I was wondering if any of my fellow chowhounds recommend any great Korean BBQ Grills. I tried Chako Grill in Richmond Hill and the food and the service were great. However, the variety for lunch is quite limited. Looking in the GTA area up to Richmond Hill/Scarborough/Markham/Unionville. Thanks!

Looking to order pizza for an office party in Oshawa, any suggestions? We love the deep dish kind especially.

Well just got back from Veritas, I was a few minutes late for our reservation, but things seemed to be quite busy there and I noticed right away there didn't seem to be many staff there.

When I was seated I asked my friends if the waitress introduced herself, they said no, and we ordered some drinks, which took almost 10 minutes to arrive. The ambience of the place is quite nice, nothing too fancy, kind of casual feel to the place. It wasn't too loud, so I was glad.

When our fourth member came in a few minutes after me, the waitress walked by a few times and didn't even ask him if he wanted something to drink. It was only when she brought our drinks and I mentioned that he might like something to drink then she kind of tweaked to the fact, hey yeah, there is a new person at the table.

Three of us ordered the Sweet Potato salad with bacon for appetizers. They weren't too impressed with it, it was like a shavings of sweet potato without much flavour. "Not enough bacon" one of my friends said. I had the pressed chicken terrine with croutons. It tasted kind of like compressed canned chicken and the croutons were more like toasted baguettes.

Two of us ordered the Kerr farms steak, which they thought was a good portion and seasoned and cooked to their request. One of us ordered the lamb shank with tomato and oregano gnocchi. He said the gnocchi was ok, but the lamb came in some kind of green wrap and he said the lamb tasted kind of rubbery, even raw? He didn't finish it but took some steak from my friends (!) and said it was done well. They did not comment that it was warm, as in the review by Lister. I had the Cornish hen, which was very tasty and I really liked the blue cheese croquette, and they gave you a big portion.

For dessert, two of us had cheesecake, which was a good portion and tasty and two of us had the sticky toffee pudding, which was very tasty.

I had the Oatmeal Stout draft and my friends had the Mill St. Stock Ale, nothing really special, just your run of the mill beers.

I think the absolute worst part of the evening was right at the end. Shortly after we finished our dessert and expecting the waitress to come and ask us if we wanted anythijng else like coffee, we were shocked and somewhat dismayed when whe came by and plopped the bill on our table without saying a word and walked away!!! We were all flabbergasted, one of my friends actually wanted to fill in a comment card and made a comment to the bartender on the way out. I thought it was highly inappropriate, we speculated that they were waiting for the table, but I only saw two people waiting for a table on the way out, and even if so, I thought it very unprofessional. Has this ever happened to you? What would you have done? She was friendly enough otherwise and answered my questions regarding the dishes so I am not sure why she would have done that.

Anyways, my ratings are:

Atmosphere: 7 out of 10
Food: 8 out of 10 (my friend who didn't like the lamb gave it a 5)
Food Service: 5 out of 10 (my friend above gave it a 3)

I don't think they impressed us enough that we would go back on a regular night. The food was decent but not spectacular. I guess that's what you get with Winterlicious from some of the restaurants. Some of them unfortunately take the attitude that they need the revenue and don't think to impress you in order to get you back on a regular night. It is what it is...and 25 dollars for 3 courses, you can't expect the moon can you?

Thanks lister, for the great review, it gives me great ideas on what to order! I'm going there tomorrow, so I'll be sure to come back and post for millygirl and torontofoodiegirl!

I've made reservations at Veritas at King and Sherbourne for Winterlicious this Saturday. My previous posting didn't get any responses in terms of reviews. Hopefully it'll be good. If anyone is interested in hearing my review, let me know! It is supposed to be Canadiana cuisine...whatever that means :)

Hey guys I got reservations for this restaurant next Saturday for Winterlicious. It used to be called Eggplant. Has anyone been to this restaurant before and how did you like it?? Thanks!

Hey guys I know Winterlicious probably has been discussed ad nauseum, I was late to the game, and I've tried 7 or 8 places, and they are all booked up for next Saturday. Has anyone been successful in the last day or two for booking? I thought that they would have opened up a few tables. Not really picky, just want to try a new place, not too far away from the downtown/midtown corridor. Thanks so much!

Well we went to the Bistro for Sunday Brunch, and I gave it a 7 out of 10. We started by sharing the Belgian Frites, which were really tasty, and the bacon wrapped shrimp which were also very good. I had the peameal bacon benedict and the roasted red pepper soup. The soup was very tasty and filling but I was disappointed by the benedict, the sauce didn't have much flavour. My friends had burgers which actually really looked burnt and they said they weren't that great. Two of us had beers both Koningshoeven, mine was the fruity one tasting like Hoegarden and my friend had the more malty one. I really didn't think they were that special to be honest, and plus they were quite small glasses. The waiter was quite attentive and we had no complaints. So although the meal was decent, we were not overly impressed with the food and beer quality.

