best brunch places in Toronto?

I have to give my vote to the Swan Diner - they do a great eggs benedict with smoked trout for an extra $3. It's a narrow, smallish place, but worth the wait, it's got a nice feel about the place, great for a Sunday morning and they have wonderful coffee.

It's at 892 Queen West

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Best Low Cost Bets on Spadina

Hello fellow Chowhounders. I've got a foodie friend coming up from NY who is staying downtown. I wanted to give him a taste of several quick, reasonably priced but good places as opposed to fancy places where we would need to linger (Chinese - SE Asian and/or Cantonese, Vietnamese). Any suggestions at all? The options I have so far are Pho Hung, King Noodle House and dare I say: Swatow. Choices outside of Spadina are also welcome, but we'd be in the downtown core.

Thanks for your input!

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Report: Fu Yuan (Summit Garden)

Thanks Jacquilynne, that's really good to know - my SO and I have been looking for a place that serves good Peking Duck without having to go across the city to Richmond Hill for example, so this is wonderful. Having been to Summit Garden several times we like their dim sum (priced higher than average but worth it), and of course their regular dinner dishes.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Chutney Bar Winterlicious Must

For what it's worth in terms of a thumbs up, a foodie couple we often have dinner with said they had a very nice Winterlicious dinner at Greg Couillard's Chutney Bar over the weekend. Makes me want to see if they still have openings!

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Wait Staff and Kitchen Staff [Moved from Ontario board]

Hmm, interesting question. I've never worked as either a waiter or in the kitchen and can go only by what I've read in Kitchen Confidential etc. Let's take a top notch restaurant. Given that cooks need to have greater technical knowledge, have the pressure of putting together several dozen consistently prepared meals in an evening, and can make or break a restaurant, I'd have to favour cooks being paid more and sure, let the waiters make the tips depending on the level of service they provide and how hard they try (hopefully not too hard which is another extreme). Don't get me wrong, the wait staff don't have it easy, have to face the customers from hell and being the frontline guys, they project the image of the restaurant. But supply and demand being what it is I'm thinking a good cook is harder to replace than a good waiter, so my vote is the cooks should get more.

john88 in Not About Food

FAVOURITE SPANISH WINES

Another reasonably priced Spanish wine (about $12) is El Burro - Garnacha 2005, whose quality in relation to price is very high. It has a nice structure with long spicy finish that lingers - can't go wrong. The Spanish wines are some of the best values out there, and the quality is improving every year.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

A weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Have you thought of Hillebrand Estates' restaurant - in my opinion it's much better than Peller, which doesn't quite deliver. Also, just as a caution, avoid the pub/bar at the Oban Inn which used to be very nice for a casual dinner, but no longer.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Top-notch Thai or Malaysian in Toronto?

Matahari Grill on Baldwin will do the trick quite well for Malaysian - it's a little more upscale upscale, but has a good menu, and the alternatives that I'm aware of are too casual - Gourmet Garden in Scarborough which has good food but is a greasy spoon, and Lion City in Mississauga (Singaporean food, but very similar to Malaysian).

Bangkok Garden on Elm Street is very good but way too pricey ($20 for a dish of green curry, come on now!) since they revamped their menu a few years ago and ruined a good thing. Nothing in my opinion really qualifies as a really good Thai restaurant in comparison if we're talking 'top notch'.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Good Ice Cream

Thanks everyone for the input and places, and LemonLauren for the link to the previous discussion which was useful. My SO and I enjoy Kawartha Dairy ice cream as well, and made it a point to stop by the kiosk just outside of Minden everyday on the long weekend we were there. As for sorbets, we still haven't found anything equivalent to a Lychee sorbet we bought from a small store on St Laurent in Montreal a couple of summers ago where they make it on the premises.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Good Ice Cream

Like almost eveyone I love a good ice cream now and then, but was looking for a change from Ben & Jerry's, and Haagen Daz. Any suggestions? Thanks!

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Best tea (bagged or loose)

Language of the Leaf has lovely teas - I got some smaller sized assortments of flavoured green and black teas as a gift once and now order from them over the web regularly - they do wonderful flavoured rooibos blends too.

Regarding chocolatiers, there's Bernard Callebaut located in Oakville on Lakeshore Blvd - they do delicious truffles. I like the Canadienne and the chocolate coated organic BC Cherry. JS Bonbons has something called the Mangaro which is very good.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Good Viet cuisine in Mississauga?

Anyone know of good Vietnamese places in Mississauga? I used to go to Golden Turtle near Square One, which isn't that great anymore. Apart from Pho and the soups, I'm looking for a place that does good main dishes that go with rice i.e. not just the standard BBQ pork/chicken.

john88 in Ontario (including Toronto)