Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar

Jan 4, 2021 @ 155 York Blvd

The new annual Spaghetti and Meatball Day is a takeout special (due to the COVID-19 restrictions). 

Spaghetti & Meatballs for $10 (50% off regular price)

Excellent large and soft meatball with lots of basil leaves on a bed of plentiful spaghetti and it also came with extra sauce and cheese (which was fantastic!)

Jan 4, 2020 @ 155 York Blvd, Richmond Hill

I got an email about Scaddabush's one day promotional 50% off Spaghetti and meatballs day!

Massive meatball on top of spaghetti $10

The meatball was really good and quite filling and the tomato sauce for the spaghetti was quite nice. I liked that they added a bit of pesto to the dish which gave it a nice additional flavour. 

July 9, 2015 @ 382 Yonge Street (Update: Closed Feb 9, 2021)

I've heard great reviews about the pastas here at Scaddabush since it opened (and a favourite was the butternut squash ravioli).  My old coworkers suggested a reunion dinner here which was also just in time for Summerlicious, but they also had another prix fixe menu:

Mixed Greens Salad
Nice salad, great balance of crisp greens, sweet and tangy pickled onions and crunchy walnuts.


Steak
I wasn't a huge fan of the puree underneath the meat, but the meat was tender and perfectly cooked to medium rare.

Chocolate jar cake: Chocolate ganache with vanilla whipped cream

A delicious way to end the meal! 

Overall: The only hiccup was the strange table we were sitting at - there was wide gap in between the two sides of the table - enough for a gigantic walkway in the middle which made conversation across the table difficult. Otherwise, service was good and food was yummy.  

November 5, 2014

People have been talking about Scaddabush on the first floor of the new Aura Condos at Yonge and Gerrard for a while now. When my friend suggested we grab dinner here after work, I was pretty excited to see what all the hype was about.

Charity Bread
Crusty Italian bread with rosemary, garlic and butter. I thought it would be warm and fresh from the oven, but it wasn't and the toppings just seemed like they were sprinkled on top. Oh well - at least the net proceeds go to charity....

Stuffed Meatball with mozzarella and spaghetti
The tomato sauce was really good and the meatball was quite large. I just wish there was more pasta so that we could have filled up on carbs.

Baked Carbonara
A rather small pan...the pasta was very good, but I just wish there was more of it. I liked the poached egg on top - it made the presentation more rustic and fun (especially with the skillet). I didn't really tasted the "baked" carbonara part, probably because I was expecting a crunchy cheesy layer on top of the pasta.

Overall: Nice and simple Italian food at Scaddabush. I loved the presentation of the food - very fun and playful

Website: http://www.scaddabush.com/

Nino D'Aversa Bakery

I had Italian cookies at a wedding (and they were delicious!), so I thought I'd try out some pistachio varieties at Nino D'Aversa bakery. 

Clockwise from top left: Almond swirl cookie, pistachio almond, lemon swirl, almond cookie, chocolate and lemon drop

These cookies are sold by weight ($37.99/kg and worked out to about $5.93 for 6 here.

Almond swirl cookie was soft inside and hard outside and had a decent almond flavour but wasn't super strong. It reminded me of a macaroon without coconut and it was similar for the lemon swirl cookie too. It had a nice light lemon flavour and was soft inside (maybe made with limoncello?). 

The other lemon drop cookie had a ton of powdered sugar on top and had the same distinct soft inside and hard outside and was quite tasty with an almost buttery flavour. 

The pistachio almond cookie was more almond than pistachio (except for the colour). 

The chocolate cookie was not very chocolatey, but tasted more almond meringue-like. 

