6th Review: I Love Sushi - A Taste of Japan - $-$$

Konnichiwa! SpponfulofReviews is back yet again this week, bringing you yet another review! As the greeting to this 6th blog has perhaps indicated, this week's review was based on Japanese cuisine. For this review, I chose a well known spot in Etobicoke, named I Love Sushi. ILS is a little restaurant between many other well reviewed establishments on Dundas St. W- Major Intersection: Bloor St. W and Islington Ave. ILS is almost obscure among the many restaurants that surround it but upon having the prepared dishes from this establishment you perhaps won't miss it upon future visits.

Upon first entering ILS, you'll perhaps notice how small and cozy this restaurant is. Definitely not a great spot for a larger group as there are many small tables and booths decorated in traditional Japanese decor. The restaurant is dimly lit, perhaps adding to the "cozy" atmosphere. The hostess quickly approached me upon entering the establishment, and she allowed me to take a seat wherever I felt comfortable. Finally taking a seat in a booth, I was brought a menu and asked for my choice of beverage. Taking a look at the menu can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're new to Japanese cuisine. However, I personally liked the variety of menu options because there were familiar items and items I'd never heard of or tasted. Also because ILS (like many Japanese restaurants) don't believe in wasting food, you can order as many pieces of the majority of menu items, and order more once you've determined what you like and what you're not quite fond of. When ordering, because there are so many options, each table comes equipped with small pads of paper and pencils, and as you run down the menu items, you mark off the numbers associated with your options, and how many pieces you'd like.

I should also mention that you can either choose the "all you can eat" option or order pieces from their "take out/dine-in" menu as shown in this picture:

However, if you accumulated the prices of all the items you might want to try, it's definitely more worthwhile to go with the all you can eat option.

Anyways, once my options had been made I handed my list to the server and within 20 minutes she had arrived with several plates of all the different items I'd ordered. I ordered the crab meat roll, spicy salmon roll,  shrimp tempura, teriyaki chicken skewers, and a mango salad. Let me first start off by saying that everything tasted incredibly fresh- I mean apart from the "raw fish" thing- it was freshly made and delicious, not to mention so nicely plated. The mango salad was well seasoned- it was coupled with some pickled vegetables but the mango still stood out and was refreshing for my palette. The shrimp tempura was some of the best tempura I've ever had- it was still rather hot as it was made upon order, and the accompanying condiment complimented this item well. The spicy salmon roll and crab meat roll were also very good- I enjoyed both items, especially the spicy salmon roll, as they apply a type of spicy sauce on top of the maki pieces that really kick up the flavour. Lastly, my favourite part: the teriyaki chicken skewers. They were still hot, a bit spicy and cooked to perfection- I was sad I hadn't ordered more... of course you do have the option of ordering more, but as with all "all you can eat" buffets, you can't necessarily take home any left overs and by this point I was stuffed. Also as you can't really waste any pieces of food, as sushi grade meat is much pricier, if you do choose to throw out the pieces you can't eat you will be charged an extra $5... in such a case it's perhaps best to visit this restaurant in small groups or couples.

My only criticism would be that the bathrooms weren't very clean which was a little bit of a downer once visiting the restrooms after the end of the meal. Other than that I received excellent service and the food was fantastic.

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for I Love Sushi - A Taste of Japan:

Service:    ¶¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶¶ 1/2 

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶

5th Review: The Crooked Cue - $$ - $$$

SpoonfulofReviews back with yet another review- this time not on ethnic cuisine, but North American favourites from a local establishment with a long history: The Crooked Cue. 

The Crooked Cue is located in Etobicoke/Mississauga area on Islington Ave. Major intersection: Islington Ave. & Bloor st. The Crooked Cue is a restaurant/pub/pool hall with a bit of an upscale elegance about it. Because it is located on Islington ave, a rather busy road- there is no designated parking area and few legal parking spots on the street, so parking can often be a bit of a difficulty especially for larger groups of people. Upon entering the doors to TCC past the double glass doors are a pair of stairs going upwards, carpeted with brass railings. Once you've reached the second story of TCC, on your immediate left is a bar and 6-9 pool tables. On your right is a formal/comfortable dining area, complete with a fireplace, comfortable leather seats and lounging area, as well as several tables that seat 4-6 people comfortably. This establishment would be perfect for larger parties of people as it is a spacious yet cozy environment, complete with a second more elaborate bar, and 4 huge flat screen televisions, on which they usually air major sporting events.

