Barque Smokehouse

Barque Smokehouse
299 Roncesvalles Avenue
Toronto, ON

416-532-7700

In her opinion:
There are so many amazing places all over Toronto for brunch. But, for us it came down to two...the County General and Barque Smokehouse.  After an imaginary coin toss, we decided that we would try Barque in Roncesvalles Village.  And I'm so glad we did!

Roncesvalles Village is an up and coming area.  It has developed so much in the last little while with new restaurants springing up all over the place. Roncevalles Village is also known for it's large Polish community and this is reflected in the deli's, bakeries and restaurants in this area.  However, regardless of all these great Polish offerings, barbeque was the choice for this Sunday.

Barque opened in April, 2011.  So it is fairly new to the village.  But already there is a lot of buzz about this place and as a result, you have line ups waiting for Sunday Brunch.  Toronto Life declared it the 6th best new restaurant in 2012.  Joanne Kates of the Globe and Mail declared it "The Best Barbeque in the West". Chef owner David Neinstein has a gold mine here. And I couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about.

We found free parking on the street, a first for us in Toronto and walked the half block to Barque. When we arrived, we saw people waiting outside on the picnic tables. We walked in and gave our name. The hostess informed us that if the three of us (Edgar, little man and myself) were willing to squeeze into a table for 2, she could seat us in about 10 minutes.  We agreed of course.  The place as packed and the wait would be much longer for a table for 3. Luckily there is a banquette across the wall so that made the seating not to much of an issue. 

We were offered complimentary still or sparkling water. Nice touch! I ordered a cocktail - a Fraise to start.  This is house made strawberry syrup and proscecco.

This cocktail was absolutely delicious and refreshing. The strawberry syrup was not too sweet and gave the right amount of strawberry flavour without overpowering the proscecco.

The brunch menu is not extensive but there is enough choice. I ordered "the Barque Benedict".  This consists of cornbread, two poached eggs, smoked brisket and bbq hollandaise. This came with a side arugala salad and Barque potatoes.  There was also a very small fruit cup on the side.  

The Barque Benedict was so so good.  I enjoyed the cornbread since it provided a little sweetness to the dish. The smoked brisket was outstanding.  The eggs were perfectly poached and the bbq hollandaise rounded out the whole plate nicely.  It was barbeque perfection!  I really enjoyed the sides as well.  I found the arugala salad absolutely delicious in its simplicity.  Just arugala, shaved celery root and pieces of orange with a simple citrus dressing.  The Barque potatoes are also very nice.

Our little man had the "Grilled Cheese with Fries" I tasted it and it was awesome. This was an exceptionally good grilled cheese sandwich.

Overall, I loved Barque's brunch.  It is popular for a reason.  I would like to go back and have dinner and experience their smokehouse specialities in the near future.

In his opinion:
Barque has been in our sites for brunch for a while, and after skipping it a few weeks ago for the amazing burgers at Burger's Priest. It was time to make up for it, and we took the plunge. First and foremost, free parking on the side streets? What? In T.O.? That in itself is already a reason to go visit this hot spot in Roncesvalles.


Always packed and bustling with energy, this place is a crowd favourite for eating inside or enjoying the patio. We waited around 15 minutes for a table and were shown to our seats by the hostess directly across from the bar. Cartoons were playing on the screen but oddly enough the bar crowd didn't seem to be paying attention, I wonder why?


After a quick glance on the somewhat limited brunch menu I opted for the "Hash Skillet". Barque potatoes, smoked brisket, onions, peppers, aged cheddar cheese and 2 sunny side up on top. The brisket was phenomenal, the combinations lurking underneath the 2 eggs were in perfect sync. Potatoes cut into cubes, cubes of brisket and flavourful peppers made me forget the thinly sliced cooked onions that were there for flavour (I'm not keen on cooked onions btw). It was served with a side cup of fruit and an arugala salad,  with very light dressing, parmesan cheese and citrus cubes, and it was delicious. I see a pattern of cubed food here, don't you?

