In today's news:
Drunk passenger sues driver
"A lawsuit launched by a woman who drunkenly jumped from a moving car during an argument with her partner could make drivers liable for intoxicated passengers who cause themselves harm." AMAZING what society is coming to these days ...
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Foodie blog: Red House - Thai and Malaysia
705 Kingston Rd
Pickering, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Thai, Malaysian
Date visited: twice in April 2010
http://www.theredhouse.ca/
Wanting to try something different, the bf and I found a small thai place to try out with another couple.
Food: 3/5
The first time we came here, we ordered 4 dishes - fried rice, red curry, noodles and stir fry. The fried rice was spicy but good; the red curry was mediocre, lacking flavour; the noodles were good but I hinted at a bit too much oyster sauce, and the cashew nut stir fry was very good. On this occasion, I would have given them 4/5 on food. This is the reason we decided to come back (with a drawback - mentioned in Service). The second time we came back we decided to go with the tried and true cashew nut stir fry, along with another stir fry, pad thai, and a different fried rice. The stir fry's weren't very good and the cashew nut definitely tasted different. The fried rice was decent, but the worst of them all was the pad thai - it was a unanimous agreement that it was the worst we've ever tasted - put bluntly it tasted like rice noodles with ketchup, sugar and spice thrown in. I don't know how Shen ate the rest of what we didn't want but somehow he did. The dishes as they were mediocre at best and the pad thai skewed the rating of the entire night to a very low one.
Service: 4/5
Service here was good - we were always attended to fairly quickly, and they topped up water. The only thing I have to complain about was the first time we were here. When the bill came we split it evenly - there were a few 20's and some change so we didn't have to wait for change. As they took it away and we were getting ready to leave, we overheard the owner talking to another staff member talking in Chinese - he said "is this money real??". I was completely taken aback - I was fully ready to come back (which we did) but I was hesitant to return because of that comment. No, I don't print money and yes, I get my money from the bank, so yes, my money is real.
Atmosphere: 4/5
The restaurant is quite small and seats maybe 20 people at most. We've had to wait both times we came but only for 15 minutes. The place is quite popular with take out as a lot of people come and go with take out orders. The decor is nice with a clean feeling, although it might be a bit cramped. I've never used the washrooms.
Price/Value: 4.5/5
Prices here are very reasonably priced - you're looking at an average of $8-9 for each dish. We walked out quite stuffed for $12 a person. For take-out, I'm sure you get more bang for your buck without having to fork over tips
Overall dining experience: 3.5/5
After having dined at this establishment twice, I'm reluctant to return. The food was good the first time but not so much the second. In general the service was very good and the atmosphere was nice. If we do return, it won't be anytime soon, but I might be willing to try it again some time later once I've gotten the bad pad thai taste out of my mouth.
Foodie blog: Regal Chinese Cuisine and Banquet Hall
Regal Chinese Cuisine and Banquet Hall
1571 Sandhurst Circle
Scarborough, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Chinese
Date visited: May 2010
My family and I decided to go out for dinner to celebrate my parents' anniversary and my birthday. A new restaurant had opened up after Ruby Restaurant had closed down a few months earlier due to sanitary violations. I had high expectations for this place since Ruby was regarded as a high class restaurant, but I walked out of that restaurant with a bitter and sour taste in my mouth.
Food: 5/5
My father was very adamant about trying to order the set dinner - quite frankly, it was the best "deal" since everything on the menu was very highly priced. After convincing him to order a la carte, we decided upon "crab" claws, oysters in honey/garlic, angus beef in maggie sauce (?), seafood birds nest and some steamed rice. The birds nest was made with rice vermicelli instead of the usual taro that I'm used to - but it was crispy and good, as were the seafood and snow peas. The first piece of beef I had was chewy but every other piece from then on was tender. The oysters were yummy and the sauce was tasty. The "crab' claws were a bit smaller than I expected but were still pipping hot and delicious even after sitting on my plate for 5 minutes.
Service: 1/5
We had a reservation but it didn't matter because the place was only 60% filled. After being seated, no one came by to ask/bring us tea for almost 5 minutes. The waiter who took our order was nice, but that's about as far as "good" goes when it comes to service. My father tried to make a suggestion to a waiter about the "food printout" they give you when you order - it's pretty much a receipt of what you order. Half of it is in English but the food items you've ordered are only written in Chinese - do you expect all your customers to be bilingual? Anyways as one of the waiters was clearing up the table he completely ignored my father making a suggestion. After dessert, our bill came and I reached out to get it. At every other restaurant, "high class" or not, staff leave it on the table and come back in a few minutes once you've sorted out all the bickering over the bill. But no, the lady STOOD (dare I say hovered) over us until I produced my credit card. She came back promptly with the portable credit card machine processor, and I expected it to be handed to me to fill in the tip and my PIN. The next kicker is what she said. Translated equivalently to English it would be: "how much tip are you giving?". I was taken aback by the direct and blunt question/request. Her voice was so cold and direct, it could not possibly be translated to, "how much tips WOULD you LIKE to give?". I simply replied that I'd fill it in myself. She went to wait on another table and came back as the receipt was printing. The final slap in the face: she put the receipt on the table and left, without as much as a smile or saying thank you.
