Cat123's Profile
ISO cheap 'n cheerful Italian with some atmosphere central TO
I find Tutti Matti is more expensive than Paganelli and although I love it there I would recommend a price check before booking it as an alternative. For less expensive options I like Foccaccia on Hayden. 7 numbers is also a good suggestion but it is very casual. My gut would be to find somewhere in LIttle Italy but I struggle with a current less expensive rec. I really like Giancarlo but it would be the same range as Paganelli.
Saturday night dinner with the girls (30's) any recommendations in King West area?
Avoid Spice Route if you care about food. I had suggested Gusto above. Great atmosphere but very busy.
Saturday night dinner with the girls (30's) any recommendations in King West area?
Buca, Lee or Gusto would be my picks.
With warm weather are fiddleheads/wild leeks early?
Fiddleheads were in the basement of SLM a couple of weeks ago.
Looking for duck confit
White House Meats at SLM, Cumbrae's or often the Healthy Butcher.
woodlot walk in
If you try to walk in and they dont' have a seat, hey will take a mobile number and and call you when they do, so you can go have drinks somewhere else while you wait.
Pork Belly St lawrence Market
I believe that's La Boucherie and yes, I am sure that they woudl generally have it.
Just ordered a dozen glory hole doughnuts
In NYC last weekend I paid $4 for a peanut butter and jelly donought from Donut Plant. Agree $51 per dozen is cheap but not that far off the benchmark. The Donut Plant version was huge and although I was a bit surprised at the price, it was very much enjoyed by my companion and I.
Bakerbots - Amazing bakery in Bloorcourt
Agree this place is amazing - although I find the chocolate cupcakes are much better than the red velvet.
Table 17...recent experiences?
I was there a month or 2 ago as part of a group of 3 and quite enjoyed Table 17 (although definitely didn't have the same server as gyrphgirl). The restaurant was full that night and there was nice energy without too much noise. I did really enjoy the food. I had the 17 Salad - which was greens with pine nuts, black currants and Piave as well as a nice dressing - not earth shattering but a good effort. I also had the main course size of the diver scallops which were perfectly roasted and served with served withbéarnaise sauce and guanciale. It was really a lovely dish but the portion was very very small, even for $24 as a main. We also shared some of the "hot balls" which we could not order without laughing but which were good all round risotto croquettes. I don't recall the exact wine we had but there were good choices and not too expensive. Table 17 isn't somewhere I would drive across the city to visit but if you are in the area it is a sound choice for me at least, if a bit expensive.
Frank's Kitchen
So it seems that there is no news on Frank's. I had hoped to add some but sadly, last night's visit did not go well.
I had reserved 2 seats at the bar since that was all that was available when I called about a week ahead. No problem - I eat out regularly and generally love sitting at the bar. However, when I arrived I was shown to the only 2 free seats at the bar which were 2 steps from the front door right in the entrance and practically on top of where the host/hostess works from. Really, I was shocked that they would seat anyone there at all. When I asked if they had anything else the hostess said that they were full and that I could have specified when I made the reservation that I didn't want to sit in the entranceway. She said that's what all the others at the bar had done and that's why they still had those 2 seats free and that next time I could specify that too. Ok, well obviously since I hadn't been there before I didn't know to specify I didn't want to sit in the vestibule of the restaurant. I would note that I also didn't specify that I didn't want to sit in the dish pit or the bathroom and somehow they figured that out on their own. Anyway, I found the suggestion that I should have known better less than helpful, particularly since she clearly knew that they were crap seats.
I was more than a bit irritated at this point, with both the seats and her attitude, but decided to sit and wait for my friend to arrive. While I waited, sitting in the vestibule, I got to listen to chat from front of the house about everything going on in the restaurant, including about who was going to be getting VIP treatment that evening. Clearly not me.
All the while, the door opened and closed behind me and although they have taken lots of measures to keep the cold out the whole thing was just really uncomfortable. The host staff would have been closer to me than my dining companion - it was way too close for comfort.
When my guest arrived, she asked when we were going to be shown to our seats, as if there was no possible way we could be actually expected to have dinner in a restaurant of this calibre from those seats. We decided (in mime, because the hostess was practically on top of us the whole time) that we just couldn't bring ourselves to pay the prices Frank's was asking (non-pasta mains in the 30s - not sure if they have gone up lately or not) and sit in those seats - we were just really uncomfortable and in a restaurant at that price point they shouldn't have even been there.
So we told the hostess we had decided to leave, as we never would have accepted the reservation had we known where they would seat us. At this point, she offered to move her reservation papers, etc. a little further away and then tried to guilt trip us into staying, saying that they had turned away lots of people for those seats and we were not honouring our reservation and were thereby causing them to lose business.
In any event, after a bit more back and forth on that we left, so I didn't get to try Frank's. I'm not one to readily walk out of a restaurant over seating (I can't remember ever doing so in the past) but I just couldn't see spending $200 on dinner in that circumstance. Sadly, I don't see a return visit in the future. It's probably mutual.
This morning, I looked online for a picture of the resto to show someone where I sat, and lo and behold, the older photos I found don't show any bar stools where there were two last night. Just a stack of paperwork. And rightly so. If you are offered bar seats in the future, I recommend clarifying exactly where at the bar they intend to put you. Photo in the review linked below (note that it seems to have been taken with a wide angle lense - the blank space at the bar is no where near as big as it looks - but you get the picture!).
http://www.carameleggpudding.com/2011/05/franks-kitchen.html
Frank's Kitchen
Has anyone visited Franks' lately who can suggest what is great on the menu right now? I'm heading there tonight for the first time and all thoughts are welcome. Thanks!
