The Tulip

Rated this place:

1610 Queen St E, Toronto, ON, M4L1G2

Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch: For an inexpensive and tasty breakfast/lunch Tulip can't be beat. I had buttermilk pancakes(3), home fries, sausages, scrambled eggs, toast and coffee all for under $15 including taxes/tip. One thing I noticed during my brunch was that many customers were ordering steak and given that the full name of the restaurant is The Tulip - The Original Steakhouse; you know this means a return trip for steak. I'll let you know how it goes.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• brunch
• Breakfast

Life is Sweet

Rated this place:

2328 Queen Street East, Toronto, M4E3E5

Superb Cupcakes: Damn good cupcakes ! Life is Sweet makes a variety of cupcakes - chocolate, chocolate mint, white chocolate chip, lemon drop, coconut, vanilla bean along with others. What makes their cupcakes special is the icing, it is very flavorful and not overly sweet plus the cake is moist. They also have mini cupcakes for those who are counting calories. My fave cupcakes are the Earl Grey with orange and the Vanilla White Chocolate. The staff is friendly and patient as you struggle to select your flavours; the shop also has a selection of cookies, pastries and organic/fair trade coffee and tea.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Cupcakes
• Mini Cupcakes

Babycakes

Rated this place:

894 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON, M4M1J3

Cupcakes: Babycakes produces numerous flavours - ex. Blue By You (chocolate cake/peppermint icing), Velvet Underground (red velvet cake/cream cheese icing), Polar Bear (vanila cake/vanilla icing) to name a few. The cake portion was moist and the frosting was good although I found it to be extremely sweet. The cupcakes are somewhat pricey at $3.25 a piece and a little on the small side but they are pretty good (hence 3 stars). I suggest you order ahead as they sometimes run out of cupcakes or if you want a specific flavor. They are now located at 892 Quest St. E, inside their sister restaurant Lil' Baci as Kubo Radio has gone to the great restaurant in the sky.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Cupcakes

Caplansky's

Rated this place:

356 College St., Toronto, ON, M5T 1S6

Pass on the Pastrami: The smoky flavor of the meat was overpowering, I did not enjoy it at all.

Moroco Chocolat

Rated this place:

99 Yorkville Ave., Toronto, ON, M5R 3K3

Chocolate Heaven: Someone has broken off a piece of chocolate heaven and dropped it off at 99 Yorkville Ave. MoRoCo Chocolate is a combination boutique and restaurant with its prime focus being chocolate. There is a varied selection of handmade truffles, caramels and macarons to be had in the boutique portion. Further on is the restaurant, decorated in a dark pallet which contrasts against the pristine white of the boutique. The restaurant offers chocolate sipping with your choice of 3 types of chocolate (dark, milk or white orange vanilla) accompanied by a truffle and fresh whipped cream. We chose the dark chocolate and it was divine. The chocolate fondue was equally delicious - you have a choice of the type of chocolate, plus fruit, marshmallows and mini pastry. The s'mores were out of this world !! They arrive with a faux campfire so you can roast the mini marshmallows and build your own. MoRoCo also offers afternoon High Tea (numerous artisian blends) and a light lunch/dinner menu. The menu has items such as soups (the french onion soup was excellent),gourmet salads and sandwiches, wine/champagne by the glass or bottle, martinis etc. If you go all in - chocolate sipping, fondue, s'mores, tea, truffles and food you will drop a fare amount of coin but you are paying for quality ingredients and excellent service. Best of all you don't have to die to go to chocolate heaven. (ps. Call 24hrs in advance to book afternoon tea)

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Afternoon Tea
• chocolate boutique

Sweet Escape Patisserie

Rated this place:

55 Mill Street, Building 47, Unit 102, Toronto, ON, M5A3C4

Cupcakes: I tried 4 different cupcakes - Vanilla, Chocolate, Baileys Irish Cream and Guinness. Overall I was disappointed, the buttercream icing was by far the best part as it was very rich but icing alone doesn't make a good cupcake as the cake portion was somewhat dry and not very flavourful. Of the four samples, the Guinness cupcake was the best as it was moister than the others and you could taste hints of Guinness. The other three were forgettable; the chocolate wasn't very chocolatey and I couldn't taste any difference between the Irish Cream and the Vanilla. Once the weather warms up I will return to sample their ice cream.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Cupcakes

Matahari Grill

Rated this place:

39 Baldwin St, Toronto, ON, M5T1L1

Malaysian Cuisine: Tucked away on Baldwin Street you'll find this gem of a restaurant offering great food at a fair price. I've been going there for years and have never been disappointed. The satays are especially good and come with a nice peanut sauce. Other favorites include the fried shrimp wontons and the spring rolls. I absolutely love the Cashbah Cashew Chicken - a stir fry of chicken red peppers, onions, mushrooms and cashews. Pair it with the coconut steamed rice and it'll become your favorite dish ! Other standouts are the Nasi Goreng and the Matahari Curry Chicken.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Malaysian Cuisine

Tealish

Rated this place:

198 Walnut Ave, Toronto, ON, M6J2N6

Tea: If you love tea or just want something different to drink then you should stop by Tealish. This small shop carries a wide range of loose teas (black, green, red, white, chai, herbal, flowering, oolong) as well as teas accessories. The staff is knowledgeable and they have many teas available for sampling. Tealish also has a tea bar that serves various hot and iced teas.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• tea
• tea boutique
• Tea Shop

