CLOSED: Urraca Resto Lounge (Toronto)

Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2013 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 19A Finch Avenue West
Type of Meal: Dinner

 After visiting Urraca Resto Lounge’s professional looking website, it was a bit of a shock to enter the restaurant itself.  Painted and furnished in all black, the place reminded me more of a small university club than a lounge.  Even their menus were in dismal condition – photocopied, caked with spilt drinks and numerous menu items crossed out. 

With this first impression, I had low expectations for the food to come.  Nonetheless, my friends and I decided to brave it and order a few items to try.  Urraca Resto Lounge’s menu consists of tapa dishes, combining Korean favourites (such as bulgogi and kimchi) with Western bar foods (mainly fries, nachos and tacos). 

Overall, it wasn’t that bad; dishes weren’t outstanding but they were edible and in line with most bar foods.  Unfortunately, most of the dishes used the same sauces and ingredients which caused them to taste alike, but there were two dishes that stood out:

  • Seafood rice cake ($12): Korean rice cake sticks mixed with a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce, cheese and seafood (mussels, shrimp and fish cake).  The seafood itself appears to be frozen so overall unimpressive and really could be substituted with any protein.  But, the rice cake sticks were chewy and had a great flavour, just a hint of spice but not over powering so really anyone could enjoy.


  • Kobe beef sliders ($12): although I couldn’t decipher the Korean part of the dish, the sliders were juicy and packed with flavours.  Cheese, a salsa with jalepenos and a spicy mayo sauce covered the thick tender meat patties providing a mouthful of tastes with each bite.    


The beef tacos ($7) and bulgolgi poutine ($7), on the other hand, were esthetically pleasing to look at but tasted like any other run of the mill version of the dish.  The problem may stem from the poor quality beef used to make both. Normally, when I have bulgogi, the beef is sliced paper thin, marinated and cooked quickly so that when it arrives the beef is juicy, flavourful and tender.  Urraca’s beef is hard, luke warm and tastes like large quantities of it is made ahead of time and just added to the dishes when necessary.  Additionally, both use the identical salsa and spicy mayo sauce (also used in the sliders) so after having one dish they all start tasting the same.     

Urraca, like most Korean restaurants, offer drinks that are soju based.  I often find them too diluted and sweet, so we opted to share a bottle of soju ($14) for the table and mixed a splash of Ginger Ale ($1.50 per can) in each to make it taste better.

The service we received from the waitress was helpful – she suggested menu items and aided in making dishes appropriate to serve four.  However, when my friend was feeling nauseous and dizzy, thus having to lie down for a moment, the manager was not sympathetic and made us feel like we had to leave.  In the end, this harsh attitude damaged any chance that either of us would ever return to the restaurant again.   




 Overall mark - 5 out of 10


 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!



CLOSED: Lucien (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 36 Wellington St East
Type of Meal: Dinner

 Lucien's dining room is a narrow room adorned with dark walls, dark wooden tables and dim lights.  The only feature that attempts to open up the space is a large mirror at the bar area.

 When my friend and I entered on Saturday, the restaurant was still relatively empty.  With plenty of tables for two available, I expected to be seated pretty quickly; alas, this wasn't the case.  Rather than seating us in one of the three tables already set-up for two, our waiter insisted we wait until they cleaned a table in the corner by the window.  Since it's situated between a wall and two windows, it felt like we were eating in a pet store display.  Perhaps, a couple may like the table since it's private and secluded. But, as two friends having a casual dinner, it was a bit strange and definitely not worth having to wait five minutes to have it made up.

 Lucien takes after its Italian roots and charges for bread - common in Europe but rare in Toronto.  Nonetheless, wanting something to nibble on before our mains but not wanting something heavy, we decided to pay the $2 and share the small bread basket.  Consisting of six slices of cold bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, it wasn't worth paying for. 

