jasonc

Anyone have a line on a good B&B in Cape Cod? Thinking of going down for a few days in August to relax. Nothing too fancy, just a good honest breakfast and a homey feel.

Noka (Website) 513 Bloor West, Toronto Ontario Noka is a Japanese restaurant on Bloor, in the Annex, home to no shortage of Japanese restaurants. One can classify the Japanese fare on Bloor into three categories: I. Cheap, decent sushi: Japan Sushi (terrible name award winner, 2012) Big Sushi (runner up, terrible name award, 2012) Sushi on Bloor (long lines no longer justified/sensible) II. Good Izakaya: Guu III. Inventive + Better than average Sushi: Sushi Couture Noka presents itself as a newcomer in the third category, but from my one experience, it seems closer to a more expensive version of the first. From the “Signature Appetizer” section (the part of the menu that drives my hypothesis that Noka is trying to be something more), we tried the Chili Tuna ($8.95). This dish is described as “tuna, diakon, cucumber, fresh mint, beet, chili sauce.” At the end of the day, this is just a misconceived dish. It’s more or less a salad of those ingredients, the beets actually being beet chips. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the combination of these ingredients, but more that not one was heightened by that particular combination. It didn’t help that the fish was past its prime, with a fishy taste and mushy texture. Rounding out the meal, we opted for maki combo B ($13.95), which is a roll each of spicy salmon, tuna and escolar along with miso soup and salad. This was a bit of a you get what you asked for situation, but the fish was sauced to hell and for the life of me I couldn’t tell the difference between the tuna and escolar. We also ordered an eggplant tempura and a sweet potato tempura, the two stars of the show and the sign of a kitchen that knows its way around a deep fryer. Maybe it’s not a good omen that a restaurant’s fry work was its best effort, but perhaps worth knowing. Overall, Noka seems to want to join the likes of Sushi Couture on Bloor’s sushi scene, but based on my experience, it simply doesn’t weigh up. Perpend: Noka’s website links to two food blogs (TO Bites & Food Junkie Chronicles) that had considerably better experiences, the latter of which did a much better job at sampling the menu.

Caplanksy's Deli 356 College St, Toronto Ontario Website Standard Deviation If you believe the internet, Caplanksy’s isn’t a story about quality; it’s all about variance. It’s not the tale I expected when I moved to Toronto. In fact, when I found out I was moving to Toronto, Caplansky’s was the restaurant I was most excited about trying. A couple of years ago I got obsessed with making my own pastrami, daydreams of opening my own deli dancing through my head. And when it comes to smoking and curing meat, Caplanksy is at the head of the class. Zane Caplansky gained a great deal of notoriety a while back for being on the vanguard of a deli movement: quality-conscious, artisanally-minded young deli men bringing the art form back from the brink. I read about him and Nick Zukin of Portland’s (of course) Kenny and Zuke’s in a Gourmet article by David Sax, and later in Sax’s novel, Save the Deli. Trepidations about opening up a small business, and really, fear of the unknown got in the way of my cured meat dreams. The story seems to have changed at Caplansky’s as well. Chowhound currently holds pages and pages of complaints about Mr. Caplansky’s deli. But it isn’t that it’s not good – it’s that it’s not consistent. Apparently, what you get at Capalansky’s varies wildly night to night, to the point that some of sworn off it completely. Some even say you should go in and ask for a sample prior to ordering, and if it’s not up to snuff get a tongue sandwich instead.. What is indisputable about Caplansky is that he knows deli. The smoked meat is his own recipe, aggressively spiced, and when it’s good, it’s a rival to Schwartz’s in Montreal. I went on a Friday night in May, and came away very satisfied. Like I said, there is a good chance it was just luck, but I can’t argue with my own experience. My date and I both ordered the sandwich combo (a sandwich, coleslaw, pickle and fries/soup/salad for $13 – a decent deal for this town) with smoked meat, hers medium, mine fatty. Turns out, fatty was the way to go. Unlike Schwartz’s (and again, this may have just been the (bad) luck of the draw), where the fatty smoked meat is more-or-less pure fat, the fatty here was the perfect balance of fatty and lean, more what I would call a medium. My date’s medium was actually lean, and a bit try to tell the truth. But the rye was fresh, and the house-made mustard hot (we bought some to take home, $5 and worth it), and we both left satisfied. The combo comes with a side, my date’s order of fries being plentiful, if not burnt in parts, and my matzoh ball soup clean tasting with a fluffy dumpling. I have no reason to doubt the various cautionary tales out there. But even if the average visit deviates a great deal from my experience, this is an accessible deli serving most of the traditional fare in a time when such a restaurant is hard to find. (the photograph is my own)

