School Bakery & Cafe

Rated this place:

70 Fraser Ave., Toronto, ON, M6K 3E1

School is in session: BBQ Spiced Fried Chicken - With buttermilk biscuits and greens. I had this and I thought this was good but not great. I have no complaints about the sauce as it was very flavourful with a strong BBQ taste. The chicken was moist as well. The issue was the portion size, which was way too small for me. There were only like 4 chicken pieces and even with the biscuit, I wanted more food. But that's just me, I eat lots =D I heard through the grapevine that School will be updating their dinner menu soon. I will go again once that happens. Trust. See Full Post

Malena

Rated this place:

120 Avenue Rd., Toronto, ON

Rustic Mediterranean resto in Yorkville: Sea urchin crostino - Avacado & black cyprus sea salt. I was really happy to see sea urchin here because I don't think I've ever had sea urchin other than at a Japanese restaurant. The sea urchin and avocado worked great together - love the buttery-ness of it. See Full Post

Brassaii Bistro Lounge

Rated this place:

461 King St. W., Toronto, ON, M5V 1K7

Inviting ambience: Brassaii is very spacious with an open kitchen and three long rows of seating. I liked how the windows on the other side lets in all the sunlight. There was a lot of different textures in the room: brick walls, concrete pillars, wooden floors, fabric drapes, exposed metal ducts, leather seats, shiny smooth tables, etc. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing...just an observation. Grilled filet of beef tenderloin + black truffle potato gnocchi + foie gras ($34) - My friend asked for medium-rare and it came out almost well-done. My friend didn't want to send it back as I would have to wait for him but I insisted that he had to! His entrée wasn't cheap and there was no way I was going to let him eat a well done steak that he won't enjoy. The second steak came out perfectly and my friend said he liked the gnocchi and foie gras as well. What stood out for me the most at Brassaii that night were the amuse-bouches and the appetizer. The food was decent and nicely executed but not great as nothing was memorable there. With those prices, I cannot see myself returning to Brassaii for a 3-course meal but for a drink on their patio? Sure thing. See Full Post

The Big Ragu

Rated this place:

1338 Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto, ON, M6H3Z8

Intimate family-run restaurant: Pappardelle Al Ragu - Ribbon style pasta in our signature "Lamb Ragu" slowly cooked lamb in plum tomato sauce. This is a house specialty and rightfully so. The Big Ragu did not skimp out on lamb as there was lots of it in there. There was the perfect amount of ragu (not too saucy) which was smothered over the pasta. The pappardelle was thin and smooth...so smooth I felt like I could inhale it. Is that gross? Sorry. My latest obsession seems to be the thin and flat pastas like pappardelle and tagliatelle. I'm now longing for their crostinis and pastas again as I'm typing this sentence...no joke. I need to go back to The Big Ragu soon! See Full Post

Buca

Rated this place:

604 King Street West, Toronto, ON

Warm bread knots rolled in garlic & rosemary: We had a lot of questions about the menu because it was huge! There were many sections, such as pizzas, pastas, meats, seafood, salumi, cheese, side dishes, appetizers, and salads. Thank goodness our waiter was very knowledgeable about every item and answered all our queries. But still, we all had a hard time deciding what to get. Too much selection! A few of us ordered pizzas. They came in a long rectangular shape, uncut, with a pair of scissors for you to cut your desired portion. The crust is super thin, and the cutting part was fun. my pizza. My pizza had mushrooms, gorgonzola and various herbs and spices. Vegetarian pizza. Loved it. This dinner was memorable because I got to celebrate my birthday with my closest friends; it wouldn't have mattered to me where we ate. Nevertheless, I found the food at Buca to be average. I wouldn't particularly go back for their charcuterie or cheeses, and although the pizza was cool, I liked the pizza from Pizzeria Libretto better. The thing that really stood out for me were the bread knots! See Full Post

Guu Izakaya

Rated this place:

398 Church St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1Z8

"Guud" Friday at Guu Izakaya: Karaage - Deep Fried Soy Sauce Marinated Chicken served with Spicy Mayo. I was very impressed with this dish, one of the best! The chicken was extremely tender and juicy, and the thickness of the batter was perfect. Another fantastic dinner at Guu Izakaya! I really hope next time I get to sit at the bar where all the action is at; I would love to be able to watch the chefs produce all these wonderful tapas right in front of me. See Full Post

Enoteca Sociale

Rated this place:

1288 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1X7

I don't know what took me so long...: Finally, my dear followers and readers, I finally made my way to Enoteca Sociale for dinner. I honestly don't know what took me so long...House Made Pappardelle, Ontario Lamb Ragu, House Smoked Guanciale & Pecorino ($18) - I loved the pappardelle as it was cooked perfectly but I thought there wasn't enough lamb ragu / guanciale / pecorino compared to the amount of pasta. The flavours were wonderful; the fragrant lamb and the smoked, savoury guanciale & pecorino, just that there is not enough of it. I thought the dinner that night was good, decent, and I didn't have any complaints (well except for that fact that I wanted more lamb ragu). But maybe because of the hype surrounding Enoteca Sociale, I think I went into the restaurant with really high expectations and that is why in my mind, the dinner kinda fell short. See Full Post

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House

Rated this place:

372 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON

Ramen in The Annex : The King of The Kings Ramen: with three levels of spiciness, 1 being least spicy and 3 being the most spicy, I chose 3. I thought it was the perfect dose of spiciness for me without being too overpowering... See Full Post

Earl's

Rated this place:

150 King Street West, Suite 100, Toronto, ON

Albacore Tuna Poke Nachos: I've been to this Earl's location before but only for drinks; it is a pretty "happening" place especially for happy-hour as it is right in the middle of the financial district (their patio is also stunning in the summer). I've been to Earl's in Mississauga a couple of times and trust me, the vibe in the 'burbs is very different, to say the least. Hm....more family-oriented? Yeah definitely more family-oriented =) Albacore Tuna Poke Nachos - Crisp togarashi wontons, tuna, cucumber, avocado and tomato poke, spicy mango coulis, sliced serranos, crushed macadamia nuts ($12). My favourite dish of the night, hands down. I ordered this again as a main last Saturday when I was at Earl's again for my friend's birthday dinner. I love everything here, from the crispy wonton chips to the buttery avocado chunks to the fresh tuna, and of course, the slight kick from the mango coulis and serrano peppers. See Full Post

Sushi Couture

Rated this place:

456 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1X8

Sushi Couture stands out in the Annex: Sushi Couture is definitely not the cheapest place for Japanese on Bloor but it delivers quality food along with presentation that I don't think any other Japanese place in the Annex offers currently... See Full Post

F'Amelia

Rated this place:

12 Amelia Street, Toronto, ON, M4X 1E1

A new Italian restaurant in Cabbagetown: There was a lot of selection when it came to pizza at F'Amelia. We decided on the Diavola pizza because it was a lighter pizza (as we were already sharing the gnocchi) but still had meat, and we like the spicy factor. We really enjoyed the pizza as it totally delivered on spiciness and it was light. I also loved the crust - it wasn't dry (hate that), it was soft and moist in the middle but not to the point that it was sloppy either... See Full Post

Acadia Restaurant & Bar

Rated this place:

50C Clinton Street, Toronto, ON, M6G 2Y3

One of the best new restaurants in Toronto: Every dish at Acadia was extremely gorgeous, complex, innovative, and so delicious. My favourite was the Shrimp Grits, submerged into the pool of consomme, it was so smooth and creamy and with the plump shrimp and oyster mushrooms, this dish is heavenly. I can eat it everyday... See Full Post

Gilead Cafe & Bistro

Rated this place:

4 Gilead Place, Toronto, ON

Warm and inviting Corktown restaurant: I loved this poutine. It was served piping hot. Perfect ratio between the bolognese, cheese and fries (we were half way done and there were still lots of bolognese and cheese left). With the fries being lightly crispy on the outside, the cheese curds being slightly melted and the bolognese so meaty, the whole poutine rocked my world. See Full Post

Grand Electric

Rated this place:

1330 Queen St. W, Toronto, ON

Dynamite pork belly taco: Grand Electric opened exactly a week ago today. Located in Parkdale at 1330 Queen Street W., its owners are former Black Hoof chef de cuisine Colin Tooke and former Black Hoof front of house manager, Ian McGrenaghan. With The Black Hoof being one of my favourite restaurants in the city and my love for Mexican food, it is hard not to be excited about Grand Electric. I thought the beef cheek taco was tasty but it was the pork belly taco that blew me away - the pork belly was fatty and juicy...paired with the salsa it was damn good. See Full Post

Lucien

Rated this place:

36 Wellington St. E.,, Toronto, ON, M5E 1C7

Looks beautiful, tastes mediocre: The colours on the plate and the presentation was quite stunning like a piece of artwork. Although beautiful, I didn't really like it. The tuna was great; deep red in the centre, moist, with a thick cut. However, it's everything else on the plate I didn't like..I felt like it was just random stuff put on the plate and nothing went well together. I thought the whole entrée lacked focus and was all over the place...literally... See Full Post

