Tag Archives: Bar/Pub

Mezes

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456 Danforth Avenue
416-778-5150

Beautiful decor, funky mosaic tiles, waterfalls, but VERY LOUD. Expect mega lineups on the weekend. Mezes is the place to be on the Danforth. If your young, hip, and trendy and you want to be seen, this is the restaurant for you. Mezes has a beautiful summer terrace, and a great selection of mouth watering food. There are large, traditional Greek dishes like Mousaka or if you are like me, you can order three smaller dishes to make a meal. The grilled vegetables are “to die for” and I also order a plate of humus and a spanakopita (spinach pie). Open very late, contains many seats inside and about ten seats on the front terrace. The only thing about Mezes are that tables are close together, packed in like sardines, lineups are long, and it’s noisy, but the food and atmosphere is great.

Gate 403 Jazz Club and Restaurant (Gate 403 Bar & Grill)

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403 Roncesvalles Avenue
(416) 588-2930

Located right in the heart of Roncesvalles Village in the west end of Toronto, I visited this bar/cafe one afternoon in the summer of 2002 with my aunt Susie. We were hungry and we had some time to eat before seeing our movie at the Revue cinema across the street (we were seeing the movie About a Boy).

This place is really cool. It is dark inside and it resembles a small neighbourhood bar/pub/cafe with friendly staff. Gate 403 has live Jazz music, and good affordable bar/pub/ food as well as full meals. I ordered the grilled vegetables topped with tomato sauce. It was excellent. My aunt had a caesar salad and she said she really liked it. Since this was also a bar, be prepared to be around smokers (like my aunt). I would definitely go back because the overall vibe is a friendly, laid back, non-pretentious ambiance.

Rhodes (changed to Didier)

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03/2007-changed to Didier
1496 Yonge Street
(416) 968-9315

A cool jazz bar and bistro. Serves oysters, calamri, mussels, chicken, fish, and other meat dishes. My friend had a hearty bowl of mussels in a tomato sauce and his mother had a plate of calamari. I ordered a plate of grilled vegetables. The service was prompt but the waitress was pushy, not accomodating, not flexible, and very rude. I would never go back to Rhodes in my life.

The prices are high and the live entertainment is way at the back of the restaurant in the smoking section. The front of the restaurant is far removed from the music and so it was difficult to enjoy the live show.

The decor is quite lovely with stained wood, beautiful wall furnishings made of wood and the pub (in front) was furnished with beautiful leather chairs and the bar was a deep mahoganey wood. The back of the restaurant was difficult to see but it looked spacious, smoky, and contained about 20 dining tables. My grilled vegetables were very tasty, in skewers with a balsamic viniagrette, but the portions were too small and there were no vegetarian meal options. My friend thoroughly enjoyed his plate of mussels and his mum enjoyed her calamari. The bill came out to $65.00 for three people: RIP OFF FROM HELL!

SpaHa (closed in 2004)

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66 Harbord Street
416-260-6133
This hip, trendy cafe is named after the two intersecting streets (Spadina and Harbord). This cafe serves meals to cater to the U of T students with money. The decor is trendy with glass tables and funky chairs, and art decor ambiance makes this place the ultimate hangout for people watching and just hanging out. The food is good but nothing unique. Located in the heart of U of T, this funky small restaurant serves trendy salads, soups, and light meals.

Marche Movenpick (now Richtree markets)

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For a list of Marche Movenpick locations, please visit this web site
http://www.richtree.ca/richtree-locations.htm

A paradise of food, a marketplace of wonderful dishes, pasta, soups, stir fries, grilled vegetables, wine and beer, farm fresh fruit and vegetables, heavenly desserts from chocolate truffles to orgasmic crepes and Belgiam waffles, and gift items like chocolate, candy, and boxed coffee and tea. There is something for everyone here.

This place serves a large variety that pleases even the most finicky eaters. Food ranges from steak and potatoes to pizza to pasta to mussels and seafood to healthy salads and grilled vegetables.

The game goes as follows: you enter this martketplace and the waiter hands you a ticket and a map of all food kiosks. Your ticket is your credit card for all of the food in this market. You are warned not to lose the ticket or else you will have to pay $100 or wash the dishes for a couple of days. You freely visit any food kiosk and choose whatever food you want to eat. You choose a plate size and vendors stamp your card and then you pay for your dinner at the end of the evening. In total, you will get charged over 30% in tax which sucks. [This includes the PST + GST]

The only disadvantage is that the place is noisy and it almost feels like a glorified food court. You hardly ever dine with your friends or family because someone is either eating or getting up to get more food. It is rare to have everyone at the table all at once

I always enjoy the same thing, a medium size plate of lentil salad with sesame oil and veggies and grilled mushrooms and zucchini and eggplant along with a corn salad and chick pea salad. I also order from the antipasto bar: grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, grilled mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes ($2.99 per 100 g)

I sometimes order a “made-to-order” fruit smoothie with bananas, strawberries, and other fruit. I can only complain that Marche Movenpick is damn expensive (because of the tax) There is underground parking.

Decor is like a closed in market with artificial plants, trees, waterfalls,
Water is served in a beautiful, kitschy fountain right by the entrance of the restaurant. Be warned, some nights there are lineups with waits up to one hour. Liquor licensed. Accepts all cards. A few locations across Toronto. Open 365 days per year from 7:30am-2:30am.

Insomnia

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563 Bloor St. W., 416-588-3907

Located right in the Annex at Bloor and Bathurst, this bistro/bar/cafe is named for its late, late hours. The kitchen cooks till 3:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. “Tapas” here means caesar, mesclun and Greek salads, along with crab cakes, soup and calamari. My friend ordered a thick tortilla soup and he said it was very tasty. I did not eat anything but I did take a look at the extensive menu.

They serve many French dishes, like an eight-ounce strip loin with peppercorn ($17.00), Mediterranean dishes (capon stuffed with spinach, peppers and chèvre which is $16.00) and Asian (curried mussels are $8). As you can see there are no vegetarian healthy dishes for me, so the hell with them. They do serve pasta dishes ($13.00–$15.99) and thick-crust pizzas ($11.00–$12.00).

Generous desserts are led by a flourless chocolate cake known as the Climax ($6.00). Prices are way too high for me and there are not enough vegetarian dishes but I may try this place again in the near future.

Green Room

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296 Brunswick Avenue
(416) 929-3253

Open Mon 12am-2am, 11am-2am; Tue-Sat 11am-2am; Sun 11am-12am

Hidden behind Future Bakery in the Annex, this place can be categorized as grungy, earthy, funky, smoky, and ecclectic. With mismatched chairs and a dark, pub-like ambiance, this casual bar/cafe is a great place to hang out and enjoy some decent vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes, all at a cheap prices.

Quality is not high, but most patrons go for the alcohol, not the food.  Green room, like its sister cafe Red Room, offer a large variety of beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages.