morefoodplz's Profile
Graduation Dinner
I think they would. It's a nice contemporary room. Way more comfortable than something like Stock, George or Splendido for a young person.
Cafe Cinquecento - anyone been?
Since someone else chose the place, I didn't want to order anything too adventurous, so I got the grilled veggies. They were unbearably salty, but I tried to get through a bit of it because I was hungry. The mixed greens salad was particularly inedible, so I sent it back and asked for plain greens instead. It was brought back, and then I noticed that there was an odd sort of gritty feeling to the salad like it had been improperly washed. Upon explaining this to the waitress, she told me the salad was actually a bagged, pre-washed salad, which left me absolutely speechless. No effort was made to comp the item, even though the table ordered about $200 worth of food. Wouldn't have agreed to go had I known it would have been so bad.
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Cinquecento Cafe
791 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V1N4, CA
Indie Coffee Passport
It's still not a bad deal, but it's not as good as the previous passport, which allowed up to $5 per beverage. I went to about 21/24 of the shops on the last one, and very few of the better ones are back on this passport. It's still not a bad deal, but don't get your hopes up too high, since you may still only find $25 worth of "good" coffee. Would recommend it if 1) you didn't go in for the previous passport, 2) you have a Metropass, and 3) you do not already patronize places like Manic, Sam James, Dark Horse, etc.
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Dark Horse
2401 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6S, CA
Cafe Cinquecento - anyone been?
Is this place any good? Any recommendations or must-dos / avoids? Help appreciated.
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Cinquecento Cafe
791 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V1N4, CA
21st B-day dinner
From experience, something like Buca, Origin or Torito might be cool for someone of that age. Fishbar might be interesting too, though I haven't tried it personally (heard good reports). Nice without being stuffy. Boehmer skews too old, and Canoe is way too much.
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Torito
276 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T2L9, CA
Buca
604 King St. West, Toronto, ON M5V 1M6, CA
Rodney's Oyster Fest
It doesn't really sound too special as a 'deal' based on the price alone. Assuming that you price a beer at $6 each, that means you are paying $3 an oyster, which is what you might have paid anyway. You'd have to eat quite a bit for this to be much of a deal, and that's assuming you wanted $6 beer in the first place.
New in Parkdale - The Boreal Gelato Company
That is incredibly expensive, especially for a location so far out! Is it better than Dolce or Soma?
Piece of advise!! - Stay away from Chinese restaurant on festive holidays like mother's or father's day!
Somewhat unrelated questions re: Brilliant Chinese:
Is dim sum any good? What are the prices for S/M/L?
What are dinner prices like for "standard" fare? Are the special order dishes much more expensive?
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Brilliant Chinese Restaurant
7220 Kennedy Rd, Markham, ON L3R0N4, CA
Fun/Funky place for dinner
Origin is a bit expensive. Torito is cheaper and lower key if you still like the tapas concept. Second the suggestion of Guu Annex. Went to Harlem last night and that wasn't bad either.
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Torito
276 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T2L9, CA
Harlem
67 Richmond St E, Toronto, ON M5C1N9, CA
Guu
398 Church Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2A2, CA
Inexpensive dining just west of Yonge and Wellesley
Mercatto in the MaRS building?
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Mercatto- Mars location
101 College Street, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, CA
Best take out for lunch in Toronto...want to impress!
I've seen people get panini for takeout at Negroni before, though I can't say how well it holds up.
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Negroni
492 College Street, Toronto, ON M6G 1A4, CA
blogTO lists top 10 'splurge sushi', Yorkville Asuka # 2, Michi last place, Zen not even mentioned
BlogTO never mentions this (not sure why, since it's always a point of contention):
THE LISTS ARE BASED ON USER VOTES.
The majority opinion rarely ever coincides with the critical/expert opinion, and that's all there is to it. There isn't any point to this sort of debate with that in mind. On top of that, BlogTO very rarely publishes negative reviews, so if you read reviews there, hyperbole is expected.
There is also a known downtown bias to the restaurants BlogTO reviews as well as the user base, so you cannot expect Michi or Zen to figure highly when the people that vote on these things are mostly downtown dwellers.
"Nice" restaurants with kids' menus?
This may sound like a wild idea, but why not just get appetizers for the kids?
Recommend Restaurant with a Neat Concept
I can only presume you've already been to Guu?
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Guu
398 Church Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2A2, CA
Richmond Court, Markham - Awful!
Went to this restaurant for lunch with a large group, chosen by someone else.
Where to begin! This restaurant is a mess. The table was reserved for 12, but a table was set for only 10. After some scrambling, chairs were moved around and a couple more were squeezed in.
We got an odd assortment of menus. Since this seemed to be a combination restaurant / bakery / bubble tea cafe, we got a dim sum menu, a bubble tea menu, a "family style menu" and a "single-serve menu" (I am just guessing about the last two, since the items resembled but were not identical, nor were the prices).
On to the food: Not sure if someone's mentioned this on the board before, but avoid the dim sum. Har gow and shrimp dumplings with chives were falling apart and mushy, as well as far too thick-skinned. Siu mai was unimpressive. Pan fried turnip cake was tasteless and bland. The only decently-done item was the tripe. Shrimp rice rolls were just about passable. Quite a sad showing, given that we ordered about 15 items.
