Came here awhile back with Chris and my sister, Chris was craving for some burgers so we all hopped into the car and headed to Golden Star. I’ve driven by Golden Star plenty of times but never thought of going in because it looks a little sketchy from afar. One thing you should know about me is that I don’t eat burgers from fast food chains, I’m just super skeptical on the quality. If I’m craving a burger I usually just go to a restaurant.
Golden Star serves 100% beef patties and is a family run dinner with super old school decor, what more can you ask for?
I got pickles, ketchup, caramelized onions and tomatoes. I wouldn’t say this was the best burger I’ve ever had but it was better than average, you know a burger is good when the juices are running down your hands. It definitely satisfied our cravings and we were stuffed by the end of it.
I wasn’t a big fan of the fries because of personal preference, I like mine super crispy but Chris likes them soft and soggy? so he ate most of them.
So if you’re in the area and you’re in the area, check out Golden Star and tell me what you guys think.
I’m going to try one of their milkshakes next time!
I had another food adventure last week with Cherry and her friend Darren, we or more like Cherry and I decided on Fabbrica for dinner. Another Mark McEwan restaurant at Shops on Don mills, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I guess you can’t go wrong with any of his restaurants.
We were seating in the lounge / bar area because we didn’t have reservations but I didn’t mind at all, it wasn’t the typical loud music with dark lighting bar/lounge atmosphere and we got to sit beside the windows.
Snapped a picture from where we were seated. The dinner room was cozier but much more packed with people, there’s an open concept kitchen with a giant pizza oven.
While waiting for Darren I scarfed down 3/4 of the warm bread! I love it when they give you a bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for your bread, don’t get me wrong I love butter with bread but olive oil is so much lighter and I feel less guilty when i eat almost the whole loaf of bread.
We got two appetizers to share between the three of us. * The menu on the website and at the restaurant are different so I don’t know the names of them but I’ll try to describe them as best as I can!
This was my absolute favourite dish of the night! Grilled octopus with chick peas, arugula, roasted sweet peppers and hot salami. The dressing was a bit spicy but the octopus was so tender with of smokiness and crispiness from the grill! I’m not a big fan of sweet peppers but I was digging through the plate to find them all! I also love how it was served on a wood plank, so rustic. I’m drooling while typing this, just thought I’d let you guys know.
This was the bone marrow and it’s served with crostini and a parsley & horseradish salad. So creamy and buttery, bone marrow is one of my favourite things to order now!
Cherry and I shared a pizza, good thing we did cause we were both stuffed at the end of the night!
We got the shrimp and clam pizza with a pesto base. It was light and the flavour combinations were fantastic and it had a nice amount of toppings per slice. The only thing was that I thought it was kind of greasy from the pesto. Also the crust is more bread like and soft oppose to thin and crispy, which is what I really like but I still really enjoyed it.
Darren got the seafood linguine and this is what he said about it “Linguine could have been a little bit softer but I think that’s a personal preference. It wasn’t drenched in sauce so it wasn’t heavy. The olive oil was a nice touch. Shrimp, scallops and mussels were what I expected, not bad but nothing to throw a parade over.”
Definitely check out Fabricca if you’re in the area, good food prepared well.
My sister made reservations here for dinner one night last week. A little restaurant tucked away, if I didn’t know I was going here I would have driven by without noticing. The restaurant itself can probably only seat around 30 people including bar seating, so definitely make a reservation if you plan on coming (I heard them turn away a few tables because they were packed).
This picture was taken when we were leaving and it was packed. 80% of the customers were Japanese so you know you’re getting some good Japanese food if Japanese people are there.
We started off with the Sushi Moriawase which had 6 tuna nigiri with 8 assorted sushi pieces. The fish was super fresh and simple and when things are simple they have to be spot on, these were definitely spot on and left me wanting more!
This might look a little off putting but it was delicious, grilled black cod neck was on the daily special menu. Super meaty, moist and not fishy at all. Served with grated radish or and lemon.
This is the Pork Katsu Curry, it wasn’t anything special; it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had nor the worst.
This is the best Nabeyaki Udon I’ve ever had, the broth was absolutely fantastic! It was piping hot with a rich deep flavour and a hint of sweetness. There was one shrimp tempera, an egg, chicken and assorted vegetables. The best $13 I (or my sister) spent on udon.
