Mediterra (Seafood)
133 Richmond St. W.
416-861-1211
http://www.mediterrarestaurant.ca/home.asp
Full of warm Mediterranean and Oceanic feelings, the main attraction to this restaurant has got to be the lobster tank near the door, or the fish selections in the display case. Seafood heavy menu makes choosing very difficult yet stimulates appetite while going down the list. Lobster bisque is creamy to the last taste and comes with real lobster bits. Tuna, cooked lightly on the surface but raw in the middle, is served with oriental sauce and rice; difference in taste and texture might take getting used to at first, but eventually become an addiction. Banana panna cotta is smooth yet innovative. Servers are professional, but slow with the bill.
Atmosphere: 4 /5
Service: 3 / 5
Food: 3 / 5
Price: Mains $15 - 30
Overall: 3.3 / 5
Visit Again: Hopefully Eventually
Sunday, December 9, 2007
MATAGALI serves one fine butter chicken
Matagali (India)
69 Elm St.
416-599-9994
Tucked in the basement on the quiet strip west of Yonge and Elm, it is surprising that many from Bay Street office community prefer to jam themselves into this small restaurant during lunch hours. Emphasis on small, as tables and plastic cushion chairs support only around 2o people in this green space. Lunch menu serves a variety of traditional Indian items. Butter chicken does not disappoint; boneless chunks of chicken settle in a silky smooth sauce of butter and tomato. Rice and warm fluffy naan are served on the side. Other dishes are said to be average. Beware: they only have one server.
Atmosphere: 1 / 5
Service: 2 / 5
Food: 3 / 5
Price: $9 - $12 for lunch
Overall: 2 / 5
Will return: Yes Definitely
69 Elm St.
416-599-9994
Tucked in the basement on the quiet strip west of Yonge and Elm, it is surprising that many from Bay Street office community prefer to jam themselves into this small restaurant during lunch hours. Emphasis on small, as tables and plastic cushion chairs support only around 2o people in this green space. Lunch menu serves a variety of traditional Indian items. Butter chicken does not disappoint; boneless chunks of chicken settle in a silky smooth sauce of butter and tomato. Rice and warm fluffy naan are served on the side. Other dishes are said to be average. Beware: they only have one server.
Atmosphere: 1 / 5
Service: 2 / 5
Food: 3 / 5
Price: $9 - $12 for lunch
Overall: 2 / 5
Will return: Yes Definitely
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Random Thought On Giving Back
Ever seen those people on the street with signs that say "Free Hugs"? I think it's pretty cool. It's like giving back to society by making others feel better. I'd like to do that sometimes. Except for the fact that I'd be ultra competitive. I'd try and hug more people than others, or even steal their potential hugging people. Of course, there are people that only accept hugs from hot chicks, and if there are hot chicks competing with me, I'd lose for sure! In which case I'd probably have to get plastic surgery. Or implants. Or both. Then victory shall be mine! Mwahahaha!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Fat Belgian - The Full Story
Click here for summary
The Fat Belgian is a small restaurant located near the corner of John St and Adelaide St. I read their menu once and longed to try it. They are only opened on Tuesday - Saturday, 4:30 pm to close (Sunday and Monday private functions). On Friday, I finally 'dragged' Darren there for dinner.
I made a reservation just in case, but when we got there it was relatively empty. We got seated at a nice cozy corner. Surprising, since I didn't request it, but why would I complain? The place was lit by dim lights and candles, setting a very nice mood. The crowd was made up of either couples or business groups. It seemed that they had a seating system where the bigger crowds were seated below while the top was reserved for more intimate people, so that all the large tables and noises were confined downstairs. Also, the second floor was more of a chic/lounge type while the the ground floor was more of an upscale-pub.
Darren was going to order some wine, but upon seeing the long list of beers offered, he changed his mind. I wasn't planning on drinking, but seeing the list, I changed my mind too. The waitress came right on time to ask for our drinks. Darren ordered the Affligem Abbey Ale and I ordered the Dekoninck Amber Ale. At first, it was hard for us to decide as they had a lot of good things on the menu. Inspired by the person at the next table, Darren ordered a large portion of the Fat Belgian Mussels with fries. Due to my new found love for ducks (see Bistro 990 entry), I ordered the Raspberry Duck.
The food took a while to arrive, but the waitress was kind enough to inform us about the wait. What she said was, "The duck is just coming out of the oven, and the mussels will be served at the same time." It was a minor thing, but I really appreciated things like that. The food finally arrived, and the plating for my duck was very nice. The mussels came in a pot with some bread. My duck came with bok choy and rissotto. The fries came with Dijon Mayo. I really enjoyed my duck. Although the raspberry and red wine sauce was strong, the taste did not overpower the duck in your mouth. The risotto had dried cranberries in it, which was delicious. It was also VERY buttery. Not buttery in taste, but in texture. Darren said it was the most buttery risotto he ever had. He seemed to enjoy his mussels. I tried some of it, and the seasoning and ingredients were very subtle, so that you could actually taste the mussels. We both enjoyed the fries with Dijon. You could never go wrong with fries and Dijon. Although there were a lot of food, we somehow finished everything without being overly stuffed. We asked our waitress for the dessert menu. Compared to the dinner menu, it was less exciting, so we just got our bill. The waittress was extremely good-nature about us getting the dessert menu and not ordering anything. The bill came and was settled very quickly, which was always a plus.
