lsk's Profile
Fresh Tofu sources in downtown Toronto
Buk Chang Dong Soon Dubu (SE corner of Bloor/Clinton) might sell the soft tofu that is in its soondubu jjigae, but am not 100% sure since it's been a year since I've last visited. You may want to call and check.
Toronto restaurants near Yonge & Carlton
Thirding Hair of the Dog. They serve a pretty good brunch too.
If you're in the mood for izakaya food, Guu is very close by on Church about two blocks below Carlton. Be aware of the long lineups (go early or late to avoid them), no reservations policy, and 2-hour limit. If you're ok with all those things, the boisterous atmosphere and affordable and good food make for a good meal.
Santouka is coming
Super exciting. Had Santouka in Hong Kong and the toroniku is heavenly.
Are there any korean or malaysian restaurants close to Eaton Centre
There's BibimQ which would be a 20-minute walk north from Eaton's Centre.
Tokyo Kitchen
I think Tokyo Kitchen is the only place in Toronto to offer omukare, although it's a very basic version (plain rice, omelette, and curry). It's a tasty variation on curry rice that's a lot lighter than the also delicious katsukare (white rice, tonkatsu skewers, and curry).
The service is fine and the portions are smaller than Tokyo Grill which also has curry rice and katsukare. I think Tokyo Kitchen's katsukare is slightly better than Tokyo Grill's since their tonkatsu skewers stay crispier and fry up juicier than the latter's.
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Tokyo Grill
582 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4Y1Z3, CA
Tokyo Kitchen
20 Charles St E, Toronto, ON M4Y1T1, CA
want to try my first ever pork-bone soup, where should I go?
I second Owl of Minerva for gamjatang, but like aser said, the banchan isn't inspiring. I'm also a sucker for their dubu kimchi, even though it's easy to make at home.
If you opt for Owl of Minerva's gamjatang, get the original. The one with rice cakes (dduk) is blander and costs more.
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Owl of Minerva
5661 Steeles Ave E, Toronto, ON M1V5P6, CA
Well cut Sushi Toronto
Wow Sushi at Yonge/Charles is new, but does a good job with their nigiri. The shari is also decent. Not the very best in the city, but very acceptable. It's less traditional, since their chefs trained at Japango, so expect a bit of fusion (and garlic oil) with your sushi.
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Japango
122 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G1P5, CA
5 days between U Toronto and Downtown Sheraton: looking for authentic Chinese, Indian and Korean
Would you be up for a good pork bone soup/gamjatang instead of kimchi chigae (it's just as warming, if not more)? If so, head to Owl of Minerva at Bloor/Clinton. Bonus: it's open 24 hours and very affordable (cash only). Downside: it's a little out of your specified area, but accessible by TTC (Christie station).
For something within your area, try Manpuku in the Village on the Grange for affordable and filling Japanese noodle and rice dishes, like hayashi rice, curry rice, and kitsune udon. They are not at all like the usual sushi/teriyaki joints in Toronto. Bonus: also very affordable and filling. You can get out of there for less than $15 (after tax and tip).
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Manpuku
105 McCaul St, Toronto, ON M5T, CA
Owl of Minerva
5661 Steeles Ave E, Toronto, ON M1V5P6, CA
Toronto this weekend - Here's my short list, please comment & add suggestions!
Decent Korean BBQ can be found not in Toronto proper, but in the 'burbs. I would say that Sariwon in Thornhill is your one of your best bets for decent, authentic Korean BBQ (meaning they give you many banchan and lettuce). It is pricier ($30-40/person after tax/tip) than the questionable AYCE "Korean BBQ" places, but worth it if you crave authentic Korean BBQ.
Since you're staying on Charles St. near UofT, if you need a basic, cheap breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc.), check out Maggie's at Yonge/Charles. It's right beside the Green P garage. It's not remarkable, except that it does a basic breakfast decently and affordably and is likely near where you're staying.
