tjr's Profile
Men-Only Birthday Bash - N44, Auberge du Pommier or Centro?!
Have to agree. Of the three, I'd choose N44, but I can't really imagine any of them living up to old Splendido. You can get a tasting menu at N44, but it would probably still be underwhelming based on what you're looking for. RogerDoger's suggestion is probably pretty good.
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Splendido
88 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1G5, CA
Eaton Centre Food Court - new and expanded with interesting options
They're giving away $10 gift certificates to be used at the grand opening at Yonge & Dundas, though I didn't stop to see what you had to do to get one.
30th birthday party - dinner and drinks on a wednesday?
You could potentially eat worse fries than the ones at Hemmy's.
ISO good poutine downtown
Not to pester you, but:
1. Were the curds layered?
2. Overly melted curds = not good.
▇▇▇ Looking for economical do-it-yourself sushi ingredient suppliers ▇▇▇
When you talk about "ingredients," are you referring to the fish, or the accoutrements?
"Red Tuna" sushi/sashimi AYCE list
I've never heard anyone refer to red tuna before, which is why I asked. Most decent restaurants just translate maguro as tuna, or, in certain cases (like, say, Yuzu), the actual different varieties of tuna are listed.
My concern is this: a restaurant serving maguro that they claim is bluefin at an AYCE is a bit ridiculous. Given that these sorts of restaurants mislabel other fish (for example: "white" tuna [shiro/bincho maguro], a term referring to albacore, is substituted with cheap escolar [abura bouzu], or tilapia masquerading as tai), why would you expect them to be serving a premium product at rock bottom prices?
"Red" tuna sounds like a way for sketchy restaurants to mislabel and misrepresent their products in an attempt to deceive their patrons.
Origin Question
Thanks for the review. I think you've picked up on the same way some of us (or at least I) feel about Origin. For me, the fusion dishes tend to be pretty bad, especially the Asian ones (additionally, most of the Asian fusion dishes at CL are pretty unsuccessful). There are some tasty dishes as well (though nothing that will really blow you away), but if you aren't really aware and order incorrectly, you're in for a pretty underwhelming meal.
Add to that the poor plating and consistency issues, and you have a completely hit-or-miss dining experience. That being said, it's a pretty nice place to have some drinks and snacks (if you order carefully) or dessert.
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
Do you need to pick a resto and a bistrot, or are you looking to pick one of the four options you've listed? If just one, what sort of atmosphere would you be most comfortable with given the occasion?
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
Charles, you missed out! McDonald's has frites on the menu -- a true French classic!
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
No worries! The way CH threads comments is visually confusing.
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
(I was responding to Lamaranthe, who was responding to me above). The question seems kind of silly anyway, since there are real French bistros in Toronto.
Steakhouse Recommendation
See this recent thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/799559
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
That wasn't the question asked, but here: Jacques, Le Sélect, Bistro 990, etc.
Shabu Shabu in GTA
This is called 豆乳しゃぶしゃぶ (tou-nyu shabu shabu). It's typically served with pork, rather than beef. Depending on what you had, it could have been soy milk, a combination of dashi and soy milk, miso and soy milk, etc. There are a lot of possible variations.
Chinatown Restaurant Recommendations (Toronto)
"I'll eat it as long as I don't have to see it, know where it comes from, or know how it was made!"
Three cheers for North America!
Ontario Gives Homegrown Food a Boost - article in Globe and Mail - August 10, 2011
A welcome initiative, and a bonus: the article reveals the absolutely depressing current state of local product availability despite the large sum of money likely spent on those terrible "Good things grow in Ontario" ads.
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
I'm not sure I'd say it's my favourite; there's dishes I like there, and there's dishes I like at other restos. I'm not sure I've had an entirely successful French meal in Toronto...
Best Teppanyaki in the GTA?
I haven't eaten there in ages, but every single time I did it was mediocre at best. Maybe it'd be better if they weren't.
Reinventing the ketchup-NYT
You may try sourcing Heinz from other countries. The Canadian version is less sweet (and uses liquid sugar instead of HFCS), with the UK version less sweet than its Canadian counterpart.
ISO good poutine downtown
Depends (caveat: poutine snobbery). For me, poutine has to have high quality curds (along with proper poutine fries and the right gravy). "Real curds" doesn't cut it, since the majority of places in Toronto are using curds well past their prime. Summerhill, for example, quite amazingly carries real St-Albert curds (IMO the best curds). Oh, just kidding, they had all been packaged a month or two prior to present, meaning they're already long gone.
The other thing is that a "very beefy gravy" is not the right gravy for an authentic poutine.
Good fries and gravy, sure. Good poutine? Not necessarily.
What's the best French restaurant or bistro in midtown right now?
Not really. There are lots of "pure French" restos in Toronto.
ISO good poutine downtown
If inauthentic, the Bymark poutine is an incredible dish. JK poutine (at the Gilead) can be hit or miss, though the fries are always good. I liked Caplansky's smoked meat poutine, though I haven't had it in years.
If authentic, there is no good poutine, only serviceable. Quite a few of the burger places bring in "proper" curds, but depending on when you go, you can either get squeaky, fresh ones, or ones that are long past their prime. Most places don't do a proper gravy. I've had some that were good one day, then, upon returning, back to awful. The poutine-only places (like Smoke's) don't even do a good quality, authentic poutine.
There are also zillion threads discussing poutine, using the site search: http://www.chow.com/search?query=poutine&board_name=Ontario+%28including+Toronto%29&from_date=1+year+ago&search_board_id=23&type=Topic
