Dr Butcher's Profile
Whitby/Durham restaurants that don't suck
I've always preferred the Ajax location of Sushi Mountain, the pieces are massive and admittedly a lot of rice... I've just preferred the flavour there a little more.
Recently I've tended to go to Makimono in Ajax, the Pickering one although remodelled, isn't quite the same.....
I would say to stay away from Tatemono, the new one in the AMC plaza on Consumers, as both times I went I ended up with gastrointestinal issues. This has never been a problem with any other sushi place....
I have yet to try Kobo, but will soon, I haven't had sushi since my last bout of the Tatemonos at Christmas time. ;)
Thanks for the input on the Pattly Shack folks! I have a couple of WagJags burning a hole in my pocket...
NEW Best Pizza in Toronto Thread
Agreed, Pizza Pino for a heavily topped, thuck crust pizza.
Have to give a thumbs up for Fratelli Village Pizzeria and Calabria Bakery (haven't been here in a couple of years though) in Scarborough for thin crust wood oven pizza.
Whitby/Durham restaurants that don't suck
Has anyone tried the Patty Shack in Oshawa? The pics from it's site intrigue me, they recently had a WagJag ($20 dollars of food for $10) so I bit the bullet on a couple.....
http://thepattyshack.ca/
Pig Out BBQ in Pickering
Just noticed this place today as well. Not too sure about who's behind it, or what the menu will look like. I'm assuming rent won't be cheap....
Pickering?
They used to have a spicy beef dish on their lunch special menu I really enjoyed, I usually get the Mee Hoon Goreng, my wife loves the Cashew Chicken. I also really enjoy their Thai chicken wings, I've had them a couple of times, I preferred the hot version over the mild. I also like their squid appetizer and the fried banana dessert.
Scarborough Gems
I wouldn't say they suck, but, they are trying to franchise and have outsourced the production of their hamburgers. I am not sure of the other items on their menu as I haven't tried any of the new offerings.
The burgers still have the same taste but seem smaller than the burgers of old unless you go for one of the bigger offerings. They used to have a prefab steakette like Johnny's or the house made homeburger. Now I believe they have three different sized burger patties and no longer offer the steakette type of patty.
Long ago they ditched their great house cut fries and went to frozen, their burgers are still tasty (if you like a spiced burger patty) and their rings are still great (although greasy).
I still think the flavour and quality is there, they haven't gone down the tubes, saying they suck it a bit far. I bought a few $10 for $5 WagJag coupons from them a while back and have been going to their Scarborough location regularly this past summer. While the burger patties are now formed, they still serve a great burger IMO.
Scarborough Gems
I think all of Shamrock's burgers are 'homeburgers'. They are now outsourced as they are trying to franchise. You can even buy a box of their patties to make at home. They are nice and beefy though, not the 'steakette' type patty you find at most burger joints (before moving up to a 'homeburger').
To me they have what I affectionately call a 'Greek Burger' spicing to them, similar to operations that were started by Greek proprietors. I believe the Real McCoy, Shake Rabble & Roll, Shamrock all have a similar spicing. Shamrock's are, and always have been more heavily spiced, with at the very least, pepper, onion, possibly oregano and other spices. They should be able to provide an ingredient list if they are brought in from a supplier.
I guess it's a matter of preference. I think they are great, I've been eating there since the late 80's and have not noted a drop in quality. In that time, they have switched bread suppliers from Toronto Bread to B&A and it's a shame they moved from home cut fries to pre-fab, they used to have amazing house cut fries as well as their oh-so-artery-cloggingly-good rings.
best burgers in T.O.
Think of a bigger Harvey's burger and you've got Big Boy. Full of filler and gets the overcooked bready crust on the outside to boot. I ate there once, their fries were terrible as well. They tasted like they'd been par-cooked then sat for a few days before final frying.
I will admit they look impressive, the proof is in the taste/texture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/DrButcher/Food/Picture884.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/DrButcher/Food/Picture891.jpg
Hooter1, have you seen them prepare a burger there? Mine was pulled par-cooked from a stainless steel tray and finished on the grill. To make matters worse, the cook then broke the patty in half to make sure it was cooked through. Maybe I should have complimented them on giving me two burger patties for the price of one!
http://estomach.blogspot.com/2009/10/big-boys-burgers-pickering.html
Try, Starr Burger, Shamrock, Shake Rabble and Roll, all in the Durham region. They are all superior. Next up I feel you'll tell me Pete's Big Bite is the second best burger joint in Durham.
Whitby/Durham restaurants that don't suck
That's a shame, I really enjoyed Krispy's. I thought you got great value for the money and it was top quality. One time I went in and a fish wasn't on their menu that day. The owner told me he didn't think the fish quality presented to him was up to par so he didn't buy it.
