Tag Archives: lunch

7 West

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Last night I went to 7 West after a movie. There aren’t a lot of places that are 24 hours & decent, but this is one of them. They haev recently changed their menu, and so though the prices are not as cheap as they once were, there is more variety in the food, and it has been upgraded somewhat. I do think that $3.50 for juice is not quite reasonable. Our server was fabulous, very attentive, quick, and he was very flexible, allowing me to get an extra item on my salad – no problem. I ended up with a sandwich ($10) that contained prociutto, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado & buffalo mozzarella. Thankfully, they were generous with their meat portion to the point that I had to take half of my sandwich home. The sandwich was accompanied by a massive salad, containing many types of vegetables & chickpeas . it was gooooood. My friend had the rose ravioli ($13)- her usual dish, and she liked the plate clean!

Despite the price increase, this was overall a positive dining experience, and little surprise, I will be back.

 

B & B Fish & Chips

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1116 Queen St. East Cash only, no phone 
Queen & Pape – @ Brooklyn

Eat out only – unless you sit in one of the 3 chairs, or outside on the bench.

The prices are low, the value is huuuuge – $4.75 fish & chips where you get so much you struggle to finish. They make every order fresh, and serve each crispy bit in newspaper. This place is well worth the trip, believe me, I go out of my way to make the trip down special. Check it out!

Ameer

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Ameer serves traditional Lebanese cuisine in “Little Arabia” at the corner of Warden and Lawrence. I decided to try this place for lunch after previously sampling some very good baba ganoush and hummus from here. It turned out to be one of the best middle eastern meals I’ve eaten in (greater) Toronto.

The interior of the restaurant is something you would imagine of a middle eastern restaurant. Arabic decorations, white tile, clean with soft, traditional music playing in the background. The place was empty save for a group of women celebrating someone’s birthday. Our waiter was very friendly and accomodated my desire of having a side of chicken shwarma with my vegetarian platter. My choices for middle eastern fare are quite boring and I tend to stick to the usual falafel and dips. There’s just something I love about this combination of food that always seems to be the best choice on the menu. The platter was HUGE and came with large helpings of hummus, baba ganoush, five falafel balls that were crisped to perfection on the outside but soft and warm inside, mild garlic dip, several tasty grape leaves packed with rice and assorted spices, and a large basket of pita bread. Each of these parts of the meal including the stuffed grape leaves which I do not usually care for were delicious. The extra side of chicken shwarma was tender and tasty as well. The only problem was that there was too much food.

Ban Vanipha

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From the outside, there seems something a little off putting about this Thai/Laotian restaurant. Perhaps it is the immediate area on Dundas West that it encompasses, not quite apart of Chinatown or Kensington Market but comprising its own little mini area with two other restaurants to the west. After dining here twice; however, all of my doubts have been neatly put to rest due to the delicious fare and thoughtful service that is provided.

My first visit, I was taken here by a friend for my birthday. I had never tried Laotian food before and I couldn’t even pronounce any of the items on the menu. Thankfully, my friend had recently been to Laos and knew exactly what to order. We took our time by sharing several appetizers , a chicken, vegetable and seafood main, and dessert to finish. I don’t recall exactly what each dish was but we were both duly impressed. The atmosphere of the restaurant is completely laid back and serene which is a nice respite coming off the busy Dundas strip.

My second visit here was different from the first. Instead of sitting and “dining”, we ordered and ate quickly. The staff were quite attentitve to our needs and sensed that we did not desire to have a long drawn out meal. The quality to sense what pace the customer wants to eat is difficult for wait staff to master but can be crucial to enjoying a meal.

This time around I remember we ordered the Khao Glum for an appetizer which was black sticky rice and beans wrapped in a banana leaf with a side of spicy sauce. A tad difficult to share, but tasty nonetheless. For our main course we shared two dishes. A chicken dish called Ping Gai, was, according to the menu, spiced “Laotian style”. I’m not sure what that means exactly but it was very well seasoned and came with a delicious coriander sauce. We also had a shrimp dish called “ping gou yai”. The tiger shrimp were huge and juicy and came with grilled zucchini and a grilled tomato. I would have preferred to take my time, but my friend was in more of a rush. Despite this, it was still an enjoyable meal and I will be happy to return here again.

Armenian Kitchen

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1646 Victoria Park
416.757.7722

A few blocks to the north of Armenian Kitchen, on Lawrence Ave. E between Pharmacy and Warden is what is known as “Little Arabia”. With tons of Arabic shops, bakeries and restaurants, some of who’s names are written only in Arabic, this area is truly unique and contains several well hidden gems. The Armenian Kitchen, by contrast caters to a more diverse clientele though still serving traditional and authentic middle eastern fare. Through all my searching for decent food to eat in Scarborough, the name of the Armenian Kitchen has come up the most.

For lunch, I settled on a typical vegetable platter with hummous, baba ghanoush, tabouleh salad, and labouneh – a thick, yogourt dip and pita. The hummous was smooth with tahina, the baba was creamy and garlicky but not overly so, and labouneh which I had never tried before was a wonderful addition. The pita bread was fresh, flat and soft and tabouleh salad was a good contrast to the dips.

Armenian Kitchen also does take out and I will surely be coming back here to take some dips up north.

Athens Pastries

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509 Danforth Av
(416) 463-5144

Located right in the heart of the Danforth, right near Chester subway, this pastry shop serves a limited menu of quick pastries, take out only, [ you can order and sit down at the 5-10 tables but they do not serve you]. In the summer they have a small but cosy terrace that sits about 4 small tables. Sells mostly spinach, cheese, and cream pies, and sells other light dishes, as well as an assortment of North American, Greek, Turkish, coffees as well espresso and cappucino and other shi shi poo poo coffees. They also sell a large variety of soft drinks. They always have a sign saying “Help Wanted” which is weird [maybe the management treats the staff crappy] In any case, the food is good- not greasy, but yummy…I always order Spanakopita, which is Spinach and Feta Cheese pie wrapped up in Philo Dough. The lighting is quite bright and staff are friendly.