The service was great, the waitress that served us was very helpful, friendly and explained the daily specials well. Only thing was that the food kind of took a long time to come, around 20 – 30 minutes for the first dish but they were pretty busy in their defense. After seeing what other people order I already have a mental list on what I want to get next time, I’m super excited!
I’ve been wanting to come here for awhile now and last week I finally got the chance to. It’s a super tiny shop located on a super quaint street. The store front can only squeeze 4 people, I know because when I went there were two other people there and it was already a really tight fit.
The flavours they had that day were apple, black forest, vanilla, lime lemon, caramel, Oreo and red velvet.
I think the only flavour that’s not here is the lime lemon, I only tried the black forest and caramel and I thought they were good but nothing spectacular. The black forest cupcake had a chocolate base with cherry pie filling in the middle topped with vanilla buttercream. The caramel wasn’t anything special, just a chocolate cupcake with caramel frosting.
I probably will revisit Crumbs and Co. but only for special occasions, $3 a cupcake is pretty steep.
Had a girls only dinner here a few days ago, I’ve been here before but wasn’t that impressed so I didn’t have any expectations this time around. There were about 9 of us and we got seated at the back right beside the kitchen, which wasn’t a problem because the inside of the restaurant is pretty small (looks much bigger from the outside).
Okay. You guys should really know a few things that really annoy me when I’m out for dinner. 1. If service is bad than automatically the food points go down. I absolutely hate bad service. 2. I hate eating in the dark, I know it’s supposed to create a mood and atmosphere of intimacy but it’s not fun not knowing what you’re eating.
A couple of my friends and I were a little early so we got seated and looked at the menu while waited for everyone else but we weren’t even offered anything to drink even though the majority of us were there. We had to waved down our server a lot of the time.
Okay. I forgive him a tiny bit because he was also the bartender and the restaurant was kind of busy for a Thursday night but if you expect a good tip I expect to have at least decent service.
Cod-Crab cakes served with a spicy guacamole sauce, $12.99. Everyone loved the crab cakes, they were moist and pan fried, only complaint I had was I wish they were bigger!
Arancini italian rice balls filled with sausage, cheese and served with a tomato basil sauce, $9.45. Nicely deep fried, hot, creamy and I wish I had a whole ball of these.
I got Vongole spaghetti, baby clams, tomato parsley, olive oil, white wine, basil.
I liked my meal, the pasta was cooked well with nice flavours and I would order this again.
Jess got the Mushroom white pizza and it had mozzarella, tomato, goat cheese, basil for $15.59. Both Carmen and I really liked her pizza, it had a super thin crust with a nice combination of flavours.
Sau got the Pollo rigatoni which has roast chicken, bacon, broccoli, parmesan, cream. She said there wasn’t enough sauce.
Overall it was a good dinner but it would have been even better if our server was more attentive. We weren’t even asked if we wanted dessert, tea or coffee!
I’m pretty sure 90% of the people going to the Windsor Arms Tea Room right now bought the online coupon from one of those Groupon-like sites cause I sure did. They were have a 2 for 1 deal right before Christmas and how could you pass up a deal like that? I bought one for my mom’s christmas present and decided to go on Family day with my mom, my sister and Chris.
I felt so sophisticated and grown up walking in, sitting, opening the menu and choosing my tea. The room was sat in was super elegant and bright, I loved the decor and everything!
And quite a large selection of teas to choose from, I got the Chai Arms which is just a chai tea. Nice and spice-y.
Table set-up with a plate of strawberry jam, berry jam and devon cream. The plate we already out before we got there which I didn’t really like. I just feel like someone could have walked by and coughed all over it, I would have much preferred if that just had it all set up in the kitchen and brought it out when we got seated.
The mini sandwiches there was smoked salmon with salmon caviar, grilled chicken and sun dried tomato cream cheese with cucumber. My favourite was the smoked salmon then grilled chicken. I’m pretty sure the sandwiches were pre-made so the bread was a tiny bit soggy but overall they were good. We also got one Goat Cheese and Caramelized Shallot Tart, it was basically a quiche and they warmed it up, it was pretty good.
