Cambridge: Beat Hotel

Location:

13 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA (below The Gap in Harvard Square)

It takes a certain type of restaurant to get me out on a weeknight after work in this city. The Beat Hotel is that type of restaurant. A grand opening party at a bohemian American brasserie inspired by the Beat generation of the 50s Paris, with live music and cockails named "Electric Sidecar"? Well, the food was just the icing on the cake at that point.

The restaurant features live music e'ry night with jazz, blues and world adding to the bohemian vibe. This night we were treated to Kate McGarry along with Steve Santoro and the Tim Ray trio.

Throughout the evening, our host and co-owner Bertil Jean-Chronberg suggested a variety of American artisanal wines and craft beers to complement the items on the menu. 

Serving a very eclectic menu of seasonal dishes to tempt both the carnivorous palate as well as the herbavore, our table covered the entire spectrum.

We began the evening with flavorful craft cocktails; my favorite was the American Breed, complete with Maker's Mark and St. Edler's elderflower liqueur and apple cider...it felt like the perfect drink for an Autumn evening.

We started with a slew of appetizers, spanning the entire table. A must-try dish is the Hamachi (yellowtail) Sashimi, served on avocado, sambal and black olives...literally melts in your mouth.

There was crispy calamari and tempura veggies, crispy tuna spring rolls, a bohemian platter of hummus, cheese, veggies, pickles, enough for everyone to share.

If that wasn't filling enough, we moved onto our mains, I decided on the 1/2 roasted natural chicken with frites, mustard jus and pickes, generous in portion and robust in flavor.

The Tandoori spiced halibut with lentils and cucumber raita was a tasty alternative to the chicken, and the Earth Bowls (options vary from vegan, shrimp, chicken, steak and salmon) are yet another satisfying choice.

Don't get me started on the desserts...the bread pudding is to die for.

It's the best when you can share in a food experience with food lovers, and amongst these, at my table it was great to meet Tiffany and see Elizabeth who I hung out with in Miami!

If you're looking for a lively spot to wine and dine with live music every night, be sure to check out the calendar at The Beat Hotel.

Thank you to The Beat Hotel for treating us to an incredible evening in Harvard Square.

All photographs ©Hogger & Co., processed with VSCO Film 04

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.

Axia Restaurant & Bar

Location:

A-5045 Plantation Pl., Mississauga

If it weren't for the "Restaurant & Bar" in the name...you'd think Axia were a club. 

You did, didn't you?

Well, it's not.  I don't know why they named it that, 'cause the inside of it looks like some sort of vacation package hotel....cane chairs upholstered in tropical fabric, hanging plants, palm trees, hanging lanterns and Christmas lights.  

Then again, the outside looks like some sort of Iron Chef set. 

Listen, don't try to figure it out...just enjoy the eats.










You'd be hard pressed to walk in there without a reservation...it's consistantly packed with plenty of wait time...yep, just like a club.

The Magic Oven

Location:

6 Wellesley

When green chillies underly an innocent tandoori chicken pizza, you KNOW the chef knows his biniss.

As he should at THESE pizza prices!!

Smelt flour or no smelt flour...I hope these pizzas have some magic in 'em 'cause they're expensive!

Not a fan of the Liberty Village location as I got sick twice as a result of their lunch time slices, but the Wellesley location made for a wonderful dinner with friends. Very cosy atmosphere, we had almost the whole (tiny) restaurant to ourselves. And those hidden green chillies? We were in tears 'cause the menu made no mention of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm always happy to see green chillies in anything, so they were tears of joy.

We've also had MO pizzas ordered into work, and as delish as they are, the four pizzas we ordered came to something outrageous as $100 and there still wasn't enough to go around. Sometimes, you just need a bunch o' $9.99 pepperoni pizzas.

LOCAL FEATURE: Crepe Delicious

Location:

100 City Centre Drive

www.crepedelicious.com

If it's not pancakes or french toast for breakfast, it's crepes (from scratch) at our house, so to receive two packs of Crepes De Licious mix in the mail was quite refreshing.

The mix was very easy to use, having only to add milk or water, and they turned out quite well, chewy in texture (whole wheat flour), vanilla-esque and buttery in flavour (shortening).

 

Our recipe for making crepes uses very little, if any, oil and our crepes turn out a lot thinner.  With the mix we found it a tad difficult to get rid of the powdery bits.

That said, if you're not a crepes-from-scratch person, and you like a good crepe, these packages are worthwhile.  Better yet, you can just go OUT for crepes and visit your local Crepe Delicious!

We did that, too.



There's a little kiosk of Crepe Delicious at the Square One Mall.  With breakfast crepes, paninis, savoury andsweet crepes.





Ian and Michael were the talented young specialists on hand for whipping us up some yummy crepes: savoury and sweet!



I don't care much for savoury crepes in general, but the Caesar Chicken ($7.95) one made for us was quite good, and packed with filling.



The sweet crepes is where it's at.  Nutella?  Yes, please!
The Tuttie Fruitte ($6.99) was absolutely divine and made far better than even the crepes we had in Paris!









Nyum Nyum.

They use all fresh toppings, so much so, that they run out of popular ingredients such as apples and panini loaves.  It's a kiosk afterall; it would be great to see this place get it's own restaurant as it was busy and has only a limited number of stools.  Most customers got the crepes to go anyway, wrapped up neatly in foil.   For the busy shoppers at Square One this type of kiosk probably works better than a dine-in restaurant, especially since you can smell the crepes a mile away and can have it as a snack or a meal.