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Sariwon
7388 Yonge St, Vaughan, ON L4J, CA
Restaurant for small cocktail party?
My information may be dated, as the event I threw at the private room at beerbistro was back in May 2010, but I'm fairly sure that the minimum spend isn't $6000. In fact, I chose beerbistro because there was no minimum spend unlike other places like Nota Bene.
This policy may have changed in the mean time, but the Event Contract on their site also makes no mention of a minimum spend.
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Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA
Restaurant in Markham/Richmond Hill for Aunt's Birthday?
Charles, thanks for the rec! I've heard about Tutto Bene before, but have never gotten the chance to visit it, so this might be the opportunity to do so.
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Tutto Bene
8133 Yonge St, Thornhill, ON L3T2C6, CA
Restaurant in Markham/Richmond Hill for Aunt's Birthday?
It's my aunt's birthday this Friday and I'd love some recommendations for "Western" restaurants which could accommodate a party of 8-9 people (all adults, no kids). My comfortably middle-aged aunt has requested a "Western" meal, i.e., general North American/French/Italian. (We've done Chinese for her birthday for the past few years)
Budget isn't an issue, but we don't want it to be too fancy. We prefer to show up in jeans. Good food is a must and some palates edge towards the conservative side. Bluestone Bistro is a contender, but I would much rather our family celebrate my aunt's birthday some place a little nicer with a higher caliber of food.
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Bluestone Bistro
4261 Hwy 7, Markham, ON L3R, CA
Fish tacos in Toronto?
Stockyards has fish tacos on its menu now -- "beer battered Lake Huron Walleye w/ avocado chipotle crema, slaw, smoked green chili". Tried it on Saturday. They were very tasty, but this was my first fish taco, so I have little basis for comparison.
Source for Marcona almonds?
Longos (at least the Markham location) has them under their in-house brand of nuts, but they're already salted and roasted.
Vegetarian tasting menu on a Sunday?
Live and Breathe in Little Italy. More casual than a white tablecloth restaurant, but the food is interesting enough to compensate. Even though they don't have a tasting menu available regularly, you could probably call ahead and ask the chef to put together something for you.
Bridal Shower Brunch/Lunch for June
I threw a bridal shower dinner for my sister at Beer Bistro last May. The private room at the back, which has its own entrance, was spacious enough for 16 people with enough space for tables to put gifts on. It has a "patio" of sorts, but it doesn't really overlook anything except the neighbouring building. I know Beer Bistro doesn't scream "bridal shower" material, but it's a nice, warm space with very decent food and service. It also doesn't require you to spend excessive amounts like Nota Bene, which required a minimum of $2000.
Globe Earth's private room might be more a "bridal shower"-like choice with good food and decent service. It overlooks their courtyard and they offer brunch as well. I would've booked them instead of Beer Bistro, but it wasn't free.
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Beer Bistro
18 King St. E, Toronto, ON M5C 1C4, CA
Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA
Khao San Road opens tomorrow
Had a good meal at KSR yesterday. Ordered squash chips, garlic chicken, green curry with chicken, three flavours pad thai with chicken, pad gra pao with beef, khao soi with beef, and the tapioca. Everything was delicious and flavourful. Portions are smaller than Sukhothai and prices are more, but there's an upgrade in location.
The service has a few wrinkles in it which will hopefully be ironed out with time and experience. They forgot our pad thai until we reminded them when they came by to ask us if we wanted dessert. It came later, but we were content to wait for it. Since our party of four was sharing everything, they were good about bringing us our own plates and bowls without us requesting them, but we needed to request utensils for doling out the food. These are minor quibbles and the staff are still fairly welcoming (especially Jeff).
Caution to those who think they can drop-in and get a table on a Saturday night without a wait. It's advisable to call ahead a few days for a table for the weekend, since the Now review came out. They were completely booked up from 7 to 9.
Brunch recommendation - for a group?
