eaterjt's Profile
Looking for a chocolatier (Downtown T.O./Etobicoke)
I definitely second Delight in the Junction. They're located on Dundas, at High Park. They have great ice cream too.
Delicious food at Gossip on the Exibition Grounds
What are the prices like at Gossip? Their website wasn't helpful at all.
La Revolucion - New Mexican Restaurant in the Junction
I had dinner there tonight and the food was delicious. The waitress was busy with someone ordering take-out so we were ignored for a while. She was really sorry about it when she handed us the menus. She said it's a temporary menu (there were only 3 aps, 7 mains and drinks. We later found out that they plan to add soups, salads and dessert).
We ordered chorizo flautas ($4) to start, one beef burrito ($8) and one chicken burrito. There was a shredded chicken ap and guac and chips. Other mains include enchilada, tacos (veggie or with meat), shrimp tacos, tacos el asador and quesadilla. There was a special pulled pork dish but the take-out person ordered the last of it. The waitress had enough to give us a small sample, which was very delicious and flavorful.
The chorizo flauta was just one fat one cut in half. It was topped with goat cheese and a little bit of sour cream. The burritos were stuffed with rice, refried beans, guac and the protein. The tortillas for the flauta and burritos were super fresh and taste homemade. There was a side of chips and salsa with the burritos, also homemade and tasted really authentic. The burritos were a generous size and very filling.
Everything was really delicious and fresh and authenic. The waitress is super nice as 00CP mentioned. This is a great addition to the Junction and I hope they keep it up.
Good, relatively inexpensive restaurants in Etobicoke/Kingsway area?
what about Magic Spot? it's a diner but they have great souvlaki (pork or chicken) and fantastic tzatziki. there's a couple of tables on their patio and they're licensed. beware sloppy service. they tend to mix up orders.
best thai in the Junction/High Park area (that delivers)?
i'd rate my thai kitchen above baan thai and baan thai above young thailand/silk. i would give my thai kitchen another chance, maybe they had an off night. i also find that eat-in usually tastes better than delivery/take-out. the congealing takes away something.
as for silk, i had dinner there about 2 weeks ago. the menu is exactly the same as young thailand was and a bit disappointing. YT used to be very good but declined over the years. the new branding has not helped.
in roncesvalles, thai chef delivers to the high park/junction area. prices are a bit more than baan thai and the food is about the same.
West End - Ethnic Food
Wally's closed down about 2 or 3 years ago. It's a korean/japanese restaurant now.
West End - Ethnic Food
What about polish food at Cafe Polonez on Roncesvalles?
There are a couple of Colombian restaurants in the west end too. First is Los Arrieros on Jane, north of Bloor and the second is Lenos on Dundas, just west of Keele.
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Los Arrieros
276 Jane St, Toronto, ON M6S3Z2, CA
Cafe Polonez
195 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, ON M6R2L5, CA
Peaktop - Brief Review
It's not the pale chickens (yellow skinned). The skin is really really dark red, darker than the duck skin.
If you like sticky rice, I would suggest getting the chinese sausage fried sticky rice.
I was there yesterday for lunch and they have a lunch special where you get a free HK-style tea/coffee with one of the entrees. All the entrees are under $10 and are generous portions. Some entrees listed include pan-fried turnip cake (XO flavour or singapore style) and seafood baked rice.
ISO : Cheap Paper Muffin Cups
i picked up paper muffin cups from dollarama all the time. $1 for 150 large cups.
Peaktop - Brief Review
the next time you go to the markham location, ask for the roast chicken. in cantonese, it's 'diu siu gai', roughly translated as 'hung roasted chicken'. this will be *the* best chicken you've had in your lifetime. succulent. meaty. moist. half a chicken is around $10. i go to markham peaktop probably every 2 weeks/once a month and i live in the west end.
if you like chinese preserved sausage, they make these in-house. they have amazing congee too if you're in the area around lunch. all the chinese desserts are made in-house as well. be sure to try the sweetened tofu.
Sashimi-grade fish west of GTA?
I think T&T sells sashimi-grade fish.
(Central Pkwy W & Mavis Rd.)
715 Central Parkway West,
Mississauga, Ontario
L5B 4L1
http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/en/store_locator.php
Any good deals still around (not Summerlicious)?
