mutant4's Profile
Looking for Dim Sum Place in Toronto Chinatown
Sky Dragon. In the Dragon centre, southwest corner of Spadina/Dundas. Take elevator to the top.
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Sky Dragon Restaurant
280 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5T3A5, CA
Motzei Shabbat Kosher Deli NYC
LIebman's in Riverdale is one of the best kosher delis around. Not Glatt though, in case that's essential.
Gelato
Has anyone checked out Wild Thing, on Harbord just east of Bathurst? It's a new, small cafe with homemade gelato. Incredible. Flavors like Mayan chocolate, halvah, pineapple basil, and real coconut are made daily. Their espresso is to die for. Serious!
What's so great about Schwartz's?
Every other delicatessen, not to mention restaurant, in the entire country/continent/world has changed, compromised, sold out, sold up, expanded, and lost focus of their original intention over the years. Schwartz's has not. They've stayed stubbornly true to the original formula and that's the reason why it is so universally respected.
cooking classes?
the famed ritz escoffier school, basically the real life set of ratatouille, offers day, afternoon, even lunch classes.
Convival but Chattable Downtown
very partial to Niagara street cafe for intimate times
The Rascal House and Pumpernik's (Miami)
Just a sad note. Rascal House will be closing this coming sunday forever. Done. Finished. Dead. Gone.
http://www.savethedeli.com
ATTENTION RAMEN LOVERS!
I've been lunching at a great place called iNoodle, on Bloor, between Palmerston and Euclid (2 west of Bathurst). It opened in the late fall, and it basically specializes in Ramen. Now, I'm not an expert, and only had authentic ramen a few times in Japan, but I have to say that it is the best I've eaten in the city. The various broths (soy, miso, pork) have distinct flavors, the noodles have body, and the pork is sliced by hand and roasted every day. they even have the little bits of coloured fish cakes.
check it out.
Fat Phil's Marlee no more-R.I.P
went with my dad as a kid and all the time in high school. i remember my brother and i splitting a burger and playing the super mario game in the front section (at the sit down table). I also ate gyros there, every night, for three months, when i was in rehearsals for a high school play.
RIP indeed.
Business Lunch near Harbord & Spadina
Olive and Lemon (mediterranean)
Tati Bistro (french)
There's a bakery/cafe, around Brunswick/Harbord called Dessert Trends
Boulevard Cafe (Peruvian)
Splendido (super posh, not sure if open for lunch)
There's also a middle eastern place nearby. Most are on the first two or three blocks west of spadina.
Oysters?
those are the standards. I've had starfish...excellent. don't know OB, but i've heard good things.
Making a Shiva Call this evening
Most of the delicatessens in LA will cater shiva meals with more than just pastrami and corned beef. Brent's, Factor's, Junior's, Nate n' Al's, and Fromin's will all offer various hot meals and platters that you can order and have delivered. That's the traditional thing to do.
Looking for the best smoked meat in Toronto
In terms of pure smoked meat, in Toronto you should only go to Centre Street.
Any others aren't worth mentioning, though i will not to Dunn's and Mel's strictly because they are so awful. If you wish to see how bad smoked meat can be, then do check them out.
The meat at Centre Street is the same as Snowdon Deli in Montreal. They use a specialized Lester's product, steam the shit out of it, then HAND CUT it. My parents are ex-Montreal Jews and they and their ilk all gather at Centre St. on Sundays.
In terms of the rest of the city's delis, the top of the heap are Pancer's, Coleman's, and Yitz's. I've heard decent things about New Yorker Deli on Bay and mixed on Katz's. The further it is from Bathurst, the more skeptical you should be.
http://www.savethedeli.com
RIP Al Langer, Founder of Langer's Deli
Truly a legend in the field of delis. HIs pastrami is unequaled in the world, and I only thank the lord that his son Norm has the helm and will follow his father's footsteps with the utmost of care and love.
http://www.savethedeli.com
Quintessential Montreal?
simple:
besides Schwatz's (must go)
-Wilenskky's : for fried salami "special"
-Arahova: for amazing souvlaki/ greek salad
-Duc de L'orraine: for French patisserie
-Oranje Julep: for a steamie and an oranje julep in your car
-Centre St. Deli: for mohn cookies and a club roll
-Lester's: for smoked turkey
-Gibby's: ribsteak
-Fattouch: Lebanese
-Thai Grille: fried whole snapper
-Beauty's: Brunch...either mish mash omelette or the bagel/lox/cc "special"
bon App.
