Au Pied de Cochon - Sugar Shack

Au Pied De Cochon
Sugar Shack
Maple Syrup

By Martin Picard

In her opinion:

What happens when you combine food (no, really good food) and art(both stetches and photography) with the great culinary mind of Martin Picard...well you get a cookbook/coffee table book that is beyond awesome. And to boot...it's printed in Quebec and not China - thanks Nathalie Atkinson for that little tidbit.

I had been eyeing this cookbook since I received the email from Chapters/Indigo for the pre-sale of the book a couple of months ago.  I was contemplating buying it then.  But I'm so glad I waited.  My fabulous husband found out that Martin Picard was doing a book signing at Le Creuset at Sherway Gardens on March 18, 2012. Needless to say, guess where we went?  

When we got there they had the most amazing deal on to mark the book signing.  Buy their 4 litre square covered casserole dish and receive a free cookbook.  This excited me!  This deal is like hitting the jackpot.  Two of my favourite things...Le Creuset and cookbooks. Wow. I obviously took the deal. 

Martin was late for the book signing because his flight got cancelled and he ended up driving to Toronto from Montreal but you would never know.  This man is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. I can honestly understand why chefs like Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin and Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations' fame admire and love this guy.  He's a really nice guy.  With a genuine smile and an infectious laugh.  I liked him. No, I really liked him.

He was nice to me, my husband and even my six year old.  Great guy and better chef! But, enough about Chef Picard.

The book is truly amazing. The recipes focus on Maple Syrup. After all, that is what the Au Pied de Cochon - Sugar Shack book is about. The Table of Contents has every imaginable recipe that you can put maple into.  From "Soft Maple Sugar Candy" to "Squirrel Sushi" to "Foie Gras Tatin".  

Along with the recipes are some rather "sexy" sketches and photographs. This is definitely not your average cookbook. That is why I also described it as a coffee table book because it is beautiful enough and large enough to have on your coffee table!

If you have an extra $70.00 lying around...pick this one up. It's a visual stunner by a really nice guy who happens to be a great chef!

In his opinion:

Martin Picard is no stranger to the limelight. His widely successful show "The Wild Chef" on the Food Network and the reputation and accolades received for both his restaurants Au Pied du Cochon and Sugar Sack make him a household name. Still he remains a no frills, anything goes, hell of a nice guy type Chef and it's obvious that fame has not gone to his head.

Many may not know that tis is not Picard's first cookbook but when his "Au Pied du Cochon, The Album" from 2006 hit the shelves and became a must have for many chefs worldwide, the realization of his star power was finally here. This new cookbook harbours both the names of of his restaurants, Au Pied du Cochon in Montreal and Sugar Shack in St Benoit de Mirable in Quebec.

Already lauded by critics as part art, part cookbook and all controversy, it's really a cookbook that Martin wants you to cook from. It pays homage to the great Canadian staple Maple Syrup, and serves to inform everyone of the versatility of this great product and also to remind us that we don't use it enough in our cooking.

The book is 382 pages filled with short stories, amazing recipes and the occasional half naked girl for good measure. The real controversy comes from recipes for dishes like "Confederation Beaver", "Woodcocks a la shack" and "Squirrel Sushi". Only probably Martin can get away with making one of our national symbols into a cookbook recipe but, like he always says, good meat is good meat, no matter what animal it comes from. The pictures that accompanied these dishes are as controversial as the names and I'm sure there will be an animal rights activist somewhere, waiting to jump on the wagon and bash this book.

The book is amazing with stunning visuals of food, illustrations, step by step instructions and some women in the mix. It is a true representation of what Martin Picard really is, controversial, passionate about food, defender of all things Maple and Foie Grais, but most of all, a poster boy for ingredients from Quebec.

He is one of my favourite Chefs in the World and his Au Pied du Cochon remains my favourite restaurant in Montreal (check our review of it here). It was a pleasure to be able to meet him and trade a couple of jokes and one could not find a more down to earth chef then Monsieur Picard. Graisses de porc, foie grais et sucre pour toujours, salut!