Sidecar's prix fixe runs from Sunday to Wednesday. I went recently and ordered the steak frites. very tender steak. great frites. dessert of the night was flourless chocolate chip, which was 2 triangles of the cake with a raspberry sauce.
Breakfast in Hamilton, Ontario
I was recently at Spencer's for their weekend brunch and it was really busy. The food was fantastic! To add to cynalan's description, dessert is part of the buffet. There are made-to-order omelettes and waffles. Drinks like smoothies and juice are included, along with alcoholic beverages like mimosas and caesar's. The brunch price is $36 per person and it's definitely worth every penny! Reservations are highly recommended.
Best of Bloor West/High Park?
Leños Bar & Restaurant
2883 West Dundas Street
Toronto, ON M6P1Y9
Tel: (647) 351-4296
Saturdays seems to be really packed. I think there might be some dancing involved so I would suggest calling the restaurant.
Best of Bloor West/High Park?
I have to second (third?) everyone who mentioned Pho Huong.
I'd like to mention Lenos in the Junction. They're a new Colombian restaurant in the area. You have to try their beef empanaditas. The music is quite loud but the food is good. I think it's a family-owned restaurant.
For Roncesvalles, my go-to place is Cafe Polonez. I tried Chopin but the schnitzels at Polonez taste fresher. I loved the brunch at Liver Bird (the back of Boho) but alas, Boho is no more.
Wasabi at Keele and Bloor - anyone been?
I noticed a new Japanese all-you-can-eat restaurant called Wasabi at the north-east corner of Keele and Bloor. Has anyone been? Relation to the Wasabi in Richmond Hill?
Restaurants with a view
i went to Casa Mendoza last night for the first time. The view *is* amazing but it doesn't make up for the terrible food. I ordered the mussels appetizer ($11.95) and I got about 20 really tiny mussels that were really fishy smelling. All the steaks my party ordered were overcooked (steaks run around $30). Pitchers of Stella were about $20. Go for the view but eat somewhere else first.
Another note: there's a regular raccoon visitor on their patio.
Shanghai Cowgirl...what happened?
when did shanghai cowgirl open? i was there recently (twice within one month after not going for a couple of years). the first time was a late lunch/early dinner and my SO and i both ordered burgers. both were cooked fine except the side of fries wasn't too big. the service was good too. there were probably 5 or 6 other tables then.
the second time i was there for dinner (7pm) and a server greeted us right away and gave us a table. we were a group of 3 at first, then one more joined after about an hour. the server was good with our drinks and entree orders before the 4th joined. after the second time we denied needing more drinks, the waitress left us alone for a long time. we wanted more drinks and we realized she was having her break. i don't expect impeccable service from a place like shanghai cowgirl because it has such a laid-back atmosphere. if it was bymark or nota bene, then i would've been offended but this is SC.
food on the second trip was good. i ordered the ghetto chicken and it was 2 big pieces of chicken (breaded and deep fried) with delicious mash and gravy and a few slices of zucchini. my friends ordered a burger and the other a chicken sandwich. both were happy with their orders.
Good Chinese takeout in the West End?
i've only had the lotus leaf wrapped rice and that was good. good proportion of sticky rice to filling. no chunks of pure fat/lard in the filling. it took a long time between ordering and getting the wrapped rice. it's probably because they steam it right when you order. i spoke to the owner and she said that they only get a certain amount of dim sum per day (i think they order it in rather than make it in-house) so if something runs out, they're out.
Good Chinese takeout in the West End?
westwood grill at annette and runnymede is my go-to place for chinese. their flavours cater to the caucasian neighbourhood (i'm chinese) so every dish is toned down but it's not bad. it's not terribly greasy like china gourmet (on la rose, near royal york). they have a large selection of seafood dishes and even dim sum. i've only tried the lotus leaf rice and that's delicious. their wonton soup is also good, the broth isn't too salty and there are at least 4 plump wontons in each bowl.
