juno's Profile
Party sandwiches
I've been to many get-togethers catered by Sonny Langer, and even used him myself once or twice in the distant past, and found his party sandwiches, of the tuna salad, egg salad and salmon salad variety, along with the fixings - to be first rate, fresh, tasty and appealingly presented. Pickle Barrel is also pretty good, same thing - tuna, egg, salmon and such - maybe a cut below Sonny's quality, but also slightly cheaper, and still quite tasty. Sonny's an old pro. His headquarters are at Yonge and Steeles Ave., but - as noted - he delivers just about anywhere around town. Don't know the other places mentioned.
Thai One On, (Avenue Rd north of Wilson) Aw c'mon, I should have known though!
Pho Mi Asia, mentioned above, in a large strip plaza anchored by a Value Village, has a mainly Vietnamese menu, beefed up with some Thai dishes. Popular with the local working-class neighbourhood. Low prices. You can get a tasty, substantial bowl of pho for $6 and it makes a satisfying lunch or dinner. Fast, sharp service. I go only for the pho, which comes in four sizes, so I've never tried the Thai dishes.
Thai One On, (Avenue Rd north of Wilson) Aw c'mon, I should have known though!
It's understandable that a bad Thai meal could disorient anyone. For those who are connoisseurs of dreary Thai cooking, Thai One On can actually be found, if you insist, on Avenue Rd. several blocks SOUTH - rather than north - of Wilson Ave. Avenue Rd. north of Wilson doesn't exist - except as exits on to Hwy. 401. I've had better luck in the neighbourhood with the aforementioned Thai Plate or, somewhat farther afield, Khmer Thai, on St. Clair Ave. West, two blocks west of Oakwood Ave. Good home-style Thai and Cambodian cooking at attractive prices.
BC Spotted Prawns - A quick update
Spot prawns: $18 (a.k.a. $17.99) a pound at Diana's on Friday, and lively ones, too. At the St. Lawrence Market's three fishmongers on Saturday: $30 (a.k.a. $29.99) a pound, and looking decidedly sluggish. Which explains why I lean to Diana's more and more for my fish and seafood.
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
You didn't necessarily have to agree with her restaurant assessments to enjoy Kates' reviews. She knows food, she knows what to look for, she has good insights and instincts - and, most important, she writes well (and entertainingly). My kind of food writer.
Wine Shops
If you're pinned to the Mirage without a car, then you'll probably have to make do with lvcorkdork's suggestion, or anything else within walking distance. Limited selection, though, and, like many things along The Strip, rather high-priced. Like yourself, I also try to seek out U.S. West Coast wines when I'm in Las Vegas from Ontario, Canada, where such wines in the provincially-run liquor stores are priced hilariously high. The best I've found is the aforementioned Total Wines in Henderson, which is, alas, a shade more than 30 minutes away from your hotel (and that's in light traffic). It's a pleasure to browse the aisles at Total. You could almost make a day of it wandering around the place. Knowledgeable staff as well. Don't know Costco in Las Vegas. Maybe you could make do with the nearest outlet of Trader Joe's or, even better, Lee's. Both are acceptable for what you want, but nothing touches Total. Too bad you won't have a car. It allows you to roam the city, which has a lot to offer besides The Strip.
Good find [Left Bank Bistro]
You're right, the brussels sprouts were a tad underdone last night, as I also noticed (I guess some folks like their sprouts overly crunchy). But aside from that minor quibble, everything else was spot on. By about 8-8:30 - doubtless long after you'd gone beddy-bye, TorontoJo - the joint was maybe half full. Pretty good for a newish place on a Monday night.
Has Le Paradis Gone Downhill Recently?
Has it gone downhill? Not in my experience. Mind, I haven't been in a few months. But "consistency" is the word for Le Paradis, and has been for decades. You won't be wowed, you won't be surprised - the flank steak and frites, for example, tastes exactly as it did the first time I had it - but you'll eat well, and at an attractive price. I get there a few times a year - because of the traffic around town nowadays, much less than I used to - but it has delivered the goods most every time out.
