Tony Calgary's Profile
4 Days in Madrid for An Engagement Anniversary Meal -- HELP!!
Thanks for all the fantastic advice guys -- I can't wait to leave for Madrid and try out as many of these suggestions as possible! Will try to report back as soon as we get back!!
p.s. if there are any last minute suggestions definitely send them -- will check every day before we leave!
4 Days in Madrid for An Engagement Anniversary Meal -- HELP!!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions -- I'm getting hungry thinking about our trip already!!
One last thing I forgot -- last time my wife was in Europe, she had some fantastic porchetta, does anyone have an recommendation or two where the best options in Madrid are? (if any)
4 Days in Madrid for An Engagement Anniversary Meal -- HELP!!
Thanks for the great suggestions Erica & JuanDoe!
Do we need reservations for any of the above?
Also is dinner generally a late starting thing? If yes, what time should we slot for dinner?
4 Days in Madrid for An Engagement Anniversary Meal -- HELP!!
Sure!
Where (and what) would you suggest instead?
4 Days in Madrid for An Engagement Anniversary Meal -- HELP!!
Hello Chowhounders,
I've been lucky enough in the past to ask for help and receive great advice from fellow chowhounders on where to eat -- especially for my proposal & honeymoon to my girlfriend & now wife. As this will be the first time we'll be away during the anniversary of our engagement, I wanted to make sure we had some fantastic places lined up to eat for our special day coming up at the end of November.
I've combed the boards and the following names / recommendations stood out. I was hoping for some suggestions on where to go in Madrid as well as your latest thoughts on the places below!
Thanks in advance for your help -- I look forward to finding the perfect places to go in Madrid!!
Here were four options that looked particularly appetizing! Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on these and/or alternatives that you think are better!!
1. Paella -- Casa Benigna at Calle Benigno Soto 9
2. Tapas -- Casa Lucas
3. Jambon / Cured Black Hoof -- Stop Madrid
4. Michelin starred -- Diverxo
We love great food in many ways and don't want to miss anything amazing that might be in Madrid. For reference, some of our favorite meals were at Momofuku Ko in NYC and the "No Salmon in this House" place in the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. We also had a great visit to Jose Andres Jaleo restaurant in Washington DC that we would love to eclipse with a seminal Spanish experience in Madrid!!
Hope to hear from JuanDoe and the rest of the Spain board regulars!
Sunday Brunch: Medina vs Provence Marinaside vs Lift vs ????
Our original plan for brunch was Medina, but unfortunately, they don't take reservations.
So is it:
1. Worth the wait with no reservations (for a group of 4) for Medina
2. Go to Provence Marinaside or Lift instead
3. Alternate suggestion?
If the Vancouver Chowhounders could help us out with the wheres and whys for Sunday brunch for a group of 4, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Tony :)
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
Visited Globe Bistro on Friday, where we ordered the Elk Broth & Salumi plate for appetizers, Roasted Wellington Country Rib & Braised Rabbit for mains and had the Walnut Butter Tart, Espresso Chocolate Mousse Cake and a taste of the Goat's Milk Panna Cotta.
The most outstanding things on the menu were the Salumi plate & the Braised Rabbit.
Overall the food was solid and the service was good. If you're curious about visiting them for Winterlicious, I'd give them a definite yes, but while two items were very good, I wouldn't put them in the "must visit"category. I'll try to post a more complete review (cribbed from my wife's blog) later this week, but I wanted to at least put something up for those curious about the Globe Bistro.
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Globe
124 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M4K1N1, CA
Honeymoon in San Francisco - Eating Tour Suggestion, $1000 Budget for 4 days
Ooops, important omission - thanks for that wolfe!
Our lunch at the Grill at the Meadowwood was fantastic though and if you're in the area, I think it's one of the best spots for lunch!
Honeymoon in San Francisco - Eating Tour Suggestion, $1000 Budget for 4 days
We went to the Grill at the Meadowwood for our meal. They have different phone numbers, different entries on OpenTable to book, different menus and different entrances, but they're actually both in the same building!
Once you get to reception (if I remember correctly), there's a path up to the Restaurant at the Meadowwood and there's a path down to the Grill at the Meadowwood. It's a bit confusing as I read it, but it's easy to find once you're there!!
Hope that helps!
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
With Winterlicious starting on Friday, if you visit a great restaurant, please post a quick (or a not so quick) review here so that we can share where the best Winterlicious experiences are with each other.
Thanks in advance everyone!
Beast Restaurant
We went back in August and the food was terrific! Definitely worth a stop if in the neighbourhood and one of the most underrated places in Toronto for a meal! Chowhounders - we need to spread the word!!
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
Hi all, just thought I'd do a summary post of all the restaurants listed in this thread to make it easier for people checking in before Winterlicious starts.
All the restaurants in the thread are listed here with a quick summary of the comments. I've also tried to pin all of them too.
Keep the suggestions coming - we'll try to update the list as we go. Also, if you visit one of the restaurants for Winterlicious, please post your review here!
Arcadian Court - good Christmas brunch experience, so going to try it again for Winterlicious.
Auberge du Pommier - several positive reviews for Winterlicious and general CH board love.
Biff's Bistro - good reviews by most, including past Winterlicious experiences, though OP had a bad service experience (though good food).
Bymark - good past experience and considered an excellent value over regular prices for Winterlicious.
Canoe - loved by many and though reservations are tough to find, canadianbeaver mentioned that they were able to get a reservation a few days ago (Jan. 19). Could be that they are opening up more spots or that people who made reservations early are now cancelling. Worth a try to get a reservation if you haven't been.
Celestin - interesting menu and shown some non-Winterlicious love on CH boards.
Globe Bistro - interesting menu and shown some regular menu love on CH boards.
Jump - another O&B recommended, but most are opting to try other O&B restaurants first.
Mildred's Temple Kitchen - a little difficult to find the entrance, but Winterlicious food & service was very good.
North 44 - universally loved with gushing reviews for Winterlicious.
Oliver & Bonacini - recommended by several, but since it's so common, many thought that it should be saved for post-Winterlicious to visit.
Senses - menu looks delicious, good reviews on past Winterlicious and Summerlicious experiences.
Victoria's at the King Edward - good past experience at King Eddy by one member, so going to try Victoria's for Winterlicious.
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Globe
124 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M4K1N1, CA
Celestin
623 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON M4S 2M9, CA
Jump
18 Wellington St. West, Toronto, ON M5L 1G4, CA
Canoe
54th Floor TD Bank Tower, 66 Wellington, Toronto, ON M5K 1H6, CA
Auberge Du Pommier
4150 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M2P 2C6, CA
North 44
2537 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2H9, CA
Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA
Senses
328 Wellington Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3T4, CA
Arcadian Court
401 Bay St, Toronto, ON M5H, CA
Oliver & Bonacini
2901 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M2K 1E6, CA
Mildred's Temple Kitchen
85 Hanna Avenue, Toronto, ON M6K 3S3, CA
Biff's Bistro
4 Front St. E, Toronto, ON M5E 1B2, CA
Victoria's Restaurant @ Le Meridien King Edward Hotel
37 King Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1E9, CA
Chowhound's Own Top 10 Restaurants of GTA
Are we close to our first top 10 report yet? Votes are until Jan. 31, right? Thanks in advance shekamoo!
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
That's great news! We look forward to your report! Any other Winterlicious recommendations / reservations that you've made?
Bringing the SO to Toronto for the first time, looking for advice...
I think Guu (if you haven't had the Izakaya in Vancouver before) is the most different (and excellent) experience if you can muster it for Saturday. Since it's extremely busy, I'd recommend lining up before it opens at 5 pm. There's really nothing that compares in outside of Vancouver.
The other suggestion I'd make is Korean -- there are a multitude of great Korean places in Toronto, so I'd do Korean for a meal if you could -- it's much better than anywhere else you'll find in Canada. I'll leave it up to the board to recommend one as I haven't lived here long enough to sample more than a couple of dozen of them!
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Guu
398 Church Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2A2, CA
Recommendations for high-end Chinese in Richmond Hill
Love the topic! Now if there weren't any quasi-"kosher" restrictions, are there any restaurants missing from skyline's list?
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
After digging through all the posts here on Chowhound & on some of the associated blogs, we finally decided on Globe Bistro & Celestin to go with our reservation at Auberge du Pommier.
