Cheapest Steaks and Ground Beef in TO

Stop 33 Meat Shoppe, off of St. Clair West by the Stockyards, has the cheapest, good quality meat we've found in the city. I bet you could call and pre-order whatever you need.

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/stop-33-meat-shoppe-toronto

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Chowhound's Own Top 10 Restaurants of GTA

Love this idea!

Here are mine, in no particular order.
Mistura
Mondello (Mississauga)
Mengrai Thai
Sotto Sotto
Nami
Biff's
Pizza Libretto
Edward Levesque's
Joso's
Ferro

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Mistura
265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J9, CA

Edward Levesque's
1290 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4L1C4, CA

Ferro
769 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON M6C1B4, CA

Joso's
202 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J2, CA

Mengrai
82 Ontario Street, Toronto, ON M5A 2V3, CA

Nami
55 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON M5C1K6, CA

Pizzeria Libretto
221 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J, CA

Biff's Bistro
4 Front St. E, Toronto, ON M5E 1B2, CA

Sotto Sotto Restaurant
116 Avenue Rd, Toronto, ON M5R2H4, CA

Mondello Ristorante
127 Queen St S, Mississauga, ON , CA

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Cheapest place to buy tempeh in downtown Toronto

Does the St. Lawrence Market count as downtown? Ying Ying Soy Foods, in the basement, has a wide range of wonderful soy products including tempeh, although their tofu is by far my favourite in the city! Prices are great too - not the crazy basement prices you can find along Spadina in Chinatown, but still quite affordable.

http://yingyingsoyfood.ca/index.html

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St. Lawrence Market
92 Front St E, Toronto, ON M5E, CA

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Secret Food Festivals

Harbourfront Centre has a different festival every weekend in the summer called WORLD ROUTES, usually with a very strong food element (some are specifically called "food festivals"). This weekend is "The Hot Spot", upcoming is "Fortune Cooking", "Hot & Spicy", "Island Soul", Love, Saskatchewan", etc. There are food events that are present at every festival including the Greenbelt Tasting Market (free samples and opportunity to chat with the Greenbelt farmers who are on-site), the World Cafe Tent where you can buy meals from around the world, etc. There are a series of "Iron Chef" competitions throughout the summer as well, themed on local Canadian cuisine, different styles of dumplings, etc. - If you follow the most popular TO foodies on Twitter, most have been Tweeting live results from today's competition!

All info and listings at http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldroutes

Also - the free film series (Wednesday nights on the Sirius Stage outside) is food-themed in 2010. More details at http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/freeflicks2010

Hope this helps!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

GTA Maple Syrup Suggestions - High quality & reasonably priced

The store in Harbourfront Centre just started carrying the Ninutik line of maple syrup and maple sugar products - they are gorgeous, gourmet and extremely well-priced. Organic and family-run-sugarbush-produced too!

Forgot: http://www.ninutik.com

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Where is the best risotto in Toronto?

TOTALLY! I'm a veg too, and the beet risotto at Mistura is my favourite in the WORLD (outside of Italy), not just in the city!

Also, let me say that I HATE beets.

I don't know what it is. Massimo is a genius. You MUST MUST MUST try it sometime.

I wrote a loooong review of Mistura on Yelp - check it out - mine is the 2nd one down - Rosie S.: http://www.yelp.ca/biz/mistura-restaurant-toronto

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Best Risotto in TO??

The best risotto I've had in the city is the beet risotto at Mistura. I don't even LIKE beets and I LOVED that dish!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

What to buy in Italy that we can't get in Toronto?

I brought back some wonderful olive oils, amazing aged balsamic vinegars, an assortment of dried mushrooms and packages of dried mixes for pasta sauce, risotto mixes, pecorino cheese, limoncello, absinthe, and TONS of colourful & black pastas. One of my other favourite food-related purchases from Italy is a parmesan cheese grater with an olive wood box attachment to catch the gratings. The olive wood STILL smells amazing and I brought it back almost two years ago!

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Desperately seeking good, fun breakfast place in Ottawa

Elgin St. Diner is what came to my mind first too! They have all the classic breakfast choices, but offer some neat variations too. Not "gourmet" or groundbreaking cuisine, but fun and reliable... even at 4 a.m.!

http://www.elginstreetdiner.com/

Near there is The Manx - I agree with this suggestion FOR SURE! The brunch there is creative and DELISH! The menu changes with the season and there are always interesting daily specials. It's tiny though, so is ALWAYS packed. Be prepared to wait (it's worth it).

Benny's is great but a small menu - and I'm not sure about the "fun" caveat.
http://www.bennysbistro.ca/bistro/breakfast.htm

I'll add a vote to the Wild Oat too. Great place to grab some yummy groceries too!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Serious Food Allergy Birthday

I am severely allergic to all nuts (not peanuts) - anaphylactic. I had my last major reaction at Fressen. After a lengthy discussion with our waitress and the kitchen, they STILL put pesto in a dish that they said was nut free.

Also, while waiting for the ambulance, they made us pay for the meal.

I must say that I received a very apologetic phone call the following week, but I still almost died in their restaurant... so I have not gone back to Fressen since (this was two and a half years ago).

My bad experience aside, this may have scared them into being more vigilant about allergies!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Montreal style bagels, anyone?

The new "Metro" grocery stores are stocking Montreal's St. Viateur bagels - I think only available in a 6-pack of sesame bagels for about $4.50. Though not fresh from the oven, they are still divine when toasted, and IMHO are still waaay better than most Toronto bagels (Bagel House on Bayview excepted).

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Ice Cream Bicycles

There are still a bunch in and around High Park - during the summer I sometimes see 4 or 5 parked outside the Grenadier Cafe in the evenings. During the days I often run into them in the park and along Bloor Street in that area.

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Powdered Buttermilk

I get it all the time from the Bulk Barn at Leslie & Lakeshore (Leslie & Eastern). Making bread?

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Looking for unique places to eat in Ottawa

Definitely Black Tomato, Von's Bistro and Beckta (though Beckta is maybe too expensive).

The Black Tomato is on George Street in the Market, next to the Chapters.

Von's Bistro is on Bank St. in the Glebe: http://www.819bank.com/vonsmenudinner.htm

Beckta is my favourite restaurant in Ottawa. It's at Bank & Nepean. Make reservations!
http://www.beckta.com/

And I have to admit (reluctantly) that I do have a soft spot (i.e. I have one meal there every time I'm in Ottawa) for The Blue Cactus in the market as well. I love it!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Truly yummy chocolate for Christmas gift....

I will repeat the enthuastic rec's for SOMA, and it's always nice to take a walk through the Distillery.

I have to say, though, I am a huge fan of a chocolate shop in Stratford called Rheo Thompson. Their Mint Smoothies are simply heaven.

You can visit the website and order them online if you don't make it to Stratford very often - I always stock up when I go!

http://www.rheothompson.com/

Enjoy your chocolate adventures!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

best continental breakfast in TO

I love love love Edward Levesque's Kitchen for breakfast (or any other time, for that matter).

Here's the website: http://www.edwardlevesque.ca/

It's on Queen St. East near Leslie... so a bit of a jaunt, but so worth it IMHO! Beautiful little unexpected place, beautiful food. And you'll run into Edward himself at the front or cooking at the grill! Love that!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)

Flavoured espresso beans?

Thanks so much for that tip - I do care about that. I still love my plain, unflavoured espresso!

Perhaps I'll just stick to the flavoured at work.

I'll check out all of your suggestions, estragon and detritus. Thanks and Happy New Year!

RosiePosie in Ontario (including Toronto)