Bellwoods Brewery 124 Ossington, Toronto Ontario Website The Bias It strikes me that most of the brewpubs I’ve been to are either serious about their beer, serious about their food program, or neither. Rare is the brew-bird that does both well. Take even the venerable Russian River Brewery: the beers are legendary, but the food – mostly doughy pizzas – is an afterthought. This is the reason I was skeptical about Bellwoods Brewery, a skepticism that proved completely unfounded. The Back-story Bellwoods, which likely derives its name from nearby Trinity-Bellwoods Park, is on a strip of Ossington between Queen and Dundas that is currently getting a lot of press for its impressive density of quality restaurants. The source of this abundance appears to have its roots in local regulatory law-making. In particular, a moratorium on liquor licenses (welcome to Canada), allowed for new regulations that effectively drove out any potential nightclubs, but preserved the restaurants and smaller pubs and bars. The beers here are serious. Eschewing conventional wisdom, the owners and brewmasters cast a wide net, tackling a range of styles (with a focus on Belgium) tied together primarily by the simple fact that they were simply interested in them. Chef Guy Rawlings (who they will lose in June) is in charge of the menu, which dwells on beer-friendly small bites. It is quite successful. The space is fantastic. A former garage with one side completely open to the outside, the space practically beckons thirsty passers-by in. The lower level is occupied by a smart-looking bar and the brewing area supplied with several fermenters and old pinot barrels (for a forthcoming barrel aged creation), while the upstairs contains a few tables and a counter that overlooks the bar and brewery. The Experience My girlfriend and I stopped by on a warm Wednesday night in May. It took a while to be greeted because there seemed to only be two front-of-house staffers working a nearly-packed house. But the fellow who did greet us was pleasant, giving us a choice of a table upstairs or a seat at the aforementioned upstairs counter overlooking the brewery. Although there was no one working the equipment at that time, I have an interest in beer-making and convinced my girlfriend that we wanted those seats. I started with their Farmhouse Saison, which I found spicy and yeasty, but eminently drinkable. I could have put back several of these if I did not want to try others. We also tried their Toil and Trouble Dubbel, another of the Beligan style but not as much of an easy-sipper. Working backwards through the beer list, I ended with the Common Pale Ale, which I only wish was indicative of a common pale ale. It was the lightest of the beers I had that night, but not without its intricacies, notably a grainy finish. Overall, the beer here is of an extremely high quality and I expect they will be raking in the awards soon. (Of course this should be taken with the note that they have a slight leg up in that the beer is extremely fresh and they can closely monitor the cleanliness of the tap and lines.) Rawlings’ menu is meant to compliment the beers. It’s divided into snacks, sticks and plates, of which I believe the sticks represent the best value and quality. While several of the snacks sounded terrific (pork rinds with house-made malt vinegar, $3 for a small portion, $6 for a large), we were a bit underwhelmed by the quantity. The small portion of pork rinds was just that, maybe five or six diminutive rinds. Lima beans ($4) were also exceedingly sparse, and the quick fry in paprika and oil seemed like something anyone could do at home. On the other hand, I was extremely impressed by the stick of duck hearts served with charred jalapeno oil ($4), the smokiness of the oil helping to accent the meatiness of the hearts (much in the tradition of a great barbeque). We also enjoyed a stick of sunchokes with a barely-there horseradish cream. Finally, we had a plate of crispy pork, pea shoots, peanuts soaked in vinegar, and grainy mustard sauce ($9). I wasn’t floored by this dish, but the peanuts are a terrific idea, providing much needed blasts of vinegar throughout a relatively fatty dish. Despite being short handed, I have to note that the service was excellent. Our server was around when we needed him and was happy to describe the intricacies of the menu, a matter on which he was clearly and expert. After things cooled down, we shared beer stories, and I got the impression it was more than a job for him and that he was clearly a beer geek. In short, Bellwoods in an exceedingly well thought-out brewpub in a town that could really use one. If you are in Toronto, I would seek this out as a unique experience in a not-very-touristy part of town. The Caveat This write-up is a product of a single experience during the brewpub’s first month. I wouldn’t treat it as a review as much as a description of a single data point.

What is a dog? An animal with four legs, furry, that barks, a wet nose, domesticated, tail? What if it is a hairless dog? What if it can't bark? Like identifying the dogness of a dog, this conversation is futile. I know a dog when I see one. I know a dumpling when I eat one

This is so last week.

bump

This is a bit off topic, but Steve R said that you plan on going to Manhattan a lot, this is not a great choice. What is a good part of Brooklin to stay in if one does plan on going to Manhattan a lot?

/postoftheweek

so what you are saying is that your business model is virtually indistinguishable from dining date night? https://www.diningdatenight.com/

On that note, am I the only one a little bothered by the fact that Rays' milkshakes are made from a mix?