I went to Frank last Sunday and it ranged, as jlunar said, from decent to good. Our party of four spent less than $50pp after tax and before tip (no alcohol, just coffee and bottled water). The food was decent to delicious, albeit not mind-blowing or particularly amazing. The service was nice, but got a bit more tense when it got busier.
Dynasty to Reopen Saturday, December 18, 2010
Just had a dim sum lunch at Dynasty today. Food was decent-to-good overall. Ordered the mushroom/pea shoot dumplings, scallop/bok choy dumplings, seafood/chive dumplings, spicy chow mein, zhaliang (yau ja gwai wrapped in rice noodle roll), baked curried scallop, and lao sha bao (egg custard buns).
All the dumplings were good with chewy skins, although I would have liked them to be slightly thinner. The seafood/chive dumpling was juicy and bouncy in texture. The mushroom/pea shoot dumpling had a good sweetness to it from the pea shoots.
The spicy chow mein wasn't spicy at all, but it was nicely stir-fried with good wok hei and not too greasy/oily.
Zhaliang was still crisp when it came to the table, which many other restaurants fail to ensure. This disappeared quite quickly as a result.
Baked curried scallop was nicely balanced in terms of flavour. The seafood taste still came through the curry. It's a good innovation of the usual baked curried conch, since there's more surface area exposed. As a result, there's better balance between the saucy mixture of chopped scallop/vegetables and slightly crispy panko topping. However, not a re-order.
Egg custard buns were decent. They could have been warmer, so that the eggy custard could flow better. Better than the egg custard buns at Grand Chinese Cuisine, which used to be absolutely fabulous, but were absolutely terrible on my last visit the previous week as they tasted of stale oil.
Service was so-so to poor. The hostess gave our reserved table away to a walk-in, believing that she was part of our party. The mistake was rectified, but not before another gaffe of trying to offer our party of three a very large table meant for 7-8. The rest of the service was mediocre, but acceptable.
I'd go again to try our their dinner menu, but only with family, not in a party of similarly aged twentysomethings. The food is better in quality than Crown Princess (and if decor is an issue, Dynasty wins, hands down), but the service at Crown Princess is better.
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Grand Chinese Cuisine
655 Dixon Rd, Toronto, ON M9W1J3, CA
Crown Princess
1033 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3A5, CA
Krispy Kreme Downtown
Went to KK this Thursday afternoon. I could taste a faint staleness in my Glazed Raspberry Filled doughnut. The texture was fine, but the flavour was definitely off, so perhaps the doughnut was fried in a stale batch of oil.
The filled doughnuts are $1.04 after HST, which is only $0.10 more than Tim Horton's doughnuts at $0.94 (or $0.95) after tax. The Original Glazed may be a different price.
I have enough fond memories of KK's doughnuts that I'm willing to make the 25 minute walk to try an Original Glazed doughnut and give this KK another try.
Unique/Gorgeous Wedding Venues in Toronto & Area?
Seconding Graydon Hall. My sister had her wedding there this past May and it was fantastic. The setting itself is gorgeous, even minus decorations and flowers, and perfect for photos -- both interior (all the rooms have different wallpapers) and exterior (except that you can see the tennis court). The terrace can seat 150 with a bit of a squeeze and they can put up a clear-roof tent with walls which open up, sheers, and chandeliers which light up. Plus, they can do 180 in the ballroom. At night, it is really lovely with the fountain.
The food isn't GREAT, but it is good, especially for wedding food. I had a fish entree and it was perfectly cooked and moist. The sides for all the entrees were different. (Advice: do not order beef, FYI, as it can come out overcooked, especially for guests). The hors d'oevures were delicious and well-executed and the lunch buffet was roundly praised.
The service is also good. The co-ordinator was tremendously professional, calm (important on the day), accommodating, and helpful. The waitstaff were all polite and professional and one was particularly observant and assembled lunch plates for them when they were too busy to eat and ferried water and snacks up to the bridal suite without anyone needing to ask her.
Also, our guests were pretty impressed. They really liked the food, the setting, and the service and only a few found the food to be ok.
