What are your favourite restaurants in your city?

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by niwell

I haven't been to either since pre-COVID but always enjoyed both Dailo and Grey Gardens.

We ended up going out a LOT in February which was nice because I feel like there had been a bit of a hiatus on that front. My personal highlight was Lake Inez in the East End, which is a place I always wanted to try but never gotten around to it. Was blown away on all fronts - extremely tasty and creative dishes but also served in impeccable order. Also did Bar Isabel for my 40th which is always good but was improved by sitting at the bar so were able to chat with the bar manager who also gave us multiple samples of various sherries.

I went over the DVP for the first time in a while to go on a dinner date at ēst near Queen and Broadview. I'd say it was as good quality as some of the recently awarded Michelin restaurants in the city (and better than some others as well), but without the Michelin price tag. Had a two course dinner + desert for $89 each (not including wine), and was really impressed.

[kwoldtimer]

Nice looking menu, although I wonder why a place of that calibre would offer Australian lamb rather than locally- sourced?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Nice looking menu, although I wonder why a place of that calibre would offer Australian lamb rather than locally- sourced?

Probably easier to spend $70 on a rack of lamb if it's from ~~Australia~~ rather than if it were from Woodstock or elsewhere in rural Ontario.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by shappy

I can't relate at all - however, I went about 2 years ago and I think the chef's choice tasting menu offered 8-9 dishes for around $80 IIRC. Looking at the menu now, it's just under $100 with way less dishes, so I can sort of understand where you're coming from. The food was still excellent though.

Anyway, in Toronto, the latest place I went to was Grey Gardens in Kensington. Great atmosphere and enjoyable food. We smoked at Bellevue park across the street (which is quite an experience in and of itself, given the typical crowd around there). Made for a fun evening.

Grey Gardens was another disappointing resto for us. Heard great things about pre-COVID, but we only made it out there post-COVID. It ended up being a mixed bag. The food wasn't bad, it was generally agreeable and we preferred the pasta dishes. But to be honest given the price point the food just wasn't impressionable, somewhat overhyped.

For both restaurants, the ambience and atmosphere was great. They're both quintessential yuppie restos that distills the formula down to a T. No critique there. It's just the food wasn't particularly memorable or tasty for us to want to go back.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by giallo

Still, French food plays second fiddle to Asian cuisine in Vancouver. The East/Southeast Asian food scene in Vancouver is only paralleled by Toronto, SF, LA and NYC, and even then, it excels in certain areas the other do not (Cantonese/HK food, in particular - if you listen to the international food critics). The depth of Asian food culture goes so deep that after a year of heavy eating around the metro area, I still feel like I'm just scratching the surface.

I can't wait to visit Toronto this year (hopefully). So much to eat there.

If you're in the mood to explore Asian food in Toronto (especially Hong Kong style), second other forumers' recommendation that you'll need to rent a car to go out to Markham/Richmond Hill and Scarb bordering Steeles (uber will add up bigly if you try). Korean food is a bit better in that it's centered around Yonge & Finch. The HK style food downtown is for the most part mediocre, and atrocious at select restos. Even the Congee Queen on Yonge seems to be a bit worse than their sister restos uptown.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

If you're in the mood to explore Asian food in Toronto (especially Hong Kong style), second other forumers' recommendation that you'll need to rent a car to go out to Markham/Richmond Hill and Scarb bordering Steeles (uber will add up bigly if you try). Korean food is a bit better in that it's centered around Yonge & Finch. The HK style food downtown is for the most part mediocre, and atrocious at select restos. Even the Congee Queen on Yonge seems to be a bit worse than their sister restos uptown.

The interesting thing about the food in the suburbs is that it still tends to be clustered within plazas. Getting there is a pain, but once you're there you could spend all day walking from restaurant to restaurant, eating your way through places like the back-to-back-to-back Finch Midland Centre-Skycity Centre-Scarboro Village Plaza in Agincourt or Times Square in Richmond Hill. Not exactly an urban paradise though.

North York Centre is traditionally more Korean (and Persian), but it seems like the newer restaurants are more (regional) Chinese. Reminds me a bit of Richmond - mentioned a few of each in a North York-focused post a few years back: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...&postcount=535 (no idea if any of these are still around). There's also a lot of newer spots downtown of a similar vein - mostly noodle places that seem to be filled with students, but good all the same: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...&postcount=545

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Michelin stars are mostly bought these days, no? I'm under the impression that if someone wants to open a Michelin-starred restaurant that they can make an effort to quite easily given the right resources.

Not that I've heard of. There are certainly issues with Michelin that should preclude it from being an authoritative source on dining (narrow focus, bias, limited number of judges, etc), but I've never heard of corruption being one of them. Either way, any of the Michelin-starred restaurants that I've ever tried at least (whether before or after earning that star) seems to deserve it.