It's a perfect place for hanging out with friends and enjoying great food. The vast majority of patrons were in groups and a few were celebrating some special events as well. I should add that they also have a lunch and dinner menu to go along with their long list of famous cocktails and a decent wine list.


Special mention for Sunday night "Family Menu" where they serve platters to share and the menu changes weekly. I have to try that one soon...

The Good: Great atmosphere, greatly flavoured food and good service/waitresses
The Bad: It is to expect that in busy times the food takes longer to reach us but I still found it a little more wait time than it should be.
The Verdict: A happening spot with great food and so many choices of menus and seating times. The amazing free parking in the side streets was a plus.
Good times all around and promises of a return very soon to try the other menus.


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

Pain Perdu

Pain Perdu
736 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario


416-656-7246

In her opinion:
We drove into the city to go to the Stockyards for lunch and when we parked our car on St. Clair West, I instantly spotted this little piece of Paris in Toronto.  There it was in pretty blue letters "Pain Perdu". A pain perdu is simply french toast in France and it is served for dessert, breakfast or tea. So I instantly decided that we need to visit this delightful little patisserie for dessert and to bring a few treats home!


When I walked in to Pain Perdu I was instantly transported back to Paris while the French music played in the background. This little pastry shop could easily be on Rue Rivoli instead of St. Clair Avenue West.  The pastry displays contained delicious looking viennoiseries, cakes and cookies as well as croque monsieur and quiche waiting to be warmed and served in house or taken away for later.  There was baguettes and other beautiful breads in baskets waiting to be sold.

We ordered two coffees and sat down in their small sitting area. The waiter came to bring us our coffee and asked if we wanted anything else. Since we were still very full from our delicious lunch we ordered one chocolate eclair to share.

This eclair was perfection. The choux pastry was excellent. The chocolate pastry was delicious without being too sweet. The chocolate icing was bittersweet which provided the right amount of balance to the entire pastry. So good.

Pain Perdu also serves elegant refined lunch selection with such French specialities as quiche, croque monsieur and duck confit.

Before we left we took some pastries to go, a couple of pain au chocolat and two versions of pain aux raisins. These were outstanding. Some of the best pain aux raisins we have had this side of the Atlantic. It's little places like Pain Perdu that makes me happy...little bits of France in Canada are little gems to be admired.  I loved this place.  So good and we will definitely visit again.

In his opinion:
Awww Paris...It's easy to let yourself be immersed in the smells, the sounds and the tastes of the city of lights while at Pain Perdu!...but...
it all sort of drifts away when looking out the window and realizing you are indeed on St. Clair West in Toronto.


But it is those little moments that transport you from fond memories of that city and all that is associated with it. Pain du Perdy evoques all of those feelings even if for just a brief moment. It is to me another gem in Toronto that let's us enjoy a petit morceaux of France without the jet lag, the long flight and the cost!

We did what we usually do when we are still too full to have a full meal. We had some coffee and shared a dessert. We shared what could possibly be the best chocolate eclair that I have ever had in my life. We then picked up a few thing to go. These were two of my favourite French baked goods - pain au chocolat and pain aux raisins. They were both very delicious when we finally decided to have them at home, later in that evening! 

We will surely return to this little piece of French heaven, but next time with a full appetite and right when they have just baked fresh bread. Only then will be a truly French experience, on St. Clair West!


 

Camp 31

Camp 31
22 Paris Road
Paris, Ontario


519-442-3560

In her opinion:
We recently planned to have dinner with friends and as always, the big question came up...where should we have dinner? After mentioning our dislikes and their dislikes and where we have eaten lately, a short list was complied...the winner Camp 31. Camp 31 was the original bar-b-que place in our area long before Hogtails or the Lancaster Smokehouse existed.


