Scaramouche Restaurant

We took Baby J to Scaramouche Restaurant a few weeks ago and we soon realized that he has an expensive taste! ^^  Previously, whenever we take Baby J out for dinner (even at Terra Restaurant), he was never a big fan of "western" food, he usually would take in a lot of bread and only take a few bites of the mains (usually some form of pasta).  However, at Scaramouche, he enjoyed everything from the appetizer to the dessert.  Just his portion of the meal was around $40+ and he is only 21 month ... haha ... but we are very happy that he enjoyed the meal as that meant we were also able to enjoy ours.

I will not go into details on how great a restaurant Scaramouche is because there are already many great reviews about it online.  As a result, here are the photos of the food.

Baby J's first dish - butternut squash soup.  He loved it so much that this was the first time we saw him drink soup with an open bowl and not using his spoon.

Amuse Bouche - poached quail egg, top with scallion and something else (cannot remember) but it was good. :P

Baby J's main dish - herb pasta sheets/wild mushrooms/grilled leeks/parsley truffled porcini sauce/shaved Umbrian summer truffle.  This was not a full size portion of the pasta from the main menu as the server was nice enough to let us know that the chef can make Baby J a half-sized portion.  Baby J finished more than half of the dish.

K's appetizer - Foie Gras Terrine elderflower jelly/quick pickled cherries/cherry wine reduction toasted hazelnut brioche.

My appetizer - Dungeness Crab Ravioli scallions/sweet peppers/haricot vert/chives/shellfish nage.  Baby J also liked this a lot too to the point that he was upset when he dropped a quarter of the ravioli to the ground while transporting it to his mouth with his spoon.  I liked my pasta appetizer a lot as well and more than K's appetizer.  It was refreshing and just the right amount to not spoil the main of the meal.

My main - Braised beef short ribs and seared sea scallops.  The scallops were one of the tastiest I have had and made me wondered which type of scallops they were and how they were marinated and cooked.

K's main - Lamb roasted rack/grilled leg/caponata/goat cheese whipped potatoes salsa verde/cherry tomatoes/pine nuts/lamb jus.  I liked my main better though. ^^

Dessert - their signature coconut cream pie.  We shared the dessert as we were full and have to be quick since Baby J was already tired after 2 hours of patiently waiting for his dishes and eating his meal.  Looking at the picture again now ... I wish I can have another piece now. ^^

A quick summary of our experience, yep, we will definitely return again because everything was excellent and Baby J loved it.

Scaramouche Restaurant

One Benvenuto Place
Toronto, ON
M4V 2L1

Tel: 416.961.8011

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George Restaurant - 4-course Tasting Lunch Menu

K and I feel that it is good to have some quiet and relax time between the two of us for us to recharge once in a while.  As a result, earlier this month, we went to George Restaurant for lunch while Baby J was in school (yay! ^^).  We ordered the $60 4-course Tasting Menu because we had the whole afternoon to ourselves and were able to afford a 2-hour meal quietly.

The meal started with a complimentary amuse-bouche -- butter beef with broth.  It was a nice plate to start off the meal with because it was refreshing with a little bit of citrusy taste and I also liked that it was beautifully plated.

For the follow on courses, K and I were served completely different dishes.  That means we got to taste 8 different dishes for the entire meal and made me feel like we got more of our money worth.

My first course was a tuna tartar.  When I only tasted the tuna alone at the beginning, I found the tuna was mushier than I expected, however, once I combined the chips that it came with, it enhanced its texture and it was a new way to have a tuna tartar, a way that I liked and never thought of having a tuna tartar with before.  However, I did not enjoy the quail's egg on top and I wished they had skipped it because I did not like the lukewarm feeling of egg on top of the raw fish.  In addition, the chunks of carrots, turnips around the tartar made it look less delicate.

K's first course was a poached scallop with artichoke salad and he said it was refreshing.

The second course was a pasta course, one was a gnocchetti with wild mushrooms and prosciutto.  It was a savoury dish and I found myself wanting more when I had my last gnocchetti.  The other pasta course was some kind of penne pasta with zuchini and goat cheese.  At first, we found the ingredients too ordinary, however, it was surprisingly good once we tasted it and the texture of the pasta was very light and airy (a texture that is better than al dente, but I don't know how to describe it).

