Rio 40

Rio 40
1256 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario

416-654-6363

In her opinion:
Toronto was a major traffic nightmare this weekend due to the Molson Indy. So we decided to stick to restaurants north of St. Clair Avenue. Our original intentions involved going to Hardys Hogtown Brasserie since it's been recently featured in the newest edition of the LCBO's Food and Drink Magazine. However, the bbq gods made sure that didn't happen.  They were surprising closed for lunch on a Saturday.  This left us with a little dilemma since we didn't want to head south and weren't quite sure there was anywhere nearby that we wanted to try.  So we decided to park and look for somewhere to have lunch on St. Clair West.  Edgar spotted Rio 40 while looking for a parking spot. It mentioned that it had Brazilian, Portuguese and Italian food.  Sounded good to me.

This is a large space with a large patio for al fresco dining.  We opted to stay inside since I love air conditioning.  We were seated right away and given menus.  We ordered our drinks...I chose sparkling water. The waitress brought us a bread basket and we placed our orders.  We started with the Fruta de Mar appetizer. This was described on the special's menu as Mussels and Clams in Sauce.  Well, after waiting quite a long time for our appetizer the waitress came over to say that it would be only clams since the mussels had turned.  We were fine with this...I personally like avoiding food poisoning!

Well, these clams were so so good.  Absolutely delicious. They were very fresh. The sauce was excellent.  Onions, peppers and cilantro in a delicious beer based sauce.  Worthy of bread dunking!

For my main course I chose from the special's menu again, this time Feijoada...a Brazilian Bean Stew.  It was served in the traditional manner with collard greens refogado, white rice and lightly roasted coarse cassava flour mixed with onion called farofa and orange slices.

This was outstanding. I love Portuguese feijoada and have always wanted to try the Brazilian version. So when I saw this on the menu I jumped at the opportunity.  The bean stew itself was excellent. It was very flavourful. There was a variety of meats in the mixture...ribs, linguica (Portuguese smoked sausage), corned beef, pork belly and bacon. It had the slow cooked flavour of a good stew. The rice was delicious...perfectly flavoured. The collard greens were sauteed in garlic and tasted outstanding.  I wasn't crazy about the cassava flour mixture but I can appreciate the authenticity of the meal. The oranges added a lot of freshness to a heavy dish.  So good. It certainly lived up to my expectations.

We decided not to have to have dessert at Rio 40 since there was another place we had spotted for dessert. But from the desserts I saw around me, their selection looked great. I would definitely recommend Rio 40 and would return without a moments hesitation.

In his opinion:
Nothing like stumbling into a restaurant by accident and having it end up being a great experience. After driving by 3 times, looking for parking and with our eyes on another restaurant, faith had it that we ended up at Rio 40 degrees.

Rio 40 degrees is a predominately Brazilian restaurant but does carry Portuguese and Italian dishes. Given its location on St. Clairs "Corso Italia", one might say that it does cater to the neighborhood and its ethnicity.  

The place itself is a two level split restaurant with large photo artwork of various Rio de Janeiro landscapes. A couple of large LCD flat screens and the Brazilian flag adorn the walls and looked like the perfect place to watch the upcoming 2014 World Cup, that just happens to be taking place in Brazil.

The menu is varied in its range but has some really traditional Brazilian dishes in it, justifying the large contingency of Portuguese speaking Brazilians in the restaurant that day, and I'm sure every day.

For our shared appetizer, we ordered the "Mussels and Clams". After 10 minutes we were told that the mussels were not available and if we still wanted to keep the clam order. We did, and I'm very glad we did. The clams were very tasty in a brothy sauce of cilantro, onions, peppers and beer.

After great consideration of the menu (lots of choices), I opted for the special of the day "Espetada de Picanha". This translates to skewers of delicious rump steak, shrimp and linguica (smoked/cured Portuguese pork sausage).

For those of you unfamiliar with Picanha beef, let me tell you that in my opinion, it is one of the tastiest, more tender meats I have ever tasted in my whole life. I first had it in Aruba in a Brazilian Rodizio (all you can eat meat on skewers) restaurant. It is the top sirloin cap (coulotte or colotte) of a cow and never to be confused with just regular top sirloin. It is usually served medium and it is traditional in the Brazilian Rodizio restaurants.

My dish also came with a house salad and a healthy dose of white rice, also a staple in Brazilian cuisine. The meat was amazingly tender and juicy, just melt in your mouth goodness. The shrimps and the linguica were well cooked and just lightly charbroiled from the BBQ.

