Father's Day Brunch: Four Seasons, Avenue Lounge

Restaurant:  Avenue Lounge, Four Seasons Hotel

Where:  21 Avenue Rd., Toronto, ON  416.964.0411

The day for the other parent, Father's day.  Another breakfast brunch at a different hotel.  I had another idea but I will save that for another year when the babies are older.  It fun and interest of it would be lost on them and us because they are so young.

This day, we went to the Four Seasons, Avenue Lounge.  It was a nice spread but the consensus was, we enjoyed the brunch at Intercontinental Hotel's Azure Restaurant more.  Don't get us wrong, the spread was nice but due to our taste, we thought the selection at Azure was more to our liking.  (Plus, it was more inexpensive.)  A change of scenery was good as well. The thing was, Avenue has a larger anit-pasti selection which we didn't care for as much.  I found the dessert selection wasn't as good either.  The decor was nice but it was much too cramped.  Oh ya, and they threw in 1 golf ball for the fathers.

- mussels, lamb, mini burger, French toast, smoked salmon/bagel -

- orange juice & some tabletop arrangement -

- dessert:  tirimusu, creme brulee, lemon tart, fruit/cake with chocolate, fruit tart -

- cold shrimp -

- view from our table of the bar (elevated section) -

- antipasti bar -

- bowl of shrimp -

- dessert selection -

Lee Restarant

Restaurant:  Lee

Where:  603 King St. W., Toronto, ON.  416.504.7867

The grandparents are still here to babysit (one more day).  So, out for another meal.  The meal at One, sucked.  Then there was Colborne Lane but I have to pictured for that because it just wouldn't be appropriate at a business dinner.

The meal at Lee would be what we considered one of the best meals we've had in a long time.  Everything we ordered was good and most of exceeded our expectations.  I would eat here anytime (and all the time if we could).  I was a bit delinquent in my photography duties because I missed a few of our plates; probably because the food was so interesting.  The lighting wasn't the best for food photography.  My side of the table had a spotlight over it.  You'll be able to see that in the pictures.

The service was excellent.  Our waiter was knowledgeable in the food served at Lee.  The selection on the menu was great too.  We ordered the chickpea battered onion thing (pakoras basically), the watermelon salad (delightfully refreshing - ice cold watermelon cubes with balsamic & feta), singapore slaw (it was okay buy not spectacular - was recommended by people hubby knows but it would've been my last choice on the menu), black cod (this was tres excellent) and szechuan pork loin (thought it would be heavy but rather very light - slices of perfectly cooked pork wrapped around crisp julienne celery and apple).

- our lucite table - 

- chickpea battered onions -

- singapore slaw -

Oh, ya.  We ordered dessert too.

- his dessert, a warm banana choc cake with ice cream -

- my dessert, a mango pana cotta -

One Restaurant: Don't believe the hype.

Restaurant:  One Restaurant

Where:  116 Yorkville Ave, Toronto, ON.  416.961.9600

Given the ratio of price to food satisfaction, I would say that this was the worse meal I have ever had.  For what we shelled out in cash for this meal, the quality of food, workmanship and service was not worth it at all.  Yes, One is what people may consider a swanky restaurant but I would never step foot in it again.  I've had much better meals for a fraction of the price.

If you want to show off your newly purchased painted on dress, too tight t-shirts, designer wares and yourself, then this is the place to go.  If you're there for a good meal for your money, this isn't the place to go.  I too can go out and buy an expensive cut of beef and slap it on my fry pan, cut angled slices with my sharp $20 knife and serve it on a metal platter from Little India to my hubby on our balcony.  I too can serve oysters on the half shell without knowing where they're from along with condiments and a dirty sticky spoon.  I too can fry onion rings in old oil that makes my batter all brown and low temperature oil so that it's dripping with grease, serve it to my hubby and call it tempura onion rings.  The less expensive sushi establishments that dot Queen St. W and this whole city can give a lesson to their kitchen staff on how to fry a light tempura - not day old oil that oozes greases when bitten into.  I too can serve a concoction of juices in a martini glass and tell my guest it's very special without letting know what's in it.

