PearTree Restaurant

Posted on April 11, 2004 by markaaronpolger

507 Parliament Street
(416) 962 8190

Located right in the heart of Cabbagetown, this place serve a traditional brunch as well as a first-rate Eggs Benedict, all priced under ten dollars. Although a small menu, they also serve a medley of items ranging from fish to stir fry’s to steak. They have a back terrace and next to the patio is a terrific little solarium, which gives a summertime feel 12 months of the year. If you arrive before 2:30pm, you can enjoy their complimentary blueberry coffee cake, which are made that day and are excellent. I ordered the vegetarian stir fry which had a lot of vegetables. The dish was $8.95 and came with cashews (hold the rice) and it was supposed to come with tofu but I could not find it. 😦

My dish was drowning in sweet Schezuan sauce which was kind of slimy and gross. I still loved my stir fry. Other than that, I could not find any other vegetarian dishes. My two friends had a “I want it all breakfast” with sausages, eggs, home fries, a small side order of fruit salad, peameal bacon, pancakes, and toast- all for $12.95. He said he loved it. My other friend had smaller version of this breakfast, called the TTC breakfast. It had much of the same things (eggs, side order of fruit salad, toast, sausage, home fries, peameal bacon) but without the pancakes. My friends claimed that both breakfasts were excellent and they loved the fluffy pancakes and non-greasy sausages.

Desserts are available and they appear lovely. About 15 cakes and pieces to choose from. According to another review of this place, rumour has it that these wonderful decadent desserts are purchased from an outside source.

Decor is cosy and simple with exposed brick on each side of the restaurant, two distinct dining areas, and big spacious tables. There is a lot of great artwork on the walls and the whole ambiance of the place is non-pretentious and prices are normal ($7.95-$9.95) for most dishes.

Kalendar

Posted on April 10, 2004 by markaaronpolger

546 College Street West
(416) 923-4138

Located right in the heart of Little Italy, at College near Grace, this wonderful cafe and bistro can be described as very “Toulouse-Lautrec”. Kalendar resembles a scene from the movie Moulin Rouge or the setting of some of Annie Lennox music videos. When you enter this place, you go back in time to an old 1880’s cafe.

The place is gorgeous with lots of varnished mahogney or oak furniture, an old bar with a large assortment of wines, liquors, and mixed drinks. There are two disinct dining halls separated by this central bar, which acts as the hub of the restaurant. One dining hall is quite small. It contains about 7 tables and the bar resides on this side. The other dining hall looks like an old fashioned restaurant with many more tables. The kitchen is in the basement so you never see them cooking. The menu is very limited and I would describe the cuisine of funky Indian or Fusion or Italian. They mostly have Indian cuisine but they also serve some Italian dishes like pizza and pasta and Belgium fare like mussels.
On this two page menu, I ordered a scroll number two. This scroll was essentially a wrap made of Roti (like Chapati or Poori or Nan bread) with hummus, grilled peppers, grilled artichokes, grilled eggplant, and herbed mayonnaise (hold the Mayonnaise- yuck!)

My friend ordered Scroll one which was a chicken variety with some vegetables. Both our scrolls came in two sizes ($8.95 small and $12.95 large) and we ordered the larges sizes with a vegetable salad with a balsamic viniagrette.

I ordered a Diet Coke for a drink and he ordered some dark beer that looked like Coke. Tables are small and people are kind of squashed together in the smaller dining room. I did take a look at the large dining room and it was beautiful. With art on the walls, dim lighting, mahogney or cherry wood furniture and wood panelling, this place was definitely the place to be on a Saturday night.

The only problem was that the menu was so little. It seems that they only have trendy funky Indian cuisine with a couple of Italian dishes (well, this place is in Little Italy, right?)

7 West

Posted on April 9, 2004 by markaaronpolger

7 Charles
416.928.9041

7 West is located on 7 Charles street, on three floors of an old converted Victorian home, with hardwood floors, exposed brick, and a fireplace. It’s just one block south of the Yonge/Bloor intersection. They serve many vegetarian meals and the prices are really affordable for what you get. The drinks are expensive, though. Never go on a Saturday night because this calm, cool, funky, hip cafe becomes a busy, crowded cheesy bar with macho guys with way too much cologne and women who look like whores socialize and drink and the whole ambiance becomes all loud and resembles a bar- YUCK!

Go during a weeknight or during the day on the weekend. I usually order the vegetarian chili or the grilled vegetable sandwich with a lot of chick pea green salad. It’s colourful, fresh, and portions are decent. 🙂 My veggie chili was a bit liquidy, but it’s quite tasty and not expensive.

They also serve excellent salads, and light meals, desserts, and full course dinners. You get good quality food and good service. Just avoid going Friday and Saturday night.

7-West also serves brunch on the weekend. There is small one-pager, in addition to the menu, with traditional brunch fare with affordable prices. Drinks are bit high (Diet Coke for $3.00) but I had the granola with fruit and yogourt for $6.00 and my brunch date had eggs, peameal bacon, with a chick pea green salad and service, presentation, and quality of food was good.

