Liliana

What is Liliana? Occupying the storied 30-seat room at 1198 Queen Street West—once home to Dandylion—Liliana is the ambitious solo venture from chef Marvin Palomo (ex-Vela, DaiLo). The heritage space keeps things warm and moody, pairing exposed brick and floor-to-ceiling street-facing windows with soft hanging lanterns and a compact bar counter facing an open kitchen. It operates as an intimate neighbourhood room focused on Italian fundamentals reshaped through Filipino, Japanese, and Hong Kong culinary techniques.

Liliana Menu & What to Order Palomo's 100% halal-certified meat menu skips predictable red-sauce tropes in favor of sharp, cross-cultural precision. Start with the tender beef carpaccio layered over chili aïoli and dusted with furikake, or the pristine bluefin tuna crudo dressed in a savory dashi vinaigrette. The mandatory order is the handmade mushroom pappardelle, simmered in a deep, layered master stock aged for weeks, followed by a playful tiramisu layered with banana, coconut, and coffee gelée. To drink, order house creations like the floral Violet cocktail (pisco, violette, and white tea) or explore their tight list of low-intervention Italian wines.

Know Before You Go With only 30 seats in play, reservations are fiercely competitive and should be booked well in advance online, though solo diners can sometimes catch a walk-in stool at the bar at 5:00 p.m. or after 9:00 p.m.. The 501 Queen streetcar stops right outside near Dufferin, while street parking on Queen West is notoriously tight on peak evenings. Service runs Wednesday through Sunday for dinner only, with the restaurant remaining closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.