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GuideUpdated July 15, 2026

6 Best Places for Steak tartare in Toronto

Where to find the best steak tartare in Toronto — each restaurant rated 4.0★ or higher. Top-rated at 9.8★. Spanning contemporary and french kitchens. Curated by TastyPals.

The best places for steak tartare in Toronto are Dear Darling, Chantecler, Goods and Provisions, and more. Start with Dear Darling if you want the strongest overall first pick.

By Marcus Chen•6 ranked picks•Published July 13, 2026•Updated July 15, 2026
Methodology•Editorial team
Dear DarlingChanteclerGoods and Provisions
6 Best Places for Steak tartare in Toronto
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Top picks at a glance

#1Dear DarlingContemporary • Little Portugal • $$#2ChanteclerFrench • Bloorcourt • value#3Goods and ProvisionsContemporary • Queen East • $

Who this guide is for

Steak tartare is one of those dishes that reveals a kitchen's discipline in an instant — clean sourcing, careful knife work, and calibrated seasoning are all on display, and Toronto has several restaurants that clear the bar. Our editorial reviews verified the dish at four spots across the city, and the range is worth navigating. At the top sits Sorrel in Rosedale, where the tartare scores 9.2/10 and is characterised across reviews as precise and calibrated — present without being aggressive. In Little Portugal, Dear Darling earns an 8.9/10, with diners consistently singling out the steak tartare (alongside the crispy ahi tuna) as the plate to order first. On Queen East, Goods and Provisions plates a buttery, tender version with crispy sourdough crisps, a dish that tells you immediately whether a kitchen has its head right. And on Ossington, Salt Wine Bar offers a tartare that regulars tend to order as a first move, alongside the crudo. Together they map a strong tartare scene from Rosedale down through the west end.

Quick picks

Dear Darling
Contemporary • Little Portugal
Dear Darling opened in 2025 on Richmond Street West, tucked alongside The Harlowe, and it arrives with a self-description that should, by rights, inspire suspicion: a 'kitchen, bar, and third space…
Chantecler
French • Bloorcourt
Chantecler is a small Bloorcourt room that has, by most accounts, built its following the hard way — through cooking rather than concept.
Goods and Provisions
Contemporary • Queen East
Goods and Provisions is the kind of place that announces exactly what it is without apology: a bar with a real kitchen, run by two people who met in one.
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Editorial details
Author: Marcus Chen
Published: July 13, 2026
Last updated: July 15, 2026

On this page

  1. 1. Dear DarlingView →
  2. 2. ChanteclerView →
  3. 3. Goods and ProvisionsView →
  4. 4. Maple Leaf TavernView →
  5. 5. SorrelView →
  6. 6. Salt Wine Bar LtdView →

How the restaurants compare

Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Dear Darling
Google
Dear Darling
Little Portugal • Contemporary
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
$$
Best for
cocktails
Mood
Little Portugal
Chantecler
Bloorcourt • French
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
Hidden gems
Mood
Bloorcourt
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Goods and Provisions
Google
Goods and Provisions
Queen East • Contemporary
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
$
Best for
date night
Mood
Queen East
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Maple Leaf Tavern
Google
Maple Leaf Tavern
Leslieville • American
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
East end dinner
Mood
Leslieville

How we chose

We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →

Room tone

Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.

Food fit

We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.

Useful range

The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.

