M-I-L coming to town from Europe, she loves "trendy" places with very contemporary decor, sophisticated service, and food must be 5 star quality. She isn't a fan of Asian cuisine. Last time we went to Canoe and she was impressed with the setting/service/food but want to show her something else. Tried C5 last time, the setting/decor was perfect, but food very unimpressive. Not necessarily looking to break the bank, although pricing not a factor. Not interested in menus that focus on snout to tail typed cuisine =) would appreciate some suggestions; thanks!

I have a recipe for braised beef, but I want to cut the quantity in half. Does that mean I cook the cooking time in half? It says 325 for 2.5 hours for 3lbs

I saw that. The review was way too harsh. I agree on some fronts; it is excellent for leslieville ( I would say best meal I've had in leslieville), but I wouldn't necessarily trek from across town to go. I'm very confused on his cake commentary, it was extremely moist, and the wine very apparent. The post gave a better review. It was completely evident to me that the chef is pouring his heart & soul into the food, being creative, using very fresh ingredients, which can't be said for many places these days. This is not the place to go if. You're feeling like a big hunk of meat with potAtoes though, it's light dining, which I love (light yet I didn't leave starved unlike Yours Truly...)

Had a great meal at Glas tonight. The menu is quite limited, but everything was delicious. It's a share plate concept, loved being able to try a few different things. Started with the heirloom gazpacho topped with goat cheese and perfectly crunchy Wild asparagus. Great layers of flavor and textures. Then had What i thi k was the best calamari I've ever had; perfectly cooked, amazingly fresh, with quinoa and Wild spinach. Next was a simple rice dish similar to risotto with some nice wild mushrooms. Finally a very flavourful roasted duck with boar bacon and rhubarb sauce. Ended off with a cheese plate with perfect sides (quince, balsamic reduction, and honey), berries spritzed with grappa, and a very moist red wine chocolate cake, the red wine flavour really came through. Loved the great selection of Ontario wines. Service was impeccable. If you're in leslieville, check them out!

We thoroughly enjoyed Bistro Tournesol before a play at Tarragon, don't think they have a patio though

Finally tried this place out Sunday night. They've made a couple changes; you can now select between 3 options for each course. Overall it was a fun, unique experience and we appreciated the creativity, although some dishes were more successful than others. There is also a ten-course tasting menu I addition to the 4-course. I'm not a big eater, but I would strongly recommend the 10-course meal. We had the 4-course, but each course was maximum 2 little bites, I was starving at the end of the meal still!

Delicious stands:

- Milagros has some tender and flavorful pulled pork tacos and braised lamb tacos
- Chocosol - chocolate & black bean quesadillas
- vertical - fresh made pasta with local asparagus and sausage
- LPK - carrot cake donuts - mmm - went back for seconds!
- my hubby and son liked the lamp chops with quinoa salad at the pc stand!

- the cod sandwiches at the LUMA stand were just OK, but at $5 a pop, would skip...
- hey meatball - first time I try this place, really nothing special, would definitely skip

A few places weren't set up yet at noon, but on our way out they were and looked good, too bad we were full :

- torito - steamed buns with pork, guac, tomatillo
- local - fresh pulled mozzarella with asparagus salad

Lineups not too bad

I'm new to the almond milk world. Have tried homemade and don't have time to keep making it myself, but want to find the closest thing to it (ie creamy & tasty)!

Have tried a few so far:

- Whole Foods brand - very good but I don't get to whole foods often enough
- Silk brand - very nice
- PC Organics - OK
- Pacific Foods - yucky, threw it out

Do any almond milk connaisseurs have suggestions for me?

Thanks!

Bobette & Belle has some amazing ones made in-house. It's one of my fave things they make

Does anyone know if the owners are the same as Canard Mort/Rossignol, or if it's completely different management? At first I thought it was totally separate since Rossignol seemed to have a lease issue, yet on Canard Mort's website, they reference Toucan Taco Bar, which I doubt they would do unless they're affiliated? I'm confused. In any event, I've been waiting for something like this in our hood, hope it's good, and not poorly managed like Canard/Rossignol!

The rice was "rice with baby shrimp"' so I don't think the baby was referring the portion size. And for the record, I don't mind small portions as I don't enjoy having to unbutton my pants at the end of a meal! But it's when the highlighted ingredients are barely there and plus not very tasty that I mind!

Finally tried last week for the first time; it was ok, but nothing as good as what she makes on her TV show! The appetizer was a pork belly salad, but we each literally had a tiny piece of pork each, not bigger than the tip of my pinky! It was lacking flavor. The highlight was the main course of whitefish, mainly because it was extremely fresh. Couldn't really taste much of the "ginger miso" broth. I was wondering if my taste buds were turned off, but then tasted the black bean bok Choy, which was so overly spicy that I couldn't eat it. And I like spicy food. The baby shrimp rice was bland and had large shrimp sliced, not baby shrimp. The shiitake mushroom and kale side only gave us one mushroom each. The cheese portion was tiny and overpowered by the cabbage-maple jam, although the quantity of jam was up to me since it's on the side, but there was so much of that on the plate and I don't like to waste. Should have been less jam and more cheese! The citrus tart was quite boring and too sweet. The suggested wine pairings were nice. Considering the set menu concept and the simplicity of the food, the prices should be lower.

