cubmike74's Profile
ISO casual lunch at Parliament and Carlton!
If you are looking for a diner type of experience Chew Chews is pretty good for sandwiches, fries, etc. It's just west of Parliament/Carlton
Timothy's Coffee issues
I've never had a good pastry / snack at timothys. Much of their stuff looks super yummy sitting in the display case, but once you bite into it most of the stuff is greasy, has no flavour, and is stale.
I've had this happen repeatedly - so now I don't bother getting any snacks there, no matter how good they look.
Village Rainbow Cafe - Church and Maitland
Agreed the food was gross - lets hope it's totally new owners that will create something good for the hood.
Keriwa Cafe
Went to Keriwa Cafe last night and had a fantastic meal. Great flavours, interesting dishes and friendly service.
Almost all of the meal was very good, but there were a few things that stood out as negative - suprising given all of the rave reviews the place has received. Nothing that will keep me from going back however - in fact I'm already thinking that I need to try their brunch, and then arrange to take some friends for dinner.
Anyhow - here is my review:
Atomosphere - The smell of smoke hits you as soon as you enter and for me it feels comfortable and homey. Others may find it too strong of a smoke smell. The room is lovely with all of the wood, and light, and it's easy to feel right at home.
Drinks - I'm not really a wine drinker so I asked what non alcoholic alternatives they had. I was hoping for maybe an interesting iced tea, or a juice based drink or something - but all they had were standard soft drinks, and cranberry or orange juice. Not a huge deal, so I had a soda. Although I wish overall that restaurants would start to provide more options than just beer or wine.
Bread - Yummy! Amazing earthyness, and chewy and crunchy texture. The whipped pork fat definitely benefitted from a good dose of the smoked sea salt that they include. Otherwise it was somewhat bland.
Starter - I had the pork belly starter that comes in a bacon broth with a white fish dumpling, and a dill buttermilk sauce. Amazing! One of the highlights of the night. My first few bites of just the pork belly in the bacon broth were pure porky heaven - but as the buttermilk dill sauce got mixed in and I had a bite with the whitefish dumpling it took it to a whole other level of delicious. It's a good thing they give you a spoon with this course because you will want to scoop up every last bit. The one complaint I would have about the starter was they it also had small black chanterelle mushrooms and I didn't feel like they added much flavour. Worse - they were gritty, which really puts you off. And it wasn't just one mushroom that was gritty, I gave a spoonful to my partner without mentioning the grit and he immediately said - 'yummy but gritty'. My partner had the bison perogies that he really enjoyed and the bite that I tried were awesome.
Mains - I went for the turkey with stuffing served with parsnip puree, bulberries, parsley and walnuts. The flavours were holiday inspired for sure, but the unique ingredients took it to a new level. The bulberries comned with the parsley and walnuts with the turkey was an amazing combination. I may never be able to eat turkey with plain old cranberry again. The turkey was all breast meat, and they also included a piece of duck confit that had been crisped up. I have to say the duck was the best flavoured meat on the plate, even though it was a bit dry and stringy. The turkey just didn't seem to have a lot of turkey flavour. It was moist and tender and went well with the stuffing, but it didn't seem to stand on it's own. No crispy turkey skin to be found on the plate either. It was a very good plate of food, I enjoyed every moment - but it wasn't amazing either. My partner had the bison brisket served with apples and a romesco sauce. It was very tasty, good flavours, tender meat that had a nice gameyness to it. But he also had two big chunks of floppy fat that he left in his bowl. Shouldn't that have been trimmed off?
Desserts - I had the beet chocolate cake and I loved it. It was a square of cake served on top of a bed of small cubes of sweet pickled beets, also came with some bulberry ice cream. The dessert was a very homey taste and I thought the combination was fantastic. The bulberry ice cream was tasty as well - but I'm not sure that it added anything to the beet and chocolate cake combo other than a refreshing way to clear your palate after the intense cake and beet combo. I definitely want to go back for more of the cake and beets!
My partner had the sorbet trio and seemed to enjoy it. I was getting so full by this point that I didn't bother to try it.
Cost- the total for 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 desserts with soft drinks, no wine was 150 including tax and tip. Not bad for a fun night out!
Has anyone else been recently? Other reports?
Burgers in Toronto
If you are willing to try something different than burgers, but still casual and yummy why not go to WRVST? Great variety of house made sausages, fries, beer, and lots of space for 12.
