The Best Steak/Frites in Toronto?

J’s Steak Frites

Inside J’s Sreak Frites

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." -Hemingway.

“There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here…the French air clears up the brain and does one good.” - Van Gogh

Ah….walking the Seine, the cheese and croissants, Les Deux Magots for coffee and the long climb up to Sacre Coeur.  

Paris from my hotel window

The Grand Boulevards

How does it get any better?  What comes to mind when you think about Paris?  I can imagine for many it’s numerous things, so what about steak/frites - the most basic meal served in many traditional bistros in Paris?  

It got me wondering who makes the best steak/frites in Toronto? 

For some, those would be considered fighting words while for others it’s simply a great opportunity to clog your arteries with red wine and delicious steak and frites. 

As a bit of historical reference my baseline or comparison is the chain of restaurants in Paris called “ Le Relais de l’Entrecote.”  A legendary stopping point for both locals and tourists while visiting Paris.  I was taken there over 25 years ago by some colleagues at Wilson to the location just off the Champs Élysées.  For whatever reason, I still remember the street name - 15 Rue Marbeuf,  How could you go wrong - steak and frites.  What a simple but wonderful combination.  There was always a lineup as they don’t take any reservations and you likely will have to queue for at least a half hour.  

Roland Garros

I was fortunate to be in Paris a number of times during Roland Garros (The French Open) and if did go to the restaurant you were almost guaranteed to see someone famous..  I once had the pleasure of dining beside the famous journalist Bud Collins who kept us enraptured with tennis stories.  

The format is very uncomplicated.  The restaurant offers a traditional French bistro meal of steak-frites as its only main dish, with no other option. A traditional mixed green salad of topped with walnuts and a mustard vinaigrette is offered as a starter, and not until the end of the meal does the menu offer some choice, from a dessert list of fruit pastries, profiteroles, creme brûlée and other confections. 

The questions are straightforward - how do you want your steak? 

The server writes it down on the paper on the top of your table and then you sit back and wait for wonderful things to happen.  

All the servers are women, dressed in black uniforms with white or yellow aprons, and no male staff are visible.  

You begin with the green salad with a French vinaigrette dressing - and no, don’t ask for a different type of dressing.  Shortly after that the server will bring you the steak along with the frites.  There is typically two servings provided of both the steak and the frites.  

Some say that the key to the main dish is the butter sauce. The Paris newspaper Le Monde reported that it is made from chicken livers, fresh thyme and thyme flowers, full cream, white Dijon mustard, butter, and water, plus salt and pepper.  The London newspaper The Independant, however, reported that management dismissed the Le Monde report as inaccurate.

You can try to search for it and try to make it from home.  Yes, I’ve tried without a lot of success.

I’ve been to three different locations in Paris and all of them have been outstanding.  Probably my favourite was the location in the Montparnasse section of Paris.  I found this one by default, because in trying to book a reasonable priced hotel, I ended up staying very close to this restaurant.  I had been in Barcelona at a company sales launch and I tagged on a few extra days at the end of the trip to stay in Paris.  I’m not too embarrassed to say that I managed to get to l’Entrecote almost every night.

I suspect hard core foodies would maybe turn their noses up at the success of l’Entrecote, but for my simple tastes it was heaven on earth. Yes, I’m sure the surroundings - the cobble stone streets, old buildings, fashionable well dressed people all contributed to the enhanced experiences.  Even the basic red wine or “vin de table rouge” somehow tasted like a “Premier Cru” growth.  Well lets not get too carried away.

What I didn’t know is that there are three different interpretations of l’Entrecote. The original location began in 1959, when Paul Gineste de Saurs opened in the 17th arrondissement near Porte Maillot.  It quickly became a Paris institution, whose patrons customarily referred to it as "L'Entrecôte", or "L'Entrecôte Porte-Maillot". Eventually, the restaurant's name was formalized as Le Relais de Venise – L’Entrecôte.

The three renditions are products of the children who opened two other namesakes with slight variations of the original name.  No doubt to a English speaking tourist it’s confusing given the names  L’Entrecote, Le Palais de l’Entrecote and Le Relais de Venise – L’Entrecôte.  No need to worry though as they all use the same format and no matter what location you turn up at you will get the same, great meal.

I have even made it twice to the NYC location (which has now closed) and although it wasn’t Paris - it still provided the same great experience and I left with a smile on my face.

It’s been a number of years since I’ve been back to Paris.  I often thoughts of heading back to Paris every spring especially with the start of red clay court tennis season.  Of course, I never do go - but without dreams where would we be?  

I’ve tried steak/frites in many, many places both in Toronto and other cities and so you can imagine my excitement when I read about the opening of J’s Steak Frites.  The press clippings suggested that the owners had wanted to capture the same well known ambience of a neighbourhood Parisian bistro.

“This is simplicity at its best,” says co-owner Jad Sfeir. “Steak frites restaurants, with limited menus, are very popular in Paris. We’re not reinventing the wheel with this concept — we’re bringing it to the city we love and we’re presenting it in a fresh way.”

We’ve now been back at least five times and each time has been a great experience.  It’s located in the trendy Queen West neighbourhood, just west of Ossington and a few doors east of the the Gladstone Hotel.  It’s not too big with a very intimate feel (brick walls) and pane glass windows.  You have to make a reservation and they seem to offer three evening sittings scheduled around some key times.  It’s very popular so your chances of doing a drop by are probably limited.  

So, how does it compare to Paris.  Well, lets be honest that is probably not something that can be obtained BUT, I would say that they do a very, very good job.  Our most recent visit was for “Fathers Day” and we arrived on-time for our 7:30 sitting.  We were promptly seated and the service was excellent from the beginning to the end.  Of course we were asked if we had been there before and since we had been - there was no need for the explanation of how it all works. 

The steak is an Angus 10 ounce cut with very light seasoning.  As expected you start off with a green salad coated in a mustard vinaigrette that has a sprinkling of walnuts in it.  The steak is served with the frites on a platter and at some point the server will ask you if would like more frites.  I guess you could keep asking for more frites, but unless you want to stumble home, a second serving is usually more than adequate.  It’s critical you save room for dessert because the chef is a classically trained pastry chef and the offerings are superb.  They’ve become well known for the chocolate cake but alas, it’s not always available.  On our recent visit the cake was made with Oreo’s and it was delicious.  The prix fix menu will cost you $56 a person and the wine list is more than adequate.  I had a Bordeaux - 2017 Ch. Tour De Gilet Medoc France and even the “kid” thought it was pretty good.  

Green Salad

Steak/Frites

Is it the best steak/frites in Toronto?  It’s definitely one of them and it’s now appearing on the “best of” lists that you can find when searching. Of course, there really is one way of finding out, isn’t there?  

The Taste of Toronto website lists the following below and the places in bold, I’ve been to - Le Select, Milou, J’s Steak Frites, Union, Reign, Michaels on Simcoe, Maison Selby, Louis Louis, Le Swan, La Palette, Jules, Jacobs, Harrys, Gare De L’Est, Cote De Boeuf, Cluny and Cafe Boulud.  

Chocolate Cake

The Author

And best of all, it’s a lot less expensive than jetting off to the City of Lights. Hopefully, I will get back there once again.  Till then….I’ll always have “J’s Steak Frites.”