Although the Fat Belgian is a small place, it embodies a great atmosphere, great services and great food (at a decent price too). I really had a great time at Fat Belgian and am looking forward to the next time I visit. Am already trying to decide what I'll order next :)
The Fat Belgian is a small restaurant located near the corner of John St and Adelaide St. I read their menu once and longed to try it. They are only opened on Tuesday - Saturday, 4:30 pm to close (Sunday and Monday private functions). On Friday, I finally 'dragged' Darren there for dinner.
I made a reservation just in case, but when we got there it was relatively empty. We got seated at a nice cozy corner. Surprising, since I didn't request it, but why would I complain? The place was lit by dim lights and candles, setting a very nice mood. The crowd was made up of either couples or business groups. It seemed that they had a seating system where the bigger crowds were seated below while the top was reserved for more intimate people, so that all the large tables and noises were confined downstairs. Also, the second floor was more of a chic/lounge type while the the ground floor was more of an upscale-pub.
Darren was going to order some wine, but upon seeing the long list of beers offered, he changed his mind. I wasn't planning on drinking, but seeing the list, I changed my mind too. The waitress came right on time to ask for our drinks. Darren ordered the Affligem Abbey Ale and I ordered the Dekoninck Amber Ale. At first, it was hard for us to decide as they had a lot of good things on the menu. Inspired by the person at the next table, Darren ordered a large portion of the Fat Belgian Mussels with fries. Due to my new found love for ducks (see Bistro 990 entry), I ordered the Raspberry Duck.
The food took a while to arrive, but the waitress was kind enough to inform us about the wait. What she said was, "The duck is just coming out of the oven, and the mussels will be served at the same time." It was a minor thing, but I really appreciated things like that. The food finally arrived, and the plating for my duck was very nice. The mussels came in a pot with some bread. My duck came with bok choy and rissotto. The fries came with Dijon Mayo. I really enjoyed my duck. Although the raspberry and red wine sauce was strong, the taste did not overpower the duck in your mouth. The risotto had dried cranberries in it, which was delicious. It was also VERY buttery. Not buttery in taste, but in texture. Darren said it was the most buttery risotto he ever had. He seemed to enjoy his mussels. I tried some of it, and the seasoning and ingredients were very subtle, so that you could actually taste the mussels. We both enjoyed the fries with Dijon. You could never go wrong with fries and Dijon. Although there were a lot of food, we somehow finished everything without being overly stuffed. We asked our waitress for the dessert menu. Compared to the dinner menu, it was less exciting, so we just got our bill. The waittress was extremely good-nature about us getting the dessert menu and not ordering anything. The bill came and was settled very quickly, which was always a plus.
Although the Fat Belgian is a small place, it embodies a great atmosphere, great services and great food (at a decent price too). I really had a great time at Fat Belgian and am looking forward to the next time I visit. Am already trying to decide what I'll order next :)
Green Onion - The Full Story
Click here for summary
This place is a favorite of Darren's for lunch due to following
1) Location (close to his office)
2) Speed (especially since he's a fast eater)
3) Price (VERY reasonable, especially for a poor student like myself)
4) Service (a guy there calls all guys "Gentleman" and all females "Madam")
It's located at Dundas and Bay. When I went to lunch with Darren, first thing I noticed was the lineup. There seemed to ALWAYS be a lineup at this place. Second, it was the atmosphere. Not very well decorated and really small and crammed, but with prices like that, who cares! They don't have an extensive menu like Pickle Barrel, but it contains some very popular Chinese items, such as Curry Chicken Pad Thai, General Tso's Chicken, Satay Chicken, Broccoli and Beef. All lunch specials come with either soup (Tom Yum or Chicken Wonton) and one spring roll. Food comes in a decent size and is fairly good for a fast and inexpensive Chinese restaurants.
I think its a great place for lunch, and most people working in the area seem to agree with me as the place is constantly packed with them during lunch hours. I highly recommand anyone who enjoys a fast and inexpensive meal to go. And if you do, expect to wait.
