iamafoodie's Profile
Mississauga
Julie, Bistro Chezanne in the centre of Streetsville does a great Steak au Poivre with extraordinary Frites for $24. I haven't found better in Mississauga. The pleasant interior and cheerful service are a bonus.
They are on the corner of Queen St. South at the cenotaph.
Milton, ON - good places to eat?
There's an extraordinarily fine restaurant, Enver's of Morriston, just 2 exits west from Milton along highway 401 in the tiny village of Morriston. They feature contemporary Canadian cuisine using a substantial amount of local products. You will certainly enjoy a memorable meal there. Reservations advised on weekends.
http://www.enversofmorriston.ca/
Veal Parmagiana in the West End?
Chef Nic Iatomasi's Mondello Ristorante in on Main Street Streetsville excels with traditional Italian fare like Veal Parmagiana. Friends drive from Woodbridge for the experience. It has a nice friendly atmosphere, good service and moderate food prices.
http://www.mondelloristorante.ca
Trans Canada road trip
I drove Toronto to Edmonton a few years ago and had Anne Hardy's book "Where to Eat in Canada" with me. It made my trip a Canadian culinary adventure.
It's a treasury of both the fine dining and just plain good places to eat across Canada. Each year a new edition is published in June and it's well worth the $25, and cheaper on-line, if it spares you just one mistake.
Kingston chowhounders thoughts...
I used to favour Chez Piggy until I tried AquaTerra's exceptional cooking and charming service. Reserve a window table, the view of the harbour is an uniquely Kingston bonus. It's one of Canada's finest and most memorable restaurants.
Dinner in Mississauga French Bistro or Graydon Bar and Grill
Chef Jean-Jacques sold Bistro Matisse and returned to France. Sadly, the new owner hasn't been able to maintain the former high standards.
At Bistro Narra I've had some disappointments, but it's generally good.
Grayden's food has not been as good lately as when they first opened. Dinner there recently was somewhat amateur, but it was on a week-night and the chef was likely absent.
We enjoyed a superb 7-course Titanic theme dinner at Bistro Chezanne last Saturday night. The mussels and the short ribs on the regular menu are particularly good and the $30 April Prix Fixe featuring poached salmon looks interesting.
Oyster knife?
I noticed that an oyster knife is included in the small boxes of fresh oysters at T & T.
Stewing Hens - Saint Lawrence Market and Downtown
The big Mississauga grocer Yuan Ming on Burnamthorpe just west of Wolfdale is my source. Four meaty chicken carcasses for $1 yields a great batch of rich stock. They are always sold out by noon though.
Chicken Pot Pie that I can pass off as my own
The Hot Oven in Bloor West Village and Cloverdale Mall used to make one of the all-time best classic Chicken Pot Pies. They were great and would custom make them in several sizes according to your needs. You could order them baked or unbaked. The sauce was made from the stock in cooking the chickens and there was only a flaky top crust. I haven't had one in a few years and they may have changed ownership since then. Thus it would be prudent to try a small one first.
Fresh or frozen in-shell razor clams?
Check in the downtown T & T as they have them out in the 'burbs, both fresh and frozen.
Mississauga Lunch with Client - Derry/Hurontario
Bistro Chezanne at 209 Queen Street South in the center of Streesville is a classy little bistro I was treated to as a client for lunch about a year ago. It was quiet and the tables were adequately spaced so we could comfortably discuss business details. I was so impressed i've returned several times with my family since then and it just gets better. It's a substantial step up the culinary ladder from Saucy.
Lunch in Brampton
Chowhound-worthy lunches in Brampton seem to have evaporated. Our last dinner at Fanzorelli's was pretty grim. I suspect the cranky new owners paid far too much and are loosing it.
It might be worth your time to drive less than a half-hour to Streetsville and experience Bistro Chezanne's exceptional offerings. Simply the best chow in the area.
MD's BBQ - New BBQ in Oakville (Kerr/Florence)
Craving authentic BBQ?
