Location:
225 King St. W. Toronto
Cost: approx $50 for two
http://www.peneloperestaurant.com/home.html
I love Greek Food. Sure, it's just meat and potatoes...but that is precisely why I love it. There is something very comforting about Greek food. How can it go wrong?
At Penelope, it doesn't.
Around the King Street area, dinner options grow sparse the more times you dine out and very quickly the "Il Fornellos" and the "Urbans" of the downtown core give way to our very instinctual and basic needs. Such as meat and potatoes. Such was the case when we remembered Penelope, the only full-out Greek restaurant in the heart of the city. Much like Penelope herself, we exercised patience and loyalty and reserved our hunger pangs (whilst making our way down King street past all the upscale dining venues with their Winterlicious sandwich boards) for the simplest dinner of them all: the chicken souvlaki dinner.
Once there, we were allowed to be picky selective and were seated at a corner round table (even though there were just the two of us).
Our server and the manager (it seemed) were on hand to take our order and offer us drink choices. The manager recommended the Greek beer, Keo, which we thoroughly enjoyed and I highly recommend it (I'm more of a Guinness person myself, but Keo was very refreshing.)
And we already know that there would be one chicken souvlaki dinner (with a side of pita bread...just 'cause) and then to mix things up, an item from their dinner specials that day: swordfish.
Both mains arrived at our table incredibly quickly. My (usual) request for chilli flakes and/or hot sauce (which sually ends up being Tabasco, which I don't really consider hot sauce) was greeted with hearty props from our server who has been working there for 7 years. 
As expected, the chicken, rice and potatoes were glorious. The side of veggies bordered on frozen-then-over-cooked-and-greasy and I'd have preferred a side of Greek salad (this reminded me of the time The Healthy Greek didn't have Greek salad !)
The swordfish was surprising good and a huge portion, at that! This time, the Greek salad was in attendance and I couldn't complain. 
There were some serious left overs for taking home and an overall feeling of wholesomeness that only Greek food can provide.
It's nice to know that in a city full of restaurants with big attitudes, big plates and tiny, tottering portions, there are restorative places like Penelope. It's true then, for Penelope and for us, patience certainly was a virtue. 
Martha's Exchange
Location:
185 Main Street, Nashua, NH
Cost: approx $9-15 per lunch entree (after 5pm, approx $15-19)
www.marthas-exchange.com
I've been to Nashua a slew of times but never dined at Martha's Exchange on Main Street. Martha's Exchange has no relation or connection to Martha's Vineyard or Martha Stewart. It actually began as a sweet shop which simply grew and grew. More of it's history can be read here.
We made it there for lunch one day and found it quite busy. We only had about 45 minutes for a quick bite so we had to order quickly, although I would have liked to have perused the menu better and also enjoyed a beer with my meal considering it's brewed on the premises. 
Our dishes took a fair bit of time to arrive; turned out the delay was due to a large party of 30 on the other side of our booth.
However, when our dishes did arrive, we were very pleased.
My Mum ordered the Jambalaya ($12).
The Jambalaya was better than I've tasted in New Orleans! It's ingredients being: blackened chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp and fresh veggies sauteed in a spicy marinara sauce. It had a good kick to it (you know how I like it hot!) and was very fresh.
I'd ordered the Almond Maple Salmon ($15)
Fresh Atlantic salmon topped with sliced almonds and baked in a maple butter sauce. Baked IN a maple butter sauce INDEED! My salmon was having a long hot soak in a jucuzzi of butter!!! I'd have preferred it not having quite so much R&R. It was, however, quite tasty but the rice it came with was nothing special.
At one point during our meal the elderly lady in the booth behind us spilled her drink creating quite a commotion (someone may have been enjoying the beer afterall!). It seemed it was her birthday and she was treating her daughter and a couple of other friends to lunch. They all left before she did and the lady told us as she was leaving that she was alright and we nodded and sympathised with her. The next moment my Mum spilled her drink all over the seat as well! Very strange. Perhaps Martha's is haunted by a playful ghost? The website doesn't say but you never know......
