FoodBanter.com - Going to Toronto: its roads, its restaurants

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Going to Toronto: its roads, its restaurants

Driving to Toronto is always a pain for me, coming from Ottawa. At
first I have to endure the tedium of the 416 down to Brockville, then
the tedium of the 401 to Kingston. After that, it gets tolerable.
Ontario nulti-lane highways have to be the most boring in the world.
It was not improved by the plethora of slow drivers doing 80km/hour
when the ambient speed was 120km/hour and the sucking mass of trucks
after trucks after trucks...whatever happened to that plan to put the
containers on rails to get them off the 401? It's not a toll
highway, so who gives a screw if trucks go elsewhere? Actually, I
do. I *want* them off the highway.

Rant aside, I was going down to visit one last time with my daughter
before she moves to Vancouver and to bring back some of her items she
didn't want to have to dispose of (her first bookcase I got her in
exchange for a Singer sewing table, a model of a three-mast ship my
mother gave her, some books and stuff).

The first night we ate, as is habit with us, at Fresh by Juice for
Life on Bloor. Juice for Life is a vegan restaurant and they have an
excellent veggie burger which I get with the herb tofu mayo.

http://www.juiceforlife.com/

I like Juice for Life also because next door is a CD store where I
have found stuff I liked in past visits (CD Replay, 532 Bloor West).
I bought recordings of the Pogues and two of Manu Chao (Clandestino
and Radio Bemba). My daughter opted for a CD of Maroon 5, which is
ok, I guess. I find them too mainstream for my taste.

Saturday, we were doing errands for her move, so we had lunch at
Sneaky Dee's, corner of College and Bathurst. It's a Tex-Mex place.
Quite good...I had the three enchiladas with one of each stuffing
(veggie, beef and chicken) which came with rice and beans and a small
salad. My daughter had a blt.

http://www.toronto.com/profile/147149/

After lunch, we walked over to a bookstore/record store a few blocks
east called She Said Boom where I picked up a few books: a history of
Franquist Spain, Garibaldi and the 1000, a novel by Charles Bukowski
and Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars, etc etc.

http://www.shesaidboom.ca/

That evening, we ate lightly at the Commensal on Elm, behind the
Delta. The Commensal is one of a chain of Montreal vegetarian
restaurants where you buy food by weight.

http://www.cuisine-vegetarienne.com/index.php?rt_id=30

Sunday, I had a big breakfast at the hotel restaurant as we were
driving 2 hours west to London to spend time with my son. We arrived
a bit late at his house and went downtown to look for a lunch place.
Well, who knew that London restaurants don't open till 4PM on
Sundays. We opted for the Prince Albert Diner, where we ordered
loaded pierogies (onion and bacon, cheese, sour cream and I ordered a
side of yellow mustard). I was surprised (I don't know why as I have
seen this once before in a Bowmanville Golden Griddle) that the
pierogies were baked. I am used to eating them boiled. Oh well,
when in Rome...

http://www.fyilondon.com/perl-bin/ni...27713.html&a=1

Back to Toronto, we went to dinner at 9PM at a new restaurant corner
of Church and Front called Hot House Café. It was obviously quite
new (or just very well maintained), pleasant with a nice wide dining
area with very snazzy tables. We skipped the offer of bruschetta as
my daughter was a bit under the weather (she doesn't travel well) and
I ordered the special, a lentil soup that was followed by baked
ravioli stuffed with pheasant. My daughter had the tomato basil soup
and a small salad. Everything was fine except that the ravioli were
a tetch undercooked...nothing drastic though.

http://www.hothousecafe.com/home.html

Monday, I delayed breakfast to attend to some needed repairs to the
vehicle (the A/C blew out on the highway back from London) so I had a
cup of coffee and toast in a coffee shop on Parliament while they
were fixing the belt. Every restaurant I was in in Toronto that uses
pre-sliced bread makes Texas toast. For those who are culturally
handicapped, that's the white bread with wider slices. I could
suggest an explanation but some might take offense to the very notion
that we, who are served Texas toast, might be allowed to express
independent opinions.

