Toronto restaurant recommendation

[fwiffo]

Originally Posted by oman

well i smoke girls out in order to try and **** em, right?

one round of coffee + one or two rounds of beer + "i'm going to this cool place i know, it's right here. wanna come?"

Yes - definitely cheaper than using an escort service

Originally Posted by oman

anyway, they really brought the bread out right before the entree? do you think they do that as a matter of course? that's low as hell.

I had time to put butter on the bread before the entree came out. It was mentioned after the order was taken by my date to the tune of "Where's the bread?" I don't blame the waitress. I think she hands it off to a bus boy type waiter who goes around with a bread basket. He was probably taking too much time and was the one at fault for clearing the plates late.

$15 entrees venue - can't really expect too much.

Well gents, I'm going to be hiding in the suburbs for a few days for personal reasons. Hopefully people on SF can entertain me with some new experiences

 

[doink]

Classic good meal at North 44 a few weeks ago, no idea of price as it was a treat.

Pretty good modern style sushi at Omi on Carelton, prices in line with Blowfish or Ki, but the space is less douchey. Only issue was the pacing of the meal, kind of pushed us through. When I'm spending that type of coin I like to relax.

Drinks and desert at colbourne lane, very good as is to be expected. Sat at the bar, bartender was friendly and pleasantly talkative, but not intrusive.

Drinks and desert at the drake, somewhat diappointing. This place has seriously declined from when it opened. The quality of the drinks and food did not match the price point.

Old favourites that still stand up:

The Feathers
Golden Turtle
Caplanskys

 

[audiophilia]

Originally Posted by doink

The Feathers

Kingston Road? In another life, loved the Steak and Kidney pud there.

 

[doink]

Originally Posted by audiophilia

Kingston Road? In another life, loved the Steak and Kidney pud there.

Yup, for the friday night roast beef dinner and a dram or two of scotch.

 

[TheButler]

Originally Posted by doink

Drinks and desert at colbourne lane, very good as is to be expected. Sat at the bar, bartender was friendly and pleasantly talkative, but not intrusive.
Have you tried his new restaurant, Origins? Thinking of checking it out in the next few weeks.

 

[doink]

Originally Posted by TheButler

Have you tried his new restaurant, Origins? Thinking of checking it out in the next few weeks.

It is on my list. Recent newspaper reviews have been varied, and the owner is lashing out at customers and bloggers about their lack of understanding of the concept.

 

[fwiffo]

Okay. I made it to Origin.

The place is divided into a cooking table made of wood and then tables on the side for larger parties where things are supposedly more intimate. Given the acoustics, it can get pretty loud once it's full. The chefs aren't too loud though. I thought the decor was a bit strange; some weird saw or knife on the wall. Glass tabletops with strange textures underneath.

Service was okay - not excellent but okay. My waiter almost dropped a butter knife on my date and he was late with the drinks. I was seated facing the wall but my date swore he forgot our drinks and went back to get them. When I finally got a martini with a twist & a white wine, the first appetizers came.

The fried cod was (smoked cod in a fried ball) was tasty. The samosas were sweet, interesting flavours, but as a "hot" dish, it cooled down pretty fast and didn't taste the same afterwards. The one dish that stayed the hottest were the Spanish home fries. I had no idea what that was, but it basically looked like potatoes that came with chorizo sausages; real spicy and kept me warm throughout the meal. My date had the calamari and pineapple. She thought it was average. The fried parts weren't terribly greasy, which was a good thing.

As this was a lunch, I think I'd have to go back during dinner to make a real pronouncement on it.

Maybe this is only humorous to me: The hostess seated me not too far from her station, and took my coat to the back. When I was leaving, I waited for her at the front with my chit and she said with a puzzled look on her face, "....Oh you have a coat!" - or I guess I could have just been waiting to get seated again and eat twice?

 

[doink]

Ate at origin the other night, it was very good. Our server was helpful, answered questions and confirmed things if he was not sure.

