pinkskittles's Profile
Foothills butter in Vancouver?
thanks everyone!! i'm looking for a brick, it's in light blue.... i had it at a restaurant once and i loved it. i don't do margarine... but i'll try those places to try to find it, thank you!!
Foothills butter in Vancouver?
Wondering where to find it. Had it once and it was delicious. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Good quality maple syrup and olive oil in Vancouver?
Other than costco and superstore are there any other maple syrup suggestions? Maybe some local producers like there are in Ontario and Quebec, or is BC not a maple syrup producing province?
Good quality maple syrup and olive oil in Vancouver?
Thanks. I saw these I was thinking of stopping by but wasn't sure. Thanks!
Any tips for maple syrup?
Good quality maple syrup and olive oil in Vancouver?
I'm looking to buy real maple syrup and a good quality extra virgin olive oil at a good price. I jar moved here so am unfamiliar with the city. Where can I go? Thanks!
Restos on your "to-do" list
i like pangaea a lot actually... it was very good. pricey but good! do dessert. the chocolate thing with ice cream on it is pretty yummy.
Cold Stone Creamery coming to Ontario
omg i'm so glad you posted this... now i can get super fat on ice cream! i didn't absolutely love cold stone creamery when i was in NYC, but maybe it'll be different here (like subway is). marble slab looks pretty good and they seem to pride themselves on the quality, so i'll try to hit that up too!!
BEST BURGERS IN TORONTO!! ??
sorry i was so excited about nota bene's burger i forgot to add that i also like the burgers from burger shoppe in leslieville... they've always been nice to me by giving me extra onions and chipotle aioli at no charge. craft burger is also really good. i've had more consistent quality at the yonge/bloor location though.
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Burger Shoppe
688 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4M1G9, CA
Big Smoke Burger
830 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W, CA
BEST BURGERS IN TORONTO!! ??
i LOVE the burgers at NOTA BENE on queen and i didn't find them pretentious... maybe a tad shishi but no holier-than-thou feeling there, and i wasn't dressed up. then again we were teh only lunch customers. i still think about that burger to this day... i should really go back... i love nota bene's burger. at toronto taste they were rushing it and it was awful (and severely undercooked—room temp and raw in the middle).. at the resto they did an awesome job. and they give you cute little pickles. definitely try it!
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Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA
What's your most disappointing dining experience?
I went to Cantine for Summerlicious... It was so so so bad.. Let's do this chronologically. Ok so when we walked in, the ambiance was, err, dead. Or close to it. An older crowd hung out there, and by older, I mean the ones from the retirement living centre across the street. And their care-takers. Ok, not so bad so far... When the guy sat us, the tablecloth was very dirty. There were solidified food stains on the tablecloth! Very unprofessional, as well as absolutely disgusting. I asked to sit somewhere else. "Do you work in the restaurant industry?" someone asked me. As if I need to be an employee of the restaurant industry to realize that your tablecloth was disgusting.... The service seemed a bit cold. One guy (out of the three who waited on us) seemed like he hated his job. One was happy. The other just seemed irritated that I didn't want to sit at the table with the solidified food blotches on it. We did Summerlicious... I ordered mussels, which I had to send back to the kitchen because they weren't fresh. And by not fresh, I mean they tasted like the zoo. I've never eaten seafood so bad before. I don't know how they're allowed to serve that. Not only were they not fresh, but they were dried out. They were probably sitting around for a while, and then reheated all throughout Summerlicious or something, because I don't know how they could have something so not fresh! It was gross. They replaced it with chicken, which was pretty decent. What bothered me more is that they still served it to other customers! I saw one woman sit with it in front of her while her dining partner ate... She clearly wasn't going to eat them (but I guess didn't want to send it back to the kitchen). This was by far the worst restaurant I've visited in a long time. I don't know how something like this still exists in Toronto, especially in Yorkville! But I guess if there's a community there then that's what keeps it around. It's cheap, and as long as you don't order seafood and sit at a clean table I'm sure it's fine! The wine was the highlight of the meal. Can't really mess that one up. They let us sample wines before we committed, which was good of them.
Unpasteurized or semi-unpasteurized cream in TO? Shh, I won't tell.
i looked into michael schmidt and glencoltonfarms and when i checked there was about at least a year of a waiting list.. could've been 3, though i can't remember. very popular but the po are on his butt for it. last i checked he was the only one in the toronto area who could provide it. i'm sure all the legal problems he's facing is putting a damper on his business so it may be even harder than before to obtain his milk.
it would be pretty weak if CH removed this post.
