We went to Mamo last summer also… and had a VERY underwhelming experience. Maybe they just had an off night but the food was way below its pricepoint.
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Adding ’ SUSHI KAJI ’ to the top of list!! For Japanese, great food at an incredible price-point!
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What are your current Top 10s?
I haven’t been dining out enough to have a Top 10 in Toronto.
My current Top 5 restaurants over the past 12 months
Enoteca Sociale
Omai (Japanese on Harbord)
Union on Ossington
Parallel on Geary
Pearl Harbourfront (my only upscale dim sum over the past 2.5 years and I liked what I ordered better than what I’ve order at Dynasty from 2018- March 2020)
My Top 6 bakeries, cafés and coffee shops
Rustle and Still (Vietnamese coffee shop with banh mi and meatballs available
Fika on Kensington Ave (sunshine bun, Kannelbullar, brownies, open-faced sandwiches)
Emmer (recommend the breakfast sandwiches, quiche, breads, patty melt, butty, BLT- but avoid the schnitzel sandwich)
Noctua
Mattachioni- everything
Le Conciliabule- everything
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I’m finding most of the mid-level restos I patronize nowadays - I cook at home maybe five-six nights a week, dine out the other one or two nights - to be very, very average, and often not particularly good value. Menus are shrinking, as are portion sizes, while prices edge up almost daily. It’s too easy to spend $100 for two, all in, for marginal nosh. A $150 price often brings just a slight improvement. But there are exceptions - places that seem to maintain decent quality.
- Pape Village. Standard-issue Greek with a bit of flair, unlike its mostly dreary competition.
- Cho Sun OK. Long-time Korean favourite with limited, well-done menu. On Yonge St. north of Steeles.
- Babel. At York Mills and Bayview. Well-run modern MidEast spot at the $150 level. Worth it, so long as it doesn’t bump up much higher.
- Indian Street Food Co. On Bayview, south of Eglinton. Another well-run spot with interesting takes on many of its dishes. In the $100-$125 territory. Good value.
- Belsize Public House. Better than most pub menus, mostly done well. At Mount Pleasant and Belsize. Well staffed.
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I’ll list 10 from recent months:
Grey Gardens - fresh, interesting small plates and interesting wines
Wynona - great pastas and veggie dishes, plus nice wines.
Emmer - great pastries, breakfast sandwich, lunch options.
Famiglia Baldassare - great pastas to take out and to eat later.
Dova - great pastas and pizzas, with Sicilian wines.
Que Ling - delicious bánh cuốn, soups, sticky rice rice wrapped in bamboo leaves.
Tiflisi - tasty Georgian food not too far from our neighbourhood.
Little Sister - still great, flavour-packed Dutch-Indonesian dishes; fun cocktails.
Lapinou - fun, French bistro-ish fare
George - my pick for a swellegant meal during patio season (especially since many other options didn’t have patios anymore)
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Based on 2022 dining - and because of limited opportunities some only visited once (in other years must be a repeat visit for me to include).
Listed alphabetically:
Actinolite
Alo
Khao San Road
La Banane
Lake Inez (Secret Patio)
Lapinou
Oji Seichi
Orote
Scaramouche
Yukashi
Honourable mention to my Breakfast/Brunch places - each visited multiple times
Burger Shack
Zelden’s
And absolutely zero take-outs worth mentioning, although the prepared dishes to take home, heat and serve from Summerhill Market were way ahead of the other pre-prepared dishes I tried.
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Maison Tribe. Yonge and St. Clair’s must try new restaurant!
This is Toronto’s Best New Restaurant!
I ate here with my wife on a date night and the food, service and ambiance were all outstanding.
I live to eat, so finding a new restaurant that delivers all three makes my day. In the case of Maison Tribe, I have to say it’s the most flavourful food I have eaten in years.
Each dish was something I have never had before. The spices were a treat for my tastebuds. The chicken was sublimely cooked and the sauces were very tasty.
I couldn’t be happier that Yonge and St Clair now has a new dining venue that is unlike anything I have ever tasted.
I’ll be back there soon to try all the dishes that I missed during our first visit.
As they say, you have to try this place to believe it.
Welcome!
Did you take any food photos you can post?
Their website only shows ’ take-out ’ menu. Also, information posted on the web depicts them serving casual ’ sports bar ’ food?!!
Adding ’ LUCIE ’ …IMHO, a must eat BEST FINE DINING FRENCH RESTAURANT featuring great food and top notch, attentive service!
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Aight Charles I will ensure I try them out sooner rather than later
A first post - a rave report on the place that served up my worst meal of 2023 (so far).
The first two items I attempted to order were ‘not available tonight’. Upon ordering my third choice, I attempted to add an appetizer. Both were ‘not available tonight’.
Their wine list is ‘Champagne by the bottle’ ONLY. All, except 'House Champagne (at $65) were over $200. I was not tempted by the House version - can’t be sure but I have my doubts that it is Champagne. Ended up ordering a beer - which seemed the beverage of choice for all attendees.
The food: Plantains were well cooked. Sauce was nicely spiced. Gizzards were so overcooked as to be inedible (or I need a new set of teeth).
Entertainment was TV screens - one with only the bass channel (no vocals) and the other showing Tennis.
I was the only customer who ordered food.
Welcome to our Community TravelBuddha.
Next time try Afrobeat Kitchen. Less glitz but more taste.
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CHINESE CUISINE:
With the closing of perennial ’ Cantonese wok-hay stirred fry ’ favorites like Maple Yip and Judy’s Cuisine, Pre-Covid. Finding comparable places that offer ’ consistently good ’ food as a replacement can be quite challenging. My current choice for ’ seafood centric, wok-hay ’ stirred fry Chinese food is:
TOP CHOICE - Kennedy/Hwy#7
In addition to the list of existing, popular establishments, other higher end fine dining Chinese Restaurants are sprouting up all over the place. Very often, in selecting a venue, one often uses a ’ food based on the reputation of the establishment ’ approach. Sadly, this is no longer enough to guarantee a positive outcome! …dinner offerings from The ONE FUSION, FANCY and CHI-STAR are such examples!
Currently, for consistently good, quality fare, I have been sticking to my two go-to places:
STAR-CHIVA - 160 East Beaver, Richmond Hill
and
LOBSTER PORT 1 - Leslie south of Hwy#7, Richmond Hill ( formerly Le Parc )
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