Angel's Diner

560 Hespeler Road
Cambridge, Ontario

519-623-4389

In her opinion:
Finding a descent breakfast place in Cambridge is not too easy. Sure we have 50's Diner, Papa Joe's Hot Kettle and Galtview! And as most of you have read, we favour Papa Joe's, however; when you are having breakfast with friends from Guelph that is not always a convenient location. So where? Well we decided on Angel's Diner for today. Angel's Diner is a chain with several locations throughout Ontario.

This wasn't our first time at Angel's.  The other two times hadn't really been impressive or left lasting memories. But because of its convenience we decided it was the right choice.

They have an extensive menu but to be honest, nothing was really calling out my name.  I settled on the Canadian Saute.  It had home fry potatoes, fire roasted green and red peppers, onions and peameal bacon topped with cheese and two eggs. I had my eggs poached and ordered a side of hollandaise sauce.  It tasted good except for the fact that there was more peppers and onions then potatoes.  There was lots of peameal bacon in this saute which was nice.  The eggs were a little overdone but tasted fine.  The meal came with a fruit cup which my little man ate.

Our friends ordered the Eggs Benny Saute and Eggs Benedict. The Saute was again home fry potatoes, fire roasted green and red peppers, and onions.  Topped with melted cheese, ham and two poached eggs with hollandaise sauce. This also came with a fruit cup. The Eggs Benedict was the classic two English muffins, ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. It was served with home fries and a fruit cup.  They both enjoyed their breakfast very much.

Eggs Benny Saute

Classic Eggs Benedict

I thought the breakfast was good.  It's an option for breakfast in the Cambridge area. Definitely not my favourite, that honour belongs to Papa Joe's.


In his opinion:
Angel's Diner at first glance was a pleasant new addition to the scarce breakfast scene in Cambridge, a negative trend that spreads through the whole of Waterloo Region. Julie forgot to mention Coras but after they dropped scalding water on my back one horrible breakfast, they surely deserve the no mention.

Angel's is your typical style 50's diner. Problem is, we already have a place like that in Cambridge called oddly enough "Fifty's Diner". Last thing we actually needed is another Elvis loving, Cadillac and Coca Cola signs adorned walls type of joint. I reckon there is a large population of baby boomers that enjoy this type of thing or some that just totally decide to ignore the calendar.

We decided to go for breakfast since we already had been there for lunch and it was just ok, nothing to rave home about. 

I had the bagel toasted with cream cheese and Lox (salmon). It was good and the salmon tasted somewhat fresh. The baked apple slices that came with the breakfast weren't very tasty and I would have rather had the fruit medley that comes with all the other dishes. Coffee is mediocre at best and not even huge amounts of sugar and milk could mask the watered down taste.

As I said before, there is not much to rave about this place and I'm going to give it serious thought next time someone asks us to join them there. It's a restaurant chain that feels and cooks like a chain, and poorly at that. 
There are a couple of better options for sure in Cambridge and why this place is always packed is beyond me. Well, it just may be for lack of better places but if you look hard you will find them. Good luck with your search...

Oh and I thought I saw Evis there....or was it at the mall?

C

The Stockyards - Smokehouse and Larder

The Stockyards - Smokehouse and Larder

699 St. Clair Avenue West

Toronto, Ontario

416-658-9666

In her opinion:

I've been thinking about trying out this restaurant since the new Toronto Life Eating and Drinking, 2012 came out and gave them top honours for their fried chicken in the whole city.  So with the nice weather upon us, we drove the hour to Toronto and went to The Stockyards. I'm so glad we did.

This restaurant is not at all what I expected.  I was expecting a huge space serving ribs and fried chicken.  The restaurant was mostly kitchen counter and a few seats around the perimeter of the interior. After waiting about 10 minutes we were seated near the front window.

