Name: Reyna on King
Contact: 354 King St. E., 416-546-3155, reynaonking.com, @reynatoronto Neighbourhood: Corktown
Owner: Nicki Laborie
Chef: Ariel Coplan (Thoroughbred)
Accessibility: Two steps at entrance; washroom in basement
The food
Mediterranean flavours packed into three formats: grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and house-baked goods for those in a rush; a sit-down lunch menu of larger plates, including a gruyere-and-short-rib grilled cheese, a falafel burger and a roast chicken bowl; and a nighttime menu of small plates with fun twists (things like a lamb merguez Pogo stick, falafel sliders and halloumi sticks) that cost anywhere between $3 and $12.
This play on a Mexican tostada is fried laffa bread topped with charred eggplant, pickled onions, feta and pomegranate. $5.
Manchego and cauliflower croquettes, drizzled with a Spanish aïoli. $9. (Laborie loved Coplan’s Kung Pao Cauliflower at Thoroughbred so much, she had him make a similar dish for Reyna on King.)
The falafel slider is topped with tzatziki, cucumber and pickled onions on a mini brioche bun. $5. (A larger version is available on the lunch menu for $17.)
Sea bream crudo in a leche de tigre is finished with fennel, cucumber, jalapeño and edible petals. $12.
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This is the mini house-made pide, with spicy pork ’nduja, stracciatella, roasted garlic, radicchio, pear and agro dulce. $10.
Some sandwiches from the bar’s grab-and-go menu.
And some of the grab-and-go salads.
All of the cookies, pastries and loaves are made in the basement’s commissary kitchen.
The drinks
There’s a short beer list (Krombacher on tap and a few other bottled brews, including a couple from Blood Brothers and Burdock) and a sizeable globe-trotting wine card, but the main focus here is on cocktails, both classic and signature, as well as a few zero-proof creations.
The Arrosa is a zero-proof mocktail, made with Seedlip Spice 94, grapefruit juice, rosemary syrup and Franklin & Sons tonic water. It’s garnished with a grapefruit slice and a sprig of fresh rosemary. $8.
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The Queen’s Absolution is a mix of Absolut Elyx vodka, creme de violette, Strega, Lillet Blanc and lemon, topped with egg white and finished with edible flowers. $18.
This interesting take on a caesar is a mix of tequila, house-made green juice (celery, green apple, cucumber) clam nectar, balsamic syrup, Tabasco and lemon. It’s rimmed with za’atar and salt, and finished with a sweet cherry pepper and some kalamata olives. $14. (This drink was originally intended to be a mocktail—and you can still get it as such for $8—but Laborie decided they needed a boozy version, too.)
The space
With some help from her contractor, Laborie designed the room herself, decking out the previously dark room in copper, rose gold and lush greens. Two giant windows open out to the street, giving the illusion of a patio, and hanging overhead is a realistic-looking jungle of artificial plant life.
This section is basically a patio, thanks to these ginormous windows.
It’s always summer in here.
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