Restaurant Reviews – Page 12

Brunch @ Saving Grace

March 30, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

On Saturday I had brunch at Saving Grace. I had previously heard that it is usually packed but we were luckily to be seated right when we arrived by a dude that looked like he hated life. There was a line immediately behind us waiting outside the small space.

I ordered french toast with gruyere, onions, mushrooms. I actually didn’t realize it was a sandwich until I received it. It also came with a side of salad and flat crispy potatos. While the sandwich was good, I felt the “french toast” part of it didn’t really add to it. It lacked sweetness for one, and the softness wasn’t my favourite for use as sandwich bread.

The price was around average for a brunch place in Toronto but elsewhere I could’ve got a fancy eggs benny for the same price. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing but I don’t know if I’d be back if I wasn’t lucky and had to wait in line!

Wild Burger

March 21, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

For my birthday, my friend Nilabjo (yes that’s a real name) bought me a Travelzoo gift certificate for Wild Burger near Yonge & Eglington.

I’ve never heard of it prior to getting the certificate but their menu selection quite literally lives up to their name. They offer a variety of burger meats including elk, bison, venison, ostrich, kangaroo and camel. They also advertise sustainable food and flavours that represent the diversity of Canada.

I chose the camel burger which came with a sweet cilantro sauce, brie, baby spinach, mango, dried fruit salsa and onions. I’ve never had camel but it had a texture and consistency of beef but was much lighter tasting. I loved the cilantro sauce and I thought all the ingredients married together. There was also a nice crunch that I wasn’t sure if it was from the spinach or something else.

As my side, I chose the duck fat fries garlic fries. They were great on their own but I also tried dipping them in a selection of house-made sauces. One of the strangest was a banana-mustard.

Nash settled on the Chimichuri Elk Burger that had chipotle aoli, brie and a fried egg. Elk is a lean meat so this can be downed so easily!

He accompanied his burgers with fried pickles. I stole quite a few because they had a perfect crunch. They were sliced in a way that didn’t give you too much pickle or too much breading.

To drink I tried a Social Lite for the first time in Lemon Cucumber Mint. It was an alcoholic cooler of some sort but I didn’t find it as flavourful as the fancy cocktails you could find around town. It advertises no sugar, but I feel like it needed it.

We really enjoyed our burgers at Wild Burger and now I’m itching to try all the other types of patties!

Brunch at Hamilton’s Jack & Lois

March 16, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

I spent the past few days in Hamilton covering the JUNO awards and events leading up to it. My co-worker and I had some time Saturday morning so we grabbed brunch at Jack & Lois which was featured on the show You Gotta Eat Here.

The inside of the restaurant was very kitchy. It was colourful and the tables and chairs unmatching. It was like being at your grandma’s house complete with posters of dogs and cats that looked like prints on shirts at Northern Getaway. They had a great selection of brunch items and a menu for the more adventurous people.

Obviously, I chose to go with the excessive Triple Crown (pictured above). It was a trio of Eggs Benedict: smoked salmon, lobster, tenderloin. They came with potatoes and fresh fruit. The potatoes were seasoned nicely and had bits of onion. The bennies were so delicious, and the hollandaise had a perfect consistency. I can’t decide which of the three I liked more, they were all very good!

My co-worker had The Cobra: hashbrowns and fruit with 3 grilled cheese, sausage, eggs, bacon, peameal bacon. It was traditional brunch done right! It was great value, and such large portions that he ended up taking home leftovers.

Jack & Lois is totally a place to check if you’re ever in the hammer! We actually considered going back the next day but we ran out of time.

The Emerson

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

We went to The Emerson a few months ago (the menu has changed since) but I completely forgot to blog about it. That’s sort of how hidden the place is. I would have walked passed it dismissing it for “The Clothing Co.” which its signage seems to imply. In fact we actually walked up to the doors one hungry evening and asked “do you serve food?” In fact they were a trendy place that indeed serve food and drinks. All the food is seemingly ordinary but very flavourful. The first dish we started with was an eggplant with pine nuts and yogurt and peppers that went really well together.
I chose the flat iron steak with fried green tomatoes and chimichurri sauce. It was cooked beautiful and was very delicious but portion-wise an appetizer was very necessary or else you wouldn’t be full off one main.

Nash had the Emerson burger with Beemster sauce. It was chocked full of melted cheese. You can’t be afraid to get messy with this one!

We had a few fruity cocktails but I totally forgot what they were. I just remembered that I could probably drink 10 of these!
Lastly, we split a lovely peach tart for dessert!

The individual items aren’t that pricey, but everything will add up if you want to be satisfied at the end of the meal. While I enjoyed everything I ate, I feel like it has to stand out a little more for me to return and not be lured away but its surrounding neighbours.

Wahlburgers

March 2, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Last week a co-worker and I happened to be at an event across the street from Wahlburgers’ recently opened Toronto location at the SoHo hotel. It’s opening had been hyped considering the ties to Mark Wahlberg so we decided to try it out. I ordered the OFD Burger and Sweet Potato tots (pictured above).