My third course was a corn hen with artichoke which was very tender and juicy and K's thrid course was tenderloin which we also liked too.

For our dessert course, they were good but no surprises.  I had a coconut tapioca with berries which tasted good but reminded me of the dessert that you would have in a Chinese restaurant and K had a chocolate cake with sorbet. 

Overall, we enjoyed our lunch break at George.  We liked all of our dishes with the pasta dishes as our highlights.  In addition, presentation of each dish was impeccable and the inside ambiance of the restaurant was quiet, modern, and gorgeously decorated.

George Restaurant

111C Queen St. E 

Toronto, ON 

M5C 1S2  

Tel: 416 863-6006 
 

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Simple Bistro

We went to Simple Bistro for brunch last weekend because we did not want to go somewhere too far south.  It turns out that indeed everything is very simple inside -- with white walls and 1 waitress who was serving the entire restaurant (around 15+ people when we were there).  I ordered the Crêpe aux Champignons and Hubby ordered the Simple Burger. 

The crepe had just the right amount of goat cheese so that its flavor did not overpower the other ingredients in the crepe. 

For the burger, hubby said it was average, nothing special. 

Overall, we both felt nothing too special about our dishes (crepe was good and burger was average), the place was very small and we felt like our elbows were always hitting something. We don't think we will go again unless we are really in that area and there is nothing else we like to try.

Simple Bistro
619 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto
M4S 2M5
Tel: 416.483.8933

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Victoria's Restaurant - The King Edward Hotel

Afternoon tea at Victoria's Restaurant - The King Edward Hotel on Friday after the light lunch at Taro's Fish. I really looked forward to an afternoon tea occasion because I wanted it since Baby J was born but never got a chance to go. I have never tried afternoon tea at Victoria's Restaurant before, however, we soon found that it was a bad choice. The quality of the food was such a disappointment and it was definitely not worth the price we paid. :(

The scones in the bottom tier was the best part out of the three tiers and it got progressively worse upward.  For the tea sandwich tier, I felt like I just kept on eating just bread, and soggy bread. 
For the final dessert tier, which we did not finish at all, was a disaster, 1. the almond madeleines tasted worse than the ones I made at home; 2. the rest of other mini desserts tasted like those I can purchase from a regular supermarket.  As for the tea, we both chose the Kind Edward Blend, it had a fair floral aroma, not too strong, and it was OK.

On an happier note, we still enjoyed our afternoon off and enjoyed taking pictures of it but I don't think we will return to Victoria's again.

 

 

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Light Lunch @ Taro's Fish

Light lunch at Taro's Fish this afternoon. This fish market/take-out place provides only a handful of seats by the window for eat-in, however, we never minded squeezing ourselves into their tiny bar stools because the quality of the fresh fish and price ratio is better than most of the Japanese restaurants in the North Toronto area.

Hubby and I shared the deluxe sushi, blue fin tuna sashimi, and organic salmon sashimi (not in the picture) for less than $50.00 CAD. I don't think you can get any better than that (if you know, please let me know) in North Toronto when compared against the quality and freshness provided in Taro's Fish. ^^

Photos from Taro's Fish in other occasions on flickr

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Le Sélect Bistro

Woohooo!!! Second brunch in the month of May! ^^

This time we went to Le Sélect Bistro located in the heart of Toronto and yet tucked away from the downtown busy streets. As a result, finding parking was not a problem for us. I loved the atmosphere of the entire place, from the front patio to the interior decoration -- very charming and elegant (sorry, no pics because I was busy carrying Baby J). In addition, the lady who served us was also very attentive and friendly.

I ordered the Escalope de Foie Gras aux Lardons et aux Figues -- seared fresh foie gras on a thin French Toast with lardons, pears fambe in Brandy and a fig compote. Served with an egg en cocotte and a Port maple sauce. It was a well prepared dish, everything in the dish paired well with the foie gras but at the same time I did not find it extraordinary.

Hubby ordered a Steak Grille, Ouef a Cheval -- grilled centre cut filet, topped with a "fresh air" egg, and served with mushrooms and frites. The meat was tendered and we loved the sauce and it was a better dish than the foie gras that I ordered.

Baby J had the Ouefs Bebedicte -- two poached (well-done) eggs on a croissant with ham and Hollandaise, served with frites -- from the kids brunch menu. No complains from Baby J, he enjoyed a bit of everything and 1 fries (first fries for him ^^) and we finished the rest for him.