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Graydon Hall
185 Graydon Hall Dr, Toronto, ON M3A, CA
J-Town Ramen
Went yesterday to Niwa-Tei and had the tonkotsu ramen, gyoza, and curry rice. I liked the ramen, as it had a good soup (fantastic creamy aftertaste, but too salty for my liking) and decent noodles which were cooked to a toothsome texture, which I liked. The chashu for all five bowls of ramen at the table was dry and too thick, but had more flavour than any other "chashu" I've had in Toronto on ramen. Egg was fine, if you're going for hard-boiled, but for shoyu and tonkotsu ramen, I would much prefer a ni-tamago.
The gyoza was stuffed pretty full and was packed with meat which was cooked decently, but improperly fry-steamed. Not much of a crispy bottom to speak of and the wrapper for a few was torn.
Curry rice was standard, but nicely done: ok rice, mild-sweet curry with a hint of heat and a scattering of thinly sliced beef.
I would go again because the broth for the tonkotsu is quite good and they cook the noodles to my liking. The only "problem" is that I will probably never be able to finish a bowl by myself as the bowl is deceptively full of noodles.
Upscale, high food quality, top service, yet reasonably priced Cantonese/HK restaurant in GTA for my father's special 70th birthday
I realise there may be dissenting opinions as to the quality of Regal Palace's service, but as the occasion you're celebrating is special, I would highly (yet regretfully) recommend against Regal Palace (Hwy 7 location). The food can range from good to excellent (the Maggi lobster is consistently perfectly cooked), but the service has been uneven or slow to outright rude.
I should add a caveat that the last time I visited Regal Palace was in December 2009, which was for my father's 60th birthday. The service was terrible, which made what was supposed to be a happy occasion a less than stellar one. The service may have improved in the meantime, but having visited Regal Palace over the course of several months preceding December with no improvements, I do not have high hopes.
Best $10-20 burger?
Q&B Burger thirded. It is a brilliant and juicy burger, if only for the fact that the beef is hand-chopped, which makes it quite different from the other burgers in Toronto. The price is a trifle steep, but worth it.
Post Bar/Late Night Eats
Owl of Minerva at Bloor and Clinton is open 24 hours for Korean food like pork bone soup, jap chae, kimchi tofu, seafood pancake, etc. And you can keep drinking there too, as they have beer and soju combos, if so inclined.
Black Hoof Cafe
Have been twice in the last week. First time was a Thursday afternoon with a friend and ordered the Benny (him) and the pancakes (me). The Benny was a beautiful dish with moist slices of the suckling pig. Filling without being excessive. (I only had a taste of this).
I found the pancakes delicious, but would have liked a more restrained hand with the syrup that soaked into them. I liked it, especially with the candied mince of celery that surprised me at the bottom of the plate in contrast with the blueberries that practically burst in my mouth and the fatty, frilly bacon curls along with the sprinkle of ricotta (?) and chunks of rabbit. I love sweet-savoury dishes and this really hit the spot.
Second time was a Saturday afternoon. I went with two other friends: french press coffee, pig skin soup, grilled cheese, pancakes, sabodet, pig tails and grits, marrow, and a Caeser.
Pancakes weren't as impressive the second time (maybe the novelty wore off), but were still good. The soup was brilliant, particularly the mixture of textures (gelatinous, fatty, crunchy) and the strong porky background note in what appears to be an unassuming Quebec-style yellow pea soup.
The tongue grilled cheese was a bit of a misnomer for the juicy, spice-infused pastrami-style sandwich that arrived, but a completely delicious one (favourite at the table, hands down). The grits were delicious, but perhaps a little too heavy with the cheese and the fried egg. The pig tail hash/stew was a good accompaniment, but perhaps a trifle too sweet in tomato flavour to really meld with the cheesy grits.
Both times were fantastic and I'm looking forward to eating there again soon.
Caplanskys on College St - impressions?