Liebman's Deli - Bronx, NY - a Chowhound Recco pans out
Liebman's is amazing. Possibly the best deli in the new york area. Their tongue is to die for and you could just plotz over the hush puppies and mini knishes.
Big Lebowski Party
cups of Ralph's coffee
pigs in blankets
lingonberry pancakes
bottles of beer
peanuts
Special food during Brazilian Carnival
I loved the grilled chicken hearts (coracao) that I got in Rio's Lapa area, underneath the arches as I danced pagoge and sucked back one cold Skol after another. Most Cariocas (rio people) refer to the grilled skewers as "churrasco de gato", which basicall means grilled cat. A joke. I pray.
In Salvador, the best is Acaraje, which I can only describe as a shrimp sandwich with shrimp paste in a large falafelike patty. Tasty. They also have a drink which is the umburoska, a caipirinha with the umbu berry fruit and vodka. Nossa!
Grass-fed beef vs. Grain Fed beef
I lived in Argentina for 2 years and Brazil for 1, where beef is king and all of it is grass fed. Hmmmm...how to put this best.
America is the land of corn fed. Corn fed processed foods, corn fed cows, and corn fed people. This results in corn fed asses, hence the expression "She's a corn fed farm girl", which usually doesn't imply lean. Read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilema" on the concequences for our health and environment of cheap corn dominating our food supply. Scary.
South America is the land of grain fed. The asses and health of people reflect that. And so do the beef.
When I lived in Buenos Aires, I ate steak at least 4 times a week. The steak is cooked slowly, over wood coals, and is redder, leaner, and tastes cleaner than grain fed beef. Even on "Lomo", which is filet, the meat is tender, juicy, and lean. I could eat 3x the amount of beef that I would eat back home (say 30 or 40 oz) and feel fine...go out and party or surf or do work.
When I returned home it was a kick in the gut. The first steak I had (a decent supermaket sirloin) was like eating beef soaked in water. It tasted bland and though the fat ribbon on the side was flavorful, the meat itself was tough. Even at great steakhouses, like G and Georgetti's in Chicago, I've yet to find something that equals what my cheap neighborhood place in Argentina could deliver.
Grass fed, all the way. Cows weren't born to eat corn any more than they were born to eat ground up dead cattle. Nature tates best the way it was designed.
top chef-- season 3!
whatchu talkin' about fool! Gail is the best and most knowledgeable judge on the panel hoss, and though she lacks the legs of Padme and the bald crown of Tom, she's got the chops.
SiSi's in Thornbury
my parents went, they ate there for years and said it's actually better than ever.
Also, the Mill Cafe is at the top of their game.
Collingwood
Mill Cafe or SiSi in Thornbury (north of C-Wood about 15 mins).
Oliver and Bonacini at Blue Mtn.
Duncan's for soup and sandwich in town.
Club Sandwich at Craigleath general store.
Yellow River House for chinese (get the lamb mu shu).
Cafe Azzurra (haven't been but highly recommended)
I'd avoid Huron House...
Mother's Dumplings - another rave review
I've eaten there twice recently and found no MSG whatsoever. Believe me, I eat at Chinese restos in the city at least once a week and when I encounter MSG I get a terrible reaction; racing heart, light headedness, anxiety. No way that Mother's Dumplings uses that crap...theirs is a fresh product.
Mother's Dumplings - another rave review
This place is the sweetest plum I've discovered in ages. Pure flavour, incredible value, and huge portions. The pork and dill dumplings were outstanding bites of herb tinged heaven, while the lamb shui mai blew my mouth away. Each treat was better than the last. A must try!
Real Vegas Deli
Looking for authentic Jewish deli in Vegas that IS NOT the branches of Carnegie, Stage, and Canter's in the casinos. Aren't there any old school places where Moe Green and Bugsy used to nosh on knishes and pastrami?
