- I paid $270 to dine at a steak house inside a Toronto castle called BlueBlood Steakhouse.
- The steak house is inside Casa Loma, which used to be a massive private residence in Canada.
My husband and I shared a tomahawk rib eye the night we eloped and decided to make steak a theme for our anniversary dinners.
This year, for our first wedding anniversary, we traveled from the Washington, DC, area to Toronto for a meal unlike any other at BlueBlood Steakhouse.
BlueBlood was named one of the city's best new restaurants by Toronto Life in 2018. But because a lot can change in five years, I didn't necessarily see that title as a guarantee of quality. I went into the experience nervous that the meal would be all style and no substance. But I was wrong.
The steak house is located inside Casa Loma, which was once the largest private residence in Canada. The castle was completed in 1914 and has been seen in films like the "X-Men" franchise and the 2016 made-for-TV version of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Casa Loma is now a museum, but the steak house is much more than a museum café
The castle is breathtaking in both its beauty and scale. All 64,700 square feet rise seemingly out of nowhere in a quiet Toronto neighborhood that was just a 10-minute Uber ride from our downtown hotel.
Arriving there feels like being transported to a fairy-tale realm, except for the gawkers gathered to view the storied grounds.
We decided to start an annual tradition of wearing our wedding outfits to our anniversary dinner and felt appropriately attired for the surroundings, though we saw some other parties sporting jeans.
Once inside the great oak room, we were seated in puffy leather chairs between a pair of "royal" pop portraits by artist Mr. Brainwash — one of a young Queen Elizabeth, the other, Prince, in his "Purple Rain" finest.
After guiding us through the menu, our server, Gabriella, brought out a silver bowl filled with gougères accompanied by whipped chive butter. The crisp exteriors of the savory puffs gave way to airy, cheesy centers that really didn't require the butter.
Our meal began with the BlueBlood chopped salad
The kitchen kindly split the $22 salad into two massive bowls for us. It was difficult to believe that each of us had just half what is normally served to one person.
Over iceberg and gem lettuce in a lively white-balsamic vinaigrette, we were treated to a mix of chopped ingredients that included basic tomato and onion, as well as Canadian bacon, avocado, and hearts of palm. We both struggled to finish our half-portion of the salad.
The steaks were excellent
For nostalgia purposes, we had toyed with attacking a tomahawk together. However, we decided against the 44-ounce steak, knowing we wouldn't be heading home to enjoy the leftovers.
Instead, I ordered a $75 striploin that was aged for 35 days in-house, while my husband tried an 18-ounce ribeye for $85.
The dry aging bestowed the beef with a light, lovable funk that made it taste more dimensional than other steaks I've eaten. But I had to admit that it was undercooked.
I ate a few bites that were undercooked in the middle, but as soon as Gabriella found out, she brought the meat back to the kitchen for another few minutes on the grill. It returned a tender, juicy medium-rare, made even more splendid with the addition of a meaty morel-mushroom sauce.
Our chosen sides, chunky $18 duck-fat fries and $20 sauteed Broccolini in Mornay sauce, a sauce made with butter and cheese, were beautifully prepared as well.
Our tableside dessert added a dramatic flourish to the meal
Because my steak had arrived undercooked, Gabriella offered us dessert free of charge. We were already so full that we might not have ordered it otherwise, but we were glad we made room for the theatrically presented profiteroles.
Served under a dark-chocolate dome, the hazelnut ice-cream-filled pastry was only visible after Gabriella poured hot salted caramel over the chocolate structure. Excessive? Absolutely. But also much appreciated.
After our meal, we even got a tour of the grounds
Because we were her last table of the night, Gabriella offered to show us around the grounds. She led us out the side door, just past the antique pipe organ and portraits of the house's original owner, Sir Henry Pellatt. The outdoor area is used for weddings, which is understandable given the clear views of downtown Toronto.
The experience ended with a handwritten note congratulating us on our anniversary.
Before a generous tip, the total came out to $270 CAD. Prices have increased slightly since our visit, but the expensive dinner was absolutely worth it for a memorable first-anniversary celebration.
It's difficult to overstate the excellence of the food, but the imperial experience as a whole overshadowed even the pair of memorable steaks.