I had the daily house made pasta ($29), which was tiger shrimp on linguine that night. The three tiger shrimp were great - large, cooked perfectly and seasoned well.  The linguine, on the other hand, was less impressive.  The noodles were slightly overcooked so after a few bites it started getting gluey.  The first few bites which were covered with shaved parmesan were good, but the rest was bland since there was too little sauce on the pasta.  To make things worse, there was no salt on the table so you couldn't even flavour the dish yourself.



My friend ordered the striploin ($37), which was overdone and subpar. Accompanying the striploin were plain fingerling potatoes that could use some herbs and time in the oven and plump crimini mushrooms were the best part of the dish as they were meaty and nicely roasted.  The Diane sauce was abnormally thick and resembled peanut butter on the plate but tasted like congealed gravy.  I would have just liked a simple jus from cooking the beef. 



Overall, the food had the potential to be good as they were made with quality, fresh ingredients.  However, somewhere in the process things went wrong - either the chef lacked quality control and let overdone items leave their kitchen or the food was sitting for too long waiting to be brought to the table.  Either way, with the plethora of rustic Italian restaurants and steakhouses across Toronto, there are many better options to go to. 


 Overall mark - 5 out of 10

____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Sassafraz (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2013 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 100 Cumberland Street
Website: http://www.sassafraz.ca/
Type of Meal: Dinner

 When so many restaurants are dimly lit and swathed in dark browns, it’s refreshing to walk into a bright, white-washed room.  The waterfall feature wall has been maintained nicely and still looks beautiful and impressive.  Perhaps, what is most appreciated, is the healthy distance between tables – something about not having to slide into your seat sideways and manoeuvering jackets and bags with strangers on shared bench space always starts the meal right.



My last visit to Sassafraz happened two years ago and I vaguely recall the experience.  So, when Groupon was offering a three course meal used for four people for only $105 it seemed too good to be true – an economical way to return to the restaurant.  But, since it was a deal, we prepared for disappointment; thankfully, the meal turned out terrific.


My appetizer of tempura isn’t on their regular menu.  A generous portion of crispy calamari, octopus tentacles and green bean tempura was topped with a sprinkling of chopped red chillies.  Unlike Japanese tempura the batter is heavier and accompanied with sweet chili thai and sriracha aioli dipping sauces. 

Although the dish’s presentation wasn’t impressive, it tasted good.  The batter and chopped chilis already had such great flavour that the dipping sauces weren’t necessarily required.   The calamari was cut into large pieces rather that in the typical small rings.  I like this as the seafood tastes meatier and retains its moisture; the octopus tentacles were equally well cooked.  The green beans, on the other hand, were too oily due to ratio of batter; zucchini strips or bundling the green bean before battering may be better.

The halibut, also not on their regular menu, was an equally large portion.  The fish had a nice pan seared crust and the lemon butter sauce complimented the mild halibut well.  But, what I enjoyed most were the accompanying poppy seed spaetzle and crisp Swiss chard.  Spaetzle, a German side dish of dough slivers, is not found often at restaurants.  The only time I’ve ever tried it was at O&B Café and their version pales in comparison to Sassafraz.  I enjoy the larger sized pieces which allow the dough to be softer and contrast the crisp pan fried exterior.   The Swiss chard was cooked perfectly so that it retained its vibrant red colour and crisp texture, I would have happily trade in the halibut for more of it!

My husband had their 10 oz. striplion with horseradish scented pommes puree with olive ($33).  The striplion, despite being a leaner cut of beef, was cooked well and tender.  I found the mashed potatoes to have a slightly sour taste that I found strange, but my husband enjoyed it.

For dessert I had the donuts ($12), which are three churros dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with chocolate ganache and dulche de leche dipping sauces.  Made to order, they were hot, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  There was just the right amount of cinnamon sugar and the bitterness of the dark chocolate sauce complimented the sweetness.  The dessert was a great ending to the meal.

