Another +1 LTH hater. I find the food also overcooked, extremely greasy as in swimming in it, and overly salty. The setting is like sitting in a run down alleyway. Sure it's cheap but so is Mcdonald's.

I like Indian Rice Factory, Copper Chimney and Banjara on Eglinton.

Aravind on Danforth was a new favourite of mine. The food was sophisticated yet authentic. Sadly it has closed.

You may be referring to "North". I have been several times and the food is always good, portions are generous and prices fair. Service can be slow and they get super busy on weekends. But never had raw chicken or rude servers unlike at Darbar.

Give North a try.

http://northrestaurant.com/index.php?...

You may be referring to "North". I have been several times and the food is always good, portions are generous and prices fair. Much better then place in this thread. Service can be slow though and busy on weekends. But never had raw chicken or rude servers. Give it a try.

http://northrestaurant.com/index.php?...

I know, I know what can you expect from a chain pub? I should have known not to go here because of my experience at the Fox and Fiddle on the Danforth. Tried the one on Danforth twice and brunch was horrid and amongst the worst coffee I have ever had.

I was going to a small theatre production in the area and decided to try the Fox on Finch. There is really nothing in this area and it is a little scary at night. And I read the reviews here which I am now convinced must be from the owners or something.

Let me start my review. We arrived in the late afternoon, place was quiet and as we entered a few sketchy looking dudes were leaving. phew. We entered and I was pleased the place was much cleaner then I expected and the hostess was pleasant. We had also chosen this place to play pool but were told we could not play pool because a private party was booked. We later found out the party was not until 3 hours later. sigh

The server (one with weird brows) gave us the wrong menus, did not know the prices of pitchers of beer and was wearing some track pants. okay????
A few minutes later a large party came in and we overheard the server complaining to them about not making reservations. Okay the place was practically dead and they were getting freaking pub food, nothing complicated. We ordered nachos and a dip,, an hour later we got our food. The nachos were cold and had very few toppings.

We informed the owner and he said, oh I will talk to her.

The place needs bar rescue.

To sum up, food not good and it took ages to get food that takes minimal effort to prepare, server was uncouth and weird, owner was oblivious and ambivalent, and some of the crowd was on the sketchy side.

Do yourself a favour and if you live in the area travel downtown.

Wow I cannot believe people like this place! I found out recently a persian friend of mine and her family tried the place out not knowing of my bad experience. She went with a party of 6 on a Friday night. She reported back the service was unprofessional and they had to send back food for being cold and that not all of the meals were served at the same time.
Try another persian restaurant and steer clear of this disaster. It is pretty inside but unpolished service and they need a new chef.

I too was excited to try this restaurant. I am often in the area. I have had Persian food with Persian friends at two other restaurants. My first visit was pleasant. It was 5:00 pm on a weeknight. My friend had the white skewered chicken with saffron rice and barberries. She also had the yogurt soda. I had the chicken stew. We both had shirazi salad. We were happy with the food and for the most part the service. One complaint was the waitress had a cloth bracelet on with a long tie. She kept reaching across our plates to pick up the empty bread plate etc. At one point her frayed bracelet touched my rice. Although grossed out I said nothing and did not eat that part. I chalked it up to new servers. We tipped well and made reservations for our holiday dinner on Friday December 22. We actually cancelled our annual dinner at Auberge du pommier we liked Darbar so much.

The good news ends here. We arrive on the stated time. Warmly greeted we sit in good moods although our reserved table had been given to someone else. It happens. The server was asking to take drink orders before we had our coats off. They still have no drink menu. Okay I guess staff are still inexperienced one month from our initial visit. We order shirazi salads. Now I love red onion but the salads were 75% onion. Still palatable. We both ordered the white breast chicken with barberry rice, the dish my friend had last time. At our last visit my friend loved it, I had a taste and loved it too.
Our mains arrive too quickly. The server, another one, all told we had 4 people serving us that night but none well, tried to snatch my friend's unfinished salad. Okay we begin our mains. The rice is lukewarm with globs of unmelted butter in it. The chicken is raw in the middle, raw!!!! I tell the manager?? Owner?? Sunni, she apologizes nicely. I know mistakes happen. But wait. She takes my friend's chicken back asap. Not mine. Finally I get her attention and she takes mine. My friend asks if Sunni can take our rice and heat it because it is cold. She agrees.
We are given a complimentary appetizer of olives and nuts, a paste. Nice.
But I throw in the towel when the rice comes back stone cold, my friend is given a new chicken dish but I get her and my leftovers mixed up on the same plate, very overcooked.
When addressed I am told I ate half the chicken before sending it back. I calmly explain I am quite willing to pay full price. I explain it was more towards the middle that the chicken skewer was raw, I had eaten more then my friend and asked my friend to check her chicken, and indeed hers was raw too. I was not going to quibble over how much damn chicken I had eaten. You serve raw chicken, cold soggy rice, I suggest if sent back you remake the whole dish. I was civil and pleasant throughout.
We decide to try desert. It was our holiday dinner. I asked the server is the cheesecake made in house, she said yes. Well it was okay but obviously bought frozen as it was frozen in the middle. Lol a farce. We got Persian tea and it was barely warm.
In parting I told Sunni we were so looking forward to the dinner and so disappointed. She gave a card for 15% off next time. Big deal. I can understand a mistake. But it is all In how it is rectified, this was dealt with badly and was mistake after mistake.
I will not go back. My work and friend's work were going to book office dinners but we advised to go elsewhere.
Dismal.