Dinner with bf and my parents
Agree with the Sidecar recc, and Le Select if you can request a quieter table on the edges and not in the middle of the resto. I find it can get kind of loud there and if people who don't know each other are seated in the tables in the middle of the room it can be very hard to talk.
Other options to consider would be Trattoria Giancarlo in Little Italy (my parents love it there), Terroni or Pizza Libretto on Danforth. Perhaps also Harbord Room.
non-Winterlicious prix fixe menus in Toronto, Winter 2012
Avli has a similar menu....they are calling it avli-licious.
http://www.avlirestaurant.com/avlilicious.html
bars/pubs/lounges/places for drinks where 40somethings aren't out of place, where conversation is possible without straining your voice, and the music isn't turned up to nightclub levels between 10:30 pm and midnight....
Actually I think that the Down Under was replaced by a Firkin pub - now known as the Flatiron and the Firkin. I don't know whether it has subsantively changed inside though - the outside patio in the summer (obviously not toally relevant now) is definitely Firkin standard.
Trevor has a small bar area/menu which is good for a quiet drink but it is not exactly hopping.
Reservoir Lounge is nearby but I haven't been in ages.
There are a number of interesting looking pubs on King just east of Jarvis but I haven't ever really tried them.
Elle M'a Dit
I have had good experiences at Elle M'a Dit both times I've been there but wasn't as put off at the setting as you were, so perhaps that had a big impact on our respective views. I personally think the location is good and in the summer there is a cute little patio out front - I quite enjoy the atmosphere on Baldwin so find that to be very nice. The upstairs room is plain, to be sure, but didn't feel so different to me than many small french bistros I've been to in smaller centres in Europe. I would agree it is far from flashy, though.
As to the food - I have found it to be very solid - along the lines of most other mid priced bistros I frequent, including Weezie's, The Gabardine, Rosebud, Sidecar, Le Petit Dejeuner, La Palette and even Le Select. I've generally had the specials - on one occasion that was a short rib and on another a wild boar stew. I have found the starters to be good (in particular the smoked trout salad) and the tartes excellent. I agree the portions are on the small side but I am one of those who find the portion size at most restaurants to be too large and certainly bigger than I should be eating. I am fine with the no-bread service for the same reason as I view it as an invitation to fill up and over-eat, and actually find that no-bread is increasingly common in restaurants. But I understand that others have different views on this.
The wine list is well chosen with many bottles (primarily alsatian) that are not commonly on TO resto lists.
While I wouldn't view it as a destination restaurant, I think it is a solid bistro option if you are in the neighbourhood and wouldn't hesitate to go back.
Restaurant opened on a Sunday afternoon- west end TO/DT Toronto?
Le Select would be my pick - a great place to eat in the afternoons, particularly since they have a special Steak Frites prix fixe menu at that time.
The porchetta sandwich at The Sausage King in the SLM
What are prices like? I know the place is now owned by Oliffe so I'm assuming it is not cheap.
Origin
Ha ha! Was just at Colborne Lane last week and the tasting menu had 3 courses involving beets - one of which was dessert. Way overkill! I love beets but that was way way too much.
Name your absolutely crazy self-indulgence "I would never eat this at any other time of year" food for Christmas/holiday time?
Vacherin Mont D'Or from Alex Farms. Cheesey gooey heaven!
new indian restaurant donlands & danforth
I have been to Aravind several times and everything has been great with the exception of the saag paneer (which for some reason seems to include chunky veggies like broccoli or something like it). It is Keralan - south indian with an emphasis on veggies and seafood. The atmosphere is more western than some indian restos and service is very nice/elegant. Good wine list. The only thing that kind of failed was the crab biriyani - everyone raved about it but think it fell flat at my table.
Wife craving good Italian - has chosen five possibles....
Hi - sorry - I meant Tutti Matti and Zucca as better options on your list. My real fav in Toronto though is Trattoria Giancarlo on College (in Little Italy), followed by Mistura (much more upscale). Enjoy!
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Tutti Matti
364 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON M5V1R7, CA
Mistura
265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J9, CA
Zucca
2150 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M4S 2A8, CA
Wife craving good Italian - has chosen five possibles....
Tutti Matti and Zucca are both excellent upscale spots. Tutti Matti is downtown, maybe a bit more romantic, and focuses on tuscan food. Zucca is uptown and a bit louder and brighter. I can't fault the food at either. Service is generally good at both althought sometimes I do find Tutti Matti slow.
I wouldn't call Marben an Italian restaurant, really. There's nothing wrong with it but I don't think it is their focus. There are better options on your list if Italian is really the focus.
I haven't been to the other 2 so can't comment and will leave that for others.
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Tutti Matti
364 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON M5V1R7, CA
Zucca
2150 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M4S 2A8, CA
Marben
488 Wellington Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 1E5, CA
Blackhoof - how long is the wait on Saturdays?
I was there 2 Saturdays ago at about 7:30 and waited ten minutes, but I don't think that was normal. There were people ahead of me on the list but they were deemed to have "just left" for cocktails.
