Boston: Pauli's

Location:

65 Salem St, Boston, MA 02113

The North End of Boston is one of my favorite parts of this city, it's great for photoshoots and of course, for the food. So, I couldn't believe I had never been to Pauli's before.

Guys, it really is WICKED fresh and CRAZY GOOD!!

The lobster grilled cheese sandwich was not only massive, it was chockful of fresh and huge chunks of LOBSTAH and lots of melted cheesy-goodness (don't worry, I Lactaid-ed myself out).

The catchy "Pauli-tician" sandwich caught my eye, for it's name and for its ingredients (chicken cutlet, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar). Those are my must-haves for literally everything, plus, it's approved by Paul himself! I could eat it again, right now.

Another not to be missed sandwich is the Vito. Why? Because it was created by the "Vito" from The Sopranos.

That's right.

Looking for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Pauli and his team have got you covered. If that's not enough, they also have a full catering menu, as well. Want to order online for delivery? They've got you covered there, as well. I knew the battery powered bikes were there for a reason!

And the team there? They're awesome!

Thank you Paul and the team for treating us to an incredible dinner!

Greece: Santorini, To Ouzeri

Location:

Famprika Shopping Center, Fira, Santorini, Greece

Many of the restaurants on the tourist-heavy Fira (in Santorini) were packed with diners trying to get a good "sea-view". We finally settled on "To Ouzeri" minus the view because it wasn't overly crowded. I've often said this is a bad sign but didn't heed my own advice here, as the menu looked interesting.

We wanted to try some of the unique items on the menu, Tomato Fritters, Stuffed Zuchini and the fried Calamari that was full of promise.

The service was really slow as it seemed that only a couple of people were running the whole show, and since we weren't in a rush, this wasn't an issue.

The worst part however, was the taste of the food. The stuffed zuchini looked appealing, however the zuchini itself was soft in the center and even had that spoiled taste. The tomato fritters were bland and greasy, as was the fried calamari (the biggest we'd ever seen). Everything was rather mediocre. They do have a blog with the recipe for the tomato fritters, so I'm going to try making them myself.

Our server even asked us how we enjoyed our meal, to which we had a lacklustre response. She was surprised. And with some rave reviews on TripAdvisor, I'm surprised too.

Frugal Fare #7: New York City: Angela'S Rock N Roll Deli

Location:

1428 6th Ave, New York, NY

Sometimes you just want simple bacon, eggs n' toast for breakfast. Add pototoes in the mix and I'm in heaven.

For $6?

Can't beat that.

I love NYC. 

Provincetown, MA: Fanizzi's

Location:
539 Commercial Street  Provincetown, MA 

For the MLK long weekend, we decided to check out Cape Cod for the day. Yes, it was freezing, and yes, everything, save for a few shops, was closed. However, we were recommended Fanizzi's by the water and decided to grab dinner there before heading back. 

We scored the best seat of the house, overlooking the water and the sunset.

The service was lovely and the place filled up quickly as the sun began to set. 

We chose a dish of sea scallops n' pasta in marinara sauce and fish n' chips, both downed with beers. The coleslaw that came with the fish n' chips was to die for. It must have had some green apple or something, as it was both sweet and perfectly coleslaw-y. The bread basket arrived piping hot which is always welcome. We also had coffees and the molten lava chocolate cake, which took me well over my sugar quota for the day, but was totally worth it.

I can't recommend this place, enough. We'll be back this summer!

Amsterdam: Hilton Hotel: Half Moon Lounge

It was raining pretty hard as soon as we arrived in Amsterdam, and it remained fairly wet and quite chilly throughout the trip. As soon as we got to The Amsterdam Hilton, made famous for John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "Bed-In-For-Peace", all we wanted to do was have a quick bite to eat and some tea.  So, while we waited for our room (not the John Lennon/Yoko Ono presidential suite, alas), we dined at one of the hotel's resturants, the Half Moon Lounge. We ordered some teas and a falafel sandwich with a side of fries.  How amazing was this sandwich?  And the service was wonderful and unintrusive while we relaxed by the huge canal side windows. Highly recommend this hotel, which has beautiful rooms and bathrooms with gorgeous canal views and a spectacular breakfast buffet, which may make an appearance on Foodhogger, later.

Boston: Towne Stove and Spirits

Location:

900 Boylston Street
Boston

towneboston.com/

I had a lunch date with fellow Boston Blogger Style'N at Towne earlier this week.  I didn't realize until I saw the building again that it was the same place I'd spotted one evening in the myriad of street lights, after shopping at the Prudential and thinking, what is that place, I want to go to there.

Huge and cosy interior.  Friendly, unintrusive staff.  Really tasty meal.

I had the daily pasta - rock shrimp in a red sauce.  

Style'N had the cheese & bacon sandwich with tomato bisque.

After the disaster at Kashmir (review coming soon), this was a welcome change. 

