Trattoria Taverniti

Spaghetti con Polpette

Spaghetti and meatballs, a very traditional Italian dish, seems really simple, but it's a lot of work to make the perfect meatball and these were pretty good. 

Penne rosina with rose sauce and spicy sausage $19 

It was a really good rose sauce and the spicy sausage wasn't that spicy at all. Overall,  it was a really good pasta dish. The favourite out of the three dishes ordered.

Tagliatelle al Frutti de Mare

Pasta with lots of seafood, but the sauce didn't really stand out or tie the whole dish together. 

Torta Della Nonna and Tiramisu $10 each

The torta della nonna is literally Grandma's tart. It was really nicely done since the almond cream wasn't too sweet and it had a fantastic thick cookie crust. The tiramisu was also really good, not too heavy on the liquor and not too sweet with great mascarpone.

Website: http://tavernitis.ca/

Wvrst

Charcuterie board and cheese with pretzel

The pretzel was pretty tasty - salty on the outside and soft inside.

Currywurst sausage with tomato curry sauce on the side and toast. Duck fat fries. 

The fries were pretty good.

Oktoberfest sausage served currywurst style with tomato curry and toast. I also got the potato salad.

My search for good German potato salad begins (since Schnitzel Queen will be closing soon). 

The sausage was really good and the sauce on top matched it well. The potato salad had too much dill. 

Sausage on a bun

Schnitzel Queen

Update: The restaurant has closed.

Dec 24, 2019

Very sad to hear that they'll be closing soon. 

 

Michael Sandwich

So much chicken schnitzel! Sometimes the simpler the sandwich, the better - and Schnitzel Queen's Michael Sandwich is one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had. The chicken schnitzel is a thick cut of chicken breast meat breaded and fried and it's paired with their delicious mayo, roasted onions and lettuce with a soft bun. I'll miss this when they close.

 

Chicken and Pork Schnitzel

As much as I love their schnitzel, 90% of the time I get the plates purely for the potato salad. It's my favourite potato salad, and since they stopped selling it separately (they make a certain amount of potato salad a day and allocate it accordingly), I get the plate so I can eat yummy schnitzel with potato salad.  

I love their chicken schnitzel and potato salad and I will really miss it when they close. I'll have to search for a new schnitzel and potato salad place. 

June 2, 2017

Schnitzel Queen moved location from 237 Queen Street East to 211 Queen Street East (right across from Moss Park). It's interesting to note that the area has changed a lot and it's become more gentrified. It's good that the area isn't as sketchy because now Schnitzel Queen's hours are a lot better: they're open a lot later than before! 

Nice decorations and there's a lot more tables and waiting space!

Full Pork and Chicken Schnitzel with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut

It's almost crazy how much food they give you for under $15. Both schnitzels were really good - I still think they have the best schnitzel in Toronto . It's breaded nicely; the meat is tender and juicy; the breading is spot on (not too much or too little - evenly spread out) and it's tasty even without mushroom sauce or anything. It is a lot of meat and they have this AMAZING potato salad to help balance it out. 

Gourmet Chicken Schnitzel

The Gourmet just has sauteed onions and bacon - which are great - but probably not worth the extra $1 since the schnitzel is still good without it. 

Website: http://www.schnitzelqueen.ca/#crowd

August 31, 2012

The inside - it looks like a kitchen! :D

And fully equipped with a kitchen bar, but the real stuff happens in the back. 

We went for a late lunch (because we weren't that hungry) and unfortunately, by the time we got there, the potato salad had almost run out. Teresa told us that she only had enough potato salad for one dinner - which limited our options...

Updated Menu!

"King" Schnitzel sandwich with bacon, roasted onions, sauerkraut and cheese

I can't emphasize how massive this sandwich is and it's such amazing value for $10. 

Soooo good!

Chicken Schnitzel Dinner with potato salad and sauerkraut

The schnitzel is still gigantic, super juicy and tender. I definitely like the chicken more than the veal since it was more meaty and tasty. They make a fantastic potato salad as well (next time I'll have to come earlier for it!)

January 5, 2012

Located a few blocks east of Queen Station is a popular and simple diner-like restaurant with fantastic food. The area is a little sketchy (ok- very sketchy and probably not somewhere you'd want to hang out around at night), but it doesn't really matter since the Schnitzel Queen is only open for lunch on weekdays. All the menu items are under $10 which makes it a great deal! 

The Schnitzel

Wow - what can I say? The food is humongous! I usually have a huge appetite and combine that with the fact that I was starving at lunch time today - I really thought that I would be able to finish the schnitzel, the potato salad and the sauerkraut. I finished about half and felt like I barely made a dent into the lunch. 

The sauerkraut was great! Not too sour and the thin strips of cabbage really absorbed the flavour well. The potato salad - wow was it ever amazing! There was egg, pickle, potato and little flecks of green (probably some herb that I can't distinguish) - based on the ingredient list, I probably wouldn't have gone near it (I'm not a big fan of eggs and pickles in a potato salad), but something about the way they put it together or maybe it was special mayonnaise - who knows? All I know is that it was so great - I tried to scrape off the remains of the mayonnaise at the very bottom because I couldn't get enough of the flavours of the salad. Hands down - one of the best potato salads I've ever had!

Now the schnitzel: first off --> it's HUGE, clearly a sign when it can't even fit in the box properly and although it was thinly sliced, the meat was juicy and it was nicely breaded. The mushroom and onion sauce was strong and just the whole combination came together so well and so perfectly - it's enough to make you want to brave the journey there tomorrow for seconds.

Michael Sandwich

The Schnitzel sandwich was a steal for $7.99! For lunch in Downtown Toronto, it is definitely way above food quality and quantity standards and it's so cheaply priced too. Pork schnitzel, roasted onions, lettuce and some awesome sauce = LOVE.

There was so much meat in this sandwich you could probably eat it with the meat enveloping the bun instead!

Conclusion: Fantastic place and definitely worth the trip through one of the roughest parts of town for lunch! Great value and great food - what more could you ask for?

Bar Buca

Cavatelli al Forno $18

 Oven-baked pasta bolognese & smoked mozzarella 

I thought the presentation of the pasta in the little pan was really cute. The pasta was pretty good and it was covered by a thick layer of mozzarella cheese. 

Website: http://www.buca.ca/bar.html

Fukugiya (Baumkuchen) - Okinawa

Baumkuchen from Okinawa!

Purple Sweet Potato Baumkuchen

Purple sweet potatoes are a specialty of Okinawa and the baumkuchen definitely reflected that. It had a nice light sweet potato flavour and it was denser and heavier than the Nenrinya baumkuchen. 

Okinawa Milk Baumkuchen

It was almost like a hint of milk flavour, it was really light. The cake was okay, but it didn't really stand out to me.

Brown Sugar Baumkuchen

Another Okinawa specialty baumkuchen - this one was closer to the light airy texture of Nenrinya's baumkuchen (which is basically the best baumkuchen I've ever eaten). The brown sugar was evident in each layer of the rings, but it wasn't overwhelming sweet. One of the best parts was the nice brown sugar crust on the outside of the cake. This was the favourite of the three baumkuchens.

Website: https://fukugiya.com/

Resto Boemo

Assembly Chef's Hall is like a really cool food court downtown at 111 Richmond Street West. 

Once I saw this sign, I really wanted to try their gnocchi

White truffle gnocchi (full portion) $22.95

The truffle costs an extra $4. The plate was full of fluffy pillows of potato pasta, the sauce was kind of heavy but not too heavy. Overall it was good, but I also found that it got a little boring after the 3rd bite or so since it was so heavy. 

Website: https://www.assemblychefshall.com/menus

Aloette

Aloette has a $25 prix fixe lunch, which is a great deal for downtown Toronto and a lot of people have raved about Alo. 

Cool decor

The bread was really good

Mushroom Salad

A really nice salad with a variety of mushrooms. 

Petite Wedge

When I saw this on the menu, my first thought was: a wedge of lettuce? However, I was pleasantly surprised by this - it was delicious and it was such a great combination of textures and flavours from crunchy sweet lettuce to crispy wild rice to salty parmesan.

Short Ribs

Beautifully braised and cooked and so tender it almost melted in your mouth. The fries were good, but I didn't really like the bloody mary aioli. 

The meal was really good and the whole experience was quite fun! 

Website: https://aloetterestaurant.com/

Dainties Macaron

Dainties makes some really unique Asian flavour macarons. 

Pistachio and Milk Tea

I'm a macaron traditionalist. I love new and different flavours and combinations, but I generally prefer the buttercream and cookies to be a bit more proportional so that you get an even bite into these tiny morsels of deliciousness. I just found that there was too much buttercream between the two macaron feet, which I guess is the style here, but I didn't like them as much because I thought the actual flavour of the cookies was lost (both cookies were crumbly and hard). The buttercreams had good flavour though.

Website: https://dainties-macaron.business.site/

Drom Taberna

Borscht

I thought borscht was just vegetable soup, but I didn't realize it was a Ukrainian beet soup with sour cream, dill and rye bread. It has a few things I don't generally like: beets, sour cream and dill. However, it ended up being not too bad when combined altogether since the beets were sweet and the soup was pretty tasty. I still couldn't get used to the sour cream in the soup though. 

Adjapsandali - Georgian eggplant ratatouille with blue fenugreek, calendula petals, potato, chili and green and red peppers with bread

This ratatouille dish was really good; I've never tried Georgian food before, so this was a pretty good introduction. The spices were well done and the dish was tasty. The vegetables paired really well with the fennel bread. This was my favourite dish of the night.

Lamb belly skewers with cilantro and narsharab (Azeri pomegranate sauce)

The lamb was cooked well since it wasn't too gamey. The sauce was delicious and the flatbread went well with it. 

Website: https://www.dromtaberna.com/

Hanabusa Cafe

I've been craving Japanese pancakes for a while, so I came here with a friend immediately after work. They close at 6:30pm (which I thought was kind of early for a Friday night). 

Custard Pancakes and Earl Grey Pancakes (about $17 including tax)

Pretty custard pancakes 

Really delicious! They were not too sweet and there was lots of delicious oozy custard in the middle. I loved the sauce they put on top.

Earl Grey Pancakes

The actual pancakes were okay. They were fluffy but not really as tasty as the custard pancakes. The earl grey sauce was delicious! 

Website: https://www.hanabusacafe.com/

Fresh Land Super Market

Grocery stores sometimes have the best deals for take-out food. It's interesting that Fresh Land Super Market (a Chinese grocery store) has Jamaican food, but I'm willing to try it. 

Goat Curry $5.88

The goat curry is on special today - a massive portion for $5.88! The goat curry was pretty good too, lots of goat meat (not that great if you don't like the gamey taste). It also came with a lot of rice and potatoes, which made it quite filling for under $7 including tax. 

Website: https://freshlandsupermarket.ca/

Ghadir Fish Restaurant

Dec 7, 2019

Ghadir Meat and Ghadir Fish are in the same plaza, but they are separated by a Convenience store in between. 

3 Appetizer plate: vegetables, batata hara, baba ghanouj

The baba ghanouj was really good. The fried potatoes had some kind of spice on them, and the mixed vegetables were okay. 

Top to bottom: Grilled Sea Bass and Sea Bream 

The fish were nicely grilled. The sea bream had a meatier texture, while the sea bass was more delicate. I think the sea bass absorbed the flavour better than the sea bream. 

Nov 30, 2019

Fish & Chips $6.99

The breading on the fish is really thick, it almost takes over the taste of the fish. However, it is the cheapest thing on their menu since all their other fish is by weight. 

Website: https://ghadirmeatmarket.com/ghadir-fish-restaurant-menu/