What's good in the Annex area?
i tried CANTINE... absolutely disgusting... their mussels were really NOT fresh... i had to send it back to the kitchen because it tasted like the smell of the zoo... and they were dried out. it was gross... another woman ordered them and they sat in front of her (i guess she wasn't as proactive to send them back). the tablecloth they TRIED to seat us at was filthy.. the wine service was nice because they let us sample the wines... it was cheap though. overall, sick, i'd never go back. i can get wine anywhere.
summer patio for drinks on a monday or sunday night?
thanks everyone for your suggestions.. i've put them all on a list and will be visiting them when i can! any more suggestions would be welcome too if they're not on this list already. thanks! :o)
summer patio for drinks on a monday or sunday night?
hey thanks. and no i'd only be going with one or two other people. i have nothing planned but i could easily make plans to drink on a nice patio!
summer patio for drinks on a monday or sunday night?
thanks! i'll add that to the list!
summer patio for drinks on a monday or sunday night?
thanks! i'll put the hyatt on my list, it looks nice. and i've been to the sky yard at the drake, also very nice. and i'm never in the mood for tequila so i don't think i'll be going to reposado :p ... looks like a great little place though!
summer patio for drinks on a monday or sunday night?
hmm. i've always wanted to check out Globe, maybe i'll do that now that i know they have a rooftop patio. is The Fifth as shishi as their website makes them seem? (boasting about celebrities going there and all that stuff) it looks beautiful but i wouldn't want to be treated like crap or anything.. lol.
summer patio for drinks on a monday or sunday night?
i'm looking to find a place downtown (ish) that's good for drinks on a monday or sunday night. it's summer and i want to drink outside on a patio. can anyone make some suggestions? price doesn't really matter, i'm looking for a nice place, not too shi-shi hopefully (though i'm open to those places too) but definitely not too grungy. i'm looking to go for cocktails not pitchers of domestic beer. suggestions?
Terra Burger: Anyone been lately?
I've been here and enjoyed my bison burger. I found it was quite nice how they put herbs in it (it seemed) like rosemary. Very yummy. I wouldn't get the salad again though, it was disappointing. I'd definitely go again!.. but only for the burger.
Tonic Water
I too would love to be able to find a good tonic water. When I was in London, select bars sold this brand called Britvic. It was really good! Much better than the Schweppes Indian Tonic Water, which was the alternative. Britvic was served in little glass bottles... Very old school. Honestly, I never liked gin and tonic until I had Britvic. I typed that in the search bar and nothing came up... It has the exact same ingredients as Schweppes Indian Tonic water (cane sugar included), but they taste completely different. If anyone knows where I can get Britvic that would be awesome!!!!
Organic or naturally raised meat restos in Vancouver?
i would like to say i went, thanks to your recommendations. i hit up chow and fuel and really enjoyed both of those places, chow especially. i wrote about my experiences here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605317
Great food in Vancouver - Chow, Fuel, Wild Rice
I'm from Toronto and went to Vancouver and saught the advice of chowhounders before I went and I wanted to share my experiences with a few great restaurants I went to.
Chow
Really nice decor! We went for the early prix fixe menu ($35 5-6pm). Really friendly, down to earth people work there. The vibe is nice. I honestly didn't expect that from the decor. We had a French waiter and he was really friendly and fun. You could tell
We ordered their cheapest wine and it was still a pretty heavy priced bottle, but it was actually quite good. I've been to other restaurants that put just any random wine for their cheaper ones, but these guys actually thought it out it seems. If it's not good, don't put it on your menu, I think. It was good and I didn't feel ripped off like ordering wine at other restaurants.
The food was nice and light but very filling too. It was good value. They used good ingredients, you could tell, and they had some really nice presentation. Froth included.
The dishes seem to be creative and different than food I've eaten in Toronto. Great food without the stuffy atmosphere.
Usually when I go down some place fancy it's a bit too pretentious, but everyone here was really friendly. They really made the experience. Also, sometimes I feel ripped off when I dine at expensive restaurants, mainly because I'm paying for the decor and fancy napkins, but this place I didn't feel ripped off at all. It was very good value. The food was great, the atmosphere was great, the service was great (lots of smiles and laughing), the whole experience was great!
I would definitely recommend this place. I'm definitely going back next time I'm in Vancouver.
Fuel
Fancy restaurant, but not too fancy.
It was nice of the chef to give us a complimentary amuse-bouche. I didn't really like it that much as mine was a bit too salty (creamy soup of some sort with smoked venison). If it had less salt it would've been pretty great. I'm not one for patés... I made liver bad once and it's a taste you can never forget, so I didn't like the amuse-bouche with the paté. It was good for what it was though.
