West End Italian Fare

After a very long absence, and frequenting a lot of franchise restaurants ... a new post! There are a couple of others to come.

I just want to apologize in advance if these are out of order - it's the nature of Blogger, I suppose. Here goes ...

A friend who couldn't make it out to my birthday the previous week wanted to meet up. I admit, I was pretty indecisive about where I wanted to eat. But a horrible snowstorm that day forced me to make up my mind pretty quickly.

Restaurant: Villa

Where: 2277 Bloor Street West (west of Runnymede). This is completely accessible via TTC.

When: Friday, February 1st

The Set-up/Decor: Villa - which is located right next door to sister restaurant, Strata - is a fair-sized restaurant, but it provides a cozy set-up. The interior's sleek and crisp.

The Food: Being an Italian restaurant, I wasn't going to say no to pasta. If I remember correctly, I started off with a Caesar salad, followed by the Penne Roma. Both quite good and VERY filling.

Staff/Service: I really liked the service. Our server was really nice, with a sense of humour to match. If you can make me laugh, you're likely to get a decent tip from me :). The food also came fairly quickly, so no complaints on this end.

Price: I have to admit, I skimped a bit - I didn't have any wine, mainly because I'd been feeling under the weather. But my bill plus tip came to $25. That's probably one of the better bills I'd gotten in a while.

Overall: The pros: The food was great, and so was the service. Two thumbs up all round.

A Little Polenta and A Little Lamb ... Five Doors North

So my friend invited me to help ring in her 30th birthday (or second 29th, if you were to ask her). But she had a hard time deciding where she wanted to go to ring in the occasion with friends and wanted me to help her in her decision.

Where to go on a cold February night?

I thought this one sounded the most interesting.

Restaurant: Five Doors North

Where: 2088 Yonge Street (west side, just north of Davisville)

When: Friday, February 22

The Set-up/Decor: From the name of the restaurant, you'd think it would be literally five doors north of Davisville. Well, it was more like five blocks north, between Davisville and Eglinton - so if you're walking, it's a wee bit of a hike. Good thing they had the five brightly-painted doors above - or "north" of the front door!

The set-up has got a mix of tables and the bar halfway in. You walk through a couple sets of curtains upon entering, and there are some curtains which section off a couple of the sets of tables. And if you look up, you'll see the odd off-kilter lamp or two.

I will give the restaurant points for something that seems to be hard to come by these days in dining and drinking establishments: hooks by the front entrance! And on a cold night like that one, they were definitely needed.

The Food: The food was decent. I started my meal with a glass of white wine and - as an appetizer - polenta with goat cheese, sundried tomato and pesto. I'd never had polenta before, so I found it very tasty.

Next I moved onto my main dish, which was a plate of grilled lamb chops, with roasted garlic caramelized onion jus. I also had to order a side of zucchini since, well, all I got was meat. Everything was tasty; my only reservation was that the lamb chops were a tad fatty. At one point, one mouthful I chewed was nothing but fat.

Staff/Service: The waitress we had was okay. She was courteous, and our orders came relatively quickly. We even managed to get separate bills, which was a plus.

Price: For a restuarant where the menus were photocopied pieces of paper, it was a a bit pricier than I expected. Not that I think this means the food should be dirt cheap ... but still. My bill - including tip - hit somewhere around $51.

Overall: I can't say anything bad about the place really, but nothing really stood out for me, either, I'm sorry to say. Just call it a low-key evening with friends, celebrating a birthday. The food was pretty good, and the service was decent. But I'd have to say a slight drawback for me was the price. If you're like me and trying to save a few bucks, then save this place for a special occasion.

A Slice of Tehran, Toronto Style

Last week, my friend was racking her brain, trying to figure out how on earth she was going to celebrate her 30th birthday. Well, I have to say she did it with style, and she was inspired to do it while walking past this place ...