Where to go out for a good (reasonably priced) meal within a 5 - 10 minute drive of York University.
Let me suggest Best Grill, a smallish Middle East joint on Steeles Ave. between Dufferin and Keele Sts., next to a Home Depot. My favourite Middle East spot for the past year or so. I've never approached it from the west, but I imagine it's a 10-minute or so drive from York U. at Keele and Steeles. Busy at lunch, more relaxed at dinner, which is when I usually drift in. Tasty soups (mostly $4), especially the lentil and beet borscht. Full dinners (including salad, choice of potatoes and relish tray) for mostly $12-$17. I like the garlic chicken and/or the rainbow trout mains, but everything's well prepared, and with flair. Also assorted sandwiches and smaller plates that are popular at lunch. A cut or two above most Middle East restos in the area. Lots of nice extra touches, including chilled mugs for beer. Full bar.
Hidden Gem's in or around the city
Universal Grill, at Dupont and Shaw St., is certainly a gem, but it's not exactly a hidden gem. It has been around too long for that. Though it doesn't advertise much, it doesn't have to - even those outside its neighbourhood know about it. I've never taken a bad mouthful there over the years. Imaginative, well-executed menu at what passes for mid-level prices nowadays. Ribs especially good. Tasty soups and salads. Rather high wine prices can be avoided on Sunday nights, when no corkage is charged on bring-your-own wine. As ComerDemonio attests above, it has a wonderful neighbourhood feel, not much different from decades past, when it was a diner and soda fountain that I used to drop in to every now and then on the way home from high school.
Dinner near ROM?
If you're at all price-sensitive, your best bet is the aforementioned Coffee Mill, a tasty Hungarian joint off Bloor St. - and a short walk to the ROM. It helps if you like schnitzels. Soups are also pretty good. The Harbord St. restaurants are a bit of a hike to the ROM, but if you're feeling frisky enough to walk it, you'll do nicely there (at a substantial price jump from the Coffee Mill) at just about any of the places mentioned. I like Harbord Room and, more downscale, the pub-like Harbord House, which does comfort food respectably.
cole slaw
The Pickle Barrel chain ordinarily isn't up to much, but its vinegary cole slaw - mentioned above - has always been first-rate, if you prefer that style. (Easy to take price as well.) If there's much sugar in its slaw, I don't detect it. The small Nortown chain also features a solid, vinegary slaw in its prepared foods section. I've never cared for the much sweeter mayo-laced version of cole slaw. Lame. It has no zip. For timid appetites.
diners and dives in vegas.
I think what the OP is looking for - should he/she ever emerge from the shadows - are distinct, inexpensive, preferably one-of-a-kind joints that have been around awhile and, possibly, help give a community its soul. The trouble is, many distinct joints get cloned the moment they're successful, so one-of-a-kind is getting hard to find. Hash House A-Go-Go? A tad too expensive to qualify, though kinda fun. Black Bear Diner? Not particularly distinct. Peppermill? That's more like it. Distinctly Vegas - though it also ain't cheap. But it alone comes closest to the DDD style. Even better, though, are the idiosyncratic spots you've uncovered over the past several years, Dave. Valid, legitimate dives. Names escape me at the moment, but I recall a Middle East joint in the northwest part of town, a Mexican spot, a place near the South Point for southern cooking. Not sure if they even exist any more (I've not been in Las Vegas for awhile) but I think I could find them again next time I get to town in a few months. They're worth chasing down.
Critique my "must try" list for Toronto!
Left Bank Bistro, on Avenue Rd. just south of the 401, isn't in the middle of nowhere if you happen to live just a 10-minute drive away - as I do. Agreed, though, it's not something you'd cross the city for. It's just a pleasant neighbourhood bistro - an uptown Le Paradis, if you will - with an old pro at the stoves. Standard-issue French-bistro comfort-food menu, with a few unusual twists, but it's all in the execution by that old pro, which, in my view, is first-rate. You don't ordinarily go to a French bistro to be wowed, but to be eminently satisfied, and reassured that the world is as it should be. The long, long wine list has something at all price levels, with not too fierce a markup. The eight house wines seem especially well-chosen. About the "young, immature staff" noted by franpelyk: aside from the manager, the front-of-the-house staff does seem to be different every time I've been there - which suggests something, though I'm not too sure what. Promising, though. We'll see what transpires. The joint has only been around for a few months. But when you can get out of a good mid-level bistro nowadays for $75-$85 a couple with wine (either bought or brought), all in, that's a victory.
diners and dives in vegas.