Went last Sunday for brunch with a friend. We were seated outdoors and there was definitely a wasp issue, especially as we were winding down our meal. Friend ordered the Versht and Eggs with a bagel and I the Leo with challah toast, which was nicely executed, but perhaps a trifle under-seasoned. Challah toast could have been more toasted, but the latkes were fine.
When the food arrived, there was some confusion because the Versht came with challah instead of a bagel and the bagel came with a dish that wasn't ours. My Leo was nowhere in sight, but this was quickly remedied and as a bonus, my friend got challah toast and a bagel. Also, my friend received apple sauce for his latkes, but there was none for mine. We reminded our server and apple sauce and sour cream came in a reasonable amount of time. Coffee refills were timely and welcome.
I also went this past Wednesday for dinner around 7 PM alone. I was seated quickly inside, but the server did take a long time to take my order. Have to say I was squeezed into the back corner, though. I was aware of the service issues with the inexperienced waitstaff and there was some compensation with the server being all smiles and apologetic for the wait. I ordered a sandwich combo with full fat smoked meat and fries.
The full fat smoked meat was actually not too fatty, for the most part. I haven't had Zane's full fat smoked meat before, but Schwartz's full fat is far fattier than Caplansky's. There were a few slices that had some pretty big pieces of fat clinging to it, but the sandwich as a whole was enormously satisfying. I do have to say I found the meat a touch too smoky and I was burping up smoke for the rest of the night. The sandwiches I've had before at Caplansky's were much lighter on the smoke.
The fries were splendid, but I'm a sucker for this kind of fry. It reminded me of Schwartz's style of fries, but executed in a far better fashion. Crispy with a soft interior and cut the right size sprinkled with crunchy little bits of salt. The basket was far too enormous for one person to finish off, even though I tried my best (and it wasn't a good idea). And this may be a strange point to make, but did anyone find the ketchup to be insufficiently viscous?
Also, a problem with the inside is the plethora of flies. I'm guessing this may be more of an issue if you sit in the back, like I did.
I'm counting down the days until I can justify going again, but the entire meal was overkill. Next time, I'm bringing a friend instead of tackling the sandwich combo with fries on my own.
HO HO BBQ?
Unfortunately, the best suckling pig that all my family has agreed on in recent memory was in Hong Kong at a restaurant in Wanchai (not Joy Hing), which is probably an unfair comparison to Ho Ho BBQ. As for excellent Toronto roastie joints for suckling pig, I'm afraid I haven't eaten any really good suckling pig recently (nothing truly memorable) and the past times that have been excellent are dim in my memory.
However, we had a very decent portion of siu yuk from the roastie place in the strip mall that also contains Ambassador, Golden Court, Jim Chai Kee, and Miyabi at West Beaver Creek/Hwy 7. The skin was not only crisp, but also had a friable quality to it, so it shattered pleasantly in the mouth when I bit down. However, we purchased it early in the day (we were the first customers) and it wasn't particularly humid (hot though) that day. The meat was a bit salty though, but it may appeal to the average palate. We're hoping to try this place again soon to see if it's consistent and reliable.
HO HO BBQ?
Had some suckling pig take-out yesterday for dinner. Maybe it was the humidity or the length of time from purchase to plate, but the skin just wasn't as crisp as some suckling pigs I've eaten. The fat was creamy, but some pieces of the meat were drier rather than juicy and this off-set the balance of skin-fat-lean a bit. The sodium-adverse members of my family still found it slightly too salty, but acknowledged it was better than some heavy-handed roastie joints.
Family members remarked that the surface of the skin tended a bit too much towards regular roast pork (siu yuk) instead of the smoother, glassier crackling of suckling pig (yue jue) and this put them off a bit. Good, but not the best I've eaten in Toronto.
Best whole milk or goat's milk in Toronto?
Liberty/Liberté also has goat's milk available in various percentages. Still pasteurized, but I've seen it in 1 litre quantities in 3.25% homogenized and 2% in Longo's (specifically, the Markham location, but it may also be available in other locations).