Camp 31 prides itself on being Alabama's finest bar-b-que. They have two locations, one in Paris, Ontario and one in Castleberry, Alabama.  Camp 31 is also part of the Ribfest circuit including Canada's Largest Ribfest. We knew their reputation so it was easy to agree on this place. But apparently so do a lot of other people. We waited almost 45 minutes for a table. When we finally did get seated our drink orders were taken promptly (I ordered their famous lemonade at $3.25 a glass), but it did take a while to get our meals.  In the meantime, we have the free roasted peanuts to tie us over.

Camp 31's famous Lemonade.

Their menu is pretty extensive. It's filled with all kinds of bar-b-que and Southern delights. However, since it was not my first time here, I knew exactly what I wanted to eat. The Southern Fried Chicken was my pick with mash potatoes and gravy instead of the fries and corn bread as my side.

The chicken was good.  It doesn't compare to the Stockyards but it is very good fried chicken. The mash potatoes were also good with a nice homemade taste with a nice gravy. But the kicker was the cornbread.  The cornbread is sweet and absolutely delicious.


Overall, it was a good meal. My only complaint was having to hear a drunk patron's rants for most of my meal. The restaurant is small and as a result we can listen to our neighbours conversation which unfortunately isn't always a good thing when alcohol is involved. I really do like Camp 31. It's as close to Southern bar-b-que as we can get in this part of Ontario.


Our friends had the ribs and they found them dry but still enjoyed them.

In his opinion:


Well, my second time at Camp 31 is not much to brag about unfortunately. Not really sure why people rave and rant about their ribs either. I find them over-smoked and pretty dry, although the taste is somewhat good. Then again any decent BBQ sauce will do that.

We waited forever for our table. The group of waiters that don't seem to be much older than 15 weren't helping the situation. With about 5-6 parties waiting to be seated, the hostess felt she could remember who is who and it wasn't until we were there for 30 minutes that she started taking names, after screwing up who was next.


We finally sat down and it all seemed okay until we realized that the people beside us were acting like they were at home, cursing up a storm and acting obnoxious with complete disregard for the children that were at the restaurant. Alcohol was indeed a factor (even before they sat down) but the young inexperienced wait staff did not address it and looked a little overwhelmed about what to do.  I really should have told them to return to their trailer park! :)

I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which is one of their specialities. It was served with sweet potato fries that ended up being the best thing of the night. The pulled pork meat was sort of bland and it came inside of a hot dog bun, similar to the grocery store variety. The beans are actually pretty good and tasted great but their sauce was much watery this time around. I had a chance to have some of the Southern Fried Chicken and it was good, not great but good. Another highlight of the meal was the corn bread that I must admit was delicious. It was still oven hot and melted in your mouth. They serve it as small biscuit sized corn breads that are almost worth the drive to Paris, Ontario.


Overall it was just ok. I wouldn't say that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but I just believe that because I have a lot more to compare to as far as BBQ is concerned, that it's easy to point out that they fall short on a few of things.

The Good: Great corn bread, good chicken and the extensive menu that pretty much gives everyone lots of choice.
The Bad: The grocery store buns, inexperienced wait staff (although trying very hard) and the over dry ribs (that's twice now)
The Verdict: As far as BBQ goes, it's good to have a place close to home but I feel that Hog tails and possibly Lancaster Smoke House (both closer to us) are better options for BBQ. Not even going to mention places out of town or TO.


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

Acadia Restaurant and Bar

Acadia Restaurant and Bar
50C Clinton Street 
Toronto, ON


416-792-6002

1st Course: fish skin with smoked creme fraiche, fennel and dill pollen.

2nd Course: warm scallop with red brassica, wild mustard, watermelon radish and celeriac.

3rd Course: catfish with pumpernickel, goat's curd, pickled egg yolks and whites and onion tops.

4th Course: oyster soup with chicken stock aspic, black pepper, licorice and borage .

5th Course: red fish with hedgehog mushroom, brown butter, samphire and xeres vinegar.

6th Course: pork belly with steelcut oats, banana pudding, black sesame and peanut.

7th Course: caramelized buttermilk with white chocolate, blood orange and olives.