The burger was an 8oz beef patty, housemade tomato jam, bacon, swiss cheese & sauteed mushrooms. I didn’t find it particularly memorable, and it was a little bit oily to hold. The sweet potato tots however were very addictive (as advertised on the menu) and the perfect mixture of sweet and salty. The way they had cut it gave a crunchy outer shell that would reveal sweet and soft insides.

To drink, because I am a cocktail fiend, I had their “Wahlcoction” called The Wahlbanger which was orange vodka, vanilla liquor, peach juice and sparkling wine. It tasted like a creamsicle!

My co-worker had the BBQ Bacon burger and he also agreed that the burgers were nothing special. I had one of his fries and they were okay, but not as good as my sweet potato tots.

Overall, I don’t think the burgers here are worth the hype (and the price tag). There are much better places in the city. But if you find yourself here for some reason go for the sweet potato tots!

Pay What You Can Meal @ The Atlantic

February 25, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

I just got home from a lovely date night/(belated) birthday dinner at The Atlantic. My friends and I have been meaning to go to for quite some time. We actually tried when we first saw BlogTO’s post about the restaurants million dollar review. That’s where we learnt of the premise of the restaurant. There is no set menu. Nathan Isberg buys fresh ingredients daily and cooks you what he feels like. There also is no bill. You pay literally what you think the meal is worth. You can even barter other goods and services.

We had a reservation at 7pm (opening time). We wandered around the area until a little after 7 because you can’t really tell the restaurant is open from the outside. We strolled in after 7 and chef Nathan Isberg came out of the kitchen in the back to greet us. As far as we could tell tonight, he was the only employee: the chef, the server, and the greeter. We were seated and told the premise of the restaurant.

The first thing we were brought was a drink. Nathan had recently made the decision to eliminate alcohol from the menu (except for bottles of wine on special occasions). Our first drink was some sort of warm apple cider with spice and bitters. It was delicious and warmed us up from the cold weather outside.

A soup was also brought out at the same time (pictured above). It was an Austrian squash soup with rose, lentils and a kick of spice. Though the cider also had a spice, it served also to cool down from the heat of the soup.

Our second course was a salad that consisted of a beautiful poached duck egg on a bed of greens with roasted cauliflower, goat cheese and beets. The combination was delicious. We were especially in love with the goat cheese.

It was served with a cherry shrub drink with a hint of elderflower. Shrub was a splendid complement to the salad as it provided more acidity. It was almost like a second salad dressing when you sipped it after a bite of salad.

The main course was a Striped Bass with mushrooms, noodle-like turnips, kimchi in an yuzu broth. The fish was perfectly cooked and we wanted to lick all the components off the plate (including the yuzu).

It was paired with a matcha tea, yuzu, honey and jasmine drink. It didn’t work on it’s own as well as the other drinks but when sipped with the main course it was superb.

The dessert was fried apple with brown sugar topped with fried apple peel surrounded by a delightful whipped cream. Our plates were cleared within minutes. Nathan jokingly asked if we wanted seconds and we legitimately thought about it for a second.

The whole experience was very delightful. I call it “experience” because it really was that. It’s a night you have to plan for because it will take a few hours. But I actually didn’t mind waiting for my meal (and neither did anybody else there). We had plenty of time to chat with each other at the table and anticipate with excitement at each course.

When it was all over, we didn’t know if we should pay and leave or what was the protocol so we waited for Nathan to come around and retell us the barter system. There was no pressure whatsoever to leave any kind of amount. We had all the freedom to decide for ourselves and I feel we left a fair amount. I decided not to publish the amount as I feel like it’s based on the whole experience of the evening, and every person would have their own set of opinions and experiences.

This is seriously one of the best and most memorable meals I’ve had in my life and we can’t wait to go back already!

Date Night @ Lee’s

February 22, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

A few weeks ago, Nash and I had a lovely date night at Susur Lee’s restaurant Lee. I haven’t been to any of his restaurants prior, but had wanted to for the longest time since seeing him on Masterchef! All the items are meant to be shared so we ordered a few things.

I spoke about our reservation for the entire week to friends and colleagues and all of them recommending ordering the exact same thing: the slaw! Susur’s Signature Singaporean-style Slaw ($22) is a mixture of like 18 different things including taro root, fennel, flower pedals, daikon sprouts, fried shallots, sesame seeds and more. I literally cannot remember all the things in it. It was served on a plate like a mini mountain and the server mixed it for us so that we could get most of the ingredients in each bite. It was one of the most flavourful and colourful salads I have ever eaten. By the way, these shitty phone photos don’t do justice to the food

Next was these Spice Crusted Diver Scallop ($29). They were served with crispy bacon, squash puree, grapefruit and a sweet bean pesto. The scallops did have a little kick of some sort and I was in love with the puree.

Next was the Cold Pressed Octopus ($17). The octopus was served in thin slices with a vinaigrette. While good, we found it the least memorable dish of the night.

