Foodaholic!: The Red Tomato

The Red Tomato is located in the basement level of Fred's Not Here; a fixture in the heart of Toronto's Entertainment District, and minutes away from the theater district. Back in September, I was invited to their new menu launch event called #PieTunes, where they added casual Italian fare to the menu including a line of various pizzas. After the launch, I was also invited back along with a few fellow bloggers to have a more intimate tasting of their dinner menu. Many of the items on their menu are shareable, so it's a good place to come dine with friends, or even a dinner date after the theater.

For our dinner, we started with three appetizers from their starter menu. The first appetizer was the Salad Caprese ($11) - fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, fire roasted peppers, and EVOO. Caprese salad is a simple Italian salad made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag. The one from The Red Tomato was a great starter, and the combination of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil made it a refreshing salad.

The Crispy Coconut Shrimps ($8) - with Thai dipping sauce, were relatively large, and had a good amount of batter on them. Overall, I liked it as the coconut encrusted shrimp were perfectly crispy, yet succulent on the inside.

The Steamed Clams ($11) - clams, chorizo with garlic, and white wine was chosen as our third appetizer. The steamed clams are served in the white wine that they are based in, and it wasn't overly salty. However, there were a lot more empty shells than I anticipated with the dish.

Next up is their pizzas, which was divided into three categories; red, white, and fusion confusion.

"The Hangover Cure" - tomato, olives, soppressata, double smoked bacon, fresh mozzarella, grana padano, chilies, topped with fried eggs was the first pizza that I tried. The egg was a nice touch to the pizza, as the combination of all of the toppings complemented one another.

The Smoked Chicken ($16) - tomato, fresh mozzarella, caramelized onions, sweet peppers, sliced jalapeno chipotle BBQ sauce, was another pizza that I'd order again. The mix between the smoked chicken, and sweetness of the peppers was an interesting combination.

I rarely order white-based pizza, as I very much prefer a tomato base pie than a cream base one. So, I didn't really like the Potato ($15) - Yukon gold potato, caramelized onions, fennel, and gorgonzola pizza.

Personally, I liked the Garlic Shrimps ($18) - fresh mozzarella, and walnut pesto pizza that I had at the #PieTunes party more than the one from the dinner. They were both chalk full of plump shrimp, but the one from the dinner was a lot more oily, so the shrimp pieces fell right off. Regardless of that issue, it was still a good pizza.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Prosciutto $16) - grilled artichoke peso, fresh mozzarella, fired roasted sweet peppers, and arugula pizza, as it was a tad overly salty with the addition of the artichoke peso. However, there was a generous portion of thinly sliced prosciutto (dry-cured ham). The reason for its thinness is due to the fact that prosciutto is often tough, and chewy so it's ideal to slice them thin.

The Peking Duck ($18) - roasted duck breast, enoki & shitaki mushrooms, fresh mozerella, hoisin drizzle with green onions, crispy duck crackling was by far - my favorite pizza out of all the ones I got to sample. There was a good ratio of topping versus the amount of toasted duck breast on each slice of pizza. The duck was flavorful, and tender, and the hoisin drizzle definitely helped to enhance the flavor of the duck. This one is must try!

Mushroom Agnolotti ($17) - with mushroom truffle butter sauce

Meatball Gnocchi ($16) - sausage, and angus beef meatballs, and marinara sauce

Lastly, The Red Tomato also has a dessert menu with a good variety of choices. Price wise, they were all $7.99 each, which is a reasonable price for desserts in that particular area. The four of us decided to get one dessert each, and shared among the table. The desserts that we selected are as followed; Bourbon Pecan Pie, Belgian Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, Espresso Creme Brulee, and Duo Cheesecake.

The two that I liked best was the mousse cake, and crème brûlée. The Belgian Double Chocolate Mousse Cake had an intense chocolate flavor, yet it wasn't overly sweet. I also ordered the Espresso Crème Brûlée, as I have a penchant for this particular French dessert. It had a nice espresso coffee flavor, but the custard was a tad runny. I would have suggested that the custard be allowed to cool completely before they are properly set. That way, the custard would have a nice consistency.