This place is a favorite of Darren's for lunch due to following
1) Location (close to his office)
2) Speed (especially since he's a fast eater)
3) Price (VERY reasonable, especially for a poor student like myself)
4) Service (a guy there calls all guys "Gentleman" and all females "Madam")
It's located at Dundas and Bay. When I went to lunch with Darren, first thing I noticed was the lineup. There seemed to ALWAYS be a lineup at this place. Second, it was the atmosphere. Not very well decorated and really small and crammed, but with prices like that, who cares! They don't have an extensive menu like Pickle Barrel, but it contains some very popular Chinese items, such as Curry Chicken Pad Thai, General Tso's Chicken, Satay Chicken, Broccoli and Beef. All lunch specials come with either soup (Tom Yum or Chicken Wonton) and one spring roll. Food comes in a decent size and is fairly good for a fast and inexpensive Chinese restaurants.
I think its a great place for lunch, and most people working in the area seem to agree with me as the place is constantly packed with them during lunch hours. I highly recommand anyone who enjoys a fast and inexpensive meal to go. And if you do, expect to wait.
Rolling Pot - The Full Story
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Asians have a way of dealing with the cold weather. Different places call it different things, but Chinese call it 'Hot Pot'. It involves a portable burner, a bot with hot water, a bunch of raw/cooked ingredients, and a bunch of people sitting around the table. The idea is put food in the boiling water and cook them. Surprisingly it takes only a few mintues to cook each item. Ingredients include raw beef slices, raw lamb slices, Chinese beef/fish balls, lettuce, watercrest, shrimps etc. A lot of people, especially Caucasians, find this unsanitized. That is why Taiwanese invented individual hot potting. A hot pot for each person, so you only pick your own food out of the bowl. My family have never tried individual hot pot, so I went with my parents to Pacific Mall.
As usual, parking was hell, but we managed to find one. The place was pretty empty, but at Pacific Mall, 12:00am is the new 9:00 pm. We were seated at a 4-people table, but the tablet was awful! There were still bits of food left from the previous people. We informed the waiter, and he wiped it down for us, but I could still see some grease marks on it. Note to self: do not put elbows on table.
The idea is to choose what soup base you want, what drinks you want and what all-you-can-eat ingredients you want. They have a variety of soup base, but only a few ones included with the price. All other ones you have to pay extra. They have an average list of ingredients. In fact, you only seafood choice, shrimps. We placed our order and awaited the food.
Everything came pretty quickly, but apparently, soy milk, honey tea and iced tea are self-served. And they tasted like they were watered down. Also, the floor was REALLY slippery. I almost fell down a couple of times went I went to get sauces. The food were okay. The more expensive ingredients we only got one for each person, while the cheaper ingredients we got a pile. They have a dessert place, but they only had sesame balls, which is actually a dim sum, not a dessert. The waiters were not professionals, but they all worked really hard.
The one aspect I liked about individual hotpot was how you could make your own sauce. They have different sauces and different ingredients like peanut, sesame, oyster, chili, satay, garlic bits, green onion bits etc. I made this awesome sauce with peanut, satay and a little bit of chili bits. It was a lot of fun. I'm like a 12 year old. But one aspect I didn't like was that a lot of the signs only had Chinese characters, which did not help the non-Chinese speaking crowd. I had a couple of people asking me about the sauces.
By around 7:30, the place started to get busy. There was a line at the doors. This couple was sitting at the table next to us. It was a 6-people table, and the waiter asked them if they could adjust their eating arrangement (they were sitting side by side instead of across each other, and they spreaded their food around the table). The guy told the waiter rudely that he didn't want to sit with anyone at the table, so the waiter had to go and informed the waiting people that they had to wait a bit. The four people got angry and left. This happened two more times. The two people caused the shop 3 postential profit! That made me so mad! How can people be that incosiderate?
We left after one and half hour because they had a 2-hour limit and a lot of people were waiting. The service was average, but they were understaffed and all worked very hard. The food was average, but the place was poorly ran and poorly designed. Better ventilation is needed for the place, and they need to clean the floor periodically or at least get non-tile floors. Sauces and supplies needed to be replenished periodically as well. It will be a LONG time before I go back.
Asians have a way of dealing with the cold weather. Different places call it different things, but Chinese call it 'Hot Pot'. It involves a portable burner, a bot with hot water, a bunch of raw/cooked ingredients, and a bunch of people sitting around the table. The idea is put food in the boiling water and cook them. Surprisingly it takes only a few mintues to cook each item. Ingredients include raw beef slices, raw lamb slices, Chinese beef/fish balls, lettuce, watercrest, shrimps etc. A lot of people, especially Caucasians, find this unsanitized. That is why Taiwanese invented individual hot potting. A hot pot for each person, so you only pick your own food out of the bowl. My family have never tried individual hot pot, so I went with my parents to Pacific Mall.
As usual, parking was hell, but we managed to find one. The place was pretty empty, but at Pacific Mall, 12:00am is the new 9:00 pm. We were seated at a 4-people table, but the tablet was awful! There were still bits of food left from the previous people. We informed the waiter, and he wiped it down for us, but I could still see some grease marks on it. Note to self: do not put elbows on table.