Only Cafe, The

Posted on April 4, 2004 by markaaronpolger

972 Danforth Ave.
phone number: 416-463-7843

I really like the vibe of this palce. The music is good, the walls are filled beyond belief with artwork, the lighting is dim, a nice variety in the beer selection, imported & domestic (bottled )the service is decent, & the food is good too.

I usually go for brunch, that seems to be a specialty of theirs. There is the standard eggs & meat combos, french toast, etc. & you get good portions. They are open to giving substitutions, which is helpful for fussbudgets like me who don’t eat eggs; I get them replaced with baked beans. Excellent! Thankfully, the waitstaff is honest & tells you when something that may seem vegetarian isn’t 100%.

I was pissed off at them for a while & would not go back for nearly a year – they are supposed to serve brunch until I forget what time, but I came in waaay before that I they decided to turn off the grill & stop serving early. I was mighty annoyed!

They only use the grill for brunch, so do not go later in the day hoping gfor a hot meal – you won’t get it. Best to go for brunch or drinks, you’ll be very satisfied.

Swan

Posted on January 17, 2004 by markaaronpolger

892 Queen West
416.532.0452

Walking inside the restaurant (if you call it that) I was greeted with
a quasi retro fifties diner vibe. The front half of the space is well
lit and narrowed by a bar with vinyl covered bar seats. Across from the
bar are tables with narrow booths seating 2-4 people. More tables are
available towards the back (and less lit) -end of the restaurant.

Good
luck finding a space for more than four people. The place doesn’t take
reservations and it becomes packed on brunch weekends. The atmosphere
was generally cool with white walls. The lukewarm heating system didn’t
make us feel any cozier eating in the middle of January.

I would
recommend visiting this place in the summer, when there is less winter
gear clutter, with the sun’s rays warming up the atmosphere. It’s a great
place to gab with a couple friends on a summery Sunday morning. After
eating you may better enjoy touring Queen West.

The brunch meals were adequate and generally well portioned. I had eggs,
but eggs are eggs. Nothing in the Omelette stood out. One of their
specialties are their clams and mussels which no one tried. Mark was the only one who ordered a non-egg meal- the warm half- grapefruit with a sprinkle of brown sugar with the vegetarian split pea soup. He seemed quite happy with his meal, but he was disappointed that there were not enough vegetarian and vegan items.

The menu has that funky bacon called Pancetta. It’s an oily meat to
consume for a first meal of the day, nontheless, bacon eaters dig in!
Service was friendly and very accomodating. Make sure you ask for no ice
in the juices, or you’ll be sitting with watered down orange juice.

-Jonathan Isenberg

Only Cafe, The

Posted on January 11, 2004 by markaaronpolger

972 Danforth Ave.

phone number: 416-463-7843

The Only Cafe is a small, cosy, neighbourhood bar/cafe right on Danforth between Donlands and Jones. The place is the epitome of "non-trendy". The tables and plates are mismatched and the place is actually small but sits about fifteen small tables. The place is filled with quirky Van Gogh prints and 60’s and 70’s photos of musical icons like the Beattles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Joni Mitchell.

I have gone here many times and always enjoy the Sunday brunch. I order the Belgium Waffle with Fruit, whipped cream and salad. It usually comes with bacon or sausage but I skip it for extra salad and fruit. The portions are huge, staff are very accomodating and there is a huge variety of salad dressings like Mango Vinegar, Sundried Tomato Oil, Garlic Oil, and Balsamic Vinegar.

I also have ordered the Bay of Quinte, an open-faced sandwich with your choice of over ten different kinds of bread, melted cheddar cheese, pesto, two large tomatoes, with an organic green salad. Prices are affordable ($5.95-$7.95) and decor is funky, hip, and very non-pretentious. It reminds me of a neighbourhood bar, like the fictional "Cheers," where everyone knows your name…

Unlimited coffee is served and the brunch menu is limited but the dishes are creative (breakfast burrito, cowgirl breakfast, cowboy breakfast, stuffed French toast with cream cheese and fruit, and French toast dipped in banana nut oatmeal.

Overall, The Only Cafe serves fresh, filling food, large portions, and staff are friendly and accomodating. They know their food very well and are able to answer questions about ingrediants and preparation. For example, the owner informed me that the refried beans are made with lard. YUCK!

Decor is funky and unique and although there is a limited vegetarian menu, the staff are accomodating. I would recommend this place for everyone.

Pulp Kitchen, post renovation [Mark]

Posted on December 22, 2003 by markaaronpolger

898 Queen Street E
416 . 461 . 4612
http://www.pulpkitchen.ca

I originally visited this place when it was a juice bar in summer 2002 and really liked the selection of fruit smoothies and vegetable juices. I went in late December with a friend and to my surprise they now serve a full meals and most dishes are vegan and healthy. My friend and I ordered the vegan Phad Thai, which consisted of glass rice noodles, chunks of tofu, homemade peanut sauce, and a lot of vegetables, all sauteed in a nice stir-fry.

