Sandra's Italian Kitchen

Chicken parmigiana with pasta and vegetables and garlic toast $10.95

I found the menu kind of confusing for the hot table. A meat and two sides (including pasta) was $10.95 and they had some pasta special too. I didn't really know which was which. The tomato sauce was pretty good

Lasagna with garlic toast and a chicken parmigiana 

I guess the lasagna is an upgrade from the daily pasta and we somehow could add meat to it. 

Anything goes with an Italian hot table. The pasta was pretty good and they gave us a huge portion. 

Website: https://sandrasitaliankitchen.com/

Calabria Bakery

Veal Cutlet with grilled vegetables and potatoes $10.50 and lasagna $7.50

When we ordered the veal, we thought it came with sides, but it turns out they gave us the combo (which is almost double the price of just the veal cutlet). The tomato sauce was okay, so the lasagna was okay - it didn't have a lot of meat in it. 

Website: http://www.calabriabakery.ca/index.html

Famiglia Baldassarre

Nov 8, 2019

The lineup was insane, I waited from 12:10 pm to 2:30 pm (without food) for takeout.

Tagliatelle al ragu, ravioli in rosso, ravioli in blanco and tagliatelle in blanco $13 each

Since we had to line up for about an hour for take-out, we decided to grab all the pastas and sauce combinations we could. I really liked the tagliatelle al ragu since the ragu sauce was really good and the ravioli in blanco since the butter really brought out the flavour from the spinach and cheese ravioli. The sugo sauce with ravioli was good too, but I thought it covered some of the flavour from the spinach and cheese filling. The tagliatelle in blanco was nice, but it seemed like it needed an extra punch of flavour that the butter sauce couldn't help with.

1kg Lasagna (baked at home) $22

We baked the lasagna a few days later. It was okay, but I wonder if it would have tasted better if we baked it the day of (since it was made with fresh pasta). 

Nov 9, 2018

When I saw the Blogto article on Famiglia Baldassarre, I started planning my trip to check it out on my next day off (since they're only open from noon to 2pm Tuesdays to Fridays). 

You can tell where the place is by the huge lineup outside the door. 

 

Turns out it's because they have about 5 tables, but a lot of people do take-out (so there's a bit of a wait)

I had a pistachio gelato bar from Bar Ape as I was waiting for my food. It was okay, I didn't really enjoy the white chocolate part of it. 

Fior di Latte and Crudo (Parma D.O.P.)

The crudo was really good. I wasn't as big a fan of the mozzarella because usually I like my cheese firm or melted. 

Tagliatelle al ragu (meat sauce), ravioli in bianco and ravioli in rosso (red sugo sauce)

Fresh pasta does make a lot of difference in the taste and texture of the food. I really liked the tagliatelle in meat sauce and the ravioli with spinach and ricotta in white sauce (butter and reggiano). The sauces were clean simple flavours that enhanced the pasta. I thought the rosso sauce was a little too strong for the spinach and ricotta ravioli. 

Great food, the lineups were still crazy (I hope they go away in a few more months or so), but it was worth it for the pasta. I would go around 1pm after the first rush of customers to buy their pasta (eat in or take out).

Website: http://famigliabaldassarre.com/#home

Tre Mari Bakery

Veal Parmigiana and Lasagna

The veal was pretty good because the tomato sauce is excellent. The lasagna was really nicely done with many layers of pasta and a good ratio of cheese, sauce and pasta. If I were to rank the Italian hot tables we've eaten at, I would say that it's better than Agincourt Bakery for sure.

Pistachio cannoli and tiramisu

The filling was green which was promising. The pistachio flavour was a little bit better since it was incorporated into the filling as opposed to other places where they dipped the ricotta cannoli ends into a bowl of pistachio nuts. However, it tasted more custard-like than cream. The tiramisu was okay, it had a chocolate powder on top which I'm not really a fan of and it needed more cake than cheese and cream.