This dish was also a lot bigger than it looks on the plate. My wife put a healthy dose of feijoada on top of my rice and I could barely finish the dish.
Feijoada com arroz (rice and beans) are one of the main staples in Brazilian food and as authentic as it gets.

The service was great, the manager came to see us to ensure all was well and the waitress was very pleasant and she assumed correctly that we could speak Portuguese, not sure if she does that with everyone.

The Good: Authentic food in a relaxing, laid back atmosphere.
The Bad: Appetizers took 20 minutes to get to the table and they difficulty with the mussels for the clams and mussels.
The Verdict: Great place for authentic Brazilian food and friendly service. Would be an amazing place to watch the World Cup or any soccer event.

I give it a 3  out of 5 olives as rating

Oh Canada Ribfest

Oh Canada Ribfest
June 29 to July 2, 2012in fat

Waterdown Memorial Park
Waterdown, Ontario

In her opinion:

Well, every foodie knows that the arrival of summer also means the arrival of ribfests across our province. This holiday weekend there was two that I knew of, The Toronto Ribfest at Centennial Park and the Oh Canada Ribfest in Waterdown, Ontario.  But there's a schedule printed here of all the other ribfest events throughout the summer.

We went to the Oh Canada Ribfest sponsored by the Rotary Club.  It wasn't the biggest ribfest I've been to but it had plenty of choice.  Edgar and I just decided to spit a feast...there will be tonnes of ribs this summer so no need to go overboard on our first try! 

We opted for Boss Hog's BBQ since we hadn't tried them in the past. We got the Bosses Feast for $24.00 which included 1/3 of a rack of ribs, 1/4 of a chicken, pulled pork, beans and coleslaw.  We also got a Nickel Brook Organic Lager to wash it all down.

This was excellent. The sauce was delicious. The ribs and chicken were cooked perfectly. The pulled pork was outrageously delicious. I love pulled pork and this one was not disappointing at all. The beans were full of porky, sweet flavour. I also thought the coleslaw was very well done. I love a good mayonnaise based coleslaw.

It was my first time trying the Nickel Brook and I have to say...I really enjoyed it.  Good crisp beer.

I'm looking forward to  many more Ribfests this summer...in fact, I think Mississauga Rotary Ribfest on July 19 -22, 2012 is calling my name.

*****

*****

In his opinion:

Ribfests are some of my favourite Summer events. At any given weekend you can find some form of Ribfests happening in Soutwestern Ontario, giving everyone a chance to try some great BBQ regardless of where you reside.

Our initial plans were to attend the Toronto Ribfest at Centennial Park but after waking up late and realizing that the drive was twice the distance made us chose the Waterdown Ribfest.  Having no clue how good or big it was and having only the unfinished website for the event to go by, we were taking a bit of a risk by blindly following our instincts.

Waterdown is a short drive for us and before we knew it, there we were. The Ribfest was being held in combination with a Carnival and both were being held at Waterdown's Memorial Park. I will be the first one to admit that Waterdown is a bit more "rural" than my city taste can usually handle but I was willing to give it a try. 

I was pleasantly surprised as I arrived to the park, noticing that there were a lot more BBQ selections than I expected. Some of the one's that do the usual Ribfest circle were there like Camp 31, Boss Hog's, Ribs Royale and Kentucky BBQ.

We decided to try Boss Hog's feast which consisted of 1/3 ribs, pulled pork and 1/4 chicken. The platter also came with beans and coleslaw.
Let me start with the ribs since it is Ribfest afterall. They were extremely tasty with just the perfect amount of smokiness not to make them too dry. That's actually one of my biggest pet peeves. Many ribs I try are dry and over smoked, even from some of the  famous and award winning rib houses. 
The chicken was also very good with crispy  skin and smothered with a tangy sweet  BBQ sauce. Then there was the pulled pork...delicious. Beautifully slow cooked shoulder cut pork, marinated perfectly in BBQ sauce, and melt in your mouth perfect.

All in all it was a good experience, a smaller scale ribfest, in a  rural setting hit the spot. Unfortunately, my picky eater, almost vegetarian son was only satisfied across the street, at the Golden Arches...really???

Grain of Salt

Grain of Salt
18-561 Hespeler Road
Cambridge, ON

519-653-1600

In her opinion:
I have heard so many good things about this place...especially from the East Indian community and how it is the best Indian food in our area! That of course only made me want to blog about it even more! Espcially to see what all the fuss is about.