6 ranked picks

Dear Darling — Dear Darling opened in 2025 on Richmond Street West, tucked alongside The Harlowe, and it arrives with a self-description that should, by rights, inspire suspicion: a 'kitchen, bar, and third space.' That phrase usually signals a room where the drinks are the point and the food is an afterthought dressed up in copy. What the research suggests, however, is that this Little Portugal-adjacent spot is doing something more considered — a dim, deep-house-scored cocktail bar with jazz nights and weekend DJs that has apparently convinced its regulars to actually eat. The kitchen positions itself around shared-plate contemporary cooking designed to pace alongside multiple rounds rather than land as a conventional progression of courses. The steak tartare and the crispy ahi tuna are the plates that diners consistently single out when describing what to order first. The Double D fried chicken is reportedly what generates the most vocal loyalty — the kind of dish people claim is the best version they have encountered recently, which is either genuine enthusiasm or collective momentum, and both are worth respecting. The truffle fries, by multiple accounts, disappear quickly around the table. The Love Bomb cocktail appears on enough social recaps to suggest it earns its menu placement on spectacle if nothing else. What the menu does not seem to be is subtle or particularly restrained — this is a room and a kitchen built for a certain kind of evening rather than a certain kind of palate. Practically: the à la carte can accumulate quietly, so the happy-hour steak frites special is worth timing your arrival around if the budget matters. Weekend nights reportedly fill fast enough that a reservation is not optional. Go in expecting the cocktails to carry the room, and let the food surprise you on its own terms. View restaurant →
Chantecler — Chantecler is a small Bloorcourt room that has, by most accounts, built its following the hard way — through cooking rather than concept. The kitchen runs a market-driven menu with a French foundation and a consistent Asian undercurrent, and the short, rotating format suggests a chef more interested in what's good this week than in maintaining a fixed identity. The space seats few enough people that every table is reportedly attended to, and that physical restraint seems deliberate: this is a room designed around the experience of two people at a table, not a crowd moving through. The menu centers on three recurring pillars worth knowing before you book. The charcuterie and pâté program is consistently cited as a strength — the kitchen is known for approaching curing and terrine work with the patience the format demands, rather than treating it as a perfunctory opener. The market fish course is where the French-meets-Asian sensibility reportedly becomes most legible: treatments shift with the season and sourcing, ranging from classic beurre blanc constructions to more aromatic, ginger-forward preparations, with technique rather than a fixed style as the throughline. The seasonal small plates round out a menu that diners describe as concise and purposeful. The wine list is tight, thoughtfully French, and regarded as one of the more considered programs among the city's casual bistros. This is a date-night room in the truest sense — candlelit, unhurried, and built at a scale where a reservation for two becomes the shape of the whole evening. It is better for a couple willing to let the menu lead than for anyone arriving with a fixed agenda. Book well ahead; weekend tables are known to disappear quickly. View restaurant →
Goods and Provisions — Goods and Provisions is the kind of place that announces exactly what it is without apology: a bar with a real kitchen, run by two people who met in one. That origin story — covered in a Streets of Toronto profile from April 2025 — explains the register better than any tagline. This isn't a restaurant that tolerates cocktails, or a bar that reluctantly feeds you. The Wednesday-through-Saturday-only schedule, the rotating weekly menu, the local awards for cocktails and ambiance: everything signals a place that has decided what it wants to be and is content to be exactly that. Queen East's Leslieville stretch has plenty of neighbourhood spots that coast on location; Goods and Provisions has apparently decided to compete on execution instead. The menu changes weekly, so locking in a standing order is a fool's errand — but certain dishes have surfaced often enough to count as touchstones. The steak tartare, described as buttery and tender and plated with crispy sourdough crisps, is the kind of dish that tells you immediately whether a kitchen has its head right — it requires clean sourcing, clean hands, and clean judgment about seasoning. Oysters on the half shell show up as a recurring anchor, leaning on brine and freshness rather than any elaborate intervention. The tuna tostadas and triple-cooked fries with garlic aioli and chives round out a menu philosophy that is clearly about contrast and precision over volume. Diners have specifically called out the grilled octopus for its char-and-glaze balance — a bit of BBQ-sweet sauce over a well-cooked bite, which is exactly the note octopus needs to avoid going rubbery or bland. The room itself — rich wood paneling, soft ambient light, a playlist that reportedly reflects the owners' own taste — is designed for lingering, not turning tables. Practical intelligence: the place runs Wednesday to Saturday from 5 PM, and it is not a large room. Given the awards attention and the tight schedule, booking ahead on weekends is not optional — it's the difference between getting in and standing outside. Because the menu rotates weekly, following their socials before you go is worth the thirty seconds; showing up and asking the staff what's new that week is the move regulars have apparently adopted as standard practice. Come for cocktails early in the week if you want a seat without pressure; come on a Friday if you want to see the room at full tilt. The price level is accessible, which at this quality of execution is the detail that actually matters most. View restaurant →

