went last night for the first time - wow, great burger!
grilled octopus and steak tartare were fantastic.
really enjoyed our meal and would definitely go again.

Wife and I love the rosti there! She usually doesn't like potatoes of any kind too!
tangerine juice is really good. cobb salad was great.
overall, better than we expected.

Campagnolo for us.
Been twice to Enoteca and have not found anything stood out enough to go back. Nothing bad, but just not for us i guess.

The Caledonian pub on College, between Ossington and Dovercourt. easily the best fish and chips i've ever had. the fish was really fresh and soft inside the batter.

this would be my vote too. i'm not a dessert person, but their red velvet cake is awesome

$9.95 for sandwich and corn on the cob. it was good.

don't mean to be a spoiler, but good friends of ours recently attended a wedding there and really weren't impressed with the food. we almost booked it ourselves a few years ago, and changed our mind when we heard similar comments from other friends.
i don't know which menu it was.

We've done this twice now and both times have been fantastic. The first meal was with duck and last night we had a private birthday dinner for 24 people with beef. All the guests were happy with their meals and enjoyed the experience. The chef, Scott, works with you ahead of time to arrange the meal with respect to the number of courses and the dishes being served. Service is great. With this menu, they have a $10 corkage fee too. Overall, can't say enough about this concept and am already thinking of our next "beast" to try.

thanks again to the excellent team at Beast.

we bought this deal and went last week.
we had the french onion soup - pretty good. what i'd expect for a french onion soup. another roasted tomato/garlic sort of a bruschetta thing that was really tasty.
our mains: beef bourbuignon on pasta - not that great. a bit bland. extra sauce on the pasta helped.
duck leg: average
bottle of grenache at $35 was good enough.
overall, not a terrible place, but not something i'd go out of my way for. we live in the neighbourhood so it wasn't much trouble.
the service was really friendly and we liked the charm of the place, cozy and quaint. the prices are not expensive, so I wouldn't feel cheated for the quality of food we received - especially with the voucher.

thanks. will look into it.

Hi
We'll be visiting from Toronto over the holidays and meeting up with another couple for dinner. Last time we met up, we ended up at a fine dining place in Central, and the food was great. This time, looking for something a little more casual and fun. If you know Toronto, we're looking for something more of the Ossington/Queen west atmosphere (think converted warehouse spaces, hipster-types, though quaint-and-first date-ish place would be fine as well. We are fans of Foxleys, Delux, Black Hoof, not really Splendido/Canoe). Basically, not looking for fine-dining atmosphere, but want something that would leave an enjoyable impression. no hotels or places where people are in suits having a business dinner.

Type of cuisine isn't that important, but good food is. Price point isn't too important either as long as it is justified by good food.

thanks.

Full of Beans on Dundas, between Dufferin and Dovercourt. They roast every day. The roaster is right in front of the shop and does 1lb at a time (there are 5 of them). Just recently opened.

I was in Sault Ste Marie for work this week. Tried:
- Giovanni's: decent, but nothing special. good for the price. didn't like the ravioli too much.
- Panna's: a trendier spot for the Soo. opinions on the food are mixed. had a great steak tenderloin, but wife's whitefish kimchee style wasn't that great. had to send it back because it was really overcooked the first time - i think this may have been the second time in my life that i have send something back, but i have become a bit pickier with my food over the years as well.
- A Thymely Manner: this place is really really good. i haven't eaten at any Michelin star restaurants, but i'm pretty well traveled and have eaten at many places. we had a "nutty duck" starter - amazing. baked brie: really good. veal dish and a bouillabaisse-dish: both very tasty. service was great too. it is really good, hearty food that has a home-cooked quality to it. we couldn't finish either of our mains, and they made for a great lunch the next day. This is one restaurant that i wish we had in toronto.

the people here are really friendly and there are lots of hiking trails around to walk off all the calories. overall, it was a pretty good trip - especially since it was for work.

was at a wedding there last year and thought the food was quite good. thought the venue was nicer than most halls, and enjoyed it more than most hotel weddings i've been to.

was there last night:
- the Ontario Berkshire Pancetta was so good! as described on the menu, maple cured then smoked. it had that nice combination of flavours and it was cut so thin that it just melted in your mouth. one of my favorite things i've eaten this year.
- the steak tartare was good but not exciting, though i prefer it more spicy.
- the Ontario lakefish was perfectly done. my wife doesn't normally like fish, and she couldn't stop raving about it. the skin had a nice crisp to it, and again, this is the one part of the fish she normally would not touch, but loved last night.
- the gnocchi, as described below, very soft and nice texture. flavour was nice, but i would have preferred it to be a bit stronger.
- their special cocktail of the night was very refreshing, a gin and tonic, with cucumber/mint/lime

overall, we really enjoyed our meal.