We also got some larger items for the table, with mixed results, and notably small portions compared to similar restaurants. The seafood assortment in XO sauce was the only one I might consider eating again. Cantonese chow mein was standard, if unimpressive. By far the worst was a fried whole chicken, which was accompanied by shrimp chips that succeeded only in revealing that the oil was older than time itself. Couldn't even try the chicken after that. Disgusting.
To round out the experience, steamed rice ordered after the first few items started arriving did not show up until the end of the meal, by which time most of the food was already done. Dishes were rarely removed from the table, resulting in some awkward shuffling around by members of our party as we tried to accommodate arriving dishes. No lazy susans here.
The meal ended with some egg tarts offered by a server. They were decent and hot, but I don't know if we were charged for them or not.
Needless to say, this restaurant is not recommended. Would be curious to hear if others have had similar experiences.
Richmond Court
539 Bur Oak Ave
Markham, Ontario
Two more daily deals: Lou Dawg's and The Grand Hive (Honey's Beestro) [Feb 3, 2011]
I don't know about Lou Dawgs, but I wouldn't go to Honey's Beestro for free.
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Honey's Beestro
5555 Eglinton Ave W, Toronto, ON M9C5M1, CA
Cheap, cheerful Montreal ideas
It'll be my first time in Montreal in a few weeks, would love to hear about what is can't miss! Ideally will be looking for entrees of ~$15 or less since we're students, but if there is some amazing experience that costs a little more, do post about it!
We're open to different types of cuisine and there are no allergies in the group.
Thanks!
Boston Pizza - opening at Lakeshore and Leslie
Glad I'm not the only person who thinks it's oversalted. Most things are too high in sodium, but at Boston Pizza you taste every grain of extra salt.
Fabricca Update
The McEwan supermarket across from Fabbrica sells chicken stock in a spaghetti-sauce size jar for $6. Chicken stock. Need anyone say more?
Where to eat within walking distance of Jarvis & Wellesley
Guu is pretty hopeless for vegetarians, even those who are "flexible" on things that do not contain meat but may come into contact with it. It'll only work for the people who are willing to pick out all the meat or who are willing to make seafood exceptions, but the latter aren't vegetarian at all.
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Guu
398 Church Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2A2, CA
Steak outing dilemma - steakhouse or non-steakhouse?
Depends on your companion(s), doesn't it? If you just want a steak, I'm told that Jacobs is really the consummate experience. But if your companions are less enthusiastic about steak, then your other choices should provide a good experience for all without compromising your desire for a steak.
Hot Spot Lounge/Dinner Spot - Atmosphere is key!
I would not agree that Boehmer is a 'hip lounge restaurant' at all. It's a nice space and the food items range from okay to great, but the clientele is definitely not that young (stems from the price level) and there is no lounge aspect whatsoever.
Pravda sounds more in line with the poster's request, but I haven't heard of anyone eating there - like Spice Route, it has a just-for-drinks reputation. The other suggestions of Origin or the Drake sound reasonable to me. On Ossington, Watusi or something might be a better fit.
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Spice Route
499 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1K4, CA
ROTI - WOW! How did I go 39 years and never try this before!
Gandhi's roti is Indian though (as opposed to Caribbean), and it's nothing like what the OP is describing. It's more expensive, too.
Fancy restaurant that opens late?
Hmm, sounds like I missed out by skipping dessert. Oh well. Was it just as empty when you went in September?
Fancy restaurant that opens late?
When was the last time you went to L.A.B.? I went about three weeks ago, on a Friday, and my party was the only set of patrons there. The food was okay, but not extraordinary, and my dining companion complained that the the main (steak) disappointed him after an outstanding app (spaetzle). I felt similarly; I was pleased with the zucchini fritter app but slightly less impressed with the sous vide rabbit, which was fine in texture but lacking flavour. I didn't regret going, but I wouldn't go out of my way considering that similar/better can be had in more convenient locations - like Nota Bene.
ROTI - WOW! How did I go 39 years and never try this before!
I hate to disappoint you, but all credible rotis come from dumpy strip malls or holes-in-the-wall. Drupati's at Islington/Albion is case in point. I had the roti at Shandra's a few years ago, and while it's not bad at all if you're working in the area, it's not as good as Drupati's and not really worth a special trip.
Casual-ish, trendy, good food?
Guu, Pizzeria Libretto, Sushi Couture, Negroni Panini come to mind.
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Pizzeria Libretto
221 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J, CA
Guu
398 Church Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2A2, CA
Sushi Couture
456 Bloor St. W., Toronto, ON M5S 1X8, CA
restaurants in TO using paper placemats printed with cocktail suggestions?
I feel like I saw similar ones (cocktails on a blue background) at the Memories of Japan on Don Mills north of Eglinton last year.
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Memories of Japan
900 Don Mills Rd, Toronto, ON M3C1V6, CA
Recs needed for NY chowhounders in Toronto for a conference
Why don't you move Nota Bene from 2) to 1) and have your private foodie dinner somewhere else?
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Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA
Toronto Restaurants in recent Literature
I know your post referred to literature, but the Café Diplomatico on College was heavily featured in Atom Egoyan's recent film, Chloe. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1352824/