I took my mom to THEE a few weeks ago for lunch. I thought it was decent but nothing special. I'm not sure I remember 100% but they only gave you sushi and sashimi was extra cost, and still the bill came with 30 bucks (this was after a promotion). I much prefer Wasabi at Kennedy and Steeles in terms of variety, selection and freshness and they gives you Salmon sushi for lunch and is comparable in price. Although the service at Wasabi I have to say is pretty bad, they ignore you unless you call them over to your table.

Definitely will idnas, I love this board, I really appreciate hearing opinions of everyone on here! :)

Thanks very much everyone for your replies and recommendations on dishes, looks like it will be a go, I'm really looking forward to going!

Hi guys, one of my friends is a major fan of beer :)
We were thinking of taking him out to Beer Bistro for Brunch on Sunday, has anyone been there, and have any comments about their food and service?
Thanks much!

I just tried this wonderful Riesling, it is the Birchwood Gewürztraminer/Riesling and it has a fruity aroma with honey, pear, apple and lychee, very nice! And its about 10.75. Good luck!

Hi guys, I know this has probably been asked a gazillion times, I live in Markham, and wanted to know which AYCE restaurant you'd recommend. I've tried Wasabi in Scarborough but I haven't tried the one on West Beaver Creek. The one in Scarborough is good but the service is abysmal, trying to find a waiter to take your little slip of paper is a chore as is getting more tea. How is the other Wasabi? I understand it is sit down. Any other recommendations? My mom has guests from out of town and would like a good one in the vicinity. Thanks!

I did notice we were eating ribs in front of this clothing store and another older gent with a stool sitting down in front of his store. The owner quickly came out and shooed the old man away. I understand that his "display" is being blocked, but c'mon, that was rude. I know I personally would not want to shop at a store that had an owner with that kind of attitude.

It is with interest that I read earlier posts on how terrible the crowds and the mediocrity of the food is during this street fair.

I've been in Toronto for over 20 years and believe it or not, it was my first year to go, I took my mom. I had a feeling it would be crowded later on in the afternoon, and I heard about the zoo/mob atmosphere in the evening/night so we parked at Warden and got there around 12:30.

The crowds were manageable at that time and there were lots of smiles. We got off at Chester and walked towards Pape and back again to find interesting food stands. Its amazing how much competition there was out there, and I'm sure at the end of the day, the souvlaki tastes similar at each place. I can understand those who live around there and have Greek food all the time may find the festival boring and monotonous. However, we do not have Greek very often and we do not live in the area so it was interesting.

We found a stand with pork souvlaki for 5 bucks for 3, I think it must have been Mr. Greek, most other places had them for 3 bucks each. Although we wanted to try the lamb chops, we found most places had chops that were tiny and incredibly fatty for the 5 bucks. We did find a stand with rosemary and lamb pastry that was very good for 3 bucks. We also enjoyed the stand with baby back ribs for 5 bucks, I think its called Gabbys and they had a big lineup. I do think there were stands that were ripping off customers, some of the gyros stands had the big gyros rotisserie but when it came to ordering it, I noticed that they were putting miniscule amounts of meat in the pita. I did hear some grumbles about that. For sure they are there to make money, but they shouldn't lose sight of the fact that they are there to win over customers over their competition and the goal is to see the customers come back after the festival is over.

All in all, a fun time. I agree that it wouldn't be much fun if it was too crowded, But it was worth the experience and I'd definitely go again.

I've heard good things about Masa on Charles Street but I think the ultimate picky sushi eaters might not like the variety there. I've heard good things about the place though, and at 15.99 for all you can eat, I'd say that wasn't bad.

Hi fellow chowhounders. I was wondering if you are aware of any restaurants in the downtown area extending the Summerlicious promotion. My sister is in town this week and wanted to try it out, but I know formally the promotion is over. Thanks much.

Wow thanks for all the suggestions, I checked out the Pravda site and looks cool, 5.90 for martinis is awesome! I tried to get Canoe for Winterlcious, never thought of it for martinis, do any of these places have a great selection? I kind of like Byzantium at Church and Wellesley they have a great selection.

Hey Chowhounders, looking for a place to go for martini's after work in the downtown area, any suggestions on good places that open around 4 or 5ish? Does anyone have happy hour anymore?

Thanks, I definitely learned something new about restaurant etiquette. Of course I am totally being nitpicky, I think the restaurant deserved an 8 or 8.5/10 overall. It definitely was a pleasant surprise after reading the board and how many people are turned off Winterlicious/Summerlicious. Batting 2 for 2 now, so not too bad!

