I met up with Sydney for dinner last night at Insomnia. It's narrow and dark with mood-lighting and it definitely feels like a lounge, but the servers and the customers keep it casual so it's not pretentious at all. We decided to share the panko-encrusted curried crab cakes as an appetizer, and we both thought it tasted exactly like the deep-fried taro balls that you get at Chinese dim sum. Meaning, they were pretty tasty, but weren't like crab cakes at all. I'm not even sure there was any crab in there. The resemblance didn't just end with the taste, either; the texture was soft and kind of mushy like taro, and even the colour was kind of that grey-purple tone of taro. Perhaps they should actually just use mashed taro and call them "panko-encrusted curried taro cakes" instead, 'cause it would definitely cut their cost and it would be the same product, anyway.
I ended up getting the Queen St. pizza as my main dish, which includes pesto, smoked salmon, capers, red onions, goat cheese, and parmesan. If I could say one thing about this pizza, it certainly didn't lack any flavour! Like Sydney, I'm not usually a huge fan of goat cheese because it has such a strong salty flavour, but it actually wasn't too bad on this pizza and didn't taste too goat-y. It worked well with the garlic in the pesto and the smoky flavour of the salmon, which in turn worked well with the capers and red onions. My only qualm about eating this pizza? Holy moly, worst breath, ever!
For dessert, I ordered the crème brûlée. The first thing we noticed was that it was pretty damn small for an $8 dessert, though in retrospect, I'm kind of glad it wasn't that big because I was getting pretty full by that point. It wasn't the best crème brûlée I've ever had; I certainly wouldn't go to Insomnia just for the desserts, anyway. But the custard was rich and smooth, and the burnt caramel on top was just hard enough. I'm not really an expert on eating crème brûlée, but it was tasty and I'd probably order it again given the opportunity. Overall, I would eat at Insomnia again, if I was in or near that area (Bloor and Bathurst). Insomnia is apparently known more for their drinks and live music (both of which we didn't experience), so I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat there on a regular basis, but it was definitely a great experience and thoroughly enjoyable. And Sydney makes for great company!
