Abruzzo Pizza

Date: July 12, 2014
Location: 9010 Yonge St (just south of 16th Ave), Richmond Hill
Website: http://abruzzopizza.com/
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I came here tonight with my coworkers. Being the event organizer for this outing, I wanted to choose something that would satisfy even those hardest to please that is situated someplace central for all of us.

After extensive research, I decided on this place. Judging from the very simple and unpretentious-looking storefront and menu (I saw pictures on their website), I was expecting a very no frills type of mom and pop shop with decent, affordable food.

Well, affordable it was. Decent it was not - it was amazing! I had to fight hard not to gloat as to how good of a recommendation it was I made. Everyone was thoroughly impressed.

Here's a rundown of what we had:

FRIED CALAMARI ($13): Fresh calamari rings coated in a light and crispy batter and deep-fried. This came with a sauce that resembled bruschetta. Whatever it was, it was good and complemented the calamari very well.

SMALL THIN-CRUST PIZZA ($9 + $1.20 for each additional topping): For toppings, we got extra cheese, mushrooms, eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes, so our pizza came to $13.80. In a nutshell, it was love at first bite. It was the perfect amount of cheese (and I'm a cheese lover), the crust was thin and crispy, and the pizza well-seasoned. The vegetable toppings were a perfect marriage atop the pizza (of course, they were our choosing). This was my favourite of the evening. A real winner.

LARGE THICK-CRUST PIZZA ($14 + $1.75 for each additional topping): We got pineapple and Italian sausage, the latter which counted as two toppings, so our pizza came to $19.25. We unanimously agreed that the thin crust was better. Even those who generally prefer thick crust agreed. We found the thick crust to be rather dry. This was probably the only complaint that night. Still a winner.

PANZEROTTO ($8 + $1 for each additional topping): The "basic" panzerotto comes with pizza/tomato sauce and cheese. We added broccoli and chicken strips, the latter which counted as two toppings, so ours came to $11. I'm glad we didn't ask for extra cheese on this. I'm a cheese lover and I found it plenty cheesy as is. We decided to be health conscious and had this baked rather than friend, and it was still plenty tasty. A winner!

TIRAMISU ($3): I wasn't sure what to expect for a $3 piece of dessert, but as it turned out, this was not only a real steal but also really tasty! This was about 4 inches in diameter and enough to share amongst 6 ladies. The crust was also partially frozen, something I'd never had before, and it served as a nice contrast to the creamy topping.

Also, apparently this business's website needs some updating. The place shown on the website has now become a takeout establishment (same business but strictly does takeout). The restaurant (where we ate) is two doors down. It is renovated very nicely. Still unpretentious, but nice enough for a casual date and very family friendly. Even more points because the service was awesome - prompt, friendly and efficient (which seems to be a rarity these days, or is it just me?)

I'm so, soooo glad we came here. We all had a great time and were very impressed with the food. It has definitely reignited my love for Italian fare. I will be coming back, and soon!

Butter Chicken Factory

Date: Thursday, July 3, 2014
Location: 556 Parliament St (south of Wellesley), Toronto
Website: http://www.butterchickenfactory.ca/
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I am not joking when I say that I've been wanting to come here for years, since university in fact! This is just so out of my way. But my dad and I so happened to both be free this evening, and I was having the worst craving for rice, so I suggested we come here.

We called 20 minutes ahead requesting for a window table and were told one was available. But when we got there, we told no window tables were available and given another table. (I wanted a window table so that my food pics would turn out better.) Anyway, that was a very minor issue, if even that.

We ordered the ALOO PAPRI CHAAT ($4.95), which is a combination of chickpeas, potatoes & flour chips served with chutney & yogurt. This wasn't bad albeit nothing special. I've had better.

We also shared the DAAL MAKHANI ($9.95) with an order of STEAMED RICE ($2.99). Looking back, it was pretty foolish of me to order something other than their namesake dish, given that we were only ordering one dish. Call it what you want, but I was just really craving daal, and my dad loves lentils. It seemed like a pretty safe bet. This again was nothing special, though the serving dish (pot) was unique.