I thought the presentation for the bread was excellent (marble slab, whipped butter, flaked salt). Very pretty. The amuse-bouche presentation was excellent too, and you could see that the chef went the extra mile with something like including a comic strip with a soup sample. Presentation was excellent and it made me smile. Food is art at Fuel, it seems. They really try for presentation, and the mains are no exception to that either.
The lamb I ordered was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed it. It came with tenderloin and shoulder. The shoulder was braised in something, and was really good. So many other little things on the plate: sunchoke mash, cabbage, caramelized yoghurt pasta, venison bacon... So good. Honestly, that was one of the best plates I've had in a while. Really great. The crispy salmon dish was great too. I enjoyed the way the fish was cooked. Everything was cooked just right. Some restaurants overcook their meat but these were done to perfection.
Complimentary little dessert bites too. Homemade candies, you could tell that the chef has an interest in that as it was going beyond other restaurants go. I thought the vanilla jelly was an interesting, grown up take on Sour Patch Kids. That was very nice of them to offer it to us. They seem to be very kind there. Service is warm and friendly. Not pretentious feeling at all (unlike next door at Gastropod, which I found a tad pretentious compared to the other fancy restaurants I've dined at in Vancouver).
It was very delicious and I'm definitely going back and would definitely recommend it.
Wild Rice
This place was pretty good for fancy but not too fancy, comfort Chinese food. The pulled bison shoulder was really good. So was the chow mein-like dish with mushrooms and bok choy. Nice atmosphere. Fancy without the snobby. Lighting was nice. It was a great experience actually. Food was in portions meant for sharing, but unlike other restaurants that say that, you could actually share it because there was enough food. Good value. Looked like a good place for drinks and appetizers with friends.
Guayaki Yerba Mate - Loose Tea Leaves
looks like on their site it says it's available at the big carrot, olga's (wherever that is), whole foods... if you go on their site and search for retailers by state you can see the ontario ones. it's a poorly organized site but the info is on their homepage. i'm gonna give this one a try. i haven't seen it at the carrot but i'll check for it next time i'm there.
Organic or naturally raised meat restos in Vancouver?
thanks!! i looked up chow and it looked pretty good. i'll check out the others too. thanks!
Organic or naturally raised meat restos in Vancouver?
Hi there! I'll be visiting Vancouver from Toronto next month and thought I'd consult the food savvy people from Vancouver here on Chowhound.
Can anyone make any recommendations for restaurants that use organic or naturally raised meats and that concentrate on keeping things natural?
Thanks!
Gluten-free restos
although cafe vert's menu says lots of organics, the truth is that if they run out of organic they go across the street to no frills to get repalcements, and as we know no frills does not sell organic. they did this with chicken and yoghurt when i was there. most items that said organic were not at the time when i was there. it's very deceptive and i had to talk about it with the waitress to actually find out that the items were not organic. it's really deceiving.. but i can assure you they'll still charge you the organic price. the food i ended up having there was mediocre... quite bland.. pretty boring.. i don't recommend it at all.
i love Live organic food bar. their cooked dishes are great.. especially teh specials. they have a few options that are grain-free. they actually specify on their menu the items that are gluten free with "g/f"... it's a great place, i love it.
magic oven is also pretty good for what it is... i haven't tried any gluten-free items though... everything i've ever eaten their was choc-full of gluten. good though, so i'm guessing that perhaps their g/f options would be similar in yumminess?
Best butcher for non-prime cuts of meat
i love the healthy butcher, and the staff is very knowledgeable. if the person you ask doesn't know the answer, he or she will find someone who does. you always leave with an answer.
i don't look for the things you look for, but the healthy butcher DOES make their own sausages so they have access to casing for sure, so they might be a good place to go to for that. they also render their own lard, so i'm sure fat back or back fat or whatevs you're looking for can be found there.
i love them there. they're very friendly and they have excellent customer service. rarely have problems there, and when i do it's always fixed and i never leave angry or anything, which is much more than i can say for a lot of places i shop at. they are consistently good. i love them there.
i haven't been to their new, bigger location though i totally should next time i'm up at yonge and eglinton.
Best brunch in Roncesvalles/Ossington/High Park area?
yasi's place is pretty good, down to earth place. i'd recommend the chipotle sauce.. it comes free.. then again i really like chipotle. they have organic beef burger and free range chicken sandwiches. they serve lunch items too, great for people who aren't big on breakfast items (like myself) so it makes me happy. they have some pretty good eggs too, and their potatoes that come with almost every dish are pretty good. it's a small place but i've always seemed to find a spot (even though call was close a few times).
