Miller Tavern

I went to Miller Tavern last week.  It's relatively new and located South of the Gardiner on Bay.  It looks like a slightly upscale restaurant online based on the pictures and menu.  The restaurant itself seems to be in a L shape with the bar at the main entrance with dining space where all the action seems to be and a quieter dining area around the corner.  There did seem to be another room at the very back, perhaps for private functions or large parties.  The bar side wasn't very busy when I got there but for whatever reason I got seated on the quieter side.  When my friend joined me he pointed out the comic strip style of art work (which is not present in their online photographs).  We found it an odd choice.

Given that we were sitting in the quieter section there wasn't too much to report on other than the food.  I ordered the seafood pad thai.  The flavour was good but there was one thing I was disappointed with, the tiny scallops.  I was hoping for some nice sized scallops when I ordered the meal.  I don't think you could get scallops any smaller.  Overall the dish was still good but I would be inclined to order something else the next time just because I know I'd be disappointed with the scallops again.

I ordered one drink while I was there.  I can't remember exactly what was in it other than tequila and St-Germain liqueur.  That thing seemed pretty potent.  I was feeling intoxicated for a while after I got home which I was not expecting.  Good thing I'm a happy drunk!

My friend ordered the lobster and seafood gratin.  He said it was really good and "the gratin was flavourful and satisfying".  He called it good comfort food.  The scallops were the same size as the ones I had though.

When we were leaving the place the bar side was very busy and full of men. I knew I should have sat on that side!

A Taste of the Sea at Buster's Sea Cove

It took me a while to warm up to St. Lawrence Market to buy food from and even longer to buy a ready to eat meal.  I'm actually still warming up to the restaurant part of the market and today was a day to give it another go.  At the South end of the main floor are quite a few seafood vendors and nestled in the back corner is a seafood restaurant, Buster's Sea Cove.  I decided to give it a try.

There isn't a lot of space to order or eat.  It's one of those places that you can easily wonder how to find the end of the line if they get busy.  Thankfully they actually had a guy outside the booth assisting with the line and submitting your order while you wait to get to the cashier.  Once you've paid you just listen for your number to be called then try to find somewhere to sit.  There are only a few tables available.  The rest of the seating are bar stools.  I found a stool at the counter and tried to get comfortable which is hard when there is no place to put your jacket. My seat was the empty stool in the picture below.

I had ordered the grilled salmon with salad.  I was a little surprised by the long skinny piece of salmon I got but it was a decent thickness so I'm hoping that the looks were deceiving.  There was no arguing that it had fantastic flavour.  I really liked it.  The coleslaw and salad with house dressing were both good as well.  I can't remember the last time I order a salmon salad (which was basically what that was) but the next time I see someone eating one at a restaurant I will have to take note of the salmon portion size to see how it compares.

 

While I was eating, the guy that was assisting the line was occasionally submitting orders.  Since I was seated right at the counter I could hear everything loud and clear and it kind of made me feel like I was at a fun fair.  You know, those guys that have the microphones and speakers in their game booths announcing things and trying to draw a crowd.  That sort of thing.

One other  thing that I noticed was their bottles of vinegar.  They use spray bottles.  I don't recall if I have ever seen that before but either way I liked the idea.  It makes it so much easier to get your fries and fish covered in the vinegar rather than ending up with a pool of vinegar at the bottom of the food container.

I may want to go back sometime and try their grilled calamari.  I heard a number of people ordering that, however, I just noticed they have clam strips on the menu.  I haven't had those in ages!  I'll probably go back and get some of those. (In case you are wondering, those are curly fries and onion rings listed under the cups on the menu below.)

A Taste of This and That

I was going through my cell phone and found a number of pictures from places I had been to and never blogged about.  I had thought about making a blog post of some good summer drinks around town but obviously didn't do that either.  So here is a collection of those things and what I can remember about them.

