Location:
147 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Cost: $20 for a main
[Interior: Jules]
Hi. Do you have a take-out menu?
Sure, here you go.
Thanks.
...
..
Hi there...we'll get the grilled salmon with ratatouille, salad and fries.
Will you have it for here or to go?
We'd like to take it to go, but we may eat outside on your patio.
No sorry, we don't allow that. You can eat in or take it to go but not take it to go and sit in.
Oh. So we can eat here and then pack it to go?
No.
Uh. [pause, look at each other....] Okaaaay, we'll change our order from take out to eat in then.
No, it's too late, the prices are different if you want to do that and I've already put the order in.
{But, we haven't even paid yet!}
Fine. We'll just take it to go.
..
.
...
..
.
[At the park]
Mmm.....not too bad....
Yeah. Too expensive for what it is, though...fries, salad, the smallest portion of ratatouille and that chef just fried the salmon in butter, I saw him.
Oh yeah? Tasty fries...although...they're kind of like McDonald's fries hahaha!
Yeah! I know! But Mcdonald's fries are like, two bucks!
Yeah....mm...so this is ratatouille? I'm not impressed...definitely doesn't look like in the movie!
I know. And the salad is drenched through...way too much dressing...why do they always do that?
I don't know...we should get it on the side, next time.
Nah...I don't think I'll ever go back there.
Me either.
***
Such was our experience at Jules, the fancy-schmancy place on on Spadina (north of Richmond and RIGHT BESIDE FUSARO'S!).
Two completely different eateries.
Fusaro's Kitchen always has a lunch line-up that goes out the door and practically down the street, has consistently friendly service and delicious (albeit high fat) foods...whereas Jules rarely has more than two tables filled, has terribly rude (and potentially racist) service and mediocre dishes!
The BEST thing on their take-out menu was the dish we ordered for $20...and that's not saying much at all! And they don't have such an impressive wine selection either!
Not to forget one price for eating in and another for eating out! Seriously, do they even want customers?
BUT, to each his own as they say. If you feel like eating pretentious French cuisine in a highly pompous environment, by all means, Jules is your venue. Knock yourself out! You'll need to before seeing your bill!
Jumbo Hairpanada
Location:
245 Augusta Ave., Toronto
Cost: under $15 for two empanadas, a drink and a pastry.
What is that hairy toy you smack around to get the candy out? Piñata! That's right!
But I digress.
Perhaps Jumbo Empanada should be renamed Jumbo Hairpanada.
We started with lunch at Jumbo Empanada and ordered the chicken and veggie empanadas and an alfajor. We wanted the chilean salad too, but Irene (owner) was busy and she said she was low on staff that day. Disappointment numero uno.
What was numero two-o? Yes, yes, numero dos? Discovering a hair baked into the alfajor. Irene was "good" enough to exchange it.
The replaced alfajor. Made out of condensed milk and biscuits/pastry (correct me if I am wrong).
The empanadas were tasty as was the salsa (although not hot enough for my taste - we asked for extra hot sauce and were told that the salsa was it).
Sorry foodies, this salsa isn't that good. Wait till you read about the salsa at Eggs n' Things in Oahu, Hawaii....now, THAT'S salsa!
The VEGGIE Jumbo Empanada...pretty JUMBO, wouldn't you say?
The inside of the VEGGIE Jumbo Empanada.
The CHICKEN Jumbo Empanada.
The inside of the CHICKEN Jumbo Empanada.
Then I discovered another hair baked into my chicken empanada crust. Yum.
Disappoinment numero tres.
That was the end of that.
That's TWO hairs.
I wasn't aware hair was an ingredient!
On the way back to work, we passed by Miss Cora's Kitchen and saw the desserts in the window and the pesto chicken pizza scribbled on the blackboard inside and since I was still hungry, we went in......let's just say it was so good that I have to save the FULL review for next time!
