[Italian] Bar Buca

Restaurant: Bar Buca
Location: 75 Portland Street, Toronto, ON M5V
Price Range: $$

[wp-review]

Having heard positive reviews of Bar Buca and its sister restaurants (Pst* a lot of celebrities visit here), I couldn’t wait to come here when a bunch of foodie friends invited me for brunch ;). The restaurant is located at the bottom of a condo building on Portland and the sign wasn’t easy to find either, so make sure to Google Map your way here. Surprisingly the restaurant opens as early as 7AM and as late as 2AM (!), thus there will always be something here for everybody at any time of the day.

Martin told us that compare to the other locations of Buca, Bar Buca has more of a casual feel to it with high ceilings and a very interesting wine display. The front of the restaurant features a coffee bar and pastry shop for the grab and go patrons. Since the restaurant has an open kitchen concept, I definitely recommend you guys to sit at the marble bar for a great view of all the actions in the kitchen.

If there’s anyone who likes sweet coffee, this caffee bombon is for you. Normally the bombon is made with condensed milk but the barista at Bar Buca used dulce de leche instead.

Kexin ordered the Uova Strapazzate and she loved every bites of it. Compare to the Uova Rossa which I ordered, I would say this was a fairly lighter dish.

The egg here is a bit more “wet” and runny than your normal omelette. Gently mix the egg with some scallop, then tops it all off with some crunchy prosciutto and pine nuts. Accompanied with 2 slices of grilled bread, this dish was one of my favorites at Bar Buca. Everything was perfectly seasoned and went well together, there was an explosion of flavors in my mouth.

Other than the egg skillets, we also ordered the stuffed focaccia porchetta -$12 (not pictured) which undoubtedly the most famous dish at Bar Buca. It’s quite a heavy dish and I would suggest sharing it as the sandwich would’ve been too filling for one person! Though it was quite oily, the sandwich had a perfect balance between savoury and sweetness. There was moist, delicious roast pork between crispy, fluffy focaccia with a tangy apple mostarda to balance the savoury meat. I am drooling just thinking about it…

The cannoli was also another reason why I felt in love with Bar Buca. It had a delicate, crispy shell with light yet creamy filling. There was also a lovely citrus hints from the candied orange and pistachio within the ricotta. It was the perfect way to end the meal!

Would I come here again? Absolutely! I have been here twice at different times and the service has always been impeccable – very attentive and professional. Though the portions were quite small, the food was incredibly fresh and the prices were appropriate for the quality and richness of the food.