	This is a strawberry rhubarb julep from Fionn MacCool's. I really liked it and went back to have it again but they had some other drink with rhubarb in it and got it by mistake.  I certainly hope it's still on the menu the next time I go so I can have it again.
	This is the fresca from the now closed Alice Fazooli's on Adelaide.  The only ingredient I can remember is cucumber.  It was a refreshing drink.  Perfect for enjoying in the summer on their hidden patio in the back.  I'll have to find out how to make it since I won't be able to get it anymore or at least not without a bit of a commute. Man coming out of drink not included ;)
	I do believe that this was a bellini.  Maybe the peach one.  It is also from Fazooli's. I only had it once because I liked the fresca better.
	This was the "Nothing special there either" drink from Bloor Street Diner.
	This was from Oliver and Bonacini (O&B) at Front and Yonge.  This may have been a seasonal drink as I can't find anything on their online menu that looks like this that I would have ordered.  The one thing that they apparently thought was cool was to use a mason jar (canning jar) as a glass.  This might be an interesting novelty for many city folk but not for me.  This thing should contain my mother's jam not my drink.  Aside for the glass I think the drink was pretty good.  I had it at least one more time last summer.
	This was my dinner to go along with the drink at O&B.  Rock Shrimp Linguine.  It was very good.
	This is a drink at Kiwe.  I think it may have been a mojito with a slight twist.  It didn't quite agree with my taste buds.  I also wasn't too impressed with the service and it seems to me the cushions on the patio were rather dirty.  I haven't been back since and I have no plans to go again.
	This drink was from Luma (an O&B restaurant) at King and John.  It's called Beetlejuiced and has gin, cucumber, lime, pink peppercorns and soda.  I wasn't as delighted with it as I had hoped but I think it was still pretty good.
	This is from the Bowery.  I can't remember what my thoughts were on this. I must have been too busy savouring my food.  It definitely looks like something I would enjoy.  Based on their online menu it's the Bowery No.1 Cup.
	This is from Origin.  Again I can't remember what my thoughts were on this.  I was distracted by the food.  I don't see a drink menu on their web site so I'm not sure what this is.
	This is the Australian lamb chops and housemade sausage from O&B.  I decided to splurge that night. I remember it being very filling.
	This is the 10oz New York Striploin from O&B.  It looked good but it wasn't my dish.
	This is the chestnut flour pancakes with caramelized apples and mulled apple syrup from One Restaurant at the Hazelton.  I was disappointed that there wasn't more chestnut flavour.  I definitely expected more from these pancakes than what I got.

The following collection of pictures is from La Mexicana near Yonge and Bloor.  I had the sopa de lima (lime soup) and the chicken chimichangas.  I really liked the soup.  The chimichanga was pretty good but doesn't match my favourite of all time.   Still searching...


This collection of pictures is from e11even.  The bread seemed to have been just baked and was delicious.  The chicken was pretty good but I think there are better things on the menu to try.  And finally the bill or the damage or whatever you want to call it. 

A Taste of Italy: Queen Margherita's Pizza

(I actually wrote most of this blog earlier this week but am only getting around to finishing and posting it now.)

Yesterday evening I headed out to a burger joint on the East end with a friend that wanted to try it. The place was called the Burger Priest. When we arrived we discovered the hours for Sunday were "Church", as in they were closed. Neither one of us had bothered to check the hours but we still wanted to eat out. There was a pizza joint in the neighbourhood that had been on my list of places to go for a while. I checked the hours (thanks to my handy iPhone), confirmed they were open and took a stroll down the street to Queen Margherita's Pizza.

When we got there we stepped into a small bar area full of a lot of dark rich wood and was greeted by one of the staff. Since we didn't have a reservation we were told we would need to wait for the maitre d'. In a few moments she appeared at the top of the staircase to the right side of the bar, came down to glace at the reservation list, disappeared back up the stairs then returned and motioned us up.

The exterior walls of the dinning area were architected with very large windows that would provide a significant amount of natural light. Although the sun had already set they gave a unique feel to the space. The back of the dinning space contained an open kitchen with the pizza oven in plain view. The front of the counter seemed to have been decorated with chopped firewood.

A prefix menu was available but we each opted to order our own pizza. I don't eat a lot of dessert so I typically stay away from prefix since I'd be getting something I didn't want or need. There would have to be something spectacular looking or unique on the dessert menu to get me to order it. Of course peer pressure sometimes works too. ;)

Within no time our pizzas were being served. It was shocking how fast it was. The waitress said it takes about 90 seconds to cook the pizza thanks to the oven they have.

I had ordered the mushroom pizza called Matteo. It had a nice thin crust, just the way I like it. Although the pizza did suffer from tip sag (a phrase I've only just heard of) it was still a good pizza and filling. The prefix would have been too much food for me.

There is a debate going on as to what the best pizza is in Toronto. The contenders are Queen Margherita's and Libretto. I haven't been to Libretto yet but I hope to get there soon. The one pizza that sticks in my mind is Vesuvio's over in the junction but it's been so long I can't remember if it was the pizza I liked or the hype that came with it by eating it with my friends. I may have to do a pizza night or weekend trying all three to properly compare.