Restaurant: Banu Iranian Kebob Vodka Bar

Where: 777 Queen Street West

When: Saturday, May 5

At the risk of incurring mass annoyance from folks who want reviews from non-downtown establishments, I couldn't NOT mention this place. It was that good.

The inspiration is said to be "'pre-revolution Iran", with the Toronto influence. Since it opened last year, it's gotten rave reviews from folks like Bonnie Stern, CBC and Franz Ferdinand's lead singer, Alex Kapranos. No wonder. If you're not open to trying new cuisine, then stop right here. Otherwise read on.

The Set-up/Decor:

Don't let the small facade and tiny patio out front fool you. Despite its svelte size, this place is sleek in its design. Being a biased fan of blue anything, I loved the use of blue throughout the place, from the tiled tables to the painted wall designs and the chairs at the bar. It's offset by the white leather chairs placed throughout the length of the bar. There is apparently a room which can reserved for special occasions, but we didn't see it, since we were sitting in the half of the restaurant closest to the window.

The bathroom downstairs was also cool (but I can only speak for the ladies'). Since some people tend to have the habit of writing on bathroom stalls, the staff seemed to decide to have a little fun with it. The bathroom stall walls are chalkboards, as well as the wall next to the sink. And yes, you have your choice of pink or blue chalk. Awesome idea!

The Food:

To say that the food was excellent does not do this place justice. I'm not even sure if there would be an adequate enough word to describe the quality and freshness of the food. All the meat served is organic, so you're guaranteed excellent flavour. There are a few options for vegetarians too, so don't fret that this is a meat-lover's paradise.

We received small bowls of pistachos, and later on, bowls with bread, to chew on while we waited.

There are several choices for appetizers and three salads on the menu. My friend and her boyfriend had Nan O Paneer - sesame bread with sheep's milk cheese and fresh herbs, which they liked very much. Another friend and I had indvidual bowls of Shirazi salad, a bowl of diced tomato, cucumber, scallions and Spanish onion in lemon juice and olive oil. The salad itself was refreshing, but I found the onion stronger than what I was used to.

Main dishes had at our table included chenjeh (beef tenderloin in citrus yogurt marinade), mahi (fresh daily fish) and baneh (lamb chops), which I had - it was absolutely delicious! I had to stop myself from continuing to chew on the bones after, lest I look like a completely uncouth lout in front of my friends.

The chenjeh, baneh and another dish all came on a huge platter with a thin bread lining, garnished with grilled tomatoes and lots of mint and parsley. We also received a small container of sumach, a spice similar to paprika, to sprinkle on our food.

The staff encouraged us to eat the garnish, and also to eat with our hands, which some of us did. Lemme just say this - mint is EXCELLENT when you add it to whatever meat you're eating. I was skeptical of stuffing my mouth with mint leaves at first, but it only enhanced the flavour of what I ate.

One thing none of us ate, but is on the menu, is a little dish called Dom balan - lamb testicles marinated in vodka. They're nicknamed 'Urban oysters". (If anyone has the guts to try these, let us know!)

Drinks run the gamut from beer to Banu's signature drinks, to various juices (I had a skinny glass of pomegranate juice).

Staff/Service:

I can't say enough about the staff. They're a small crew, but ever so nice! They helped us hide our friend's cake in the back and put in the candles. (We just had to give our server a piece afterwards!)

Another thing to mention, that we didn't get to try: they offer shisha (NOT a drug OR tobacco based), and have hookah pipes and menus available for those interested. Flavours include apple, orange, grape, blueberry and mint.

Price:

Of course, all these good qualities about Banu doesn't come with a small price tag. They are on the expensive side. My bill was $39.90; including my tip, the meal was $50 easy.

Overall:

Pros: The food was excellent, with service to match. Con: It was pricey. But definitely worth the occasional splurge. Even if you don't plan on being a repeat patron, at least try to go just once.

We Lied. AGAIN! Sorry ...

Hey folks,

So we lied when we said we'd post more.

Then we told you we were going to go to Winterlicious and return to posting more reviews ... again we told falsehoods.

