Le Bar a Soup
164 Ossington Avenue
416-533-9825
Lunch for two with coffee (soup and sandwich or salad), including all taxes and tip: $25

There are four chairs and two stools inside the quaint Le Bar a Soup. That means this joint is all about the takeout. It’s all about the press too, as owner Nathalie Barin has got her fair share of attention since opening last February.

Maybe it’s partially due to location. Two stones’ throws from Dundas Street, the restaurant sits in a nondescript unit on Ossington Avenue. That’s smack in the middle of a burgeoning neck of town that, if it’s all right with everyone, I’m not going to describe as “trendy.” The Portuguese nook has been the next “in” hood for some time now, boasting galleries, new restaurants, and small bars so hip they don’t even put their name out front.

In any case, Le Bar a Soup is in a nice position to drum up some talk about town. In the end, it’s what is in the bowl that counts, so let’s see what’s going on here. NOW Magazine called the soups “deeply delicious” in a review that drooled over the place – even idly wondering if it could be the next “Soup Nazi.” CBC’s Metro Morning tossed around such adjectives as “pretty” and “tantalizing.” And Metro credits the restaurant with helping cause a “resurgence” in soup.

But on a few message boards and blogs, there are some less favourable impressions floating about. My impression is this: Le Bar a Soup must be hit-and-miss. I gave two soups a shot, and just for kicks had a white cheddar grilled cheese sandwich. It was absolutely delectable. Its name is chalked on the board next to a handful of paninis ($3.75-$5.50) and what appeared reasonably proficient salads (about $4).

But while the soups were fine, they were a bit of a letdown. Just so we’re on the same page, I love soup and wanted nothing more than to report fantastic things. Yet the Leek & Thyme soup was nothing to write home (or TasteTO) about. It tastes just like those two ingredients, except they are not powerful enough to overshadow the flavour of the water in which they float. Barin’s soups are not made with stock, in her ongoing attempt to avoid a uniform flavour among the varieties. Each one is meant to stand on the strength of its ingredients, but for Leek & Thyme that may actually be the downfall.

Butternut Squash Bisque is certainly creamy and smooth, making for a nice autumn warmer. But one must focus hard to taste the squash because of the soup’s fiery cayenne kick. In fact, I found myself wondering if the cayenne was covering for an average and possibly bland bisque.

It’s just a bit disappointing because of the gushing that’s gone on over Le Bar a Soup. But I say “hit and miss” because maybe certain times of the year provide for better soups. Barin, who grew up in Paris, offers up a rotating circle of soups depending on what is fresh and seasonal. Each day there are three: One with meat, one dairy, and one vegan. (They are between $3.75 and $5.25.) Varieties on other days and seasons have included gazpacho, chilled avocado and hot pepper, chilled cucumber, peach-and-basil, cream of zucchini, Spanish seafood, cream of green pea and mint, minced beef in tomato, French onion, curried vegetable with coconut milk, prawn bisque and Moroccan harrira.

Clearly Barin is dabbling in a lot of flavours. And she deserves credit, bicycling around Toronto and gathering fresh ingredients, churning out bowls of soup and tasty sandwiches in an attempt to make a go of what her friends told her she did well.

Yet in the end, there’s a big difference between a local hit and a destination eatery. I think that Le Bar a Soup simmers in the former.