Either way I would like to go back to Queen Margherita's, but, now I'm not sure if it is for the pizza or the unique space. Hmm. I better start paying more attention to these things.

A Taste of Brunch: Origin

It always seemed to me that there weren't a lot of breakfast places in Toronto but the problem was that I was never really looking for them. In April there was a feature in Now magazine reviewing around 100 places in the city. I then started to pay more attention to weekend brunch spots. There were little signs decorating the windows of restaurants advertising brunch and food displays that passersby would pause to salivate over.

Origin is a restaurant I regularly pass by and they have often had brunch advertized on the weekends. I've read a number of reviews on Origin and each of them mentioned the deviled eggs. This piqued my curiosity.

I'd say they lived up to expectations. The presentation was fantastic, the bacon was crisp and the little crispy rice balls were intriguing.

I also ordered the Ranchero eggs. It was love at first bite. My initial fork full had plantain, salsa and egg on it. I didn't initially realize that the ingredients between the plantain and the eggs were not layered but sectioned off and almost finished the salsa before I had dug into the beans. The entire thing was delicious. I've never had this type of dish before.

I enjoyed the brunch so much that when it came time for dinner my lack of desire to cook resulted in me returning to Origin for my second meal of the day.

I had already decided to order the duck wrap and was placing the menu back on the table when the woman at the table next to me leaned over and suggested, I order the duck wrap. She pointed to her empty plate and said it was delicious.

The woman was right. It was delicious. There was a bit of crunch in the dish and I'm not sure if it was coming from the meat or from a crumb mixture that was sprinkled on it. There was also a bit of heat but only someone that barely eats spicy food would be apt to notice. I love cilantro and enjoy hoisin sauce and could taste those ingredients as well.

I watched some of the dishes be served at the other tables. One of the dishes that caught my attention was a beet salad. The greens were nicely arranged on the plate with a large perfectly round beet perched in the center.

I love the creativity in presentation at this place and I love the flavour and textures the food has. This place is now on my favourites list. I'm not sure why it wasn't on it sooner.

A Taste of Japan

I went to the Okonomi House this week. I figured I'd probably get some sushi but there wasn't any sushi on the menu. Before going there I googled okonomi and discovered it was some sort of Japanese pancake so I figured since I was in the Okonomi House, I'd better try it. I order a pork okonomiyaki. I wasn't sure how big it would be so I didn't order anything with it.

It seemed more like an omelette than pancake. It had various ingredients including cabbage and ground pork in it. They don't appear to have a website and there was no take out menu to reconfirm all the ingredients but it was pretty good. The sauce on top was kind of sweet like a BBQ sauce. The only thing I would have done differently is that I would have ordered something to go with it. It's not enough for a meal.

The Bowery

Colborne Street is an interesting street that I don't appreciate enough. There are a few restaurants on it that I've never really checked out. I've only recently gone into P.J. O'Brien and loved it. There is a Thai place and Colborne Lane, both of which I've been meaning to try. Tom Jones Steakhouse is there too along with Pat Quinn Lounge. The most recent addition is The Bowery. I noticed the signage going up a few of weeks ago. Instead of procrastinating I took the first opportunity to go there with a good friend.

I made a reservation anticipating the usual large crowds that tend to show up at most new restaurants in Toronto. On their second Saturday of operation at 6PM, it was rather quiet. It did get busier as we progressed through our meal but I was a little surprised it wasn't busier. Then again, Colborne street doesn't get heavy foot traffic and I only noticed it because I was bored with my usual route to the subway and switched it up for a couple of days.

All of the Bowery's menus are presented on clipboards which vary according to the size of the menu you are examining. This seems like a smart idea to me given that a lot of people tend to turn paper menus into placemats. The next person then gets a deformed menu in the areas where condensation collected from the drink that was placed on it.

Yes, I have been the recipient of a number of such menus.

I think I was in the mood for something with mushrooms and as a result I ordered their ricotta gnocchi which was also topped with asparagus. It was delicious!

My friend ordered the strip loin and spaetzle. I don't think I had ever heard of spaetzle before. German's have some unique culinary items. It's too bad that Germans don't open more restaurants here so that we could experience more of their traditional dishes.

I normally don't bother with dessert but we had some time to kill before heading off to a friend's party, so I made an exception. I ordered the rhubarb tatin and I am super glad we decided to have dessert. It had a shortbread base layered with a rhubarb filling then a poached apple slice with a sugar sauce on top and a small scoop of sorbet beside it. Super good!

My friend had the chocolate brownie. That looked very good as well.

The prices might have been a touch higher than what they needed to be but good food like that is worth it.