I didn't enjoy Stanley's nearly as much, and they seem to be expanding.
Cheapest Steaks and Ground Beef in TO
You can usually find some good steaks if you dig through them! ;) I found some hard to pass up rib steaks at a No Frills sale the other week too.
I usually buy whole striploins at Costco and portion myself, but, you can find good meat at grocery store sales if you know what you're looking for.
Whitby/Durham restaurants that don't suck
I recently tried this place after they posted a coupon on WagJag. A very solid burger and fries. They serve what I affectionately call a 'Greek' burger, similar to ones found at Shamrock, the Real McCoy, Big M Burgers etc. They are pre-seasoned with salt, pepper, onion and possibly oregano.
I've been twice, the first time the fries were a little undercooked, the second time a little overcooked. Overall though, a great little place. My SO had an order of poutine that was massive. I was jealous of my plain fries in comparison.
The burger was packed underneath the fries which squished the bun:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/DrButcher/Food/IMG_1904.jpg
Stockyards BBQ
I've only been once, and it was on a scorching hot day last summer when their exhaust fan was overheating and they could only trun it on to cook a large batch of chicken every once in a while. Their menu was minimal and I was drenched with sweat sitting at the bar eating.....
Saying that I loved the fried chicken and the porchetta sandwich I sampled that day. The pulled pork my dining companion had wasn't up to par. I don't like pre-sauced pork.
Just my $0.02
New Five Guys Burgers Location coming soon!
While I tend to agree with some of what you say, what we need are good Canadian owned and operated businesses to employ Canadians. At one time Lick's was great. For some reason, they decided to dumb down their process which hurt quality.
I had a great Burger at 5 guys in Savannah, and I'm looking forward to their arrival, but, not at the cost of running out 'good' local places.
Johnny's serves pre-fab stuff cheap(ish), which is its attraction. Not that it's good. It too employs local people, and has local owners. The Lick's clone (Jetsun) as well. They have their niche, I'd hate to see the downside of American expansion.... Canadian owner operators going down the tubes because of American expansion.
As others have said, vote with your wallet. I have been to Jetsun once, same with Johnny's and South St. I choose not to go back. They are still in business which means someone is still going....
Whitby/Durham restaurants that don't suck
Did a quick revier of Zeera By the Bay (Indian food) here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/101489
Pickering?
I just tried an Indian restaurant called Zeera By The Bay. It's down south on Liverpool Rd behind Big M Burgers and the Petro Canada on the east side. It'd be easy to miss, and, other than locals wouldn't get a lot of drive by business. It actually looks more like a pub on the outside.
I thought the food was great, although oily. The portion sizes were adequate but not huge. So far I think it's the best Indian I've tried in Durham (beating out Mount Everest in Ajax and Signature In Oshawa).
They need to work out the oiliness of the dishes I tried, then I'd probably rave. As it is, it's very solid, not perfect.
http://www.zeeraindiancuisine.ca/
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Mount Everest
611 Kingston Rd W, Ajax, ON L1S6L9, CA
Big M Burgers
711 Krosno Blvd, Pickering, ON L1W1G4, CA
ISO: crawfish in toronto
It's a trek to Vaughan but Seafood Depot has 'em.
I'm worried that they say product of USA and China. I'd look to stick to USA produced crawfish.
http://www.seafooddepot.ca/product-Crawfish
Pickering?
Hmm, this is unfortunate. I've never had bad service from the Ajax location. I actually prefer it to the Pickering location, some dishes are prepared slightly differently here which I like better. Perhaps give them another chance. Saying that, there are other places you can try.
I will look into Kobo Gourmet. I've never tried it.
The Franks Red Hot Frozen Chicken Wings in the Toronto
I was in Costco this afternoon and didn't see them, although, I thought I saw that Pinty's had a Frank's Red Hot logo on the bag.....
Lin Garden: What's good there?
My faves are the crispy beef gam-bien, kan-shue green beans. The chicken pakoras used to be good but the last time I had them they were not cooked through and lacked the flavour they used to have. I also like the manchurian fried rice. Agreed that the chili chicken is not as good as other places, last time I had it it was full of gristle.
The Butcher Shoppe - What do you buy there?
I usually buy whole beef briskets from them, I haven't really tried many other of their products. They are cash only and one time I didn't have change, so, they added a bunch of ribeye steaks that they happened to have on sale on the counter. They were excellent.
My only complaint is you can't really pick and choose, you ask for something and they run back and grab it, you're at their mercy that way.
