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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Japanese Style Curry Beef

Japanese style curry beef, one of the easiest dishes to make.  Although it is easy to make, I haven't cook this for a long time.  Sweet onion, beef, carrots, potato cooked together and add the secret ingredient -- Glico curry blocks last, it is a dish that one will never screw up cooking. ^^

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Lovely Sunday Afternoon

Lovely weather today.  Enjoyed the sun and the breeze while Baby J was taking a nap!

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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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