The server was attentive and friendly asking our choice of beverage upon giving us menus to look at. The menu items had many familiar dishes such as chicken wraps, chicken tenders and fries, souvlaki entres, nacho and potato wedge appetizers etc. Though the menu items seem to contain regular items you might find on menus at other Canadian restaurants, the items fit the setting and theme of the restaurant well. I also particularly liked that the menu featured a short bio about the TCC and it's somewhat unorthodox history. Unfortunately I was unable to get any photos within the establishment as my phone had died just after I snapped the above picture.

After placing our orders we waited for approximately 25 minutes to receive our meals which were well prepared and featured large portions. I ordered a chicken wrap with a side of sweet potato fries which were very tasty though the wrap was a little on the dry side.  TCC offers comfort food, and that seemed to fit well with the atmosphere created within the establishment.

Upon finishing your meal, you're welcome to take a shot at your pool shark skills as there must have been at least 30 pool tables in a section off to the side of the dining/lounging areas. Going rates are $15 an hour per table. Even if you aren't a pool shark it's a great form of entertainment offered by this establishment and again, fits well with the history of TCC.

My only criticism would be that TCC wouldn't be a "family" oriented establishment in that, families with small kids would perhaps be more comfortable at establishments that cater to younger children. TCC definitely caters to an older crowd, of young adults to much older people.

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for The Crooked Cue:

Service:    ¶¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶ 1/2 

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶

4th review: Mosaic Mediterranean Grill - $-$$

It's SpoonfulofReviews back again with another review fresh from the... well in this case- grill. This post will be a little shorter than what you're probably use to as it's a bit of a rushed week on my end but I really wanted to share this review as I've never had Mediterranean food and was impressed by this first experience...

This review is based on a place in Brampton called Mosaic Mediterranean Grill. They are located on Mountainash Rd- major intersection: Bovaird Dr. E & Airport Rd.  So the restaurant upon first entering seems small, but once you walk further in it appears much larger and is a really nice comfortable setting.

They have a nice, clean restaurant, and the hostess was very friendly and eager to show me to my seat and offer me a choice of beverage to start me off. As I waited I must have been a little too preoccupied watching the flat screen television they have available to keep customers entertained while they wait for their food, because when my server had come back with my beverage I hadn't yet looked at the menu.

Upon (finally) opening the menu, there were many options available both in vegetarian and meat options which I can appreciate because I eat meat occasionally. There were a few items I was unfamiliar with and upon asking the server to elaborate she gave a clear, accurate description of the food items and offered personal recommendations based on her own preferences. Her knowledge about the different items aided in making me more comfortable in ordering a cuisine formerly unknown to me. I finally decided on ordering the Baba Ganoush (an eggplant dish, flavoured with various seasonings and served with pita bread ) and the falafal balls (round dough-like balls made of chick peas and served with a medley of vegetables). These items had taken approximately 20 minutes to arrive in front of me, but they looked quite appetizing and upon first tasting them, it was well worth the wait. As the server brought these dishes you could see the warm steam and smell the delicious aroma these dishes produced even before she arrived with the dishes in front of me. The dishes were fresh, and warm- definitely made from scratch. I wasn't entirely fond of the falafal balls but the baba ganoush was tasty and reminded me of roasting eggplant in the summer. The server was very attentive and seemed to have given me special attention as she was aware this was my first encounter with Mediterranean cuisine. The highlight of the experience was the chef coming himself to introduce himself, and spoke so passionately about his preparations, which I appreciated as his passion reflected the dishes I had ordered. Though both dishes were not quite my favourites I would still recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a taste of authentic Mediterranean cuisine. This establishment, especially this cuisine is great for anyone who may have certain food restrictions (i.e. Vegans, vegetarians etc) as they offer many options. I will be visiting this restaurant at a future date and perhaps order something much different the next time around.

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for Mosaic Mediterranean Grill:

Service:    ¶¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶ 1/2 

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶  

3rd Review: Freshly Thai - $-$$

It's SpoonfulofReviews back with a new review after a somewhat relaxing long weekend! So what's the 3rd review on? We move onto Thai food, and chose to review the Thai food from Freshly Thai... So let's get into it :)

Freshly Thai is located in Brampton on Queen St N- major intersection: Queen St N & Main St N. Upon first stumbling across this establishment I noticed that it was a rather small venue in a plaza setting. Walking in my first impressions were rather positive- the establishment has a nice cozy atmosphere, which is again probably not the greatest for large groups or parties as I can imagine it would feel incredibly clausterphobic- however for small groups or couples it's perfect.

