Winterlicious 2013 @ Toula (Dinner)

After hearing various positive reviews from friends, I wanted to try Toula. Located on the 38th floor of the Westin Harbour, the view had to be spectacle and it did not disappoint.
However, I can not speak the same regarding food. Originally, my most anticipated Winterlicious spot was Toula due to the large selection of appetizers, entrees and desserts. I was told if the restaurant offered the same selection on their Winterlicious menu as their regular menu then it’s hard for them to mess up. With that in mind, that’s how I made my selections.

First of all, let's talk about the complimentary bread basket. I forgot to take a picture because I was too in shocked about how terrible the bread was. The dinner roll was clearly made by someone who is baking bread for the first time because it tasted exactly like the ones I made for the first time. It was really tough, like REALLY. I can't believe how a restaurant can just deliver such un-presentable bread to its customers even if it's free.

Moving on. After we placed our order, the dishes were delivered REALLY quickly, in like 5 mins or less. In a sense, I felt I was being rushed. In that case, the dishes were probably prepared in advance and just kept warm until someone orders it. I understand that this is necessary in such high traffic food events, but at least make it less obvious. Anyways, the scallop was not overcooked, nicely seared, best dish of the night.
 

East Coast Giant Scallops “Lido”
seared with thyme and chardonnay essence, topped with warm eggplant and fresh herb mousse

Guess what I just realize... I cut away the prosciutto part thinking it was the SHELL! Omg, silly me. It did look like the shell and it was so dark I can barely see. Now to think of it, I can't judge this dish properly since I tossed away some of the components.  

Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp “Laguna”
wrapped with prosciutto di Parma DOP, drizzled with 10 year balsamic vinegar reduction on a bed or aromatic arugula salad

It's hard to see the half lobster tail here because it's drench in tomato sauce. The lobster was overbooked and tough, had no lobster taste. The pasta was slightly under-cooked  The pasta itself tasted good with the tomato sauce but not so much as a lobster pasta dish. Poorly executed, ruined a perfectly good piece of lobster.

Paccheri “San Marco” Pasta
with half fresh PEI lobster in a lightly spiced roasted plum tomato sauce

The seabass contained bones which made it very unpleasant. I hate fish with bones.

Pan Seared European Sea Bass
served with a “san gimignaino" saffron carnaroli risotto and drizzled with a warm pinot grigio and lemon sauce

I was looking forward to the dessert cause it seemed like tiramisu was something they really excelled at. It turns out that it was just so-so along with the spiced apple cake which is not shown here.


Toula Classic Tiramisu

Final Verdict: food wise it's really Par to Sub Par but if you factor in the view and the environment, I would give it Slightly Above Par

P.S. To "you know who you are" You didn't keep your promise! What a liar! Liar liar, pants on fire =P

BUCA

Along with "Less is More" and a couple of friends, we went to BUCA to celebrate "Less is More"' 's birthday. Don't bother checking the website because it's useless. Unless you are only interested in knowing the location and hours of business. There are no menus on the website. With my wild guess, I assume it's because they change their menu too often, thus, too lazy to constantly update the website. The location of BUCA is a little difficult to find since it's tucked inside an alley way and their sign is quite small. In short, it's right across from WVRST, literally.

 Yes, the bread is not free and neither is the olive oil. I suggest on passing the bread because they were hard and none of the 4 variety tasted really good. The olive oil is nice but not nice enough that cost $3 whereas other places have them for free.

pane di buca (5) + olive oil (3)

Disappointing composition of the kale salad with persimmon on the bottom. The dressing and everything did not blend well together. Quite disappointing.
 

kale salad (12)

 

My favorite of the cured meat was the one in the middle which I don't recall the name. It tasted great with the middle side dish. The sourness of side dish balanced well with the saltiness of the cured meat.

salumi 3 (17)



This is the BEST pizza I had. I think this beats Terroni's pizza for me anyday! I'm just drooling and craving for it as I look at the picture. The pizza is topped with thinly sliced potatoes, sprinkled with fresh rosemary and drizzled with egg yolk. The composition of the pizza was perfect. I never knew egg yolk on pizza would taste so good. It was not overly salty and tasted just right. I could of just kept eating this pizza all night long and was the best dish of the night.


pizza patate (21)

The pasta dishes on the other hand was a completely different story. The pasta texture of both dishes below were uncooked. They were NOT al dente but hard. Taste wise did not stand out at all.

bigoli (19)

I always thought carbonara was a rich and savory pasta sauce. It was not the case for the below. The bacon crisp was so burnt that it tasted bitter and completely ruined your mouthful. The fish roe didn't do much to the dish either.

carb di mare (24)

The dandelion veggie side dish was recommended by our server stating this is a commonly eaten vegetable in Italian cuisine. It did not taste good at all. It was bitter and all I could taste seasoning wise was vinegar. 

veg cicoria (8)

take home meringue cookies (free)

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par (without the pizza, I would just give it par)

 

Enoteca Sociale

Toronto has such a profusion of restaurants I often have a hard time just picking one place to go. I’ve heard a lot about the house-made pasta at Enoteca Sociale, so I thought I would try it out myself. 

My friend and I arrived at the restaurant around 6:00P.M and we were the first customers of the night. The restaurant is candle-lit, has a cozy and eclectic atmosphere and French doors that open into a side patio. The service was great, attentive without smothering.