I went to Rays3 over the holidays and while I have nothing to add in terms of the food (it's obviously very good), I would like to say that I think Lauren is an exceptional server. Efficient, knowledgable of the menu, and socially attuned to the vibe at the table, there is little else you can ask for at an establishment of this nature.

I'm hoping he hires a helper.

My brother and I were going to the El Bandido food truck in Ballston last week, and we saw this new food truck. The guy said he hadn't gone public on twitter yet, as he was still perfecting the process. It's pretty much a gourmet grilled cheese food truck, with the cheeses coming from cow girl creamery. You get a pickle with the sandwich, and there is also tomato soup available. We waited for a while but it was just him in the truck and orders were taking about 15 minutes each, so we didn't stick around. It seems interesting, but the pricing is a bit aggressive at $6.50 for a grilled cheese. His twitter is up now: http://twitter.com/bigcheesetruck

seems more like sushi than izakaya to me. where's the ebi mayo?!

Fortune Chinese Seafood Restaurant Sun-Thurs: 11am-10pm Fri & Sat: 11am-10:30pm Dim sum prices: $2.75-7.50 Fortune holds a special place in my heart. For the last 15 years, my family and I have been going there for dim sum, usually for special occasions – relatives coming in from out of town, kids home from college, father’s day brunches. My dad even had is 80th birthday there, but that was for dinner. And I am very grateful that it exists, filling a niche in the area that no other restaurant does. Yet despite all of these fond memories, it’s hard for me to ignore this question flitting around in the back of my head: are we sure it’s good? You see, for quite a while Fortune was, in my mind, the standard by which all other dim sum was measured. In fact, that might have been the conceit to which I clung most closely as I became acculturated to Canada several years ago. And for a while, I succumbed to this self-deception, convincing myself that the har gau at Vancouver’s dim sum joints were too large, defying the one-bite concept I was used to; and how could any self respecting purveyor of dim sum not offer chili oil? But after dozens of dim sums in Vancouver, I could no longer resist the realization that Fortune, albeit a different beast in a different context, just wasn’t as good as I remembered it. First, I should note that what Fortune is attempting - push-cart dim sum seven days a week - is actually quite admirable. In fact, these are grand aspirations given many of the top of the line dim sum restaurants I’ve been to resort to check-card ordering on off-days, and often as the default. Of course there is probably some wisdom there, giving the kitchen the chance to cook items to order, rather than letting them circulate until some unwitting fool ends up with cold gai lan. But done right, there is something cool about foraging from a parade of pushcarts. Maybe it’s the uncertainty, or the lingering hope that what you want is right around the corner. Of course, that is assuming there is something worth waiting for. Starting with the classic steamed items, Fortune’s har gau barely resembles the plump dumplings bursting with pristine prawn that you’d get at a better restaurant. On a good day, Fortune’s version is about average; on a bad day, they’re mushy or freezer burned. The same goes for the siu mai. The best siu mai I’ve had were giant conglomerations, alternating with chunks of pork and shrimp, chopped just to the point where the portions of shrimp are recognizable, but still mingle with the pork. At Fortune, the ingredients are ground together in industrial homogeneity, destroying the lightness that is characteristic of finely crafted siu mai. I have no complaints with other traditional steamed items, such as steamed baos, sticky rice, and ribs, other than there is no apparent effort to elevate them beyond merely acceptable. In what I refer to as the “bulky” category, there are a couple items of note. In particular, if you can get the roasted chicken on its first pass through the dining room, then it’s a real steal. This is one dish that has changed a bit over the past several years – it used to be served with seasoned salt, but no additional herbs on the bird – but is just as good as ever. Now there is no salt on the side, but some garlic on the chicken’s perfectly light and crispy skin. Of course, there is always the risk of winding up with a bird that’s been passed around too many times (mirroring life). We’ve tried asking a waiter or captain for a fresh one, but often times they will just retrieve a chicken from a nearby cart and microwave it. Also falling into the “good if fresh” category is fried beef chow fun, which is served the dry style, and can pick up some nice charred flavor from the pan. Everything else seems to fit the mold of capably made, but lacking any real flourish. My dad likes the deep-fried half moon pork dumplings, which are good if inconsistently filled. The rice noodle rolls (cheong fun) filled with shrimp are a trustworthy option. And I’m never disappointed by the egg tarts (dan tats). But I think that’s really the problem with Fortune. They are perfectly happy sending out dim sum fare that aspires merely to meet expectations. And even this is often marred by long layovers on the push cart. There are no house specials, nothing to bring customers in other than the fact that they are the only restaurant in the area offering push cart dim sum experience. But maybe that’s Fortune’s charm: like your favorite neighborhood diner, it’s good enough to be good enough. And maybe I’m just being too picky. I just can’t ignore this growing feeling that Fortune can, and perhaps should be so much more than it currently is. -- As a sidenote, Don is right, they did change hands a couple of years ago. The original owner wanted to move back to Shanghai, so he sold it to a couple of guys, one of them being a silent partner. They kept the kitchen staff, and most of the front of house. And of course the cavernous warehouse of a space has remained largely unchanged. My brother has picked up carryout there a few times, and reports it’s nearly empty at night.

