syoung's Profile
Best Chinese BAKED buns in GTA?
Yung Sing has been on indefinite hiatus for a while but there has never been official word from the owners, Chu and Ngan Ko, that it's closed for good. Do you know something?
Stock in Trump tower, opened yesterday.... anyone tried it yet?
Agree with the Globe review 100%. Very underwhelming and not worth Trump prices they charge. You can get better at 2/3 the price at many other restaurants in town. They boasted about the Chocolate Lab and so I ordered 3 pieces of chocolate at $3 each. Each piece was the size of my thumb nail. Total rip off. No plans to return again.
Minneapolis Chowhound Needs Recs
Not aware of any must try veggie restaurants, but near your area at the north-west end of Toronto has some decent restaurants...
The Stockyards Smokehouse for ribs and burger at 699 St. Clair near Bathurst
Il Mulino for Italian at 1060 Eglinton Avenue West near Bathurst
Simple Bistro at 619 Mount Pleasant Road south of Eglinton
The best "can't miss" restaurants are downtown which is probably too far for you.
Wife craving good Italian - has chosen five possibles....
If you want the real Il Mulino, go to Carisma where the former Il Mulino owner/chef now operate.
Drinks and apps in midtown TO?
Terroni Bar Centrale (http://terronicentrale.com/) at 1095 Yonge in Summerhill area.
Alternatives to Pusateris
Surprised there isn't more mention of McEwan as an alternative all-in-one place.
ISO Black Sesame Ice Cream
I recall seeing black sesame ice cream at the Korean supermarket, Galleria, and I think also JTown as well.
Best fine dining in Toronto...on a Sunday
Agree with Kaji, Acadia and Chiado. Not the best of the best of TO but others open Sundays to consider:
Scarpetta
Buca
Globe Bistro
Sotto Sotto
Harbour Sixty
Il Mulino
Decent Chinese downtown (that has good veg & seafood and has wine or allows BYOB)?
For me, south of Bloor is downtown! We haven't been back for a while since we don't live downtown. We knew the managers from their sister restaurant further north. I do recall the Peking Duck we ordered from Crown Princess and it was pretty good, as were most of the other dishes. We went to the "new" Dynasty for dinner once after the move and it wasn't good. Haven't been back since.
Decent Chinese downtown (that has good veg & seafood and has wine or allows BYOB)?
Crown Princess on Bay N of Wellesley.
What it's like at Pusateri's nowadays
Whether it's milk or dark chocolate really shouldn't be the issue (I prefer milk) but, rather than giving out cheap chocolate, they should've did a 5% off customer appreciation weekend or something like that, along with an advertisement in the newspapers apologizing and explaining the efforts they took to mitigate recurrence.
And they're targeting the wrong people. If you're in there buying stuff, it means you've already "forgiven" them and so what's the point of the chocolate? It's the people who haven't returned whom they should be targeting.
Looking for a somewhat inexpensive yet romantic or unusual place for 12 people
Fieramosca Trattoria (http://www.fieramoscatoronto.com/) on Prince Arthur north of UofT's Varsity Stadium is a cozy/romantic restaurant and good option at this price range. They have a private dining room that I think seats up to 20 that may suit your wedding party.
Faugeres in GTA
Are you talking about Château Faugères? I suggest you either contact the winery to get the name of the agent or talk to a Vintages Product Consultant who might be able to tell you from checking their internal database.
For reference, the list of all the agents can be found here:
http://www.vintageassessments.com/winefind.ca/agentID.php?view=all
Okaaaaaaay, we get it. HOLIMA CHINESE FOODS really is the best chop suey delivery joint in west Scarborough
Thanks! That YouTube link from Cheongi shows wok hay at its finest! What I don't truly understand in Cantonese is "yeet hay".
Susur opening on Dundas (moved from Ontario board)
I'm going to dissent wtih those saying Susur is targetng to the younger crowd. Why? He's never done before and while many of the newer top chefs are young, they don't target the young per se. And by young, I'm talking 20-something, 35 max. These young aren't foodies and aren't concerned with fine dining by any stretch as Guu so exemplifies.
Instead, this looks more like his sons wanting to try out the restaurant business and their father wanting to help out. My guess is this isn't going to be Susur at his finest pushing the envelope. Catering to the Guu crowd isn't what Susur is about. When Susur opens HIS restaurant, we will know about it and it will be high end fine dining. What he does best. My 2 cents.
Grocery Chains - Favourites?
Agree with Sunnys. good prices, fresh produce and store is always clean.
Yung Sing Bakery will be closing for renos
My memory also go back over 30 years. Their bread was unique, different than other bakeries like Lucullus Bakery which is probably the benchmark today. I remember going there as a kid and teenager all the way up to my university days at UofT. I too love their beef buns (both regular and curry) but the meat quality deteriorated I think sometime in the 90's. Maybe cost cutting became an issue.
I think it's not just nostalgia. Yung Sing is for me a Toronto institution, the original before all the others like Lucullus came with the large influx of Chinese in the late 1970's. You've heard of Heritage properties, well, I think Yung Sing is a "heritage" business institution. But I guess like Sam the Record Man was also a Toronto institution, all good things eventually come to an end.