I'd love to go back to Martha's and try out the beers and more of the dishes...the menu was quite extensive. I'm also sorry now that I didn't try any of the sweets from the still existing sweet "shoppe" in the corner of the restaurant! Argh! I hate metered parking!!
Harbord Fish & Chips
Location:
147 Harbord Street, Toronto
Cost:
$8.99 for the Halibut ($11.99 at Chippy's)
As far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with eating a good meal of fish n' chips once in a while. And it's pretty hard to mess up deep fried fish and strips of potato. The real issue is how much you are paying for eating the deep fried goodness. At Chippy's you pay an arm and a leg and are lucky if you get to rest the other arm and leg on a stool inside the tiny compound (especially if it's raining outside!); it's also pretty hard to eat battered fish from a chinese take-out container.....okay, so I guess it's not that hard to mess up deep fried fish and fries, but don't get me wrong, I'll still eat at Chippy's if I'm ever craving some fish n'chips in the west-end. For the East-enders, the ultimate fish and chips place used to be mom n' pops' Woodgreen Fish n' Chips, which I believe has shut down (can anyone confirm this?). I'd love to try British Style Fish & Chips on Dundas/Coxwell which I've heard is superbly authentic.
However, around the Spadina/College area and at Harbord FnC, you can get deep fried goodness for less and a place to rest your whole being (on the picnic tables outside). The joint also feels very sea-shore-ish; with the mom n' pop serving you piping hot fish atop fresh fries (on paper), which you get to douse with vinegar and salt the way you please, but be cautioned, the tarter sauce comes in wee lil' packets.
The fish sits fresh and tender inside a wonderful deep golden interior of golden crust, whilst soft, yellow, starchy pods of potato poke out of the breaks in the crispy, skin-covered edges of the chips.
With the right amount of malt vinegar, salt, ketchup and tartar sauce (and a beer if you can manage to sneak it in as we did this time) you're all set for a trip to fish n' chip heaven.
San Francisco: Zachary's Pizza
Location:
5801 College Ave., Oakland, CA
www.zacharys.com
Zachary's pizza is the BEST!!!
Or, so I've heard from everyone who lives or has ever lived in SF, but alas, it was closed due to the Easter holiday.
Boo urns....I will have to wait until next time I'm in SF to try the famous deep-dish pizza!
Trimurti
Location:
265 Queen Street West, Toronto
Cost: $10-15 per entree
www.trimurti.ca
Trimurti is one of the other Indian restaurants on Queen street nestled somewhere in between Babur and Little India Restaurant AND India Palace (all of which I've eaten at, at some point or another). This was my first time trying take-out at Trimurti (sitting in wasn't any better).
I ordered the chicken biryani ($10.95), which although tasty was a tad on the greasy side. Lahore Tikka House's chicken biryani is still better (but nothing beats Mom's!).
The butter chicken ($11.50) came looking more red and tomatoe-y than buttery; and those who ordered it agreed that it wasn't the best they've had. It's a huge quantity that arrives in the take-out container, and doesn't include rice, so be sure to get a separate order of rice ($2.95).
Someone else got a Mulligatany soup ($3.50). The literal translation in Tamil for mulligatany is "pepper-water" but the variation at Trimurti was made with lentils and chicken, which was a bit strange.
The pakoras ($3.50) were overly greasy and not very flavourful.
Trimurti definitely has some competition being one of the three indian restaurants on Queen Street. I'd say, opt for Little India Restaurant or India Palace (which are both very good) when trying to decide which Indian place to try on the busy South side of Queen Street. Or better yet, save your taste-buds for the trip to to the East side and enjoy a veritable feast (albeit in a portable) at Lahore Tikka House.
Madras Palace: Take 2
Location:
1249 Ellesmere Road, Scarborough, Toronto
Cost: $40 for two (incl. tip)
www.madraspalace.com
The last time we went to MP, we had some service issues, but we've since realized that the key is to go when it's not crazy busy because the food really is exceptionally good.