[cranes]

Tiny Home Takeout (established 2021) in Downtown Kitchener might not be "5-Star" service but it's definitely "5-Care" service. I encourage everyone living in & visting Kitchener-Waterloo to stop by and help fight hunger. A $20-donation to THT stays in the community rather than going towards a $x-million CEO paycheck in Manhattan. You can donate online & annual donations of $50 or more will be provided a charitable tax receipt at the end of the year by mail. Tuesday – Saturday: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM 56 Duke Street West, Kitchener, Ontario.

About:

At St. Mary’s church, we believe we are all part of one family and the same quality food that is available to the wealthy should be available to people who are struggling or unsheltered. Everyone deserves a great meal, free of charge. That is why, from our home in downtown Kitchener, we’ve launched St. Mary’s Tiny Home Takeout. Calzones and Daily Bites will be served from the takeout window of the Tiny Home in front of the church from Tuesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome! Whether you’re living on the street, squeezing your grocery budget to pay the bills, or living a middle-class life, Tiny Home Takeout is happy to feed you and your family. We believe that everyone in our downtown community has the right to great food, cooked with care and served with dignity, regardless of economic standing. To make this vision a reality, St Mary’s has invested in a full commercial kitchen, hired Chef Amy Cyr, and installed a Tiny Home in front of the church to make the food accessible to all. Donations are welcome, but not expected. If you can afford to contribute when you pick up your dinner, we will have a debit machine in the Tiny Home window. All donations are appreciated and will help us continue to prepare quality food. Whether you can contribute or not, every dinner you have from the St. Mary’s Tiny Home Takeout project supports this work – because it means you are sharing a meal with different people from across the city.

Food:

Menu: Calzone of the Month March 2023 Butter Chicken – mozzarella, red onion, butter chicken sauce and cilantro.


https://twitter.com/TinyHomeTakeout/...60609346019353 ������ Our Arugula Mint Pesto Pasta is looking delicious for a Friday night bite. We also have six tasty calzones to choose from. Join us tonight! 5:00 - 6:30 pm. Menu: https://tinyhometakeout.com/menu/ Our food is for everyone. Grab a bite. Give if you can. Mar 24, 2023


https://twitter.com/TinyHomeTakeout/...85539194904580 We ❤️ and appreciate all the #WCDSBAwesome support we get from our friends at the Catholic Education Centre! Thank you!!������ #GrabABite #GiveIfYouCan Quote Tweet Kelly Roberts @WCDSBResearch · Mar 9 Delicious @TinyHomeTakeout dinner tonight! If you haven't tried their meals, you are missing out! Thanks @NadaOffak for the hook up! 7:18 PM · Mar 9, 2023

Many school field trips have been taken through to show the importance of giving back to your community.

https://twitter.com/TinyHomeTakeout/...73421080965148 This #WCDSBAwesome class from @hfsnewhamburg was a pleasure to host today ❤️ Thanks for rolling up your sleeves and altar serving @St_MarysParish, too������We hope you left inspired to put your faith into action������ ������ #WCDSBAwaken @WCDSBNewswire

Awards:

https://twitter.com/TinyHomeTakeout/...70193296064513 THANK YOU Waterloo Region for all of your support! We are so lucky and blessed to be recognized in these four categories! ������ ❤️#thankyou #WReats #GrabABite #GiveIfYouCan ������������

https://twitter.com/TinyHomeTakeout/...76203419107328 Thank you Waterloo Region...We couldn't agree with you more ������ HUGE congrats and shout-out to our very own Chef Amy! We are so proud of you! ❤️������������

Fundraisers:

https://twitter.com/TinyHomeTakeout/...52887523577856 Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! #HungerNoMore #food #kwawesome #kwevent #foodies #fundraiser $116,000 raised 2022 VIDEO

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/heartfe...nger-1.6064268 'Heartfelt' fundraiser in downtown Kitchener combats hunger Sept. 11, 2022 Last year’s event raised $70,000 for Tiny Home Takeout, covering two months’ worth of operating costs.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Not that I've heard of. There are certainly issues with Michelin that should preclude it from being an authoritative source on dining (narrow focus, bias, limited number of judges, etc), but I've never heard of corruption being one of them. Either way, any of the Michelin-starred restaurants that I've ever tried at least (whether before or after earning that star) seems to deserve it.

