Rachael "Miss. Bakeaholic" T.'s Profile

Yes, this place is worth the wait...even if it is raining on a saturday night, even if you have to wait two hours, even if you are starving..... Here is how you can plan your nit around it.
1. Pick a night the hockey game is on.
2. Go and put your name down and walk over to the rhino across the street
3. Sit at the bar and order a few of the 356 beers ...Subject to season and availability.
4. Enjoy your company and wait for the call
5. Pay your bill and head over for a fantastic meal.

We got sat the the bar.. Small and busy, rest liveliness. The waitress is quick to get your order and tempting you to get the guacamole because youve been waiting so long....simply oblige and be satisfied when lovely plate of Guac and chips come out with a piece of crispy pork. I wasn't sure what all the hype was about this but the guacamole is creamy with little bits and the perfect amount of acidity. If you can avoid sharing the piece of pork, keep it to yourself.

We ordered two types of tacos.. Chicken and fish. All I have to say is..get the fish. Large piece of seafood that is perfectly cooked and full of substance and flavours. Every bite tastes amazing and I wanted more. The chicken was delicious as well... Nothing disappointed, just preferred the fish more!

I had waited this long.... So decided to get the tuna ceviche to top it off. Large chunks of tuna drizzled with lemon juices and other saucy goodness. S is not a big ceviche fan so more for me!!! There were some chips at the bottom you can combine with so it gives you more textures if you do not want to eat it solely by itself.

To end, the key lime pie...very creamy, but loaded with citrus. Definitely lived up to S's expectations... Oh one more thing... If you like sours like me, the electric sour will be your kind of drink.

I hate myself for doing this, but I can only give this place 3.5 stars based on my visit here last week..... I have said this time and time again, it is the luck of the draw what type of meal you get and what type of snack offerings are available the nite you are there. I frequently check their daily menu, seeing when it will change, what is new etc.... Sigh I'm such a food addict.

Coming on a Monday night for the 9pm dinner service, the place was packed.... And Loud! Our server was courteous and patient with our ever ending questions. Being told that the rare earth cocktail was a pretty solid staple on their menu, I went with that for my drink of the night. Bourbon based, it lived my to my expectations. Booze and very earthy, so to speak.

We were presented with pistachios and longan to start our nite. By fresh and juicy fruit, I was very happy with how things started. Then the amuse Bouches came out, more than I expected to receive. We were given a dashi seaweed broth with seed oil that was flavourful and warmed my lungs, a sushi type roll with carrot and beets, topped with a dollop of spicy mayo... Very in textures with a nice kick to to finish off, and a cheese bread with truffle oil - I thought the puff was dry, With the cheese to be extremely overpowering and lack of truffle essence.

It was quite some time before our first course fame out. It was a potato salad in the form of a round dish, with lots of compliments including different herbs, seeds, pea purée, creme fresh.. The sky was the limit. While I liked the additions that created different flavours and textures, I found the potato salad to be every regular, a little mushy and a little disappointing. It had to get better from here.

Second course was a sea bream with scallions, and snake bean (cool) in a soy based broth. It was beautifully cooked, the fish tasted fresh and overall very refreshing...however...being Asian, it's really hard for me to be completely satisfied when I consistently eat steamed fish at Chinese restaurants and this reminded me of just that. May have been plated and cooked more elegantly but I was hoping for something else here.

Third course was chicken chantecler with crispies on top over potato purée. This was by far the best dish of the night. The chicken was succulent and juicy, flavours just bursting with each bite. I wish there was more mash at the bottom as it was creamy and thinking about this dish makes me salivate. Even after I finished the meal I was longing for more.

Our last courses was the rice pudding with taro, raisins, apple foam and brittle. The foam was refreshing and I like how there were different ingredients to add more flavours and texture. The foam was refreshing and light, while the brittle added a solid crunch with a a bit of saltiness. It was a nice way to end the meal.

I really want to come back to try their snacks menu because it is often changing. I wish I had the chance to meet chef claudio because he follows the same philosophy as chef Blaine at lummi island in Washington and they may have worked together in denmark together....

There is always next time.... And yes I will come back.....I will....

This place is your typical good food, good beer, good drinks type of pub. Their cocktail selection is extensive, which I may not find at other pubs, so I was happy to see lots of options.

As for the food, i have only had the Portebdllo mushroom salad here, but for me to order the same thing twice is big. If you are a funghi fan, then you will be happy with two large grilled mushrooms served with roasted red peppers, seed, overl greens with a giant dollop of creamy goat cheese and two slices of focaccia with pesto spread. When its hot, it is good!