We sat at the chef's bar, with a not very talkative cook, but that is fine, I was not there to chat him up. Next time we go, I'll ask for a seat at the other end of the bar, away from the door as it was a bit drafty.

I do agree the decor is eclectic.

We ate a swath through the menu and had a few drinks.

Dishes of note:
Rock Hen
Dulce de Leche
Ginger Beef Salad
Tuna Tataki

Good but not rave worthy
Beef Hand roll
Calamari
Banana Cream Pie

Misses
Spanish Potatoes
Beet salad

Claudio came out and chatted with us we were getting ready to leave.

Trying to figure out where I am going to eat a special meal at. Any suggestions appreciated, money not too much of an object.

 

[Toronto34]

Also in the same boat, looking for a nice restaurant to take the girl to for a special occasion.

Done the usuals, sotto sotto, north 44, lee, mortons, ruth's chris .. blah blah


Looking for a moderately priced asian fusion place (something similar to lee) where the meals arent crazy expensive and can afford to rack up the liquor bill a little bit.

Thanks

 

[fwiffo]

Originally Posted by Toronto34

Also in the same boat, looking for a nice restaurant to take the girl to for a special occasion.

Done the usuals, sotto sotto, north 44, lee, mortons, ruth's chris .. blah blah

Would be fun to be "the girl".

Originally Posted by Toronto34

Looking for a moderately priced asian fusion place (something similar to lee) where the meals arent crazy expensive and can afford to rack up the liquor bill a little bit.

I never really like crazy $20 cocktails at fusion places. Maybe my palette is changing.

 

[fwiffo]

I just read an article about Yorkville restaurants this morning:
Why Yorkville’s restaurants don’t have staying power

Not that I'm surprised at it but I didn't know Dynasty was closing? "...Charles Khabouth, who is about to spend $3.5-million to transform Bloor Street dim sum destination Dynasty into a casual French bistro."

That could explain why the menu offerings and the place was in need of a renovation for the last couple of years. I can't imagine that area needing yet another French bistro for the Hollywood crowd.

 

[Redwoood]

Originally Posted by fwiffo

[...]
Not that I'm surprised at it but I didn't know Dynasty was closing? "...Charles Khabouth, who is about to spend $3.5-million to transform Bloor Street dim sum destination Dynasty into a casual French bistro."

That could explain why the menu offerings and the place was in need of a renovation for the last couple of years.

I will miss their oven-baked tapioca-lotus dessert thingy. That stuff is like crack!

 

[fwiffo]

I had lunch at Oro today. My entree had some burnt mushrooms plus veggies on it. My lunch date had some okay tasting linguine with prawns in a red tomato like sauce. Funnily enough the bus boy is putting down the bread, etc. and the head waiter or principal - can't really tell - will come around and re-do everything afterwards. A vodka martini, couple of coffees and a glass of white wine added up to $78+tip. Kind of unremarkable for a place that charges $20+ an entree. I noticed every posh place in Toronto does black cod, even an Italian place.

Also on the same street, I went to Le Commensal last week. This place has some kind of bug infestation around the buffet, lot of flying mosquitos or something.

I decided to stay in the city this coming long weekend so hopefully I'll get to hit some nice places - maybe even a patio since it's getting above 20c now.

 

[EL72]

I went to L'Unita (Avenue/Davenport) on sat night. The place was packed and we were seated 30 mins late for a 9pm res but they did bring a huge complimentary platter of prosciutto and assorted meats for the wait.

The appetizers were very good - grilled endive, mushrooms... the pizzas were very good too (rapini + goat cheese; lamb sausage+ aragula). The pasta was not according to one person at our table. Pretty decent wine list but higher markups than most. Didn't stick around for dessert. Overall a nice place, decor, comfy chairs with good food and adequate service. Will try again.

 

[fwiffo]

Thursday lunch was spent at Nami at the Robata grill. They gave me this udon noodle soup as an appetizer that honestly ate like a full meal.

Friday I was totally under the weather. Saturday still there, only made it out to Hoops to see the Champions League game and now crawling back into bed. Sunday will be spent traversing doink's neighbourhood.