All in all, this was a huge letdown. We don't have any real complaints, but this is hardly something worth making such a trek for. What we had today wasn't good enough to warrant a return visit, even to try their butter chicken.

Loui's Kouzina

Date: Monday, June 30, 2014
Location: 9255 Woodbine Ave (at 16th Ave), Markham
Website: N/A
Cuisine: Greek
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I try to take my mom out for dinner about once a month. We usually go for Japanese, but I wanted to my mom to try something different tonight. This place immediately came to mind. We called ahead and made reservations for 6pm, though it wasn't necessary as the restaurant was pretty empty (it did get very busy around 7 though). 

We were given a loaf of complimentary toasted garlic bread, but I didn't eat much of it because it didn't have enough butter. I didn't want to fill up on bread so I didn't bother asking for more butter. Butter's not healthy anyway.

For our mains, I had the moussaka plate with a side of Caesar salad ($13.95). This was my first moussaka experience so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but it certainly was very good. For those unfamiliar with this dish, I see it as a Greek version of a lasagna, but with potatoes instead of pasta noodles and with different vegetables and seasonings. This particular one had onions and eggplant, and the potatoes resembled mashed potatoes but were less granular in texture.

My mom ordered the double lamb shank dinner with a choice of two sides ($18.95). The single shank was $14.95 I believe. My mom loved this. The meat was literally fall-of-the-bone and seasoned well. The veggies were very fresh, and the rice fluffy and infused with flavour.

We ordered a grilled calamari ($9.95) to share, but this didn't come until the tail end of our meal. We still enjoyed it all the same, but it gave us the feeling that the staff needs better organization. Also, presentation wasn't too great. (Both minor issues for us.) Otherwise, the calamari itself was incredibly juicy and very generously seasoned. Definitely one of the best grilled calamaris I've had.

Overall, this was a great dining experience. My mom, who was never really exposed to Greek cuisine, said she prefers this over French and Italian food. Service was attentive and quick. We'll be back.

Millie Creperie

Date: Monday, June 30, 2014
Location: 161 Baldwin Street (near Spadina/Dundas W), Toronto
Website: http://milliecreperie.com/
Cuisine: Japanese desserts
Meal: snack

My thoughts:
It was a typical sweltering summer day, and I needed a way to beat the heat. After work, I trekked over to Kensington Market and was relieved to see that this place was open.

I already knew what I wanted. I'd visited the business's website numerous times and drooled over their pictures. And so without hesitation, I asked for the Japanese special crepe with green tea gelato ($6.95). 

First, here's the deal with Japanese - well, Asian for that matter - desserts. Asians in general tend not to like sweets that are very rich and heavily-laden with sugar, and so their desserts tend to be light, fluffy and lightly sweetened. 

True to their claim on their website, the crepe was indeed very light and not sweet. The crepe was served like a maki, with it rolled up into a cone, and was filled with a heaping scoop of green tea gelato, light foamy whipped cream on the side, fresh strawberries for garnish and a thin black sesame drizzled on top. The presentation definitely earned top marks. 

So how did it actually taste? Quite simply... It was freakin' amazing! Gosh, I can eat this every day for the rest of my life and not be sick of it. It was so good that as I was eating it, I couldn't help but shut my eyes as I relished the feeling of being in food heaven. So good that as passersby stared at my crepe, I wanted to shield it from their view so as to keep this place of a gem a secret. (Yet here I am sharing it with you guys. Because I love you guys<3 Haha)

Seriously, just go.

Grand Electric

Date: Friday, June 27, 2014
Location: 1330 Queen Street West, 
Website: http://www.grandelectricbar.com
Cuisine: Mexican
Meal: drinks/dinner

My thoughts:
I've heard amazing things about this place and I've wanted to come here for god knows how long. Needless to say, I was super excited to finally be coming here.

But unfortunately, this place fell short of my expectations on so many levels. For starters, it is extremely loud. I generally find a lot of places to be loud, but this really took it to a whole new level. Food was all mediocre - with the exception of the fish taco, which was phenomenal (and it was only $3 each!), and the tuna ceviche, which was an assault on my taste buds. Blech is all I can say.

