Nice lunch at Completo on Broadview today. I had the chorizo churrasco sandwich with salad, and my friend had the beef tacos with GOAT fries ( goat cheese and salsa fries). I would return.
Nice lunch at Completo on Broadview today. I had the chorizo churrasco sandwich with salad, and my friend had the beef tacos with GOAT fries ( goat cheese and salsa fries). I would return.
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looks good!
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Stopped by Martine’s Wine Bar, as a walk-in. Nice meal.
The carrots with tahini, served cold ($20)
The tempura green beans. ($17) The gribiche sauce was nice. The tempura should have been fried in oil that was hotter.
The Wakefield cabbage with potato sfuma (foam) ($20)
The virgin Mojito was good. $14. Going rate for mocktails, I guess
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The sandwiches there are always very good.
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I really liked it when I went there: roasted chicken was also good.
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I admit I don’t order roasted chicken at bistros anymore because I make it at home several times a month. 
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During last week’s patio spell, we had another lovely meal at Bar Vendetta. We decided to focus on pastas we hadn’t tried.
We had two delicious cocktails:
- Silhouette - Cynar, black currant, absinthe, cava - really nice and herbal.
- Palomino ~ tequila, grapefruit, cinnamon, fino, yuzu - great mix of flavours.
We then ordered a glass Blaufränkisch (Lemberger) ‘Béla-Jóska’ Wachter Wiesler, Aut 2020 - charming, not too acidic, light and lovely. A bit later we had a glass of Chianti Classico Continue Capone, Ita 2021 - fruity and not tanniny.
We ordered 4 pastas, skipping the wonderful crown cacio e pepe since it is always on the menu.
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Tagliatelle with lobster, corn, poblano, scallion - beautifully fragrant (lime zest), sweet from the corn, and spicy.
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Rigatoni with duck confit, zucchini, mustard, herbs, aged provolone and something citrus - yummy duck and the tang of the mustard seeds knit the dish together.
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Special: roasted pork ravioli with sweet potato purée pecorino buckwheat and watercress sprouts - very nice, could have used a little more pepper.
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Campanelle puttanesca with smoked tomato, shallots, pecorino - gently smoky and appropriately pungent and salty from the anchovies and capers.
To finish we had Vendetta’s house camomile grappa, plus a pleasant corn gelato and a nice but somewhat subtle calamansi sorbet.
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Their pastas are so delicious. Glad you had a nice meal.
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We took advantage of another mild day today to sneak in another patio meal at Foxley. We are sad to say that we haven’t been here for a few years, although our allegiance to Tom Thai goes back to Youki and then Tempo. We are pleased to report that many of the classic dishes remain on the menu and the overall Asian fusion cooking remains very pleasing.
We ordered a bottle of Gelber Traminer Wildrosen (Salomon Undohof), Kremstal, Austria 2019 - great, dried nectarines and roses (or white flowers?) and mineral.
One of our longstanding favourites is the arctic char ceviche with green apple and ginger, (plus sesame, cilantro and red chili sauce) - which remains a beautifully balanced dish.
Figuring we had room for another ceviche, we ordered another favourite, the Hokkaido scallops with yuzu compote and grilled jalapeño - also lovely.
One of the specials were tempura-fried oyster hand rolls with sesame, pineapple, Thai basil and spicy mayo - outstanding, we got a second order.
Another special featured a crunchy fried wrapper surrounding braised pork should, pork belly, kimchi, Vietnamese-style cucumber and carrot pickles, and hoisin - rich and delicious.
We returned to another classic, the sticky pork side ribs with caramelized shallot glaze - still incredible (the sauce apparently has upteen ingredients).
We split one dessert, the rich and comforting coconut black rice pudding, with cinnamon.
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George’s patio is open. They appear to be serving just the 7-course menu on the patio, at least on Fridays. Food was excellent as usual. Because the patio is encompassed by the buidling, there is minimal street noise. It’s probably one of the best patios for fine dining in the city.
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Couple of weeks ago, my friends to me out for Bday drinks and snacks. We ended up at Bar Raval, a spot I’ve always liked but haven’t been since the "before times’ . They’ve totally changed their patio setup, before it was proper tables with umbrellas, now it’s barrel high tops with no chairs(unless you ask a few times) and hardly any cover from the blaring sun. Food was still tasty, but service was lacking. Place was busy for a Monday, so maybe they were caught off guard. At least the company was good. No pics and no rush to go back.
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I used to like their breakfast, which started at 8 am.
They took that away around 2019. Then, I was going when they opened at 11 am, for a coffee and serano ham and egg breakfast sandwich every couple months.
They stopped doing that at some point last fall or winter. I liked that it was half empty midweek around noon.
I think they open around 1pm now?
I haven’t been since last fall. I can’t handle large crowds, and they seem to want to keep their work hours short and crowded.
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Hey, if it works for them it’s all good, and i get it, times are very tough for the restaurant biz.
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I get it.
That resto group is very successful. They know what works.
On the topic of take-out , Bar Raval still has some dishes available for take-out, with online ordering possible. Martine’s doesn’t offer any takeout. Bar Isabel has a disclaimer that they’ll sometimes do take-out when it isn’t busy, but theres no longer online ordering. El Rey still does take-out and it’s possible to order online.
I appreciate the places that stay open during the day. There are less and less nice upscale places open on weekday mornings.
A nice dinner at Martine’s Wine Bar tonight.
The porn star Martini
Very nice lettuce and fennel salad
Stuffed zucchini blossoms with cacio e pepe sauce. These were good. They would have been better if they had been fried in hotter oil.
Potato purée topping charred cabbage. We liked this.
Ajo Blanco. This was probably my favourite dish tonight.
Egg raviolo with BC crab and nduja bisque ($50). This was fair/ satisfactory. The nduja dominated the dish for me, overwhelming the crab. Nice plating, though.
It was a novelty to order this $50 pasta. Until today, the $46 pasta at AloBar in Feb 2024 had been the most expensive pasta I had ordered in Toronto. 
Service was friendly, as always.
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Oh those zucchini blossoms I enjoyed them so much at Sorrel last time that I ordered and encore! Maybe they have them again and I need to revisit
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Huevos Rancheros and Chocolate Stout cake at Chadwick’s in the Annex.
They take reservations for Brunch.
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I love Chadwicks so much - I don’t visit enough though!
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Great minds 
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