Restaurant Reviews – Page 13

Pray to the Burger’s Priest

January 27, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

A while back, we visited The Burger’s Priest for the first time. I don’t know why it was that we hadn’t gone there considering our burger love and the hype but I guess the Queen East location was too far so we went to the one on Queen West.

In case you didn’t know, Burger’s Priest has a regular menu displayed at their restaurant but they also have various secret options that are available for those who dare to venture.

Nash ordered The Tower of Babel (pictured above). Yes, all the burgers have rather biblical names. Between two grilled cheese sandwiches were two beef burgers, lettuce, tomato and the veggie burger deemed “the option”. Why on earth would you want a veggie burger AND meat patties you might ask? Well, their version of a “veggie burger” is a custom blend of cheesygoodness sandwiched between two portabello mushrooms AND deep fried. Yes that’s why. After eating this, you’d probably end up needing to pray for your survival.

I ordered the less scary Holy Smokes. It was a double cheeseburger with deep fried jalapenos. The kick and crunch were a very nice addition.

It was very unnecessary to do this, but I ordered the chilli cheese fries. Because why not? They were oozing with cheese.

If you ever need a serious splurge of calories. Burger’s Priest is definitely the place to be.

Beautifully Presented Food @ The Beverley Hotel

January 20, 2015January 20, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Before the Christmas holidays, Zomato invited bloggers for a meet up at The Beverley Hotel. The place is small and has a really cozy feel. Chef Binh An and Sous Chef, Johnny D were very friendly and accommodating with people’s dietary restrictions.

Before and during dinner we were treated to a Christmas Mojito which had a festive pine garnish.

The first course was called Lovell Springs Trout. Trout was served with puff rice that added a lovely texture, cucumber, fennel, smoked grapes and pickled mustard seed. It was very fresh, light and flavourful. It was a little bit of a tease because I could’ve eaten a giant plate of this.

Next came the Confit Pheasant Leg with strawberry gastrique, green icicle radish and a pickled mushroom that I wish existed in jars I could take home. The salt of the pheasant balanced really nicely with the sweetness of the gastrique. Two courses in I was ready to keep licking the plates.

I love a good steak and man was the Wagyu Blade Steak a memorable one. It was served with charred veggies (which side note: I’m currently obsessed with making). Also on the plate was a delicate beet & truffle tortellini. Steak was enough to make me feel like I was in heaven, but everything else elevated it to a whole other world. The mashed potatos were buttery and had just the appropriate amount of horseradish. By the time I was finished, I was surprised I even had room for dessert.

But if dinner was so damn good, dessert must be just as delectable right? And it was! We were treated to a Spiced Apple Cake with dark beer caramel, granola and classic vanilla icecream. The plate was appropriately licked.

I also decided to order this post-dinner drink that wasn’t on the plan for the night. I totally can’t remember what was in it besides rye and cinnamon. I just remember the warmth trickling down my throat and it felt perfect for the holidays.

Dining at the Beverley was definitely a treat for both the eyes and the taste buds!

This meal was complimentary thanks to Zomato & The Beverley Hotel.

Mexican Food @ El Trompo

January 9, 2015January 11, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Back in August, I did some strolling in Kensington market with Nash and my friend Karol looking for a place to eat. We landed at El Trompo, a place that served authentic Mexican cuisine. We decided to order some things to share. Pictured above are the Spicy Tinga Chicken tacos.

We also had the Al Pastor tacos which are their specialty. They contained a lovely touch of onion, coriander and pineapple. We thought both tacos were very flavourful and the portions were generous. They were around $10 for 4 decently sized tacos, whereas most places you usually get 3 for the same price.

I couldn’t help trying the Chicharon de Queso, which essentially is a piece of crispy fried cheese. It was hands down my favourite part of the meal

The Pico de Gallo was simple but refreshing (for a summer’s day) and fresh.

We also split this cheesy Quezadilla. There was quite cheesy! It was around $4, but it’s smaller than most people would assume of a quezadilla, so I wouldn’t make this my only order.

Between the 3 of us, we actually thought we ordered way too much food. You do get the value for your money here. Everything was fresh, flavourful and authentic.

Sandwiches That Are Fresh Off The Boat

January 7, 2015January 11, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Fresh Off The Boat on Queen West has a menu full of seafood sandwiches that are made fresh to order. I had the Lobster Roll that was served with fries and a broccoli slaw. The roll had a generous portion of juicy lobster and chives. The slaw was nice and refreshing and it totally didn’t taste like I was eating broccoli.

My friend ordered the Soft Shell Crab Sandwich, which is literally a fried whole crab in a sandwich. It looked glorious. I think she was supposed to get a slaw too along with the fries but they forgot to put it in.

The place is tiny so I suggest doing take-out when it’s a little warmer out! The food was good but we found that after the whole meal (around $15/per person) we weren’t completely full yet. Maybe it’s more of a lunch food than a dinner!

