/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Food & Drink

What’s on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel

By Renée Suen| Photography by Renée Suen
Copy link
What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel

Name: Mother Tongue Contact: 348 Adelaide St. W., 647-243-5858, mothertongue.ca, @mothertongue.to
Neighbourhood: King West Previously: Parcae Owner: Renee Turner (Turner Stevens Entertainment Group) Chef: Francis Bermejo (Bar Buca)

The food

Modern Asian dishes with Spanish, Filipino and North American twists, like a longanisa sausage sandwich topped with manchego, and dumplings stuffed with confit duck and foie gras. A separate snack menu is available in the downstairs lounge, and a weekend brunch featuring a pork belly eggs Benny will start this fall.

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Homemade pan de sal ($1.50 each), a chicken liver spread emulsified with foie gras ($7) and imported Iberico coppa ($12).

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
This off-menu rice dish is topped with a chunky house XO sauce. $5.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Warm Bitter Greens features rapini and mustard greens that have been flash fried in house XO sauce. $14.

 

Advertisement
What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Mussels are cooked in a coconut broth with lemongrass, cilantro and chili. $24

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
This P.E.I. flatiron steak and seared foie gras fried rice was influenced by a dish Bermejo ate from an airport vendor in Japan. $26.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
The leche flan is an evaporated milk custard baked in a caramel sauce. $8.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
General manager Rob Granicolo (left) and chef Francis Bermejo.

 

The drinks

Besides wine and beer, there’s a gin-and-tonic menu, and two different signature cocktail lists (one for each bar). Upstairs, Griffin Harbury (Ufficio) makes drinks to complement Bermejo’s food. Downstairs, general manager Robert Granicolo (Il Covo, Bar Buca) gets a bit more playful with cocktails that pay homage to Toronto nightclubs of yore (Tasmanian Ballroom, The Joker, The Big Bop).

Advertisement
What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
The Kali (from the upstairs bar) is made with coconut oil-washed rum, a pineapple-calamansi shrub, charcoal, dry curacao and an achiote tincture. $14.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
The Big Bop (from the downstairs bar) is made with Bulleit rye, Cynar, Guerra Rojo vermouth and Peychaud’s Bitters. $15.

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for Table Talk, our free newsletter with essential food and drink stories.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The space

Each of the bar’s two floors has a different look. The colourful and brighter 46-seat main floor dining room features a semi-elevated extension and banquette seating. The lower level 44-seat cocktail bar is dim and moody, with padded ceilings inspired by jeepneys (converted jeeps that are a popular means of public transportation in the Philippines).

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Here’s the upstairs dining room and bar.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
And again.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
One more time.

 

Advertisement
What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Let’s go downstairs now.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
This is the downstairs lounge.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Just in case you can’t read this, it says “Get A Room”.

 

What's on the menu at Mother Tongue, a new restaurant and cocktail bar inside the Templar Hotel
Advertisement
Advertisement

More New Restaurants

What's on the menu at La Boulangerie Dundas, a French bakery and bistro from chef J.P. Challet
Food & Drink

What’s on the menu at La Boulangerie Dundas, a French bakery and bistro from chef J.P. Challet

Inside the Latest Issue

The May issue of Toronto Life features the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries moving north to avoid the carnage of Trump. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.