ctl98's Profile
Cott Black Cherry Soda
I ordered mine from mrcase.com. I also order Eska sparkling water from there (my favourite brand).
iso Speculoos spread
it's this store:
http://www.montrealplus.ca/montreal/venues/la-vieille-europe
enjoy!
Peking Duck for TWO - Emperor, Brilliant, Other?
I like it much better than chung king, peking man, and the now defunct bright pearl. The skin was crisp and light (if you could duck skin that) and the pancakes were not too thick nor too thin. Try it and let me know what you think!
Peking Duck for TWO - Emperor, Brilliant, Other?
I agree. Downtown, my choice would be Crown Princess. Although after having had the Monday special at Emperor, I've stopped eating anywhere else!
Peking Duck for TWO - Emperor, Brilliant, Other?
I love Peking duck too! I think the duck at Brilliant is marginally better (and bigger) but the service and ambience are much better at Emperor.
The best butter and eggs available?
I like Stirling creamery butter, which is available in many natural food stores and the usual suspects (Pusateri's, McEwan, etc). For eggs, I've been happy with Rowe's farms free range eggs, which is available in the organics section of Real Canadian Superstore.
Both are readily available in places close to me to so that's a bonus.
Yogourt (machine type) places in midtown..
Just saw a new Menchie's on York Mills and Don Mills, same plaza as Artisano, Wonder Pho, etc.
Santouka is coming
So exciting! Had Santouka when I went Vancouver a couple of months ago. Can't wait!
Lucky peach issue #1 in Toronto?
Just bought issues 1 and 2 at The Cokkbook Store on Yonge and Yorkville.
solo toronto hound: first time in vancouver
Grayelf, things got so busy that I couldn't coordinate everything before I left! Next time, maybe I can join some hounds for that izakaya crawl. Cheers!
solo toronto hound: first time in vancouver
Thanks for the input! I just arrived from a wonderful food-filled (and work-filled) weekend in Vancouver. I ended up renting a car so I was able to do quite a bit in your gorgeous city. Here's where I ended up...
Got in on Friday night and walked to Hawksworth. Sat at the bar and met a few nice people. The bartender made me a wonderful cocktail called 24 flowers...not on the menu but I asked him to suprise me. It was lovely, floral, citrusy and complex. To eat, I decided on two apps...the scallops with chowder foam and the maple sweet breads. The scallop dish was outstanding. Scallops were perfectly seared, pickled onions added a night bright acid note against the creaminess of the foam and the scallops. The sweetbreads were perfectly cooked, crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. Just lovely. The place itself is a bit "scene-y" but it was Friday night so I guess that's to be expected.
Saturday was a work day but I snuck out for lunch to walk to Japadog (Burrard and Smithe). Ordered the beef terimayo and kurobota okonomi. I only ate 2/3 of each but I couldn't decide and I know I wanted to try both so I ordered two! I preferred the okonomi, but the beef was good too. I liked the snap of the casing of the pork hotdog and I've always loved the real okomiyaki, so maybe that's why I enjoyed it more.
Saturday dinner was at Zakkushi. I probably had ten sticks of yakitori, plus gomaae, fried chicken skin, and grilled capelin fish. Sat at the bar and met a guy from Vegas who sounded like he was into food as well. Enjoyed comparing notes with him. I'm so sad we don't have a yakitori joint like this in Toronto. I really, really, really enjoyed my meal here and would have gone back if I had more time!
Sunday morning, I grazed around Granville Market and ended up bringing home so much stuff from Oyama. Also brought home 2 big bags of granola from Stuarts. I then had an early lunch at Rangoli and had the lamb curry. This was very good, but not much different that what I could get back here probably. Next time, I will make time and try Vij's for the full experience :)
After driving through Stanley park, I had my second lunch (haha!) at Santouka Ramen. As suggested, I had the toriniku with a smaller serving of ramen. Really, really good!!! The toriniku practically melts in your mouth! The broth was outstanding and as I was slurping through the last of my noodles, I almost wished I had ordered the regular bowl!