The Menu breaks down traditionally into antipasti, secondi, contorni, cheese and desserts. Simple is good in Italian food and by first glimpse I can see a lot of traditional, simple and flavorful dishes. For starters, we had Arancini con Mozzarella di Bufala & ‘Nduja ($15). These deep fried risotto balls had a crispy exterior and a sticky buffalo mozzarella filled centre served in a thick tomato sauce. I think the freshness and natural sweetness of the tomatoes were the perfect balance with the richness of risotto balls. These risotto balls were good but definitely better as a sharing plate. I'd have a hard time finishing all three by myself. 

Arancini con Mozzarella di Bufala & ‘Nduja ($15). 

I ordered the Bucatini All’Amatriciana & House Made Guanciale ($15) for my main. The pasta dish is spicy, yet sweet from the tomatoes. The sauce taste delicious, its rich and flavorful without being overwhelming. The simplicity of the dish is simply remarkable. My only concern was the homemade guanciale (aka bacon), which consist almost entirely of fat, making the dish taste rather heavy.

Bucatini All’Amatriciana & House Made Guanciale ($15) 

My friend ordered the Gnocchi ($16) for her main. And again the tomatoes sauce is delicious. I also like the combination of nudja, stracchiatella and basil. However, the texture of the gnocchi wasn’t to my liking. My idea of good gnocchi is a little bit chewy and has a texture that allows every morsel of gnocchi to be covered with the sauce. The gnocchi served at Enoteca was certainly fresh, but were too soft. They literally melted in your mouth.

Gnocchi ($16) 

All the plates at Enoteca have suggested wine pairings. On Mondays and Tuesdays, there is a half-priced discount on Red “Enomatic” wines. Our server was very knowledgeable and knows what to suggest with the menu. From her recommendation we opt for the Barolo 2006 ($15 [price after discount]) and Sagrantino Di Montefalco 2006 ($10 [price after discount]). Barolo is often paired with meat dishes, heavy pastas and risottos, and it was paired perfectly with our meal.

Barolo 2006 ($15 [price after discount])

Coming into a restaurant with so much hype, I often find myself disappointed. However, the service at Enoteca Sociale was friendly and the food was enjoyable. Given the chance, I think I would return for a second time. 

Décor - 7

Atmosphere - 8

Service - 9

Food - 8

Overall - 8 

Enotca Sociale 

1288 Dundas Street West 

Toronto, ON M6J 1X7

(416) 534-1200

http://www.sociale.ca/

NYC Roadtrip Roundup 2012: Triple D Joints

Triple D Stop #1: Grover's Bar and Grill

Read about this from Food Junkie's Chronicle and decided to stop by at our NYC roadtrip. We got there just around dinner time and it was PACKED. We waited for a good hour and we patiently watched the names being crossed off the waiting list chalkboard until it finally hit ours. 

Here's Guy to prove that is indeed a triple D stop.

 As Food Junkie's Chronicle had suggested, we ordered the Cattleman Burger as this was she liked best. We also got the infamous cheeseburger soup which we didn't really like. Too heavy for our taste buds.

Cheeseburger Soup, not a fan.

All the food we ordered.

 We also got some wings, fish and chips and another burger than I can't remember. The burgers were HUGE and the three of us did not finish all the food we ordered. The burger was juicy but I thought the patty was WAY too thick and you just can't fit the whole thing in your mouth. Overall, the food was very good. We packed the wings to go, but little did we know, "somebody" left them on top of our car roof and it flew off while we were driving.

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par



 Triple D Stop #2: Blackthorn Restaurant and Pub

Visited this joint on our way back to Toronto and we were VERY hungry thus the lack of actual food pictures. We got here around 6pm and it was not packed. In fact it was very quiet, a contrast to Grover's. 

We ordered the Triple D Platter, Shepard's Pie and a garden salad. The mini beef on weck was very good. The roast beef was tender and juicy served on was very interesting bread where the top was sprinkled with salt. We did not enjoy the Irish beer soup as the beer taste was too strong and couldn't taste much of anything else. I thought the tater tots was suppose to the really awesome here but I didn't find anything special about them. The sheppard's pie was decent, nothing worth writing home about.

Final Verdict: Par



 Triple D Stop #3: John's

Sorry for the lack of detail post as these pictures were taken before the start of this blog, thus we didn't take pictures of all the food we had and a lot of time, we were just too hungry and dug right in. I really like this restaurant and most of the food we ordered was very good.

Delicious tender meatballs and the tomato sauce had a natural sweet taste. LOVE!

Clam pizza, it was a little too salty and oily for my taste.

Century old candle stand.

Final Verdict: Above Par

St. Lawrence Market Roundup

Went to St. Lawrence Market for a group lunch. Forgot to the bring my camera so I'm going to borrow pictures from the St. Lawrence Market website =)

1st Stop: Buster's Sea Cove

Tried the blue fish sandwich and it was quite good. The sandwich came with 3 slices of fried fish along with tomatoes and cucumbers inside a pita like bread. It was also served with coleslaw which was tasteless. The fish was deep fried to perfection. Light and flaky without being overly battered. The cost of the sandwich was $8.03. The portions was big and you will be full.




2nd Stop: St. Lawrence Pizza & Ice Cream

Ordered cheese ravioli with meat sauce. The sauce was very delicious as it tasted homemade due to the natural sweetness of the tomato sauce. The cheese ravioli on the other hand was alright, nothing to write home about.