Best Restaurants for Handcrafted Cocktails in Kensington

We asked for a quiet table & were given one, which really did add to the pleasure of our evening. The service was excellent and both our meals were wonderful. In addition, we had a delicious New Zealand wine with dinner. This Clyde’s location is great: steps away from the metro & plenty of parking. The restaurant’s decor is captivating. Totally lovely evening.

A group of 4 wanted to split a lot of our lunch choices...plus the checks. No problem. Not only were they accommodating of all of that, our choices came to us already split. Not all restaurants would do that. Staff is charming and knowledgeable. Prices are good. Et Viola is one of my go-to restaurants for good reason. We had mussels, salads and French Onion soup by the way.

Our meals and experience were EXCELLENT. My wife's meal of scallops, our guest's salmon and my shrimp/pasta (Diavalo) were WONDERFUL, as were the calamari and drinks we had before they arrived. While the entrance was a crush of people trying to check in and get seated, the atmosphere was lively and comfortable. The Hamilton is always a great experience but this was a first time for my wife and our guest to have dinner there and they loved it! Our server was good and attentive and wasn't a constant shadow to us either. A good time was had by all!

Friends wanted to get together and left the venue to me. I suggested MATCHBOX as it was easy to get to and plenty of FREE parking available. I hadn't been to MATCHBOX in years and it was a venue other friends and I would meet up at pre-pandemic. We met up MON afternoon and the place was relatively quiet. I had been to the restaurant after work/happy hour and it would be packed to the gills! It was a pleasant venue for a light lunch and my friends had never been to the restaurant. A surprise for my friends who were experiencing MATCHBOX for the first time was being given a complimentary cheesy bread -- sort of like a thin white pizza with just enough garlic and side of red sauce for dipping. Our waiter was quick to take our order and food did not take long to be served. Honestly, I was very tired after having worked a morning shift (up at 3am to report to work at 5am) so having their Cream of Crab Soup and Simple Salad was enough for me since I planned to go home and "crash" for the rest of the day. My friends enjoyed their meals but what was nice was afterwards, we hung out in the restaurant continuing with our conversation catching up with each other. The staff never tried to "hurry us out" and the whole atmosphere of a quiet restaurant was conducive to our being able to converse without having to rush out of the restaurant. My friends were amazed at how big the place was (their first time being at the restaurant) and were glad of the choice of venue for meeting up. Also, when it came time to pony up on the bill, my friends said it was their treat as a belated birthday gift. Gotta love friends! Thank you MATCHBOX for providing a welcoming venue for 3 friends with an unhurried atmosphere to be able to hangout".

We enjoyed our birthday celebration at Pinstripes, but I have one suggestion. The "truffle fries" were very disappointing - not tasty or hot. They were thinner than shoestring size and not at all appetizing. I recommend you rethink that offering. Everything else was very enjoyable.