their contact: http://www.westwoodgrillchinese.com/contact.html
their menu: http://www.westwoodgrillchinese.com/
Chino Loco @ Queen/Greenwood
i went to chino locos this past sunday afternoon and it was a pleasant experience. my SO and i were greeted right when we came through the door. they were fairly busy (take-out orders and walk-ins). very simple menu of about 4 or 5 items. i ordered the basa filet with chow mein, and all the other toppings except cilantro, sour cream and cheese. my SO ordered the chicken with the rustic rice with all the toppings. there was no mashed potato option.
here's their menu: http://www.chinolocos.com/menu.html
both burritos were wrapped with whole wheat wraps and pressed with a lean mean grilling machine. i think mine would've been better if it was in the sandwich press for longer because the chow mein was still a bit cold and it didn't have the nice grill marks. overall, the flavours worked well together with the meaty fish and the black bean sauce. they don't mess when they say spicy so beware! my SO thought his rice was a bit dry so next time he'll go with the chow mein. the portions were really big too. my SO is a big eater and the burrito filled him up. i had 2 big chunks of fish in mine.
the 3 guys working there are super friendly and enjoy chatting with all the customers. the cashier/expediter noticed my SO didn't have a drink and gave him a glass of water without asking.
i would definitely go back if i lived closer to chino locos. great atmosphere, tasty food, reasonable prices.
INO Rec for Resto close to Sherway Gardens
there's a vietnamese/thai restaurant in the plaza right across from sherway called Fresh Rolls. (it's behind the Red Lobster) not sure about their wine selection but they have good food. here's a review from the toronto star from 2007: http://www.thestar.com/living/article/239367
Negative Review - Memories of Japan
I went to Memories of Japan (on Don Mills, just north of Eglinton) for dinner last night. We opted for the dining room over teppenyaki because there was a long wait for teppenyaki. (As a side note, I find teppenyaki to taste very bland and I'd rather not smell like the food I ate for the rest of the day.)
I was with 2 other people and all 3 of us love japanese food. We opted for MOJ over Takoe Sushi (further north on don mills) because we've had bad experiences with Takoe. A bit of background about the eaters; Maison du Japon and Sushi on Bloor are regular places for us. I would love to try Sushi Kaji but I need to save up for it.
At MOJ, 2 ordered the Tokyo bento box (assorted tempura, including 2 shrimps, chicken teriyaki, rice, broccoli, the smallest portion of seaweed salad ever, 3 pieces tuna roll and 3 pieces cucumber roll) and I ordered the Sushi Tokyo (8 pieces assorted fish, 1 tuna hand roll, 3 pieces tuna roll and 3 pieces cucumber roll). We also ordered a pork cutlet to share.
All entrees came with miso soup and salad. The miso soup was very watered down. The portion was about the size of our tea cup. The salad was iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato and a sprinkle of radish. The dressing was a creamy dressing, a bit less tangy that 1000 island dressing.
All the rolls were salmon, not the advertised tuna. The rolls were half the size of a regular roll (i think they were sliced about a 1/2" thick and about the size of a loonie). My sushi arrived with a salmon handroll too rather than the tuna. I realized this and told the waitress. She reluctantly took it back and was rude about it. I also got my entree about 10 minutes after the bento boxes arrived.
Service was terrible. We ordered green tea with our entrees. We got the soup and salad before tea and I had to ask again for our tea. I asked 3 times for our cups to be refilled but they never were. We ran out of soy sauce and I had to ask a different server for a refill. The server just plopped our bill down without asking at the end of dessert. (Ice cream came with the bento boxes only).
The bento box was about $15, my sushi combo was$18 and the pork cutlet around $8. For the price we are paying, I didn't expect that MOJ would try to deceive us and give us salmon rather than tuna and to give such small portions of things like miso soup and cucumber rolls.
I highly suggest avoiding this place and would happily go to Mongolian Grill next door the next time I am in that neighbourhood. Heck, I'd rather go to Swiss Chalet than MOJ!