The idea is to choose what soup base you want, what drinks you want and what all-you-can-eat ingredients you want. They have a variety of soup base, but only a few ones included with the price. All other ones you have to pay extra. They have an average list of ingredients. In fact, you only seafood choice, shrimps. We placed our order and awaited the food.
Everything came pretty quickly, but apparently, soy milk, honey tea and iced tea are self-served. And they tasted like they were watered down. Also, the floor was REALLY slippery. I almost fell down a couple of times went I went to get sauces. The food were okay. The more expensive ingredients we only got one for each person, while the cheaper ingredients we got a pile. They have a dessert place, but they only had sesame balls, which is actually a dim sum, not a dessert. The waiters were not professionals, but they all worked really hard.
The one aspect I liked about individual hotpot was how you could make your own sauce. They have different sauces and different ingredients like peanut, sesame, oyster, chili, satay, garlic bits, green onion bits etc. I made this awesome sauce with peanut, satay and a little bit of chili bits. It was a lot of fun. I'm like a 12 year old. But one aspect I didn't like was that a lot of the signs only had Chinese characters, which did not help the non-Chinese speaking crowd. I had a couple of people asking me about the sauces.
By around 7:30, the place started to get busy. There was a line at the doors. This couple was sitting at the table next to us. It was a 6-people table, and the waiter asked them if they could adjust their eating arrangement (they were sitting side by side instead of across each other, and they spreaded their food around the table). The guy told the waiter rudely that he didn't want to sit with anyone at the table, so the waiter had to go and informed the waiting people that they had to wait a bit. The four people got angry and left. This happened two more times. The two people caused the shop 3 postential profit! That made me so mad! How can people be that incosiderate?
We left after one and half hour because they had a 2-hour limit and a lot of people were waiting. The service was average, but they were understaffed and all worked very hard. The food was average, but the place was poorly ran and poorly designed. Better ventilation is needed for the place, and they need to clean the floor periodically or at least get non-tile floors. Sauces and supplies needed to be replenished periodically as well. It will be a LONG time before I go back.
Legend Chinese Restaurant - The Full Story
Click here for summary
I've been to Legends since I was about 9 years old. Mainly because it is the only dim sum place around my neighborhood. That's life when you don't live in Scarborough or Markham. My father refused to go there for months one time when the manger gave a family friend of ours and my uncle discount cards but refused to give my dad one. He still never got the discount card.
I always remembered Legends as a place of average food (remember, only dim sum place around here) and outrageous prices (for dim sum). My friend and I went there once, and I confess that we we ordered A LOT of food, but it ended up costing $40 for the both of us. In case you didn't know, dim sum is supposed to be cheap. That's one reason why people like dim sums.
Another thing I remembered about Legends was its amount of caucasians. A lot of non-Asians go to have dim sum there. I have fond memories of the mangers serving them as soon as they arrived whike we continue to wait after 30 minutes.
Now, there's a new owner in town, and I have no idea what his/her name is, but we decide to call up our family friend for dim sum and see how new management is going. So we arrived at around 11:30 (good time to beat the rush), and we were seated right away (there were many empty seats). Looking around, there were a few tables of caucasians. Says good things about the new Legends. And as before, it was a paper system rather than a push-cart system (takes the fun out of dim sum, but it's less dangerous I guess).
What we ordered:
Beef Balls 牛肉球
Shrimp Dumplings 蝦餃
Shaomai 燒賣 -- MY FAVORITE!
Chicken and Veggie Buns 雞包仔
Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce 豉汁排骨
Crispy Tofu Skin Rolls 腐皮捲
Egg Tart 蛋撻
Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls 蝦腸
Veggie Rice Noodle Rolls 素腸 - New item on menu
Everything came about 15 minutes after we ordered. Food was average in term of oil and MSG. Yes, Chinese food has oil and MSG. Especially the cheap ones. Don't be naive, that is why they taste so good. Everything was pretty much average as well, but I really liked the Crispy Tofu Skin Rolls and the Veggie Rice Noodle Rolls. The Crispy Tofu Skin Roll was, well, crispy! I've never seen Veggie Rice Noodle Rolls at other restaurants, but it was full of veggies and really good. Highly recommended for vegetarians, especially since there are not many dim sum items for vegetarians.
The one thing that I was absolutely disappointed about the restaurant was the Shaomai. My ONE favorite food and they messed it up. Perhaps they were trying to experiment with a new way to make Shaomai, but as opposed to having distinguishable shrimp and pork portions, they used a blender and mushed it. And the mush tasted like crabs. Also, the waiters didn't want to take away our empty plates. But I was less crushed by that. The Shaomai!!!
All in all, Legends remains an average restaurant, but as it continues to be the only big dim sum place around, you'll probably find me eating there again. Just not the Shaomai.
I've been to Legends since I was about 9 years old. Mainly because it is the only dim sum place around my neighborhood. That's life when you don't live in Scarborough or Markham. My father refused to go there for months one time when the manger gave a family friend of ours and my uncle discount cards but refused to give my dad one. He still never got the discount card.