I'm not very familiar with the ultra high-end dining scene, but my impression was more that if there was any "buying" of Michelin stars it stems from paying big money to a chef who has already been awarded a star. There does seem to be a fair bit of leeway given to people in the industry who have already proved themselves in the eyes of the limited number of judges and specific criteria, and getting that first star seems significantly harder than those that come after.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

I'm not very familiar with the ultra high-end dining scene, but my impression was more that if there was any "buying" of Michelin stars it stems from paying big money to a chef who has already been awarded a star. There does seem to be a fair bit of leeway given to people in the industry who have already proved themselves in the eyes of the limited number of judges and specific criteria, and getting that first star seems significantly harder than those that come after.

This is more what I was referring to. Saito already had a Michelin star in Japan, and when he opened his new place in Toronto it was assumed he would get one for here, too. It's more based on name than any actual experience, I suppose, even if it's identical in every way. You'd think having multiple venues doing the same thing might devalue a Michelin star, but alas. Michelin Stars are just a carryover from the pre-internet days where road trips actually required guides and directions.

[niwell]

Also a number of cities have paid for Michelin to expand reviews there. Has nothing to do with the actual quality of food in these places but more that otherwise they wouldn't have bothered going. Destination Toronto / Destination Vancouver paid an "undisclosed amount" for Michelin to review restaurants here on the premise that it would pay off in terms of tourist spending. I'm not sure on the exact funding model of these organizations but it appears a mix of various levels of government and private sources.

It always irked me when people would claim a places culinary scene isn't good because there are no Michelin restaurants. Especially when I'd been to starred places in various cities and had meals just as good if not better here.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by giallo

I absolutely will. Same to you if you travel this way.


We went to an American-style Korean fast food restaurant in downtown on the weekend, and it was great. It reminded me of these types of restaurants in Seoul. American fast food is super popular there, but Koreans put their own twist on it, and, in many ways, improve upon it. It's very cool to this American/Korean fast food trend come here.

Korean fried chicken pancake tacos

Normally, these fusion items will get a side-eye from me, but the pancakes were so fluffy and moist, and the chicken was seasoned and cooked to perfection. Add a little syrup, and it was a perfect balance of savoury and sweet.




I love kimchi fried rice, and I like it even better with Korean fried chicken.








I'll definitely be back.

Btw, what place is this? I want some!

[giallo]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Btw, what place is this? I want some!

Frying Pan right on the corner of Denman St and Jepson-Young Lane.

[rousseau]

McDonald's, 1984.

• Video Link

I'm actually old enough to remember when the restaurant looked like that. Back then people still used to dress somewhat decently and didn't look like morbidly obese circus freaks either.

It's probably as good a sign as any of the coming apocalypse when images of a McDonald's from forty years ago, a place we already considered the very nadir of empty consumer culture at the time, looks civilized compared to today.

[SignalHillHiker]

My parents came downtown for Good Friday and we went to Fish Exchange. It’s overpriced. With tip we were about $190 for the three of us lol. We had cod tongues to start, and then Dad had panko cod, Mom had salmon, and I had a cod burger with fries, dressing and gravy because I’m classy lol

[giallo]

Vancouver has a lot of Mexican food options these days, but I'm rarely impressed by them (too Tex-Mexy, tortillas aren't freshly made). There are a handful of good traditional Mexican restaurants (usually run by Hondurans) around, but nothing like what you'd find in Southern California.

I've been searching for a exceptional burrito for months, and was constantly coming up short until I visited Las Tortas. While they specialize in Mexican sandwiches (which are fantastic), their burrito is as good as you'll find in LA. I'm so happy.

[davidivivid]

Not a restaurant per se but a bar opened only during the summertime in the Old Port. Really nice place to enjoy local beers whilst having your legs in the pool.


https://www.facebook.com/portquebec/...=page_internal

[TorontoDrew]

If that was in Toronto it would be full of douche bags or way too crowded like the Cabana Pool Bar to relax and enjoy.

source: https://www.narcity.com

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

If that was in Toronto it would be full of douche bags or way too crowded like the Cabana Pool Bar to relax and enjoy.

Side topic, but I feel like in big cities like Toronto, you don't get a proportional increase in the number of niche entertainment experiences.

The GTA is about 10x the population of Quebec City, but you're not going to have entrepreneurs open up 10 different swim-up pool bars.

So it'll be more expensive and crowded and, since it's expensive and crowded, it'll cater to a specific type of person who really likes going to that place. That kind of explains the "douchebag" aspect

I think the overall result is that Torontonians have to pick and choose a little more about which entertainment options they want to get into/follow and they stay a little more in their "tribe".

[TorontoDrew]

Just looking into it, Toronto has a total of 8 pool bars, but nothing as family or tourist oriented as the one pictured in Quebec City.

Maybe that will all change once whatever happens at Ontario Place.
source: https://www.thestar.com