The almond cookie was probably the best of the bunch of flat cookies (with lots of almond flavour)

Website: http://ninodaversa.com/locations/

Blaze Pizza

Dec 15, 2020 @ Yonge & Sheppard

 Pi Day was a little messy this year, but luckily Blaze Pizza decided to extend their $3.14 build your own pizza deal from March 14th to the end of the year. Therefore, I finally redeemed my coupon right before Dec 31, 2020. Luckily, I ordered in advance through the app, so I could pick up my pizza immediately by the time I got there (otherwise, I'm sure I'd be waiting almost an hour between the lineup of people and the baking of my pizza). 

Build Your Own Pizza: Classic Dough, red sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, applewood bacon, meatballs, chicken, ground beef, Italian sausage, basil, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, onions, roasted garlic, roasted red peppers, spinach, arugula, pesto drizzle, buttermilk ranch on the side.

It was a monster pizza with all my favourite things that I wanted on a pizza (gotta take full advantage when you get unlimited toppings). 

The pizza turned out okay and actually pretty yummy (since it did have all my favourite toppings), but it was a little greasy and oily (maybe too many toppings). I felt that it did have a lot of garlic though (almost like double the portion) and there were a lot of different flavours going on here, but it worked for me! 

May 10, 2016 @ 10 Dundas E

Blaze Pizza is an American pizza chain that offers all you want toppings for one set price of $10.45. 

They opened up their first Canadian location at Yonge and Dundas last year. 

 There were a ton of varieties on a thin crust pizza.  I loaded mine up with red & green peppers, mushrooms, sausage, chicken, onions cheese and pesto sauce before they baked it in their oven. 

The pizza was really good! And I love their pesto sauce - yummy! 

Overall: Great value for money and really delicious pizza! I'll definitely be back. 

Website: http://blazepizza.com/

California Sandwiches (York Mills)

Nov 18, 2020 

I feel like all the food delivery/ordering apps have so many promotions! Skip the Dishes and California Sandwiches were partnering to offer $5 veal sandwiches:

Huge breaded veal sandwich with tomato sauce for $5

I also upgraded my sandwich with breaded eggplant for $3.75, which made my total $8.75

The sandwich had lots of veal (which was a little on the tough side today) and eggplant, but both had lots of breading. I would've loved more sauce with it (since I love a good tasty tomato sauce that isn't too sour or too sweet), but it was still delicious tasting and great value for money!

August 26, 2017

Eggplant and Veal Sandwich and Chicken Sandwich

The sandwiches were just as big as the first time! We made sure to get extra sauce on the sandwiches as well. The sandwiches were really good! The extra deep-fried eggplant was delicious on the veal sandwich and the carbs to sauce to meat ratio was great. 

January 21, 2017

I've been eyeing this new California Sandwiches since I tried the downtown location in April 2016. 

They didn't have everything from the downtown store (like their Tiramisu), but they had their sandwiches: 

Chicken Deluxe and extra breaded eggplant

It came with tomatoes, lettuce and mayo, but no marinara sauce. I think I would definitely prefer it with marinara sauce - but the kaiser bun was great and the chicken and eggplant were as good as I remember from downtown. 

Veal sandwich and breaded eggplant with marinara sauce on the side (hurray for extra sauce!)

I think the extra marinara sauce made it even better! The veal and eggplant were really tender. 

Overall: Delicious sandwiches for reasonable prices considering the sizes of the sandwiches. 

Website: http://eatcalifornia.ca

Cucina di Paisano

Nov 14, 2020

Another Ubereats 50% off code meant I got half off my pasta favourites like lasagna and their shrimp and scallop linguine

Lasagna $18 and Shrimp and Scallop $23

The lasagna was good, but the tomato sauce was a tad on the sour side today. It also came with a ton of sauce (which was great for making more pasta later) and the lasagna was a huge portion with lots of pasta layers, cheese and meat. 

The shrimp and scallop linguine looked like it was a smaller portion than dine-in (but nowadays takeout containers can be pretty deceptive), but it was a pretty big portion of seafood and noodles. I really like their sauce - very yummy and perfectly suits the seafood. 

