Restaurants With Global Flavour BACK

The Sultan’s Tent

Hosting the company’s holiday extravaganza with all the trimmings may be back in big ballroom-style (ka-ching, ka-ching!), but what to do when you're grappling with the logistics (and budget) of a small firm or department celebration? That's when we say thank you Toronto for being the boomtown you are with so many event-ready restaurants.

And, in going the restaurant route, why not choose the world's map to follow, opting for the colour and cuisine of this city's celebrated ethnic dining scene. From sumptuous Moroccan banquets to the perfect sushi, our multi-cultural mosaic origins have never tasted so good!

Here are just a few of our favourite group-friendly restaurants and bars dishing up novel twists on their cultural cuisine and traditions (sit-down capacities given):

The Sultan's Tent: Usher the group through the doors of the new Front Street location for a trip to exotic and mysterious Morocco. Lushly draped dining tents and opulent décor beckon from deep within the interior, tantalizing the senses under the light of bejewelled lanterns. When the oohing and awing over the lavish setting subsides, settle into a plush divan to enjoy an authentic Moroccan feast, belly dancers and the sultry strains of North African rhythms. (Capacity: 150)

Xacutti: The chandelier in this College Street gem signals this will be a different experience: a glowing diorama of paper notes scrawled with quotations from different cultures. Xacutti (sha-koo-tee) boldly moves Indian cuisine into a whole other realm. There's no butter chicken here, though: only inventive dishes that excite the senses with exotic flavour combinations and aesthetics. A lofty ceiling zooms high over the clean lines of the cream and nut brown room (Capacity: 40) where a tall communal table (seats 16) is a favourite reservation request. Upstairs, the Bird lounge—a Tamarind margarita is a must—accommodates event spillover or an intimate occasion (Capacity: 26)

Savoy Bistro Lounge

Savoy Bistro Lounge: Ooh-la-la, this new French bistro at Dundas and Yonge has loads of happening group potential and a mouthwatering menu tucked into its cosy-chic interior. Private booths, tables and Art Nouveau accents furnish the main restaurant floor (Capacity: 100), but the second-floor Club (Capacity: 115) and third-level Lounge, with lavish wall murals and covered terrace (Capacity: 60), give functions a little more versatility and privacy. A Moulin Rouge-style cabaret is available for command performances, as are the house rock and funk bands. Rave reviews are showering the classic bistro cuisine with steak frites to die for!

Chiado/Senhor Antonio: A stone's throw west of College Street's buzzing beehive, Chiado's white-linen table service works a lovely Portuguese duet with its more casual wine and tapas bar, Senhor Antonio. Seafood and high-end dishes are the highlight of the long, elegant dining room (Capacity: 50), but it is the same four-star kitchen preparing the mouthwatering (and reasonably priced) Iberian tasting dishes that flow through the warmly coloured taberna next door (Capacity: 50). Set the table in the downstairs wine cellar for a private dining experience (Capacity: 24). Upstairs, two private salons come together as one (Capacity: 20)

Pravda Vodka Bar: An irreverent blast of perestroika gone wild looms large in this funky Wellington Street Russian tapas bar and lounge (Capacity: 80). Splashes of comrade red (and portraits of Lenin and Stalin) pop from Siberian white walls, punctuated by a lively bar area. A recent revamp moved in comfy sofas and low tables, perfect for gathering around the platters of caviar, blinis, perogies and other Soviet-inspired nibblies. Ice is big here, so order up a guided vodka tasting (70 vodkas on tap) in frozen shooter glasses, or have drinks and caviar served from an ice bar personalized with your company name.

Myth

Myth: A Danforth stalwart, Myth, named after an ancient ship, carries a group on the perfect Greek odyssey, combining a gleaming rich interior of burnished woods and bronze-coloured walls with a hip buzz. Main level offers spacious versatility (Capacity: 110), with self-contained event space in the upper mezzanine (Capacity: 40). Greek staples with a heavy Mediterranean influence line the menu, with interesting mezes (appetizer) plates for sharing. A generous dance-lounge area comes A-V loaded for staging requirements.

Grano: There are so many good Italian restaurants in the city, but Grano, on Yonge Street, between Eglinton and Davisville, is a perennial fave: it's comfortable, colourful, and, well, simply delicious. Jewel-tone tables and chairs, ceramics, Italian art, vintage posters and the hum of opera make for trattoria authenticity matched superbly to the flavours of endless antipastis and artful pastas. Private events feel completely at home in the long room (Capacity: 45) off the main dining area (Capacity: 80). A charming, heated, partially covered courtyard extends event space (Capacity: 45)

Blowfish Restaurant & Sake Bar

Blowfish Restaurant & Sake Bar: Outside, the historical façade of this former bank building belies the modern interior of this stunning restaurant and lounge at King and Bathurst. Ornate chandeliers are an eclectic touch against the spare-edged room, where dining on contemporary Japanese and pan-Asian fusion cuisine is a prelude to happening late-evening lounging. A mesh screen affords semi-privacy, dividing the dining area and wall of long banquette tables from the bar and sushi station (Capacity: 50). Let the sommelier guide the group in a sake-food pairing, or prepare a themed sake-based libation especially for your event.