I always remembered Legends as a place of average food (remember, only dim sum place around here) and outrageous prices (for dim sum). My friend and I went there once, and I confess that we we ordered A LOT of food, but it ended up costing $40 for the both of us. In case you didn't know, dim sum is supposed to be cheap. That's one reason why people like dim sums.
Another thing I remembered about Legends was its amount of caucasians. A lot of non-Asians go to have dim sum there. I have fond memories of the mangers serving them as soon as they arrived whike we continue to wait after 30 minutes.
Now, there's a new owner in town, and I have no idea what his/her name is, but we decide to call up our family friend for dim sum and see how new management is going. So we arrived at around 11:30 (good time to beat the rush), and we were seated right away (there were many empty seats). Looking around, there were a few tables of caucasians. Says good things about the new Legends. And as before, it was a paper system rather than a push-cart system (takes the fun out of dim sum, but it's less dangerous I guess).
What we ordered:
Beef Balls 牛肉球
Shrimp Dumplings 蝦餃
Shaomai 燒賣 -- MY FAVORITE!
Chicken and Veggie Buns 雞包仔
Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce 豉汁排骨
Crispy Tofu Skin Rolls 腐皮捲
Egg Tart 蛋撻
Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls 蝦腸
Veggie Rice Noodle Rolls 素腸 - New item on menu
Everything came about 15 minutes after we ordered. Food was average in term of oil and MSG. Yes, Chinese food has oil and MSG. Especially the cheap ones. Don't be naive, that is why they taste so good. Everything was pretty much average as well, but I really liked the Crispy Tofu Skin Rolls and the Veggie Rice Noodle Rolls. The Crispy Tofu Skin Roll was, well, crispy! I've never seen Veggie Rice Noodle Rolls at other restaurants, but it was full of veggies and really good. Highly recommended for vegetarians, especially since there are not many dim sum items for vegetarians.
The one thing that I was absolutely disappointed about the restaurant was the Shaomai. My ONE favorite food and they messed it up. Perhaps they were trying to experiment with a new way to make Shaomai, but as opposed to having distinguishable shrimp and pork portions, they used a blender and mushed it. And the mush tasted like crabs. Also, the waiters didn't want to take away our empty plates. But I was less crushed by that. The Shaomai!!!
All in all, Legends remains an average restaurant, but as it continues to be the only big dim sum place around, you'll probably find me eating there again. Just not the Shaomai.
Bistro 990 - The Full Story
Click here for summary
Bistro 990 is an old building located near Bay and Wellesley. It's a distinctive little building but lacks the modern, upscale feel. I was not impressed with the lack of flashy web design that many fine dining restaurants have. The decor seen from the pictures was also less than impressive. But due to the location, the price, and the good reviews on the internet, I decided to give it a try and took Darren there for his birthday. I called to make a reservation 2 days prior, and it took me two tries to get through, which wasn't bad. However, the waitress clearly sounded annoyed and actually sighed into the phone a couple of times.
Bistro 990 is an old building located near Bay and Wellesley. It's a distinctive little building but lacks the modern, upscale feel. I was not impressed with the lack of flashy web design that many fine dining restaurants have. The decor seen from the pictures was also less than impressive. But due to the location, the price, and the good reviews on the internet, I decided to give it a try and took Darren there for his birthday. I called to make a reservation 2 days prior, and it took me two tries to get through, which wasn't bad. However, the waitress clearly sounded annoyed and actually sighed into the phone a couple of times.
Upon arriving, there were a few people there already. A waitress said hi, and simply walked by us. Only when we gave her a weird look did she ask us if we have a reservation. At this time, the manager came and asked for our reservation, and took us to the table. We were sat down at a table beside two french speaking tourists. Honestly, I had nothing against tourists, but I was hoping for a quieter table, considering there were many empty tables around.
The decor was more impressive in reality than in the photo. The lights were dimmed to give a more romantic feel, and there were candles on the tables. We were given menus, and a short while later the waiter came to ask us what we wanted to drink. We haven't decided, so we just got water. The special game of the day was ostrich and the risotto was vegetable and goat cheese. Darren got the Lamp Sirloin medium rare and a glass of Black Opal Cab/Merlot. I ordered the Rare Duck Breast, and the waiter asked if I wanted it done well, but I figured I'd give the rare a try. I inquired about wine and was recommended the sweeter and lighter Pinot Gris.
Surprisingly, no one came to offer, yet we saw waiters going around with a basket of bread for other tables. Also, at this time the tourists' food arrived, and no servers bothered to offer them pepper, so the man asked Darren if he could pass him the pepper mill on the shelf next to him. It was awkward.
The food took a while to arrive. Maybe it seemed longer due to the lack of bread. The plate presentations were lovely. I tried my duck breast, and I knew it was a good choice getting it rare. It was tender but not bloody, and with the grand veneur sauce it tasted fabulous. The savoyarde potato was one of the best I've had so far, with a light garlic and cheesy taste.