This is what we had:

GUAC AND CHIPS ($9): Not bad, but I've had better. The chips were very crispy but were very salty and tasted like they were fried several times over. Very little guac for the amount of chips and the price.

JESUS JUICE & BOURBONADE ($8 each): I had the former drink and my friend the latter. I think I chose my drink out of curiosity as to what "Jesus juice" would taste like. Apparently, like medicine. The bourbonade was sweeter and not too bad. Both drinks were strong.

TACOS ($3.60 each): We ordered a few tacos to share - two fish, one chicken, one cauliflower and one beef cheek. As I mentioned earlier, fish taco was spectacular. Even my friend, who is a mix of terrified and horrified by seafood, wanted a second one. The cauliflower was gross and in dire need of a sauce. Nothing else really to say abut the beef and chicken.

TUNA CEVICHE ($11): As you can see, portions are small, so I ordered this because I was still hungry. Big mistake. And unfortunately, this was the only thing where they were generous in serving size. The fish tasted very 'fishy' and desperately needed something to offset it. I almost gagged.

Out of everything, we only felt the fish tacos were worth our money. I would come back just for the fish tacos - IF I'm in the area.

Tikka Lahore

Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Location: 1365 Gerrard St E (Gerrard/Greenwood), Leslieville, Toronto

Website: http://lahoretikkahouse.com/

Cuisine: Pakistani/Indian

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

This was a rather spontaneous decision to come here. I was feeling up for some hearty comfort food, and DQ suggested this place.

Upon entering this place, everything from the colours to the finishes to the tent sheltering communal tables made me feel like I'd been transported to another part of the world.

Having grown up on this food, DQ took the liberty to order the palak paneer, goat curry and butter chicken. My main issue with everything was that the food was so disgustingly greasy - to the point that there was a deep pool of grease sitting on top of all the dishes. Ewww. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of the food. We also had the chaat pri as an appetizer, which was the only decent thing that evening.

The place was very busy, surprisingly, so people must be okay with putting all that nasty grease into their body. But I won't be back.

Dumpling King

Date: June 20, 2014
Location: 15 Northtown Way (near Yonge and Finch), Toronto
Website: N/A
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
After a failed attempt to come here (apparently they're closed on Tuesdays), my dad and I were determined to try this place. We arrived 20 minutes prior to closing (I know, I hate to be one of those people, but we vowed to be quick).

We ordered the pork and leak pan-fried dumplings and egg and veggie steamed dumpling. Dumplings were in the range of $7-8 per order. 

While the dumplings weren't bad, given how out of the way this place is for us, difficulty/cost of parking and their relatively early closing time for a Friday night, they don't justify the hassle of another visit.

Mercatto

Date: Monday, May 26, 2014
Location: 330 Bay St (north of Adelaide), Financial District, Toronto
Website: http://www.mercatto.ca/
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
Had dinner here with MT and blech. This is easily one of the worst restaurants I've been to in Toronto - and especially at this price point! While the service was good, the food does not merit such atrocious food. 

We ordered the risotto balls ($12) to share. We were a bit perplexed when our server brought us a huge plate with only 3 tiny risotto balls. The 'balls' themselves were very hot (good) but bland. We would find out as the evening progressed that this was the highlight of the meal.

LINGUINE - bay scallops, calamari, PEI mussels, filetto di pomodoro, peperoncini / $18. My friend ordered this, and I had a taste. Save for the meager supply of seafood bits, this dish was largely tasteless. But still, this was a far cry from how horrible my dish was.

RAVIOLI - ricotta and pea filling / $20. This is easily the worst pasta dish I have ever had. The filling was hard and grainy, and to make matters worse, it only had FIVE pieces of pasta (which considering how bad it tasted, I guess this might've actually been a good thing). I kid you not. 

All in all a horrendous food. Never. Coming. Back.

La Casita Chinese Eatery

Date: Friday, May 23, 2014
Location: 405 Dundas St W (east of Spadina), Toronto
Website: http://www.lacasitachineseeatery.ca/
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
Finally took DQ here for lunch for some cheap, tasty Chinese food. We each ordered a lunch combo, which was $5.95 + tax. 