Our last dish was the Slow Braised Beef with a potato and leek puree, crispy shallots and sour cream. Everything in the dish melted in our mouths and we wanted to lick the bowl afterward.

To drink I had the Lee Lemonade and Nash had the Burnt Orange Manhattan. They were both delicious (and booze heavy).

Of course we saved room for dessert. The special of the night was a banana ice cream with a homemade toasted marshmallow. If we could lick the plates we would’ve.

Beautiful and Delicious Sushi @ Jabistro

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

I finally had the chance to go to JaBistro, deemed one of the best sushi restaurants in Toronto. I’d been following them on Twitter since their inception and their photos were always so beautiful. Their sushi was just as much as delight to look at as it was to eat!

I wanted to try a little bit of everything so I had the Sashimi Sampler. It is a mixture of chef’s choice sashimi. I added Toro (fat tuna belly) which was not a guaranteed item on the sampler. The sampler had scallop, salmon, octopus, makarel, fried fish bone, fish eggs, and more. Everything was fresh and melted in my mouth. The fish bones were crunchy and salty to add variation in the palate.

I also ordered the Aburicious set of blowtorched sushi. It contained 2 salmon, 2 makerel, 2 tiger prawn and 2 Jabistro roll sushi pieces. Blowtorched sushi seriously will change your life. The best ones were the salmon and tiger prawn as they just melded in your mouth in perfect harmony. It had a lovely butteriness in a way that makes you forget that it’s rice at the bottom. At other sushi places the rice is always hard to get through after a while but I probably could’ve eaten 10,000 pieces of blowtorched sushi and not realized it.

My friends also ordered the Sea Bream Collar and Pork Belly which were also very tasty (I stole some bites).

Throughout the meal I sipped a Shiso Smash which was a mixture of bourbon, simple syrup, lemon and shiso (a type of Asian spice). It was kind of a play on alcoholic lemonade.

The three of us split two desserts afterwards. The first was the Matcha Parfait which was matcha spongecake, mascarpone cream, matcha chocolate sauce. I’m not always a fan of green tea flavoured things but this was very good! There were also berries and crunchy corn flakes which added a nice touch of texture

The other item was the Genmai Pudding which was a brown rice pudding, coconut milk, nigori (unfiltered) sake, maple syrup, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and almonds. It was like a rice pudding with an interesting crunch provided by the almonds.

My bill ended up being quite pricey, but my friends told me that the first time people go, they always go a bit overboard. It was totally worth it though and one of the best meals I have eaten in a while! In a matter of fact, I had to write this blog post right away. I think I will be craving blow torched sushi until the next time I set foot in these doors.

Hawker Bar

February 4, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Singaporean influenced restaurant, Hawker Bar is located in a cozy place at Dundas and Ossington. The restaurant does their own style of Singaporean street food. To start we had the Singaporean Sweet Chili Soy wings (pictured above) which were fried with a bit of a kick. It was served with a mixture that tasted like soy sauce on hoisin sauce.
We also had Brussel Sprouts with red pepper chili which was one of the daily specials.

My main was the Braised Duck Leg with Thai Red Curry. The duck was tender and fell off the bone and the curry was very flavourful.

As I ate, I sipped a First Flight which was Gordons gin, Chartreuse, St Germain and fresh grapefruit juice.

Even though I was completely stuffed, I couldn’t help ordering fried banana for dessert!

The meal at Hawker Bar was enjoyable. We were pretty lucky to get a seat though in the small place without a reservation.

Junked Food Co: Where Your Strange Food Dreams Come True

February 1, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Junked Food Co finally opened it’s doors for real last night. I tried to go to their soft opening last weekend but their power unfortunately ran out. However, we received free cake that night:

View this post on Instagram

Power is out at @junkedfoodco but got a free cake!! #zomato

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Jan 22, 2015 at 6:56pm PST

I happened to be at a show at The Garrison and Junked Food Co’s opening and last night hours (8pm-4am) was perfectly time. I headed over with a couple of friends who were intrigued when I told them about the restaurant’s crazy concepts. The menu is a treasure trove of crazy things from pizza made on literal pies, grilled cheese sandwiches with donuts, smash bags, cakes in cups and other weird combinations. My friend deemed it the food of “stone dreams”.

Anyways I ordered the 416 Deep Dish with added Pepperoni. It was literally a personal pizza done on top of flakey pie crust. A thick layer of tomato paste hid the pepperoni and cheese that was embedded inside. It was delicious but quite messy!

My friend ordered the Original Junkie waffle which had avocado, chicken, bacon, and veggies. I stole a bite and enjoyed the crunch the bacon added to the mix. He found the chicken a tad bit dry but still enjoyed it.

I didn’t order this but here’s a photo of the Poutine tater tots.

This is a perfect place for a late night after show/bar snack. If you’re going for a meal, I’d suggest you order more than one thing because one item may not be filling enough. Don’t worry though, there are plenty of things you’ll definitely want to try.