved. (See below.)
Dessert: 9

Here I ordered the Creme Brulee -- its like a club sandwhich for lunch.. if you enter a restaurant for the first time, order the club to benchmark against other eateries. Likewise, while at a steakhouse you compare the Brulee's or the custards to see who can pull the line the best. I'd have to hazzard this as one of the better I'd ever had.
Presentation: 9

This is a hard one to say for a steakhouse -- if it comes all fancy you're just going to stand up and leave anyway ;) You want this enormous piece of meat placed in fornt of you, piping hot enough to burn you if you rush it, and Harbour 60 delivered. It was very plain as mentioned above so I guess that is where I'll bring it down a touch, but otherwise everything looked as it should. The tables were dressed nicely of course with very fine and dagger-like knives (I couldn't get a good enough picture due to the lighting) and all the usuals.
Dinner Service: 9

The waiter was excellent; the busing was excellent. (I do love when the boys come with the cloth scraper to remove breadcrumbs..). He didn't pop by enough for taking drink orders, but thats okay as we were engrossed in conversation so perhaps he sensed that. I do not give a 10, since I know an establishment like Ruth's Chris will have men standing by within a finger-snap's distance (not that I've ever been such a wanker, as I'm a pretty common bloke of a guy and not some power-suit.)
Washroom/Coat-check/etc.: n/a

I didn't partake in the washroom or the like, though I did use the coat-check; they performed admirably in that my coat arrived unscathed.
Location: 9

A pretty good location, readily available via highway or street or subway or train, but not right in the heart of the entertainment district or the like. Rather, under the raised highway so you walk through a smelly exhaust filled tunnel if you come from the north as I did, but that didn't really concern me. I don't know if they validate parking, but I was already parked, though I know they have a lot.
Family Orientation and Clientele: n/a

I don't have children yet to bring, and I didn't notice any kids there while we were present, so I don't know if it is targetted purely to adults or executives or families, but most of the clientele were in suits or actually in more comfortable wear (which was good as I was under-dressed for the occasion!)
Pricing: 6

Now here is the crux of it. OF course, when you head out to one of a cities prime steakhouses, you know you're going to get fleeced on your way through. But theres fleecing and theres highway robbery, and I think Harbour 60 was leaning to the latter. You can head to Morton's or Ruth's Chris, knowing you'll outlay $35-$60 for a steak, but it seamed everything in this location was 30-50% higher priced than it should have been. I must trust the instincts of the wine connoisseur when he suggested that he would order a good wine but not a great one since they just weren't worth the pricing (and likewise the prices of bottles for sale on the way out.) The meals, the sides, the spirits for drink.. it all seamed a little over-priced when compared to the other fine houses of Toronto. Thats saying something when you're already in the outragous-o-sphere strata.

Total: 8+6.5+10+9+9+9+n/a+9+n/a+6 = 66 out of 80 which rounds out to 3 stars out of 4.

Rating Defence:

A very fine establishment with an excellent overall experience, I would have to suggest the steak itself wasn't quite up to snuff, and the pricing was a little over done for that snuffedness. When it comes right down to it, I'm leaning on the lower end of 3 stars since you really want a great steak and everything else could fall apart for all you care. Still, a safe bet that out of town guests or those you're trying to impress at business would love the place, but I'd really suggest heading over to Morton's instead.

Homeward: Being Toronto and middle of the night on a Friday, I was immediately bogged down in traffic, taking an hour or more to get home when it should've been a mere 35 minutes. Damn. But here you go..

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