Website: http://tremaribakery.ca/

By The Slice

Panzerotti with three toppings

Zucchini, mushroom and chicken 

I think the panzerotti probably could have used more time in their oven. It was a little bland.

Lasagna

This was messy. It was like they took some lasagna pasta sheets cooked it, threw it into a ton of their tomato sauce with cheese and put it in the oven. It wasn't layered or anything - a huge disappointment. I think it's probably a better idea to stick to pizza here.

Website: http://pizzabytheslice.ca/

Frankie Tomato

Frankie Tomato is a Markham institution that has been around for years serving All You Can Eat Italian Buffet. 

Round 1: Lasagna, Penne, roast beef, gnocchi, macaroni and meats

Round 2: Meatballs, roasted veggies, beef, more lasagna, penne primavera and potatoes

Round 3: Mussels, Caesar Salad and calamari

Round 4: Strawberry and mango ice cream and tiramisu

I totally overate; the dangers of buffet. The food was pretty good (which explains the long line up to get into the seating area) and the buffet cost about $30 (including tax).

Website: https://www.frankietomatto.com/

7Numbers @ Danforth

My second option for Ritual $1 week. 

$1 lasagna at 7Numbers

I liked their lasagna before at their Eglinton location, so I thought this was going to be a great deal at the Danforth location. Unfortunately, this lasagna was terrible - it was super salty and a really tiny portion (like 3 pasta sheets). I don't know if it's just because of the Ritual promotion or if it's usually like this at this location, but I definitely wouldn't pay regular price for it.

Website: http://www.sevennumbers.com/

Baretto Caffe

Baretto Caffe has a lot of positive reviews on Yelp.

 

They have a super small kitchen area, so food does take a little longer to prepare. 

 

Mushroom pizza

Lasagna with garlic bread

It looks like a huge portion, but there weren't a lot of layers in the lasagna

Rose pasta

There were so many positive reviews about the rose pasta that I had high expectations. It ended up being kinda strange - the rose sauce was sweet. I definitely wouldn't get this again.

Latte art 

Website: http://www.barettocaffe.com/home

Agincourt Bakery

July 15, 2018

Pistachio cannoli!

Sadly, no neon green filling here. Just pistachios at the end. The shells were pretty crispy and chocolate-y and the ricotta was nice. 

July 7, 2018

Gnocchi and Lasagna

Gnocchi were soft and doughy - the tomato sauce is pretty good, but it's on the tangy side. 

Lots of layers in the lasagna!

It was pretty good - there was a lot of tomato sauce, would have preferred if there was more meat in the sauce to give it less of a tangy tomato flavour. 

Butter tart with pecans

Chocolate cannoli and Italian flaky pastry with chocolate and icing sugar

Ricotta Cannoli

Good cannoli shell and yummy ricotta cheese. They have a pistachio cannoli (but they sold out)

Chicken parmigiana sandwich

May 1, 2018

I read the Blogto article on Agincourt Bakery and I couldn't believe I've never been here because I pass by this area sometimes. 

They didn't have lasagna today :(

Veal and Chicken Parmigiana sandwiches (and extra sauce)

I liked the crispy Italian roll and the tomato sauce was pretty good (if a little tart). The chicken and veal were both good. 

Website: https://agincourtbakery.com/

Lamanna's Bakery

We have developed an obsession with Italian hot tables (they're cheaper than restaurants and the food is made fresh and refreshed daily). 

 

Another Italian bakery and hot table restaurant - but it's on the far side of Scarborough (too far to make the regular trip). 

Lasagna

Fantastic! It has a lot of meat sauce and lots of pasta and cheese. In my opinion, I think this one beats Agincourt Bakery in terms of flavour and size. 

Chicken Parmigiana sandwich

This was okay, I prefer the lasagna. :)

Eclair, cannoli and cheesecake

The cannoli shell wasn't as good as Agincourt's, but they do have a bigger selection of desserts here. 

Website: https://lamannabakery.tumblr.com/