Overall, we enjoyed the atmosphere, the food, the service and we will definitely be visiting again.

Le Sélect Bistro
432 Wellington Street West,
Toronto
M5V 1E3
TEL: 416.596.6405

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Grains Bistro

I love brunch but almost always there was no time to go in the past year.  However, I was determined to go this weekend and after some last minute research, we went to Grains Bistro.  Grains Bistro is a modern, child-friendly, relaxed place.  The patio looks great too but we decided to sit indoor by the windows anyway.

We were impressed by the toddler (under 4 years of age) eats free menu because the food, and the plating exceeded our expectation in a free food point of view.  I cannot recall the last time we had free food, let alone free food with good portion and decent plating.  I guess this point is well-known by its neighborhood because we also saw other tables with many toddlers as well. There is no free lunch, but there is free brunch ^^

I orderd a latte, and a Smoked Salmon Benedict.  The latte was average but I was satisfied with the delicious benedict.  Eggs were poached perfectly with warm, creamy, runny egg yorks and Hollandaise sauce.  Yum!

My hubby ordered the Certified Angus Roast Beef Melt which he did not like because the meat was too tough. He ended up not able to finish the entire plate.  Despite the fact that his dish did not come out as well as he wished, he still would give Grains Bistro another chance because he tasted my benedict which he loved too.

Overall, we were happy with our experience and will likely return to try another brunch or lunch / dinner.


Grains Bistro
8707 Dufferin St., Unit 12
Thornhill, ON
L4J 0A2

TEL: 905.907.9000
Website: http://gbistro.ca/

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Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar

We went on an Ottawa road trip last weekend to visit friends and tried Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar in the ByWard market on Saturday night because (1) it was the only restaurant that still have 5:30pm reservation by the time we booked (which was around 2:00pm on the day of) and (2) our friends told us the chef, Johnathan Korecki, is competing in the current series of Top Chef Canada. 

By the time we arrived, the place was not packed but I realized immediately that it was not stroller friendly at all due to the stairs to the main lounge and eating area.  However, the hostess saw Baby J and the stroller, she then offered another waiter to carry our stroller to our table.  That was very nice of her and I didn't mind that it wasn't stroller friendly after all.  The environment was comfortable and we did not find it too crowded with Baby J around.

The food served was tapas style, since we went in as a group of 4 plus Baby J, we were able to order a few more dishes to try.  We tried the fish tacos, lamb tacos, and pull pork tacos.  The tacos were great but not much to wow about.  In addition, the sauce used in the lamb and pull pork tasted similar to me.  Overall, the tacos were good but the other dishes we had after were better and more interesting.  The tuna sashimi was very different from what you normally would have in a Japanese restaurant.  It was served with a jelly sauce with jalapeno pepper, this combination gave us a kick in our taste buds and it was very refreshing.  The broiled black cod we had was well marinated but the portion of the fish was very small (as you can see in the picture).  The way you eat it was to lettuce wrapped the blank cod with the provide condiments.  Although the portion given for the main ingredient of the dish was very tiny, we still enjoyed it because the lettuce and condiments combined well with the fish.

The spring roll was brought to our table by mistake but we ate it (and paid for it) anyway :)  Lettuce wrapped spring roll and I liked it too .... it was a lot more delicate than those Chinese spring roll from the Chinese dim sum restaurant (haha, and of course, more expensive too :P )

Highlight of the night had to be the Grilled Alberta Tenderloin!!  It was cooked just right, delightfully tender and juicy!  The mushroom absorbed the reduced jus was perfect too.

For desert, we had the Donut Platter, it was fresh, fluffy, and not too sweet. I almost wanted to have my hubby's share as well :P

 
Overall, we had a pleasant experience, the taste of the food was refreshing and well balanced and the service was good.  Most of all, we had good companies to enjoy the dinner with which made the food even tastier.  Food tastes great only when you are with good companies. ^^

By the way, if you are wondering if Chef Korecki was absent from his kitchen because of competing in Top Chef, we did see him in the open kitchen busy preparing meals for his customers.

Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar
20 York Street, ByWard Market, Ottawa, K1N 5T5

TEL: 613-562-9331
Website: http://sidedoorrestaurant.com/contact.aspx

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