There was no decanter, one of my friends remarked that it was a nice bottle of wine, but actually considerably cheaper in price than the usual (I am not a big wine drinker when going out for dinner). It was 28 dollars for the bottle of wine, it was one of the featured Winterlicious wines. I'm no expert on wines though but I was happy with it! Like I said I'm new to all of this really, I can only give my newbie opinion, I am not used to the "sommelier" pouring our wine.

Good question, I suppose maybe I was a bit harsh, it could easily have been an 8. The waiter was nice and friendly. I think the only reason I didn't give higher was that there were a few times when we were looking for the waiter, he was somewhat difficult to find, for example when we had our entire meal, and our wine glasses were empty and at the end we needed to ask for our bottle of wine, he explained that he wasn't the person who poured our wine. Very nitpicky of me, yes, and it was quite busy, I guess one never knows how many tables he was waiting last night. I do recommend the place though!

I went to Jump tonight for Winterlicious with 3 other friends, the reservation was for 9pm, wanted earlier but that's the only time I could get on a Saturday.

When we got there we waited for about 5 minutes, they promptly checked our coats and were seated. The place was very crowded, but had a very upscale modern feel and the seating was quite private.

We ordered a bottle of red wine, a very nice Australian Merlot, which was delivered very promptly and the waiter was very friendly, the only thing was the person who opened our wine was different from the waiter and the bottle of wine disappeared from the table and we had to ask for it back!

Three of us had the grilled calamari with anchovies, capers, black olives and it was very good with decent portion. Our friend's Caesar salad was very fresh and she enjoyed it.

All of us had the braised beef ribs with roasted sweet potatoes and as the waiter suggested it was very tender and melt in your mouth good. As for portion size it was decent, although I could have had another portion!

We all had Chocolate and Expresso Cheesecake, it was a small portion but because it was so rich, it was appropriate.

The service was good, not great, I think mostly because they were so busy. However, our waiter was nice and asked us between the entree and dessert whether we wanted some time before he served dessert, which was considerate. The noise level was moderately loud but not so loud that we couldn't hear each other talk.

As for the prices, looking at the menu, the entrees on the regular menu ran in the 20's so I would say that we got a pretty good deal. I saw a couple of non-Winterlicious entrees and they were similar in portion size to ours. This is particularly relevant as I have heard that some restaurants skimp on portion size and quality during this time and it wasn't the case. I also liked the fact that they had a separate Winterlicious menu with separate recommended wine list specific to the menu.

All in all, I would give the service a 7 out of 10, the atmosphere a 9 out of 10 and the meal an 8.5 out of 10. Would consider going back. This is only my second time at a "Licious", last summer I went to Fred's Not Here, and I liked the meal slightly better, they gave you more choice and more food, the service was similar but the atmosphere at Jump was much nicer. Had a great time though, with great company with me!

Interested to see other Oliver Bonacini restaurant reviews for Winterlicious.

Thank you very much wasabi girl for the review, never heard of Mistura, I'll have to look into it! :)

mmm...I had the calamari as an appetizer which was a decent sized portion, grant it there could have been more. I didn't think it was overly greasy, and had the steak and frites for the main course and it was done well, the chocolate cake was very good but again slightly smaller than I expected, then again, I shouldn't stuff myself silly anyways! LOL

I went to Freds with my friends last Summerlicious, the service was average but the place was packed. As for the food, the food was excellent (it was sort of like a factory atmosphere with the same plates coming out of the kitchen!). But the portions were of good size (filling), especially liked the steak, they did it exactly the way we wanted it. I'd definitely go back there! (It was for dinner by the way, for 25 bucks, great deal)

Thanks for the review. I've heard that there are a lot of restaurants who use the opportunity for Summerlicious/Winterlicious to serve subpar skimpy portions of food. It also seems that the 35 dollar "deals" are not truly that much cheaper than the regular menu. A lot of people are not fans of the Licious times, but for many of us who cannot afford having dinners running upwards of 100 dollars a plate and want to try something new, its very disheartening. (Of course there are those who think Licious cheapens the quality of the restaurants or patrons who are too "cheap" to eat at these places shouldn't go...I think that this attitude defeats the whole purpose of the event IMHO only)

I think that some restaurants are just as "cheap" if you order a la carte 3 separate menu items, which is not supposed to be the idea of winterlicious/summerlicious. As for Canoe, I tried all morning and kept getting a busy signal, that's why I'm trying Jump. Eventually I guess I'll get to go to Canoe, but it probably won't be for the Licious times.

Thank you for the review! I was definitely considering this restaurant for Winterlicious (probably booked now), but maybe for Summerlicious!