Atmosphere: 4/5
Despite the awful entrance, once you step inside, the place really does look like a banquet hall. All the chairs and tables have nice covers/cloths and it is spacious. You get a bit of a grand feeling when you're in there and the bathrooms are pretty nice (although, my mother commented that it was a bit dark).
Price/Value: 3/5
The first thing that hits you when you look at the menu is the prices. Peking duck, shark fin soup, sure I expect to pay absorbent prices. But $16 for Cantonese Chow Mein? Come ON now. My father was firmly set on ordering the "set dinner" but my mother noticed a sign that stated a 20% discount for seniors. We managed to convince him to order a la carte. Granted, the food was delicious, but we've been to other Chinese restaurants with quite good food for half the price.
Overall dining experience: 2/5
Despite the good food and nice decor, the service at the end of dinner left me with an incredibly soured experience. Never have I experienced such bad customer service in my LIFE (I'm sure there's plenty of more bad ones to come). My entire family was unanimous on how awful the lady treated us and that we would never come here again (and also spread the word on not to eat here).
1571 Sandhurst Circle
Scarborough, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Chinese
Date visited: May 2010
My family and I decided to go out for dinner to celebrate my parents' anniversary and my birthday. A new restaurant had opened up after Ruby Restaurant had closed down a few months earlier due to sanitary violations. I had high expectations for this place since Ruby was regarded as a high class restaurant, but I walked out of that restaurant with a bitter and sour taste in my mouth.
Food: 5/5
My father was very adamant about trying to order the set dinner - quite frankly, it was the best "deal" since everything on the menu was very highly priced. After convincing him to order a la carte, we decided upon "crab" claws, oysters in honey/garlic, angus beef in maggie sauce (?), seafood birds nest and some steamed rice. The birds nest was made with rice vermicelli instead of the usual taro that I'm used to - but it was crispy and good, as were the seafood and snow peas. The first piece of beef I had was chewy but every other piece from then on was tender. The oysters were yummy and the sauce was tasty. The "crab' claws were a bit smaller than I expected but were still pipping hot and delicious even after sitting on my plate for 5 minutes.
Service: 1/5
We had a reservation but it didn't matter because the place was only 60% filled. After being seated, no one came by to ask/bring us tea for almost 5 minutes. The waiter who took our order was nice, but that's about as far as "good" goes when it comes to service. My father tried to make a suggestion to a waiter about the "food printout" they give you when you order - it's pretty much a receipt of what you order. Half of it is in English but the food items you've ordered are only written in Chinese - do you expect all your customers to be bilingual? Anyways as one of the waiters was clearing up the table he completely ignored my father making a suggestion. After dessert, our bill came and I reached out to get it. At every other restaurant, "high class" or not, staff leave it on the table and come back in a few minutes once you've sorted out all the bickering over the bill. But no, the lady STOOD (dare I say hovered) over us until I produced my credit card. She came back promptly with the portable credit card machine processor, and I expected it to be handed to me to fill in the tip and my PIN. The next kicker is what she said. Translated equivalently to English it would be: "how much tip are you giving?". I was taken aback by the direct and blunt question/request. Her voice was so cold and direct, it could not possibly be translated to, "how much tips WOULD you LIKE to give?". I simply replied that I'd fill it in myself. She went to wait on another table and came back as the receipt was printing. The final slap in the face: she put the receipt on the table and left, without as much as a smile or saying thank you.
Atmosphere: 4/5
Despite the awful entrance, once you step inside, the place really does look like a banquet hall. All the chairs and tables have nice covers/cloths and it is spacious. You get a bit of a grand feeling when you're in there and the bathrooms are pretty nice (although, my mother commented that it was a bit dark).
Price/Value: 3/5
The first thing that hits you when you look at the menu is the prices. Peking duck, shark fin soup, sure I expect to pay absorbent prices. But $16 for Cantonese Chow Mein? Come ON now. My father was firmly set on ordering the "set dinner" but my mother noticed a sign that stated a 20% discount for seniors. We managed to convince him to order a la carte. Granted, the food was delicious, but we've been to other Chinese restaurants with quite good food for half the price.
Overall dining experience: 2/5
Despite the good food and nice decor, the service at the end of dinner left me with an incredibly soured experience. Never have I experienced such bad customer service in my LIFE (I'm sure there's plenty of more bad ones to come). My entire family was unanimous on how awful the lady treated us and that we would never come here again (and also spread the word on not to eat here).
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