I'm sure my wife will have fun blogging all about it too! :p
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Celestin
623 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON M4S 2M9, CA
Cheap food in/near Union Station or Eaton Centre after 10pm
O & B Cafe is just across the street from Union Station if you're looking for sit-down convenience, or if you want fancy take out, Japango makes excellent sushi (for Toronto anyways) and is located next to Yueh Tung.
If you're lucky when you get in, they might still be open as sometimes they seem to be open a bit later when it's busy!
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Japango
122 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G1P5, CA
Yueh Tung
126 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G, CA
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
AMEX reservations are definitely the way to go for the high demand places for sure! Look forward to hearing about your Canoe Winterlicious experience!
We've been to Mildred's in the past and other than it's a bit tricky to find the entrance, food was good. Haven't been back since though since it's a little far from the core. What caught your eye on the menu? Don't remember what they were offering offhand.
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
Definitely a good strategy and while I think it's still worth it the rest of the time, North 44 is a bargain at Licious prices!
I look forward to any Bymark reviews for Winterlicious as I'm always curious, but can never find the menu compelling enough.
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North 44
2537 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2H9, CA
Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
Look forward to your report on Biff's - as I mentioned above, we had a terrible service experience that put us off the decent food we had. Hopefully your experience will be better.
Curious to why you chose Victoria's and Arcadian Court - I don't remember anything about their menus when I was scanning the menus quickly.
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Arcadian Court
401 Bay St, Toronto, ON M5H, CA
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
Ok, I think Auberge has reached critical mass. Called and booked a reservation there!
Haven't been to too many of the O&B restaurants for and Licious events before as we've been before and want to explore, but I think that's a good point for WInterlicious newbies.
I've been to Biff's for non-WInterlicious times -- food was good, but our service was just terrible. Haven't been back since, though it's true that CH has given it some good reviews.
Where are you planning to go TorontoJo?
Cheap food in/near Union Station or Eaton Centre after 10pm
10 pm is a tight time. If you love Indian - you could try to order from Amaya beforehand, pre-pay and have them deliver to the hotel.
Banjara is another option for ordering in, but again, you're tight on time as I think they close at 10:30 pm.
If you get in before 10 pm, go to Kenzo - just west of Bay and Dundas and about a block from the hotel.
Those are my initial thoughts.
... while neither restaurant is outstanding, rather than Yueh Tung, I'd go to Hong Shing just a block or so further west on Dundas.
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Banjara
796 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6G1L7, CA
Yueh Tung
126 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G, CA
Kenzo
138 Dundas St. W., Toronto, ON , CA
Amaya
1574 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON M4G3B7, CA
Quarter Century Birthday Celebration in Toronto
I think Origin would fit the bill - it's small plates (lots of sharing), right downtown so you can head out for drinks and/or dancing after and delicious.
Winterlicious LOVE only - Where are the MUST eats?
Would love to hear what your other choices were & why!
I've heard so-so things about Canoe, so I look forward to what you think if you are able to grab a reservation last-minute.
I've been to Senses for Winterlicious/Summerlicious in the past and it was very good and the menu this year looks excellent, so I think you'll be good there.
Winterlicious 2011 menus are out
Hmmm - I'll keep that in mind for this summer. In general, people who have been to Canoe during Licious events don't like it as much as they do on their usual visits. Perhaps how they approach it has changed. Look forward to hearing about your experience!
Winterlicious 2011 menus are out
I think that North44 is the best value of any of the 'Licious offers out there. We've been several times and the service and food is at the same levels as non-Winterlicious times -- which is exceptional.
The menu this year isn't a particularly exciting read, but I'm sure if you book there this year - you'll have a fantastic experience.
Any other "GREAT" experiences out there?
Winterlicious 2011 menus are out
By most reports - Canoe just isn't worth the effort during any Licious events. Best advice I'd seen is to try them for lunch and call a day or two in advance of the Winterlicious day you want to go and sometimes there's a cancellation for lunch. Otherwise, most say to avoid.
Winterlicious 2011 menus are out
Have also visited Senses during a 'Licious - thought they did an excellent job and food was great. Menu this year for Winterlicious once again looks solid, so I'd definitely endorse a visit if you haven't been before.
Winterlicious 2011 menus are out
Been to Mistura in non-Licous times and the food was great. I'd definitely try them for a Winterlicious visit.
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Mistura
265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J9, CA