LOBLAWS Maple leaf Gardens
I went last night and I have to say I'm most excited about the Ace Bakery section. I'm a sucker for good fresh bread, and it looks like the ACE bread is being baked on site. I bought a small miche boule and it was quite good. Hopefully they can keep the quality up, and do enough volume to justify keeping the standards they have currently set.
LOBLAWS Maple leaf Gardens
I bought one of the roast chickens last night for dinner and it was dry, dry, dry! I did enjoy the other stuff I bought though. The prepared rapini was great, and the large cupcakes I had got for dessert were a hit!
Liberte Greek Yogurt
Has anyone tried the new liberte 0% MF greek yogurt?
I picked up a 4 pack of the individual sized containers with stawberry on the bottom and they are yummy! Nice and thick smooth yogurt with a tangy creamy taste.
I haven't sampled a lot of greek yogurt, but I have had the fage brand a few times and I think the new liberte greek yogurt is fairly similar in taste and texture. And I think it was a better price and more available than fage.
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
My sense is that chicken wing prices in many restaurants has nothing to do with the price of chicken wings at the butcher.
I'd be willing to bet that most restaurants serving wings are buying pre-portioned, breaded frozen wings in a plastic bag from a food service company. So the price of the wings for the customer is based on the foodservice price....
Dear Terroni - I Might Have to Break Up with You
Give Mercatto a try - friendly service, decent food.
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Mercatto
15 Toronto Street, Toronto, ON M5C 2E3, CA
No Bull Burgers -- Queen and Parliament
I went tonight to check out No Bull Burgers - since the line ups at the food truck event at distillery were way too long.
First off, you need to know that this place is small - there is seating for maybe 5 people. But it is run by the same people as the greek place next door so there is additional seating in the greek side.
It's simple, tasty, well cooked food - and I will be back. I had the bacon cheeseburger with fries on the side. All of the food seems to be quite fresh. I watched the guy pull a fresh beef patty out of the fridge next to the griddle - it was clearly a pre formed burger, but not frozen, not over processed. No fillers. They griddle it up, along with cooking the generous slice of peameal bacon at the same time on the griddle and serve it to you piping hot. They have a selection of toppings you can choose for your burger - similar service style to harveys - shredded lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, ketchup, mustard, etc. No 'gourmet' ingredients here. The burger was cooked well done, but was juicy and flavourful.
The fries are freshly fried yukon golds done when you place your order - lovely golden crispy, and fluffy inside.
All of it was super tasty - it wasn't breaking any new ground in terms of flavours - but the fact that it was decent simple fresh food done right is unique for toronto.
It terms of prices I'd say it's similar to 5 guys. Not cheap, but not outrageous either. We had two bacon cheesebuger combos with fries and pops and it came to $25.
I encourage you to go give it a try if you are in the area. But please don't go and then complain that they don't have blue cheese or caramelized onions to top your burger - it's not that sort of place.
SUKHO THAI - what's going on?
I have to say I'm very frustrated by the service at sukho thai. The food is pretty good, and it's close to home so I have eaten there lots - probably over 20 times. But every single time I go, or call to order it feels like it's the first night they are running a restaurant. Mass confusion. Some examples:
- Not answering their phone for pick up or delivery orders
- Picking up their phone on sundays when they are closed. I always forget they are closed and try to call for pick up. The one time that they do answer.
- Eating in, the sevice is slow and confused.
- Large numbers of staff bumping in to each other, but nothing seems to get done quickly.
- When placing an order on the phone (when I get through) it's like it's the first time the person has taken an order. Confusion, inconsistent. I've had to remind tem to take down my address for delivery.
I will probably keep going back because the food is good - but each time I vow to myself it's the last time dealing with the hassles!
Carpano - the new Negroni
So this past Sunday I made it out to Carpano for dinner, and I have to say it was awesome!
There were 3 of us, and we ended up sitting on the patio as it was a lovely night. The first thing that came out was some warm bread that was amazing - it seemed like it was house made - nice chewy crumb, olive oil, salt, and a bit of rosemary on top. Yummy.
We went a little crazy with the appetizers because we wanted to try a bit of everything. We ended up splitting 5 appetizers between the 3 of us.