Crema in the Junction
i went to crema several times in the past couple of weeks and they've been consistently good. i usually make my own coffee at home with the pc brand great canadian coffee (i know i know) but too many early mornings called for good strong coffee.
crema doesn't have any lactose-free milk so i ordered a soy latte. i've had the low fat milk latte before and the low fat milk one wins hands down. soy milk just doesn't have the same mouth feel as cow's milk. i also don't find that soy milk blends well with coffee. each espresso-based drink was made to order (grinding the beans per order) with very pretty foam art. the only downside to this is that there might be a longish wait if there are several people in line. a large soy latte was just under $5. i also had the drip coffee (large is $2) and this was excellent. no bitterness at all.
they also have some loose leaf tea available and cold drinks. beans are for sale as well.
i think crema finally has an oven installed so maybe they're starting to bake their own pastries. i had a really gigantic and moist pumpkin muffin (topped with some toasted pumpkin seeds!). their blueberry scones are very delicious too. pastries were around $2.50/each. there was an assortment of muffins, scones, biscotti, brownies and cookies.
crema has free wi-fi too. i highly suggest going to crema if you're in the junction. beats starbucks and second cup any day!
one of the baristas has a blog about crema: http://www.ummonshadow.com/shadowblog/?page_id=25
Downtown pub/bar with party room
the elephant and castle on king is a big place and has lots of nooks and crannies. fionn maccool's, on adelaide, is a good place too. lots of excellent beers on tap.
Inter Steer on Roncesvalles?
sticky fingers are potato wedges topped with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, hot peppers and deep fried sliced kielbassa. it was $8 for a basket. there were about 2 big potatoes cut up into wedges for this basket.
i ordered 3 plates with my SO since i wasn't sure how much food there was in a plate and i wanted to try a few things. all 3 plates were $8 each. there were probably 10 pierogi in the poutine pierogi and they were a decent size.
there were schnitzel sandwiches on the menu too and go for about $8. i think there were mains like veal chops with salad for about $14. i saw this come out of the kitchen and the plate is massive and piled high.
bottles of polish beer were $5.50. domestic and import bottles are definitely cheaper. pints range from $4.50 to $5.50. i think there were 4 beers on draft (cool, keith's, stella and one more).
Inter Steer on Roncesvalles?
i went there last night for the first time. the decor is pretty nice but it is dark. i think there were about 4 beers on tap, most are in bottles with 2 polish bottled beers (zywiec and tyskie). My SO and i shared 3 plates: sticky fingers, poutine pierogi and cabbage rolls. the cabbage rolls were really disappointing. one order came with 3 halves of cabbage rolls (so 1.5 cabbage rolls) and the filling wasn't anything special. cafe polonez has better ones. the sticky fingers are exactly what the NOW magazine article described. they were pretty delicious. the poutine pierogi was not a traditional poutine with cheese curds, i think it was shredded mozzarella. the pierogi filling had meat in it and they were deep fried. the gravy was a bit on the cold side though.
my SO is polish so he was weirded out by the "fusion" polish food. he enjoyed the sticky fingers though.
cafe polonez is a regular dinner place for us and i think we'll stick to it. i usually order a schnitzel and my SO orders the hungarian pancake filled with beef stew. inter steer had some interesting dishes but it's more bar/pub food.
Adult Birthday Cakes
http://www.cakesbyjasna.com/
check the "Special occasion" section for a picture of a Bachorette cake (NSFW).
custom orders are welcome too.
Etobicoke/Mississauga Xmas Party
It was a set dinner at the Old Mill. We had a 3-course dinner in one of the function rooms. It's the first room on the left when you walk in from the parking lot entrance (I can't think of the name). I think this small room can accommodate 50 people (our company had to pay for 50 plates eventhough there were about 35 of us) and it's really cozy. This room is separate from the dining area and the waiters are very attentive with drinks during the mingling time. From what I recall, there were 2 choices for appetizer (either soup or salad), 3 choices for the main (beef, seafood or chicken) and 2 for dessert. The atmosphere is great at the Old Mill but their food isn't the greatest.
Etobicoke/Mississauga Xmas Party
My company had our Christmas lunch at Millers Bistro in Etobicoke last year. Service is a bit slow but the food is pretty good. It's a continental menu and there are private areas where they can accommodate a fair number of people. I think there were 3 different menus to choose from. I can't find a website for them but I'm sure you can call for an event menu.
My company has had Christmas dinners at the Old Mill for several years prior to Millers Bistro. Food at the Old Mill isn't too great (very pedestrian) but their service is excellent. I think their hors d'oeuvres are frozen though.