I signed out of the hotel, picked up my daughter and we went, as is
our habit, to Maggie's on College for breakfast. Maggie's is one of
the favourite brunch locations for people living in the Annex. I had
the three egg special with sausage, garlic fries and toast. My
daughter had the fruit plate and a side of garlic fries (the fruit
plate was actually enough, I ended up taking her fried with me on the
road).

http://reviews.degrassi.ca/article.php?a_id=486

I dropped my daughter at her place and left by the DVP. Driving back
without A/C was a nightmare. Also, it rained a few times along the
way and there were trucks galore on the road, clogging up the artery
with their incessant passing at slow speeds.

--

Please note that this post contains no overt anti-USAian statements
of any sort, nor is it designed to excite the political passions of
the morally bankrupt right-wing supporters of the emerging fascist
states...unfortunately :-)

Michel Boucher wrote:

[...]

> Every restaurant I was in in Toronto that uses
> pre-sliced bread makes Texas toast. For those who are culturally
> handicapped, that's the white bread with wider slices. I could
> suggest an explanation but some might take offense to the very notion
> that we, who are served Texas toast, might be allowed to express
> independent opinions.

Hmmm...Texas toast in Toronto? That's kinda odd (or maybe just
"inscrutable"). Is it actually called that?

I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess Torontans are just
more sophisticated than we are ;---)

--
Best
Greg

Gregory Morrow wrote:

> I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess Torontans are just
> more sophisticated than we are ;---)

I have only seen Texas toast in cheapo steak places where you got a
tray and lined up for your food. Cafeteria style. Ponderosa
comes to mind. I didn't even know Texas toast from a hole in the
wall until some broke boyfriend started bringing me there.

Then again, I didn't know what pu pu platter was, either. Different
restaurant.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:

> Gregory Morrow wrote:
>
> > I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess Torontans are
just
> > more sophisticated than we are ;---)
>
> I have only seen Texas toast in cheapo steak places where you got a
> tray and lined up for your food. Cafeteria style. Ponderosa
> comes to mind. I didn't even know Texas toast from a hole in the
> wall until some broke boyfriend started bringing me there.
>

Same here, I think I've also seen it at places like Denny's and such....

> Then again, I didn't know what pu pu platter was, either. Different
> restaurant.

IIRC the pu pu platter has a better pedigree - it was first dreamed up by
the owner of Trader Vic's years ago as a "Polynesian" specialty. If he had
really wanted to be authentic he would have served taro root, Spam, and
Uncle Ben's rice with gravy, all of which are staples of "South Seas"
cuisine, lol.....

--
Best
Greg

Gregory Morrow wrote:
>
> Nancy Young wrote:

> > Then again, I didn't know what pu pu platter was, either. Different
> > restaurant.
>
> IIRC the pu pu platter has a better pedigree - it was first dreamed up by
> the owner of Trader Vic's years ago as a "Polynesian" specialty. If he had
> really wanted to be authentic he would have served taro root, Spam, and
> Uncle Ben's rice with gravy, all of which are staples of "South Seas"
> cuisine, lol.....

Heh. Well, I used to go to this place, they had the best pu pu and
the best Zombies and Lobster Cantonese. At the end they'd give you
pineapple. I cannot care less if anyone snickers.

The ribs! the chicken, the shrimp toast. The beef skewers.

I'd love to see them come back. Those were the days.

nancy

"Gregory Morrow" > wrote
in k.net:

>> Every restaurant I was in in Toronto that uses
>> pre-sliced bread makes Texas toast.
>
> Hmmm...Texas toast in Toronto? That's kinda odd (or maybe just
> "inscrutable"). Is it actually called that?

Yup. Even written on the menu.

> I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess
> Torontans are just more sophisticated than we are ;---)

No comment :-)

--

Please note that this post contains no overt anti-USAian statements of
any sort, nor is it designed to excite the political passions of the
morally bankrupt right-wing supporters of the emerging fascist
states...unfortunately :-)

Michel Boucher wrote:

> "Gregory Morrow" > wrote
> in k.net:
>
> >> Every restaurant I was in in Toronto that uses
> >> pre-sliced bread makes Texas toast.
> >
> > Hmmm...Texas toast in Toronto? That's kinda odd (or maybe just
> > "inscrutable"). Is it actually called that?
>
> Yup. Even written on the menu.
>
> > I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess
> > Torontans are just more sophisticated than we are ;---)
>
> No comment :-)

I'll trade you Texas for Toronto...... ;-p.