We had had Grain of Salt before...we had take out from their downtown Preston location and I actually found it very expensive. Yes, the food was good but for the price I found it a little steep. So when they opened up a new nicer location on Hespeler Road, I had to try it out.  So this Sunday past we went to lunch.  The menu is the same as it was in downtown Preston but the restaurant itself is much nicer. 

We started off with one of their appetizer. We choose the Sab Ek Saath. This consisted on one vegetable samosa, 2 pieces of chicken pakora, 2 potato pakora, 2 onion bhajia and 2 spinach pakora. 

The samosa was unbelievably delicious. The chicken pakora was so well flavoured and delectable. I really enjoyed the onion bhaja as well.  The spinach and potato pakora were not my favourite but they were well done.

For my main, I was a little confused about what to pick. But then I found the specials menu. What I liked was that they had a lunch special available to us if we wanted making choosing a much easier task. We both picked the non-vegetarian meat special This consisted of one meat curry, a piece of tandoori chicken, house salad, daal (lentil stew), raita (yogurt and cucumber sauce), rice, naan and dessert in this case kheer (rice pudding). I picked Chicken Tikka Masala as my meat curry. This is basically chicken that has been cooked in a tandoor oven and served with a tomato coriander sauce. It is one of my favourite Indian foods and it is also considered to be "a true British national dish". I kid you not!

This lunch special for $10.99 was a very good value. The food was very well prepared. It was delicious. However, I will say that I prefer Taal Fine Indian Cuisine in Brantford (read our post here). But overall, very fine Indian food and I will definitely return.

In his opinion:
I recall Grain of Salt from the Preston days as being the place that served the best butter chicken I have ever had. A while back, my friend Anisha had tipped me off to this place stating that her family eats there and if East Indian people eat at an East Indian restaurant, that's all the validation I need.

The new location is much nicer (heaven knows the old one was way past its prime). Clean, bright and a nicely decorated room except for the ugly white metal chairs in the middle that don't match the decor at all. They are surely a transplant from the old location or left behind from a previous business. Either way they don't fit and ruin the rest of the nicely decorated room.

I browsed the menu and found a lot of good selections. There are many authentic choices for all different tastes and I must add that many East Indians were indeed eating there, which is always a good sign.

Our appetizer was a sampler plate, from which I must highlight the chicken pakora, the vegetable samosa and the onion bhajia. 

For an entree I picked from one of their lunch specials well priced around $9-$11. I had the non-vegetarian plate with 1 meat choice (vindaloo chicken, one of my favourites) plus 1 piece of tandoori chicken, daal and raita. It also comes with naan bread (get the garlic one if possible) and kheer as dessert.
The vindaloo chicken was awesome with just the right amount of "heat" and tasted excellent. Loved almost everything in my "plate", not crazy about raita but that comes from me not loving Indian yogurt dishes.

I said my "plate" because the food was actually served in a metal tray called "a Thali" (Hindi for plate). Before you make any assumptions linking this to prison meals please understand that this is common practice in India, by which most East Indians eat off a Thali or have a Thali meal, and have so for many generations. It's tradition and if you want traditional Indian food in a traditional setting, you should get the whole experience.

The food was very good and the experience was very pleasant. Grain of salt is authentic Indian food in a restaurant that gives you a good Indian experience.
There is also a private room in the front of the restaurant for private or large parties.

The Good: Authentic East Indian food with great flavours and a new bright clean location. The perfect blend of genuine Indian food and experience.
The Bad: Those white chairs need to go, period...there I said it!
The Verdict: For those looking for real East Indian food in Cambridge, this is as good as it gets. Great food and great service!

I give it a 3 out of 5 olives as a rating

K-W Multicultural Festival

K-W Multicultural Festival
Victoria Park 
Kitchener, Ontario

June 23 and 24, 2012.

In her opinion:
We went to the K-W Multicultural Festival last year for the first time and I became hooked. So when Edgar suggested we go again this year, I was all over that idea.  The festival is a mixture of food, entertainment, craft stall and community awareness programs. But basically, I'm there for the food. What an opportunity to try food from different cultures without going to a restaurant and having to pay outrageous prices for something you may not like.

This year we tried food from the Philippines, Zambia-Tanzania, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Egypt, Turkey and Vietnam.