We ordered off both the regular menu and the Saturday brunch menu. I ordered their famous limeade and Edgar got their ice tea with ginger.  After trying his ice tea he declared that he didn't really like the ginger flavour so we switched.  I didn't mind the ginger flavour of the tea.  It was very refreshing.

I decided to order off Saturday brunch menu and got the "chicken and waffles". It's described as "fried chicken over Belgian waffles with chili maple molasses citrus glaze".

To be honest, I was just a little bit scared by the glaze.  I had definitely heard amazing things about their fried chicken.  After all, it is rated the best fried chicken in Toronto but the glaze is what worried me.  Was I wrong.  The glaze has the right amount of heat without being to overwhelming. The glaze was the perfect accompaniment to the best fried chicken I have ever eaten in my entire life. Apparently this chicken gets 24 hours in brine, 24 hours in buttermilk and then a shake in thyme and jerk-seasoned flour. The Belgian waffle is perfect, studded with herbs. So good. This is a huge portion and Edgar ended up finishing it for me. 

I loved our experience at the Stockyards.  The service was very efficient, the place was full to capacity and there was quite a few people waiting to be seated at the limited amount of seating but the servers were still on top of their game. The food is so so good.  I tried Edgar's "butter burger" and I was amazed at how complex and delicious this burger was.  I will definitely be visiting the Stockyards again.

In his opinion:

How can you argue with the "Best Fried Chicken ", " the Third Best Burger " and "Best BBQ in Toronto" ? Well, unless you are not a fan of Toronto Life Magazine's rating system, you probably can't! Taste their food and you won't!
Tom Davies and his smoker have been collecting accolades for a while now but now it's not just considered good eats, it's top eats in town. And usually that's enough to get me to run and try a place like that. 

Julie had been keeping an eye on this place for a while and I'm glad she decided to finally try it and take me along for the ride.

Eat-in space is quite small but lively and somehow well run given that the demand of seats far outweighs the number of people wanting to be seated at any given time. A seat at the bar gives you a front row view for the "creation of goodness". For those not fortunate to have their eyes full before their meal, the first bite will make up easily for facing the wall, while eating.

At first glance there is nothing I wouldn't want to try on the menu. Well it is menus, because they have their regular, Saturday brunch and Sunday brunch menus. Although, I knew I was in for a hard choice, I decided to be obvious and try the delectable "Butter Burger", rated third best burger in the city.
I mean, butter and burger in the same sentence has to be an attraction for any food lover as well as a death wish, but I'm up for an occasional artery clogging and I guess I was due for one.

The "Butter Burger" is comprised of a crispy on the outside but super soft on the inside patty. It is compound with what seems like a pound of butter, bone marrow, red wine and blue cheese. This has to be arguably the best tasting burger beef patty I have ever tried in my entire life. As toppers, they provide thinly crispy fried onions done in butter, and blue cheese again. Every bite I took made me hope this burger would never end. It's up there with some of the best burgers I have ever had, and I have a lot to compare to. It is seriously one of the only ones I wish I could have every day, without the health risks that I'm sure are associated with butter, butter and more butter.

I ended up having the rest of Julie's chicken and waffle plate and let me tell you, I don't remember the last time I have had crispy chicken like that. It had so much flavour, crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside, just like I love it. Combine that with the amazingly well balanced chili maple molasses citrus glaze and I could have had a few chickens by myself.

Insert the Southern US combination of having waffles with fried chicken and suddenly you are wishing that more people would combine traditional breakfast dishes with chicken, well at least I wish they did! Belgian waffles go perfectly with the chicken but oddly enough go even better with the glaze/sauce drizzled all over them. You can't help to be impressed when such a sauce works so well with fried chicken and waffles alike.

Highly recommend this place for any BBQ, fried chicken or burger lover, so pretty much anyone that's not a vegetarian. I intent to go back and try as many items off their menus as possible and hope that everyone sees the drive to St. Clair Ave. West in Toronto, well worth it, as I did. 

Table 17

782 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON

416-519-1851

In her opinion:
To say that I was excited about this dinner is an understatement.  I was beyond thrilled. March Break, 2011 I walked by this restaurant on my way to Bonjour Brioche in the neighbourhood and thought what a great looking place, but I knew nothing about it. I've gotten to know more about it since my Twitter involvement has grown and my food blogging has gotten serious. After all, Table 17 is one of my favourite Tweeters. They are very engaging and they make you feel comfortable even before you walk in their door.

I had read quite a few blogs about this lovely restaurant with great European preparations in the heart of Riverdale/Leslieville and thought wow, we need to go here.  So I took the bull by the horns and made a reservation for the three of us, knowing perfectly well that we would need to make a stop at Pizza Pizza or McDonald's for my non-foodie child (insert tears here)! Our 5:30pm reservation for three was the perfect time for a six year old and as expected, the restaurant was not full when we got there.  They sat is in a corner table and quickly filled our water glasses.

Since we checked in with Foursquare and it was our first time here, they offered us two glasses of complimentary cava or sparkling wine.  What a nice little offering to start our meal.

To start, we ordered two sharing dishes, "the Hotballs" and "the Duck Rillette".

The Duck Rillette

The Hotballs

The hotballs consisted of six Arancino rice balls, two stuffed with mushrooms and Fontina with a tomato sauce for dipping, two stuffed with goat's cheese with a wildflower honey dipping sauce and two stuffed with spiced lamb with a sweet mint sauce. Absolutely delicious. I really enjoyed all of these little Arancino but my favourite was the combo of the goat's cheese and wildflower honey.  So delicious.  The other two flavours were also very nice and their dipping sauces were the perfect match.  These little guys are absolutely delectable.

The duck rillette was some of the best that I have ever had.  I loved the house made pickles and the country toast. The presentation of this dish is also very well done. But for me, it was the fatty texture of the duck rillette that made me smile from ear to ear.  The flavour is perfect with just the right amount of spice and the duck fat that tops this delicious little spread is delicate and just perfection.  I would like to eat this every single day of my life. It's that good.

For my main, I picked "the Steak Frites".  I normally don't choose steak when I go out to eat unless there's nothing else that is appealing on the menu but in this case, I picked this dish because of the fact that Table 17's "steak frites" is rated one of the best by Toronto Life's Eating and Drinking 2012 magazine.

I ordered my steak with the bearnaise sauce for an extra $2.00.  So worth it. The dish is excellent.  My steak was cooked to a perfect medium. This cut of meat (an 8 oz top sirloin) was excellent. It was served with frites and house made mayonnaise with a little taste of lemon. So good. I really enjoyed this main and was glad that I ordered it.

For dessert, I ordered the "Flourless Chocolate Torte" with Peanut Butter Mousse and Banana Cream.

This was very very good.  The chocolate torte was dense and absolutely rich and indulgent. The peanut butter mousse was light and so scrumptious.  It was little eating an adult "Peanut Butter Cup". The banana cream and peanuts added a little bit of richness and crunch. I really enjoyed this dessert. It was the perfect ending to an excellent meal.

Overall, Table 17 did not disappoint at all.  They lived up to my expectations and then some. I found that the price of dinner for two adults was quite reasonable. I will definitely be returning here. The service and food were exceptional.

In his opinion:
Let me tell you that Leslieville is slowly but surely becoming a big hot spot for foodies as of late. The number of restaurants has increased but more importantly, the quality of the food has made the biggest jump. Table 17 was a very good surprise but not totally unexpected. Beside all the raves from all our fellow foodies, it has a three star rating (excellent) from Toronto Life's Eating and Drinking 2012 magazine. 

Walking in, I'm pleasantly surprised with the décor. A good mix of casual and sophistication with a very inviting feel. The expected bar on the right side of the main room, has a view to the kitchen. We were sat in the adjacent room in the far back, expected when you are dining with a 6 year old, but a well behaved child at that. At our request, the staff shared their WI-FI password and we put it to good use, allowing our son's Ipad to keep him entertained during dinner.

