TorontoTips's Profile
Great tempura in Richmond Hill?
People who follow CHOW will know that I generally agree with Charles on most posts, and I often rely on his recommendations when I want to explore new authentic chinese dining options beyond my own sometimes obsessive explorations. :-)
BUT, most of us when asking for recommendations are not seeking "technically percfect and identical to some standard that most have never even tried" but rather looking for "delicious, and your local favorite", If your personal fave drastically differs from what one would normally expect, then one should share that info, too, of course.
In this case, I'll agree that "great" and even "good" are all relative, and I'll agree that I wouldn't be caught dead in the Ichiban's of the world, but I'll stand by my assertion that Kaori makes very good tempura that I personally have liked as much as any I've had, including some of the very expensive and highly touted faves in T.O.
And regarding the Japanese-only caveat - technically, tempura is a Portuguese dish, and the Japanese just imported the idea since their emperor loved it, but I enjoy it when made by Japanese chefs, AND by other talented chefs, as opposed to only by the traditional and correct Portuguese chefs :-)
Help! Hound moving to Ajax; Reccommendations needed for Durham.
A couple of other good spots:
- Massey's on south Liverpool Road for Steak on a Kaiser and Fries with gravy - I've been going since I was a kid, and it's still pretty great, even though fresh-cut fries can be tricky in summertime. The steak is not a chewy striploin, but rather multiple large medallions of marinaded flank steak grilled to a char-flavoured delight and piled high on a toasted kaiser. I recommend skipping the customary lettuce & tomato, and asking for pickles, onions and HP sauce instead, for the traditional Pickering version :-) They have good salads & burgers, too.
- Harp & Crown on Kingston for chicken wings, specifically the lemon-butter ones. Yes, weird I know, but yummy. The wings are really well-prepared, not breaded, with nice crispy skin, but sadly they use BBQ sauce in their hot-medium-mild wings, as opposed to the buffalo-esque Frank's Red Hot style, but the Lemon-Butter are shockingly addictive, and half price early in the week!
Jamaican Patty Shaper and Sealer
I asked my favourite jerk-shop and they laughed at me and said they make theirs by hand and only the high-volume-low-quality places like patty king use a machine or press.
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
Sure Goo, pleasant reading I suppose, and ideal for a few moments of literary distraction, but for me entirely useless as a predictor of my future enjoyment of a restaurant, which was the goal in reading a restaurant review in the first place.
I've read some snappy, clever movie reviews as well, but I'd prefer less clever turning of phrases and more useful advice about the quality and entertainment or educational value of the film and it's plot, acting, directing, message, etc.
Passable bathroom reading, perhaps, but food guide and restaurant reviews, not so much.
Just one guy's opinion :-)
Dating (and dining with!) a less adventurous eater
Hmmm... Interesting.
Would probably be a deal-breaker for me :-)
No adventure at mealtime often associates with no adventure elsewhere in life, and I can't imagine that being a recipe for anything but stress and resentment, for this guy :-)
You're a bigger person than I :-)
Is there Singaporean Laksa in Toronto?
WRONG! :-)
I love the Laksa here, and the Char Kwei Teo, and my my Singaporean-Chinese friend Weng says it's very traditional.
For chicken-rice, we tend to favour South-Asia Malaysian, but always looking for new spots.
Goody’s Diner – Finally an Ontario candidate for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives… and it’s in Scarborough
As mentioned elsewhere, I've been to Goody's a number of times and was happy with what I received - good, but not great, burgers, topped with fun toppings.
Sadly most of the topping combos and even the photos used in the restaurant were "borrowed" from this website: http://www.cheeseandburger.com/
As mentioned above, Goody's burgers are the "fortified with seasonings & fillers" type of burgers that some have decided to call meatloaf burgers, which I think is a bit over-stated, but important to note if you favour the 'nothing-but-beef' style of burgers, as I personally do.
Overall, quite good, not great, and should give credit to the original authors for their signage, etc.
Toronto's Best Slice
Hey kids!
I used to live in the Leaside area, and Bravo or Big Man were probably the best local joints, Magic Pan was shockingly bad, especially the crust, and none would be in the running for the 'best in the city', in my opinion.
I've tried virtually everyone mentioned above, except Columbo's, I remember great San Francesco slices downtown way back in the day, but I would say that for me, Massimo's, Bitondo's, Abruzzo, and Vesuvio's make the best pizza SLICES.
True that Bitondo's and Massimo's are inconsistent and only good if you insist they reheat the slices "Well-Done" as they sometimes serve them lukewarm and under-cooked when rushing to satisfy all the hungry hoardes. :-)
Re: toppings, mushrooms, etc. - for me it goes without saying that slices should be cheese or pepperoni or both, ONLY :-), and honestly, Abruzzo on Yonge in RH is as good as any of them.