Many apologies for not following through. Many things have been getting in the way, mainly life.

Whenever possible, we will try and have the odd post. But we can't guarantee anything.

And there's a strong chance we may be moving our "reviews" to another venue in cyberspace. When that happens we'll try and keep you apprised.

But for now, please visit. And if you have any suggestions for places you want us to try to scout out, please let us know.

Remember, a number of places we've mentioned in the past may have been downtown, but we're a bunch of surburbanites. We can go somewhere new or not known to us if someone flags it. And please - no restaurant franchises.

An Evening in Little Italy ...

A friend and I decided to make long-overdue plans for a bit of catch-up and a bite to eat. And what says "long time no see?" better than some really good pasta?

Restaurant: Giovanna Trattoria

Where: 637 College Street

When: Wednesday, April 18


The Set-up/Decor:

Really nice and simple, actually. I don't know exactly to describe it without being a bit stereotypical, but you knew you were in an Italian restaurant. Nice-sized dining room, nice, bright decor. Not busy and not plain.

Staff/Service:

Couldn't really complain about the service. It also helped that there weren't very many people in the restaurant. I think, until we reached dessert, my friend and I and a couple of other people were the only diners in the place. There was a bit of confusion at dessert when I ordered something and I didn't get what I wanted. But it wasn't a big deal.

Food:

Decent menu. I forgot what my friend ordered, but I ordered something called strozzapretti, which apparently translates to "strangled priests" in Italian. Quite the dish.

Price:

The pricing here was not that bad, actually. I think including tip I paid just over $20.

Overall:

For dinner on a Wednesday night, I really can't say anything bad about this place. It was decent. I wonder what it would have been like, had we gone there on a Friday or Saturday night. Perhaps this place warrants a second visit.

New Year Greetings...

Hey everybody,

Okay - so we lied. We said we'd post, but we never did. Sorry! But things get in the way of good eats - like life, for example.

But we're hoping to change that in the New Year. We've already been talking 'mongst ourselves to try and make it out to Winterlicious this January, since it's a chance to see a couple restaurants we'd NEVER make it into normally. So you're bound to see at least one post from us - consider it our New Year's resolution!

On behalf of the Tummy Yummies crew, we want to wish you a happy new year - and good eats in 2007!

Suggestions, Anyone?

Hey there,

Just wanted to let anybody reading this blog that after a long spell, we'll have a new entry up in the near future.

We've gotten a couple of comments about the blog from those passing through. For that, we thank you.

Some of you that have read the entries say you liked the postings so far, but wanted reviews of places to eat that aren't located in downtown Toronto. We admit, half of these have been downtown, but not necessarily because we live there. We're suburbanites, and if you've been following, we have also done one review each for restaurants in Unionville, North York and Etobicoke.

The problem is finding restaurants in other parts of the city that aren't parts of franchises. And it's hard, 'cause if you've noticed, a couple of the reviews on this blog have fallen into that category.

So here's your challenge, if you're up for it: if you know of, or have heard of decent restaurants located outside the downtown core - ie. Scarborough, North York, Mississauga, whereever - let us know. And we'll be happy to check it out.

Remember, we're looking for either little-known gems and are willing to try different types of cuisine. No franchises (ie. Kelseys, East Side Mario's, Milestones, Montana's, Jack Astor's ... you get the picture). If you can make the case, we'll gas up the cars and make the trip.

Now get to suggestin'! We'll be waitin'.

Burger Heaven Resides in Bloor West Village

Hope you all are enjoying your September and the dying throes of summer.

You know, sometimes, you want clean up a bit, go out and have a little sophisticated fare for dinner. And sometimes, you just want some good ol' pub grub ...

Restaurant: The Yellow Griffin Pub

Where: 2202 Bloor Street West, just east of Runnymede

When: Saturday, September 16

This dinner venue was at the suggestion of my friend Christine, who raved about "the burger condiment place". I admit, I was a bit skeptical, 'cause while I love my condiments, what's so special about THESE condiments? I found out, all right.