Might I just add, I don't want to go to a restaurant of "supposedly" this calibre and be told by the wait staff that at least 6 items listed is not available.  If such items are difficult to source, just don't include it as a regular item on the menu.  If you happen to have it, then add it as a special insert.

What we ordered:  1/2 dozen oysters, terrine of foie gras, kampachi, 12oz strip steak, tempura onion rings & medley of mushrooms (special of the day - this was to rook you in the buy a more expensive version of the morels that they didn't have).

The olive bread was good though, that was probably outsourced.

Aji Sai

Restaurant:  Aji Sai

Where:  467 Queen St. W, Toronto, ON.   416.603.3366

We have finally found a casual sushi resto that we can go to with the whole family.  They have a high chair for baby1 and roomy enough for baby2's stroller.  Their delivery service is what we usually order from in the evenings.  Pretty good quality for the price.  Today though, we went to the restaurant for the 1st time.  They have an all-you-can-eat option and that's what we opted for.  The selection on the AYCE menu is quite extensive but some items on their a la carte menu, you will not find.  The staff is friendly too.  I hope this restaurant finds more success than the two that were there before it, one offering Chinese food (it probably went out of business because it was old) and a Thai restaurant.

A MODERN REFURBISHED INTERIOR

SOME OF OUR FOOD WE ORDERED.  (BABY1 LOVES HER TOFU.)

Dim Sum Dynasty

Restaurant: Dynasty
Where: 131 Bloor W., Toronto, ON M5S 1R1, Canada

This Sunday, we tried out this Chinese restaurant that we've walked past many times on Bloor St. I've always looked up to it's 2nd floor location with people sitting at the window seats. I knew they served Chinese food. I assumed they served the "not authentic" type of Chinese food due to its location and just by the way it looked from the street. So dim sum wouldn't be something I thought they served there but after reading the Chowhound message board on the merits of Dynasty's dim sum versus its pricing, I thought we should give it a try. I only thought we'd try it out because I felt it would be spacious enough to fit the babies and so it did. We were comfortably seated at a four person table; stroller replaced a chair and our portable high chair fit on top of another chair. Our table was right next to a stack of fish tanks. No fish in the tanks but a few lonely lobsters and BC crabs.

There was no trolley service at Dynasty, it had the tick off your choices from the carbon copy listing of dim sum.  I found the price to be expensive but the quality was good.  Although I have had the same quality of dim sum at other restaurants for a fraction of the price we paid here.  This may be the trade off for the cleanliness and the amount of space we need for the babies.  There was a premium dish that a waiter came by with that a regular dim sum resto would not have and that was the roasted suckling pork.  YUMMMM!!!!  It was worth the extra $$$.  The skin was a crispy perfection and the meat was oh so tender.  We just hope that on our next visit, the roasted suckling pork is offered again!

Two other items to highlight were the scallop wrapped in egg tofu and the scallop dumplings.  The first, beautifully natural and steamed.  The hollowed out piece of tofu was deep fried oh so lightly.  It's appearance resembled a tator tot.  The dumpling's skin was the perfect chewy consistency that you look for in this type of dim sum dumpling.

My Mother's Day Meal: Intercontinental Hotel, Azure Restaurant

My mother's day feast took place at the Intercontinental Hotel's restaurnat Azure. We had been there for breakfast once before and that meal was decent. It is convenient for us because it is a short distance from our home. The restaurant is spacious, especially on the weekends. It is probably busier during the weekdays with business people wheeling and dealing. Oh, it also has good high chairs. I didn't expect many people there because when we went there a few weeks back, the restaurant was practically empty. We might have been the only people there. Anyway, I thought we'd be ordering off the same brunch a la carte menu but....no! Azure was offering a mother's day brunch buffet. On this visit, the restaurant had people in it - mommies and their families.