--
Best
Greg

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 19:31:18 -0400, Nancy Young >
wrote:

>Gregory Morrow wrote:
>
>> I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess Torontans are just
>> more sophisticated than we are ;---)
>
>I have only seen Texas toast in cheapo steak places where you got a
>tray and lined up for your food. Cafeteria style. Ponderosa
>comes to mind. I didn't even know Texas toast from a hole in the
>wall until some broke boyfriend started bringing me there.
>
>Then again, I didn't know what pu pu platter was, either. Different
>restaurant.
>
>nancy

There's so much pu pu in Texas you're bound to step in some.
(Apologies to Johnny Winter)

modom

"Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes."
-- Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Where besides Hawaii would one put a menu item called pupu platter? LOL
Hopefully they don't call it a pupus platter, (or did they say "pupu
splatter?")

"Michael Odom" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 19:31:18 -0400, Nancy Young >
> wrote:
[snip]

> >Then again, I didn't know what pu pu platter was, either. Different
> >restaurant.
> >
> >nancy
>
> There's so much pu pu in Texas you're bound to step in some.
> (Apologies to Johnny Winter)
>
> modom

MO, you are hereby required to find a copy of "Progressive Blues Experiment"
released on Liberty Records. Just ignore the deep reverb on every track.
Johnny will forgive any offence.

>
> "Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes."
> -- Jimmie Dale Gilmore

"Gregory Morrow" > wrote in
k.net:

>> > Hmmm...Texas toast in Toronto? That's kinda odd (or maybe just
>> > "inscrutable"). Is it actually called that?
>>
>> Yup. Even written on the menu.
>>
>> > I've rarely if ever seen Texas toast in Chicago. I guess
>> > Torontans are just more sophisticated than we are ;---)
>>
>> No comment :-)
>
> I'll trade you Texas for Toronto...... ;-p.

You can keep both. Just don't try mixing them. Torontonians are far
from being as thin skinned as Texans :-)

I'll be coming up the other way: North on the 401 from Detroit.

I'm looking forward to going to the street markets, hopefully to find
some local cheeses.

It'll be my first time there (as an adult, anyway) so the eating will
be a treat, I hope.

As for the tweaky parts, to take them in reverse order:

> Every restaurant I was in in Toronto that uses
> pre-sliced bread makes Texas toast. I could
> suggest an explanation but some might take offense to the very notion
> that we, who are served Texas toast, might be allowed to express
> independent opinions.

I already knew not to bother commenting on you expressing an opinion
when I saw that,

> I picked up a few books: ... Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars, etc etc.

I don't know what's worse, that you'd be interested in this book, or
that you didn't have the savy to have already pretty much read the
whole book online at the numerous refutation sites.

Unless you're reading it out of some sense of humorous irony, I'm not
sure you can be trusted to form an independent opinion :)

Know anywhere around my route to get some traditional canadian
delicacies? Are there any worth investigating? I suppose I should
try Poutaine some time.

Michel Boucher > wrote:

> Back to Toronto, we went to dinner at 9PM at a new restaurant corner
> of Church and Front called Hot House Caf?. It was obviously quite
> new (or just very well maintained), pleasant with a nice wide dining
> area with very snazzy tables.

I live near there...that restaurant isn't new at all! It's been around
for, I'd guess, at least 10 years.

Gita > wrote in
:

> Michel Boucher > wrote:
>
>> Back to Toronto, we went to dinner at 9PM at a new restaurant
>> corner of Church and Front called Hot House Caf?. It was
>> obviously quite new (or just very well maintained), pleasant with
>> a nice wide dining area with very snazzy tables.
>
> I live near there...that restaurant isn't new at all! It's been
> around for, I'd guess, at least 10 years.

Ok...let's say then it was new to me :-) Of course, almost any
restaurant in Toronto is new to me...

--

Please note that this post contains no overt anti-USAian statements of
any sort, nor is it designed to excite the political passions of the
morally bankrupt right-wing supporters of the emerging fascist
states...unfortunately :-)