I have heard that the club sandwich, taquitos and yam fries steal the show here. I love yam fries so I'm just waiting for the right moment.

Thenlast time I was here, they informed me that they had steigl on tap.... And that it tasted like grapefruit form of orangina. I had to try it and boy was the waitress right. It gets pretty sweet and tangy towards the end, but can be awesome refreshing on the patio.

The service is always super nice and no matter the day of the week, its still pretty busy so you can't really go wrong.

All I have to say about this place is HOLY KIMCHI FRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have been waiting a long time for this place to re-open, and then finding the time to come by. I had read somewhere that BMB was only opened until 8, so when working late nights close by, I didn't think I would be able to get these goods. When I finally walked in on Friday night with a pretty big lineup, I was told this place was opened until 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If only I knew about this 2 weeks ago, I would've been here so much sooner.

Reading some other blog, I noticed the kimchi fries was more like a kimchi poutine.... sounds like the weirdest combination ever but I was brave enough to try it. Trust me - you do not need bravery to check this dish out. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but it looks like there is pulled pork / shredded meat, some type of mayo, and a good portion of kimchi to boot... along with fries of course. At first bite, I felt like my tastebuds were flying off the wall. it's sour, it's salty, it's unbelievably delicious! As I am health freak, I am telling you that I've found my weakness. Every bite continued on as I wanted to not share is with S... he wasn't a fan of the kimchi - he's never been but agreed that it was definitely an interesting and worth trying combination.

enough about the KCF .... there is MORE! We also got the Duck Confit Banh mi (the cream of the crop of the sandwiches), the pork belly steamed bao, and a papaya salad (my health kick). The Duck Confit sandwich was for him and it did not disappoint. The baguette was so soft, and the duck reminded me of peking duck stuffed in a sandwich. Wish it was spicier, but really, who cares at this moment when you have so many delicious items ready to be gobbled down. I have been craving the pork belly steamed bao, reading great things, but not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that as pork belly, it wasn't overly fatty, but very flavourful. The bao was a great size for me as I think that it is the ultimate snacker if you need a small bite to eat. I asked for extra carrots and a little bit of spice. You definitely get a good kick if you enjoy heat. The bao was sooo yum, but I did not have to enjoy it in a dim sum restaurant, rather the comfort of my own home (as I got takeout!) Lastly the papaya salad,although I was was bigger, was presented with dressing on the side, so it would not get soggy (nice touch). Essentially, if you do not put the sauce on, it's pretty tasteless but refreshing. If you do decide to dress, you will get a sweet and sour type of taste that makes you want to keep eating more of it.

I don't know how to explain it.. one of the best meals at a great price. Yes, we ordered a little too much... but YES it tasted amazing as leftovers the next day.

Banh Mi soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHECK IN THROUGH YELP APP - you get discounted POUTINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been longing to come check this place out reading all the great reviews and the fear that it will close without any notice!

I love the atmosphere in this place - light, airy, and COLOURFUL :) I love colours. I felt like I was in elemenatry school again with the giant chalkboards listing menu options, high table tops, and lunchboxes containing archie comics... brought back so many memories as a kid!

I really could not decide what to get - healthy dinner, greasy spoon? Combination of both? sounds good to me :) Hearing about the great salad, I just had to try it. I'm stingy with dressing so I always get it on the side. Very surprised and pleased that it was not a creamy based, but rather a tomato vinegrette that had a nice flavour to it. The salad was large filled with  mixed greens, lettuce, tomatoes cucumbers, quinoa, and of course beans! All the ingredients were fresh and a very good portion. The Owner, I think he was the owner, said that it was so big that it could feed two people. I didn't want to contradict his thoughts,  but if he knew what type of salad eater I was, he would know that I could polish that off easily!

Along with my salad, I decided, based on the recommendation of Jay - the short rib poutine, in stead of the sandwich. It was topped with crispy onions which I enjoyed, but I wish there was more shortrib. I believe that there was more than one type of cheese, mixing up the flavours. The fries were a little bit too greasy for me, so I was a little bit disappointed.Maybe if there was more gravy, I would be all over it.

Definitely come and get it before it's GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really wanted to like this place more And as much as I would really like to say that it was OK, which it technically was... I have experienced  better, so let's give this 2.75 rounded down.

Maybe it was the atmosphere, quiet on a week night, no great atmosphere or lively vibe, felt like there were more servers watching than serving with patrons coming in and out from time to time. There is actually a larger dining room at the end of a narrow corridor, which was.... empty.

Drinks start at $13, and they are tasty, well crafted, with much time and effort. They do not list the prices on the menu and I'm guessing the fancier ones do come at an even steeper cost. but I'm not good with names, so I wouldn't even know which ones are for the high rollers.

Their menu comes in a few categories, starting with "bite size" snacks, which 2/3 were sold out at the time. There are salads flatbreads and a few mains to add to it, and specials rhymed off by the waitor. The special was a fish (can't remember what), with apple and horseradish puree and root veg. Sounded enticing enough as the flavours seemed bold and interesting. When it came out, I must have misinterpretted that the horshradish came separately but it must have been mixed in with the apple puree, which really tasted like applesauce, no horse radish evident. The root vegetables were bright and beautiful, but it had no flavour to it. The fish was small sear, and for the same price, I had two fillets at Gusto 101. I thought it was a little too salty, and overcooked. Overall, not impressed with the price or quality.

My friends who got the carbonara with light cream sauce thought it was okay, but the portions looked a little small. The vegetarian flat bread, at first looked like sausage, but in fact wasn't and tasted nothing like I thought - much too salty than preferred.

It is always because of good company that I will stay at a sub-par restaurant for 3 hours. I wouldn't mind coming for a late night drink if other places were packed, but I felt this environment was a little too stuffy for me.

YAY to girls night :)

What better way to end food free February than to write about Toronto's cm VIVEK! As a recent transfer from Vancouver to Toronto, I was definitely intimidated by the smaller town events so the large scale get togethers with a bunch of new people I have never met.

When I had first found out that Vivek was the new CM after Kat,, I had thought that he was a friend I went to university with because they have the same name! How coincidental is that!

Vivek from the start made me feel welcome in my new-old town, being originally from toronto. When I moved to Vancouver, yelp didn't exist here so this is a whole new experience.

It took me several cancellations and a lot of bravery to finally make my way to a yelp elite event and Vivek didn't disappoint. Spin was fabulous, everyone was enjoying themselves and I could definitely tell that Vivek was well respected by everyone in the room. I finally got the chance to speak to him, the man himself and despite him being super busy, he still made time to chat.

I'm sad to see his reign come to an end and the next person has some big shoes to fill but I know we will welcome him/her with open arms too!

I had been looking for a new massage therapist so I turned to Yelp for reviews and suggestions. I came across Camden spa which seemed to have availability for same day service so I was thrilled because it had been an extremely painful work week.

I walked into a small, but quaint space where a really nice lady greeted me, asked me to sign some papers and offered me a glass of water. Shortly after I was introduced to my RMT (insurance covered) and she brought me to the first room by the front. She thoroughly went through the areas of soreness and gave me reassurance as I have had many bad experiences in the past.

Although she told me that she was going to show me some additional exercises to do at home after the massage, that never happened. The massage, overall, was very relaxing, but it wasn't the right technique I am looking for... i really miss my old RMT - she doesn't work at the place I use to go to and so I'm hoping I'm just going to randomly run into her again.

At the end of the day, I still was confused as to whether I was supposed to tip. I have read the standard rule is - if you go to a clinic, you are not supposed to tip, but if you go to a spa, where it is "fancier," then you should tip. I did tip, nonetheless, but I cannot say that this place was/ seemed anything above the standard of a massage clinic.

something I am not use to is that people are in regular clothing, rather than uniforms - the atmosphere is much more casual, deeming it a little less professional that it actually is. I think that with the lack of uniforms, it saves overhead costs and is actually a better idea. However, in hindsight, I think that as a professional, I would expect spas to at least have a clothing policy - ie. all black, hair tied up etc......

I'm glad I popped in and if I need an emergency massage, I wouldn't mind coming here at all.. but Im still searching for my cinderlla RMT until then. Show owner comment »

Although it took me two tries before I actually got to send out my mail.. The first time i went at prime time lunch hour and there were probably 10 people waiting in line so i opted not to wait.

The second time the post office was empty. the lady was super nice when I got to the counter. She waited patiently as I sorted out all 30 of my letters being mailed to the us, rest of Canada and internationally.

She gave me all the stamps and even took the time to help me put them on..  Probably because there was no one in line before more.... She even struck a conversation with me making time go by quickly as I continued sticking the stamps on.

