Catherine "Will eat anything once" L.'s Profile

Visited this 2 times - once to buy cheese and another time for lunch.

Cheese - I bought a block of cheese as a gift so I didn't get to enjoy it too much. There isn't too much selection (less than 10), but the staff seemed knowledgeable about cheese and will let you try before tasting. I picked up a gouda cheese, and the sample was quite nice.

Lunch - Shared 2 grilled cheese sandwiches (Los Angeles and a Original), rustic tomato soup, and sweet tea. The sandwiches also came with chips. Everything was very good. I thought I would like the Los Angeleas a lot since I thought I would enjoy the avocado, but it turned out to be the thing I liked the least. The chutney was sweet and oily, and I wasn't too crazy about it. I actually liked the Original more. I really liked the soup and sweet tea.

The space itself was very spacious, open and clean. It's self-serve, where you order at the counter and pick it up when it's ready. They have games on hand so it's a good place to hang out.

All in all, this was a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They also sell bread from a local bakery, which is useful and a good complement to the cheese they sell.

I came here before a Raptors game for a quick dinner and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. It was definitely much more gourmet than expected for a bar/restaurant located across from ACC.

What we ordered:
- Lobster Mac N Cheese -- delicious with some sizeable chunks of lobster!
- Spinach & Artichoke dip -- pretty good, though not a stand out
- White wine - they had a pretty decent selection
- Shrimp cocktail - the shrimps were HUGE and fresh with the "crunch" that only fresh seafood has
- cheese burger - our waitress raved about it

Service was pretty good. We were tight on time and they made a good effort to accommodate us and bring our food out very quickly. The only downside is that they forgot our 2nd order of shrimp cocktail.

The decor is dark and swanky, but very loud. They had iPads on each table where you could order your wine quickly and easily :).

The prices were a bit high, but I guess that's to be expected with the location. E.g. $20 for cheese burger + fries, $10 for shrimp cocktail. Overall, a good non-fast food option for dinner prior to an ACC game, which is nice to have.

The best thing about YogaTree is the change rooms - I give them 5 stars on that. They have lockers that you can pre-program - a feature I've only seen in fancy spas. It makes it really convenient to store your valuables without worrying about them. They also have 4 showers, which can still get crowded, but it does make it possible to take a shower after hot yoga without waiting a long time. They also have a nice waiting area with couches and complimentary tea.

As for the class itself, I've only taken one so far and it was OK. Not the best but not the worse either, but I didn't see much to differentiate it from others I've been to. The studio was spacious and clean.

Overall, a decent yoga spot downtown, but I didn't find the classes particularly motivating.

I just took my 12th spin class here and I have to say I really enjoy it! I've tried a few instructors (Magz, Christie, and Matt) and I have to say Matt's classes are the reason I keep on coming back. I love how he builds you up slowly until at the end you are just so motivated to climb that last hill with lots of tension and race to the finish. I always go in doing more than I expected of myself. I found Magz classes more mellow, and Christie's class more of a intense jolt (rather than a gradual build-up like Matt's). In the one or two classes I took, she did a lot of going up and down on the bike.

As for the gym itself, it's small but nicely spaced. They have towels for you, and also hand out lemon-scented wet towels at the end of the class, which is a great touch. And they don't even ask you to clean your bike at the end - they take care of it all, which is great, so you can jet right after class. I also really like their online reservation system - it makes it really easy to plan my exercise schedule. The bikes are also in good condition.

The change room has 2 showers and toilets, and I've never found them to be too crowded, though I have to admit I've never used the showers, so I can't comment on that.

For me the combination of great location, good timing for classes (they have cycling classes at 5:30pm and 6:45pm), awesome instructor, and convenient online reservation system makes this my go-to spin gym! I've been to spin classes before at gyms, but never really liked it until I came to Get Spun. It's well worth a try, especially if you can nab some good group deals (e.g. $15 for 5 classes - an absolute steal for this great spin gym!)

I have to say that the biggest draw of this place is the location and the late closing time (6:30pm). The owner is always there and remembers your name, which is a nice touch.

I bring my dry cleaning and shoe repairs there. They also do alterations but I've never tried it.

They do a decent job on dry cleaning - no complaints. The only strange mishap is that I brought my winter wool coat there and when I got it back, 3 of my buttons were loose and I had to sew them back on. I'm not sure if it was like that before, or maybe only afterwards. Never had a problem with my suits.

The price is a bit on the pricey side, but I think it's standard for downtown PATH dry cleaners. Suits are $16.95. It costs about $8 to replace the heel on your high heeled shoes.

