Bier Markt

Date: May 21, 2012
Location: 7 O'Neill Rd. (at Shops at Don Mills), Toronto
Website: http://www.thebiermarkt.com/
Meal: brunch

My thoughts:
I came here with my family to celebrate my parents' 28th wedding anniversary. My mom's wanted to try this restaurant for quite some time and suggested this place. 

We ordered a beer sampler ($20 for 6 glasses) - highly recommended if you, like us, are overwhelmed by their vast selection of beer - and the following things to share:

Classic burger ($15): 8 oz char-grilled AAA ground sirloin with tomato, lettuce, red onion and pickle with a side of Belgian crisps. This was the first burger I'd had in well over a decade (I kid you not), and I am glad I chose a higher end one in lieu of one from a fast food restaurant. The Belgian crisps taste very much like kettle chips, which were thick cut and very crispy - yum.

Seafood pot ($19 Monday special): Atlantic salmon, PEI mussels, Black Tiger shrimp, vegetables, potatoes in a tomato fennel broth. I consider myself to be an amateur chef, but I am pretty sure I could have made this myself with some experimentation. The broth was nothing special.

Cheese and lager fondue ($21): cheese fondue with Granny Smith apple, potatoes and Bistro bread for dipping. Highly recommended but best shared, as it is very filling! I found the bread to be quite dense. My favourite was definitely the potatoes.

Shrimp and lobster rolls ($17): Black Tiger shrimp, lobster, creme fraiche, minced celery, fine herbs and shallots on a toasted roll. Another dish I am sure I can make myself. I couldn't really discern the shrimp and the lobster. Also, the dressing also tasted a lot like a Miracle Whip and sour cream mixture. This was disappointing.

My verdict: While I personally wasn't impressed with all our dishes, we really enjoyed our meal overall. (I'm also the only one who really likes to experiment with cooking, so everyone else was quite satisfied with the food.) Their food is definitely far better than traditional pub fare. Very generous-sized portions. We were stuffed for most of the day! Attentive service. I'd recommend mostly for the beer and fondue, and for a night out with friends.

La Paloma Gelateria & Cafe

Date: May 18, 2012

Location: 1357 St. Clair Ave. W. (east of Caledonia Rd.), Toronto

Website: http://lapaloma.ca/

Meal: dessert

My thoughts:

I had the Amaretto ($4.75 for one scoop/flavour) and my friend had the Pistachio and some sort of Oreo-like flavour ($6 for two flavours/scoops). I also had a hot chocolate and my friend a coffee.

While the gelato and drinks were very good, I wasn't particularly fond of the service. All the staff seemed very monotonous and unmotivated to serve customers. Also, at 10:55pm, we were even asked to leave because they were closing (on the door, it says they close at 11pm). I was pretty tired and I wanted to get going anyway, so I just obliged, although under any other circumstances, I would have said something. Maybe it was because of the service that the place was so empty on a Friday night. This is what the place looked like at 10pm.

Eden Trattoria

Date: May 18, 2012
Location: 58 Marine Parade Dr. (east of Park Lawn Rd.), Etobicoke 
Website: http://www.edentrattoria.com/
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I was reluctant to come here sheerly because of the distance, but my friend insisted (and he offered to drive - I can't even begin to express how much I despise the TTC, haha.) This restaurant is located right off of the Humber Bay. Beautiful area.

We arrived at 7 and were told there was a 25 minute wait. We waited at the bar and had some drinks. We were transferred to a table about 15 minutes later.

Mushroom Salad ($11.99) with Grilled Chicken ($5 extra): organic greens topped with wild mushrooms and goat cheese drizzled with balsamic glaze. Our waitress told me this would be enough for a meal, which it wasn't (maybe I just eat more than the typical female), but I didn't feel like ordering something else. Anyway, the salad itself was really good. There were some toasted glazed nuts, which paired very well with balsamic vinegar. There was also a pretty generous amount of chicken. I think my only gripe would be the overall portion size.

