Hopper Hut880 Ellesmere Rd
Toronto, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Sri Lankan, Indian
Date visited: February 2011
So after much nagging to try some of his soul food, I convinced the bf to go to Hopper Hut for dinner. We thought it was take out only but turns out there's a dining area tucked in the back!
Food: 3.5/5
Staring at the menu was a challenge. Everything was new to me and all I could do was point to the pictures and ask "what's that? Is it good?" I wanted to try something I've never had, so no biryani. We started off with mango lassi, ulunthu vadai (a mini donut flour-y thing), cutlet (a veggie blob that tastes kind of fried?), patties (mini meat dumpling things) and a milk hopper. The hopper was quite good, and I really enjoyed the cutlet. We ordered one pittu with mutton curry and another with shrimp curry. The mutton curry was good (spicy!!!) but the shrimp not so much (the shrimp was barely warm). The pittu was an interesting new concept to me. Good but it was kind of hard to eat! Wasn't very soft. I ate with my hands the entire time! Me so proud .. :). Overall I thought the food was ok .. wasn't great (but the appetizers were yummy!). The bf on the other hand, thought the food was sub-par and did not want to return.
Service: 2.75/5
Although the people who came by our table were nice enough, their visits were infrequent and we always had to flag them down. Bf ordered in Tamil so I have no idea what was said lol.
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
The dining area was hidden away but it's actually bigger than I thought. There were maybe 10 tables, some big and some small. Our table was quite luxurious that could seat 4. Didn't use the washroom but there's a small sink area where you could just wash your hands. I thought the cutlery was quite nice.
Price/Value: 4/5
You get a pretty good bang for your buck here I guess. With all the appetizers, mango lassi's (they only charged us one but gave us two), and the 2 main pittu dishes, we paid $30. I was beyond stuffed and the 2nd pittu dish was really pushing us to the edge. If we ordered more appetizers then just the one pittu would have sufficed.
Overall dining experience: 3.25/5
So I have to give bf the upper hand here. He did not enjoy the food here. I, meanwhile, thought it was ok and wouldn't mind trying it again but I don't think that will be happening. The only problem is that we can't find other Sri Lankan restaurants that have dine in and not just take out. I guess we'll have to keep looking or else I'll just have to come get my appetizers to go.
Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen
1262 Danforth AveToronto, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Vegetarian Chinese, Thai
Date visited: February 2011
I read a review about this restaurant in the Toronto Star a few months back and wanted to try it. It's not exactly in our usual spots of splat in the middle of downtown or in the east end so it had better be well worth the drive. Fortunately the bf was willing to try it .. yay!
Food: 3.75/5
We started off with a pumpkin soup because I heard a good review about it. And wow, was it ever good! Distinct taste of coconut (so I knew this wasn't going to be good for my health). I ordered a red curry with vegetables (mock meat options available) and the bf ordered some kind of noodle dish. The food came lightning fast .. my first thought was that the portions were TINY. I mean, the bowls they came in were small. My curry was a little more watery than I enjoy it but there was lots of veggies and tofu to go with it. Bf's dish came with an abundance of veggies but looking at it at first glance I didn't even know there were noodles hiding underneath. In fact there wasn't a lot of noodle. But at the end we were actually quite full. I guess you could say these were "normal" sized portions, compared with the insanely large portions you're usually used to. Also ordered tapioca pudding for dessert. I think it's the first time I've EVER ordered this and it was reeeeally good!
Service: 4/5
Service here was quite decent. There were 3 different people who tended to us. The first guy I think is the owner and while nice, didn't give us the super friendly vibe as the waitress who took our plates. The other guy was quite polite too. They were quick to bring us our food, drinks and the bill.
Atmosphere: 3.75/5
This place is nice and quaint. Very small, maybe a dozen small tables, if even that. I wasn't too fond of the steep staircase to go to the washroom but I have to admit that the washroom was decent (although one of the unisex stalls spewed out freezing cold water, the bf reported). Decor was nice - we sat right by the cashier and they had some cool statues. The restaurant had a clean, quaint feeling. But I found that with all the "stuff" on our table made it very cluttered - individual (oversized) plates, our dishes, water, teapot, tea cups, cutlery.
Price/Value: 3.75/5
The food was decently priced, and even tho I was full after the meal, the portion size did not settle too well. It just seemed small! We ended up paying around .. $35 for 2 people for a soup, 2 mains and dessert, which is quite reasonable.
Overall dining experience: 3.75/5
The food here was good despite the small portions. I really feel that the noodle dish could have used more noodles! I was really impressed with the soup and the tapioca pudding. We found that parking was a BIIITCH here. The closest green P (public) parking is a good 5-10 minute walk to the restaurant. The day we went was bitterly cold and we managed to squeak onto street parking. I think I'd like to give this place another chance (but, maybe when it's warmer and we can walk from the public lot!)
Queen Mother Cafe
208 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Laos, Thai
Date visited: January 2011
www.queenmothercafe.ca
So after our India Palace stint, we saw some restaurants along Queen that looked good to try out. I chowhound-ed what places were good to eat and there were some recommendations on Queen Mother Cafe. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical after looking at their menu as it contains many different ethnic foods (including pasta, roti and meat loaf??) but we gave it a shot anyways.