Overall, it was very good. I enjoyed the Filipino offerings...very safe. Basically excellent spring rolls, bbq chicken, skewers, rice and noodles. Very very good. This plate of food could have been from anywhere in the world as it reminded me of even Portuguese food aside from the spring rolls and noodles.

Last year, I walked by the Ethiopian food stand and kept on going...no seriously, I didn't even want to look at it! But this year I walked right up to it with my money in my hands and ordered the Doro Wot plate with consisted of Doro Wot (chicken and egg stew), Minchet Abish (ground beef stew), Enjera or Injera  (flatbread)and some type of feta like cheese called Ayib. The Doro Wot was very good, a little hot but good. The Michchet Abish was a little bland but I know it had been toned down quite a bit for the non-Ethiopians at the festival. 

The Zambian-Tanzanian food stand was next door to the Ethiopian stand so we decided that we needed to try it as well.  We opted for the Sample Plate...this included a bit of everything. It included Nyama Ya Nkuku (chicken stew), Kayela (bean stew), Nkuku (bbq chicken), spinach, rice and Kachumbari (tomato and onion salad). Everything was very delicious. I loved the Kayela, so so good. I reminded me of a Portuguese bean dish. This entire plate was very flavourful and delicious.

We stopped by the El Salvadorian food stand next. I was craving pupusas and apparently so was everyone else at the festival.  This was by far the longest line that I stood in that day. But it was so worth it. These pupusas were stuffed with chicharron (a pork paste mixture). They were served with curtido and a tomato salsa. They were freshly made as you waited and absolutely delicious. By far my favourite food of the festival.

Given the heat, I found refuge with my six year old in the shade and allowed Edgar to pick out the next choices that we would try at the festival. He stopped by the Egyptian food stand and picked up a lamb pita. These pita had bbq lamb, onions and peppers with lettuce and tomato in a garlic sauce.  I found the lamb a little over done for my taste but overall the pita was delicious.

He also stopped by the Turkish stall and picked up some Turkish desserts. He picked up a couple of the cheese pockets or Bogaca, a yogurt cake and a Sutlu Borek (a phyllo dessert with cheese and honey). The desserts were excellent.

Finally, Edgar picked up Vietnamese roasted/bbqed corn. This was so good. The corn was absolutely delicious. It could have been roasted/bbqed corn from anywhere in the world...that's the thing about food...it crosses cultural barriers.

Overall, the K-W Multicultural Festival was awesome. Can't wait for next year. It would be nice to see other cultures represented...like Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, etc. as well.

*****

Filipino BBQ

Filipino Food Stand

Filipino BBQ Plate

Ethiopian Food Stand

Ethiopian Food Stand

Ethiopian Non-Vegetarian Plate

Zambian-Tanzanian Food Stand

Zambian-Tanzanian Food Stand

Cooking Pupusas

Pupusas

Turkish Desserts

Turkish Desserts

Egyptian Lamb Pita

Vietnamese Roasted Corn

Zambian-Tanzanian Sample Plate.

*****

In his opinion:
The Multicultural Festival in KW is a wonderful opportunity to get in touch with the community, experience the community information booths, the ethnic vendors, connect with people, watch the ethnic entertainment on stage and...Who Am I kidding? I'M THERE FOR THE FOOD..and nothing else! I mean, where else can you get so much different ethnic food in a 100 yard radius??

This year there were a lot more food vendors than last year and I like that you can see the actual ethnic person cooking their own food, unlike having  Mexicans cooking French food or something like that.

I surveyed the vendors and after a quick glace I decided to skip the usual suspects, and by that I mean the ones i know I can access easily through local restaurants. We skipped Greek, Chinese and only tried corn form the Vietnamese vendors.

Instead we focused on the less usual ethnic foods and the wonderful combinations that they had prepared for us. We had Zambian-Tanzanian, Ethiopian, Filipino, Egyptian, El Salvadorian and Turkish selections.

I will not elaborate too much on the content of the foods as it has been covered above but I will give you my opinion of the best and the worst of the selections and some ok in between.

Best: surprinsigly the Zambian-Tanzanian takes first place. Great combination platter mix of rice, chicken, veggies and beans. They all displayed great spice balance and a perfect variety for a well proportioned meal.

Runner up: Turkish deserts. What an amazing selection of sweets and pastries and to think I stayed away from the more popular Baklava and thought  I would regret it, but no. Special mention to Sutlu Borek and yogurt cake.

