Toronto restaurant recommendation

gretzky co-owns a cougar bar/restaurant over here in agoura hills, im going to ask them if they can burn a 99 year old woman into my buns next time i go

Hit up the Reservoir Lounge again tonight. Really, I'm doing it out of boredom.

I'm going to Splendido on Friday night. I wanted to do something else with my cousin afterwards so I wasn't sure what would be best. If I stand around at Pravda and the owner comes in, I'll get a free round of martinis. If I go to Rasputin in Riverdale, I'd go to something more authentic but there's nothing to do there afterwards. If I go to Jezebel, who knows if I can get in and my cousin is female so I doubt she'd really enjoy it. I'd like to try Roosevelt Room just for novelty's sake but Joanne Kates couldn't even get a decent table there...

Made my first visit to Scaramouche on Friday night. Absolutely deserves recognition for being one of the best special occasion restaurants (particularly with your significant other, or, in the case of Friday, my Mom's birthday). One of the nicest views of Toronto that I've ever seen - I'd rather have that view than the view out of the CN Tower any day and twice on Sunday. Appetizers were perfect (I'm a big oyster guy and they were fantastic, as was my seared tuna); my entree was good (although perhaps not as memorable as others I've had in the past). Service was pretty much what you'd expect from this type of restaurant, although probably slightly less attentive than I've had in the past but far more friendly than I had expected. The sommelier was a really good guy.

Overall, I would say it's a "you need to go at some point" kind of restaurant. Just drink a scotch after dinner before you look at the bill ($42 for 12 oysters... NYC-esque)

Got a reservation in at Splendido on Friday at 8:30. Cocktails were slow to come by but everything after that was spot on. Wine came at exactly the right time (basically my cousin and I said it'd be great to get that glass of wine now and it came on cue). Service was pretty good since on a busy night they still seated us whenever we left the table. I had the arctic char to start - was kind of weird since I thought it would seared and not smoked but it was nice. Then I had the scallops which were really nice and chocolate tart to end. $300ish including tip. They still use those very old credit card processors that don't connect online.

Walked around and ended up at Ki afterwards because my cousin doesn't think a meal is complete without some kind of sushi. Wow this place was dead. No more velvet rope and bouncer at 11pm. Server was shite and my cousin hated her sake martini.

Then checked out the Reservoir Lounge - crowd was too old and too many couples. Left after 1am. Then went next door to Pravda where there's a queue to get into a bar - noooo idea why (this isn't a club?!) and they have a Russian guy as a bouncer at the front. That's probably as Russian as this place is nowadays since the vodka is anything but Russian. Anyway don't remember anything after the last campari cocktail and I ended up on my parent's couch all the way in Oakville. Cabbie robbed me of what was left of my cash too. Fun.

I didn't read the whole thread to find out if these have already been mentioned, but Elm Street has two of my favourite Toronto restaurants. Barberian's (while primarily a steakhouse) is delicious. Just a couple of doors down is a brilliant Italian place called Donatello.

Originally Posted by robdpittman

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I didn't read the whole thread to find out if these have already been mentioned, but Elm Street has two of my favourite Toronto restaurants. Barberian's (while primarily a steakhouse) is delicious. Just a couple of doors down is a brilliant Italian place called Donatello.

Donatello is where my old old old CEO loved. I've been there many times for business and personal. It's a nice place but a little posh depending on who you bring in. Also I find they don't handle big parties well. There is a little lounge upstairs where you'll probably get better service if there is another party there.

Barberian I keep hearing about all over the city but I'm not really a steak guy. I *will* have to try it once but most of my dinner dates are women.

Hung out at the W Burger Bar. I don't get the deal about the waitresses. Dark bra, light top, I sometimes see that from the desperate ones in the office.

Burgers were alright. My mate didn't finish his slider sampler and it took so long to come out that the manager (owner?) gave him a side of chili. I had the turkey burger. Good but not amazing. They had none of the $4 beer on tap so we did $1.75 bottles and then went to the hard stuff. Service was really shite because she was snappy the first 3 visits and then got more mellow but forgot orders and stuff.

About $90 including tip in the end.

Not posh or anything but damn tasty - anyone been to Craft burger joint at King just West of Spadina? their craft burger was great!

i have heard really good things about the craft burger on yonge just north of bloor.