By this time, the restaurant had filled up by a lot, and the noise level did increase a little. Looking around, most of the clients were around mid-30s and up, with a lot of businessmen/women taking up the majority.The servers did a good job in making sure everyone had a full wine glass and bread (except for us). The plates were cleared rapidly, but the dessert menu took a while to arrive. Darren wasn't going to get dessert, but upon seeing the menu, changed his mind. I settled for the Classic Creme Brulee and Darren got the Peach Crumble with Baileys Ice Cream.
The desserts took a decent time to arrive. Again, the platting was very nice. We both got fruits on the side while I also got a small biscotti as well. The creme brulee was delicious. The biscotti must have been one of the best I've tasted, better than the ones at Starbucks. Too bad it was such a small piece. Darren's dessert was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. The blackberries, Darren thought, were rotten.
As it was getting a bit noisy, we decided to get the bill. It took around 15 minutes (and a credit card on the table) for the server to notice that we wanted the bill. The actual bill took an additional 15 mintues to arrive. In all fairness, the server to customer ratio was low (around 8 servers to 20-30 tables). It could be that we were a young couple and they expected us not to be great tippers, or that a lot of people called in sick and they were short-staffed, but as most of the reviews complimented on their service, I was not impressed by the staff. I would also recommend avoiding the rush and head there a but earlier.
Jump Cafe and Bar - The Full Story
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Darren made reservations at the restaurant as a celebration for my already-passed birthday.
Darren made reservations at the restaurant as a celebration for my already-passed birthday.
Drinks came shortly after. My drink was really good. I usually prefer them sweet and girly.The e Tropic was not as sweet as I'd imagine, but very good nonetheless. When my salad came, it was not what I expected. The shrimps were small, something you could get at the freezer section in the local supermarket. There was an overwhelming amount of cabbage. The dressing was good, but not enough for the large amount of cabbage. As guilty as I was, I left most of the salad untouched I ate all the shrimp, otherwise their sacrifice would be pointless. The amusing thing was that the waiter came with a plate for Darren as well, and said it was compliment of the chef. It was a cherry tomato in a rectangular plate with a small block of cheese at the top and dressing around it. I found that very hilarious.
My crispelle made up for the salad. It was filled with cheese! All kinds of cheesy goodness! With tomato sauce surrounding it, it was like a cheese-gasm. Actually, I felt really bad about eating it due to the fact I'll gain 30lbs next morning, but it was SO good.
Last but not least, dessert! Here, I must say that the dessert was, again, not within my expectation. The torte came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dolce de leche and walnuts. It looked and tasted like brownies my sister makes. I didn't actually finish the dessert. I know, it's a sin, but it wasn't all that exciting anyway.
Overall, the service was what you'd expect from fine restaurants: attentive, helpful and very professional with a sense of humor. I, however, expected more from the food, considering this is the sister of the other Oliver&Bonacini restaurants such as Canoe, Oliver & Bonacini Cafe and Bar, and Auberge du Pommier. I noticed that very few people ordered the Summerlicious menu, perhaps that should've suggsted something.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Fred's Not Here - The Full Story
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Fred's Not Here is a restaurant located on King Street (a bit past all the theatres). It's a relatively small restaurant with two floors (actually, it's two different restaurants owned by the same owner, Fred's Not Here on the top level, The Red Tomato at the bottom). Fred's is more of a dark and chic place, whereas the Red Tomato was with more of a diner feel. Surprisingly, everyone got there on time. However, the group that had the table before us did not want to leave, so we waited for an extra 15 minutes for our table.
After we were seated, everyone was amazed at the extended list of food offered as part of their Winterlicious menu. Most restaurants offer 2 or 3 items to choose from, Fred's has around 5 or 6. Also, they had adiverse choice for vegetarians. Ordering took a while as it was hard for everyone to decide what they wanted, and it was pretty busy. Here's a list of what everyone ordered:
Me: Lobster and Crab Soup/Ontario Pork 3-Ways/Creme Brulee
Ana: Grilled Calamari/OntarioPork 3-Ways/Chocolate Mousse Cake
Darren: Lobster and Crab Soup/Seafood Risotto/Bread Pudding
Tyler: Grilled Calamari/Steak/Bread Pudding
Victoria: Mixed Greens Salad/Mushroom Stuffed Ravioli/Bread Pudding
Lei-Ley: Chicken Pot Sticks w/ Spring Rolls/Sea Bass and Sticky Rice/Mousse Cake
AK: Lobster and Crab Soup/Ontario Pork 3-Ways/Mousse Cake
Chris: Lobster and Crab Soup/Seafood Risotto/Fresh Fruit Ice
Boris: Grilled Calamari/Seafood Risotto/Mousse Cake
The appetizers came really quickly. The soup had a puff pastry on top of it! I love it when my soup comes like that. It, however, did not have chunks (or at least bits) of lobster and/or crab meat in it, which was sort of disappointing. Ana liked her grilled calamari, but Tyler found it rather... "rubbery", and that the portion was not enough for him (he is a big guy). The main course came relatively fast after we were doneour appetizers, and they were of a reasonable portion as a part of $25.