Unfortunately, when offering deals, some restaurants treat customers with subpar service.  At Sassafraz this didn’t happen and they were as gracious as they’d normally be, attentive at filling up empty wine and water glasses.  The manager even came around at the beginning the welcome all patrons and solicit their feedback at the end of the meal.  Competing restaurants should take note of this trait – when you are offering a deal this is your occasion to promote your restaurant and obtain feedback from new customer groups, so use the opportunity wisely!

Overall mark - 8 out of 10

____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!
For further general discussions about this blog please refer to http://gastroworldblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/welcome-to-gastro-world.html



CLOSED: Four Restaurant (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2013 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 187 Bay Street (Commerce Court, Concourse level)
Type of Meal: Dinner
Despite Four's convenient location to work, it's been a year since my last meal, so my coworkers and I decided to head there after work. After we got over the disappointment of the end to $4.44 weeknight martinis, we decided to stay for some wine and dinner.

Four's atmosphere is like many Financial District restaurants - dim lighting, high top tables, leather chairs and open concept so you can see who you know there.  Also like many establishments, Four's new cocktail menu has also moved away from the fruity martini cocktails and has done a throwback to the old fashioned cocktails filled with bitters and non-vodka based spirits.




If you haven't heard of Four before, their claim to fame is each dish is 650 calories or less. Sounds great at first, but after eating an appetizer, main and dessert - 650 calories can really start adding up!
Their new menu consists of 50% tried and true favourites and 50% new items. We decided to order a mix of tapas to start:
  • Soft shell baja fish taco ($10) - a sizeable portion of fish accompanies each taco but the flavour itself is bland. The fish, appears to be baked, would have benefited from being cooked on the grill to add a smokier taste. The tacos were in need of more pico de gallo and jalapeno crema to flavour the plain fish and tortillas. Even some chopped fresh cilantro would have been a good low calorie alternative to adding a bit of texture and flavour to the dish.




  • Salt cod fritters ($8.50) - thankfully, this dish was more flavourful after having the fish taco, but perhaps too salty given the combination of salt cod and chorizo. Mixed predominantly with potato (rather than in dough mixture) and baked (rather than fried) made the fritters resemble salty tater tots to hot crisp fritters. This was my least favourite of the tapas.





  • Prosciutto flatbread ($10?) - Although the dough was a bit thick compared to most flatbreads, I liked it. Similar to a crispy thick pizza dough, it was warm, had a nice airy texture and well-seasoned. The toppings, however, was an interesting combination - prosciutto with blue cheese. The flavours didn't compliment well given the blue cheese sauce pretty much overpowered everything. I seem to recall a few arugula leaves sprinkled on the flatbread. Perhaps, the dish would have benefited with a bigger handful of arugula to cut through the heaviness of the cheese.



As my main, I opted for the halibut ($22.50), which sadly was another disappointment. The fish was overcooked so that the flakiness of your typical halibut was ruined. It sat on a roasted humitas which resembled a thin baked cornmeal pancake - also bland and could have benefited from some chopped fresh herbs or jalapeno mixed into the batter. Perhaps, the worse combination with the dish was the tomato tortilla slaw - literally strips of baked tortilla strips sprinkled over the fish. Given the fish and roasted humitas was so dry already, the dish needed something fresh, juicy and flavourful; tortilla strips did not achieve this.





My coworkers seemed to have chosen the better dishes, based on the piece of protein I tried from each:
  • Thai roasted chicken breast ($18), was the best of the bunch. The chicken was flavourful and tender from the coconut lime broth accompanying the dish. It the restaurant wasn't so health conscious some crusty bread to soak up the broth would have been amazing.




  • Jail island salmon ($20), a dish from their old menu which is like any typical salmon. Unlike my halibut it wasn't quite as overcooked.


  • Grilled beef tenderloin ($25) was cooked well, tender and the beet sauce paired well with the beef.

To cap off the meal we each picked a shooter sized dessert ($2.50) - chocolate mint, tiramisu, cherry cheesecake and one other flavour. The tiramisu was drier compared to my previous experiences, but overall the desserts were good enough to satisfy our sweet tooth without being heavy.