Upon first entering FT, I was greeted by the Hostess who was friendly, polite, welcomed me and immediately showed me to a seat, offered me a menu and asked if she could start me off with a beverage. I ordered a water while I perused the menu.

I noticed the menu had a list of many, MANY, items which I personally enjoy because I like to have variety. After about 10 minutes of running down the menu items I ordered the Pad Thai and Thai Chicken Barbeque. The food did take a while to arrive- approximately 25 minutes, but was well worth the wait. The Pad Thai tasted very fresh- I'd had Pad Thai in the past that had a "ketchup" sort of flavour to it, and this was definitely ketchup free. As much as I enjoyed the Pad Thai I thoroughly enjoyed the Thai Chicken Barbeque- Delicious stuff!  It wasn't your average barbeque chicken as it was rubbed in a variety of herbs that impressed the taste buds almost instantly. All the spices and flavours complimented each other very well and the spring rolls that accompanied the meal were incredible. I can't seem to stress enough how fresh everything tasted- I was very satisfied with this experience.

All in all it was a great dining experience and well worth the money. My only criticism was a lengthy waiting period from ordering my food to actually receiving it, however it was well worth the wait. Also the server was a little forgetful bringing me the wrong dish the first time around but she was overly apologetic and attentive which made up for her small errors. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who is willing to give their taste buds a wake up call and try some really great fresh cuisine for a change of pace! Definitely looking forward to another visit to this restaurant!

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for Freshly Thai:

Service:    ¶¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶¶  1/2 

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶   

2nd Review: Lena's Roti & Doubles - $-$$

Hey again! It's SpoonfulofReviews back with another review. So what kind of cuisine was chosen for Review #2? Yes you guessed it (and even if you didn't I'm still going to tell you) West Indian Cuisine. Let's get right into it:

Using a urbanspoon app on my phone I found a little spot called Lena's Roti & Doubles located at the major intersection of Albion Rd. And Islington Rd. In Etobicoke in a plaza surrounded by Indian grocers, ethnic clothing stores and an Indo-Caribbean Salon. The plaza LR&D is located in is rather narrow which makes parking a bit of a challenge, and because the plaza borders the adjacent 4 -lane Albion Road, it's a likely possibility that you might miss this restaurant altogether because you can't necessarily slow down and look for the establishment. Luckily I was able to locate LR&D though obscure and find a somewhat far parking spot within the plaza's vicinity. The establishment is rather small and can perhaps seat approximately 30-40 people comfortably, however when I went in, the establishment must have had more than 40 people as it was a packed house. Though it was over crowded I hoped that this was a testament to how great the food was.

I joined the lineup at the front of the restaurant to place my order and then managed to find a seat close to the entrance. While I waited for my order I took note of the surrounding atmosphere- apart from the noisy gathering of people waiting for their orders or already chowing down on their food, I noticed two televisions both depicting various West Indian songs, as well as the various menu options they had listed on the lit display boards above the front counter.

LR&D offer patrons traditional West Indian favourite dishes such as lamb, beef goat and chicken curry all wrapped in a small or medium sized roti. LR&D also allow you to choose your spice level so if you're a fan of spicy foods like myself or really not into spicy foods that much you can choose from mild, medium and hot levels of heat for your taste buds. I ended up ordering a small chicken roti (curried chicken securely wrapped in a small roti- a flaky pita bread). I also ordered a "doubles" (curried chick peas sandwiched in between 2 soft "barras" - or a soft, dough-like pastry made from flour and ground split peas). The lady at the counter called my order approximately 20 minutes after I had placed my order, to which I went up to the counter to retrieve my food and then take my seat again.

Taste- wise, everything was delicious. It was all warm and tasted fresh. The chicken roti had delicious authentic West Indian flavours all conveniently wrapped in a nice roti... Personally I tend to be a messy eater but the chicken wrapped in the roti is convenient even on the go, as I made a minimal mess eating this dish. The doubles was also very tasty... I chick peas were a little saucy which made the barras a bit soggy which I didn't enjoy but the overall taste was quite good and very flavourful. Though the food at Lena's was good I've had better so my opinion here may be somewhat skewed. There are no "actual" servers as you basically place your order, and then go up to retrieve your food once it has come out of the kitchen, however I did receive my food within 15 minutes of placing my order so the service was adequate.

I would recommend this establishment to anyone looking for great tasting West Indian cuisine, however I would find this place to be a bit problematic for larger groups of people given the limited parking spots available and the small size of the establishment. Though I did enjoy the food at LR&D I would like to also mention that part of the below rating will be somewhat biased as my favourite West Indian cuisine establishment is Alima's Roti & Pastry located on Kenview blvd. and Finch ave. I did not choose to review this establishment as it is a take-out only establishment. 

