Le Kensington

Went for dinner earlier this year...maybe a month or two ago? My friend and I were supposed to go to Torito but everything in the market was packed that night so we wound up here. It was ok, there wasn't anything wrong with the food that I can remember, but I wouldn't go back. We shared beef tartare as an app, I had mussels then mousse, I think she had fish then creme brulee. I remember that the beef tartare was chopped really coarsely, in much bigger pieces than I've had elsewhere. Portion sizes were a bit larger than I expected, flavours of evrything we had was ok. Service was friendly but overall it was a pretty unmemorable meal.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Take Out Windows - Toronto

Scadding Court market? The shipping containers along the south side of Dundas, just east of Bathurst. They're all along the sidewalk and there's plenty of variety.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Hotel Ocho - new Spadina-Queen lounge

I was there for lunch a few weeks ago. Fries are good and I had a chicken parmigana sandwich which was fine (I didn't like the bread though, it was the kind where the outside part of the bun is kind of shiny and you can peel it apart?). I was also there in November for my birthday and we had mixed results on the dinner entrees and tapas platter. The seafood entrees had really well-cooked seafood but one of the sauces was pretty salty and I remember we liked half of the tapas platter but not the other half lol. I agree with John, every time I've been there I've found that the food is fine to good, I haven't actually had anything that was bad.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Broasted Chicken

I tried to order it a few times at Akram's and they never had it - but they did mention that if I told them ahead of time they'd be able to make it, so it might still be an option?

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

2012 Food and Restaurant CHANGES and CLOSINGS

Blue sign Ginger or green sign Ginger? And is there a difference between the blue and green sign Gingers? I've only ever been to blue.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

DEQ afternoon tea?

I have to plan a bridal shower tea for a friend's wedding (a Sunday in May) and noticed that the Ritz has started serving afternoon tea. Has anyone been? I love the space at DEQ but I'm not sure what the food is like. Debating between this and Annona since Annona seems to get the overall nod for best food/value.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Brunch Suggestions To Impress New York Guests

I've been to Marben for brunch a few times and loved it - after Hoof Cafe closed, I pretty much went there or Beast. But no idea what things are like now that Carl left. Dim sum might be a fun alternative?

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Banh Mi Boys

The reno is nice - even when it gets super busy at lunch, the flow of people is a lot better than the previous setup. I think there's a few new menu items from before? I don't remember the squid, duck confit or kimchi fries.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

2012 Food and Restaurant CHANGES and CLOSINGS

i was just there last week? on friday. everything seemed to be running normally.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

New market at Dundas and Bathurst

I just want to encourage everyone to head over and support the market, it's evolved quite a bit since it first opened and is probably now one of my top food-related places to visit because it's so fun. My favourite is Kanto - Filipino food! Downtown! And it tastes great! But you can also now get: Korean, Tunisian, roti, pupusas, plus there's an Indian place which should be opening soon. It's a bit of a wait to get your food but that gives you an excuse to wander to another container and try something else while waiting :) Hours are Tues-Sat, 11-6.

Anyone know when Monforte is open? They've been closed the last few times I went for lunch.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Box office should be fine, I was at the 2pm on Sunday and the theatre wasn't full.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Affordable tasting or prix fix menus in Toronto

You could try Beast, they'll work with you to customize the tasting menu.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Which restaurants do you visit most frequently?

Hm, my most frequented is a mix between my top list and places that are nearby/cheap.

Khao San Road
Woodlot
Beast
To-ne Sushi
Guu (Bloor)
Asian Legend

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Need to impress a VIP client from Las Vegas - recommendations?

What about an Indian or Ethiopian restaurant? You'd have plenty of options, even on a Monday night.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Cocktails before Marben - Friday.

The lobby bar at the Ritz might work too? I went once in September with some friends and we were pretty impressed - good bartenders, great bar snacks (candied bacon!). I'm not sure how prices compare but I don't remember it being too out of line with the other cocktail places around town.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

knife sharpening

No serrated sharpening at Knife - I was there a couple weeks ago with a serrated bread knife trying to get it sharpened lol

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Chowhounds best 10 Resturants in GTA - 2012 version

Woodlot
Marben
Pomegranate
Beast
Khao San Road

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

2012 Food and Restaurant CHANGES and CLOSINGS

Bohemian Gastropub is changing to Lucid Cocktail and Kitchen.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

New year's day brunch poolside/patio?

Thanks for the replies, they're great! Happy holiday chowing :)

ggom1 in Los Angeles Area

New year's day brunch poolside/patio?