In her opinion:

I spend a lot of time on Twitter and sometimes I'm really glad that I do because I learn about a lot of different foodie related events on there. That's where I learned about the 7-course tasting menu offered at Acadia for $39.00 per person on March 18 or 19, 2012. That is just unbelievable for a couple of reasons. First, 7-courses for $39.00 is unheard of for Toronto restaurant. Secondly, this is one of Toronto top new restaurants.  


Acadia was selected the second best new restaurant of 2012 by Toronto Life Magazine. That is nothing to sneeze at. Matt Blondin, a French-Canadian chef from Sudbury, is a rising star in Toronto's food scene and a favourite of restaurant critics and foodies! So needless to say, I was thrilled and on the edge of my seat about this dinner. That was until, Acadia Restaurant posted a picture of the 7-course menu on Twitter...then I got nervous. This was going to be some dinner. A foodie's dream come true. But not necessarily my dream come true!

Was it going to be too much for me. I pride myself on being an open-minded foodie but sometimes I'm also a conservative foodie.  On Sunday night when the pictures of each dish started to make the rounds on Twitter...I got a little nervous again and a lot excited.

Acadia is a nice spot in the middle of Little Italy, the decor is not overwhelming, and the space is open with an exposed kitchen.  This means we are an audience to Chef Blondin's cooking. We are also allowed to see that Chef Blondin likes to cook in his socks. I kid you not...that made me realize that he's comfortable in his space and that is reflected in his cooking.

Shoeless Chef Blondin

After being seated and shown the bar menu, we ordered sparkling water for the table and a Virginia Housewife for me (prosecco, gin, wild bergamot and earl grey tea ice cube). Our very efficient waitress then asked if we wanted to start the tasting menu and with our reassuring yes...it began.

Virginia Housewife

1st Course: fish skin with smoked creme fraiche, fennel and dill pollen. This dish was one of the ones that worried me when I first read it on the menu.  I had an image of something hard and oily for this dish but when it arrived presented on it's little piece of log, I was pleasantly surprised.  I would compare to pork rinds made with fish skin instead of pig skin.  The flavour of the smoked creme fraishe and dill pollen where the perfect accompaniment.
2nd Course: warm scallop with red brassica, wild mustard, watermelon radish and celeriac. This dish was excellent.  I loved the accompaniments that went with the scallop.  The red brassica was outstanding. 
3rd Course: catfish with pumpernickel, goat's curd, pickled egg yolks and whites and onion tops. This dish reminded me of fish and chips without the chips.  It was very good.  The catfish was light and not the least bit oily.
4th Course: oyster soup with chicken stock aspic, black pepper, licorice and borage. This soup was interesting.  The oyster soup was foamy. The chicken stock aspic that was served with raw mackerel was outstanding.  This addition completely made the soup.
5th Course: red fish with hedgehog mushroom, brown butter, samphire and xeres vinegar. This was my favourite of the first five courses.  The fish was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. I enjoyed the emulision made of xeres vinegar on top of the fish but wasn't crazy about the sea asparagus or mushrooms on their own.  Eaten together, everything complimented each other.
6th Course: pork belly with steelcut oats, banana pudding, black sesame and peanut. This course scared me the most. Pork belly and banana pudding - really!?!? Wasn't I pleasantly surprised when I ate my first bite...this was outstanding.  This dish has hints of eating a peanut butter sandwich with banana.  The pork rillette croquette was excellent. The course that I was most scared of was my absolute favourite! I would easily had another one of these...it was that good.
7th Course: caramelized buttermilk with white chocolate, blood orange and olives. This was very interesting! Probably my least favourite of all the courses.  I think after eating the 6th course nothing stood a change.  The blood orange sorbet was refreshing, the caramelized buttermilk panna cotta was smooth and delicious.  I really enjoyed the cookie crumble and white chocolate on the plate but Chef Blondin could have kept the olive colis that he placed on the plate.  I thought it was too salty for the loviliness of the panna cotta and sorbet.