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Sorrel — Sorrel has been operating in Rosedale since 2010, and fourteen years of continuous service in a neighbourhood that cycles through concepts with some regularity says something substantive about the room's positioning. The OpenTable Top 100 Canada recognition — accrued eight times across the past decade, including 2024 — points to a restaurant that has maintained standards rather than coasted on an early reputation. The clientele reportedly skews toward regulars: couples past the novelty phase, business dinners where the conversation is the point, occasions where the food is expected to carry actual weight. That particular customer shapes a room, and Sorrel's consistency appears to reflect it. The menu works within classical European technique adapted to a contemporary Toronto context. The Lobster Ravioli is the dish that surfaces repeatedly in diner accounts and press coverage — described consistently as the kitchen's clearest statement, with pasta and filling that reviewers treat as a benchmark rather than an opening course. The Duck Confit is reported to reflect the patience the preparation demands, with the rendered skin that defines whether the dish succeeds or gets filed away as routine. The Steak Tartare is characterised across reviews as precise and calibrated — present without being aggressive. The Chilean Sea Bass and Bouillabaisse round out a menu that, by reputation, treats seafood as a serious commitment rather than an obligatory section. The wine list is described as deep enough to reward exploration without tipping into the kind of excess that requires a sommelier intervention to navigate. Sorrel recently opened A Côté next door — same menu, smaller and reportedly more intimate room — which warrants consideration if your table is two and the priority is conversation over the energy of the main dining room. Reserve well ahead for Friday and Saturday; the regulars are consistent, and the room fills accordingly. Start with the Lobster Ravioli. View restaurant →
Salt Wine Bar Ltd — Salt Wine Bar on Ossington is doing something that still feels underrepresented in Toronto's wine-bar scene: pairing a genuinely serious drinks program with a kitchen that leans hard into Spanish and Mediterranean-inflected cooking — shareable, produce-forward, built for a table that wants to graze through a bottle or two rather than rush a prix fixe. On a strip that runs from dive bars to mid-tier bistros, Salt positions itself as the grown-up room without tipping into formality. The price point stays accessible — this is a neighbourhood wine bar in the best sense — which means it draws a crowd that actually lives here alongside the date-night traffic from across the city. The concept is disciplined: the menu is compact and European in orientation, and that restraint is what keeps the kitchen coherent. The menu's anchors tell you everything about the kitchen's priorities. The Hokkaido Scallop Crudo and Grilled Spanish Octopus are the dishes diners consistently flag — both reflect a kitchen comfortable working with premium seafood ingredients and not overloading them. The Jamón Ibérico Toast is the kind of bar snack that reveals whether a place respects its sourcing (genuine jamón ibérico is a specific, expensive product, and putting it on the menu is a statement). Steak Tartare sits alongside the crudo as an entry-point raw preparation that regulars tend to order as a first move. For something more substantial, the Grilled Seafood Paella is the centerpiece — paella as a format demands timing and technique, and it's the dish the menu centers on as a main event. The Crispy Duck Confit rounds out the mains for anyone not going the seafood route. For dessert, the Madagascar Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee is the known closer — the vanilla provenance is a detail worth noting. The practical move here: come in a group of three or four, order the Jamón Ibérico Toast and Steak Tartare to start while you work through your first glass, then commit to the Grilled Seafood Paella as the table dish. The Hokkaido Scallop Crudo is the order if you want something lighter running alongside. Reservations are worth making on weekends — Ossington fills up and Salt draws a consistent crowd. If the bar is open, that's where regulars tend to land for a shorter visit built around the snack-weight dishes and a natural wine pour. View restaurant →

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LeslievilleLittle PortugalOssingtonFrenchAmericanDate Nightdinnerhidden gem

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Date night spots with warm rooms and polished service
Next step
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