My sister took me here for dinner last week. She had recieved a hundred dollar gift card. The meal with tip cost 300 and of course it could easily have been 400. The setting was elegant and we had impeccable service. We sat near the fireplace and were comfortable. We both skipped appetizers simply because none of them appealed to us. We do not eat meat but do eat seafood. There were oysters but they were cooked and I prefer raw oysters. We both had the lobster and it was wonderful. The presentation was lovely. The breads the bread person brings to the table were very fresh and yummy. I had two cocktails and my sister had one. We both had a glass of red wine with the meal. We then had desert, mine was fabulous, a chocolate desert with banana ice cream, hers was okay, a lemon cake with olive oil ice cream. The only disappoinntment really was that we ordered coffee and it was stone cold. I sent it back and the next cups of coffee were fresh and hot but weak. Overall I would eat there again if someone took me on a date. lol It is too expensive for me. Other bonuses were that prior to our first course we were given amuse bouche's of celery soup and a tiny halibut spring roll. We also had two cookies presented to us at the end of the meal. We were sooo full.

I love lobster. I want to to go out for whole steamed lobster soon. However I hate the roe and the tomalley Is it appropriate/doable to ask that the chef remove the roe and tomalley? I could not eat the lobster I had when the tomalley was spread about the lobster meat. It is just one of those things.

I agree with your review of Mezes and have always had good food while there. I detest 7 Numbers and do not understand why people like this place?

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Mezes
456 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K1P4, CA

I agree that C'est Bon was horrid. I ordered it twice to give it a fair chance and still horid. I have yet to find a decent Chinese Food restaurant in this city. I have lived here for 20 years. And I am not expecting much either, just typical Canadian Chinese food but prepared well. I have tried the aforementioned C'est Bon, Sea-hi, Mandarin and so many more. If I do take my Mother out for chinese nosh it is to China House on Eglinton. At least the service is good and some dishes are not bad.
I don't mind Swatow when I go with a friend but the atmosphere is so fast food.

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C'est Bon
2685 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4N2H8, CA

Swatow
309 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5T2E6, CA

Masa near Bloor and Yonge is much better then Katsu. The thing I hate at Katsu is the service. I have been 3 times with friends and sent dishes back because the server had his thumb on the food. I see the servers often have their sleeves and thumbs on the food as they carry the plates to the table.

At one visit we asked for more tea 4 times and finally gave up. The plates have been slammed on the table and orders forgotten.

Each visit leaves me perplexed as to why people return. The food is mediocre and the service is horrid. I will add that at each visit it was not overly busy and there were many staff on hand.

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Masa
15 Charles E, Toronto, ON M4Y2A1, CA

Since moving to Lawrence and Bathurst 2 years ago I have been searching for solid pub to call my home pub. Have been to the Duke and Yonge and Eg and The Rose at Yonge and Eg. The Duke has better beer than the Rose for sure. Now at the The Rose if you want much other than Keith's on tap you are out of luck. The food at The Duke is slightly better then at the Rose but that is not saying much. With friends we have had several dishes at the Duke.
Fish and chips-Fish was burnt and fries must be frozen
Fries-were cold and from frozen
Burgers-dry and overcooked
Veggie burger-dry and the toppings were disgusting (manufactured guac?)
Calamari-rubbery and overcooked

That being said I prefer The Rose and Crown. They have bands on the weekend, they may not always be good but they are entertaining. The service is better also even when it is crazy busy. It does get very busy on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night though.

Have been to Scruphy Murphy's as well which is on Eglinton East of Yonge just past Philthy's. I hate Philthy's by the way. :)

I am still looking for a bar to call home. Any ideas? I am looking for something a little earthy (why I prefer Rose over the Duke as well) with a mix of old school (read old drunk) regulars and not too youngish crowd. Busy but not so busy you can never get a table. I don't expect fab food as I can get the elsewhere but decent nosh would be nice. By that I mean fresh fries and some food that is not fried.

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Rose and Crown
36 Ontario Rd, Mitchell, ON N0K1N0, CA

Went to China House for the first time and enjoyed it. I took my Mom who loves Canadian Chinese food. She got a kick out of the decor and the lazy susan on the round table. I was pleasantly surprised by the Kung Pao shrimp, the sauce was amazing and the shrimp were juicy and large. But they were breaded? The meat eaters enjoyed the Moo Shu pork, Beef Lo Mein and Vancouver dry ribs. Service was pleasant and the waiter wore an old school red jacket.
For the record I have also been to Sea Hi on Bathurst and did not enjoy it, other then the deep fried jumbo shrimp. The food was greasy and inconsistant. I had taken my Mom there 3 times and the food was passable only once. Inconsistancy in food drives me nuts and I would not return.
I have not tried Tasty Chinese yet but may.
Also to set the context when I say I enjoyed China House I would go back and everyone in our party of 7 would also return. I most likely will not go back until I go with Mom or a large party to accomodate. But I detest Mandarin as I find they only have three flavours, grease, salt and sugar. Blech.

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Tasty Chinese Restaurant
997 Eglinton Ave W, Toronto, ON M6C2C7, CA

Went to the Tulip to take my boyfriend for a steak dinner because I had read such good things. He LOVED it, huge steak cooked as he likes it, very rare. This is difficult to find at times. The sides were horrid. I made a huge mistake and ordered lobster and yes it was dry and overcooked. The sides were awful. The service was not great and the setting is on the side of seedy. So, if we were in the area I would go to make my boyfriend happy with a faily inexpensive yet yummy steak. I don't eat meat so I would just have water.

I also enjoyed the Auld Spot and their oysters were yummy.

Allen's turned me off because they seem so snobby. They gave my party a hard time about choosing our own table, I am paying I want to choose where to sit. The wait staff/host acted as though it was some high class joint and not just some pub on the Dan. Food was nothing special but nice choice of beers on tap. Will not go back though.

I also enjoy Rails and Ales, but to play pool. There beer on tap is tasty too. I don't eat meat but my boyfriend did enjoy the burger.

Right you are it is closer to Pape. I should research when the next singles event is there, I think it is a POF event. (Plenty of Fish)

I have only been here to try their crepes and they were amazing! They also had good coffee. I dont' eat meat although I eat fish and I cannot recall if they had much of a fish selection. The restaurant is simple even a little run down but again the crepes were wonderful and the service was friendly. Has anyone gone here for drinks at night? I recently moved to this area and it is as dry as a bone. I may have to hang out at the bowling alley to have a beer. :)

I have been to a few dive bars or at least cheap bars, some have already been mentioned but will give my take.

Noah's Ark (posted a reply in this thread already)
Wise Guy's - I don' think is all that divey. A little boring maybe. Some older folk and unemployed folk hang there and talk on the patio or watch the game. Food is nothing special but some people eat dinner there. They have karoake on weekends. Not my kind of bar anyway. And the beer is not even that cheap. Can get much cheaper in the city.
Bistro 222 on College - Full of old punks but cheap beer and cheap shots. A fun place.
Toby's - Across from Bistro 222 is not a dive but has cheap bear as well but crappy food. Students hang here sometimes.
Crown and Tiger- Just a few doors east of Bistro 222. They have cheap beer that is better then Toby's. Something like 5 coronitas for $10. Food is crap. Standard bar food.
Imperial Pub-Favourite of these for me near Yonge and Dundas. Sometimes I hide here and have a few pints between classes. Friendly staff and beer tastes fresh.
Eton Tavern on Danforth near Coxwell - This is a dive bar but can be fun when it is busy on the weekend. They have pool tables and okay draught, but again crap food. But on the Danforth you can surely find a better place to eat before hitting the dive bars. They also have some singles event on some Friday evenings once a month. The crowd can be mixed from young to very old. Friendly place. I dont' mind it.
Paradise on Parliament street, West side south of Wellesley. This can be fun when it is busy.

I have been to Noah's and it is indeed a dive bar. However there are some good folk there but the crowd tends to be over 60 for the most party, but they are the good folk. They have country/east coast music every weekend. One of the waiters (serve drinks only no food, thankfully :) is better then any waiter in upscale bar. Went with friends on a dare and then went again and he remembered our drinks. Can be fun with friends or to chat up some older friendly folk.