There was a lot of food and a great selection. There were breakfast foods, eggs benedict, sausages, waffles, made to order omellettes; hot foods - vegetables, fish, chicken, potatoes, roast lamb; antipasto platter; fruit platter; cheese platters; variety of breads; soup; seafood table - mussels, shrimps, oysters & clams; sushi; and a separate dessert area. I have probably left something out and don't remember some of the special names of the food items. I concentrated mostly on the seafood and didn't stuff myself with anything ordinary.

Here are the mouth watering visuals of most of plates...

Weekend in Review

This was an extended weekend for us, not just Saturday & Sunday, it included Thursday, Friday and Monday. We inevitably go out on weekends because I hardly get out much during the week. The babies are a difficult bunch by myself (they are so young right now). A tag team effort eases the pain. While out in the city, we always eat.

Here is a weekend review of my food life...

Asian Legend, Chinatown: Northern Chinese

What we ordered: Chinese Silver Bun (fried), Xiao Long Bao (steamed soup filled pork/scallop dumplings), Rolled Onion Pancake with Sliced Beef, Hot & Sour Soup and Pork Chop Fried Noodle

Over Easy: A breakfast place (There's non-breakfast items on the menu too.)

What we ordered: I ordered the complete healthy breakfast which included egg whites, oatmeal, multi-grain toast & a bowl of fruit. I forget what the other order across the table was. Something with cheese, egg and bacon mixed together and baked (can see the small casserole dish) plus, hash brown. Also, an order of extra toast for baby1. ...coffee & grapefruit juice too.

John's Italian Cafe, on Baldwin St. (Lots of restaurants on this stretch of the street.)

A little rest and drink after a long walk. Our original destination was an organic farmer's market on John St., but it was nowhere to be found. So we kept on walking and ended up here. We only wanted a bowl of latte and a decaf cappuccino. The cafe has a full menu as well.

The mother's day meal will be posted after this. It deserving of its own entry.

Manpuku, Village on the Grange

What we ordered: kake udon, curry don & takosen

This is a new discovery from the Chowhound. Not the usual Japanese place that everyone is accustomed to around here, no sushi. Will have to go again to try some of the other items, particularly the onigiri and yakionigiri. I really enjoyed the takosen. It's not something I've had before so I don't know if that's how it's supposed to be but I loved it anyway. It's this orb of goodness all wrapped into one - fried outside and chewy & soft on the inside, with just the right amount of mayo on top. yummmm...

Yummy BBQ

Having been imprisoned by the long cold winter, we endevour to find places to eat where the babies can fit.  Good cheap eats was where we headed, the Yummy Bbq.  We once lived closed to the Yummy Bbq pre-babies times.  It is a Korean fast food restaurant.  The interior appears gives all indication of once being a Taco Bell.  Their large menu is plastered on the wall above and next to the ordering counter, each item with an accompanying photograph.  (Should've taken a picture of that.  Maybe next time.)  No high chairs.  We brought our own portable chair.  The only table that is useable for the babies appear to be the four-seater at the front of the restaurant.  If that isn't available, Yummy Bbq wouldn't be an option for us. 

I ordered an egg battered beef dish.  The concept seemed tasty but the picture indicated that it may be a high risk choice.  There was a 50/50 chance that I thought it might be a disappointment.  The other order was a spicy bbq chicken.  That's what is considered a safe and conservative choice.  Most dishes include rice, coleslaw, some sort of cooked veggie and soybean sprouts plus 3 dishes of panchan (Korean small side dishes).  The panchan consisted of the usual kimchi, some soft tofu with spicy sauce and pickled cucumber.  The food is made to order by some old Korean ladies in the back.  Unlike western fast food joints, the food is made to order.  There is a small wait but it's worth it.  The spicy bbq chicken was good.  My egg battered beef was surprisingly very good.  The egg gave that homey eggy flavour and the beef was extremely tender.  Dipped in the spicy sauce, it was even better.

All the food.

My egg battered beef.

The panchan