 The service was average, everyone was very attentive for the key moments (drink order, food order and bringing the bill), but, when it came to refilling wine and water glasses this is where improvements could be achieved.

Overall mark - 6 out of 10

 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!



CLOSED: Chung King Garden Restaurant 北來順京川飯店 (Markham)

Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2013 by
Location: Markham, Canada
Address: 4394 Steeles Avenue East (at Market Village)
Type of Meal: Dinner 

 Having had a lot of Peking duck in my lifetime, I was skeptical when I heard Chung King serves an amazing version of it. But, I stand corrected - it is one of the best the city has to offer. 

We ordered the two course Peking duck dish ($38.96).  The first course is Peking duck skin with wraps.


  • The duck itself is very crispy, it must have been fried after roasting to get it to that texture.  For me, I found the duck a bit dry since the one we were served was very lean.  I prefer there to be a thin sliver of fat under the skin to really bring out the duck flavour and keep the meat moist. On a second visit it was better, albeit still leaner than most, so really depends on the duck being served.  But, with a generous amount of hoisin sauce and adding cucumber to the wrap, the dryness can be masked.
  • The crepes which the duck is wrapped in was the highlight for me.  Too often the wraps are too small (leading to a messy dining experience), too thick (makes you think you're having a duck bun) or too floury (causing the wrapper to break).  At Chung King the wrappers are perfect - paper thin, slightly bigger in size than a side plate and a chewy texture that doesn't break when pulled and wrapped.  The chef who makes the wrap is talented.

For the second course, the duck meat is removed, chopped and stir fried with vegetables and small pieces of deep fried rice noodles.  The mixture is served with pieces of lettuce for the patron to make wraps.  Surprisingly, the duck meat was moist in this dish and all the meat and vegetables chopped into small pieces to provide a taste of everything with each bite.  The vegetables and crispy lettuce were refreshing after having the heavy Peking duck wrap.


Our waitress also suggested we try the Sichuan shredded beef ($10.96) which are lightly coated pieces of deep fried beef stir fried in a spicy sweet sauce.  The dish was a hit with our table and very flavourful; the sauce wasn't overly thick and there was just enough of it to add some heat and sweetness.  



 Thankfully, this complemented well with the bland pork fried rice ($7.96), the chef must have forgotten to add salt, which was not memorable and won't be reordered on our next visit. On another visit we tried the house special fried noodles (I believe was $10.96) and the flavour was better but the noodles were much too mushy.




To balance the meat and carbs we had an order of garlic stir fried snow pea shoots ($14.96).  Note, the picture below is actually from Sam Woo BBQ restaurant and not Chung King, but they all basically look the same wherever you go.  If you've never tried snow pea shoots you have should definitely order it next time you're in a Chinese restaurant.  It's generally not found on the menu as historically the vegetable has been seasonal.  But, with greater imports and greenhouse production, you can now find it year round. 

 The leaves are delicate and soft while the vines itself add a crispy refreshing texture.  The vegetable has a very subtle pea taste and lends itself to pair well with whatever's added to flavour it.
Garlic fried snow pea shoot (1)

 To end, the restaurant offered complementary bowls of sweet red bean soup for dessert, which was unfortunately disappointing - too watery and not sweet enough. 

Overall, compared to most Chinese restaurants the service was polite and helpful.  We will definitely be coming back for the great meat dishes.


Overall mark - 8 out of 10

____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!
Photo Sources:
  1. Garlic fried snow pea shoots pictured is actually from Sam Woo BBQ - Yelp (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sam-woo-barbecue-restaurant-san-gabriel-2?start=100#-o6vVYlU_-RjRxCUUrhNkQ)

Ad Hoc (Rome)

Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2013 by
Location: Rome, Italty
Address: Via di Ripetta, 43
Website: http://www.ristoranteadhoc.com/inglese/home.htm
Type of Meal: Dinner
 Interior of Ad Hoc (1)

Due to the restaurant’s popularity on TripAdvisor, I suggest you make reservations as we heard many people being turned away as we visited that night. Ad Hoc is a quaint restaurant filled with bottles and crates of wine on every wall which is befitting of an Italian restaurant - if you're a wine connoisseur I'm sure you'll love it!