Osha Thai Noodle, San Francisco, CA
This was still Day 1 of our San Francisco trip, and let me tell you, after walking for something like 8 hours since lunch, we were starving by the time we got to Osha (which was just below our hotel and meant a [thankfully] short journey to bed).
Messis
Address: 97 Harbord Street, Toronto
Phone: (416) 920-2186
Cost: Valentine's Day special prix fixe menu at $35 pp
Messis sports a minimalist, airy interior, definitely a good thing when seated elbow-to-elbow with love-sick couples on Valentine's Day. We were lucky to score a reservation that wasn't after 9!
Although a prix fixe menu, Messis boasted a much greater selection of dishes (including seafood, chicken, duck, steak and liver!) than other restaurants on the Winterlicious circuit (even though Messis was not on the Winterlicious circuit this year). After sneaking peaks at the items ordered by the patrons beside us, we decided to go with the curried shrimp and crab cakes and the grilled scallops to start.
Curried shrimp and crab cakes with coconut, mango, red pepper slaw and cilantro green onion drizzle.
The curried shrimp and crab cakes were pretty darn tasty with a crispy outer crust and a tender, flaky and savory filling.
The coconut, mango, red pepper slaw on the side added a nice contrast to the cakes and cilantro sauce.
Grilled scallops with a small salad of blood orange, and fennel served with pepper coulis and a mango drizzle.
Grand marnier chocolate mousse cake with raspberry ice
The grilled scallops could have used a little more of something...more heat in the coulis, perhaps?
Next, we had the chicken and the fish.
The roasted free range chicken breast stuffed with pancetta served with zucchini, portabellini-mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted sweet potatoes in a gorgonzola broth (we ordered it without the cheesey broth) was the tastiest dish we ordered and I wanted it back after promising to share half with my husband.
Roasted free range chicken breast stuffed with pancetta served with zucchini, portabellini-mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted sweet potatoes in a gorgonzola broth
His fish dish wasn't quite as good. Bland, actually. The shrimps were okay, but again, lacked flavour. I also always feel that bok choy is filler on a plate, much like sprouts.
Pan seared black cod with a jumbo shrimp brochette served with roasted potatoes and sauteed baby bok choy with a shrimp essence.
Dessert was much better. We ordered the "Grand marnier chocolate mousse cake with raspberry ice" which was entirely too dense but quite good. We simply could not finish it and "had" to take it to go.
Grand marnier chocolate mousse cake with raspberry ice
Messis is just West of Spadina on the South side of Harbord, steps away from where Eduardo's (formerly Latitude, now The Harbord Room) used to be. So for now, and for the area, Messis is one of the nicer places you could go for a sit-down dinner.
Urban Restaurant: For the Urbanite
If one is to go back in time, to the 19th century, a time when the Phantom haunted the Opera Populaire in Paris (if only in reality is three hours of musical theatre), one may as well eat as urban as possible prior to it, in 21st century Toronto.
Chopstick Foods: take-out
Location:
3300 Danforth Avenue
Scarborough, ON
416-691-2104
Take-Out & Delivery
Tues-Sat: 4 PM- 1AM
Cost: under $50 for chicken balls and five mains
If you've ever had Chinese food cravings at midnight and wondered who to call....call Chopstick Foods. Mr. Chopstick himself will deliver your Foods, before he closes. And he's been open since 1955.
Not only will Chopstick Foods cater to you (and your friends') bizarre night-time cravings, but you'll remark at how incredibly fresh the food is! For under $50 you'll have plenty to chew on by way of midnight snacking with lots left over.
It all goes down very well with a lovely glass of home-made sangria. Why, how did you know it was a girls night in?
You'll even consider having Mr. Chopstick over during regular business hours.
65 Degrees Steakhouse
84 College Street
Toronto
(416) 588-7377
www.65degrees.com
Cost: $150-200
Toronto's Little Italy has just enough restaurants to properly befuddle those looking for a place to dine. In this case, "those" meaning us. We knew what we were looking for. Somewhere not too crowded, somewhere romantic and somewhere with a solid menu...but after a good amount of trekking back and forth in the rain, our growling stomachs took charge and we settled on 65 Degrees Steakhouse.