I must admit that my first impression on service was not stellar. Our waitress Lisa, although efficient stayed just that. We had to remind her to get us some bread and service seemed robotic, especially compared to her male counterpart that was serving and engaging the tables next to us. 
Before the meal started, Nadya took over as our waitress and we were much better served from that point on as we enjoyed our complimentary glass of Cava.

For Appetizer: Not much to add as my counterpart has already reviewed it in her "extensive" comments, but those goat cheese balls were amazing, and honey as a dipping sauce? Genius!!! 

Oh...and also the chef should seriously consider selling those jars filled with Duck Rillette to the public. Pickled vegetables were perfect as well!

For Entrée: Am I getting too predictable? Any time there are any French traditional dishes in any restaurants we go to, I seem to gravitate to them. In this case it was the "Duck Leg Confit" (Confit de Canard). The duck leg was cooked perfectly, the skin was the traditional extra crispy just as I like it and the duck meat was moist, tender and the flavour was amazing. I actually imagined myself in Gascony, France (original place for Duck Confit) with every bite I took of this delicious dish, served with a medley of sautee vegetables.

For Dessert: I listened to our waitress' recommendation to try the Honey Pistachio Tart and I'm glad I did. It is not something I would have picked out of the dessert menu but it was a pleasant surprise. Soft tasty middle topped with pistachios and a firmer outer crust that balanced the flavours very well.

The Good: Overall a great meal in a great restaurant. The culinary touch is definitely there. Chef John Sinopoli impressed me with his unpretentious presentation and well thought out, well balanced flavoured food.
The Bad: Our first waitress was just efficient, lacking the flare needed for a restaurant with this type of atmosphere.
The Verdict: Great restaurant, very well thought of menu and a good ambience in both rooms. The great food makes the difference and deserves all the accolades received of late.

I give it a 4 olives out of 5 as a rating.

The Burger's Priest

We have visited the Burger's Priest twice...once in March, 2012 (the Beaches location) and once in August, 2012 (the North Toronto location). These are our experiences:

August 18, 2012

The Burger's Priest
3397 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario

416-488-3510

In her opinion:
I've been thinking about "the Pope" (one of the secret menu choices) since I had it last March, 2012. The delicious beef patties, the soft bun, the "Option" (a cheese stuffed portobello) in the middle and dreaming to returning to the Burger's Priest to grab one. Well, this last Saturday I convinced Edgar that it was time for a return to visit to this "church" to the humble beef burger.

Instead of driving to the Beaches we opted to visit the North Toronto location.  We walked in and found that it wasn't as tiny as the Beaches location.  We even managed to find seating for the three of us. I ordered myself a "Pope"...I know...I had it last time but it was so good and I had been dreaming about the "Pope" not a different burger.

This was burger perfection. It lived up to all of my expectations. God, I love the "Pope". It's really heaven on earth.  

The North Toronto location has milkshakes. So we ordered a chocolate banana to share.

This was a good milkshake. Not too sweet. It was actually refreshing. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

My second visit to the Burger's Priest was as awesome as the first.

In his opinion:

When my wife tells me at 3 PM on a Saturday afternoon that she is craving Burger's Priest "Pope" burger, and wants to drive 1 hour to downtown Toronto to have it that same day, 2 things come to mind. She is either pregnant and hasn't told me or it is inconceivable the lengths to which a "foodie" will go for a good meal. 

Fortunately, for me, it was the latter and just confirmed that burger lovers will do anything to have a good or a favourite burger. We arrived in perfect time to the Yonge Street location just before it got super busy and we were able to order and even grab a seat. I had been pondering what burger to have all the way since I left Cambridge and decided to have something from the "not so secret menu anymore", since it is now featured on their website.