HOWEVER, personally I think you can almost pass on them all and just go to Danforth Pizza House instead, order a pizza to take out, freeze the remaining slices, and it would still probably be the best of the bunch :-)
Great tempura in Richmond Hill?
I may be too late, but Kaori (Yonge & Hwy 7 / HiTech Rd) has great tempura, along with very good sashimi, sushi and korean treats, especially dolsot bibimbap and kalbi.
The building used to be Outback, and it's got the tatami rooms if you like that vibe, or regular tables and/or seats at the sushi bar :-)
Maybe a tiny bit pricey, compared to the mom-and-pop sushi-korean places, but we like the food a lot..
Cheers,
.James.
My first time in Toronto - dining experiences
Cheers atcpa!
I was once treated by Germantown friends to a weekend in your town, featuring fishing, shore-lunch, and a tailgate party plus Jays-Brewers ballgame in Milwaukee at the old stadium, featuring grilled brats & beer and naked drunk guys dancing on a winnebago and honestly, I just LOVED the sweet, welcoming folks of WI. !!
I still have lots of nice memories of that weekend, and even a can of Harley-Davidson "Heavy Beer" to show for that trip :-)
Glad you had a great time, come back anytime!
Rally Sports Bar + Smokehouse - O'Connor/VIc Park area
Cheers, Googs, thanks for the original reco.
The pulled pork was quite good, nice rolls, maybe a tiny bit under-stuffed, but yummy, and the onions rings were legit and tasty with the cold beer, and they even have blues bands on Fridays - hoping my Jackhammer Blues Band can get booked :-)
I hope the chicken was just an off-night, since not only couldn't I eat it, I couldn't talk any of my table-mates into a 2nd bite, either :-)
I suspect that the kitchen thinks they were improving it with all the dried herbs, but a) really great fried chicken doesn't need all that, and b) it's about the quality of the chicken and preparing it properly. This one was a miss on all counts. Or they can change the name to pesto-battered-chicken and I'm sure lots of folks will rush to get some. :-)
Me? I'll just stick to the BBQ items :-)
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
Yes, I agree with the negative reviews of JK, and had long ago excluded her opinions from my portfolio of useful places to research "where to eat".
I found her to be a bit of a dinosaur, often unpleasantly (and irrationally) snobby, and typically focusing on some odd little issue, rather than the quality of the food, etc. Reminded me of the occasional annoying chow or yelp posters that trash a place because of the attire of the servers, or a slowly-filled water glass, or not wanting to split a table of 10 into separate bills, or being asked that their bratty kids not be permitted to run between the tables, etc.
Plus her food-bias and/or palate was also really schizophrenic and unreliable - often extolling a virtue of one place (like the courage to take a risk on a dish that failed or the simplicity of homey, comfort-food, for example) and then trashing another place doing precisely the same thing (as not following tradition, or too simple, unrefined and lacking innovation, etc)
In the end, like many film reviewers, I found her reviews to be written from an egotistical place, designed largely to impress peers and/or provoke response, rather than honest, useful guides as to where to eat.
I truly do find many posters on Chow to be much more reliable guides.
NEW CONSOLIDATED Thread: Best Chicken Wings in GTA
Thanks for the suggestion, but even if I managed to instruct Duff's in the technique to cook wings properly, their odd sauce is really unpleasantly bitter and pulpy, not sweet and buttery, so Duff's is never going to be on my list.
(1 - Yes, I know that technically, the best wings joints use liquid margarine, not butter, but it tastes buttery. :-)
2 - I've also been asked a couple of times that If I really could teach how to make better wings than Duff's, why don't I just make my own - the answer is that one really needs a professional deep fryer to properly do the job, without one the quality suffers considerably, and it's also a big hassle and expense to go through setting up a successful home-frying station every time I want to fry up just 20 or 30 wings.
My search continues. :-)
NEW CONSOLIDATED Thread: Best Chicken Wings in GTA
Just for clarity, does Crown and Dragon do traditional buffalo-style unbreaded wings with a buttery hot sauce in variable heat settings, or are they more of the 101-flavours and/or breaded type?
Good quality ice cream to take home?
Thanks gang. :-)
I have managed to grab the occasional moose tracks, but none of my other favorite flavours, and I'm hoping to broaden out and find some new brands that are a step up in quality, freshness and/or variety from PC and Breyer's Double-Churn.