Bombay Bhel

Rated this place:

230 Commerce Valley Dr. E., Thornhill, ON, L3T7Y3

Tasty Indian Food: If you like Indian then you owe it to yourself to visit Bombay Bhel. I usually start with samosas, the veggie and the beef are both excellent and come with a tasty tamarind sauce. Next up is a side order of raita, naan and channa masala (even better the next day) followed by Haryali Tikka ( I ask for extra spicy) with rice. Other top notch dinners include Butter Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masalla The portions are large (mmm..leftovers) but best of all everything is flavorful and made just right. http://bombaybhelthornhill.com/index2.html

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Indian Food
• Butter Chicken
• Haryali Tikka
• Raita
• Channa Masala

Buster's Sea Cove

Rated this place:

93 Front St E, Toronto, ON, M5E1C3

Grilled Seafood: Located at the rear of St. Lawrence Market, Busters offers freshly grilled seafood at affordable prices. They offer various fish sandwiches - my faves are the grilled swordfish and the grilled salmon. The also have grilled/ deep fried calamari, shrimps, lobster bisque, mussels, clam chowder. I have been going there for years and have never been disappointed.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• St, Lawrence Market

Pantages Hotel Toronto Centre

Rated this place:

200 Victoria St., Toronto, ON, M5B 1V8

$5 Martinis: $5 MARTINIS !!! Only the price is cheap - they certainly know how to mix them right. Best of all, if you get really boozed you could book a room and spend then night in the hotel and order room service in the morning.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• martinis
• Martini's

Pancers deli

Rated this place:

3856 Bathurst St, Toronto, Ontario, M3H 3N3

The Best Deli: If you like corned beef, pastrami, cucumber salad, coleslaw, dills or smoked meat then Pancers is the place to go. Located at 3856 Bathurst this place has been serving sandwiches since 1957. The decor is old school deli (a good thing) and they prepare their meat on-site. When I'm there I choose the pastrami sandwich, fries, cucumber salad and kishka.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Deli
• Deli Sandwiches
• pastrami

Cayne's Super Housewares

Rated this place:

112 Doncaster Ave., Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 1L3

Housewares and more..: If you're looking for kitchen gadgets, small appliances, cutlery, bakeware etc., then you owe it to yourself to visit Caynes. They carry the top brands - Cuisinart, Kitchen Aid, Krups etc. and the prices are the best in the GTA.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• housewares
• kitchen gadgets
• Small Appliances
• Cookware

DavidsTea

Rated this place:

336 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 2A2

Tea Boutique: David's Tea is a relatively new addition to the Queen West neighborhood. The bright and airy shop stocks numerous loose teas and tea accessories and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable.They have various teas available for sampling and a tea bar to brew your favorite cup to go or stay. David's also has a pretty good online store

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• tea
• tea boutique
• Tea Shop

Quad

Rated this place:

580 King St W, Toronto, ON, M5V1M3

Spinning studio: They have the best instructors and the studio has an energetic vibe. Quad East just opened (near Broadview) and it's a wonderful place. The team at Quad make spinning appealing to people of all fitness levels. They have 3 locations - King & Brant, Queen & Broadview and Oakville.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Fitness
• spinning studio

Le Gourmand

Rated this place:

438 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3S6

Cookie: They make the chewiest oatmeal raisin cookies and the chocolate chip cookies are super chocolatey - they're crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Did I mention that the cookies are HUGE !! If you get one while it's still warm, you'll be in heaven

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• chocolate chip cookie
• cookie
• oatmeal raisin cookie

Gotstyle

Rated this place:

489 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V1K4

Men's clothing boutique: Excellent selection and the staff are honest. If it doesn't look good on you they'll say so rather than just making the sale. They also have great end of season sales.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Men's Clothing Boutique

Red Rocket

Rated this place:

1402B Queen St. East, Toronto, ON, M4L 1C9

London fog tea: Home of the best London Fog in the east end.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• coffee shop
• London Fog tea

The Common

Rated this place:

1071 College Street, Toronto, ON, M6H 1B2

Coffee shop: Super smooth cappuccinos, really tasty london fogs and the staff are very nice.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• coffee shop

Dark City Coffee Co.

Rated this place:

410 McLevin Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1B 5J5

The Best Freshly Roasted Coffee: Dark City roasts beans to order - you select the bean (organic, fair trade etc.) the type of roast (light, french etc) and they do the rest. Freshly roasted coffee is then delivered to you within 24hrs. Best of all if you order 2 lbs or more delivery is free. I've been ordering beans for over a year and love their coffee.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• coffee
• Coffee Roastery

Gourmet Burger Co.

Rated this place:

482 Parliament st., Toronto, Ontario, M4X 1P

MMMM Burgers...: GBC knows how to make a tasty burger. They offer numerous complimentary toppings and many more for only a buck - fried egg, double smoked bacon etc. I've tried the spicy Cajun, the works burger and the smokey bacon burger and each time I've been there they've been excellent. The meat (6oz) was grilled just right (juicy & flavorful) and the bun was also tasty. My favourite topping was the balsamic marinated caramelized onions. GBC also offers a lamb burger, veggie and a chicken burger (free range breast). Also worth mentioning were their sweet potato fries which were crispy and sweet with just the right amount of salt.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Hamburger
• sweet potato fries
• gourmet burgers
• lamb burger