Reyna on King
Reyna on King is the Corktown outpost of Yorkville's popular Bar Reyna. This location of the Mediterranean restaurant is comprised of three parts.
There's the airy, plant-filled interior, a curbside patio, and a market called Reyna Bazaar with a gelato booth out front.
The latter sits next door to the main space and carries everything from pasta to containers of Reyna's signature housemade sauces, such as beet tzatziki and date ketchup.
There's a wide variety of locally-sourced stuff like masks by Toronto designers or jewellery from brand Besseha. You'll also find a section dedicated to plants.
Their snacks are mostly imported including the Torres chips from Spain. The fridge is full of cheeses, like manchego and cabara al vino from Spain, and porter cheese from Ireland.
If you're not planning on grabbing one of their DIY octopus or halloumi kits to go, you can take a seat inside the lush restaurant or head out to the patio.
You can read the menu by scanning a QR code with your phone camera, though they also offer disposable menus.
Reyna on King has brought over all the same hits from their Yorkville menu, including what's arguably their most recognizable dish: the lamb baklava, which are $6 a piece.
These delicate nests of braised lamb shank wrapped in kataifi noodles are doused in a burnt honey saffron aioli, and covered with pistachio bits.
A small Reyna salad ($14) is hearty enough for one person. The bowl is a mix of beets, avocado, fennel, radish, baby kale, and a serrano tahini dressing. The crunch comes from fried chickpeas.
Falafel ($9) are crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and a brilliant green thanks to parsley. Dip it in a housemade tzatziki sauce.
A basic order of Greek fries ($10) is a highly satisfying mess of shoestring fries, oregano, feta cheese, and a lemon and feta dip.
Lebanese tacos ($18) is an easy way of saying flatbread stuffed with spiced chicken, or falafel if you prefer, with garlic aioili and crispy onions.
Half a grilled octopus ($32) is tender and comes with fingerling potatoes and chorizo, with salsa verde, pickled onions, chips, and tomatoes. You can get a whole octopus for $58.
Another big platter is half a cornish hen, slow-cooked. It feels like a deconstructed chicken shawarma, served with flatbread on the side and a mix of pickled turnips, pink lentils, a kale tabouli and tzatziki.
Reyna makes its own gelato in-house, and serves it in single scoops ($3.75) or doubles ($6.75), with an extra $1 for a waffle cone.
Coconut and hazelnut dark chocolate both have dairy, but for me, the standout is the incredibly refreshing lactose-free blood orange.
There's a grownup twist on childhood summertime treats with their boozy freezies, which are $5 each. There are three flavours: strawberry rose, Aperol spritz, and kir royale.
Reyna is known for its crafted cocktails, and the dehydrated pineapple-topped Reign Before The Storm ($18) uses 12-year-old El Dorado rum, honey-chili syrup, star anise bitters, and a bottle of Fever ginger beer.
The Reyna Sangria ($15 for glass) has sherry, cointreau, tropical passionfruit and Havana rum.
Hector Vasquez