Messini Authentic Gyros

Rated this place:

445 Danforth Ave., Toronto, ON, M4K1P2

My favourite place for gyro pitas: These gyro pitas are huge and the meat is just fabulous. Every time I have it I'm speechless at how good it is. No matter what type of gyro meat you order (choice of lamb, chicken, pork, or mixed) it is bound to be juicy (or at least the times I had it, I've heard the contrary from others). This time I had the chicken gyro pita (I usually have pork as it has more fat) and was pleasantly surprised that the chicken wan't dry at all either... See Full Post

The Big Chill

Rated this place:

367 Manning Avenue, Toronto, ON, M6G 1A1

An old fashion ice cream parlour : Even though we got our ice cream fix, we both thought the ice cream at The Big Chill was just average. Yes the ice cream was very creamy, so I loved that part, but personally I thought the flavour was just not there. As in, I hardly tasted any "cookies" in my "cookies & cream" and my boyfriend didnt' taste much "pralines" in his "pralines & cream" either (same with the cookie dough, just tasted cream). Overall our ice cream tasted very bland to us. The waffle cone itself was superb though, very fresh and crispy... See Full Post

Grazie Ristorante

Rated this place:

9100 Jane St., Vaughan, ON

It's all about variety at Grazie Vaughan: The Cristoforo pizza jumped out at me on the menu because it had goat cheese. All fresh toppings and I really liked the soft and sweet plum tomatoes. There wasn't too much or too little of any one ingredient so it was very well balanced. It had a thin crust which I found to be a bit hard but this is just my personal preference as I like pizzas that have a softer base... See Full Post

Luma

Rated this place:

330 King St. West, Toronto, ON

Fantastic Summerlicious dinner: The Braised Chicken and Foie Gras Pate with Verjus jelly and pickles did not disappoint; it was smooth, light, and the flavour was bang on strong. I enjoyed spreading the jelly on the crostini. Besides all that, the presentation was beautiful - the big square glass plate, the flower petals scattered beautifully on it, the crostini cutting the pate in half; the whole plate was so pretty and elegant... See Full Post

Brockton General

Rated this place:

1321 Dundas Street W, Toronto

Back to basics at Brockton General: The gnocchi was cooked perfectly; it was "pillow-y", not mushy or too al dente. The sauce had a really good consistency too. The mushrooms were pungent with a very strong earthy flavour. I also love the pretty purple and green garnish...

Bigabaldi's Pizzeria

Rated this place:

1 Romar Cresent, Toronto, ON

True Italian comfort food at Bigabaldi's: Everything at this place is just mouth-watering good! For example, the Baldi's Pizza is one of my favs. It is a pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, roasted garlic, rapini, sausage and goat cheese. It's so rare to see rapini on pizzas these days and with the goat cheese and sausage, it is the perfect balance of meat and vegetable toppings. It seemed like every piece of pizza had an entire clove of garlic too... See Full Post

La Societe

Rated this place:

131 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1R1

The duck liver terrine is a must!: My favourite appetizer at La Societe that night. The terrine was extremely soft and creamy in texture and the taste of the duck liver was incredibly pungent. I loved the caramelized fruit layer on the top - it was like layered jam goodness... See Full Post

Briscola Trattoria

Rated this place:

501 College Street, Toronto, ON, M5H 1A5

Briscola is a hidden gem in Little Italy: Fried olives: the batter was so light; it thinly coats the olives and the orange and parsley also really brings out their flavour. The olives were not greasy at all (there was hardly any oil on the paper)... See Full Post

The Bellevue

Rated this place:

61A Bellevue Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5T 2N6

Traditional brunch with a twist...: The Unusual consists of 2 eggs sunny side up, sanagan's summer sausage, kimchi, daily cheese, oven roasted beets, fruit and Woodlot multigrain. Yes, you read right, there's kimchi in it. It's a strange combination of food but it all went together oddly well... See Full Post

The Bowery

Rated this place:

55 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON

Appetizers and drinks at The Bowery: The Scotch Duck Egg was by far the best appetizer of the night. The bright yellow runny egg yoke was stunning and the overall presentation on the wood board was very cute. The foie gras and duck confit mixture was soft and tasty and went really well with the super crispy breaded shell. The house-cured duck breast was a nice touch along with the mustard... See Full Post