Thank you - it's really nice to get such feedback. I edited my signature to reflect the fact that I'm not longer associated with eat vancouver. But I wrote (and learned) quite a bit while managing that site.

Oops, posted this one in the baltimore threat by accident. feel free to delete that one. Home for Thanksgiving United 856 LAX-IAD: It was one of the least bothersome flights I've had in recent memory. Winter's Bone was unfortunately heavily edited for a general audience. But I had an aisle seat (H), and an adorably nervous high school sophomore proved fine company in the window seat (J). Her parents had just divorced and she's now living in Huntington Beach, but returning to Manassas for Thanksgiving with her best friend from her old school. Arrival time: 7:20 PM 6:45. Saturn VUE: It was a warm reunion among brothers. Dinner location: Ella's Barnside Diner Honey Pig Honey Pig: It was my first rodeo, but I was among veterans. I was reminded of the Korean BBQ joints frequented/funded by Korean exchange students in Vancouver. Not a lot of frills, a spartan but sleek look, host to many a convivial gathering. We ordered pretty conservatively: spicy pork belly 17.99 12.99, bulgogi 18.99 12.99 and spicy tofu and seafood soup 5.99 5.99. The banchans were pretty good, some marinated greens, mushrooms and a remarkably average kimchi. We were actually quite impressed with the soup, which we only ordered because bro #1 is suffering from the flu common cold. Soft tofu yielded way to a smoky, spicy soup and (surprise!) a perfectly cooked egg, which when poked spread its yoke in sunny benediction across the rest of the concoction. The squid was an afterthought. And of course, there was the BBQ. It was fine and as with most Korean BBQ meals, it was the experience more than the food that drew my attention. Our grill girl was a real pro, seeming to pop up at precisely the right time to flip and serve. We thought it was also nice of her to bring over rice and then toss the extra sauce with some bean sprouts and kimchi on the grill. Although, I have to admit that grilled kimchi is vastly inferior to the cold stuff. On just one occasion did she neglect us for a bit too long, resulting in a round of sere pork belly. But that was just a minor blip on an altogether fun night, made the better by a few rounds of Cass. Light, cold, slightly malty on the nose, it's whisper of a lager, but a perfectly acceptable accompaniment to Korean BBQ. In contrast to the permanent price alterations at Honey Pig, there is little I would change.

This is great Michael. For me, the the biggest drawback involved in eating at Ray's was that you used cornfed beef. For both health, and ethical reasons, this steered me away from your restaurants more than I would have liked. I am wholly behind this new initiative, however, and you've certainly earned more of my business. I am also quite willing to spend more for this type of beef.

I don't know. I feel like if you make good food, people will come around.

somebody wrote a book about this! http://savethedeli.com/ From what I've gleaned so far, it seems a combination of it being a difficult business model that takes a lot of hard work (the sandwiches don't net much profit, you make most of it on soup and other stuff), and changing customs and migration among Jewish people.

A friend of mine who is intimately familiar with this type of food says Kabob Palace is the best. Didn't see a post for it so I shall mention it here. Better than Ravi, apparently.

I'll throw Octopus' garden out there, just because sushi is so much more affordable here than in DC and this is a great place to get it. Sean Heather's Salt in gastown is a rare gem. A simple concept done to the nines. Vancouver's greatest strength, however, is its Chinese cuisine - likely the best outside of China. Once again, I'll pimp my website (see signature). Get Dim sum at some point - you won't believe the difference between DC area places until you try it. Then maybe try a shangainese spot - shanghai river for upscale, the place or chen's shanghai for family run. Peaceful is good, but i feel it trys to please too many tastes, instead of perfecting a specific cuisine. have fun! -jason

Ok fair enough. I guess I should just give the context: my brother and dad used to go there several times a week, but lately they said the once chatty and friendly waiters were replaced by a colder bunch that just kind of tosses menus in your direction and often gets orders wrong, and the broth isn't what it used to be. I have found there to be varying degrees of service at pho places, and like any dining experience, I think it matters. But I was just trying to gather some information, not start anything.

Interesting. I also heard that the service is not what it used to be - did you experience anything like that?