Food: 4.5/5
I read that the Ping Gai was fantastic. And boy I have to vouch for it. I really think it's THE best chicken I've ever had. It is unbelievably tender and it came with a really nice spinach salad. The pyramid of rice was less than appetizing and the rice pyramid of Giza remained on my plate mostly untouched. The bf got Bah Me Hang and wow were these noodles really good! The flavour of the entire dish was really good and it had a nice kick to it too. The desserts in the dessert window looked mouthwatering but we passed up on it (the portions are also HUGE. The couple beside us got a slice of cake and it was a monstrosity).
Service: 3/5
We got seated near the door .. which means that you get forgotten a lot. I had to remind the waiter for hot water 3 times. To his credit he seemed genuinely busy and was really apologetic about not getting it the time before. But it kind of sucks when you're sitting right beside a window on the coldest day of the year without hot water. He didn't come by very often but when he did he was really enthusiastic.
Atmosphere: 3.75/5
This place does have a cafe feel to it (if you're sitting more "inside"). But it was a bit dark and it was bloody cold by the window (the bf was sitting over a heating vent so his butt was nice and toasty, as I was told). I think if we had gotten a booth or somewhere further in I would have rated it a bit better.
Price/Value: 3.5/5
The food here is a touch pricier than I had hoped. My Ping Gai chicken was $17 and bf's noodle dish was $14. Granted the food was delicious but it does border on the expensive side for us. The portions were quite decent and we were pretty stuffed after our meals (no appetizers).
Overall dining experience: 3.75/5
The food was really good but it was the service and the fact that I was freezing the entire time that I had to ding points off. Unfortunately we got seated by the giant window which will obviously be colder. Waiter could have been more frequent in tending to us and remembering our drinks. However I'd like to give this place another chance. Also unfortunately, India Palace sits right across from here so when I'm eating at one of these 2 places I'll be staring out the window looking at the other place :)
India Palace
257 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Indian
Date visited: January 2011
So I was craving Indian food and thought we might deviate from our usual spot of Little India. There's a small cluster of Indian restaurants around the area so we decided to check out the menus of a few of them. This one caught our eye with the $2 salad lol.
Food: 4.5/5
The food was YUM. We started off with 2 salads (way too much in addition to the mains). Quite a decent sized plate of salad for $2! I don't remember what I ordered for my main but it was kind of a buttery paneer dish. By jove was it delicious! I like eating something in between butter chicken and vindaloo and this really hit the spot. The bf ended up getting a really nice spicy chicken curry and it was really good as well. The naan was hot and fresh (if you plan to order 2, order 1 at first and when you're near finishing, ask for another. Nothing beats eating piping hot naan). I had to order rice of course and you get a pretty generous portion. I ended up doggie bagging the rest of mine. The second time we went I think he got something he didn't quite like (it was too "sweet"). I ordered a masala chai and was not a fan. But my paneer did not disappoint.
Service: 4.5/5
I find that the service here is a tad better than at Little India. The waiters are a bit friendlier and are quite quick to tend to your needs.
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
India Palace has a nice Indian feel to it (I should hope so). The place is rather small (expected), but everything from the chairs to the table cloths to the colours to the dishware are very Indian like. The tables can get rather crowded with all the food you order! A table for 2 can baaaarely fit your water/beer, a plate of rice, two plates, two curries, and a basket of naan. But I guess that's just the nature of the food .. prob the same thing happens at a Chinese restaurant too where you might share dishes or have separate plates for this and that. I don't remember using the washroom but I think it is downstairs.
Price/Value: 4/5
The food here is reasonably priced (at least, compared with the other Indian places on King st). It's about $10 for a dish of curry and then another $2-3 for naan or rice. . Throw in a beer and it's about $40 for two people, which is quite reasonable. The portions look small but after you get through half of it you realize that the small little bowl of curry is more than enough.
Overall dining experience: 4/5
I really enjoyed my paneer dish (it's the only thing I get at Indian restaurants). The second time we went back I had to get it. The decor is nice and the staff are friendly. They're good at topping your water and quick to notice if something needs to be taken away from your table. We've already returned and I think we'll be returning again!
WHOOOOO LINKIN PARK ROCKSSSSSS.
Went to the concert at ACC last night and it was fucking amazing! Saw them with my closest friends .. wouldn't trade it for anything :)
Setlist:
01. The Requiem
02. Papercut (Savio Intro)
03. Lying From You
04. Given Up
05. What I’ve Done
06. Empty Spaces
07. When They Come For Me
08. No More Sorrow
09. Jornada Del Muerto
10. Waiting For The End
11. Burning In The Skies
12. Numb
13. The Radiance (Live Version)
14. Breaking The Habit
15. Fallout
16. The Catalyst
17. Crawling
18. Faint
19. One Step Closer
—————————
20. Wisdom, Justice & Love
21. Iridescent
22. Shadow Of The Day (Happy Bday Phx afterward)
23. New Divide
24. In The End
25. Bleed It Out (APFMH over bridge)
I SWEAR they played Figure 09 in there somewhere .. it was fuckin awesome, I love that song!!!