This time we got there for dinner around 6:30 and while there were still quite a few diners preoccupied with their dosas, we still managed to receive plenty of attention from our servers.
The owners of MP, the Purushothams opened the restaurant in 1991; the first South Indian eatery in Scarborough. For this reason, you don't really mind the decor, which has already undergone an update into its current look of Floridian-style cane seating, dark green walls and wood paneling. Sure they could benefit from a sleeker design in keeping with current trends, but that would certainly risk losing it's homely, authentic feel. Although, I must say they could turn up the dial on the light switch and their bathrooms could use some revamping.
If you only need to wash your hands however, there's a sink placed conveniently on the same floor at the back of the restaurant. Anyone who's been to India knows that it's very common to have a sink in the corner of the dining room for convenience and hygiene, especially because South Indian food really requires the use of fingers for eating.
But, on to the food!
We already knew what we wanted, so we got a masala dosa to start, a Kerala fish fry (I admit, this is the same thing I had last time I was there!), the chilli chicken masala, one chapathi, some plain rice, a beer and we knew we'd have a coffee after.
I timed the wait, thinking it would be a long time before we got our dosa, but less than 20 minutes later, our crispy pancake arrived, piping hot!
The potatoes are spiced just enough to satisfy any pangs of longing for back home. Every finger-ful of dosa that's dipped into the separate compartments of coconut, tomato and cilantro chutney creates the perfect savoury combination on your tastebuds. The sambar is so incredibly tangy that you needn't have any accompanying dosa to go with it, it's delicious on it's own. It's just heaven on a thali (plate).
Everything went down really nicely with our Kingfisher Indian Beer.
We sure cleaned up well!
Next up was our Kerala fish fry, chilli chicken, rice and chapathi.
All I can say is Yumyumyum!
The Kerala fish fry was must better presented this time and the king-fish was fresh and well marinated, tangy and spicy very spicy. Also, curry-leaves are my all-time favourite herb (Karuveppilai in Malayalam or Kari Patta in Hindi are leaves that grow on small tree plants native to India). I love it fried and garnished like this, in everything, and hate to see it wasted on someone's plate! The aroma and flavour of them really highlights a lot of Indian cooking. It's sort of like the bay leaf in coconut milk curries. I also lovelovelove bay leaves.
Sigh.
Okay, moving on.
The chilli chicken was incredibly hot and spicy, but oh-so-delicious! The curry was dense and the chicken perfectly cooked to fall off the bone. We both felt our pores open and sinus's clear during this meal!
You will not have fully enjoyed a meal at Madras Palace without leaving with an excellent cup of
coffee.
I think you really have to know your stuff when you go to MP - or go with friends who know the food. I've read too many negative things about the food on Restaurantica because people don't know what to order! You don't order mattar paneer here, if you want mattar paneer, go to Lahore Tikka House or Babur! If you want really authentic Kerala/South Indian cuisine, this is really one of the best places to get it. The other place is Saravanaa Bhavan, but that's for another review.
I Love Sushi
Location:
494 Queen St. West, Toronto
Cost: $34 - 44 per platter (61-64 pieces)
www.ilovesushi.ca
Contrary to this post's title, I don't love sushi. I opt for it only when I get crazy pregnant-woman cravings. I am also not pregnant.
However, when you're working late and the options are pizza or sushi. And you're lactose-intolerant and you don't feel like grease, sushi sounds mighty good.
I Love Sushi is very popular at work and cheaper than most sushi places and for the value, it certainly isn't bad take-out (I've never eaten at the restaurant). They have a kick-ass website too.
Our company ordered a couple of platters - one veggie and one seafood, a couple of tofu salads ($3.50) and a couple of containers of edamame (boiled soy beans with salt - $3.95).
The platters arrive full, I just couldn't manage to capture a shot before everyone jumped in on the rolls!
The seafood platter.
The veggie platter.