Originally Posted by Master-Classter

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Not posh or anything but damn tasty - anyone been to Craft burger joint at King just West of Spadina? their craft burger was great!

Very interesting... I end up in that part of Toronto for work quite a bit. I might try it next week!

I went to Matagali on Elm Street for lunch. I actually saw this at the beginning of January when someone parked in the lot behind this place and coming out of the car I realized there was a restaurant there. It's actually in the basement and I read more about it on Toronto Life.

Food is pretty spicy. I got chicken vindaloo and my work mate got some kind of fish curry. The fish curry was mild but vindaloo was ranked medium spicy - enough flavour to keep me warm on the walk back; not as spicy as the stuff I ate in London. Naan bread costs an extra $1.25 for everything. You get a free salad too.

They serve on huge plates that make the meal look small. After finishing it, I'm pretty stuffed though. In spite of the Thai and Indian offerings - it's mostly an Indian restaurant. There are a grand total of 3 Thai dishes and one is a basil tofu offering.

The place was pretty dead although the decor inside is nice. It's not a place for large parties.

anyone here on the charlie burger invitation list?

Originally Posted by fwiffo

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Hit up the Reservoir Lounge again tonight. Really, I'm doing it out of boredom.

I'm going to Splendido on Friday night. I wanted to do something else with my cousin afterwards so I wasn't sure what would be best. If I stand around at Pravda and the owner comes in, I'll get a free round of martinis. If I go to Rasputin in Riverdale, I'd go to something more authentic but there's nothing to do there afterwards. If I go to Jezebel, who knows if I can get in and my cousin is female so I doubt she'd really enjoy it. I'd like to try Roosevelt Room just for novelty's sake but Joanne Kates couldn't even get a decent table there...

Don't be so hard on yourself - it's not tough at all to get a table at Roosevelt, although the food is lacking. The apres is why it's a decent place to be, and still is not that busy. Jezebel is not worth it, I live down the street and have gone once to a misnamed "fashion event" there which was lacking in fashion and was a veritable non-event. Much better good spots in the West end. I see you like Reservoir - I'd suggest giving Reposado on Ossington a try - live quartet jazz Thurs and Fri, always busy but not crammed and great tequila choices.

Originally Posted by closetmess

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Don't be so hard on yourself - it's not tough at all to get a table at Roosevelt, although the food is lacking. The apres is why it's a decent place to be, and still is not that busy. Jezebel is not worth it, I live down the street and have gone once to a misnamed "fashion event" there which was lacking in fashion and was a veritable non-event. Much better good spots in the West end. I see you like Reservoir - I'd suggest giving Reposado on Ossington a try - live quartet jazz Thurs and Fri, always busy but not crammed and great tequila choices.

I'll have to try those. It got nippy all of a sudden though so I'll have to pick & choose! Going out with my old school mate to Smokeless Joe (his choice) so depending on his dress code, maybe we'll check it out.

I had a new bloke start at work on Wedneday so I took him out to Adega. This place is going for volume nowadays - the risotto was huge. I couldn't even finish it.

Last night, I did last call at Salad King - a good mate of mine came from overseas and this was the one place he missed the most (no idea why) so we got ignored by the hostess (who looked like a customer and gave us the impression that eating at this establishment was some kind of privilege to be earned), last-called on drinks before the food arrived (does the fridge get sealed up with duct tape after a certain hour) and given our bill before we even made good headway on the entree. Never mind I had to sit & eat like I was in a prison cafeteria -- insufferable.

I'm in Toronto for Valentine's Day and the week following. My girl is a seafood lover and I'm a pasta lover; unfortunately I missed out on Scaramouche for the 14th but did make a reservation for the 19th.

Can anyone make a suggestion for a downtown-ish spot that would likely still have decent tables available for the 14th?

(For what it's worth, my palate is horribly unrefined and for that reason we typically resort to "safer" places. My better half is pretty close to what I'd call a foodie, but she repeatedly bends for my preferences.)

We've done Canoe, most of the more popular places in little Italy, and a few along Danforth. I think we'd be up for some good steaks or even what seems to be typically called French cuisine. That said, anything goes. This will likely be my last trip to Toronto for a long while, so it'd be nice to catch any "can't miss" places.

...but we have to be able to get in for V-Day - or it'll be a lonely night.