August 27, 2020

This week's BOGO deal is Norwegian trout, mushroom ravioli and haddock! Yum!

Top: Mediterranean haddock filet $30 with kalamata olives, sun dried tomato white wine garlic sauce, side penne aglio e olio and sauteed seasonal vegetables

Bottom: Ricotta wild mushroom stuffed ravioli $25 with sun dried tomato pesto cream, cherry tomatoes, sauteed spinach, mushrooms

The haddock is a light flaky fish that was quite yummy with the savoury sun dried tomato white wine sauce. The seasoned carrots and peppers and light penne aglio e olio were good compliments (and tasted even better with the extra sauce from the fish). 

The mushroom ravioli was really delicious and the presentation was nice with all the bright colours of the spinach, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. There was a lot of mushroom flavour in the sauce and the ravioli - I would definitely order this again. 

Lemon caper garlic butter Norwegian steel head trout $28 with pasta and vegetables

Soft tender trout paired with a salty caper garlic sauce made for a tasty combination. 

July 20, 2020

The 2 for 1 promotion is only available through their online ordering website or in store. (I didn't see it on Ubereats or Skip the Dishes). 

Triple Mushroom Ravioli $21

Cheese ravioli with a portobello, button and porcini mushroom cream sauce, which wasn't too salty. The portion size was huge with so many ravioli and mushrooms! 

Paella $28

Huge portion of paella with lots of shrimp, mussels, calamari, sausage, salmon, chicken and peppers baked with a sweet tomato sauce and rice. Every bite was different, but there was a lot of chorizo which gave it a bit of a spicy kick. The only thing missing was the crispy rice from the paella traditionally being cooked in a large paella pan - otherwise it was really good. 

June 25, 2020

Another week with 2 for 1 promotions:

Braised Hangar Steak Ravioli with asiago, parmesan and grilled onions in a chianti reduction spicy marinara sauce $25

The hangar steak ravioli was really good and the pasta was stuffed with lots of soft tender beef. The portion size was quite large which made this excellent value! There were more than 10 raviolis in this portion (and we got another box because of the 2 for 1). The sauce was a little on the salty side again, but it was still pretty tasty and I liked that they also added hot peppers to add a bit of a spicy kick to the traditional marinara with lots of tomato chunks and garlic. 

June 11, 2020

Paisano's started offering some buy one get one promotions on select main dishes and pastas. The variety is pretty good as well, so we decided to try out some of their BOGO items. 

Top: Norwegian Salmon with a sun-dried tomato cream sauce and pasta $26

Bottom: Smoky salmon pasta with capers, smoked salmon, red onions and fettuccine $21

The Norwegian salmon was delicious! Slightly on the salty side, but the sauce was excellent and the grilled veggies were good too. The pasta also had some of the sauce underneath so that you could mix it all. 

The smoky salmon pasta was really salty from the combination of the sauce, capers and smoked salmon. It would have been really tasty if if it wasn't so salty. 

Jan 29, 2020

The Happy Hour Promotions from last year ended in December, but in January, Paisano's started offering half price appetizers and pizza from 2:30 - 5:30. 

Mussels with marinara sauce and mussels in white wine

Generally, I prefer mussels in white wine, but they didn't do a good job with the white wine sauce today. The marinara mussels were much better.

Appetizer platter

When this platter goes on sale, it's such great value since you get so much food! Garlic bread, bruschetta, garlic shrimp and calamari and it's all so good.

Grilled Chicken pizza

Meat lovers

We were so full from the appetizer platter that we ended up taking most of the pizzas home for dinner.

Nov 26, 2019

Half price appetizers and pizza during happy hour on Tuesdays.

Mussels in white wine sauce and calamari

Bruschetta

Antipasto platter

The selection of cold cuts was okay, but I've had better before. The grilled peppers and zucchini were nice, but I wished they were warm or hot instead.

Prosciutto and Arugula and Grilled Chicken with red peppers

The prosciutto was almost lost under all the arugula in the first pizza; the grilled chicken pizza was much better. 

Meat Lovers pizza

Pretty good and topped with lots of pepperoni, ham and sausage!

Nov 7, 2019

The happy hour deals go from 2:30 - 5:30, so we came on Thursday to take advantage of the buy one get one free. 

Rosemary Duck with vegetables

The duck was perfectly cooked and the sauce was fantastic! 

Veal with mushroom sauce, pasta and vegetables

The mushroom cream sauce was nice and it went well with the pasta, but I prefer their tomato sauce over their cream sauce. 

Mar 6, 2019

Caesar Salad and White Wine Mussels

Bruschetta

So yummy, but the presentation slightly failed today.

Chicken Al Pesto

There was a lot of chicken (which is great) and the pesto pasta was okay. I think I prefer their tomato based sauces though.

Feb 21, 2019

White wine mussels and chicken parmigiana

Mussels were delicious and the chicken parmigiana was pretty good with a huge portion of chicken breast and pasta on the side.

September 11, 2018

Paisano's had a 50% off meal offer - time for tons of Italian food!

Appetizer Platter with garlic bread, bruschetta, calamari and garlic shrimp

Their bruschetta mix is AMAZING, I could eat that on garlic bread all day. 

Mussels in white wine

A plentiful portion and the white wine is delicious with their complimentary bread.

Chicken pesto pizza 

Lasagna

In my opinion, I think this lasagna is the best in Toronto and it was half price today ($9)! 

Shrimps and Scallops with linguine

You can't really see it in the picture, but there are a lot of shrimps and scallops in the dish.

Shrimp arrabiata with penne and vegetables

Salmon with potatoes and vegetables

Fillet of sole with penne and vegetables

Raffaela with chicken, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, snow peas and rose sauce

I like all the ingredients in the dish, but for some reason when they all come together it doesn't taste as great as I'm expecting. 

June 22, 2017

Paisano's was offering a two course meal deal for $20 or three courses for $25 (depending on the entree and whether you wanted an appetizer/dessert). The appetizers were house salad or Caesar salad with bruschetta and dessert was from a selection. 

Caesar Salad with bruschetta

The Caesar salad was good and the bruschetta was really lovely. Something above olive oil and tomatoes on toast is just so delicious!

Mussels and spaghetti in marinara sauce

It was really nicely presented. The marinara sauce and pasta was okay - but there was a little less of it because of the mussels. 

Chicken breast with peppers, penne and vegetables

The chicken breast was cooked and seasoned well. The pasta was tossed in a light olive oil sauce, but it wasn't anything exceptional. 

Eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti

The eggplant was delicious! It was breaded nicely and super flavourful. I liked that the baked cheese on top was so good! 

Tiramisu 

The tiramisu was light and fluffy with lots of mascarpone cheese in between the layers of ladyfingers. It was a nice way to end the meal. 

May 26, 2017 

Paisano's is an established Italian restaurant in the Willowdale area, so it was interesting when they opened up a location at 865 York Mills Road. I originally thought it was a second location, but after we asked the waiter - it turns out that this is the new bigger and better location of the original Paisano's Restaurant. It's a little confusing, but all the staff and chefs moved to this location.

Bread Basket

Calamari

It was calamari rings were tender, nicely seasoned and tasty. 

Chicken Al Pesto

Chicken breast, Parmesan cheese, pesto sauce and linguine pasta - Yum! The pasta absorbed the pesto sauce nicely and it was really tasty with the Parmesan cheese. 

Chicken Arrabiata

Chicken in a spicy tomato sauce with penne. It was okay, but not my favourite dish of the night. 

Veal Parmigiana with penne pasta and steamed vegetables. 

The veal parmigiana was tender and I loved that there was so much melted cheese on top of the breaded veal. The marinara sauce was okay; it was better with the veal parmigiana than the penne. 

Website: http://www.paisanos.ca/