i thought the rotisserie chicken was one of the better portugese chickens i've had around here. we also enjoyed a bean/pork stew dish. i wouldn't call Bairrada a destination place, but more of a good place for a homestyle meal in the neighbourhood. we live right at that corner and haven't really found many restaurants that are walking distance i'd call must-go places.

down on queen, there are the roti shops (Mother India, among the caribbean places). Roncesvalles has some ok places. Local Kitchen isn't too far. but i can't think of much within 1 or 2 streets from that corner. I'm definitely interested in finding some more local places too.

We enjoy grabbing drinks at The Black Dice. Atlantic makes a good Manhattan. Brunch at the Henhouse and Lula lounge are decent enough.

We prefer the food at Phoenix (College/Sheridan, SE corner), though it isn't as fancy a place.

Portugese at Bairrada (College, just east of Dufferin) is really good. The backyard patio there is really nice and cozy. Wednesdays they have a suckling pig, though it was sold out by 8:30 when I went a couple of weeks ago.

I haven't tried Naco, but my neighbour tells me the bean soup is really good.

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Dufferin Cafe
2917 Dufferin St, Toronto, ON M6B3S7, CA

we went to a wedding once 4 yrs ago. i remember that the fish was quite good. i thought it was a nice venue. we have another wedding there in July, so i can update my thoughts then.

the burger is very good, but the wagyu burger is a taste of heaven! it is one of my favorite dishes ever. burger patty, topped with short rib, topped with truffle, topped with a poached egg. for the regular burger, try getting the onion rings instead of the fries - much better.

the tuna tartare there is one of the best in the city.

you're right about the atmosphere, and not my usual kind of place, but the food is so good!

you've definitely tried many of the better places in the city.
i like cherry bomb on Roncesvalles and Mercury on queen, out in leslieville. Probably Mercury more. Given their hype, i'm not crazy about either Manic or Sam James', but both are more than adequate.

"hoots and hollers." is actually being very polite and welcoming you to the restaurant. This is quite common in most restaurants when I was traveling in Japan.

Went for lunch today...had the chicken and bacon panini...really bland. My wife has been before and she wasn't impressed with the food either. I don't think I'd be going out of my way to go there again.

I'd have to agree that the decor is very dated and in need of some revitalization. Also would agree with an above post that I think Scaramouche may have my favorite service in the city. Attentive, but not overbearing. Not too formal, like I found at Splendido.

I think Auberge has the best romantic atmosphere of the places mentioned, but I like the food at Scaramouche better, especially their famous coconut cream pie! Despite all the votes for Scaramouche's famous window seat, I really didn't find the ambiance anything special, though I have used it for special occasions in the past as well. Perhaps it is for a different target age group. I am in my early 30s and I have found that a larger portion of the other diners at Scaramouche could have children my age or older. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, but it is something I noticed.

I prefer the food at Nota Bene over both of the other 2. Can't get enough of their tuna tartare! Nothing special about the ambiance, more of a corporate scene in my mind.

i went this morning and they told me it was sold out in the GTA. no rainchecks were being given out because it is a special item. :(

Has anyone tried the Kitchenaid 3.5 Qt dutch oven on sale this weekend? It is only $30.

I can't make it today, but if anyone goes, can they please write a short review? I can hopefully go tomorrow for dinner.

thanks

I had a great Old Fashioned at Sidecar, then had a not so great one at Insomnia. Love the drink and looking for other places that do it well. Any suggestions?

everything was bland and overcooked. i actually prefer canned chef boyardee to the pasta we had.
imagine airplane food, but not on a tray. sorry...for your sake, hopefully we went on an off night for the kitchen. or maybe we are picky eaters...some others didn't seem to mind the food.
it was still a good party and the venue was nice. it was open bar, so that made up for the night!
good luck.

I haven't been to Eglinton Grand and haven't heard any recent reviews on it, but we were in a similar situation 2 years ago when we were booking venues. We loved the space but heard from several friends who had been to different weddings that the food was disappointing. This past summer we went to a wedding at Atlantis, which is under the same ownership, and we both agreed that it might have been the worst wedding food we've ever had. If food is important to you, I would avoid it.

Good luck finding a venue, it is probably the hardest part of wedding planning. Once you get that done, the rest should hopefully be easier.