As Andremarty's query first appeared on the Ontario (including Toronto) board, and got summarily bounced (along with my original response) over to the Las Vegas board, he/she may be puzzled as to what happened to his/her post - though the powers-that-be often privately e-mail those affected by such an appropriate move. In which case, the OP may have to spend his/her three days in Las Vegas totally uninformed on its diners and dives. Too bad. I was kinda hoping to be updated on the subject myself.
Critique my "must try" list for Toronto!
Yueh Tung, at Dundas and Elizabeth Sts., as T Long above has suggested, is Chinese, not Vietnamese, and where I go when I'm downtown craving Chinese around lunchtime. Consistently good for years. I also second Herne's proposal for Congee Queen for solid mid-level Chinese further uptown, at either lunch or dinner.
Since they got rid of their prix fixe, Simple Bistro is no longer a mad French-bistro buy. Which puts it close to Pastis price levels. And, at that price level, Pastis wins with me every time out. At a slightly lower French-bistro level, there's the newish Left Bank Bistro, on Avenue Rd., where the former chef at Simple Bistro mans the stoves (except Sun. and Mon.), and does it quite nicely, too. It's $5 corkage Sun. to Tues.
Churrasqueira Estrela is, ahem, an experience. Chaotic, erratic, precious little English spoken. Mostly takeout, with a few tables, where - if you're eating in - it's an adventure even trying to get your table cleared. The BBQ chicken (with all the starches and salad you can handle) is usually good, but not always. (It was quite average last Wed.) And the price is certainly right: about $25 for two for a chicken dinner, soda pop included. Takeout can be cheaper. I wouldn't bother with any other entree but the chicken - just looking at the steam table should convince you of that. Go with an open, relaxed mind and you just might enjoy yourself. A Portuguese bakery next door, called Seara, does good coffee and Portuguese custard tarts afterwards, and is eminently more restful.
diners and dives in vegas.
I suggest you ask this on Chowhound's Las Vegas board. Though I'm sure it has been asked before on that site. There are a number of such places around Las Vegas, some of which I've been to - though not recently - but whose names are hazy in my mind at the moment. Pay particular attention to the many postings of Dave Feldman, a New Yorker who visits Las Vegas regularly, and seems to specialize in finding offbeat, under-the-radar such joints around town. He has tipped me off to many good ones, and only the occasional dud.
Theee best crispy beef in the GTA
The crispy beef dishes described above seem quite similar to the dry sautéed Szechuan shredded beef featured on the menu of Szechuan Gourmet, a popular Chinese resto in a strip mall on Steeles Ave., just west of Bathurst St. Dee-lish. Mind, it's been a while since I've had it - the smallish space is ordinarily jammed whenever I feel the urge for the dish on the occasional Sunday night, so I just give up and travel elsewhere.
And that "elsewhere" is never Lin Garden. If the crispy beef is any good at Lin Garden, as attested to above (I haven't had it in years), it may be just about the only thing they do right anymore. That place is long past its prime. Its low, low prices are sure right, though. Probably best as a hangout for impoverished students.