There were two scone per person and there were a choice between plain and black current. Not really a fan of their scones, they were light but not flaky, maybe I’m just too used to the ones I make.
Four different mini pastries, going clockwise starting from the top left one: some sort of cheese cake, a white chocolate mousse with cherry, a dense chocolate-like brownie and a lemon meringue tart. Nothing was outstanding, everything was just mediocre.
We finished with strawberries and cream, who doesn’t love anything with cream? Overall it was a nice experience but I don’t think I would pay full price for this.
Guu Izakaya is the first and original Guu restaurant in Toronto and it now also has a sister restaurant called Guu SakaBar, I did a review quite a while back here.
When Izakaya first opened the wait time would be 1-2 hours on average, coming back 2 years later it’s no different. They don’t take reservations so it’s first come first serve yet people still wait but once your Guu virginity has been stolen, you’ll be hooked for life. Amazing food and amazing service and a very up lifting atmosphere.
We started off with the Hotate Carpaccio, $6.80, Hokkaido scallop sashimi with a wasabi dressing. The scallops are so fresh and sweet.
Cherry order the Salmon Natto Yukke, chopped salmon with natto, shibuzuke, takuan, wonton chips, garlic ships, scallions and a raw egg yolk. You mix everything together until it’s all harmonious and you wrap it with seaweed. I’m not a big fun because of the texture, it’s a little slimy for me.
If you come to Guu you must get the Gindara, grilled black cod with Saiyko miso & white wine sauce. It just so moist, buttery and flavourful. Japanese black cod is always a thumbs up in my books.
Gyu-Suji Nikomi which is braised beef with spicy miso and daikon radish. The beef was so tender and the spiciness was perfect for me. This was daily menu and it was $5.80. If I had some noodles I could eat bowls and bowls of this. (The yellow-ish paste is mustard.)
This was also on the daily special, Amaebi, fresh B.C sweet shrimp and it was $6.80 for 5 piece. So fresh and sweet.
Maguro Tataki, $6.80, seared B.C tuna with a ponzu sauce and garlic chips.
Kinoko Bibimbap, rice, mushrooms, & cheese with a seaweed sauce in a sizzling bowl. What’s not to love about this dish? I always order it when I’m at Guu, it was so good that we ordered two. It’s kind of sad how much 3 girls can eat.
This is my all time favourite at Guu, it’s the Kakimayo, $7.20 for two oysters,which is baked oysters with mushrooms, spinach, garlic mayo topped with cheese. It’s so creamy and delicious…as I’m typing this my tummy is starting to rumble and the fact that I have to describe how good this is makes me sad cause I won’t get to enjoy this anytime soon! If you’re a fan of oysters, you must order this and if you aren’t you still have to order this cause it might change your mind about oysters.
For dessert we got the Almond Tofu and the cheese cake of the month which was something with mochi. I absolutely love the almond tofu they have, it’s silky, smooth, creamy and somewhat refreshing. The cheese cake was mediocre, not the greatest but it wasn’t bad.
I love Guu Izakaya and I always will, I will never mind the wait because the food is just so awesome and the service is even better. But warning: don’t come here for a first date, you won’t be able to hear each other over the constant loud yelling or the conversations being held right beside you.
For the three of us we spent $110 and I’m pretty sure we ate more than the table of 8 beside us.
Decided to stop by Nino D’Aversa for a quick lunch before heading to Vaughn Mills to do some shopping. Nino D’Aversa has multiple locations all over the GTA, the one in Vaughn is pretty new and it’s huge. I love the open concept of the bakery / restaurant, with the dark brown cabinets, pillars and seating.
We got a couple of things to share, this is the Chicken Parmigiana and it came with two sides of your choice. We got mushrooms with pea and sauteed rapini. Perfectly cooked chicken, tender, moist and flavourful. The sides were good too even though I very much dislike rapini because of the bitterness. Also I think this giant plate was only around $11, what a steal.
As soon as I saw this I knew I had to try it! It’s a Risotto Ball all so know as Arancini di riso, it was humongous like literally the size of a softball! Nicely fried with a thin crispy crust and nice and creamy inside.
