where jess ate

7 Numbers is decorated with odds and ends and has a real neighborhood restaurant feel to it. Interestingly enough, after walking into such a homey and eclectic place, this was the last place I expected to see iPad menus! This was the first time I had been to a restaurant which used iPads, and although it was definitely neat at first, it got a little annoying having to share a menu. Luckily, the menus were also written on the blackboards on the walls of the restaurant.

Anyway, upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly host and waited less than 10 minutes for a table. We tried making a reservation the night before, but they informed us they don’t take reservations for parties with less than 6 people. Turns out, we really didn’t need one!

After ordering, we were served complimentary bread rolls, which I didn’t enjoy at all. It was really tough and dry so I only had a few bites. Mike, who normally eats anything and everything, didn’t touch much of this either. Instead of butter, there are bottles of oil and balsamic vinegar which you can use to dip the bread in. Unfortunately this didn’t make the bread taste any better.

While we were waiting for a table, we noticed that the servings were on the small side, so we decided to order four dishes – two appetizers and two mains. We started off with the Leoncini Parma Prosciutto – Italian DOP Parma prosciutto, fig & shaved Grana Padano ($9). This dish was served as a salad, with the prosciutto slices covering the top of the dish. I enjoyed the prosciutto and the pairing with the fig was a classic. I just wish there was a bit more fig on the dish. Although this appetizer was decent, it was nothing special.

The next dish we ordered was the Lasagna di carne – homemade lasagna filled with ground veal & mozzarella ( $6.50/$9.75). We went with the smaller portion for $6.50 since we intended for this to be an appetizer. There wasn’t very much cheese on it and the serving came covered in a lot of sauce. The ground veal was pretty tasty but overall, this was dish was also just decent.

For my main, I ordered the Palmugiane con sugo – eggplant baked with romano cheese and topped with tomato sauce ($8). The eggplant parmesan was served in a very home-style manner, which was a great contrast to the one I had at Buca. Unfortunately, I definitely preferred the one at Buca. I didn’t really enjoy this one, as I couldn’t really taste the eggplant at all. It tasted like I was simply eating breading covered in sauce and cheese.

Mike’s main was a lot better. He had the Bitonds’ Braciola Infornata – Thin sliced veal wrapped around baby spinach, hot peppers and Romano cheese ($11). After it arrived, it didn’t look all that appetizing, but it was surprisingly delicious. The veal was very tender and flavourful. I found the baby spinach and hot peppers inside to be a bit overcooked, but overall we both really enjoyed this dish.

While we were waiting for our food, I noticed a lot of customers had ordered the meatballs. They looked really good… maybe I should have ordered that instead. The prices here are very reasonable – the most expensive dish we ordered was only $11! Overall, however, I found this experience to be a little disappointing. After reading about and hearing such positive things about it, it certainly didn’t live up to our expectations.

At a glance:

Homey, eclectic atmosphere

iPad menus

2 locations – Danforth and Eglinton (this visit was at the Danforth location)

Very reasonable prices (we ordered 4 dishes and our bill was just under $40)

The food was on the disappointing side (maybe our expectations were just too high)

No reservations for parties of less than 6