Five Guys vs. Fuddrucker's burgers (split from Ontario board)
The Fuddruckers I've been to cook on a flat top.
http://randolph.injersey.com/files/2010/10/rrtw-eats3.jpg
http://www.fuddruckers.com/local/images/rand1.jpg
Pickering?
I like Red House Thai. It's a small restaurant, usually packed. I don't know how it compares to some of the bigger named Thai places in the Big Smoke, but I haven't had a bad meal there.... They have some very reasonable lunch specials.
http://www.theredhouse.ca/
ISO pizza flavoured snacks
PC has a pizza flavoured thick cut ripple chip. I tried them and wasn't all that impressed. Give it a go and see!
Royal Meat BBQ (Islington/Queensway)
From what I recall they are pretty proud to let people know they have a veal/pork combo in both their burgers and chevaps. It's not everyone's preference but if they choose to do it that way it's entirely their choice.
Veal is lighter than regular beef which is part of the reason their cooked meat is lighter coloured, partial use of pork is another.... Again, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's how they choose to do it.
I still find it amazing that people don't know that veal is beef. I've never heard of an animal called veal.....
Cheetal Indian in Scarborough?
I used to live around the corner from Cheetal and ate there every few weeks. I moved away 2 years ago and recently went back to discover the same thing. I found a link to a new menu online saying they were opening a new location in July. I called to find out the new location and the owner told me they were still looking and were concentrating on catering for the time being. This was in September. He said to call back in October or November to see if they had found a new place.
http://www.cheetalcatering.com/
I have not found anything that compares in terms of flavour and value in the area. Mount Everest in Pickering might suit your needs. But, their regular takeout containers are what Cheetal served their $5 lunch specials in. Portions are about 1/2 of what Cheetal served for similar pricing.
I have heard good thinga about Anjappar Chettinad at Markham and Eglinton in Scarborough but have yet to go.
http://www.anjapparcanada.com/
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Anjappar Chettinad
3090 Eglinton Ave E, Toronto, ON M1J2H1, CA
Mount Everest
611 Kingston Rd W, Ajax, ON L1S6L9, CA
Best frozen Onion Rings?
If I don't make 'em myself, I like the PC Texas cut ones and the rings from M&M Meat shops.
Shawerma - suggestions for locations in Scarborough, Markham & Pickering
I'll have to try Ibrahim's again, I haven't been in a long while because the Empire has been getting all my business. The last time I was there, the hot sauce didn't add much in the way of flavour, mostly heat.
I always thought they were generous with their portions and especially sauces, which often end up all over my shirt. The saltiness (and I'm not saying SE innocent either) was off the charts sometimes.
I found Nasib's pretty bland in comparison to SE and Ibrahim.
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Nasib's
1867 Lawrence Ave E, Toronto, ON M1R2Y3, CA
Shawerma - suggestions for locations in Scarborough, Markham & Pickering
I started out at Farhat and it was great, I didn't even bother with any of the other locations in the area, over time the place started getting dirtier and falling apart, the lack of storage caused them to store things all over the restaurant (a shopping cart full of pita in the dining area) and then the freshness of their toppings went downhill. Finally their meat always seemed dry and lacked flavour.
I switched to Ibrahim for a while, they are great, other than being a little salty from time to time. I'd give them my business 100% of the time..... If I hadn't run into Shawarma Empire.
SE has a very unique flavour that I don't associate with traditional shawarma. Their hot sauce gives their product an extra layer of flavour that the other local places don't have. I get upset sometimes because I'll go in for lunch and people are ordering 10, 12, 16 shawarmas at a time. It tells you something....
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Shawarma Empire
1823 Lawrence Ave E, Toronto, ON M1R2Y3, CA
Kay's Place near Coboconk
I stopped in earlier this summer. I thought it was an actual place to eat, it's a frozen food store. The owner told me her brother has a food production company and prepares her food for wholesale (souvlaki, spanakopita, tyropita etc). They also sell some of the frozen foods you can find at But 'n' Ben Scottish bakeries.
Apparently the brother's company provides much of the food for taste of the Danforth. At least, this is what I was told.
I've tried the spanakopita, tyropita (done in puff pastry) and sausage rolls, they were good, not OMG this is the best thing ever...... Think of frozen puff pastry sausage rolls from M&M, PC etc. and you've got your comparison.
I make a killer souvlaki so I refuse to pay for frozen. I thought it was a little expensive to boot, convenient or not.....
The owner was really nice and I wish her success. I'd get her appetizers again, the meats..... I won't fork over the dough required...
Source for Hot Dogs and buns used by street vendors?
Toronto Bread in Scarborough makes buns exactly like the ones pictured, they are open to the public and extremely busy. I believe they make burger buns for many mom and pop chains and supply the sesame seed buns you find at many Greek restaurants. Excellent products and a great value.