Good find [Left Bank Bistro]
There's a lot to like about Left Bank Bistro. To start with, it's well designed, and spacious - as it should be, being in a former bank building. Larger than usual tables, lots of space between them - unlike too many joints downtown, when you can hear the next table's every burp. More important, the food's good. Mainly French bistro classics, mostly done with a twist, along with some offbeat specials to keep the chef sharp. The chef, who used to head the kitchen at Simple Bistro, knows his stuff. Lots of finesse. Even when he's off Sun. and Mon., the kitchen under the second banana doesn't falter (just slightly less finesse). Seems to have a deft hand with fish, of which there are several choices. I'm partial to the tasty trout almandine. Good selection of fairly-priced house wines (and six-ounce pours, too, not the sad little five-ouncers popping up on too many wine lists). Wide-ranging bottles at not too outrageous prices. The before-7 p.m. $27 prix fixe, noted above by AsLongAsTheresWine, is one of the better prix fixe deals around town, especially when you can get a glass of house wine (choice of eight) instead of dessert. (Us old folks don't do restaurant desserts much any more.) Good value, good service, reasonably consistent, lots of nice little touches. I've been in four or five times since it opened several months ago, and like it better each time out. Along with solid Kitchen and Copper Chimney, one of the stronger entries on that previously-underserved strip of Avenue Rd. between Wilson and Lawrence. Five-dollar corkage Sun. to Tues. (which I like), $15 the rest of the week (which I don't like).
Diners, drive-ins and dives
I'm not quite sure The Riverhouse belongs in a DD&D thread. It's a first-rate spot and setting for a pleasant dinner in the summer - I get there from Toronto once or twice a year - but it ain't cheap. To suggest it's about half the price of similar restos in Toronto is, well, somewhat over-enthusiastic. About 15-20% less would be more realistic. Definitely out of poor-student-at- Trent-University range. Their profs would enjoy it, though. A solid choice.
New Q! Stack BBQ
Not being a BBQ buff, I can't attest to its authenticity, but the large-ish menu - not all of it BBQ-related - is tasty and modestly priced. Brisket sandwich could've used a tad more brisket in it. The ribs were not Universal Grill quality (or Universal Grill price), yet flavourful nonetheless. Well laid out, comfy booths, alert young staff in matching Stack tee-shirts. Seems more like an upscale neighbourhood diner than a crusty old BBQ joint. As jlunar has pointed out, it's mainly families early on, later snackers/drinkers gazing at the big-screen TVs tuned to sports. Well-selected wines and beers at substantially lower prices than the murderous markups elsewhere on that strip of Yonge Street. Busy. Proprietor cruises the floor to keep things humming, chatting with customers, defusing inevitable problems in a place that's been open just a few weeks. Good vibe. Mind, I've only been in once. Need a couple more shots at it before it's moved to my go-to list. Not something I'd traverse the city for, but I'm glad it's only a short drive away for me. Promising.
Sequel Event Catering- Reviews?
I'm pretty sure Sequel Catering is run by the same charming couple who operated an imaginative, first-rate restaurant, called Sequel, on Yonge St., between York Mills Rd. and Lawrence Ave. It was, in my view, the best resto on that restaurant strip of Yonge St. They closed the resto about two years ago and sold the building (it's now a Shoppers Drug Mart) to concentrate on catering, which is, presumably, much less stressful. If the catering operation (which I've never used) is as good and professional as the restaurant was, it's a winner.
You have $10 for a meal, where do you go in Toronto?
A falafel in a pita at Tov-Li, one of the better falafel joints around town (on Bathurst St. south of Wilson Ave.), is $4.89 plus tax. Includes all the added fresh salad fixings you want. Buffet-style, strictly kosher. Falafel balls freshly deep-fried with every order. Zingy hot sauce, if you want it. Add a soft drink and you're still under $7 ($6.98, to be precise). Delicious and satisfying. Closed Friday nights and most of Saturday, and during Jewish holidays, even the obscure ones. Newbies are advised to phone before shlepping over that way to make sure the premises are indeed open.
Best Food at a joint with Live Music?
If you insist on a full-scale band, I can't help you. But if you'll sit still for a trio and such, let me recommend Chalker's Pub, on Marlee Ave., about halfway between Lawrence Ave. and Eglinton Ave., just west of the Allen Expressway, and a short walk from the Glencairn subway station. Mostly jazz, occasionally pop, the odd guitar night, sometimes no live music, one night weekly of amateur jazz vocalists, many remarkably good (it's called Girls' Night Out), backed by a professional trio. The Robi Botos jazz trio performs most Tuesdays. Though the neighbourhood is kinda down at the heels, Chalker's, at the south end of a small plaza, is a clean, comfortable joint - with a billiards hall attached. The dining lounge/performance space is smallish, with decent food (for a pub). Burgers, pizza, sandwiches, all respectably done, with some added, surprisingly ambitious items (for a pub). Good beer and small wine list (though the red wines are served too warm, probably because they're stored close to a heat source.) Fairly priced. Good sound. Solid service.