Thai @ Pai Toronto

December 31, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

By the owners of Khao San Road, Pai specializes in Northern Thai food. I ordered the Shrimp Gian Kiaw Wan which was green curry served in a literal coconut. The presentation was wonderful and it was one of the most flavourful green curries I have ever had. You really got the sense that everything from the paste was made fresh and in house.

I was with some friends and one of them ordered the Braised Beef Khao Soi which was a golden curry with crispy noodles.

While we were waiting to be seated, we also tried the Grabong (squash fritters) and Mao Ping (pork skewers).

I also had a Lychee drink.

We actually ordered way too much food but everything was totally worth trying. The atmosphere had an islandy feel. Expect to wait a bit because it’s very busy and the time we went seemed understaffed. However, the flavours and aromas were worth every penny and our patience.

Crazy Poutines @ Poutineville

December 29, 2014December 30, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

We were super excited to see Poutineville in Toronto. We’ve already visited a bunch of times, so I decided to hold on posting this until we tried a variety of things off their menu. The first one I tried was the Pizza Poutine (pictured above). Melted cheese and pepperoni were baked on top of fries, gravy, curds, green onions and bacon. It was a pizza and poutine lover’s heaven. The portion was obviously large enough to feed two. The owner even joked around and said he wouldn’t charge us if I could finish it.

Nash’s first poutine was The Dragon which had spicy chicken wings and peppers.

The most indulgent poutine was the Lamb & Feta poutine with brie. It was heavenly.

Nash also had this Nacho Cheese poutine. Not the most appetizing presentation but we can assure you that if you are a nacho lover you’d enjoy this!

These fried pickles aren’t poutine but paired well with the tangy sauce it was served with.

What we found interesting is that the gravy tasted slightly different in each poutine. We also didn’t find it as heavy as other places like Smokes or Poutinis and did not get sick of eating after a few bites (which tends to happen a lot for poutines).

Figgy Pudding

Citrus Perplexity

Poutina Margarita

Long Island Iced Tea

The Toronto menu is a lot different than what is posted on their website (which is based on their Montreal location. We’re also lucky to have mixologist Nishantha Nepulangoda create a crazy cocktail menu. Their twist on a margarita has: Vazadores Tequila, Cointreau, Amaretto, Orgeat syrup, lime juice, Angostura and fig juice. I can’t remember what was in some of the other ones, they are just so complex!

We’ll definitely be back soon to eat the rest of the poutines and make our way through more cocktails!

The Big Orange Lunchbox

November 11, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews, TravelLeave a Comment

While in PEI, we did a ridiculous amount of eating and I thought some places deserved their own posts. One of these places was The Big Orange Lunchbox.

We happened to be in PEI during Porktoberfest and there was plenty of options for the pork lover here. I thought I’d go all out and get what was named as the 50 Shades of Pork (pictured at top of post). It was an island pork chorizo patty, topped with BBQ pulled pork, tomato bacon jam, carmelized onions, fried mozarella sticks and mustard aoli. This thing left me in a delcious coma but it was all worth it.

Nash and I kind of fought over who would order the 50 Shades of Pork but ultimately I ended up winning. Anyways he ended up getting something totally different and got the scallop burger. We weren’t sure if it was going to be scallops grinded in a patty or not but it turns out there were a couple of juicy fresh ones between the bun.

If we stayed longer in PEI, we probably would have visited this place like 10 more times as the menu had so many other goodies to eat!

BOOMburger

October 22, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

The best thing about being on vacation is eating out! My friend Laura’s as much as a burger fan as me so she took us to BOOMburger. The restaurant style is very similar to Five Guy’s, specializing in the classic burgers. The ingredients are locally sourced (PEI potatoes and cheese from COWS). I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger with everything on it (grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato etc). It’s been a while since I had a classic burger (one with no weird ingredients on it) but this one was juicy and delicious! I chose the “zesty pepper fries” over normal fries and those were sure addictive.

I couldn’t go to PEI without trying Anne of Green Gables’ Raspberry cordial! It was like a bottle of the red coloured freezies.

Hope to share with you more food adventures soon!

Thai Lime

September 21, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Recently, we tried Thai Lime, close to the Junction. It was very cozy and the menu items were relatively inexpensive. Nash ordered the Pad Thai pictured above.

I had the Malaysian Beef Curry ($12.69). Rice was included with the order (which isn’t always a thing at Thai places). The portion and flavours were plenty.

The great thing about the place is that they’re also available on a lot of delivery platforms in Toronto including Just-Eat and Orderit.

Tacos & Beer @ O&B Canteen

September 6, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I stopped by O&B Canteen one day after a Jays game for their $5 Mill Street happy hour. I was a bit hungry so I ordered the Calamari Tacos ($12). After all, I was at a restaurant owned by Oliver & Bonacini! The tacos were nice and light and had a delicious mango sauce with buttermilk cream.