It was stuffed with pea and served with your choice of spicy tomato sauce or just regular. This was $5, I thought it was a little expensive for a ball of rice.
This is the personal sized pizza! Seriously two people could share one. The crust was incredibly thin and who doesn’t love thin crust pizza?! I had one small slice because I was pretty stuffed. Highlight: they have a wood burning oven for the pizza!
After having lunch, we were all too full to even contemplate on having dessert but I did have a quick look at all the goodies. A copious amount of pastries and cookies but too bad the gelato section was closed for the season. But next time I will definitely save room for dessert!
Fushimi opened up a few months ago where Taste of Japan used to be. With a fresh coat of paint and a new sign, Fushimi emerged.
Besides the paint everything was the same, the layout of the restaurant, the tepanyaki tables and probably the servers.
The menu is quite extensive with a lot of items you don’t really find at other AYCE sushi places. Example the picture below, I don’t remember the name of this roll but it was awesome (kani, tuna, avocado and fish roe all wrapped up in thinly sliced cucumber)! One thing that bugged me was it was hard to differentiatethe rolls that you would typically know. Above on the left is the normal rainbow roll but on the right is what Fushimi calls their Dynamite roll. Just seemed like they would take a shrimp tempera roll and put a different sauce on it and call it 5 different things, it just wasn’t that exciting compared to other AYCE places.
Nicely fried tempera but the shrimp were tiny!
This is the tuna tartar it has tempera flakes, masago mixed in on top of some sushi rice with spicy sauce. It was good but the texture was just too mushy for me. The ice lights up under the sushimi, how tacky! Honestly my face lit up when it did! Also the sushimi was pretty fresh.
Deep fried soft shell crab. Too fried as in it cut the roof of my mouth with no a whole lot of flavour.
Chicken Yaki Tori. Can someone say tacky? I liked how they used chicken breast though.
For some reason if we ordered multiple orders of the same dish, they would put them on separate plates instead of putting it all on one big plate, needless to say our table was towering with dishes. All-in-all fushimi was okay, not the greatest but decent.
Glow – Fresh Grill and Wine Bar 1090 Don Mills Rd Toronto, ON glowfreshgrill.com
Cherry and I went to Glow at Shops on Don mills last night for a girl night, our deciding factor was the “Glowlicious” menu. Glowlicious runs from January 23 – February 13 and some of the proceeds will be donated to The Sandbox Project which I personally think is awesome! The fact that I can enjoy an awesome dinner for $25 and help out children and youth at the same time is a great idea.
You could pick from three appetizers, three entrees and their selection of mini desserts. The lunch menu is only $15 and dinner is $25.
I love the atmosphere at Glow, intimate, inviting, warm and they have a colour changing ceiling! Who doesn’t love when the ceiling changes colour?! They also have a somewhat open kitchen which is awesome.
We got the Grilled Calamari, $13, which was topped with oven dried grape tomatoes, olives & capers over a bed of baby spinach. So tender and flavourful, we both absolutely loved it.
I started off with the crab cake, I thought it was decent nothing really that special about it. It was pan fried so the outside wasn’t crispy (which is how I like it) but all in all it was alright.
Cherry got the onion soup which was the soup of the day, it was a basically a French onion soup without the best part! I had a sip and I thought it was good, loaded with onions, not overly salty and it was piping hot when it arrived. (I don’t have a picture because it was too dark.)
I decided to get the Chicken Parmesan, it was served with sauteed sweet peppers, cheese and a warm arugula. The chicken was incredibly crispy and hot when I bit into it, +1.
Overall it was an average dish.
Cherry got the Baked Ocean Perch with a Niçoise salad, one surprising thing was that the perch fillets still had the bones in them. We weren’t sure if there was supposed to be bones in it but there were a lot. Cherry even called over the waitress to ask, she assured us that was how the fish was served. It was just weird, I’ve never been to a restaurant where the bones were still intact to the fillet. Besides the bones, the fish was well cooked but under seasoned.
I got the Peanut Butter shot and Cherry got the Lime Meringue shot. Nothing special to be honest.
Glow is a nice restaurant but it wouldn’t be my go to restaurant considering there are so many options at Shops on Don mills. All-in-all I had a good food but better company!
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