TRAVEL: Montreal: Les 3 Brasseurs (3 Brewers )

Location(s):

A.  732 Sainte-Catherine Street West, Montreal

B.  1658, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal

www.les3brasseurs.ca

(All images photohogger)

Let me start with the pros of the restaurant:

Amazing beer-battered poutine.  Great atmosphere: loud, bustling, was fun to be there during the Stanley Cup playoffs.



The Food (pros & cons):

Everything was grease-central (could be a pro for some?).  The fish and chips came with overly battered and overly deep fried fish, so much so that the fried shell separates from the fish. 



The flatbread pizzas are so thin, which some peopel may prefer, but I say why bother! You practically have to eat the whole thing with a knife and fork which I know some prefer for eating pizza, but I like to pick it up like a pie.  Loaded with lots of veggies so it wasn't bad.  



My understanding of, and the way I make, a Nicoise salad is with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, beans, tomatoes, olives, optional artichokes, red pepper and anchovies, all on a bed of lettuce.  This one came with smoked meat instead of tuna.  Since all of us eat mostly only fish, we opted for no smoked meat.  It was alright, but would have preferred more of the original style of a nicoise salad. 



The beer-battered poutine (that we didn't order) was delish.  We ordered regular poutine and thought that what we got was regular poutine, and wondered why it was so greasy.  But as far as greasy poutine goes (which it all mostly is, anyway), it was a winner!



The cons of the restaurant:

What is with the section of the restaurant that is also part dish-clearing station/garbage take out?  Please get rid of this section!  I understand one has to clear the dishes and take out the garbage, but is there not a wall behind which this could be done?  We had to sit there and be a witness to a server scraping off the plates into the trash and worse see one of them struggle to pull out the garbage bag from the trash can - minus gloves!  Then the trash can fell over with a crash!  Not something that you want to see before (or anytime) you get your meal.

Then, we were billed for the beer battered poutine ($8.99) which we ate unknowingly as we thought we'd simply ordered the regular poutine ($5.99).  I realize it's only a difference of $3, but it was still the server's mistake which she acknowledged and insisted to correct but the manager then said couldn't be reversed.  So our server told us not to tip her instead.  How ridiculous is that?  Needless to say we DID tip her on top of their mistake.  She gave us each $5 gift cards to use back in Toronto.  Thanks but you won't see us running over there anytime soon.

Sitting next to the kitchen on visit number two (St. Denis location), we had a clear view of all the cooks in the kitchen, all the orders given, all the plates being served, and all the accidents, such as the dropping of a plate of salad near our end of the table.  A hearty dose of salad dressing landed on four of us and what did they do to make up for it?  "2 beers on us!" Thanks fellas...we were only a group of fifty!  And the group menu they gave us was crap.  Four options for dinner included: some flatbread with chicken dish, some sausage and sauerkraut dish, some veg lasagna and some chicken skewer dish with fries.  I had the veg lasagna and it was soggy, covered in cheese and tasteless. 

Besides that, the restaurant is so cramped (why else would we have been right beside the kitchen?) that our server(s) kept squeezing their ar*** between our two tables to get to another section of the restaurant. This happened all night long and I received several scrapes to my back from their pens!  Definitely not a good dining experience.

I don't know who the three brewers are but they need to get their act together.  The beer they brew?  Not one of them did I fancy...but I'll let Beerhogger review them for you. 



Overall, A had slightly better food and service, whilst B is somewhere I never wish to dine again. 

One can hope that Toronto's location is better, but I'm not holding my breath.

A.

B.

Hero Burger

Location:

1480 Major Mackenzie Drive East
Richmond Hill, ON

www.heroburgers.com

I like to jokingly think it's me saying "hello" to the burger.  "Herroo Burger!"

Having eaten at Hero Burger once before at the Queen Street location, I wasn't blown out of the water.  It was almost good bye burger. 

But seeing it again in Richmond Hill while quite hungry, all was forgotten and we exchanged pleasantries once more.

I got the beef burger with bacon, hold the cheese, while my husband got the turkey burger with all the fixin's.



Verdict?





While there was nothing bad or wrong with it, it's not the best I've had and failed to impress a second time. 

However, the service was great; friendly and quick, and better than the Queen St. location.

So, it may not my hero, but then, I already have one.

TRAVEL: Paris: McDonald's

Don't judge me.

We did it in India, so we had to do it Paris.

Eat at a McDonald's, that is.

And it was très magnifique!

Gotta love this guy who posed for the picture!

Oh we also had a Kronenbourg 1664 beer, but it wasn't cold enough.

NEW: O&B Canteen

Location:

330 King St W, Toronto

Another one of Peter Oliver and Michael Bonacini's babies, O&B is part cafeteria, part full-service restaurant, with all the wood, glass and metal (and gorgeous pops of orange Le Creuset dishes) that entails opening up a restaurant these days, it's also in the new Bell Lightbox building.

In the company of several foodies, including Hobography, his family, AC, and AL who is our resident food and drink expert and founder of Foodies Toronto, our verdict is?

Well, O&B Canteen is no great shakes.

Here's what we ate:

I started with a Soltice Mojito (it's listed on the menu as such, but makes me wonder if they meant Solstice?)  with loads of raspberries - a juicy, refreshing drink with a hint of mint, I slurped every last sip, and not only because it was $10.



They have only two beers on tap:  Mill St. Tankhouse (sm $5, lg$7)  and Stella Artois ( sm $6 and large $8) and the sizes arrive in tiny glasses.  The wine was served in a slightly more reasonable portion.  The rest of the beers (more Mills St., Keith's, Bud, Guinness, Leffe etc.) are bottled.

The Steak Frites ($21) was the best dish on the table, but discussions were had on how it was cooked.



The "Chef's Daily Creation" was a hand-made pappardelle with some type of sausage and mushrooms, which took forever to arrive and once it did looked like an appetizer in size.



It didn't fare well in flavour either; I'd like to quote Hobo here on how it was:

"It was overcooked, bland and flavourless."

The Gallo Mussels ($18) arrived in a hot pot looking quite beautiful, as did the french onion soup; I can't vouch for the taste.

The Basket of O&B Artisan breads (with spread and olives $8), I wish had more craft to them...as they were, they didn't excite.



Hobo ordered the Chicken Liver Parfait (cumberland sauce, pickle, baquette $8) and ended up having to request several refills of "baquette" as there was decidedly more parfait than "baquette" and I think we'd have preferred the entire "baquette" instead of only slices of it.  Interestingly, you can find Michael Bonacini's Chicken Liver Parfait recipe, here.



The refills were also greatly needed since Hobo's fresh pasta didn't arrive for 45 minutes.

My All Day Breakfast ($14)  was decent - the sausages and bacon absolutely delicious but the potatoes were luke warm and the bread, kind of boring.  It didn't help that the butter and jams had to be requested several times before making an appearance and the hot sauce didn't make it to the table for a while.



The house-made "Canteen Catsup", spiced with cinnamon, coriander and celery seed, wasn't very good.  I think it's best not to mess with what Heinz has perfected.

The desserts, however, managed to impress.

The Lemon Posset w/ chantilly, berries ($6),  Soma Brownie w/vanilla ice cream ($7), Fresh Fruit w/ mint, lemongrass syrup and sorbet ($8), Espresso Affogato w/ almond biscuit ($5) Gateau Basque w/ vanilla ice cream ($7), were all divine;  each carrying a distinct flavour.  Muah!











Overall, I think everyone felt a disappointed.  While they've got the signiture O&B style down, the service definitely needs work.  It was waaaaaaaaay too slow for the type of idea they're selling.  If you're calling it a canteen, it should operate as one.

I'll give the service a few months and go back to try the breakfast and those butties...perhaps with Lurgs?

Fresh

Location:

147 Spadina Avenue, Toronto

www.freshrestaurants.ca

As is the case with a lot of food-related businesses these days, the word "fresh" embodies all that is "organic" and "new" in our age of health-consciousness.  If it contains the word FRESH chances are people will gravitate towards it.

And Fresh, the restaurant chain, is vegetarian, another kick in the meat-balls of society.  But remember people!  Vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean healthy!

Of course, vegetarians and/or vegans love Fresh, and rightly so.  Why?  'Cause Fresh doesn't use butter, dairy, eggs, honey or other animal by-products,  so those with food allergies or dietary concerns can be assured they're eating....none of those things.

I can't speak for the nutritional part of it, since oddly Fresh doesn't provide a nutritional breakdown of their food on their website.  See for yourself and decide for yourself.

I can only speak for the flavour of Fresh and what I'm saying is:  it doesn't do much for me.

I do like their sweet potato fries and peanut sauce, but find both very greasy.





The Buddha Bowls are bland and tasteless and as my fellow blogger, Lurgs likes to joke, "It just needs CHICKEN!"

The veggie burger is dry and full of grains.  It's certainly hearty, but definitely does not satisfy my tastebuds.



I'd definitely eat at Fresh if I had to, but it's not somewhere I'd seek out for lunch or dinner.

Frugal Fare #6: The Banknote

Location:
663 King Street West, Toronto

The Banknote is one of those work-lunch and after-work dinner/drinks places serving up burger & beer type meals in a bank setting.  Yes, aptly named The Banknote, as it used to a bank, they still have the ol' vault in the back and teller booths.  If that ambiance doesn't suit you, there's always their cosy patio on the King Street side.

It's a great place for post-rock-climbing eats as Rock Oasis is just around the corner!  I'd choose this over The Wheatsheaf, if you were wondering. :)



Burger and fries special



Pasta of the day:



Eggplant Parm Burger:



Penne:



Chicken Burg:



Fish n' Chips: