Gargoyles Grille & Ale - Thunder Bay

I read about Gargoyles Grille & Ale in the Walleye and we decided to try it out for lunch. 

Peach BBQ Steak Sandwich $13

7 oz grilled sirloin smothered in peach bbq sauce placed on a toasted garlic baguette and topped with Cajun fried onions. 

The fried onions were seasoned nicely and quite yummy. I liked the sweet BBQ sauce on the steak and the crunchy garlic baguette. However, the steak and baguette were hard to eat together: the steak was thick and chewy while the baguette was crusty and harder to cut apart together with the steak.
The shrimp bisque was not very flavourful and watery. There was a piece of toast with cheese and green onions in the soup which was kind of nice. 

Caramelized Bacon pizza $14
Candied bacon, marinated red onions, thyme, cracked black pepper and creamed brie cheese
The pizza had a nice thin and crispy crust and it was simply topped with the ingredients mentioned (no tomato sauce or anything) and it was really nice. The bacon was a little sweeter than usual (must be the candied part). 

Overall: It's a nice spacious restaurant with some gargoyle fixtures that follow the theme of the restaurant. The food was okay, if a little pricey. 

Website: http://gargoylesgrille.com/index.php

Taro's Fish

Taro's Fish is a fish market and mini Japanese grocery store near Bessarion subway station.

We picked up some stuff (clockwise from the left): Instant Miso soup, chicken teriyaki, octopus fried rice, BBQ Eel and Teriyaki Salmon onigiri (rice ball) and sweet yam chips.

The rice balls didn't have a lot of fish inside, but the packaging was really cool.
The octopus rice was a bit of a disappointment though. I didn't taste the octopus and there was a strong taste of mushrooms.
The teriyaki sauce is really good and I liked the chicken. I also really liked the sweet yam and potato chips and they were a good deal for $1 - the chips were like Terra chips, but with lotus root and fresher fried root vegetables.

 

Chirashi, Octopus rice and Teriyaki Black Cod
The teriyaki black cod is amazing! It was so good because the fish was soft, tender and juicy and so tasty with the teriyaki sauce.

Chirashi bowl
I couldn't resist getting the bowl with salmon, tuna, tamago, salmon roe, shrimp, mackerel and octopus because it was so pretty and colourful. The fish wasn't as fresh (probably a few days old).
A fresh chirashi bowl is $13.50, but this pre-packaged bowl was $12.95. It was pretty expensive.

 

OMG! Baumkuchen in Toronto!!!!
The green tea cake wasn't very good, but the baumkuchen was pretty decent for a refrigerated version of the dessert. This baumkuchen is a good place to start trying the King of Desserts, but it definitely doesn't have the same taste, texture and deliciousness as Nenrinya's Baumkuchen.

Overall: Nice place for fish and Japanese groceries & treats. 

Website: http://www.tarosfish.com/home.html

Come and Get It

My friend and I saw an article about Come and Get It on the Toronto Life website. So, we made plans to check it out before the restaurant moved (and/or disappeared). 

The graffiti art looks amazing!

It's a pretty simple menu - Sandwiches are $8, Salads are $9 and Poutines are $7

Chipotle Braised Beef Short Rib 

Ancho chili BBQ sauce, onions, sweet and sour coleslaw and chipotle aioli

The short rib was flavourful and not too spicy. 

Granny Smith's Chicken Caesar

Pulled chicken, garlic confit caesar aioli, crispy chicken skin, granny smith apple slaw, grana padano cheese and romaine lettuce

The pulled chicken was good (although a little unevenly distributed when cut into 4 sections). I didn't taste the crispy chicken skin or the apple slaw and I was slightly overwhelmed by all the lettuce. 

Hawaiian Pork Belly

Hoisin glazed pork belly, pineapple salsa, crispy pork crackling, pickled red onions, iceberg lettuce

The pork cracking was so hard that I mistook it for pork bones...it wasn't exactly the most pleasant taste or texture when chewing what I assumed to be a tender pork belly filled sandwich. The pork belly was good though and I liked the pineapple salsa. This was the favourite sandwich of the bunch. 

Overall: The sandwiches are good and the fillings are pretty original. It's not your average grab and go sandwich/salad/poutine place that's for sure.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/ComeAndGetIt416

Sushi Legend

Replacing Ming Lou in the plaza next to Finch-Leslie Square is a new All You Can Eat Sushi restaurant: 

Sushi Legend 

The menus are similar to Dim Sum menus where you can mark your orders...but the menu was the size of a placemat.

Started off with some Miso soup which was nice (no tofu in it though)


Left to Right: Spicy Salmon, Spicy Tuna, BBQ Eel hand rolls
Herb White Tuna and Yuzu Salmon
Shrimp Tempura
I liked the herb white tuna and yuzu salmon sashimi. The sauce was a nice change from eating the sashimi with soy sauce, wasabi or ginger. The slices of fish were lightly crusted and seared a bit. Really nice.
The tempura was crispy and nicely battered.


Tamago (egg sashimi) and Salmon Sashimi
Tamago is a sweet egg omelette: a nice change from eating regular eggs with salt.
The salmon sashimi was fresh and delicious.


L-R: Soft Shell Crab Roll, Black Dragon Roll, Mango Tango Roll
All the rolls were relatively tiny (I guess so you could eat more?)
Soft Shell Crab Roll had very little deep fried soft shell crab in the roll, and I could taste more avocado, cucumber and rice than anything else.
The Black Dragon had tempura shrimp, cucumber & flying fish egg topped with BBQ Eel and I thought it was really nice - I'm a huge fan of BBQ Eel.
I liked the Mango Tango Roll too with shrimp tempura and ripe mango, topped with avocado and mango chili sauce. The mango chili sauce wasn't too spicy and it added a nice sweetness to the roll.


Top to Bottom: Sexy Summer Roll, Dynamite Roll, Green Dragon Roll
The Sexy Summer Roll was different with Spicy Crab Salad, mixed greens and mango wrapped in rice paper with mango chili sauce on top. I wasn't a big fan of the mixed greens or rice paper roll - so I didn't particularly enjoy it.


Scallop, Tuna and Salmon Sashimi
Scallop is a specialty item available for dinner AYCE Weekends and Holidays.


Eel Fried Rice
It was really nice. The fried rice was good even if the eel was added almost as an afterthought.


Beef Udon and Sizzling Flounder
The Flounder was really tender and had a nice sweetness to it.
I kept thinking of Flounder in the Little Mermaid as I was eating it (even though I know they look nothing alike). The fish was really good...I might consider ordering more flounder when I go out to eat.


Steamed Egg
Another limited availability item for dinner buffet. I didn't like this at all. I'm used to sweet desserts and I have a huge sweet tooth, but this was savoury with mushrooms cooked into the egg custard. Not my type of custard.

Top to bottom: Mango sago, green tea ice cream, red bean ice cream, mango pudding, vanilla ice cream, mango ice cream, tiramisu, mango pudding and herbal essence jelly
I thought the mango sago was nice; you don't always see it on AYCE sushi dessert menus.
The tiramisu was a bit of a fail...it tasted like a little bit of mascarpone cheese with cocoa powder on top.

Overall: Food was pretty good even if portions are on the tiny side (but it doesn't really matter since it's all you can eat sushi). The new restaurant is nice, the booths are quite cozy and afford diners some privacy. Service was good; they forgot a few items, but when we asked they immediately followed up.

Website: http://www.sushilegend.com/

Grace Restaurant

I literally got off a plane in Toronto, dropped off my stuff and went to eat at Grace for Winterlicious ($35 dinner). It was a small, cozy restaurant near College & Bathurst in Little Italy.

 

They mentioned the automatic 18% gratuity at the bottom of the menu. 

Two types of bread and a nice brown sugar butter. 

Apparently refills of the bread were an additional $3. I really liked the butter, the bread was ok. 

(*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

 

Winter Greens with jarred pears, golden raisin dressing and spiced almond pulse

 

Sunchoke soup with parsnip fondu, sunchoke chips and chive
The soup was thick and salty with a distinct artichoke flavour and hint of almond. 

 

*Bison carpaccio with long pepper crust, apple and celery root slaw with truffle dressing

I thought it'd be great to try bison carpaccio and this was a beautifully presented carpaccio. It had a nice peppered outer crust and thin and delicate center. The oil was a little gratuitious and it was salty. I liked the contrast of the carpaccio to the crispy and delicious slaw. 

 

*Beef brisket with smashed mini reds, glazed carrots, kale and mushroom jus

The beef brisket was tender and tasty with a nice mushroom jus on top. I also enjoyed the kale salad with parmesan. However, the square block of potatoes (i.e. the smashed mini reds) were a strange addition to the plate for me and they were very salty.

 

Chocolate creameaux - dulce de leche, chocolate crumb, roasted marshmallow
Melty oozy marshmellow with a slightly burnt on top of a chocolate custard in a mason jar = s'mores without the graham crackers.

 

Cookies and ice cream - daily homemade selection

The ice cream was okay, but the cookie was dry with a peanut butter foam in the middle

 

*warm sticky date squares with lemon honey pastry cream and peanut brittle

Compared to the date cake I had in Thunder Bay, this one wasn't as good. I did like that it was warm and the date square was sticky in itself, but it just didn't stand out as much as the one I had earlier in the week.

Overall: The restaurant has a nice intimate feel to it and the food is nicely presented and carefully prepared. However, I wasn't particularly wow-ed by it.

Website: http://gracerestaurant.ca/

Madhouse Tavern - Thunder Bay

There were positive reviews for the Madhouse Tavern, but it was hard to find a menu online.

Quick shot of the Lunch Menu:

  

One of the most popular items on the menu at Madhouse is this:

Steak and Goat Cheese Salad with grilled marinated steak, thin sliced with goat cheese, grilled vegetables, mixed greens and a balsamic drizzle.
It looked really good and it was a substantial portion too. Yum!

Grilled Chicken Club with fresh tomato, bacon and roasted peppers served on toasted focaccia

I chose the steamed vegetables and cream of chicken vegetable soup for my sides because (a) I wanted to eat healthier and (b) it was freezing outside!
The vegetables were simple and straightforward but the soup was super watery.

The actual sandwich was really good! Real chunks of chicken breast in the club with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and roasted red peppers sandwiched between two pieces of buttered and toasted focaccia - Yum! I probably would have liked crispier bacon, but it was still good and it was topped off with a great sauce.

Overall: Friendly service and popular with the locals at lunch.