We wanted the Crunchy Caramel $5.85 but they had run out of apples so Ian, who is the resident expert at that location, having been there two years, made us a custom super-duper, nutella-banana-caramel crepe!









I'll post up our own home-made crepe recipe, but until then, if you happen to stop by a Crepes Delicious, try the nutella/banana crepe!  You shan't be disappointed.

Mill Street Brewery

Location:

55 Mill Street, Toronto

www.millstreetbrewery.com

For beerfests and the like, Mill Street Brewery has the capacity for the people and the beers.

Check out their Ontario's first "Original Organic Lager" for a light and hoppy flavour.

I'm now more interested in their new Lemon Tea Beer and this contest they're having.

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.

TRAVEL: London, ON: Raja

Location:

428 Clarence Street, London

www.rajafinedining.ca

Had a family anniversary celebration here.  The space is up-scale and elegant and nicely done up for large groups, such as us.

The service on the other hand, could use some tweaking.  Although it wasn't busy, our server took a while to come over.  Then he failed to correctly explain the lunch specials to us so that when we ended up ordering the lunch specials, thinking they were smaller dinner portions, we were surprised to find they really couldn't be shared at all as there was barely enough for one!

Only then were we told  that the lunch specials were "individual" portions not to be shared and that each special came with a side of rice, chick pea curry and salad.  Something we wouldn't have ordered had we understood the server.  They were also overly intrusive with the "How are you enjoying your meal?", "Can I take this away?" stuff.

As it is, I'm sure you'll agree it's the most annoying thing EVER, to have a server ask how your meal is WHILST your mouth is full of your very FIRST bite, forcing you to respond..."ITSFSFIIEN".

The papad chutneys were beautifully arranged.



The onion bhajis were lovely.



The side of rice, chick pea curry and salad.



I disliked that all the meat dishes were served with side salads, as well.  I find it so unappealing when Indian restaurants do that.  Pickled carrots and onions are much more appropriate and flavourful when eaten together.




Variety of naans and breads.


The other curries (not part of the lunch special)









Altogether, the flavours were good, but the portions were far too small for the cost of them ($15-20) and the service could be better.

China Garden

Location:

7071 Airport Road, Mississauga

www.chinagarden.ca/

If you're ever in the west end of the city looking for some yummy chinese food, there's a little joint, that's one part ghetto and 2 parts awesome.  It's called China Garden.  Looking neither like China nor a garden, it does however, have some wicked hakka style chinese for $9-12 a dish.

Order at the counter then grab a seat...

It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes for your piping hot dishes to arrive!







A favourite whenever we're in the area, it's also open until 10:30pm on the weekends!

TRAVEL: India, Delhi: Yo China!

Location:

Third Floor, City Square Mall, Rajouri Garden, Delhi

www.yo-china.com

Definitely one of the highlights from our trip to Delhi was eating chinese food.  That may sound weird, but chinese food in India is simply superb!  It's spicy and flavourful in the way that chinese food isn't in the west.  The closest you can get to that taste is haka chinese and Spadina Garden comes close, which is why it's a fave of mine.

We were treated to an open menu dinner by the wonderful owners of Yo China!

The service was outstanding, and the presentation of the dishes, exquisite.

Just take a look:

Honey Chilly Potato Fries, which is their signature dish - crispy potato fingers, stir fried in the wok with honey chilly sauce & sesame seeds

Honey Chilly Potato - RS 79

Chilli Chicken, Dry:

Chilli Chicken Dry  - RS 89

Prawns tossed with ginger lemon coriander sauce:

Prawn Singtu RS 159

Chicken Satay:

Chicken Satay RS 139

Legendary Malha Sizzler:Babycorn, Beans, Broccoli, Mushroom and black mushroom, red and yellow peppers tossed in the legendary Malha sauce served on a sizzler

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Chicken Satay RS 139"]

Legendary Malha
Sizzler

[/caption]

Dumplings

Dumplings

Inside the dumplings

Lobster (off menu)

ChickenFried Rice 69

American Chop suey

Devil's Chocolate Cake With Ice Cream

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="342" caption=" Yo ! Snicker Sundae"]
[/caption]

By the time the lobster came out, we were fully stuffed 'cause the portions are massive.

And then when the dessert came out, well, I wasn't going to refuse this:

Highly recommended!!!

All around a fantastic place to get chinese food!

Happy Hoggerversary!

It's Foodhogger's 4th Birthday!!

Yes, it's been 4 years since Foodhogger started (well, here on Wordpress, before Wordpress I was on Blogger and then before that on Xanga)!

Anyhow, thank you to all you loyal readers who've stuck by my little food blog through the years.  You've seen me transition from the flashy (literally) food snaps to what I hope is better food photography.

Foodhogger started in May 2006 and has grown over the years to be one of the top food blogs in Toronto with international recognition! It's featured on Urbanspoon and Ziplocal and is one of the TOP 50 blogs in Toronto. Recently, Canada's online search directory, the Yellowpages, contacted us to advertise for Calgary restaurants.

Lola's Commissary (Toronto), Miss Cora's Kitchen (Toronto) and Il Fornaio (in the States) are a few of the restaurants who have recognized my reviews and have featured them on their sites!

Here's to more years of happy dining!

Thanks for eating along with me.

Birthday Bacon