Most disappointing: The lamb pita from Egypt was not very good. The pita itself was good but the sauce combination was unpleasent and the lamb was borderline inedible, charred and tasteless.

As mentioned above this Festival lacks in some great ethnic foods represented in our region, Portuguese, Polish or German, but almost makes up for it with the selections from Africa.

I plan on going to next year's event and maybe this time I will even attempt to catch a show or two. Special mention for the Region of Waterloo supplying their Tap Water truck...YUM.....and the cash machines being all out of order before lunch on the Saturday.

This was a HOT, HOT, HOT event and not only for the 29 degrees celsius of the day.

Porchetta & Co.

Porchetta & Co.
825 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario

647-352-6611

In her opinion:
After a fabulous day in Toronto. We wanted something good but not to heavy for dinner. So since the decision about where to go was up to me...I decided that it would be Porchetta & Co. I have heard amazing things about their pork sandwiches so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

This petite gem in Portugal Village is really small. I would say there is seating for maybe 6 in total. But the food quality is huge.

We decided to order one of their Soft Shell Crab Po'Boy which was a special of the day and a Porchetta Sandwich.  

The Po'Boy consisted of a deep fried soft shell crab with spicy mayo, coleslaw and prosciutto "bacon" bits. This was absolutely delicious. Excellent flavour. The bread was soft, the crab crunchy and flavourful, the coleslaw cooling and the prosciutto bacon bits added the right amount of saltiness.  Well balanced and well made.

The Porchetta Sandwich was delectable. The pork was beautifully seasoned. The crackling added a delicious crunch.  The mustard we picked was the perfect accompaniment.  The bread (fresh sourdough from Caldense Bakery across the street) was perfection. Overall, one of the best pork sandwiches I have ever eaten. It was so good we got a second one to split for the road.  

The only disappointment with Porchetta & Co. is that it's an hour away from home. It is so good.  We will definitely return to Porchetta & Co. in the near future!

In his opinion:

This "pork" piece of heaven restaurant on College's Portugal Village is a treasure waiting to be found, savoured and experienced. Apart from what one might think or have heard about Porchetta & Co., the sheer constant volume of clients and the endless line-ups tell the real story about this place.  We pulled up to it and the line-up was smaller than usual, allowing us to actually grab some "premium" seating inside. This was a good start.

As we browsed the "menu" we witnessed the staff being very engaging, making everyone's very short stay pleasant and catering to all their needs quickly and efficiently. The menu is as limited as it can be. You have the Porchetta sandwich, or the Porchetta plate or you can have it by the 1/2 pound or pound. We opted for the Porchetta sandwich and bypassed the immense topping list so we could get a very accurate taste of the Porchetta seasoning and its mix of soft and crackling textures. 

It surely lived up to its expectations. The sourdough bread was fresh and the pork was delicious, with just enough spice to give it the right amount of flavour. Part of the attraction of the sandwich is the texture of the pork, tender and soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. This works very well together in my opinion.

We also had the special of the day, the soft shell crab Po' Boy sandwich. This sandwich is decadent and deserves a place on the main menu, even though it is a deviation from the "pork" concept of this place. The battered, crunchy crab pieces work so well with the spicy mayo, coleslaw and bacon bits. Although I enjoyed the Porchetta sandwich quite a bit, (enough to order another while eating), the Po' Boy was even more memorable.

There is the option of having Porchetta on top of this superb crab sandwich, it's called "the gang bang" (ouch)... and I'm thinking that I'll be taking that option next time I go there. I mean soft crab and Porchetta on top? Forgetaboutit...

The Good: Pork...good pork...well seasoned and crispy pork, very hard to beat.
The Bad: Short menu and extremely limited seating.
The Verdict: A must try and try often. They take their pork seriously and it shows. Could have either one of those sandwiches on a daily basis and not get sick of it.

I give it 3 olives out of 5 as rating.

Mildred's Temple Kitchen

Mildred's Temple Kitchen
85 Hanna Avenue
Toronto, Ontario

416-588-5695

In her opinion:
I'm always looking for great places to eat and at times I'm happy to say that I often find them. Today, we drove to Toronto without a real plan.  Edgar just said...you pick. So I did. At first I was playing around with different options in my head but as we got closer to Toronto I was definitely sure where I wanted to eat lunch/brunch on this gorgeous day in June.  Mildred's Temple Kitchen was my choice. Am I ever glad I picked it.