After some consideration, I opted for the mother of all burgers and went straight for the "Tower of Babel". For those not familiar with this colossal burger, it is basically a combination of 2 of their most famous burgers. It's a "Pope" with grilled cheeses replacing the buns (like the "Vatican") to make it the Tower of Babel. It tastes amazing but you may need the skills of a boa constrictor snake, to dislocate your jaw to even get a bite in.

Oddly enough, it's not the biggest burger they make. There is a also 6 patty, 6 cheese slice burger with the obvious name of 6x6, just in case you have Andre the Giant type of appetite.

While savouring my "Tower of Babel", the 2 people next to me were gazing in awe at my burger and in between one of my bites, they asked me what was that? I told them what it was and they were surprised to find out that there is another menu besides the one advertised in the restaurant. I guess even now, when the secret menu is on their website, some patrons still don't know of its existence. I'm making a point of changing that, one customer at a time.

The Burger's Priest never disappoints and well worth the long drive to have their burgers. One day they may tell us what's in those juicy, amazing beef patties and we can attempt to replicate one of our favourites in our backyard grill. Well...I wouldn't hold my breath.




March 11, 2012

The Burger's Priest
1636 Queen Street
Toronto, ON

647-346-0617

In her opinion:

We decided to spend the day in Toronto with our non-foodie child and try out a couple of much talked about culinary draws - the Burger's Priest and Table 17. We got into Toronto and to the Burger's Priest about a half hour before it opened. There were already cars parked out front with people waiting for this shrine to the burger to open.  We explored the neighbourhood including the LCBO for wines to review later on this blog and got back just before this church was opened for service.

By the time we got back to the Burger's Priest, there was a line-up about eight people deep, mostly big guys with big appetites waiting to order these little pieces of heaven. This burger joint is small. There's seating for maybe 6 people. Which meant most people were taking it to go or having it in their cars - just like we did.

By the time it was my turn to order, I came armed and prepared.  I knew the secret menu.  I had discovered that this menu existed a while ago when I was researching the Burger's Priest. And I was the only one from the first group that ordered, that knew it...I bet those big boys wanted to know what the heck I was talking about and when the cashier called out "a Vatican City" and "a Pope" I got a lot of weird and inquisitive looks.  Regardless, I did my good deed for the day and told a dad and his son about the secret menu when he started gushing about how cool this place was and how it was his first time there.

The secret menu can be found here! The blogger or bloggers at "Food With Legs" took the time to explain the secret menu in great detail, so I suggest that you take the time to study it. It offers burgers that are not on the Burger's Priest standard menu displayed in the restaurant.

The secret burgers are out of this world.  I ordered "the Pope" for myself, although we shared both our burgers so we would know how each tasted. I devoured most of this gorgeous creature.

The Pope

This burger consists of two four-ounce beef patties with cheese and there's an "Option" in the middle of the cheeseburgers. An "Option" is a deep-fried cheese stuffed portobello cap. This burger is outstanding. The "Option" in the middle of these succulent cheeseburgers is what makes this burger out of this world. I loved loved this burger. I've been thinking about "the Pope" all day and not the one in Rome.  So good. I tried Edgar's "Vatican City" which was actually featured in Toronto Life's Eating and Drinking 2012 magazine as "Burger of the Year". This burger was also very very good...but "the Pope" gets my "Conclave" vote. These burgers may be the draw to get this girl back to "Church" on a regular basis.

In his opinion:

I will try to avoid all the Church/Religious/Vatican/Rome puns that have been widely displayed all over the internet reviews when describing this sanctuary to all things burger. Although, it's not the salvation of anyone, it will be the redemption of most. Damn I'm too late to avoid that...

I'm sure some of you have heard about the Burger's Priest through all the fanfare of their recently opened new location, or you already know all about the so called "best burger in town" joint that packs day in and day out a collection of devoted followers that religiously devour these amazing forbidden fruits (oh, here I go again.....focus!!!)