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for Lena's Roti & Doubles:

Service:    ¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶ 1/2 

Experience:         ¶¶¶ 1/2 

1st Review: Sweet Mahal in Rexdale - $-$$

Hello and welcome back to SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com...Hopefully you're following this blog, and now can keep track of when new blogs are posted! As the title of this post indicates, this is the very first review on SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com... The titles of all posts will include the food establishment name and dollar signs to indicate price points in case anyone was wondering... So let's get to it :)

The first review was done on the cuisine found at the restaurant Sweet Mahal. As the title of this post suggests Sweet Mahal (SM) is located at the intersection of Rexdale blvd. And Humberline Dr. In a fairly large plaza. SM is a fairly new establishment, severing Indian cuisine and are moderately priced - also indicated by the title of this post. They offer take-out, dine-in and catering options, and serve mainly vegetarian cuisine though they have recently introduced meat options through their catering menus.

Being a fan of Indian food myself I was excited to try out the dishes at SM, given the reviews a quick google search had rendered. Upon first pulling into the plaza where SM was located, I noticed adequate parking- making SM a great choice for large groups or a party of people, and a large lit sign above its' entrance- allowing this restaurant to be highly visible and hard to miss from the bustling of the main road the plaza borders.

Entering SM I first noticed plenty of seating and huge pictures portraying what I might assume life in rural India might look like. They also had 2 large flat screen televisions positioned in two visible areas of the restaurant portraying popular Indian songs at a respectful volume, which I found helpful in setting nice atmosphere. Their menu could be found on place cards on each table, and was also highly visible on lit displays above the main counter area.

To order one's meal is a little different at SM. You must first approach the counter, place your order and sit wherever you'd like. They usually come by and ask for your beverage order, and bring that along with the order you placed. I found this helpful as I was unfamiliar with the names and pronunciation of every dish available, however, they have all their main courses made in huge batches, under a glass display, with heat lamps to keep the batches fresh and warm, and you can point out what you'd like to order, then take your seat.

The proprietors at SM only took roughly 10 minutes to bring over my meal which is another point I liked about this establishment as it's a feature not often accomplished by many other restaurants. When placing an order for a "taali" or your dish, you're able to choose 3 different curry options, and a dessert option. Your order comes with a mixed vegetable salad and a cold yogurt dressing/condiment referred to as "raita".

The items I chose were the palak paneer (spinach cooked into a sauce-like mixture with small chunks of cheese), mattar paneer (peas and cheese in a spicy, sweet curry sauce), and shahi paneer (cheese in a creamy tomato sauce). I had these with naan (an indian flat bread). In a nutshell the food was warm and gratifying. It wasn't overly spicy for my personal preferences, however if you're a not a huge fan of spices, Indian food altogether may not be the best option for you. It definitely was some of the better Indian food I've had, though not the best I've had. My favourite dish was the shahi paneer by far, and the naan was also very delicious though it was a little too burnt for my liking. The best part of this meal was the dessert option- I chose to have a Gulab Jamun (warm, sweet dough ball soaked in a sugar syrup) and it was the perfect ending to this satisfying meal. It wasn't overly sweet, had a nice texture was a great ending to this experience.

The service provided by SM was also good. The servers were attentive and friendly- though somewhat pushy, at one particular moment when the server suggested a few different items for me to try and I kindly declined, she kept suggesting other items and rolling her eyes. But overall that was perhaps the one downfall of the entire experience. Still this restaurant is definitely a great one to try with your family or a group of friends looking to try something a little different. They also have a large selection of sweets which I did not try at the time, but may definitely be worth a try upon my next visit, and I do intend to visit this restaurant again.

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for Sweet Mahal:

Service:    ¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶¶

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶ 

Hello - Welcome to SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com

Welcome to  SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com. I'm not sure how you ended up here but however you did, I hope you'll find this blog helpful and eye opening to all the great eats in around the Greater Toronto Area.  As a Torontonian I consider myself fortunate to be living in such a multicultural city for a variety of reasons- particularly for the plethora of foods from all over the world that are easily accessible to us. It just goes to show that you don't have to travel all over the world to have a taste of any international cuisine in the vicinity of your own localities.

The intent with this blog is to highlight some of the great local food joints (and warn against the not so great ones) in and around the Toronto area.  Hopefully with the honest reviews found here on SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com, it will inspire you to explore your localities and join the hype. Keep a look out for my first review to be posted soon!