The other odd thing is that they don't have an electronic card machine, only a manual imprint credit card machine.

Overall, it's a decent place and I'm a repeat customer... until I find a better place.

Don't know what it is about these puffs filled with creamy vanilla bean filling... I've had them in Japan and Shanghai, so when I saw a location at Pacific Mall (in the upstairs food court by the elevators), I was super excited to try them!

It was promising - the puffs are cooking in the ovens right on site, so it definitely looks fresh.

It is messy when you bite into it, and I do agree that the cream could be a bit more chilled. But I love the flavour, so I have to say, I'm a fan!

I've tried the original and green tea. Both were good, but I liked the original vanilla bean flavour more, and that's slightly cheaper at $1.99 vs $2.19 for the flavoured ones.

Shoutout to Denise S - returning her shoutout to me! I feel like a celebrity :)

So I have to profess a certain bias up front...

I WON THE RAFFLE!

While I already have a rice cooker, I didn't have a Wolfgang Puck Versa Cooker! Here's what it does: Perfect for active, on-the-go singles, this easy-to-use multi-purpose cooker provides a 1-1/2-cup capacity for individual servings of a variety of different foods. Make anything from oatmeal or scrambled eggs to macaroni and cheese, soup, or up to 3 cups of cooked rice. It'll even bake a cake. How awesome is that? So I have to say, my night ended up pretty good!

While I didn't get to try the ping pong tables, and the food was a bit lacking (translation: if you weren't stalking the kitchen entrance and followed whoever came out with food, chances are you didn't get much food), I did enjoy the drinks and atmosphere. And the grilled cheese sandwiches, when I did get my hands on one, were quite delish! No Kraft singles used in this one!

I have only gotten one thing here... BBQ ROAST PORK. It's the one with the crispy bubbly skin.

I brought it to a "pork" party (yes, we had one) and it was a hit!! The skin was so crispy, I had the whole party drooling over it.

If you're looking for crispy BBQ roast pork, look no further!

When I first heard of plans for a Loblaws to open on Queen & Portland St, I was so excited. I even checked into the Queen + Portland blog to check on the progress of construction. So when it finally opened on the day of my wedding, it was a like a personal wedding present!

What I love:
- The location is super close and convenient, and in a much needed area. Finally, I can stop grocery shopping at Shoppers.
- The extras - I used to live in suburbia and shop in large chain grocery stores, but seems like Loblaws has really stepped it up..
   - An on-site ACE bakery with a do it yourself bread slicer where you can choose the size of your slice
   - A specialty floor to ceiling cheese fridge
   - A large bakery full of amazing looking desserts
- I can't say I've explored it all yet, but I'm definitely liking what I see
- Spaciousness - wide aisles... finally some space unlike other downtown grocery stores!
- Lastly, the prices actually seem reasonable and not too far off from Loblaws in the boonies. It's hard to measure, but they do seem to have lots of specials and prices appear better than Sobey's or Longo's

Welcome to my neighborhood grocery store!

One of the many chinese restaurants that my family frequents, mainly for its large space, close location and very reasonable prices. My grandfather holds his birthday banquet there every year (that classic 10 course cantonese dinner affair).

I recently went again on a Sunday evening for dinner, so I will base my review on that since that's the freshest in my mind.

We had the 6 course Peking duck set menu. Definitely good value - for $68, you can feed 4 -6 people with soup, peking duck, fried prawns, pork neck with vegetables, stir-fried fish vegetables, and the meat from the peking duck also with vegetables in a brown sauce, all topped off with red bean soup as dessert.

PROS
- good value, which is key to a chinese restaurant's success
- big space, so it's pretty easy to get a spot. Sunday night we went was a bit unusual because there was a wedding banquet there, so we were relegated to one of the rooms on the side
- good-sized portions
- pork neck dish was very good!
- I really enjoyed the way they cooked the remaining duck meat - with lots of vegetables, making for a large dish

CONS
- prawns didn't seem that fresh - the meat was slightly soft and lacked the "crunch" of freshly cooked seafood. My mom said that it was better the last time she went.
- rice was a bit hard
- peking duck was ok... wasn't as crispy as it could've been
- Service was BAD. ok, they were busy, and service is never that great in this caliber of chinese restaurants, but it was just bad that night. we had to constantly go find the waitress to order, and everytime we asked for something, she looked annoyed at us for asking. several times she told us she was too busy and will come back later. So maybe it was due to that wedding that night, but if they are planning to serve other diners the same night, they need to be staffed appropriately.

Overall, I would give it another try as long as they don't have a wedding that night. The food was fairly good overall, and for the price, I can't complain too much.