You might want to give the Hungry Hollow Smokehouse in downtown Georgetown a try. It's operated by someone that knows real BBQ. It doesn't meet the "cheaper" criteria, but it's more likely to stay in business. They have a daily special Monday to Thursday.
It's not too far from Oakville, just go north on Trafalgar and turn east on 7.
Frozen pearl onions - any recent confirmed sightings?
This is one of the items consistently on my shopping list for trips to the States where all the mainline groceries, even Walmart, carry them for about $1 a package in the freezer. Don't miss the Minute Maid frozen pure lemon juice either, it's fantastic.
Dinner Recos near St Jacobs Farmers Market for Tomorrow?
Benjamin's seconded. Very dependable contemporary food and competent service.
Avoid the Stone Crock.
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Stone Crock
1386 King St N, St Jacobs, ON N0B2N0, CA
Organic cow milk bottled on or near the farm??
What producer can afford pasteurization and bottle sterilization?
Chicken a la king vs. chicken pot pie
Chicken a la King is one of the classical American menu items that was said to originate at Delmonico's in NYC before the beginning of the last century. In my New York culinary education I was taught to enrich the sauce with heavy cream and egg yolks and flavor with sherry and light veal stock in addition to the ingredients in the prior post. That was in the days when kitchens always had a pot of veal stock simmering on the back of the range.
Originally Chicken Pot Pie was simply whole chickens simmered in a rich chicken stock and the resulting strained stock was used to make the roux-thickened sauce for the pie filling. No vegetables, no dairy, so delicious.
Is there something wrong with me? It was expensive and I'm still hungry. How about you?
I thought I was alone on this theme of the dining value for money proposition. Portion sizes are dwindling and prices float ever-higher. How often ones dining experience resembles extortion.
An exception to the norm: recently in Kingston I was delighted by the three-course $16 prix fixe lunch at AquaTerra in the Radisson Hotel overlooking the harbor. Chef Clark Day fills the restaurant daily with contemporary cooking and competent service plus adult portion sizes.
Great Restaurant in Missisauga??
If there's a next time, consider Enver's of Morriston, on #6 south two minutes from exit 299 off the 401. It's 25 minutes west of Mississauga and on the way from London. Enver's is my personal gold-standard for distinctive dining without going into downtown Toronto.
Enver’s is hidden away in a century-old building in a tiny hamlet. It is comfortable and quiet as long as you don’t sit by the roadside front windows. The cooking is an inventive blending of traditional and contemporary styles, simply wonderful. I think of it as a blend of Toronto’s Canoe, North 44 and Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar but with free parking and lower prices. If you enjoy good cooking professionally served in a welcoming environment, you must go and experience.
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Jamie Kennedy
9 Church St, Toronto, ON M5E1M2, CA
North 44
2537 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2H9, CA
Envers Restaurant
42 Queen St, Morriston, ON N0B2C0, CA
Day trip to Kingston
The Royal Angkor is the best of Kingston's Cambodian restaurants.
Chef Clark Day's contracted Aquaterra in the Radison changed my opinion that hotel restaurants are generally quite forgettable. With thoroughly professional service, a pleasant waterfront view, and competently prepared contemporary cuisine, plus the complimentary inside parking, you can't do better anywhere else. The three course $16 lunch is a bargain. Dinner is more adventuresome, but of course it costs a lot more. Seafood is a particular strength.
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Aquaterra
1 Johnson St, Kingston, ON K7L, CA
Royal Angkor Restaurant
523 Princess St, Kingston, ON K7L1C6, CA
Seeking: Scotch Whisky events, Toronto/GTA
Marlew, Daniel's regularly puts on special dinners that really are special. Sorry you just missed his Scotch and Cigar evening last week. He's about 20 minutes north of the Airport on 27.
Daniel is getting on in chef-years, so i don't expect him to be continuing much longer.
Check on his specials at:
http://www.danielsofnobleton.com/restaurant.html
New Streetsville Resto, Graydon
Bistro Chezanne is still open. They added a summer patio and live jazz on alternating Thursdays with a couple of very talented musicians from Hamilton. The kitchen is maturing, however service can still be cheerfully inept at times.