First up, the warm olives, great flavour, not too salty, and the orange zest and fennel seeds dusted on top added a great dimension of flavour.
Brushetta - Good tomatoes on very garlicky bread (which was just fine by me!), topped off with a generous shaving of parmesan.
Duck liver pate - a jar of pate came with a nice heap of toasts and a dish of diced pear and mustard seed relish. The pate was yummy, I wasnt a huge fan of the pear relish - seemed too 'watery' for the pate.
Caprese salad - Fantastic fresh summer tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, loose pesto, reduced (and sweet!) balsamic, and olive oil. The perfect late summer salad. Simple but delicious.
Arugula, fennel and grapefruit salad - Again a simple, fresh, tasty salad. The grapefruit was an unexpected, but welcome addition.
For my main I had the rigatoni with beef cheeks. The pasta itself was good, well cooked, but unremarkable. The sauce was like a light gravy, beefy, with hits of sundried tomato. The beef cheeks were tender, flavourful, and had great texture. All of this topped off with shavings of provolone that quickly melted into the pasta. Very satisfying.
My DCs had the spaghetti and meatballs, and the penne with rapini pesto. They seemed to really enjoy their dishes as well.
The restaurant was fairly quiet when we were there - maybe 3 other groups eating.
Our full meal came to $120 (incl tax+tip)for the 3 of us - 5 apps, 3 mains, and soft drinks. A good value with good, solid food.
Rashnaa
I have to admit, I have been a big fan of Rashnaa in the past but I recently ordered from them last week and I wasn't super impressed. Maybe it was an off night.
One of the appetizers - the lentil donut type thing seemed like it had been microwaved, there were really tough parts in it.
The rotty was greasy and kind of limp. The kothu rotty didn't seem to have the same level of 'freshness, spices, and layers of flavour that I've been used to from them.
And the butter chicken was too sweet, and sort of bland.
Anyone else been recently?
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Rashnaa
307 Wellesley St E, Toronto, ON M4X1H2, CA
No Bull Burgers -- Queen and Parliament
I agree - Souvlaki Express is decent. It's close to home for me, and it's our go-to place for straightforward greek food in a hurry.
Eager to see what No Bull Burgers is all about...
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Souvlaki Express
745 Mount Pleasant Rd, Toronto, ON M4S2N4, CA
Bannock (An O&B restaurant)
Has anyone been to eat there yet? The menu looks quite good - some appealing comfort dishes - if, and this is a big if they are executed well.
My Big Fat American Visitors
I thought this was pretty funny - but it is actually sort of a problem I've had before. And it's not just American visitor. I've had friends come and visit from small town Canada and everything here is too spicy, or too ethnic for them.
New Five Guys Burgers Location coming soon!
I drove by on sunday and it was still not open, but it looked like it was ready to go right away.
Spreading more Weezie's love...
It looked like her - she came out quickly to visit with a couple at the bar.
Was she away?
Spreading more Weezie's love...
Hey folks - bumping this thread as I finally went to Weezie's last night.
Overall it was a solid, enjoyable meal. I started out with the frisee salad with the tempura'd egg and lardon. The egg was great, loved the way the runny yolk helped to dress the salad, the lardon were crunchy and delicious and the dressing was perfect. My only thought was that I wasn't a huge fan of the frisee. For me the salad would have been so much better with spinach, or something that could stand up to the egg and lardon. My DCs had the daily soup (split pea with ham), and the mac and cheese as a starter. I stole a bite of the mac and cheese and it was awesome.
For the main, I wanted to have the pork but they were out of that (it was only 6:00 pm!) so I ordered the Whitefish Nicoise instead - and boy am I glad I ended up with the fish.
It was two pieces of perfectly seared fish on top of some greens, green beans, roasted potatoes, olives and a hard boiled egg. It was great - all of the parts worked together to form layers of flavour. I don't know if I just took too long to eat it, but it didn't seem to be piping hot though - I would have prefered if the fish, beans, and potatoes were hot enough to wilt the greens slightly.
I also had a side of the rapini with anchovy butter. Amazing! I wanted to lick the plate.
DCs had the burger, and the steak frites. There were no complaints about the food around the table.
I finished with the malva pudding served with a sliver of ice cream. It was yummy, but I wanted more - a light drizzleof caramel, an actual scoop or quenelle of ice cream, some sauce - something. The dessert felt too restrained.
