Crafty Coyote located at 511 Bloor St W in Toronto

After watching A Tale of Samurai Cooking at the Hot Docs Cinema, we were looking for a place to eat on Bloor Street West and ventured into Crafty Coyote after spotting that they had a Seafood Board that looked really good on their menu.  (This is why it’s so important and smart for restaurants to display a menu on the outside of their storefronts so that people like us passing by get intrigued and enter for a bite to eat on a whim.  Foot traffic works!)  

After walking in, I was impressed with the modernness of the bar and restaurant and how welcoming and cozy it felt.  It was definitely a newer restaurant that we both hadn’t noticed before in our student days in the Annex area.

They have more 15 individual craft beers!

It was so warm and cozy to dine in

We ordered the Grilled Seafood Board and Ken tried its suggested crafty beer pairing:  La Chouffe Strong Belgian Blonde Ale.

Their brunch menu

Their dinner menu with suggested craft beer pairings

The La Chouffe Strong Belgian Blonde Ale arrived first in a cute beer glass that had an elf figure on it.  This Belgian strong ale was very smooth and slightly sweet like honey.  I really liked it and its smoothness.

La Chouffe Strong Belgian Blonde Ale (8%)

While waiting for our seafood board to arrive, I noticed their selection of many beers on tap at the bar and got curious about the namesake of the restaurant, Crafty Coyote.  My curiosity got the best of me and I ordered a pint of it.  It arrived in a plain standard beer glass and I was underwhelmed by it at first.  However, it was a very light lager that tasted like a decent beer and it went down easily.  I still liked Ken’s ale more.

Crafty Coyote (5%)
-lager

Grilled Seafood Board. $23.95
-crispy grilled salmon, jumbo prawns saganaki, baby squid, creamy mash, asparagus

Soon, our Grilled Seafood Board arrived.  It was really nice and plentiful to share!  There were crispy grilled salmon, jumbo prawns saganaki, baby squid, creamy mash, and asparagus.

Both of us were really impressed and satisfied with this Grilled Seafood Board.  Everything on it was done so well!  The best item were the baby squid which were seasoned with pepper and lemon chipotle which gave it a slight heat.  Its truly best part was how fresh and smooth it tasted; it wasn’t rough or chewy at all.  I gave it a 10 out of 10.  It was so impressive.

The creamy mashed potatoes were perfectly tasty as well.  The asparagus was fresh and juicy.  The jumbo prawns sat in a dish with saganaki sauce with what looked like feta cheese in it.  The prawns were pretty good and firm too.  The grilled salmon was prepared nicely and moist enough.  I used the saganaki sauce to eat with the salmon for more flavour.

Crafty Coyote located on Bloor Street West in the Annex

We spent our time enjoying the food and beer in a relaxed environment.  There weren’t a lot of people here at the odd hour of 3:30 p.m. ish.  They had several TV screens showing sports games too — great sports bar and bar in general.

I really enjoyed the dining experience at Crafty Coyote! 🙂  I would return again.  They also have beer flights for $9.95 in which you can pick any four beers of your choice!