In summary, the food definitely left much to be desired. I did nonetheless find it a worthwhile experience the set menu and not have to decide what to order for one night! Don't think I'll return, but was nice to try once

This is my neighborhood go- to spot. Wouldn't make a trip out to leslieville for it, but since I live nearby I find it the most reliable place. I was last there in Dec, had the short ribs which were delicious

We take our kids to c5 at the rom, tables are far enough apart and there's a separate usually empty lounge area where you can take the kids if they need a change of scene while waiting for food or the bill. And at least you'll have a good meal here

I agree with Le Select and Terroni - both are large and loud enough that if a kid gets fussy, it's not too disruptive to others and you can walk around with the child if needed. I also like the Boiler House at the Distillery with kids. Although the food won't blow your mind, they have a brunch buffet Sundays so you can be in and out quickly if your kids don't like sitting too long, plus they have a live jazz band that our kids always loved. There's lots of space and the distillery is car-free, so makes it easy to walk/run around after

have you tried Ambiance on Queen east of Broadview? I love these; they're handcrafted on site in small batches. The quality is excellent. I wouldn't say there are overly "unique" flavours, but everything they do is done very well. I especially like the salted caramel, lemon mint and the almond ginger.

anytime I have guests from out of country who want "canadian" food & wine, I always take them to Canoe. Black Hoof is definitely worth a try if you want the really "out there" stuff; I can't imagine you'd be disapointed with Canoe, even if it's not up there with the fine restaurants of NY, in my humble opinion. GLobe Bistro on the Danforth isn't too far a treck from downtown and has also showcased Canadian ingredients, however I haven't been in well over a year so am not sure how it is anymore, but perhaps someone else can comment.

Went in last night. I found the decor a little blah, just grey everywhere. Could use a few pictures on the walls. But good ambience nonetheless, it was packed late on a Sunday night. Quite a small room, all the tables are very close to each other, so if squeezing into your seat and being very close to your neighbours isn't your thing, there are only a few tables not like this. The wine list was very nice and the staff knowledgeable. Tried a couple reds by the glass and enjoyed them both (first 2 on the menu). The bread and olive oil served are delicious. I think the appetizer list needs some work, found them a little odd. My husband ordered the eggplant caponata, which was served in a generous portion in a bowl and was fine, pretty similar to a ratatouille. I had a simple arugula salad which was fine. Would like to see perhaps calamari or other fish/seafood based appetizers given the meal starts with bread and main courses are only pasta. One of the tables next to us had a big bowl of beans as his appetizer?! FOr the mains my husband had the sausage pasta and I had the braised lamb pappardelle. The sausage was deliciously sweet and there were some great roasted yellow & orange peppers in the dish as well. Obviously the pasta noodles are all made from scratch on-site, no dry pasta here, so the noodles are definitely the stars. No need to smother the dish in parmesan. We slightly preferred my dish; nice tender meat, no fatty chunks floating around, could have used a little more of the other ingredients (chard, pine nuts & dried currants), but overall good and perfect portion size. The pine nuts and dried currants went very nicely with the lamb, only wish there were enough of them to have them in each bite! For dessert we shared a chamomile, maple and... (can't remember 3rd flavour) semifrio with nougat crumbled on top. The texture was perfect; the only flavour I was able to detect was the chamomile, my husband claims to have tasted the maple, and obviously I can't remember the 3rd flavour so it was not detectable at all! But we still really enjoyed it. Some other tables orderd their popular banana fritters with caramel dipping sauce, they look like perfect little timbits, but of course from the comments we were overhearing, scrumptious! At the end of the night our bill was just under $100; a little pricey for a pasta dinner, but would still recommend trying it out if you're in the hood. We had planned to try Goods & Provisions but they're closed Sunday nights. No regrets over the back-up restaurant! Also want to point out that I found the service very smooth considering they just opened a week ago, would never know it

Looks like they're closing down, just trying to sell off remaining stock. Too bad, used to love that store so much when they were well stocked/run

she has a relative that works with an affiliated company or something like that, so not eligible for the grand prize. I personally think the runner up had a better product for that episode, as well as the fish pie guy the week before.

they had goat and lamb at Sausage Partners on Queen a few days ago

agree with all the recommendations, would add Vineland Estates as well

yeah, I know what you mean, nope, they didn't have it, although maybe they could make it for you if you ask

they didn't today; had some pork sausage, goat sausage, lamb sausage, and one that might be close to a French andouillette, if I read correctly, was some sort of mix of organs

was in today, beautiful products. They had very nice looking goat meat, beautiful duck, grass fed beef. I got some fresh pork - , I thought the price was very fair for the quality (only around $8 for 1.25 lbs) berkshire-tamworth cross tenderloin. ALthough I bought ONE sweet potato which was $4, thought that was incredibly steep!

recently they've had the creme caramel & brulee at the lakeshore/leslie loblaws in the fridge section (not freezer), between yogurts & puddings. I've only tried the creme caramel and have found it to be excellent.

I don't normally buy salad dressing, but as I'm alone at home with 2 young kids a lot and can't always make my own when I'm in a rush to scarf down lunch, I bought the black label "vinaigrette provencale"; best bottled salad dressing I've ever bought in Toronto, and tastes exactly like the ones I bought in France, so I thought it was good

Sausage Partners sells family sized sticky toffee pudding

I responded to the original post, which said west end on subway line. As the location wasn't quite specific, I assumed she meant west part of the subway line. Not sure why you're saying they're not places for a girls night out, I've had girls nights out at both those places and they were perfect. Now that the location has been specified, I would obviously withdraw the recommendations based on location. wow.

Earl's is fun and near subway with good drink menu and food, although not bistro style. Nota Bene is another idea.

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Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA

I wonder if the quality is better? Maybe someone should contact PC for an answer!