We were started off with a complimentary amuse bouche and basket of assorted bread. The amuse bouche consisted of bread topped with smoked salmon and cream cheese mixture, it tasted much like what you’d receive on finger food platters.  I liked the bread basket more; there were so many small bites to try flavoured with paprika, olives, walnut, pesto or nothing at all. The best ones were sticks of pesto bread with a crispy and salty top and bottom with a fluffy centre.

Bread basket (1)
My warning is do not fill up on bread as the portions are big!


When I saw they had pumpkin blossoms as an appetizer I was excited – I love these delicate flowers that are wonderfully crispy and light when done right.  Ad hoc’s version of the Pumpkin Blossoms (14.90€) were fried and then stuffed with three ricotta cheese fillings - black truffle, asparagus and honey mushrooms.  As you can already see in the picture of the dish below, the blossoms were anything but light and crispy.  The blossoms were enormous and overly battered and stuffed.  The ricotta fillings were bland, the only one which had even a hint of flavour was the black truffle.  All the delicateness of what could have been a crispy blossom was gone. Instead, I felt I was eating an unseasoned pumpkin burrito.

Pumpkin blossoms (1)

My husband had the Tasting of Salami (14.90€) which consisted of generous portions of salami done four ways – whole cured (?), spicy, blood (?), and the typical fashion. Accompanying the salami were two crostinis topped with a thin slices of melted fat.  Personally, I’m not a fan of salami as the fattiness tends to be over powering but, the spicy and whole cured ones were good.  I would have liked the spicy one to incorporate more heat.  My husband, a cured meat lover, really enjoyed the dish.

 Tasting of salami (1)

My main, not pictured as unfortunately it’s a seasonal dish, was gnocchi with prawns and black truffle.  This dish redeemed the restaurant as the gnocchi was cooked perfectly (not too soft with a hint of chewiness) and well-seasoned with the black truffle butter sauce.  It’s really hard to go wrong when you’re mixing butter and truffles!  The prawns were cooked well; the prawns were a good size, fresh and had a hint of sweetness. The gnocchi was topped with a generous helping of freshly shaved black truffle which added to its decadence.


My husband's main of sea bass (24.00€) was beautifully presented with two fare sized portions of sea bass were wrapped with zucchini ribbons. The honey mushrooms accompanying the dish were delights – tasting like straw mushrooms with hint of sweetness and complimented the light sea bass fittingly. The dish also came with average mashed potatoes which by itself were bland but with the honey mushrooms were great.

 Sea bass (1)
We were too full for dessert but they presented us with some petite fours – licorice candy and soft almond, orange and gingerbread cookies. The gingerbread cookie topped with a drizzle of chocolate was the highlight, in my opinion.

The service was good, but they could have been more attentive with the wine.  Since the wine was not left at the table on ice, there were times our glass was empty and we wouldn’t be served more until the following course. The bill took a long time to arrive, but this could have been due to us receiving a 10% discount for booking online (a pleasant surprise I didn’t know about).

The bill totaled 114€ with a bottle of wine and still water after receiving the discount, but before service charges.


Overall mark - 7 out of 10

____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!
For further general discussions about this blog please refer to http://gastroworldblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/welcome-to-gastro-world.html
Photo Sources:

  1. All pictures - Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d1381800-Reviews-Ad_Hoc-Rome_Lazio.html)

Sushi Lunches in the Financial District (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2013 by
Darn! You've stumbled upon a post at Gastro World that has outdated information and hence has been removed.

Some posts that you may find useful would include my experiences with the following restaurants, which offer sushi in Toronto's downtown core: Japango, Ja Bistro, Miku, and Yuzu No Hana.

For further information, please refer to the menu or go to the main page for other posts that may suit your needs.


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