My Ontario pork 3-Ways included sausage, pork ribs, roasted suckling pig and mash. I traded my ribs for Darren's lobster, as he doesn't enjoy lobster and I wanted to ditch my ribs on him so I could steal his dessert later. The sausages were really juicy and tasty, the ribs and roasted pig were okay. Darren's lobster was just okay (maybe it would've been better with some risotto, which surprisingly I did not steal from him). For the roasted pig, Ana got an entire piece of fat, which was very disappointing (I offered her some of mine, so I could steal her dessert later). Tyler liked his steak (it was a reasonable size), Victoria really enjoyed her ravioli (she made this really funny eye gesture when she said it), and LL liked her sea bass as well.
So, after dinner, the LONG awaited dessert. My creme brulee was to die for!The sugar crust was crunch and and the creme underneath was SO delicious (as opposed to some creme brulee I've had where the top part was also mushy). I really enjoyed it, and was sad to have Ana take 2 spoonfuls of my beloved creme brulee. Ana REALLY enjoyed her chocolate mousse cake, and it was REALLY good. I would've stolen more if I wasn't trying to tone down the chocolate eating. Now, the bread pudding. A lot of people were excited about the bread pudding, but it turned out to be a BIG disappointment. Basically, it was jelly bread. Literally. Where bread puddings were usually mushy, this had an unfamiliar solidity to it. And the taste wasn't that exciting. The only thing from the plate everyone finished was the ice cream. Nobody touched the bread pudding after the first bite.
Overall, Fred's Not Here was a unique experience. It served a large portion of food. However, what it did well it did really well (like the soup, the sausage and creme brulee), but all others were just okay. And I've had enough pork to last me til the end of time.
Fred's Not Here is a restaurant located on King Street (a bit past all the theatres). It's a relatively small restaurant with two floors (actually, it's two different restaurants owned by the same owner, Fred's Not Here on the top level, The Red Tomato at the bottom). Fred's is more of a dark and chic place, whereas the Red Tomato was with more of a diner feel. Surprisingly, everyone got there on time. However, the group that had the table before us did not want to leave, so we waited for an extra 15 minutes for our table.
After we were seated, everyone was amazed at the extended list of food offered as part of their Winterlicious menu. Most restaurants offer 2 or 3 items to choose from, Fred's has around 5 or 6. Also, they had adiverse choice for vegetarians. Ordering took a while as it was hard for everyone to decide what they wanted, and it was pretty busy. Here's a list of what everyone ordered:
Me: Lobster and Crab Soup/Ontario Pork 3-Ways/Creme Brulee
Ana: Grilled Calamari/OntarioPork 3-Ways/Chocolate Mousse Cake
Darren: Lobster and Crab Soup/Seafood Risotto/Bread Pudding
Tyler: Grilled Calamari/Steak/Bread Pudding
Victoria: Mixed Greens Salad/Mushroom Stuffed Ravioli/Bread Pudding
Lei-Ley: Chicken Pot Sticks w/ Spring Rolls/Sea Bass and Sticky Rice/Mousse Cake
AK: Lobster and Crab Soup/Ontario Pork 3-Ways/Mousse Cake
Chris: Lobster and Crab Soup/Seafood Risotto/Fresh Fruit Ice
Boris: Grilled Calamari/Seafood Risotto/Mousse Cake
The appetizers came really quickly. The soup had a puff pastry on top of it! I love it when my soup comes like that. It, however, did not have chunks (or at least bits) of lobster and/or crab meat in it, which was sort of disappointing. Ana liked her grilled calamari, but Tyler found it rather... "rubbery", and that the portion was not enough for him (he is a big guy). The main course came relatively fast after we were doneour appetizers, and they were of a reasonable portion as a part of $25.
My Ontario pork 3-Ways included sausage, pork ribs, roasted suckling pig and mash. I traded my ribs for Darren's lobster, as he doesn't enjoy lobster and I wanted to ditch my ribs on him so I could steal his dessert later. The sausages were really juicy and tasty, the ribs and roasted pig were okay. Darren's lobster was just okay (maybe it would've been better with some risotto, which surprisingly I did not steal from him). For the roasted pig, Ana got an entire piece of fat, which was very disappointing (I offered her some of mine, so I could steal her dessert later). Tyler liked his steak (it was a reasonable size), Victoria really enjoyed her ravioli (she made this really funny eye gesture when she said it), and LL liked her sea bass as well.
So, after dinner, the LONG awaited dessert. My creme brulee was to die for!The sugar crust was crunch and and the creme underneath was SO delicious (as opposed to some creme brulee I've had where the top part was also mushy). I really enjoyed it, and was sad to have Ana take 2 spoonfuls of my beloved creme brulee. Ana REALLY enjoyed her chocolate mousse cake, and it was REALLY good. I would've stolen more if I wasn't trying to tone down the chocolate eating. Now, the bread pudding. A lot of people were excited about the bread pudding, but it turned out to be a BIG disappointment. Basically, it was jelly bread. Literally. Where bread puddings were usually mushy, this had an unfamiliar solidity to it. And the taste wasn't that exciting. The only thing from the plate everyone finished was the ice cream. Nobody touched the bread pudding after the first bite.
Overall, Fred's Not Here was a unique experience. It served a large portion of food. However, what it did well it did really well (like the soup, the sausage and creme brulee), but all others were just okay. And I've had enough pork to last me til the end of time.
Hemisphere - The Full Story
Click here for summary.
It's been a while since my friend Michael and I went to lunch, so we've decided to take advantage of Winterlicious. We invited my friends Yang and Boris with us. We picked at day that was convinient for all of us. But because I only had 2 hrs for lunch, it had to be close to campus. So I randomly chose Hemisphere, which was located right across from Chestnut. Boris never replied to my email reminder on Thrusday, so I called him this morning and asked if he was still coming with us. Apparently, he was supposed to be in the lab doing chemist things at 11. It was
Lobster bisque came, and MY GOD, it was DELICIOUS. Tasted like creamy lobster. The taste was so rich I almost cried tears of joy. I believe I said very little as I repeated the spoon-mouth-bowl action in a very unladylike manner. Itwas very sad when I eventually finished the bisque.
Main course, again, took a while to come. The server actually stopped by our table and apologized for how long we had to wait. The pasta was good, but a relative disappointment after the bisque. The seafood was fresh, the sauce was good, but it was just not very unique.
And once again,DESSERTS! I tried some of Mikey's coconut rice pudding. Interesting, but not really to my liking. I found the cheesecake to be much, much better. Pretty standard cheesecake, but the display and the richness of the cheesecake was good.
In all, it wasn't very unique, but it was very pleasant. Maybe the dinner menu would be better.
Romagna Mia - The Full Story
Click here for summary
Everyone knows how much I love food. It's my one true passion. There was no way I'd be missing out on Winterlicious. I picked out a restaurant and dragged Darren with me. Food might be a passion of Darren's as well, but he's a dessert hater, so we won't talk about him much. Fine. I retract my statement. He's not a dessert hater. He just doesn't like cheesecakes, which is a sin (if not, should be).
Darren and I went off in search of the restaurant. Darren was the one who spotted the restaurant while I wandered around in circles trying to find it. It was tugged away behind this partking lot. The restaurant wasn't full, which was usually a bad sign, but the server who greated us was very friendly.
I had a hard time choosing between the two desserts on the menu. The server told me the best way was to choose one and make Darren choose the other, so that I could be having both. Darren immediately said, "I want the Tiramisu!", which the server found extremely hilarious. In the end, I ordered the cured beef with arugula for starter, salmon fillet for main and panna cotta for dessert. Darren ordered the cured beef as well, the phyllo-wrapped beef for main and, of course,the tiramisu for dessert. Two glasses of Kumala Merlot were ordered. The Merlot was good, better than most I've tasted. Random small talks ensued, and eventually the starters came. They were really delicious. There was a lot of different flavors: bitternessfrom the arugala, sweetness of the figs, and saltiness of the beef.
The main course took a while. I didn't try any of Darren's beef, but the salmon was not very exciting after the cured beef. I enjoyed the vegetable medley on the side more so than the salmon, but it was still good salmon (really crispy skin). Darren seemed to enjoy his beef.
And finally, DESSERT! The server came and put down both desserts in front of me, considering I'd be having both of them. The panna cotta with the Grappa liqueur on the side was delicious. Unique yet original. At first, Darren only took a small spoonful of tiramisu from me to taste, then said, "This isn't bad". More spoonfuls. "This is actually really good". Pulls tiramisu towards him. More spoonfuls. "Oooooo... espresso." More spoonfuls. Basically, I was left with around 3 spoons of tiramisu. Dessert hater my ass. And although I only had a small portion, it was enough to concluded that it was a damn good tiramisu.
The server than came back and asked if we were done. I looked down at my empty plates and said, "I believe so." The server said, "I'm just asking. Just in case you want to throw the plate at him for stealing your desserts." Funny man. He came back with the bill and put it down in front of Darren. Darren looked at him."Ummm... I believe she's the one that's paying." Indeed, I was. I'm kind of Darren's sugar mommy. The server looked at Darren, looked at me, then looked back at Darren and said, "I'm sorry. I just can't do it.You can hand the bill to her. I really can't do it."
It was good fun, good food, and a good time. I'd glad do that any time again.
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