Veal Scallopini ($16.99) with Greek Salad ($7 extra): veal topped with a mushroom cream sauce served with salad. My friend upgraded his salad to a Greek salad, which I believe was $5 and feta was an extra $2. The veal and the veal sauce were delicious. Very hearty.

My verdict: Yes, I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you're looking for delicious, authentic Italian fare with a gorgeous view of Lake Ontario in the backdrop. I wouldn't recommend their lychee martini, though; the lychee like it came from a very low-end/cheap brand of canned lychee. Friendly service. If you have a tendency to overeat, you have the option of exploring or hiking in the Humber Bay Park after dinner. They also offer various desserts and gelato flavours, which we didn't try.

Cha-Time

Date: May 15, 2012

Location: 132 Dundas St. W. (west of Yonge St.), Toronto

Website: http://www.ichatime.com/

Meal: drinks

My thoughts:

After shopping all afternoon, both my sister and I were completely depleted of energy and very thirsty. My sister suggested this place. 

We ordered the lychee green tea with tapioca. I realize there is just about a bubble tea joint around every corner within the downtown core, but this place really stands out. This was possibly the best bubble tea I'd ever had! Each drink can be customized to your preferred level of sweetness and amount of ice. (I've been to some places that gave me a hard time for asking for little to no ice.) The bubbles were also perfectly chewy. The lychee/green tea combination was an interesting (in a good way) combination. Loved it!

It's a shame that there is only one Cha-Time location in Canada.

Joe's Buffet Palace

Date: May 15, 2012
Location: 361 Yonge St. (at Gerrard St.), Toronto
Website: http://www.joesbuffetpalace.com/
Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
My sister and I were going to go to this restaurant near Bay and Bloor. We ended up coming here because my sister insisted on checking out 'just a few more stores' and I was so hungry I felt I could eat a horse (figure of speech, okay?) and didn't have the energy to walk all the way there from the Eaton Center.

This ended up being a great choice. At $11.99 per person, this really is a steal (especially if you have an appetite like mine!) Also, while I love ethnic foods, because Indian flavours are so spicy and intense, I find that I can only have a little bit of every dish in one sitting. Hence, why I love Indian buffets!

We were given a window seat, which gave us a great view of the patio and Yonge Street. There was a decent selection (enough for me) of dishes. The samosas and butter chicken were to die for. Each table was also given a basket of hot naan - mmm. I usually love paneer, a vegetarian curry with Indian-style cottage cheese and spinach, but I wasn't a fan of the paneer here; I found the flavour off and very salty. The service was great. I enjoyed this meal. They haven't seen the last of me! ;)

Kazan Teppanyaki Barbeque Restaurant

Date: April 17, 2012

Location: 9625 Yonge St. (north of 16th Ave.), Richmond Hill

Website: http://www.kazanteppanyaki.com/

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

My family and I came here for a joint birthday celebration for my sister and I. This is what we ordered below:

Takoyaki ($6.95): fried breaded squid balls.

Ja Jung Myun ($9.95): noodles with black bean sauce.

Steak teppanyaki ($24.95): 10 oz N.Y. strip loin. 

Sukiyaki teppanyaki ($19.95): 8 oz marinated rib eye in special sauce.

Yakiniku teppanyaki ($19.95): 8 oz thin sliced Black Angus strip loin with teriyaki sauce.

Choice of three teppanyaki ($29.95): chicken, shrimp and scallop.

If you have never had a teppanyaki meal, what it basically entails is a chef cooks your food in front of you on a flat iron grill. Asides from preparing and cooking the food, chefs usually also create some form of entertainment. A popular one is stacking several rings of onion and lighting the whole thing on fire to create the illusion of a moving volcano.

Anyway, I didn't bother taking pictures of the teppanyaki dishes because we all shared the food and it was difficult to differentiate between the different cuts of beef.

Overall, the food was pretty good. Each teppanyaki meal comes with the standard miso soup, a salad and a bowl of rice. I highly recommend upgrading the rice to fried rice for an extra $2.50. I didn't care too much for the takoyakis. They were somewhat lacking in flavour. The noodles were tasty but were lukewarm.

Although a bit pricey and the disappointing takoyakis, I think this restaurant's is a great place to celebrate a special occasion. It is fun and interactive. I just wouldn't recommend purchasing a voucher for this place. Apparently, there is a lot of unwritten fine print with using vouchers here, which did put a bit of a damper on our evening, especially given the fact that we were celebrating two people's birthdays.

Sushi Bar

Date: March 22, 2012

Location: 3369 Yonge St. (south of York Mills Dr.), Toronto

Website: http://www.kazanteppanyaki.com/

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

Again, I apologize for blogging about the same restaurants multiple times. But this time, I've got pictures!!

As per usual, I ordered my favourite sushi roll here, the eel and avocado roll. And as per usual, it was perfection! Notice that the rice is brown. I really recommend making the substitution - if not for the taste, for health reasons. (Brown rice is high in various B-complex vitamins, iron and other minerals.) I also had a wakami (seaweed) salad, but alas, I forgot to take a picture.

This is what my friend always orders: Two bowls of brown rice and three orders each of salmon and tuna sashimi. Each order includes two pieces.

Guu Izakaya

Date: February 14, 2012

Location:  559 Bloor Street W. (east of Bathurst St.), Toronto

Website: http://www.guu-izakaya.com/

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

I apologize in advance for my repeat visits to this place. I hope this isn't becoming a bore for you, but I really wanted to tell you about some new things I tried here and show you some new pictures! 

I'll skip over the things I've already blogged about, namely the okonomiyakis and kinoko bibimbap. Here's what I haven't told you about:

Salmon Tataki ($6.80): seared B.C. salmon sashimi with ponzu, wasabi mayo and garlic chips. Nothing special. I've had better seared salmon sashimi (coming up in my Wow Sushi post.)

Kakimayo ($7.20): baked B.C. oyster with mushrooms, spinach and garlic mayo topped with cheese. Holy calooza! Our favourite of the night and, hands down, officially one of my favourite Guu dishes! The description on the website really doesn't do this dish any justice. This truly is Guu in all its glory. A definite must try!!!

Saba ($8.30): grilled saba mackerel with dill herb, garlic lemon and onion on a sizzling plate. Our least favourite of the night. It just tasted, quite, well, fishy. The lemon didn't help one bit.

Cafe Crepe

Date: March 10, 2012
Location: 246 Queen St. W. (west of University Ave.), downtown Toronto

Website: 

Meal: dinner/snack

My thoughts:

I'd walked by this place numerous times back while I was in university and had never tried it. I suppose it had always seemed really commercialized, mainstream and just a student hang-out (i.e. cheap but not necessarily good). Anyway, when my friends suggested this place, I was dubious but decided to give it a try anyway. 

Oh boy. Was I ever glad I did! Although the restaurant looked really busy from the outside, we were promptly seated. The food itself really brings crepes to a whole new level. I had a chicken and mayonnaise crepe (notice a trend going here? I love mayo! You only live once, I say!) and my friend had an applesauce and cinnamon crepe. My crepe was $6.75 and my friend's $5.75 - very reasonably-priced.

I was blown away by how good the chicken was. I mean, it was literally an explosion of flavours in my mouth! After having a taste of my crepe, my friend's healthy crepe really paled in comparison. Don't get me wrong. I consider myself a healthy-eater (most of the time), but come on, when you're having crepes, you really shouldn't be holding back! Just my two cents..

My verdict: of course I will be coming back!! My only very minor complaint is that they could work on the presentation. It needs some visual appeal.

Dick's Wings and Grill

Date: March 2, 2012

Location: 205 Don Head Village Blvd. (east of Bathurst St.), Richmond Hill

Website:  http://www.menchies.ca

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

Went there for the first time because I bought a deal from one of those deal sites. 

My friend and I ordered sweet potato fries ($5) and 30 wings (2 flavours, $28). The fries were thick-cut and lightly breaded. It didn't come with any of its own dipping sauce, but they did give me mayo when I asked for it (three times, to be exact.) The wings themselves really satisfied the craving I'd been having for big, saucy, juicy wings. I had honey garlic and my friend had BBQ. We both liked our own flavours better.

While the food was great, I'm really not sure what sort of ambiance they were trying to create with the dim lighting and dated decor. There was also not a lot of seating (by my rough estimation, I'd say there were no more than 10 small tables.) On a more positive note, the restaurant's owner did make rounds to chat with all the customers, which was nice.

Live music started around 9:30pm, and by then, the place was starting to shift from a more family to elder crowd.

Not bad overall. The service (which was slow and I'm just not a fan of being called "hon" in an exaggeratedly syrupy voice) and decor could use some work, but we really enjoyed the food. I will be coming back!

Menchie's

Date: February 14, 2012

Location: 3204 Yonge St. (north of Lawrence Ave.), Toronto

Website:  http://www.menchies.ca

Meal: post-dinner snack

My thoughts:
I came here with a friend, with whom I tried to introduce to Menchie's for the second time now. (I'd gotten the address mixed up the first time.) Anyway, with my non-stop jabber and glorifying of Menchie's, needless to say, my friend was pretty excited to finally see what the hype was all about. (What can I say? What's not to love about a kind of healthy, self-serve, design-your-perfect-frozen-yogurt-sundae joint? Not to mention the staff/servers/cashiers are always really friendly.)

Anyway, although he did not finish his yogurt, my friend really seemed to enjoy eating the yogurt as much as he was impressed with Menchie's novel yogurt idea. He had mixed berry and caramel yogurt, and topped it off with banana chips, bobas (his first encounter with them) and maraschino cherries.

For myself, I had the green apple, cherry and original tart flavours (the tart flavours are - by far - my favourite.) The tartness of these flavours pair extremely well with heaping spoonfuls of crushed Oreo cookies and bobas, which of course, are sweet. Then, to top it all off, a maraschino cherry (or two). Heavenly...

Are you drooling yet? If not, I've included pictures of both our creations to help you with that :)

Cravings

Date: February 14, 2012

Location: 3393 Yonge St. (half block south of York Mills), Toronto

Website:  http://cravingstoronto.ca/

Meal: dinner


My thoughts:
Salmon sashimi (3 pieces) . . . $5


Butterfish sashimi (3 pieces) . . . $5

Sweet potato tempura rolls (6 pieces) . . . $6

Rainbow spider roll (8 pieces) . . . $14
soft shell crab and cucumber topped with salmon, bbq eel and avocado

Gold dragon roll (8 pieces) . . . $9

Freshii

Date: January 31, 2012

Location: 861 York Mills Rd. (east of Leslie Rd.), Toronto

Website: http://www.freshii.com

Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
I shared the Detox salad ($10.99), which was January's featured item. Needless to say, it hardly filled either one of us up, but was it ever delicious! What we've got here is grilled chicken, mango chunks, carrots, edamame beans and almond slices all sitting on a fresh bed of greens with a delicate balsamic vinaigrette dressing drizzled over top. Mm-mm!

Lobby Lounge

Date: January 28, 2012

Location: 550 Wellington St. W. (east of Bathurst St.), Toronto

Website: http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/toronto/thompson-toronto/drink/lobby-bar

Meal: drinks

My thoughts:
Typical King West crowd - artsy and trendy and mostly consisting of 20-something to 40-something year olds (my kind of scene).

We arrived at 8pm and were promptly seated at the bar and were given complimentary honey roasted peanuts almonds and kettle-cooked chips, both of which were really good. By 9:30pm, it had gotten quite busy. 

My friend (a female) and I couldn't help but notice the gorgeous designer-like dresses that all the waitresses donned.

Nice decor and ambiance. Drinks were on the expensive side, but given the location, this was expected. Good music. Service was not bad. Will return again.

Guu Izakaya

Date: January 26, 2012

Location: 398 Church Street (north of Gerrard St. E.), Toronto

Website: http://guu-izakaya.com/

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
Yes, it's Guu again! :) Came here on a Thursday night and the wait was still about 50 minutes for a party of two. That should tell you something about how popular this restaurant is. But as always, the wait was well worth it.

This was my friend's first time here and he asked me to make some recommendations. I ordered my usual dishes - okonomiyaki, takoyaki and unagi doria. I've included just a quick little description from Guu's website just for easy reference. To read my thoughts on these dishes, please see my entry from November 2011. 

Takoyaki ($5.00) - deep fried octopus balls with tonkatsu sauce and karashi mayo 

Okonomiyaki ($6.80) - deep-fried Japanese pancake with squid, tonkatsu sauce and karashi mayo 

Unagi Doria ($9.30) - barbeque water eel on mixed mushrooms rice with cheese on top 

My friend ordered the following dishes... 

Karubi ($6.80) - salt and pepper grilled beef short ribs with scallion sauce. This wasn't overly salty today, unlike the last time I had this. It wasn't bad, but I prefer my beef short ribs to be sliced thick so that it's juicier. 

Kinoko Bibimbap ($8.80) - rice, mushrooms & cheese with seaweed sauce served in a sizzling stone bowl. This was similar to the unagi doria, but without the eel. Similar sauce, almost just as delicious (I am a big fan of unagi after all), and will definitely order again.

And for the record, my friend was impressed with this restaurant and its atmosphere, despite the fact they don't t have sushi. Yay again for Guu :)

Menchie's

Date: Jan 18, 2012

Location: 3883 - 3885 Rutherford Rd. (west of Weston Rd.), Woodbridge

Website: http://www.menchies.ca/

Meal: snack

My thoughts:

What a concept Menchie's is! I love it!! 

Menchies is a self-serve frozen yogurt bar. One of the best things about this place is that they have a tray of mini paper cups for you to sample all their flavours. Then once you have made your pick, there are bigger cups for you to fill with yogurt and customize your creation with any combination of the wide array of toppings that they have.

I had the original tart with crushed Oreo cookies, fresh pineapple, maraschino cherries, bobas in cherry, mango and lychee (these are 'pop-able' juice-filled bubbles). Heeeavenly!! I can't imagine this being that healthy considering all the toppings I put on, though.

By the way, if you go to their website, you will see that they have hundreds of flavours of yogurt, but they only have about ten flavours at any given time. I was told they rotate through the different flavours every two weeks. I can't wait to try their other flavours!!

Cafe en Passant

Date: Oct 22, 2011

Location: 10133 Yonge St. (north of Major MacKenzie), Richmond Hill

Website: http://cafeenpassant.ca/

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

Oh boy. I realized I forgot to write about this place after coming here for a second time about a month ago. (And okay, in all honesty - I "forget" or "am too busy" to blog all the time, but I think this place deserves at least one write-up on it.)

For starters, my friend and I shared the Mussels Marinara ($9.95) served with a wine, herb and garlic marinara sauce, which was delicious and paired really well with the bread (that we had to request for, which was odd, but I'll let that slide because my main was so delicious).

I ordered the Spanish Paella ($23.95), which is a Spanish-style rice dish with lots of herbs and all sorts of delicious things. This particular dish had sauteed chicken breast, jumbo shrimp, fresh mussels and tomatoes. The portion was huge, and it was probably the best paella I've ever had. Will order again.

My friend ordered the Pork Tenderloin ($21.95) off their specials menu. I'm not normally a pork kind of girl, but I had a little taste and was blown away by how tender and juicy the meat was. (We came back about a month ago and the specials menu was pretty much the same, so if you are interested in trying it, they might still have it since it doesn't seem like they change their specials menu all that often.)

We also ordered half a liter of red wine. The decor was simple and understated, but in a charming kind of way. We were seated near the middle of the restaurant by a wooden lattice board with flowers (roses?) weaved through. All in all, a very enjoyable dining experience.