Graydon Bar & Grill, Streetsville's new gastro-pub is having a soft opening. I tried their $13 special, a 1/4 rack of ribs, fries and a pint. The 4 rib portion was good and meaty, very moist from the initial brining and braising, lightly smoked with a touch of a tomato-based sauce napped over them. I might have rated them better than Busters if not for the many bitter bits of carbon clinging to the meat from the smoker's shelf. The meat was somewhat over cooked for my taste, but likely just right for the falling-off-the-bone folks. 1/4-inch fries were a mix of fresh russet and sweet potatoes nicely fried. A finger bowl accompanied my lunch. Who else does that any more?
A pleasant greeting and competent service by Linda encourages me to return soon to try some of their more upscale offerings.
Looking for clams
Theamanda, i haven't found a local restaurant doing the New England-style whole fried clams.
Those frozen flats of clams are from South Asian waters and just about tasteless.
When i get a clam-attack i buy either the fresh razor clams or the cherry stones at one of the local Asian markets. Just shuck and bread them after a buttermilk soak. Personally, i like fried oysters a lot better.
Best restaurant in Mississauga
There are two superior new bistros in Mississauga that already show much promise of becoming title contenders once they iron out minor post-opening challenges. Initial visits provided better experiences than our last visits at Rogues and Michael's.
Bistro Narra on Winston Churchill at Thomas is an Apricot Tree spin-off. It's contemporary and stylish with an aggressively cosmopolitan menu that's well executed. They get high marks for both food and service quality. The chicken crepe was best-in-class awesome. Naturally, desserts are a strength.
Bistro Chezanne in the center of Streetsville at the cenotaph is a classy French café-bistro with all the typical menu items, right down to frogs legs. It will likely become our replacement for the late Aggi Martin. Very competent cooking and service. Wine by the glass is served in Spiegelau glasses that really are flavor enhancers. For dessert, don't miss Chef Anne Marie Ellis's stellar Tarte Tatin a la Mode ($6) with it's light drizzle of freshly made caramel sauce.
More details to follow on both restaurants after subsequent evaluations.
Must-Try Mississauga restaurants
Tha, few true gem dining experiences left in Mississauga from our experience. Most operators clearly don't understand the business. Our definition of a true gem is better than home cooking, intelligently served in an environment filled with the spirit of hospitality. Too many places we try just don't care and play the, "Here's some food, give me the money and go away game."
The restaurant we've most frequently returned to in the past year is Grano on Enfield Place, a block south of Square One. An hard working husband and wife team serve competent Italian-Canadian cooking in a little trattoria. If busy, it's noisy.
Saucey in Streetsville is dependably ordinary.
Bamboo Legend is OK for Thai.
I wonder if Axia has new owners? Nice facility, but we had two very poor experiences there. It seemed like rank amateurs were running the place with unskilled servers and mediocre food, but that was quite a while ago. We'll retry them.
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Bamboo Legend
3145 Dundas St W, Mississauga, ON L5L5V8, CA
ISO Fatty Pork for traditional French Canadian tourtière
Splendid, for similar recipes (sausages) i use pork shoulder and ask the butcher for some extra pork fat. They give it freely without charge and always much more than i can use. I cut the shoulder into 1-inch cubes and put them in the freezer for 30 to 60 minutes. Then i chop or mince small batches in the food processor according to the desired texture. It works beautifully.
I shop at the Asian markets in Mississauga where they move a lot of pork.
It's Worth the Drive to Nobleton
Another good place one bites the dust.
It looks like Daniel may have lost interest after 30 years, or someone else was in the kitchen that day.
Mini cheesecake pan in Toronto area?
My Mississauga Real Canadian Superstore has them for about $9, 1/3 the price i've seen in kitchen specialty stores.
ISO casual dining in Mississauga?
Tiny Grano on Enfield Place, behind the Novatel at Burnamthorpe & Hurontario, is a friendly husband & wife run Italian-Canadian restaurant with reliable and competent cooking. Apps are overpriced and watch out for the pushed extras. Mains are reliably superior to local fare and competitively priced. The owner's special desserts are not-to-be-missed.
