Vos Restaurante Argentino – 847 College St, Toronto, ON M6H 1A1
Country: Argentina  
Seating: Only indoor seating. 
Must-try dish: Steak platter
Dinner guests: Jolly Jen, Suited Sebastien & Young Matt
The high: The cuts of beef came directly from Argentina and tasted incredible. 
The low: The drink service was very slow, which was literally a buzz kill. So if you want some sips ready for when the meat arrives have them bring it in advance.

You never go wrong with Argentinian food – meat, meat, and more meat accompanied with red wine. Know what I mean? Argentina does have a strong connection to Italy, so it’s common to see Italian dishes given a South American flair on menus. Vos Restaurante Argentino had just that. 

Exposed bricks dress the walls, and the thin space is easily made intimate with dimmed light, flickering candles, and Spanish music. It’s not so much romantic as it is cool. There were couples on date nights, a group of guys manning a generous beef platter, solo dinners at the bar, and of course, us. If you like meat, wine, and a cosmopolitan vibe, Vos is for you. 

As usual, all the dishes were shared between five people, and not surprisingly, it was heavy on the red meat. There were a few experimental additions to the roster, but most of the fare was what you would expect from an Argentinian menu. 

The executive decision was made to have three separate courses with a few items in each. The first set of dishes offered more variety than the rest with the Calamar Asado, which is a grilled squid that had chunks of potato in it. With both the calamari and the vegetables being white in colour, they blended together and tasted best eaten at the same time. For any skeptics in the realm of grilled calamari, don’t be afraid of this one as it’s full of flavour and tender. 

The next two dishes were a take on a charcuterie appetizer. Starting with the Matrimonio, it’s two barbecued sausages: chorizo and blood sausage. Both were devoured in record speed, but the chorizo was the favourite. Next is the bubbling Provoleta, which comes in a cast iron pan that’s cooked on the grill in order to meet the masses of provolone cheese. You could say it’s an Argentinian-style fondue because it comes served with bread to dip and it’s topped with diced tomatoes and herbs. 

The Empanada course was next to grace our palates. There were five on offer – we ordered all of them and cut them into individual pieces. Similar to pizza, it’s all about personal preference when deciding which is the favourite. Two notable pockets were the Empanada Asado, which is the most traditional as it’s filled with beef short ribs, chorizo, spinach, and mozzarella. The second was the Empanada de Mozzarella and Pancetta that actually comes with a secret ingredient to jack it up: dates. The intense marriage between the salty pancetta and the sweetness from the dates is a taste for the ages. 

Our server led us off-piste to a meat platter that isn’t advertised on the menu but is offered on a per person cost. In our case, it was the ideal suggestion. Typically the meats that go on the immense wooden platter are chosen by the chef and include a mix of beef, pork and chicken, however, we asked for only beef cooked rare. We enjoyed three different cuts of steak and sweetbreads that made up a mountain of beef before we dug in. If you’ve never heard of or tried Sweetbreads, we’ll offer you a word of advice, don’t research it and simply try it before making any sort of judgment. It goes without saying, the whole group was heavy-handed when pouring Chimichurri on each dish. They also had a second sauce, red in colour that was equally delicious with very different taste profiles.

The food at Vos is fantastic, and makes the restaurant a destination worth visiting in the city. Keeping the courses separate is the way to do it as the grill cooks everything quickly and the food doesn’t take long to arrive at the table. We do have a couple of things to note – the first is that the meat continues to cook once it’s off the grill so it’s best practice to order it a little more rare to ensure perfection when you bite in. 

The second is that the Rapini accompanying the platter was overcooked and lost all of its crunch. The pancetta with it elevated the depleted vegetable slightly but it was disappointing as the group was looking forward to greens in the meal. 

But once our glasses of wine were filled with Argentina’s finest Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, we forgot about anything other than the meat, the drinks, and the excellent company. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)