Hi, I'll be visiting L.A. with my mom to see family. We're staying in Hollywood at the Magic Castle Hotel and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good new year's day brunch that we could have poolside, or on a patio with a nice view? I'm coming down from Toronto so I thought it would be nice to eat outdoors while I can :) We will not have a car so may be relying on public transit/taxis - but if we're dining with family, they all have cars so we'd be more mobile. I'd prefer to find a place that we can get to without a car, in case it's just the two of us. Type of food and price don't matter, we're flexible on both.

ggom1 in Los Angeles Area

Tiffinday Delivery

My coworker and I ordered once a couple months ago. No issues with delivery. I forgot exactly what we had but remember that we liked the curry and cookies a lot but weren't keen on the appetizer ('wheels' of some sort?). The portions were a lot bigger than we expected - we each ordered the appetizer, thinking that each item was a single-serving type portion but two people could probably comfortably share one appetizer and one main.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Winterlicious 2012 menus are out - anything CH worthy?

FYI, Scarpetta signature Sundays offers the same menu I think. I remember that the Sunday menu has the polenta and spaghetti and is $35. So if that's what you're interested in trying, you might be better off going on a Sunday instead of during Winterlicious. (no matter when you go, it's definitely worth going just for the polenta - so good!)

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Banh Mi Boys

Back from lunch! Figured it's worth starting a new thread for this place since they have Korean tacos.

Five spice pork belly banh mi and a kalbi beef taco, split between me and a friend. We both definitely preferred the Korean taco - I think it was $3.99 for one decent-sized taco. Loved that they don't use a normal taco, it's more like one of those Chinese pancakes? The banh mi was $5.99 - it was good, but not as exciting (seems a bit bigger than a Chinatown bahn mi?). I'm definitely going back to try more of the menu. I feel it's slightly pricey but the food is interesting and we liked what we had. I'm not sure how often I'd get banh mi from them since there's a lot of options for banh mi, but I am for sure going back for tacos! From what I remember, the beef taco had kalbi, red bean paste, cabbage, jalapeno and another type of sauce on it.

They were at the downtown T&T night market a couple months ago, so people may have tried their food already. They also sell steamed buns (those little sandwich ones).

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Openings 2011

Banh Mi Boys has opened on Queen, slightly west of Spadina. A few doors past the McDonalds, where a shawarma place used to be. I think that Banh Mi Boys was at the downtown T&T night market? They have Korean tacos on the menu (website is pretty blank but their twitter seems to be updated frequently).

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Dining at the bar at EMP

I accidentally ate dinner at the bar this summer and have been meaning to post about it. It started raining while I was nearby, so I popped into the bar and thought I'd have a drink. I ordered an orange julius and received the same bar snacks kathryn mentioned. Then I decided to order a main course (tagliolini with alaskan king crab, black pepper and lemon) and was surprised at how large it was when it arrived. I would say it was a true entree-sized portion. I didn't order dessert but a range of complimentary sweets appeared; jellies, chocolates and a mini macaron from what I remember. I was stuffed at the end - I thought I'd just be snacking but it wound up being a full dinner. The pasta is actually among my favourite dishes out of what I've tried at EMP, so I'd happily go back. Personally, I think the only downside to the bar for me was that they didn't serve gougeres lol. And I think that eating at the bar, with the bar menu, is worth it for people who want to try EMP but aren't able to eat in the main dining room - you get similar elements of the dining room experience, just scaled down.

-----
Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010

ggom1 in Manhattan

Inexpensive french bistro in Toronto??

Last time I was at Jules was probably a few months ago, I've liked them since they opened. It's been pretty consistent over the years in terms of food/prices/service/vibe.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

The Beast Tasting Menu - Whole Beast

You have to contact them in advance; I usually ask about a month before booking a tasting menu since they can get pretty busy but I don't think there's a set amount of time that you need to book in advance. I think it kind of depends on the number of people and type of tasting menu you wanted to arrange.

The regular menu can be shared, but I've found the entrees to be pretty well sized for individual dining. The dishes are often pretty heavy so you can get full fast, even during happy hour.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Foodstock - October 16th near Shelburne

Yeah I was totally amazed by how the event turned out. I arrived really early since I was on the first bus, and there wasn't much set up when I got there, so it was great seeing how everything came together. Luckily, I was there early enough to try a lot of things before the lines got too long - by that time I was stuffed so half of my time was spent just roaming and enjoying the atmosphere. The pb/bacon jam sandwich was actually my favourite - the pb was made from both bacon fat and duck fat I think? Lol

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Marben's Pig Night - Oct 30

Yeah it's awesome, I went with some friends a couple months ago. Drinks weren't included when we went; I don't think dessert is included either. I don't think we got the corn, but we did get sweet potatoes and beans as some of our sides; everything we had was really good. I'd recommend reserving in advance, it was pretty full when we went.

ggom1 in Ontario (including Toronto)