Overall, this was a very good experience.  Acadia is awesome...then again it was voted the second best new restaurant in Toronto and they don't need a lowly foodie to tell them that!


In his opinion:


I pride myself on being a true foodie and trying as many culinary treats of this world as humanly possible. I also have to admit that I have a weak spot for tasting menu's, a venue where a chef can uplift the dining experience to a new level.


So, needless to say that I was looking forward to the 7-course dinner at Acadia. You had to buy a ticket in advance for the 2 night event and not knowing at all what the menu would be until closer to the day. I had heard a lot about Arcadia and its Chef Matt Blondin and was looking forward to trying his food, especially being a special night of tasting.

Interior of Acadia

The restaurant in Little Italy is very charming with a hint of casualness in a light atmosphere. The staff is prompt and friendly and even the co-owner helps out with serving tables.


The tasting menu was not the type of menu for non-fish lovers (how can that even exist) since 5 out of the 7 dishes were fish or seafood. I was in heaven and my Portuguese blood was thanking the chef, even though Cod (Portuguese staple fish) was not on the menu that night.

1st Course: fish skin with smoked creme fraiche, fennel and dill pollen. 

The fish skin comes well presented in a slice of a log with the fish skins pretrudding from the holes in it. The skins were crunchy, tasty and owned the salt of the ocean in them. It felt like eating the crunchiness of pork grindes but the fish tasting version. Very tasty and lovely with the creme fraiche.


2nd Course: warm scallop with red brassica, wild mustard, watermelon radish and celeriac. This scallop was exquisitely done. The mix of textures in the dish work well together but also stand well on their own, leaving a lingering taste in your mouth well after the bite is gone. The gluten free bread crumb imitation added a clever touch to the softer feel of the rest of the plate.

3rd Course: catfish with pumpernickel, goat's curd, pickled egg yolks and whites and onion tops. I'm not particularly a cat fish lover, to me it has the blandness of lake fish and not enough flavour to make an impact. This dish relied of the pumpernickel fish skin, perfectly fried to fix the balance of textures. The playful hints of egg yoke and egg whites is the perfect accent to the main dish which also went well with the goat's curd.

4th Course: oyster soup with chicken stock aspic, black pepper, licorice and borage. I love oysters but oyster soup? That must be overwhelming I thought...I was wrong. The broth is well balanced, not to be too sea-foodish and the medley of cubed borage added a soft texture to the soup.


5th Course: red fish with hedgehog mushroom, brown butter, samphire and xeres vinegar. When a fish is cooked to perfection, it's so much easier to love all that comes with it. The sea asparagus were perfectly pickled and the cold mushrooms were the balance to the flavours, softening it all a bit.


6th Course: pork belly with steelcut oats, banana pudding, black sesame and peanut. Ok, this dish was the one I was looking forward to the most. I'm above all a pork lover and I think it's a shame that you don't see pork belly on enough menus (insert Martin Picard reference here). The piece of pork belly was cooked to perfection and with ketchup in the mix (although no ketchup taste is not at all prominent in the pork). It was served with a wonderful pork rillette croquette and banana pudding which oddly enough works well with the pork belly. I told the waitress that I would like to return to have that pork belly in all 7 dishes someday.

7th Course: caramelized buttermilk with white chocolate, blood orange and olives. By the time dessert came around, I was ready to start again on the tasting menu. The smooth panna cotta was served with blood orange sorbet. The cookie crumble and white granulated sugar chunks made my palate jump to accommodate the cold to sweet to salty jumps I was experiencing over and over.


The Good: Great experience at Acadia, tasting menu was all I expected and more and I personally congratulated Chef Matt Blondin for making my night.
The Bad: 7 courses in under 80 minutes felt a bit fast and other tables were mentioning the same.
The Verdict: The food surpassed my expectations even though I had read enough good reviews to give me a good indication. I will return to Acadia as I really enjoyed it and would also like to taste their regular menu.


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

Chef Matt Blondin

 

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.