I've really enjoyed Greg's ice cream on occasion, especially the roasted marshmallow and fresh banana, but I'm looking for other quality brands, or local shops that make their own and/or carry a broad range of interesting flavours.
Any suggestions?
Bi Bim Bap in North York?
Hey Famke,
I've seen much debate on this, but we love Korean-owned Kaori up at Yonge & High Tech Blvd. and the bonus is that they also serve great sushi, kalbi, etc. and personally I love their house-made hot sauce that accompanies the bi bim bap. :-)
...and make sure you ask for "dolsot" bi bim bap, if you want the crispy-bottomed stone bowl version.
The worst Chinese food in torOnto
Keep in mind that there has been some significant disagreement on here about Cynthia's Chinese, too... with me as a fan for the same nostalgic reasons :-)
To each their own :-)
NEW CONSOLIDATED Thread: Best Chicken Wings in GTA
Well, I AM one from the no-breading camp for wings, AND I've been to Puck'n'Wings and was completely unimpressed... BUT this pic's look to me is one of processed shake'n'bake, not something I would find very appealing compared to buffalo wings, (or even KFC or Popeyes). I guess catering to many different tastes and palates is why there's more than one restaurant, huh? :-) Cheers!
Is pepperoni the same as chorizo?
Just some background for the enthusiasts...
Pepperoni, actually a dry-cooked spicy sausage, is an american invention, as is the sauce, cheese & toppings style of pizza that predominates in the USA.
The word pepperoni or peperoni does indeed mean a hot chile pepper, not a sausage, to most of the rest of the world.
Chorizo on the other hand is a spanish/potuguese spicy sausage, typically made with pork and smoked spanish paprika which gives it it's red colour, and is often fresh or lightly dried, but the name chorizo recently has been 'liberated' by american chefs and now appears in hundreds of variations of fresh, dried, smoked, pork, beef, mixed meat, etc. sausages, with or without casings, spicy / mild, etc.
If you find it greasy on your pizza, (I love greasy pepperoni sausage, personally, with its red oil staining the cheese :-)) it's probably because it is fresh or under-dried, compared to pepperoni, which, as I say is usually 'cooked'.
Salami is typically slowly dried and aged, not dry-cooked with heat, but is often a finer-grind and will be a little closer to what you think of as a pizza-topping like pepperoni.
If you make or source a hot-dried spicy chorizo made with finely-ground meat, or a finely ground and dried salami or a sopressata, you'd find it's a similarly tasty pizza topping to pepperoni, if not exactly the same.
NEW CONSOLIDATED Thread: Best Chicken Wings in GTA
If Hot was the only measure of a wing, I would agree, or perhaps I'd say that the best wing wasn't a wing at all, but just munching on a ghost pepper. :-)
Personally, the strange bitterness, weird pulpy texture and rubbery, undercooked skin eliminates Duff's from contention, or even from the conversation, for best.
Vive la différence!
Good quality ice cream to take home?
Hey Kids!
Any suggestions as to where I can buy litres or gallons or cartons of really great ice cream to take home?
Now that I've sold my Minden cottage, I can't bring home my Kawartha Dairy faves like Pralines & Cream, Caramel Snappers, Moose Tracks, and Butter Tart, etc.
SO, any suggestions??
I'd prefer someplace North York, Scarborough, Markham, etc. with parking and without high artisan prices and long line-ups, but I'm open to any and all ideas.
Thanks!
.James.
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
Yeah, I agree - I found her generally out of touch, usually snobby, and her palate or food-bias really schizophrenic and unreliable. I find many posters on Chow to be much more reliable guides.
New BBQ Place in Scarborough - Rally Sports Bar
Just to add my 2¢
The location feels more like Scarborough than East York to me, and now that we are one big happy "mega-city" I could care less about technical borders, but yes, it is technically outside Scarberia, so I travelled well over 100 yards into East York, and...
I finally visited Rally's this weekend, and while Buster Rhino's has nothing to worry about, my group really quite enjoyed their pulled-pork sandwiches. Rave reviews from all, and the onion rings were enjoyed by all as well.
UNFORTUNATELY, I ordered the buttermilk fried chicken, which I DO NOT RECOMMEND.
The chicken breading was massively over-seasoned with bitter dried herbs to the point that neither I nor my dining companions would even eat the chicken skin!, AND the chicken itself (leg, thigh, wing)
had a distinct metallic freezer flavour to it. The Fries were frozen and poor as well, and while the chicken breading was obviously fresh, it was oddly 'frilly' (for lack of a better word) and the overall effect reminded me quite a bit of the Swanson frozen chicken dinners of my food-deprived youth!
Staff servers were delightful and professional, place was clean and attractive for a sports bar, and in the end, the group all said they would return.