Oh... and thank you Yongeman for your update.
Yung Sing Bakery will be closing for renos
Thanks Yongeman. But I'm still too clear on what happened and what she said or meant. What do mean "still a chance"? Is Linda's family still in the process of deciding?
Since Linda's parents are past retirement age and can't put in the hours to continue the business, the only other scenario other than closing business, is to either sell the business or keep it in the family with one of the siblings take over. Did she say anything else other than 'still a chance'?
The Toronto Best Beef Jerky
The photos of the beef jerky on the "shopping" page doesn't exactly make you want to buy it.
Paella Restaurant Suggestions in Barcelona
I agree, there are so many restaurants in Barcelona that you can't really get much of a consensus as to which is best for anything. One strategy I used was to go with a name that's mentioned most on lists or most recommended. I'm sure you can find lots of info too, but here's a couple more that I used:
http://www.oh-barcelona.com/en/blog/2010/things-to-do/restaurants/paella-barcelona-11982
http://hotelpulitzer.es/blog/?p=668
I don't know if Barcelona is known of Paella but the food there in general is amazing and everywhere! We drove all over Spain (and into Portugal) but missed San Sebastián (about 6hr drive from Barcelona) which is suppose to be the mecca for food in Spain.
toronto's best/most authentic paella....
Yes, but this is not really answering the OP's question.
SUKHO THAI - what's going on?
Agree with this. Also, did you ask what the signs were doing there when they told you they didn't accept reservation? When you say their service was "typically indifferent and slow" this implies you've been they before and have accepted it by going back. Sometimes the best incentive for them to change is if customers stop coming, but it doesn't seem like this is happening if you keep going back.
toronto's best/most authentic paella....
I haven't tried Casa Barcelona for at least 5 years, but at the time, it was the best Spanish restaurant we knew. I second TOchowgal on Emprujo Flamenco being not up to par. The only reason to go would be for the Flamenco show which wasn't good either, but I think the only game in town. I remember Torito being recommended as well but I think Casa Barcelona menu offers a lot more variety, especially for Paella.
Lisbon and Porto
I think maybe our bad experience was a one off and much of it could've been mitigated had the waitress did her job properly. Many people recommended it, so please do not apologize and your help to recommend was very much appreciated and I thank you kindly.
While I agree that Spanish and Portuguese cuisine are apples and oranges, I think you can still make a judgement in terms of the quality of the way the food was prepared, especially in the best restaurants that are suppose to represent the best. For example, Chinese and French cuisine are even more different, but the quality of food preparation of the better restaurants in, say, Hong Kong and Paris are both absolutely top notch by any standard. I think Spain is in the top notch category as well, but our experience in Porto was notches below. Like I said, maybe Lisbon would've represented better.
Lisbon and Porto
Reporting back after the trip...
We ended up going to 4 places
Traca - This was recommended by our hotel concierge as authentic Portuguese and was decent but not great. I think this is a new restaurant. We were served by the owner's sister who was the only person who spoke some English.
Five Oceans - This was also recommended by the concierge as a good fresh seafood restaurant near the shipping port on a street where many seafood restaurants are located. Again, food was decent but not great. Service was excellent.
Pedro Lemos - This was recommended here and elsewhere as a higher end restaurant. Unfortunately for us, it was a major disappointment. My appetizer came late after everyone else had finished. Reason was the waitress forgot. Two of the 6 of us ordered Tuna grilled to medium rare and it came way overcooked. When we noted this to the waitress, she said sorry and then left without offering any recourse. This is unacceptable even for a mom and pop restaurant. As well, we had to pour our own wine which is fine but not for a supposed high end restaurant with prices to match. Overal = FAIL.
D. Tonho - located on Cais da Ribiera overlooking the Douro River, this restaurant arguably had the best food of all the restaurants we went to in Porto. The service left much to be desired as the maitre d was quite arrogant and rude and the waiter looked like he hated his job.
We also visited a few of the Port Lodges and had a good time. Many were within walking distance of each other though the hilly streets (especially to Taylor's and Graham's) was a bit of a chore. Interesting that buying port wine (esp. Vintage Port) was cheaper here in North America than at the lodges.
Our hotel (InterContinental) was new (opened in July) and was excellent in almost all aspect. Their breakfast, in particular the portuguese tarts, was fantastic.
Overall, we all thought food quality was well below what we had in Spain. Maybe Lisbon would've represented Portugal better.
Paella Restaurant Suggestions in Barcelona
I just came back from my trip and did some asking as well when we were in Barcelona. Suggestions really varied so I don't think there's a consensus pick. We ended up going to Elche which was recommended by a few sites the concierge at the hotel said it was pretty good as well. I'm not a paella expert by any stretch, but it was good enough that we went for a 2nd time on our last day there.
Visiting BCN for the first time - what are the must-try restaurants?
I contacted El Celler de Can Roca back in early July for a reservation in early September and could only get on the waiting list and since I haven't heard back, looks like I'm outta luck. So, it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to get reservation now for next month.