The tofu salad, which was really, really delicious; the tofu was smooth and flavourful, the lettuce (albeit iceberg) was crispy and fresh.
And edamame is always a yummy snack.
I've had good sushi experiences at Ichiban Sushi, Ho Su, Sushi on Bloor and Kuni Sushi Ya in Baldwin, but I'd definitely like to try the more upscale sushi bars like Blowfish, Sushi Train (conveyor-belt sushi) and Hiro, but as I said, sushi definitely isn't my forte, so you'll have to tell me what's best.
Québec City: D'Orsay Pub
Location:
65 rue de Buade, Québec City
Cost: $60 for two
www.restaurantpubdorsay.com
Bonjour tout le monde!
I must admit, my French is atrocious, but by the end of our Quebec City trip I was readily throwing out "bonjours" and "mercis", not to mention fully formed-sentences, at my husband, at least.
But enough of the French lessons, let's go back to the beginning.
By the time I landed in Quebec City it was past 9pm and then past 10:30 by the time we got to our hotel and were ready to go out to eat. We then realized that almost all the kitchens around the Chateau Frontenac were closed.
Finally, we were directed down a side street and then just around the corner we saw it. The D'Orsay Pub. Which was one of the restaurants on my list to try!
We were quickly seated at a beautiful folding window in the very charming, rustic interior, with its checker-board-floors and cobble-stone fireplace. Their terrace is a terrific people-watching spot as well as a great place to catch some sun. Unfortunately the weather was too chilly for us to enjoy the outdoors that night.
Seeing Leffe beer on the menu got me excited as it's not easy to find in Toronto, so we got a Leffe Blonde, $8.50 and a Belle Gueule Rousse (from Quebec), at $7.50 (which was mighty tasty!)
My husband had already had dinner, so this, in LOTR form, was second dinner for him. We knew poutine was a definite and I was feeling fishy, but almost all the seafood was in a cream sauce and while the wall-eyed pike sounded good, the salmon fillet with balsamic vinegar and orange sounded better. At $18.50 though, I assumed the salmon would be stuffed with oranges or orange chutney or something....again, too unusual to be true and sadly the dish was again what we conjure up at home. I was ravenous, so it didn't matter, but I wouldn't order that again.
The poutine on the other hand.....
MMMm......my mouth waters now just thinking about it!
I am no poutine expert, in fact, I'm lactose-intolerant and can't really stand cheese and this was only my second time eating poutine, but I must say, those cheese curds were something else. So spongy, so succulent, so very filling! Lookit how big that cheese curd is!!
Mmm.....is it correct to say it was tout le gout???
I could have eaten that all night!
The next day, D'Orsay's kitchen must have been an assembly line of poutine 'cause the terrace was packed with hungry patrons scarfing down the cheesy goodness, but alas we had other sites to see and a variety of other places to eat!!!
D'Orsay is a definite don't-miss!
Swatow
Location: 309 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Cost: $25 for 3 (with one split entree)
I've got a serious case of the sleepies as I type this 'cause I've just eaten at Swatow. General Tso wouldn't be proud...but it doesn't really matter because it's not the 1800s and I've only just had his namesake in chicken.
At $12.50, we assumed that the General Tso Chicken would be a large platter fit for two to share. Good thing I wasn't too hungry! I know my friend who shared the dish with me was just being polite and waited until I urged him to finish the rest.
We both agreed that the dried red chillies in the dish were hoooo-ooot!
A steamed rice cost an additional $1.60.
My other friend dined on the Assorted Meats with Vegetables on Rice for only $6.25!!! And his plate was heaped with assortment!
The restaurant is tiny and brightly lit! And there was a line-up after we sat down. Definitely a busy spot for lunch.
While the food is tasty, I still much prefer Spadina Garden and House of Gourmet where I know I can count on going home with more to eat later!
Still, everyone who passed by when I was trying to capture the exterior (and this is the second shot), craned their necks for a fleeting glance at the menu!