I kind of wish we had kept walking...or starved.
Our check list? Not too crowded. Check. Romantic. Chec---er...what's with the giant big-screen TVS? Solid menu? We must have really been hungry.
We were certain we wanted seafood of some form and the lobster gnocchi came highly recommended so that, along with a Halibut dish is what we chose.
The photographs are terrible, I admit, however, I don't feel entirely bad about them being poor representations of the food.
Lobster gnocchi
The lobster gnocchi wasn't unpalatable by any means, however, it wasn't mouthwatering either.
Halibut
I'm a huuuuuge fan of fish. And spice. There's nothing better than spicy, flavourful fish. This was far from spicy OR flavourful.
Dark and white chocolate cheesecake
I've had better chocolate cheesecake packaged in a cardboard box purchased from Dominion to be honest, so this was definitely nothing memorable.
A lychee martini and a glass of red (I wonder if it was served at 65 degrees?) rounded off a very passable meal. If only we had passed on this place.
****Update***** 65 Degrees has closed down.
Latitude Wine Bar and Grill
Address:
89 Harbord Street
Toronto, ON M5S 1G4
(416) 928-0926
Cost: $100+ for two
Latitude is one of those hidden gems you find every once in a while. This one is tucked away on the South side of Harbord Street, just West of Spadina.
The owner, Eduardo Barillo has created an ambiance perfect for romance...the orange walls and dimly lit interior is warm and inviting and Eduardo himself is most welcoming. It seems to be a family run affair with a young gentleman who looks to be Eduardo's son taking our order, but not after Dad has expressed precisely what is on the menu so that you are thoroughly confused as to what to order.
We finally decide to try the pomegranate chicken and spicy salmon and are pleased with our selections as they arrive (albeit after a long wait) hot and mouth-watering.
The chicken/green pepper/pomegranate dish is incredibly tasty...the pomegranate adding fresh bursts of sweetness to the tender flaky chicken which is tucked into succulent cases of green capsicum.
The spicy salmon is not spicy enough for my palate but is still flavourful, complimented by the light mixed green salad and vinegary dressing drizzled decoratively on the plate.
For dessert we pick the 'home-made' ice cream cake on Eduardo's recommendation. It's perfect for splitting in two and is absolutely divine! Sadly, there's none left to take home!
By this time we're completely stuffed and ready to roll into bed, but not until Eduardo has a cordial chat with us and graciously helps us into our coats. He treats us as if we are his own who will be missed until the next visit.
It's evident that Latitude dishes out Mexican fusion with as much love as one would find back home.
Inerja? Inraje? Inreja?
Went for Ethiopian food last week for the first time! Woo! That's some interesting flavours I must say. The spongey 'injera' looks a bit like south indian 'appam' and tastes like 'dosa'. How cool. Our first choice was Addis Ababa on Queen, which, to our dismay, was closed that day for renovations. Our second choice took us to Yonge and College on a quest to find The Ethiopian House Restaurant (finally finding it tucked away on Irwin St. just north of Wellesley), but it was worth it. The interior was cosy and the mango and guava juice luscious. Our veggie platter came lined with an injera 'pancake' and topped with seven veggie curries, salad, a small dish of spicy green sauce and a side of injera folded like a napkin. The use of fingers to eat is nothing new to me as indian food often requires the use of the hand as a utensil, but sharing a plate is not something I do everyday. It's not unlike sharing a plate of nachos or a bowl of popcorn though; you have to wait your turn. It was a pleasant experience and we were fully stuffed by the time we got to the injera at the bottom of the dish. I would have liked to have tried their chicken, but they only serve that as a lunch special which means we'll be going to Addis Ababa next time for their signature doro wat.