DQ got the black bean beef on rice, chicken balls and a soup. 

I got the beef with vegetables on rice, spring rolls and a soup.

I've ordered the black bean in the past, and while the beef and mixed vegetable is solid, I prefer the black bean. A great spot to hit up for lunch if you're in the area!

Cafe en Passant

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Location: 10133 Yonge St, Richmond Hill
Website: http://www.cafeenpassant.ca/
Cuisine: French
Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
I had the day off and came here with my mom and aunt, who had a Groupon voucher that she needed to use because it was expiring soon. She paid $52 for two 3-course meals (two appetizers, two entrees, two desserts and a bottle of sparkling water). Our server agreed to allow us to use the voucher for a group of three.

For starters:

Mussels with toasted garlic bread ($11.99): Mussels were small. We were given a choice of creamy garlic or marinara sauce, and opted for the former. Cream was delish but heavy.

Warm goat cheese in a raspberry sauce & toasted almonds ($11.99): This was even heavier than the other appetizer, but I liked this one better. The creaminess of the cheese with the sweet raspberry sauce made an excellent pairing. An app that is best shared.

For mains:

Crêpe St. Jacques with sauteed bay scallops & baby shrimp ($19.99): I've had this before on a previous visit and remember really liking it. But today I found the sauce to be too heavy for a crepe. (I packed up what I couldn't finish to go and used the sauce in a pasta for my sisters, and they loved it.)

Triple A New York Steak ($25.99): This is another repeat order, and this was a good choice today for everything else that we had because it had some greens and wasn't full of cream. Also, steak was very tender. 

For dessert:

Crêpe framboise ($8.99): Crepe with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. This was another welcome break from all the cream in our dishes! Crepe was fresh.

Warm apple pie ($8.99): Pretty standard apple pie. Not warm enough for my liking, but we were too full anyway to finish the entire thing, so we didn't bother sending it back to the kitchen.

I used to think this place was good. I've been coming here for over 5 years and have tried most things on their menu. I can tell you first hand that they've got far more hits than misses. But their prices, which were steep to begin with and are continuously getting expensive, don't justify the food. I seem to not be alone on this on the basis that every time I've been here, the majority of patrons used a Groupon voucher. Now that prices are getting steeper, I'm seeing fewer people even though deals continue to be featured on Groupon. Also, their wait staff changed about a year or two ago. I have never seen the new staff (have only ever seen one server) crack a smile, and she's just generally not very friendly. Their website is also in dire need of a makeover. If the owners don't make some major changes, I'm not sure this place will be around for much longer.

Pizzeria Libretto

Date: Friday, May 16, 2014
Location: 550 Danforth Ave (west of Pape), Greektown, Toronto
Website: http://pizzerialibretto.com/
Cuisine: Italian/pizzeria
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I came here with some girlfriends for a belated birthday celebration. We made reservations, which proved to be a good idea given how busy it was.

We ordered the Buttermilk Fried Calamari (red pepper almond romesco sauce, libretto herb oil, $12) to share. I thought this was alright, but my friends were really impressed... so much so that they ordered a second one!

For our mains, we each ordered a pizza. 

Margherita: tomato, basil, mozzarella / $14. KK ordered this one. This was the one bad (horrible) dish of the night. The cheese was sparse and one flavour that dominated the entire pizza was very, very tart. We were surprised that such a standard pizza was so bad.

Cremini Mushroom: bufala mozzarella, gorgonzola, roasted garlic, rosemary, thyme, pecorino / $17. This was what I ordered. This was, in stark contrast to the margherita, amazing! I loved that there was ample cheese, as well as the pairing of the herbs with the selection of cheese. Love.

Duck Confit - bosc pear, mozzarella / $17. JA ordered this one, and this was another stellar dish. As much as I like duck, it's not something I usually order because it tends to be fatty. But that certainly wasn't the case here. I couldn't decide between this and the mushroom pizza which was better. Really though, who cares? Both are definite must-try's.

Just a final note that the dough of the pizzas here are quite thin and airy. I will have to pay another visit to Terroni's soon to compare their crusts. Both are great places to hit up if you are a pizza fan. Just remember to make a reservation!