Rally Sports Bar + Smokehouse - O'Connor/VIc Park area
Just to add my 2¢
I finally visited Rally's this weekend, and while Buster Rhino's has nothing to worry about, my group really quite enjoyed their pulled-pork sandwiches. Rave reviews, and the onion rings were enjoyed by all as well.
UNFORTUNATELY, I ordered the buttermilk fried chicken, which I DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Chicken was massively over-seasoned with dried herbs, and had a distinct freezer flavour to it. The Fries were frozen and poor as well, and the chicken batter was fresh, but was 'frilly' (for lack of a better word) and the overall effect reminded me quite a bit of the Swanson frozen chicken dinners of my food-deprived youth!
Staff was delightful and professional, place was clean and attractive for a sports bar, and the group all said they would return.
The worst Chinese food in torOnto
I disagree.
If you're after Canadianized chinese food from an old-school retro chop-suey house, as opposed to authentic cantonese, AND if you know what to order, Sea-Hi can be quite yummy, but like at all places, the secret is knowing what to order, as few places do everything well, so you're bound to be disappointed.
The go-to dishes at Sea-Hi are the appetizer chicken sticks, dry garlic ribs, shrimp in lobster sauce, fried rice, and the house-made hot mustard and brown plum sauce with anything deep fried and crunchy.
I love to head to Markham and get authentic asian food when I feel the urge, but sometimes I want the corny stuff of my youth and Sea-Hi (and Cynthia's in Thornhill) always hit the spot.
looking for vietnamese sandwich
Personally, I LOVE Nguyen Hong for banh mi sandwiches!
In my opinion they are MUCH better than most of the places I travelled to and tried based on popular opinions expressed on T.O. foodie sites.
It's east of McCowan, west of Markham Rd, right at Middlefield and Steeles in the large plaza with Tim Hortons and Popeye's Fried Chicken, situated right next to the T&T Asian Supermarket.
One tip: make sure you ask for a freshly-made sandwich and don't take a pre-made, pre-bagged one, as the crispness of the bread is one of the great treats of a banh mi, and the crispness is gradually diminished by being wrapped and bagged, even for a relatively short time.
They come in multiple varieties, and in hot, medium or mild, and the hot is very hot but distracts from the subtle flavours of the ingredients for me, but I do always ask for extra cilantro on my assorted cold-cuts and meatball banh-mi.
Note also that the little food court inside the supermarket offers great wonton soup and other treats, and at the end of the same plaza there is a AYCE sushi joint (Matsuda) that is actually quite good for AYCE, as well.
Cheers,
.James.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/nguyen-huong-foods-company-scarborough
Lunch Options: Markham & Sheppard area
I like Babu (Sheppard between McCowan and Markham) for sri-lankan samosas and curries, as well as Silver Spoon in the same plaza for Indian take-out.
I'd also recommend Wonton Chai Noodle (NW corner of Brimley & Sheppard) for huge shrimp wonton soup with mein noodles, or brisket and greens.
Across the street also at Sheppard & Brimley is Thien Phat very good vietnamese, especially the spring rolls, grilled pork with vermicelli or rice, and pho.
100 yards east of wontons you'll find the Gourmet Garden Malaysian low-brow food court for great Laksa and stir-fried Char Kway Teo noodles - Gourmey malaysia is same owners for eat-in and better ambiance.
100 yards east of that, north side, is Joey Bravo's for solid wood-oven pizza and pasta specials.
Just north of Sheppard on Markham is a new burrito joint called Mucho Burrito, gets good but mixed reviews.
I also love Federicks (not fRedericks, just Federicks) at Bellamy & Ellesmere for the best Chicken Pakora, Chili Chicken, and huge, cheap Hakka chinese lunch specials.
For a more group-friendly 'event' lunch, scoot up Brimley to Huntingwood to the Chartwell Mall and go to Dragon Dynasty for an authentic dim-sum feast (also good take-out dim-sum).
Also, just south of Ellesmere on Markham (east side) is The Real McCoy, who make GREAT HOMEburgers, fries & gravy, steak on a Kaiser and pizza in a old-school greek-owned burger take-out! (note order a MOJOburger or HOMEburger, not HAMburger, or you'll get the forgettable frozen patty).
Its worth the drive to get to most of these in my opinion - enjoy!
.James.
Scarborough Gems
Yes, George's pizza is VERY good, too!
I ask for extra sauce and well-done and I always get a really great, old-school pie.
I would definitely call them best in Scarberia, but Danforth Pizza and a couple of others surpass them, on a city-wide list, for me :-)
.James.