Beef Ribs dinner at All Star Wings - HUGE, HUGE RIP-OFF!!!!!!!! AVOID!!!!!!!
Migawd! Four bucks for what looks like a few pieces of seemingly wilted Romaine lettuce. And no dressing, you say? That has to qualify as the ripoff of the year to date in the GTA's restaurant scene. I defy anyone to try topping that over the next nine months. Charles, it's good to have you - rather than me - taking one for the team every now and then.
NEW CONSOLIDATED Thread: Best Chicken Wings in GTA
Unaccustomed as I am to ordering resto chicken wings - my cholesterol count is high enough, thank you - but given that Congee Queen is regular stop for me, I thought I'd give sumdumgoy's challenge to "take one for the team" a whirl. Plain, deep-fried wings (there's another sauce-y version) at $5.25 for six meaty pieces, and mighty tasty they are, too. Especially when lightly dipped into the house chili oil, as sumdumgoy wisely suggested. Mind, unlike the obsessive chicken wing savants on this entertaining thread, I've got little to compare them to. It has been years since I last ventured into Duff's and some of the other chicken wing shrines around town. But Congee Queen will do quite nicely for me. I didn't feel like I was taking one for the team at all.
Old school Italian
Much obliged for the tip about Coppi's participation on diningdatenight, TorontoJo. It's particularly useful when we're pondering where to take a nearby couple out for a celebratory dinner, in which case my saving can be $50 or more - even after the $10 initiation fee has been extracted.
Where's the best fried chicken in the GTA ?
To Sadistick: sorry, but I can't recall which fried chicken dish I enjoyed. After all, it has been a year. But I seem to recall a large portion of chicken parts, bone in, and unsauced. The portion was more than enough for two. There are a number of other fried chicken versions on offer. I also recall a large portion of rice flavoured with various veggies that went nicely with the chicken. Minimal side dishes (banchan) come with the chicken. And, of course, those $3 beers (if they still exist). The staff were most helpful to first-timers. Seems to me that House of Hot Taste is a franchise out of Korea, and there's a downtown outlet (which I've never been to) near Yonge and Bloor.
Where's the best fried chicken in the GTA ?
To answer Teep's query about Korean-style fried chicken: Home of Hot Taste, in an (almost) all-Asian plaza off Yonge St. north of Steeles Ave., does a mighty tasty version (actually, several versions) of the dish. Mind, it has been a year since I was last there - I'm waiting for my cholesterol count to go down - but I recall a light, moist, crispy, unsauced bird - delicious. You can get it sauced as well, if I recall. A dark, lively spot - which may have to do with the $3 beers on offer - with an almost all-Korean clientele. Attractive prices, certainly cheaper than Stockyards, though Stockyards fried chicken is the most flavourful I've tasted in years.
Old school Italian
Given your Coppi experience, it's understandable that you'd be down on it. But I've never had a bad experience at Coppi in all the years I've been going - two or three times yearly - though some times have been more memorable than others. Mainly, however, I was responding to prima's request for nominations as to which resto does which specific old-school Italian dishes the best, and I've yet to find one to top Coppi's spaghetti puttanesca. I'd be intrigued to learn of a spot that does it better, because a pasta puttanesca is a dish I'll travel across the city for.
Note to millygirl: I've often found, when a restaurant meal is lousy above and beyond the call of duty, I'll quietly pay the bill and, only then, call over the management to politely express my dissatisfaction. Then I'll leave it to management to decide what action to take. Some come through nicely, some get all crankily defensive. Mind, it has been quite a while since I've had to do such a thing. At worst nowadays, it's rarely bad - it's just, well, drearily forgettable.