Jodhpore Club
Location:
33 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Cost: $23
Way back before we knew how good Spadina Garden really was, we dismissed it and the buffet at Indian Flavour because all we really wanted was some tandoori chicken and naan. Really. That's all. So, when we arrived at Jodhpore Club at Baldwin Street - because Jodhpore had been a tried, tested and true choice (note I use past tense in this context) - we thought we couldn't possibly be let down.
Jodhpore, in the middle of Baldwin Street, is one amongst an eclectic mix of restaurants nestled within a residential area - away from the hustle and bustle of University and Dundas, nearby. The last time we'd been was in the summer of '06 and we sat outside, and I remember the food being delicious.
On this particular evening, it wasn't busy...perhaps it was the rain, or not...
As I type this, I wonder why we didn't end up simply ordering tandoori chicken and naan. That was really all we wanted, right? Instead, we asked our waitress what SHE recommended. Well, she recommended the 'special'. Which was a tava (pan) sabzi (vegetable). So I asked whether it included ALL the vegetables, especially okra and eggplant, and was assured that it did, indeed. Very well. We then took two more steps back and ordered the Hyderbad 'roadside' spicy chicken curry and whole-wheat rotis stuffed with peas. When our dishes arrived, we both thought we'd ordered the wrong dish. What we had on our table was a very rationed portion of "vegetables" which was really only cauliflower, onions and maybe some green peppers.
Hmm. We plopped a spoonful onto a plate, and then further dug around the serving dish looking for the so-called okra and eggplant. Not only was there no eggplant, there was no okra. What we found was a tiny slice of something I can only call "oak", the "ra" must have still been on the tava, ready to be served to someone else who was stupid enough to ask what the "special" was.
We beckoned to our server and asked her what our dish was to which she replied, "tava subzi". That's when I pointed out the lack of 'subzi'. I showed her the okra and said we wanted something with more than one piece of okra and not this. Her response was very clear. She asked us to return the spooned out subzi from our plate BACK into the serving dish and whisked the dish away. Aghast, we both turned to the chicken.
The measly portion and poor cuts of bone-in chicken definitely deserved the name 'roadside' Hyderbad chicken! It was overly spicy, the chilli so hot, it overpowered the palate.
And don't get me started on the roti.
Burnt, dry and stuffed with frozen peas.
Yeah.
Sometimes it's better not to stray away from what your stomach really wants.
Panago Pizza
Location:
44 Gerrard Street, Unit E, Toronto
Cost: $32 (incl. tip) for 2 small pizzas
www.panago.com
Everyone has a favourite pizza place, right? And the first time we tried Panago Pizza we swore we wouldn't ever order anything else. Unlike Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, Mama's and even Pizzaiolo's pizza, Panago's is truly bursting with flavours and crisp, fresh toppings. I can't remember which pizza we ordered that first time, but I remember it being the. best. thing. ever. (Note: The Magic Oven at 6 Wellesley St West is the only other place competing for number one spot on our favourite list....review to follow soon).
Last night we ordered from Panago's again. Unable to decide how much pizza we wanted we opted for 2 smalls after learning that one small proffered six slices. We got the 'garden veggie' with extra jalapenos and the 'tropical chicken', again, with extra jalapenos. For dips, the chipotle cilantro sounded swell and the 3-chlili shaker seemed appropriate 'cause we like it hot.
45 minutes later our pizzas arrived.
I think part of the appeal is the packaging.
Admittedly, the 'small' really was quite small, but we ended up with enough left over for work the next day. And even though the pizza looks home-made (and we actually do make pizza that looks like this), maybe that's what makes it so great because it's not like extra-large, greasy, pepperoni-filled corner shop pizza.
The garden veggie was brimming with black olives, sauteed mushroms, roasted garlic, pineapple, green peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos and mozarella. We got the THICK multigrain crust for the veggie and it was quite good - not very flavourful as far as crusts go, but we really enjoyed the thick as opposed to the thin crust which we got on our other pizza.