The only down side to this experience was the huge postage bill. It's amazing how much stamps have gone up in the last few years. Maybe I don't snail mail much anymore so it seems like such a huge spike. Oh well.... You can't do anything about it.

If I had to choose I would probably come here to post my mail, but if there was a reason to have to do some grocery shopping and necessities, I would walk to the shoppers drug mart at king and Peter where there is a post office inside also.

I have been here twice since the grand opening of the highly anticipated Gusto 101.. Walking to Jimmy's for coffee for the last little while, I had been keeping a close look out on when this place would be opened and when it finally did, I hardly waited before stepping into this gorgeous industrial space, will of beautiful lighting, high ceilings and wooden furniture that gives it a rustic, yet comfortable feeling.

On my first visit, I came with a friend just for drinks. The hostess and waitress were overly excited and happy.. a little overbearing, i have to say.. I felt like they were forcing their smiles on me. Their menu is large collection of papers pinned to a clipboard so it was difficult locating where the cocktails were... so I asked out server, and she pointed me to the.... GRAPPAS. I'm not an expert with names, concoctions, or Italian, but I know that Grappas are sweet wines, and not cocktails. Good thing I had read Natalie T's reviews and were able to locate her recommendations and made an executive decision to try their ultra strong drink - the one with the orange bitters (can't remember it's name). It was very strong as I had anticipated, though I have to say the size of the cocktail cup was quite small for the price. I also had a negroni americano (campari, vermouth, soda) and I thought it was made very nicely. Everything that came out of the kitchen smelled incredible and I was really excited to come back for the food. We had been sat along the wall with the banquet and I must say that the tables are WAY too close. I can't say I'm a big girl and I could barely squeeze out feeling like I was intruding on the table next to us.

On my second visit, I took my BFF here for her birthday dinner (her choice, but I was definitely excited to finally taste what I had been smelling on my first visit). It was around 6:30 and there were probably 5 tables available. Not wanting to sit along the squished banquette tables, we were lucky to get a table on the main centre aisle, although there wasn't a lot of extra breathing room with people walking by and my chair getting banged several times, and people would be bring chairs across the restaurant and I thought that I was going to get hit in the head. Our waiter was very courteous, and very knowledgeable of everything on the menu. We got the escarole salad to start with walnuts, onion and truffle vinaigrette ($9.95). The escarole had a beautiful crunch to it and a lovely scent of truffle with every bite. The walnuts and onion added some punch and bite and I thought it was a lovely start to our meals.

For the mains, I got the 3-mushroom parppadelle with truffle paste and light cream - I was told that it would be very mushroomy and I was very excited because I don't eat them very often - portebello, oyster, porcini ($14.95). When it arrived, I was actually disappointed to see that there were hardly any mushroom PIECES (maybe 3 - 4 little ones), but other than that, thee pasta dish contained mushroom shavings that created the overall taste. The dish was very tasty, not overly heavy and a good texture, but can't say I was completely satisfied. The pasta is NOT made in house, but I was told it was "fresh....."

My bf got the brandzino ($21.95), which the fish is seared in house (making it super fresh). It was recommended by our server so she went with that. I have to say that this dish was very good, with a very evident citrus coating that erupted your taste buds. The sauteed greens were nice and crunchy, and I preferred her dish over mine in the end.

We decided to try the desserts because the waiter really did sell them well. Knowing that they were little bites in the size similar to a shot glass, we got the lemon ice and the chocolate fudge brownie with caramel sauce and rock salt. If I had known that it was $3.95 / shot, I would have passed because I didn't think it was worth it at all. The lemon air was pretty much that in a shot glass. I didn't feel like there was any substance to it although there was a very potent lemon taste. Nothing really sat on my tongue as it evaporated in an instant. There were little pieces of lemon jelly that had a lot of flavour, but that was it. The chocolate dessert came in a very cute little jar, but only half full. It was very dense, and lacking caramel sauce. The rock salt was extremely overpowering so if you didn't know (which I didn't) and took very little chocolate in your bite, it would really turn you off.

Having been here twice, I was sooooo excited to try their in house made wine. The first time I came, they were out and told me that it would be by the end of the next week. I came two weeks later on my second visit, only to find out that they still did not have any wine and it wouldn't be ready until... the following week. Unfortunately, maybe I'm just going to wait it out and hope that the next time someone suggests to eat here, the wine will be back.

Highlight - FOCACCIA BREAD TO START. Delicious!