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.

Fabulicious 2012 - Peller Estate Winery Restaurant

Peller Estate Winery Restaurant
290 John Street East
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
L0S 1J0

In her opinion:

Fabulicious is an opportunity to experience some of Niagara-on-the-Lakes fabulous restaurants for an amazing price. This year's Fabulicous event took place between March 1 to March 5, 2012 and included 15 of the areas best restaurants. When I saw that one of my perpetual favourites, Peller Estate Winery Restaurant was taking part in this event, I jumped at this opportunity to enjoy Chef Jason Parson's premier cuisine. 

Peller Estate Winery Restaurant has been one of my favourites before I even considered myself a foodie. The setting is absolutely beautiful and the food is top notch. This year's Fabulicious Dinner menu was no exception. I smiled from ear to ear when I read what offerings Chef Parson had in store for us.

I started out with the "Peller Crab Cake with Horseradish Aioli, Choux Croute and Fried Capers". 

This was absolutely delicious. The crab cake was moist and well seasoned.  The addition of the horseradish aioli and fried capers were a nice accompaniment to the crab cake and balanced out the flavours perfectly. I loved this appetizer. I almost ordered a second. It was that good.


For my main I picked,"Cast Iron Seared Strip Loin Steak served with Fingerling Potatoes, Blue Cheese and Cider Glazed Rapini".

The steak was cooked to a perfect medium. The side dishes added the right amount of flavour to an ordinarily not great piece of meat. The potatoes and blue cheese combination were excellent. I really enjoyed the rapini as well and the cider glaze added the right amount of sweetness. Overall, a very good main.

To finish my perfect meal, I had the "Chocolate Dobos" described as a flourless chocolate cake with a chocolate praline mousse.

And what a way to finish a meal! So delicious. I have been obsessed with flourless chocolate since I had the "Julie Gateau" at La Plage in St. Barts. This Chocolate Dobos was pretty incredible in its own right. So moist and decadant. A perfect chocolate dessert.


To end our perfect dinner, the manager told us that Chef Parson was very busy but that he wanted us to know that we were welcome to come back into the kitchen and take some pictures and tour the heart of the restaurant. We did and Jason took the time to come and greet us personally. Such a great guy! Must be the Cambridge roots. As always, dinner at Peller Estates was out of this world and Fabulicious was a success for this blogger!


In his opinion:

Normally, you don't need to twist my arm too hard to get me to Niagara-on-the-Lake, let alone to Peller Estates Winery. All of our many visits to this winery, especially to its AAA 4 Diamond award restaurant have been consistently very good and I walked in with the same expectations.


Chef Jason Parsons runs this restaurant with amazingly high standards and brilliant results, but in an effortless way that never seems pretentious or stuffy. Mostly locally produced fresh ingredients are the normal theme of the menu here at Peller, and for Fabulicious it didn't veer away from that norm.


For our dinner, we had the fixed price menu but opted out of the $30/person wine pairing that was suggested. Instead, I went for the white wine sangria, their feature drink for the night/week. It was light, refreshing and very good. 


Our lovely waitress Erica began by serving us bread 3 ways (sourdough, flax and cranberry oatmeal) along with butter topped with sea salt, a trend that seems to have grown in popularity everywhere we go nowadays.

For Appetizer: First they came rather quickly, as if I wasn't prepared for it or something. I started my meal with the "Pingue" Prosciutto Salad. This was served with 4 types of beets (white, red, purple and orange), several pieces of wrapped prosciutto nestled among some greens. The balance was perfect and it was absolutely delicious.

 For Entrée: Duck Leg Confit, one of my favourite dishes in French cuisine. At first glance I was disappointed that the skin was not super crispy, which is the traditional way of serving it but my disappointment died out at first bite. The Duck Leg was perfectly cooked, done to perfection, moist and tender but without looking like it was falling off the bone. As a side, I was served a wonderful bean medley with bacon and an oven dried tomato cassoulet. The dried tomatoes were the perfect balance to the crunchy beans and did not dare to take a fork full of been without one of those tomatoes for flavour.

For Dessert: I opted for the Espresso Profiterole with cinnamon ice cream. Profiteroles are small puff pastries or choix a la creme, served with ice cream inside them and drizzled with chocolate sauce. This dessert went well with my espresso coffee which I must say, was very well done for a change. I was pleased. As you all know, I complain a lot of espressos in fine dining restaurants.

The dining room manager was extremely attentive and pleasant ensuring several times that everyone was happy and all was well. She was also kind enough to prompt Chef Jason to give us the kitchen tour (always a pleasure).

Chef Jason even popped out of his extremely busy kitchen to greet us, unexpectedly but always so attentive.

The Good:Food was very good showcasing the consistency that I have learned to expect and love from this restaurant and its chef. I observed staff accommodating picky clients with a certain sense of entitlement beside me, and it shows me that the service is still of superior caliber.
The Bad: I found the service slightly rushed, the whole meal experience felt short in time compared to many others we experienced.
The Verdict: I'm baffled by some of the bad reviews I have read of late. As this restaurant and Chef Parsons continue to collect awards, Zagat's highest rating of "Extraordinary" being their latest accolade, there are still people that highlight that their service/food is not what it was. This has not been my experience and I will surely report it if it ever does, which I doubt it.
Thank you Chef Parsons for a wonderful meal and to have acknowledged once more these humble food bloggers from your home town, Cambridge.