The meaty one had a sweet and smoky "tropical" sauce, grilled chicken, pineapple, green peppers, caramelized onions, cheddar and mozarella with jalapenos to top it all off. The THIN multigrain crust is new at Panago's and didn't really do much for us. It wasn't terrible by any means, but next time I'd go with the thick for sure.
Not as good as the first time, but still very good (and great the next day!), but at $15 per small pizza, it's a tad bit too pricey. It's not something we'll be ordering all the time. Oh, and don't get the chipotle cilantro dipping sauce, as delicious as it sounds, it was quite revolting.
Thai Princess is fit for a Queen
Location:
387 King Street West, Toronto
Cost: $10-15 per person
www.thaiprincess.ca
Across from MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) on King street is a little gem of a restaurant with a giant green and pink sign. Thai Princess.
You can expect a bit of a wait if you get there between noon and 1pm. Sometimes doing take-out is a better option.
After our crazy long wait, we were blessed with the loverly window seat and started off with a couple of drinkies; a pina-colada and a mango something-or-other. Mmm.
They have a special lunch menu and a regular menu, but I don't really know the difference between the two...maybe a couple of bucks off here and there? It doesn't seem to matter to me anyhow; I always order the Thai Kha Nom Jeen (steamed rice noodles) which comes with chicken marinated in lemongrass and grilled, served over a bed of vermicelli ($9.95). I get the combo with the spring roll and minus the bean sprouts (I feel bean sprouts are filler). They can sometimes skimp out on the chicken and the salad if they're busy, so I'd suggest getting there earlier rather than later!
I find it refreshing and light for a lunch time meal and doesn't make me feel ill or sleepy afterwards, which is always a plus!
My lunch partners ordered a variety of different meals. Like, the cashew nut chicken ($9.50).
And Combo A ($6.95) ...
And the green curry chicken ($9.95)....yummy.
The service is always friendly and although it's slow to get your dishes, I feel it's worth the wait. A great place to come for lunch during the work-week.
Spadina Garden
Location:
114 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Cost: $50 for 2
One of our friends has been talking about this place for so long, claiming it to be his favourite chinese restaurant. Ever. And we had tried, on numerous occasions, to eat-in (and even do take-out from) there, with no luck.
So, it became the perfect dinner venue for us on the night we saw WALL-E at the AMC theatre at Yonge and Dundas. There was no question where we really wanted to eat, even after a walk down Elm St. with all the fancier places (like Oro, Thirty-Five, Adega - which I actually DO want to try sometime) toting their Summerlicious menus and vacant patios.
Spadina Garden doesn't have a patio, but I suspect if it did, it would be packed. it does however, have a very nicely decorated interior with very comfortable chairs.
Since we had less than an hour to eat, we looked around at what other people were enjoying and asked our host what he recommended on the menu. His suggestions mirrored our own for the most part, so we went with the dry chilli chicken, the chicken in ginger sauce, a vegetable noodle dish and later decided we also wanted shrimp fried rice instead of plain rice.
We were warned that it would all be too much but we were inclined and happy to finish the rest the next day.
Our vegetable noodles came out in no time. Colourful and crisp.
Then our chicken in ginger sauce arrived....which I thought looked like it may have been the dry chilli chicken.
But then the dry chilli chicken arrived...
The fact that all the dishes reached the table separately bugged us a little bit. I'd have preferred having everything arrive together, at once, so that we wouldn't have been eating noodles first, and then chicken in ginger sauce and then dry chilli chicken.
And how about the shrimp fried rice, you want to know. Well, we had to double check that they'd received our order. They had. And there it was...
With lots of shrimp dispersed within the rice.
But, Foodhogger, how did it all TAAAASTE???
Incredible! Very spicy (we asked for it), fresh and not greasy. It's very good chinese food...maybe a bit haka-ish.
Speaking of spicy, we also requested a SIDE of hot sauce and this is what arrived at our table! None of that Tabasco s***.
You might be interested to know that the left-overs were even BETTER the second (and third - yep, that's right) time around. Highly recommended. Thanks friend.
