7 numbers

In the interests of full disclosure I should just come right out & say that J & I have been to 7 Numbers on Danforth many many times over the years & will continue to go many more times in the future. J feels that it's the closest she has found to the incredible meals she's been fortunate to eat in Italy over the years. It is a place so firmly ensconced in our regular behaviour that on those admittedly rare occasions when we have a less than great meal here, we pin the blame squarely on ourselves for ordering the wrong thing. Those fiendish bastards have us exactly where they want us.

L started with the linguine with spicy shrimp & roasted tomato. It was either that or lasagne & he figured the shrimp might be more pleasing for you to look at. The plate, much like the restaurant, was rustic bordering on ramshackle but the shrimp was reassuringly plump & spicy in an unobtrusive way.  

J tried the heirloom tomatoes with bufala bocconcini. She's tried a number of lovely salads in the past at 7 numbers, but this one was a little too simple for her tastes, she felt a little bit of balsamic would have worked wonders.

One of the things J likes most about the pasta at 7 Numbers is that it always comes with a bit of veg and the kitchen tries different variations on tomato sauces depending on the season and the dish. This time J ordered the fusilli with red kale and ricotta salata. The pasta was superb, but the sauce was a shade less stellar than usual. 

Most visits to 7 numbers end with L grappling with the age old question, like Jacob wrestling the angel, meatballs or braciola? Recently the braciola has been winning out, L enjoying the sense of danger that comes with both the hot peppers & the hidden toothpicks that hold the whole thing together, but last Friday gluttony got the better of him & he went with the meatballs. If there is a finer, meatier, more succulent pair of balls anywhere in Toronto then L would dearly love to get his hands on them. 


Just a quick word about the food we did not order. Like the similarly themed, but vastly inferior Gio Rana's Really Really Big Nose you might want to think about ordering a side or two otherwise the meat can look a little lonely on the plate. Top of the pops is definitely the grilled oyster mushrooms with shaved romano cheese. Also we've worked our way through most of the deserts over the years & they're all marvelous, although I'd skip the coffee if I was you unless you want to sully an otherwise lovely meal with bitter disappointment.


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