Restaurants in Stratford

Each chef and baker at Sebastian’s Market has his or her own strong culinary foundation, and together they bring more than 100 years of experience to the table. The team works amicably together to assemble the market’s catering menus, which range from simple appetizers, crudité, and fruit trays to full meals complete with hot entrees, salad, desserts, and an ambidextrous waiter. Sandwich trays stack local, free-range deli meats and sliced cheddar or swiss cheese atop breads that are made from scratch in Sebastian’s bakery. In addition to catering services, two full retail stores sell prepared foods and pastries from long refrigerated cases.

Though many restaurants feature expansive wine lists, The Braywick Bistro’s is essentially infinite. That’s because its array of local and international wines is supplemented by a bring-your-own-wine policy—with a $15 corkage fee—that allows patrons to enjoy any varietal they desire. That flexibility is important, since the menu ranges from hearty, European-inspired dishes of chicken carbonara and gorgonzola-stuffed portobello mushrooms to the lighter tropical flavors of prawn-laced pad thai and mango-topped mahi-mahi. The cuisine’s global aromas suffuse the bistro’s dining room, where nature-themed photography and wheatgrass centerpieces evoke the same freshness that suffuses each dish’s ingredients and each waiter’s bonsai hairstyle.

After pleasant days spent perusing the cute boutiques and high-end shops of Richmond Row, visitors often stroll over to Wink's Eatery to wind down with juicy burgers and frosty brews. In the summer, they bask in the warm sun out on the front patio as servers bring forth pitchers and crispy wings. Others head inside—where fireplaces flicker in cold months—and perch along the wooden bar to watch sports games on the glimmering flat screens. Throughout the week, the casual space plays host to live music and karaoke nights.

As guests relax, chefs are hard at work in the kitchen, carving up steaks and grilling paninis. They fold premium toppings into a sweeping variety of specialty burgers, from a surf ‘n’ turf burger with lobster and hollandaise to the USA burger with barbecue sauce, bacon, and mushrooms that can be used interchangeably with US nickels. To whip up the signature Frito pie, they smother chips in cheese, ground beef, and guacamole. Come breakfast time, cooks turn their attention to breakfast pizzas and omelettes.

The scent of fish frying welcomes visitors to Robbie Walkers Fish ‘n Chips. Once inside the shop, guests can sentence fresh halibut, haddock, cod, or pollock to the fryer, or order one of several burgers or sandwiches on the menu. Plates are rounded out with starters such as bacon poutine or mushy peas, a classic British supplement to fish-and-chips.

As Felipe Gomes's new restaurant was being built, he happened across a boarded-up room downstairs. Though the 600-square-foot room, dusty with a half-century of disuse, contained only boxes of aged financial records, Felipe instantly saw the space's potential. The drywall and plaster were torn down to reveal yellow-brick walls and walnut beams, which became the foundation for Aroma Mediterranean Restaurant's wine cellar. Now the space is fully remodelled; beyond a doorway entangled with grapevines, a vault built into the floor displays 220 bottles of wine visible through heavy-tempered glass. Nearly 100 more bottles of wine shelved along the walls vie for tasters' attentions with flashy magic tricks and labels boasting various international origins.

Diners sift through a menu equally inspired by international flavours. Portuguese and Spanish recipes transform fresh seafood, duck, and steak into entrees steeped in inventive sauces, such as the chef's favourite—calamari stuffed with chorizo and breadcrumbs in an Andalusian-style sauce. Servers can deliver meals in a courtyard-esque dining room or a private room where video conferencing enables patrons to dine with family or etiquette instructors halfway around the world. Guests can also learn to re-create their meal at home by visiting the eatery's on-site cooking studio, whose classes demonstrate the art of the four-course meal.

With a turn-of-the-century dining room soaked in stained glass and shades of mahogany, The Parlour extends its opulence to a menu of gastropub and international cuisine. A half-pound burger sports a crispy beret of bacon and old cheddar ($16), and grilled beef tenderloin lounges on a divan of sweet-pea risotto ($30). Diners can also peruse the substantial wine list or hide behind it for impromptu games of peek-a-boo. Additionally, The Parlour's Sunday brunch adds a dash of elegance to weekend routines, warming bellies with salads ($8–$10), egg dishes ($9–$12), and sandwiches ($9–$12).