The service was... well... just ok.
I will be back for sure, solid food, close to home, and decent prices.
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Weezie's
354 King St E, Toronto, ON M5A1K9, CA
ISO: dishes that must be ordered 24 hours ahead
I saw this as well today - it's almost comical how closely the article matches the chowhound thread.
Bistro Camino Closed?
Aha! the vacation explains it. Sort of what I anticipated - Thankfully!
Thanks for the update Musta.
I'll be headed back soon.
Bistro Camino Closed?
Hey all -
This past friday night I was looking forward to a unpretentious, well priced casual meal of good quality comfort food. So of course I headed to Bistro Camino on bloor.
When I got all the way over there it was closed. On a friday night at 7 pm.
So, has anyone been lately?
Are they just on summer vacation? Or are they closed permanently?
We ended up driving all the way back downtown and having a lovely meal at le paradis.
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Bistro Camino
2750 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4C1L7, CA
Restaurants I love, you hate
Agreed. Popeyes is the only choice for fast food fried chicken.
Johnny G's - Cabbagetown
Thanks very much for all the info Googs!
I have been to House on Parliament - once only so far. It was packed, the service was just ok, and I thought the food was decent. I'm really not a fan of packed places / watering holes with surly staff. Not my thing. But the food was decent so maybe I need to go when it's less busy.
I've stoped into Daniel et Daniel and the sides and desserts do look amazing - I will have to try them soon.
Weezie's and Fusili I need to try. Funny thing is we were out the other night looking for somewhere to eat, walked down to Queen, walked east a few blocks but couldn't see anything. We ended up at the greek fast food place at the corner of Queen and Parliament. We should have kept going and we would have made it to Fusili.
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Weezie's
354 King St E, Toronto, ON M5A1K9, CA
Daniel et Daniel
248 Carlton St, Toronto, ON M5A, CA
Johnny G's - Cabbagetown
I'll have to try Cranberries - I haven't been there yet, but it sounds like my type of place!
Johnny G's - Cabbagetown
Has anyone recently been to Johnny G's on Parliament St in Cabbagetown?
Is it Ok? I know that it's not going to be top end cuisine, but is it decent? Or horrid?
I've recently moved into the Cabbagetown hood and I'm looking for decent places to add to our regular rotation of weeknight eating. We eat out way more than we should, 3 - 6 nights a week and it would be nice to find a decent place for 'diner' type food.
Currently we've been eating a lot at Sukhothai (yum!), Ginger, and Rashnaa. Other places we should consider?
Thanks!
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Rashnaa
307 Wellesley St E, Toronto, ON M4X1H2, CA
Sukhothai
274 Parliament St, Toronto, ON M5A, CA
Johnny G's
478 Parliament St, Toronto, ON M4X1P2, CA
Is there better Thai than Sukhothai in Toronto?
Just a quick note here from another Sukhothai fan. I've recently moved into the neighbourhood which allows me to go there on off peak nights to enjoy the food and it is awesome. But waiting for a seat for 40 minutes will try anyone's patience.
I wanted to let people know that they do catering as well and I was very happy with what they produced. Nuit worked with me to develop a menu - it was quite simple as I was just looking for an assortment of appetizers for 25 - 30 people - but she came through big time. Of course there was the famous garlic chicken and some garlic tofu which is equally yummy. We also had the spring rolls that are on the menu. Nuit also made some summer rolls that had lots of fresh veggies, cilantro, mint, and shrimp. Yummy! She also made some deep fried wontons stuffed with a pork mixture, served with a spicy tamarind dip.
All of this made for a fun party - and the cost was amazing, less than $5 per person.
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Sukhothai
274 Parliament St, Toronto, ON M5A, CA
PUPUSAS!
I second the Tacos El Asador recommendation. Great little hole in the wall type of place
New Longos on Bloor
The new longos has been open for a little while now, and I've been twice. One to find dinner type prepared foods, and once to buy general grocery and deli stuff.
I don't think I'll be back. The prices seem to be much higher than they should be, for the same quality products that you can get just a block down the road at valumart, or rabba, or a number of other options.
The selection is weird, the prepared foods aren't that great, and I've gotten attitude from the staff.
I'd much rather walk a few blocks to pusateri to get prepared food that is 100% better in terms of quality, at basically the same price.
Is the pricing the same as other longos?