The Sushi Bar

Date: Saturday, May 10, 2014
Location: 3365 Yonge St (south of York Mills), Toronto
Website: http://www.thesushibar.ca/
Cuisine: Japanese
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
After raving about it for so long, I finally brought my family to one of my favourite Japanese joints in the city. The place is newly renovated and much more spacious than its previous locale just two doors down.

We ordered the following things to share:

Salmon tartare ($9): This is a new item off their specials menu, and one which we were very impressed with. Little niblets of tempura with chopped salmon sashimi, rice, fish roe and spicy mayo - thinking about it is already making me salivate. The only downside is it is a very tiny portion - it's almost as small as it looks (like a piece of sushi if you ask me!)

Aji Wakame ($4.95): Standard, but fresh and yummy, seaweed salad.

Osaka Sashimi Combo ($20.95) - 3 pieces each of tuna, salmon, butter fish, white tuna. My mom, who is a bit of a sashimi connoisseur, ordered this and commented on how fresh the fish was. Score!

BBQ eel and avocado roll ($5.45 + $0.75 for brown rice): Of course I had to order my favourite roll here! My family liked this as much as I do. So good we ordered two of these.

Vegetable udon ($8.95): Delicious, fresh, thick, chewy noodles. Love.

This was some fish dish offered to us on the house. I don't remember what it was exactly, but I wasn't a huge fan anyway. It tasted like it came from a can or something.

Boston roll ($6.45) - scallop, cucumber, fish roe and spicy mayo. We ordered this for my sister who doesn't eat anything that isn't fully cooked, not knowing that the scallop is raw (it doesn't say so on the menu). I'm pretty selective with raw foods myself, so I didn't eat this.

Black dragon roll ($12.95) - BBQ eel on a shrimp tempura roll with tempura bits, fish roe, green onion, cucumber and spicy mayo. We liked this but collectively agreed that it doesn't even come close to beating the eel and avocado roll. Especially given that its double the price.

California roll ($4.95): Pretty standard. Ordered for my raw food-adverse sister.

Another complimentary dish consisting of various pickled veggies. Not bad. 

Dragon Roll ($7.95) - California Roll topped with BBQ eel. Another item we ordered for my raw food-adverse sister. Pretty good, but like all rolls I've had here, it doesn't beat the eel and avocado roll.

All in all, my family liked this restaurant. But if you come here with a group, it can get expensive since portion sizes are smaller and/or prices more expensive (unless you're splitting the bill, which we obviously weren't). Quality and service are top notch, and I'm glad to see that their business seems to be doing well enough to open up in a larger, more accommodating location.

Art Square Cafe

Date: April 25, 2014
Location: 334 Dundas Street W, Toronto (near Dundas & University)
Website: http://cafe.art-square.ca/Art_Square_Cafe/CAFE_MAIN.html
Cuisine: N/A
Meal: dessert

My thoughts:
I had convinced my sisters to go to Millie Creperie after I showed them an array of pictures on Yelp. Not knowing that the establishment closed at such an early hour of 8pm, we walked here from Playa Cabana, and to our dismay, the place was closed. (We had a hard time finding this place and had called the place. I was surprised that the staff still took our call even though they were closed. Alas though, as nice as they were, they didn't offer to serve us just one crepe, but that's understandable.)

And mildly downtrodden, we wandered eastward along Dundas, and stumbled upon a cafe across from the AGO. A quick once-over of the menu that was posted outside revealed that served crepes, and so in we went.

The layout is in interesting one. At least one that I have never come across. The establishment is half art gallery/half cafe. The gallery is small and forms the half closer to the entrance. The back half is the cafe. 

The clientele was mostly seniors and artsy-looking people (not that I mind either kind). The staff were friendly and patient. 

We decided on a banana walnut crepe ($9.50), which was a crepe filled with banana, honey, walnut and topped with vanilla ice cream and garnished with organic chocolate and roasted pistachio. No real complaints or anything remarkable to say about the crepe. It really was quite ordinary. I noticed that the bananas were cooked (grilled or baked maybe? Hopefully not microwaved!), which I didn't like.

This wasn't a bad experience, but I've had much better crepes elsewhere. Wish we'd made it to Millie Creperie before they closed. Oh well. Next time.

Playa Cabana

Date: May 9, 2014
Location: 111 Dupont St (west of Avenue Rd), Toronto
Website: http://www.playacabana.ca/
Cuisine: Mexican
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

I came here with my sisters tonight to celebrate my birthday and called two weeks ahead to make reservations. I read many reviews on this place and really wanted to like this place, but it fell short of my expectations on a number of levels.

Let me first start with the pretty good: the food. We ordered the following to share:

GUACA FRESCA ($8) - guacamole served in a lava rock molcajete with housemade deep-fried corn chips. Offered mild, medium or spicy. They offer it spicy, medium or mild. We chose spicy, which it wasn't, and I am not even someone who can take much heat. Very small portion of guac. Chips were good - crispy, I'll give them that much, but they were salty and seemed like they were fried multiple times. Expensive for the price. I've had much better guac at El Rinco in the Corso Italia neighbourhood.

PLAYA BURRITO ($14) - Burrito with choice of chicken, veggies, ancho-braised steak or pork carnitas. Served with pico de gallo and guac. We got the pork, since we were getting beef in our tacos (see below). The burrito was humongous, pretty loaded and colour-wise made for a nice photo opp (I personally thought the shape resembled a slain fish, but that's just me). The meat was braised and pulled, and most of it was pretty tender, but there were still some big dry chunks. I wish we'd ordered the steak instead. I can't lie - I love my red meat!

ANCHO BRAISED SHORT RIB-BRISKET CRISPY TACOS ($14) - AAA Ontario beef short-rib braised in ancho chiles wrapped in fresh corn tortillas and grilled. Served with pico de gallo, guac and crema. This was easily the star of the evening. It was soooo delicious. I highly recommend. The beef was tender and each bite packed a huge flavour punch.

Now the bad. It's a very tiny place. We each had someone knock into our chair only about three dozen times that night, which was NOT annoying at all. 

Also, the manager on duty(?), this blond with a permanent scowl etched into her face, was very unaccomodating and clearly lacked any compassion for customer service. As I said, we made reservations, and we were seated at the bar. When I noticed a few vacant dining tables behind us, I asked the bartender if we could be moved to one. He pointed to the blond and asked me to ask her. When I did, she said in a very matter-of-fact voice that was completely devoid of empathy or sincerity, "We only make reservations for the bar, and all the dining tables are all reserved." What? She contradicted herself all in one breath. Oh well. Whatever. I'm not going to waste my energy on a dimwit. (Our bartender, though, was the opposite. Attentive, friendly, genuinely wants to make the customer's experience enjoyable. And pretty cute to boot. Keep an eye out for the one with his hair in a short ponytail.)

So in a nutshell, while there were some good dishes tonight, the service and the crampiness of the place do not warrant a return visit.

Gourmet Burger Company

Date: May 9, 2014
Location: 212 Adelaide
Website: http://www.thegourmetburgerco.com/
Cuisine: North American
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
My coworker DQ and I were in the mood for some comfort food - namely SPF - after a long, exhausting and problem-filled week of work. 


We wandered for a while and stumbled upon this place. It was 4:30 on a Friday afternoon and the place was empty - not quite peak dinner hours, but still, it should have been a sign of things to come.

We ordered a burger combo and upgraded the fries to sweet potato fries. I didn't try the burger so I can't speak to the quality of that.

But I can speak to the customer service. After we were brought our food, we realized the fries didn't come with a dipping sauce. We had a couple of fries with the ketchup that was available on every table, but it lacked the tang that tastes so good with SPF. So then we headed to the empty counter and made several futile attempts with the same lady who had taken our order who was now in the kitchen to ask for dip. She finally waved a young girl over to help us, who gave us a tiny dollop of aioli in a paper cup. When we finished it and asked for more, the girl gave us another tiny dollop and asked us to pay $1 for it! When I questioned her why she was charging us, she made it seem like she did us a huge favour for not charging us for the first one. Cheapskates!

The fries themselves were thin and soggy. Blech. Never coming back.