We also had a thick delicious smoothie with vanilla soy milk, wheatgrass, spirulina, raspberries, strawberries ,and bananas. It was terrific. We also shared a warm salad of sauteed mushrooms, green beans, long cucumber slivers, and sauteed tofu in a rice vinegar type dressing. The salad was heavenly, not too greasy but the viniagrette was perfect. In addition we each ordered five vegan dumplings with homemade peanut sauce. What a healthy feast!

Decor is funky and tables are not too cramped together. Large front window makes the place bright during the day. The place has about 10-15 tables, sells protein and energy bars, fairly traded products, and they sell healthy desserts, bars, squares, cakes, and still runs as a juice, smoothie, and vegetable juice bar. Located right in the heart of South Riverdale, I will definitely go back. The menu is similar to Juice for Life, without the artsy-fartsy pretentiousness. The bill came out to $45.00 which was kind of pricy but the quality and service was excellent. Staff are very friendly and knowledgable with respect to food content and health benefits of the dishes.

Schillings Cafe and Bakery [Mark]

Posted on December 21, 2003 by markaaronpolger

135 Danforth Avenue
Toronto, ON
416 466-9100.

From the outside, it looks like a hoity-toity bakery. In terms of presentation, the cakes, pastries, squares, breads, and other baked goods are beautifully displayed by the window. The smells draw people in like bait and in no time customers can’t resist. They’ll buy little tarts, fudge, cakes, danishes, and other fattening treats.

I did not know that they served brunch until I went in with a friend to buy a German bread called “Schtolen”. I was surprised to find out that they also serve a healthy brunch too. The next Sunday, I went with my two friends and we enjoyed our brunch. Nestled in the back, there are about 15-20 large tables which sit about 40 people. Walls are multi-coloured and overall decor is fun and funky. I enjoyed an egg white omelete with broccoli, cauliflower, mushroom, mozzarella cheese, and spanish onion.

My other friend has a mushroom and cheese omelete and my other friend had roast beef in a baguette. The service was incredibly slow [one server had quit that very morning] but four different servers were very nice, attentive, and always brought us fresh milk for our coffee, free coffee refills, and were always coming around to see if we were generally happy.
I admit it must be difficult to manage a pastry and bakery shop and a restaurant with only 4-5 staff.

For the slow service, they apologized profusely and gave us a complimentary bag full of cookies. I do not mean chocolate chip cookies to dunk into milk, but fancy, schmancy cookies that look too nice to eat. I gave them to my two friends since cookies are not “Mark-friendly” The omelete was $7.95 and there was no extra charge to make it an egg white omelete…thank goodness….Both of our dishes were served with a large bowl of organic greens with a homemade raspberry viniagrette which was sweet, tart, chunky, and fruity. It may have looked like jam but it was clearly a viniagrette. I would recommend this place for the food and service are stellar.

Il Fornello – Brunch

Posted on October 4, 2003 by markaaronpolger

Il Fornello- The Danforth
576 Danforth Ave.
Tel. (416) 466-2931
Major intersection: Danforth & Carlaw

Il Fornello- Yonge and St. Clair
1560 Yonge Street
Tel. (416) 920-7347
Major intersection: Yonge & St. Clair

Il Fornello- Bayviw Village
2901 Bayview Ave
Tel. (416) 227-1271
Major intersection: Bayview & Sheppard

Il Fornello- Theatre District
214 King St. West
Tel. (416) 977-2855
Major intersection: King & Simcoe

Il Fornello – Beaches
1968 Queen St. E
Tel. (416) 691-8377
Major Intersection: Queen & Woodbine

Il Fornello- Queen’s Quay Terminal
207 Queen’s Quay West
Tel. (416) 861-1028
Major intersection: Queen’s Quay & York

Il Fornello Bloor West Village
2277 Bloor St. W.
Tel. (416) 761-9222
Major intersection: Bloor & Runnymede

IL FORNELLO *newest location-opening July 2005*
491 Church St

The last time I visited Il Fornello must have been for some sort of celebratory function in junior high school when I was still too young to be treated to a real fancy restaurant. Il Fornello is a chain of faux-fancy restaurants that attempt to mimic the cuisine and ambiance of its contemporaries even though noone is really fooled by these pretensions.

My first visit to Il Fornello since that time was for a brunch party for a good friend. I had heard recent musings that the brunch at this paticular Il Fornello on the Danforth was surprisingly good so my hopes were high. The menu definitely suggested a creative touch to what my pre-conceived notions would have told me was generic, chain food (to view go to : http://www.ilfornello.com/if/menudanforthbrunch.shtml). The array of omelettes was varied and I decided on eggs that came sprinkled with smoked salmon, sour cream and chives with a side dish of mango, spinach salad. The meal was also supposed to include Belgian endives which didn’t come until I pointed out this misstep out to our friendly waitress.

I found my eggs to be dry and compared to my smoked salmon omelette at Eggstasy which came overflowing with sour cream, this one was sorely lacking in that respect. The cookie cutter image of the perfectly cooked omelette didn’t impress me much and reminded me why chain restaurants usually don’t do it for me. Luckily, I was still able to enjoy this average meal due to the great brunch company I dined with.

Il Fornello on The Danforth [Brunch]

Posted on September 7, 2003 by markaaronpolger