My last meal was dinner at L'Abattoir. Sat at the bar and because it was a Sunday, the bar was very quiet and I was able to chat with Shaun who is just the nicest guy. Friendly, but not in your face. Chatty but not overly familiar. I liked him so much I left my cocktail choices completely up to him. He made me two drinks, the first one on the menu (Gastown Swizzle) and the second one he made up on the fly. I had the scallops for my main and because there was apple in the scallop dish, he made up a cocktail based on apple brandy and pear something (along with probably half a dozen more things!). Delicious! For my food, I decided to compare to the meal I had at Hawksworth so I had the sweetbreads on toast to start. I liked the balance of flavors of this dish with the gribiche providing hints of salt and tang to play off the creaminess of the sweetbreads. For my main, I had the scallops, which was a very generous portion!...5 large scallops and 3 or celeriac "croquettes". This came with some very lovely charred salsify. All in all a very good dish. I think the food was a very tiny bit better at Hawksworth but I enjoyed my meal so much more at L'Abattoir.
I think my favorites from this trip were Zakkushi and L'Abattoir. Would definitely go back to those places in the future. I had so many places on my to-try list but I guess those will have to wait until the next trip :)
So there...definitely a wonderful weekend! Thanks, hounds!
solo toronto hound: first time in vancouver
Hi! I'm coming to Vancouver for the first time (gasp!) and have a few meals to plan (3 dinners and 1 lunch). I'll be dining solo but would really like to make the most of my trip. So far, I have planned:
1. An izakaya crawl (whoch ones should I hit?)
2. Salt
3. L'abbatoir (too weird to dine alone here?)
4. Japadog
5. Bluewater
I wanted to try Hawksworth but might be to fancy for a solo diner? I'd like to find things I may not be able to find (or find well) in Toronto. I'll be staying downtown but would be open to short cab rides. Will likely walk around Gastown and Yaletown. Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome! Thanks!
ISO fantastic restaurant in north / NE area of Toronto
Just a little south of where you want to be but Fabbrica would be an option too. They have an area that's separate from the rest of the dining area that would give you some privacy as well. I know it's not a favorite on this board but ive been about 10 times and have never had a bad experience. I'd certainly much rather eat there than centro or wildfire. Not cheap but the food is well executed. Pizzas are excellent, pastas are good to excellent and mains are well executed as well. Plus their pear sorbet is amazing.
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Fabbrica
49 Karl Fraser Road, Toronto, ON M3C0E5, CA
Well cut Sushi Toronto
I live closer to Mikado but still choose to travel all the way to Zen for my nigiri. Shari is much better at Zen and I've never had a single piece of sushi that was off. I remember I had an off piece of uni in Mikado once. Not horrible, but not good either.
Given that the pricing is comparable for Zen and Mikado, I'd say Zen hands down :)
Dinner near Edmonton Delta South
Thank you to all who gave their input. I just wanted to come back and let you know that I ended up in Corso32 and had a very nice dinner. I started with the grilled cheese with egg, truffles and roasted green onions. Wonderful combination of flavours! I loved this so much I'm now thinking of duplicating it at home.
I had the bucatini all' Amatriciana for my main and sad to say it was not as good as my appetizer. My pasta was a tiny bit too al dente and the sauce was good but not great. Looking at what the other people ordered, maybe I should have done the pumpkin ravioli.
Had no more room for dessert :( With a glass of prosecco and a glass of red, my total came to $58 before tip. I would happily come back if I were in town again but only after trying some of the other suggestions on this board. Thanks Edmonton hounds!
Dinner near Edmonton Delta South
Thanks for the input! Funny because I actually live near Don Mills/Eglinton so I know what it's like to have to travel for good food :)
I'll take a cab to the Whyte Ave area and venture there, I think. I'll check all the recs and will report back when I get home!
Dinner near Edmonton Delta South
I was hoping for something like black hoof, beast, marben, foxley, Acadia...nota bene is one of my go-to nice places so something along that line works too!
Dinner near Edmonton Delta South
Hi! I'm going to be in Edmonton for a conference and have 1 (maybe 2 dinners). I'm staying at the Delta Edmonton South and was hoping for suggestions for dinner. I've never been to Edmonton and would like to try something unique to the place. I'm willing to take a short cab ride.
I'm from Toronto and I'm open to any kind of cuisine and any budget. I'd love to hear some suggestions so that hopefully I won't have to eat in my hotel!
Thanks!!
iso Speculoos spread
Finally! I've been having a friend in Montreal buy it there for me ($5.95 for smooth and $7 for crunchy). Now I can buy some myself!!! Thanks for the tip :)
Good fancy Japanese restaurant in Toronto?
I'd suggest Zen then if Kaji is not an option. Just make sure you get seats at the bar. If your girlfriend likes sushi and sashimi, I'm sure you guys will have a great meal there!
Good fancy Japanese restaurant in Toronto?
Zen is my favorite Japanese restaurant in Toronto but Kaji feels more celebratory, maybe because it's a mutlicourse meal so it's longer and feels more special. If you want just sushi though, Zen is the place to go. Since it's a special occasion, sit at the bar and order the omakase ($50). Seichi-San and Jackie will serve you the sushi one by one and it's feels much more special than getting one whole plate at the same time.
I have to warn you though that Zen is located in a non-descript strip mall (come to think about it, so is Kaji). So ambience is not the most upscale for either one even of the food is certainly top notch.
Wherever you end up, have a great time!
How do you use white truffle oil?
I absolutely love it in soups...potato, sweet potato, butternut squash, mushroom, cauliflower. It really enhances anything that has an earthy flavor component to it.
And of course, fries :)
Momofuku ssam bar's broccoli with smoked bluefish vinaigrette
I had this a couple of weeks ago while I was visiting NYC and I can't stop thinking about it! I've tried googling the recipe. Couldnt find anything. It's not in the Momofuku cookbook either. Does anyone have any idea what goes into this dish?
Diana's Seafood opening restaurant
No wine today, elvisahmed but when I go back for dinner I will for sure have some. They 5-6 red and white wines by the glass and another 5-6 by the bottle. I think they may have had a prosecco too. They also had a few beers, IIRC.
Diana's Seafood opening restaurant
I was there for lunch today and thankfully my experience was much more pleasant than that. Yes, service wasn't flawless, which is understandable. But our food was served promptly, our waters refilled and 3 servers came to our table to make sure we had all our orders.
I had a dozen malpeques (for a bargain price of $17.76) and had the lobster sandwich as well. The lobster sandwich was very nice, the lemony dressing adding just the acidity to the sandwich. Have I had better lobster rolls? Yes. But all in all, it was an experience I certainly would repeat.
I do hope they sort out they issues because I would hate to see them close. I agree though that the menu is a bit ambitious. I would rather see 3 or 4 things that change based on what's fresh that day, prepared perfectly rather than the same mediocre food again and again.
I have to admit, I haven't tried the dinner menu, but at least the sandwiches we had for lunch today were more than competent...and reasonably priced. I would come back, even if it's just to have a couple of dozen oysters and some wine.
Birthday LUNCH for two - need suggestions for a good, inexpensive place in Downtown, TO.
How about Marben? I've only been there a couple of times but both times my dining companion and I enjoyed it. The burger is quite good! Beef patty filled with braised beef rib :)
Gilead Cafe is another choice. Cozy, casual and not too busy. JK fries always hit the spot and the menu changes with the seasons. The last time I was there, I had an excellent ramp soup.
Beer Bistro..Worth a Visit?
It depends what you order, I suppose. I really, really, really like their fries and the mussels as well. So I usually go for a glass of beer and mussels and fries. Everything else I've tried there has been ok to above average. Some are a bit overpriced though (like those appetizer tacos).
thoughts on my dinner party menu
I could eat #1 for dinner too, Danna! I'm making it more for me than my guests actually :)