Chai

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 1575 Bayview Avenue
(416)483-9512

Recently, I’ve become enamoured with the idea of visiting restaurants in less hyped areas of the city. One such area is the Bayview/Mt. Pleasant area between St. Clair and Yonge. Every time I drive through here, which isn’t often, I notice several upscale yet untrendy lunch and dinner joints. Working only a 10 minute drive away in Scarborough, I decided to try Chai on Bayview just south of Eglinton.

With a nice little patio that was crowded upon our arrival, I was nicely surprised by someone, who I believe was the owner, come out and set up a table just for us. With a lunch special of a variety of gourmet sandwiches and the soup of the day, I decided on a roasted veggie sandwich and a hot and sour soup. My sandwich, served on foccacia, consisted of the typical roasted eggplant, and red peppers and goat cheese. It was quite average and so was the soup. I believe my lunching partner felt the same.

Lately, looks have been deceiving. I hope things improve or I am going to revert back to the regular tasty restaurants.

Belly Busters

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3447 Yonge Street
(416) 489-6051‎

This hole-in-the-wall submarine shop along Yonge St. just south of York Mills has legendary status amongst my brother and his friends. They especially like to “hit” this place late at night when they are red-eyed and suffering from a bad case of the self induced munchies.

After hearing the praises of these subs for so long I popped in for a take-out order one rushed Friday evening before heading up north to the family cottage. Trying to remember four separate sub orders for people with selective tastes was not an easy task; but with the help of the owner who also prepared the submarines I was able to get everything right. I have a soft spot for restaurants where the owner also prepares the food while cohorting with the patrons. It shows a sense of pride, dedication and intimacy that is missing from larger restaurants (see Mystic Muffin review)

I must admit, I am not the biggest sub fan, but my turkey/bacon sub was generally quite good. Really, I only have Mr. Sub and Subway to compare it to so I can say this is the best out of those three.

Churrasco Of St Clair‎

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679 St Clair Avenue West
 (416) 658-0652‎

Affectionately known, at least to my family, as “Churassco”, this Portuguese eatery has been a take-out staple for many years in the mid town area. The term churassco actually refers to the way in which the chicken is prepared. I could not describe to you in earnest how that is, all I know is that it is delicous.

Walking into this establishment, located just east of the intersection of St. Clair and Christie, a blast of hot air hits you as dozens of butterflied chickens are visibly being grilled in plain view of the salivating customers. Orders of half or quarter chicken are available, each of which coming with a generous serving of small round potatoes and a heap of white rice. Chicken sandwiches are also available but they work better for lunch. Ribs are available though I have never tried them. If you like spice, be sure to ask for some hot sauce to dip the chicken or potatoes in. The potatoes are also particularly delicious and it never hurts to order an extra helping (unless of course you are watching your carb intake).

Brass Taps Pizza Pub

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 495 Danforth Av (416) 466-3403
157 Roncesvalles Avenue – (416) 536-6678
221 Carlton Street – (416) 966-9440
934 College St. (416) 533-4333

Some places specialize in specific type of food. Brass Taps is a toned down, casual version to Il Fornello. If you decide to dine at Brass Taps, don’t go for the burgers, wraps, or pub fare, since it’s just mediocre. Go for the gourmet pizza and the excellent Sunday brunch.

Centrally located in Greektown at Danforth and Logan and on the cusp of Little Italy at College and Ossington, this pub is known for its gourmet pizza (many different varieties and you can even build your own pizza and choose your own crust!) . Some Brass Taps Pizza Pubs play cheesy 80’s music and some hard rock and roll. Decor looks like your typical pub- bar stools, woodwork, and a large bar with an extensive selection of wine, beer, and hard liquor.

Also contains comfortable seating with large tables and booths as well.

They serve brunch Sundays from 11:30am-2:30pm and the menu is fairly extensive. I usually order granola with fruit and yogourt but since the menu has recently changed (perhaps due to new management?), I decided to have the Garden party egg white omelete.

The service is prompt and portions are big. I went with three friends and they had a mix of different items, French toast club sandwich with banana, peanut butter, and nutella, my other friend had a bagel with provolone cheese and red pepper, and another friend had a pizza frittata, which is an open faced omelete on top of pizza dough with pizza sauce and veggies.

All of our dishes arrived fresh and were under $10.00. Average price for brunch items was $5.95-$7.95. I received the wrong egg-white omelete, (I got a mushroom and cheese egg-white omelete). I told her kindly but timidly that I got the wrong item, so she re-ordered the omelete for me for free. Woo-Hoo.

The egg-white omelete was big and fluffy and had a lot of sauteed vegetables, and it came with roasted potatoes in a rosemary, garlic, and herb saute, and it came with four slices of toast. I did not eat the toast or potatoes but I was very satisfied with the egg-white omelete.

Soft drinks are expensive so be warned but portions are big, the 80’s music was absent that day but the overall ambiance was friendly and accomodating. I was thoroughly impressed. The server’s name was Shelley and she was super nice. Looks are deceiving because I would have never thought that this place served brunch- it simply looks like a pub. Many locations in Toronto. Extensive selection of vegetarian meals and excellent vegetarian pizza dishes. Please note that even though Brass Taps all share almost identical menus and the same name, they are not affiliated with each other. In sum, this beats the overpriced trendy il Fornello by a long shot. Some locations like the Little Italy location (on College street) offers free concerts (my friend Christy and I saw Shaye perform there), and other events. Very friendly service. Accepts all cards.