By their vein, I think I meant Russian, which is hard to find in the core. (full stop).

I've eaten at starfish and zeegrill (Loved the oyster selection at Starfish, but not their cooked food. Zeegrill was good, but I remember it as casual, perhaps memory mistakes). I'ven't heard of Diana's before and one day I'll get to Scaramouche.

We ended up at Le Selecte. MIL liked her soup, sent back her fish and was grumpy about ducklegs that replaced it. She can be hard to please.

I've never been, but I'll check out the menu for sure. I know exactly where that is... one of the O and B chain restos, right?

This is quite possible. But I don't know quite where to go out for seafood in their vein, other than a russian resto, which is not quite what we're doing here.

I've never been there, but it looks like what I'm looking for. Thanks. Biff's had also occurred to me, so these are great suggestions.

My partner's parents have agreed to meet downtown for dinner next Thursday, which is... unusual for them. They've suggested Red Lobster, but this seems an eminently bad idea given their prejudices against carbs and deep fried things (or perhaps that's just what I get at Red Lobster?).

So, hoping for recommendations that are not chain restaurants in the downtown core-ish or at least transit friendly, french and semi-formal appreciated, but not deadly expensive. My preferences are usually italian and fairly casual (Paese, Enoteca Sociale), but these would not be good choices for them.

What have you got for me?

It's my husband's birthday on Thursday and I'd love to take him out for a nice Russian meal. Red Square would be ideal but we live near Bloor and Bathurst, so it's a long trip by transit. We've also been to Pravda, but I wondered what other options might be recommended.

Thanks! I'll check them out and post back.

I had a great meal at an Ethiopian restaurant in Cleveland that included a somewhat unconventional dish of Shrimp Tibs and wondered whether any restaurants in Toronto might have it on their menu. None of the ones I've been to anyways…anyone else?

Allen's on Danforth gets my vote for best burger in the city. It's fresh, organic and ground on premises from a single cow weekly, so it's also about the only place I've been able to order a rare burger. Amazing!