I must say that this restaurant is not the easiest to find, but after some maneuvering around Hanna Avenue we spotted the walkway to it.

We were seated right away which was fantastic given the fact that we did not have a reservation. The room is very large and spacious with modern decor.  It's a very nice room.

After checking out the menu, we decided to order their famous "Biscuits and Scones". They are described on their brunch menu as hot out of the oven current scones or buttermilk biscuits served with homemade preserves.

I was a little hesitant to orders these beauties. At $6 for two or $14 for 6. Well, let me say...absolutely delicious. The only other time I have had biscuits or scones this good was at Ruby Watch Co and Chef Lynn made them! Flaky and delicious. The currant scones had a very delectable orange flavour. The buttermilk biscuits were light and fluffy. So so good! They were served with creamy butter and strawberry preserves that was not to sweet. Just right. A little bonus with these babies was that they were on the house. The manager gifted them to us after we told him we were going to write about the brunch here! Very generous and cool!

For my entree, I picked "Huevos Monty".  It is described on their menu as "Mildred's classic black bean refritos and sharp cheddar cheese baked in two flour tortillas and topped with eggs sunny, fresh salsa and avocado creme fraiche."

This was absolutely delicious. Fresh tasting and flavourful. The eggs were perfectly cooked. The sour cream, avocado creme fraiche and fresh salsa were the perfect accompaniment to the baked tortillas filled with deliciousness. 

Overall, a very very good brunch.  We will definitely return to Mildred's Temple Kitchen to try either their lunch or dinner. Great experience which I highly recommend.

In his opinion:
Like a blind bat out of a cave, I trusted only my sonar (wife) to guide me to a good brunch place on this Saturday morning. She picked Mildred's Temple Kitchen, and I'm surely happy she did.

I had heard about this place through our foodie circle on Twitter but it was not on my radar (yet) to try it or blog about it. The decision was made to go there but given the construction on Hanna Ave (Liberty Village), it was tricky to find.

The restaurant has a wonderful patio with a mix of regular and "comfy" seating for around 20 people, with funky umbrellas shading the patrons from the blistering sun. As you walk in, the space opens up into a nicely modernly decorated spacious room, with high ceilings, a sleek design and distinct sections. A few nice decorating touches include a life size suckling pig, unfinished ceilings and over sized vases.

The brunch menu is not very extensive but has enough good choices for everyone's palate. The emphasis is on fresh ingredients, light, tasty fare and although the portions were plentiful, we never felt stuffed!

The drink of choice for me was Bert's back. A Campari heavy mix with Vodka and fresh grapefruit juice. Absolutely not what I would ever see myself mixing at home but perhaps the actual reason I ordered it in the first place. Light, sour and smooth was the verdict, as I made my way through it, puckered lips and all.

Browsing the menu, looking at the 6 biscuits and scones for $14 made me think, these better be some good currant scones...and buttermilk biscuits! Well...they are even better than that. Flaky soft and packed with flavour, they are divinely served with home made strawberry preserve and butter. I was also told that if I take them home, all it takes is 5 minutes in the oven, wrapped in tin foil and they will taste like "just made". I'm testing that theory tomorrow with the 2  I brought back.

I then ordered the oddly named "Mandhandler" dish, which consisted of a very buttery and garlicky sourdough toast, topped with arugula, perfectly cooked slices of strip loin steak and covered by 2 fried eggs. There is something about garlic toast, fried egg and steak that takes me back to my childhood and gives me the warm feeling of a familiar combination. This dish did just that, made me want to mix all those components with every single bite as if I could not have it any other way. Besides the familiarity, this dish just works so well. Add the horseradish jus for good measure and there was the variation needed for the steak strips to shine even more. The very light salad (light on the dressing also) was a great compliment to the dish. Even as the most expensive dish on the menu at $19, it still is a must have.

Service was pleasant, our waitress not overly engaging until towards the end of the meal, and other staff was welcoming, efficient and congenial. 

The Good: Modern Art Gallery like decoration but with a warm feel to it. The food is well executed, light fresh fare, flavourful dishes and great combinations.
The Bad: No bad to report despite reading some less than perfect reviews before hand, especially on wait times and service. Can be a bit pricey I guess!
The Verdict: A great place for eating period. The atmosphere, the feel, the cool washrooms and especially the great combinations of food make this a must try. I want to go back for dinner soon!

I give it a 3 1/2 olives out of 5 as rating