The Set-up/Decor:

Nothing too breathtaking about the place (not that it was the reason I went). The place is easy to find, with its black awning with crisp yellow lettering. There's a nice little patio out front, and the pub itself is somewhere between small and medium. It's definitely a place where the locals hang. They also apparently have a private party room just above, which we were partly privy to ... the door was open, so we could hear the cheers and jeers of a bachelor party above us. But a pretty mellow crowd nonetheless.

The Food:

This, my friends, was the main attraction. There's not five, not 10, but 35 burgers to choose from. Aaaand, you get your choice of meat - beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork or veggie. (Just think - that's, like ... carry the one ... 210 different burgers!).

Burgers range from the Plain! Plain! Plain! burger ("Nottin, you get nottin ...) to the artery-clogging English Breakfast Burger (baked beans, HP sauce, and a fat ol' egg on top), to the bizarre Skinny Dipper (crunchy peanut butter, melted ON TO the patty. Guh). Oh yeah, and you get a side with it (your pick of various types of fries or salad).

I opted for a turkey Salty Silician (black olive tapanade, sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese) and sweet potato fries with hickory dip -- mmm! My friends had a turkey Healthy Kick (eggplant, grilled red peppers, sundried tomato pesto and feta) and a turkey Bangkok Betty burger (veggies in lemongrass, along with a little Betty's Thai sauce). They also had sweet potato fries.

Staff/Service:

The staff was nice enough. From what my friend said, the service can be a bit slow. On this night, while our service wasn't bad; it was just a leetle slow for my liking. And my friend had, at one point, gotten the wrong burger. Our server realized it just as my friend slapped her top bun on top of the burger. But it was rectified, so no worries.


Price:

For three people (burgers and drinks), the bill totalled $91.57, not including tip. I found it kind of expensive, but that may have been due to all the various pints we had.

Overall:

If anything, go at least once, if only to gape at the menu. You'll spend at least 20 minutes trying to decide what to get; and by the end of the meal, if it's that good, you might plan your next visit.

DIY All-You-Can-Eat Stirfry

Long time, no post!

It's been a busy summer. And with August - and the season! - almost over, why not end things with a bit of all-you-can eat cuisine that's fit for a warrior?

Restaurant: Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill

Where: 900 Don Mills Road, Unit #2

When: Thursday, August 31

Starving after a long day of work with no lunch break, I met up with my friends Jen and Mark for a little late evening dinner. And we ate ... we saw ... we waddled.

The Set-up/Decor:

Having never been here, I wasn't sure what to expect. This place is one of two Mongolian Grill restaurants I know of, the other being at Pacific Mall in Markham. But I was surprised when we showed up. This place is decent sized; the decor is clean and not cluttery.

The Food:

This place is a make-your-own-stirfry/all-you-can-eat venue, so the food spread is pretty big. So. Much. Food!

And the make-your-own stirfry concept was interesting, since I'd never done it. You basically fill a bowl with your choices of meat, vegetables, noodles, and sauce, follow the line to the big counter, which separates you from this big grill (which essentially looks like a ginormous wheel) while two chefs take turns taking your plate and cooking it up in front of you. When you're done, you take your new bowl, add rice and voila!

And you can go back as many times as you like ... there's noodles, fried rice, eggrolls, spring rolls, chicken balls (my favourite!) chicken wings, crab legs, soups, scallop bread, dumplings, sesame buns ... and desserts up the yin-yang. It was a bloating experience. I definitely had met my match.

Staff/Service:

The cooks were good - very fast and efficient. The staff was good with us, clearing our plates when finished and topping up our water. They seemed decent, but they were so busy flitting around from table to table - and we were so busy stuffing our faces - for us to think otherwise.

Price:
For three people (not including tip), it was just under $65.

Overall:

Actually hit the spot for me, late on a Thursday night. And service was good. I'd definitely say give Genghis a go, at least once.