Line-ups at noon for the Saturday opening, really? It felt like Best Buy on boxing day but I guess it's that popular. I waited patiently in the cold for my turn to enter the "church" and as I finally made it through the door I quickly realized that this is truly a take-out place. Don't get me wrong, there are seats, kinda like the back seat on Porsche 911's, symbolic and for show only. I tried to sit in one of the seats with my son and felt in the way of all the people lining up behind me. Burgers to go it was, and our SUV was the "picnic table".

We ordered from the "not so secret menu". It's not a secret any more because of all the internet leaks.  And the few that don't know about it must be living in their secret underground bunkers.

The "Vatican City" and the "Pope" were the chosen burgers to order on this day. The "Vatican City" is Toronto Life Magazine's "burger of the year"...enough said. Besides needing to dislocate your jaw to actually take a bite of this monster burger, the mix of textures and flavours will keep you wondering if you actually had ever used all the sensors in your tongue in the past! The colossal mushroom in the middle of the "Pope" elevates it to a new level of burger taste, unknown to most of mankind. Amazing taste, succulent, moist and worth every trip to the church, even for confession. Okay, maybe not for confession!

Vatican City Burger

My choice was the "Vatican City" burger. How do I begin to explain this burger? Well...it's grilled cheese meets best cheeseburger in the world. It's exactly as described, grilled cheese on top and bottom and double cheeseburger in the middle. Double burger patties cooked to perfection, soft, tasty and easy to bite into. The taste is unlike any burger I have ever had. It felt like, as I was about to bite the tastiest burger ever, someone stuck two great grilled cheeses in my mouth. It is totally decadent, tasting almost illegal from being so good.

Are these the best burgers in TO? I don't know and I'm sure neither does Mark McEwan with his "best in town" Gucci burger claims. I must admit that it makes you stop and redefine everything you have ever thought a burger was or could be. Their taste, innovativeness and dedication are evident in every bite, and the legion of followers lining up outside at any given time of the day suggest that this church has a large congregation. Don't bother attending this church on Sunday's as it is real Church day as advertised. But give it a try any other time. Worth the possible clogged arteries any day!

Go and have fun...but go there for a " good time, not a long time"! And take it to go (as if there was any another option)!

Taal Fine Indian Cuisine

Taal Fine Indian Cuisine
578 Colborne Street
Brantford, ON

519-752-3788

In her opinion:
The first time that I tried Indian food was in Montreal, Quebec during reading week of my third year of university.  Instead of going someplace warm we traveled to "La Belle Province" in the middle of a very cold spell. At that time in my life, foodie was not in my vocabulary. We were more interested in where to get drunk and not where to eat. However, we did have Portuguese food during that visit and because some of my housemates were of the  Indian culture, they insisted that we try Indian food.

Let's just say that the experience was not the best and I was left with a very bad impression of Indian food.  I actually convinced myself that I did not like Indian food. That was until about three years ago when my now very adventurous foodie husband convinced me to retry Indian again.

I am so glad that he did.  I now love Indian food and it is probably up there with my favourite types of cuisine.  I guess the reason that I love Indian so much is because once you become a foodie, you start to dislike the run of the mill food that you get at run of the mill franchise places and Indian is so outside that box.

We have tried quite a few Indian places in the KW region but today, Sunday, March 4, 2012, we decided to leave our region and ventured instead to the County of Brant and into Brantford. For those of you who don't know Brantford is famous for two things. Alexander Graham Bell and Wayne Gretzky of the telephone and hockey fame. So according to Urbanspoon, Taal Fine Indian Cuisine has a 90% like average which is very good.  

We took the thirty minute drive into Brantford and came upon what use to be a fast food place complete with an old drive thru window which had been converted to Taal. The inside was nicely done with dark wood and nicely stripped banquettes.  Now don't get me wrong, this is not Luma or Canoe for that matter but I was pleasantly surprised how nice this place was for an Indian restaurant.