Dukem
Location:
950 Danforth Avenue (West of Donlands subway station)
Cost: approx $20 a person (incl. a drink)
The last time I'd had Ethiopian food was at Ethiopian House at Wellesley and Yonge and although I was not entirely unimpressed, I knew if I were to try it again, it would have to be some really good Ethiopian to make me a fan of the cusine. Dukem has done that. And some.
In trying to organize a surprise birthday party for a friend, one of the requirements was that it was Ethiopian. The other was that it was near a subway station. So, I turned to the world wide web for some help and good ol' reliable Chowhound is where I discovered people talking about Dukem and how good the food is there.
They were right. The food was great and so was the service.
Mike (the owner) and the the waitress (whose name I didn't catch unfortunately) did an awesome job making our party feel at home; fully accommodating our huge group (of 14 people by the end of the night) into their cosy, albeit small space.
We had brought a cake with us, which they instantly accepted and placed into their fridge. They were on the ball with our drinks, our orders, and especially the "surprise" factor of our surprise party - making sure everything was perfect. We may have taken over the entire restaurant for four hours (my apologies to those who were at the restaurant while our raucous bunch was there).
We each started off with a St. George (Ethiopian) Beer. Very tasty.
The ambiance was intimate...the restaurant's not cramped by any means, but it's definitely not huge. However, it had enough tables (inside and outside on their patio) to accommodate us as well as other patrons without ever feeling stuffy. And, it was clean. As far as decor goes - they have a couple of tvs, a few paintings on the walls, plain tables and a red glow from the large neon "open" sign in the front and glowing bar in the back.
But mostly they have amazing Ethiopian food.
Mike knew just what to bring to the table - a couple of meat platters and one veggie platter - shared around with plenty of injera constantly replenishing our plates.
The beef stews (both spicy and mild) were succulent and flavourful.
The split peas, spinach/chard and lentils weren't mushy as I've had before...each with its own distinct flavour. The injera wasn't as sour as I've had before - everything was just delicious and perfect....and is this any indication that we cleaned it up?
The wait for our food wasn't too long either, about 1/2 an hour or so.
And the cost for 11 of us was about $200 including beers/drinks, so about $20-22 a person. Good deal, I say!
Would I go again? Most definitely.
My thanks go out to all the Chowhounders who recommended this venue. The birthday girl was very happy.
Madras Palace
Original Post: September 22, 2006
Location:
1249 Ellesmere Road, Scarborough
Cost: great prices!
www.madraspalace.com
If you get there on a Friday or Saturday night and it's crowded, you may as well go home and order pizza. Your food will take sooooooooo long to arrive that not only will you have forgotten what you ordered but you'll wonder where you are because you are now 99 years old and have Alzheimer's.
We made the unfortunate mistake of reserving a few tables to accommodate our large group of coworkers, not realizing that that would further jeopardize our chances of receiving our meals in a timely fashion!
Still, our appetizers were tasty and filling...
The chicken pakoras were savory but we had to be careful not to over-fill on them because the rest of the food took so long to arrive.
I was told that certain items I wanted on the menu were in fact 'not available' that night....so I finally ordered a dish of Kerala fish fry and rice.
The Fish Fry...Kerala ishtyle is tasty and almost as good as Mom's home-cookin'!
It's late by the time everyone has finished eating, but a round of coffees is ordered to which an apologetic server replies "Sorry we cannot accomodate such a large group."
I'm perplexed....this IS a restaurant, right?
When our giant bill arrives, it creates an uproar since items which were not ordered have been charged to us anyway. However, everything worked out in the end thanks to the good attitude and service and we all leave content and loaded with left-overs.
Madras Palace is perhaps the only restaurant in Scarborough that serves traditional Kerala cooking that really does taste like back home. So, while the food is delicious, if you dare go on a busy weeknight or weekend, don't expect everything on the menu to be available or your food to get to your table on time.
I suggest going on a weekday for lunch...chances are you'll be quite satisfied (I've been back since for lunch, and the service was great and everything we wanted was available).