On Sundays, they are only opened for dinner and you have the option of a la carte or their dinner buffet.  Liking to try a little of everything, we opted for the buffet.  We ordered a couple of Indian beers, a Kingfisher for me and a Cheetah for Edgar.  The waiter asked if you wanted garlic or plain naan bread.  We opted for the garlic naan and it was quickly delivered having just been made to our table.  

Garlic Naan

KingFisher and Cheetah Beer.

For my first time up at the buffet, I took a few of my favourites, "Chicken Muglai Korma", "Beef Vindaloo", "Curry Goat", "Vegetable Samosa", and excellent "Basmati" rice.

The food was excellent.  The samosa was one of the best that I have ever had.  I loved the chicken korma and the curry goat.  One of the best curry goats that I have ever eaten anywhere except maybe Antigua (don't ask).  The spice overall was just right...not to bland to accomodate the Canadian palate but not to hot that you couldn't eat it either.  It was perfect and the "Raita" was a perfect cooling agent.

I went up a second time and had more curry goat, another samosa, a "Fish Amritsari" fish dish, "Vegetable Pakora" and more rice.  The second plate was as good as the first. 

They also had some dessert items.  I didn't photograph it but they had "Gajar Ka Halwa" (a carrot pudding), Mango Fruit Cream, "Kesri Kheer" (rice pudding) and "Gulab Jamun" (deep fried milk balls). All were excellent but I loved the carrot pudding because of the spice and texture. So good.

Overall, I really enjoyed Taal Fine Indian Cuisine and will definitely be going back in the future. So good. Worth the drive to Brantford!!!

In his opinion:

In a last minute search for a different restaurant outside our own city and after a subtle hint from my wife that she was craving Indian food, I came across the information for Taal Fine Indian Cuisine in Brantford. Like a good foodie researcher, I immediately went online to read some reviews and to get some more info on this place. After all, it is in Brantford which is not really a foodie heaven town despite its recent growth and a handful of decent restaurants.

We arrived at Taal and the Indian food smell was already in the air of the parking lot. Not sure if it was because I was extremely hungry or they made some amazing smelling food, but I took that as a good sign.

We were seated in a nice corner booth. As I looked around, I decided that it looked nice with some dark wood and punches of alternate color.  It all worked well with the full glass windows that line this old fast food, drive-thru facility.

Before I get to the food, I must add that at this point that I was still unsure of this place. How can a good Indian restaurant have a buffet option? Really none that I ever heard of. There is the full a la carte menu but also a buffet? Really?  I'm sure my Indian friends would roll their eyes at such a place.
But, as we always say in the foodie world, if the locals (in this case Indians from India locals) were eating there and getting take-out from this place, then it must be good.

On to the food...We opted for the buffet after glancing at the menu, as with the buffet spread, we could try almost everything in the menu for one price.
The selection is not Mandarin big, but enough items to have lots of choice and let me tell you that everything on the buffet was very good. I know because I tried it all, and paid the price by feeling super full and rolling myself into my parked car.

Plate 1

The plates kept on coming and one thing was better than the next. Highlights from plate 1 were, 'Muglai Korma Chicken" (bottom left) "Vindaloo Spicy Beef"(bottom right) and "Samosa" and "Pakora'. Don't forget that you also get naan bread, regular or garlic and who doesn't like garlic naan, yum!

Plate 2

Highlights from plate 2 were 'Chili Chicken' (bottom left), amazing Basmati rice and 'Mattar Paneer' (top right). The butter chicken was out of this world with the creamy sauce that is traditional to authentic Indian restaurants.

Plate 3

Plate 3 was a just me revisiting the favourites I tried before and boy, was it ever satisfying. One more mention has to go to the Fish Amritsari (top left on plate 3). The spices on this fried fish really make it stand out.

I highly recommend this restaurant, even though there is that unwritten rule that you cannot get good food where they serve it buffet style. Taal changes that perception and comes through in flavour, service and overall good Indian food, for an amazing price.