One of the most famous Italian restaurants in Boston. Past reviews have appointed Giacomo’s as one of Boston’s must visit tourist restaurant with horrible and rushed service but I firmly disagree. Giacomo’s doesn’t take reservations and people start lining up at 4:30pm for the restaurant to open at 5pm. The restaurant is tiny with tables extremely close together but I didn’t mind, I love seeing what other people are eating.
We started off with the small Calamari, $7. I loved the light batter that coated the rings and tentacles, the marinara sauce had a nice spice and tang to it. Even for a small I thought the portions were quite generous.
The Butternut Squash Ravioli (Diced Asparagus in a Prosciutto Mascarpone Cream sauce), $16. I can honestly say Giacomo’s has the best ravioli I’ve ever had. Even though it was in a cream sauce, the dish wasn’t heavy and it was a the perfect balance between sweet and savoury.
Shrimp & Scallop Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce, $16. What can I say? Everything about this dish was perfect, so simple but so well made.
I can’t wait to visit Boston again and visit one of my favourite restaurants!
I highly recommend going early before 5pm to get a seat!
I’m not usually in the Parkdale area but long story short, they were the only restaurant willing to accommodate a walk-in of 8 on a Sunday night at 7pm. The restaurant is small with only one large table at the front of the restaurant, there are high tops on one side and bar seating on the other. Chantecler’s set up is much like Black Hoof with one stove top. Our waiter recommended us to order the whole menu and double up on some dishes for our large group which we were happy to do so.
We started off with the Oysters served with lemon and kimchi juice, $15 per dozen. No complaints here, the oysters were fresh and the kimchi juice is a nice alternative to your traditional Tabasco while giving it a more tangy flavour.
Then came the Veg-Noodle Salad, potato noodles, smoked shiitakes & sesame, $6. The salad was nice and tangy but it wasn’t anything amazing.
The highlight of my night was the Popcorn Shrimp, $11, it’s literally shrimp with a popcorn batter crust. The shrimp were huge and it had a slight king of spiciness with an incredibly crispy batter. I could’ve eaten buckets of this. A must order when at Chantecler.
Next was one of the best Beef Tartares (with peanuts, wasabi, fish sauce & shrimp sauce, $12) I’ve had. It was served with shrimp chips. The beef was nice chopped and super tender, and the wasabi wasn’t too overpowering.
Fancy Wings, fried garlic and scallions, $10. I really enjoy of crispy and meaty the wings were but they were too vinegary for my liking.
Right after was the Crispy Soggy Calamari with caramelized peanuts & tamarind sauce, $11. It smelled so good as it arrived at the table; it was nutty, crispy, sour, sweet, and savoury all in one bite. The calamari was tender and well cooked.
The Shrimp and Vermicelli, $8.50, was just average for me. I’ve had much better in terms of taste in other Chinese restaurants.
We got both lettuce wraps, the first one to arrive was the Fish Wrap, haddock & Japanese tartar sauce ($4.50 each). Nicely battered, it was super light and refreshing even though the fish was deep-fried.
Next was the Pork Special Wrap – dried oyster, roast seaweed & puffed wild rice ($4 each). I’m on the fence on this one, I didn’t not like it but it wasn’t anything memorable for me.
Chectecler is probably most known for their Lettuce Meal (braised beef cheek & slow smoked pork shoulder served with lettuce, steamed rice, house pickles & sauces, $21). This is a meal meant to one for two people. Basically you create your own lettuce wrap with all the accompaniments, I enjoyed the beef cheek much more than the pork shoulder. I thought this would have been much better, I wasn’t blown away by anything and everything was just okay.
We also added Crispy Tofu for an extra $10 because we had a pescatarian, nothing special again.
By this point everyone was stuffed but as soon as our waiter mentioned fresh donuts as one of the dessert options, my ears perked up and suddenly had room in my stomach. We got the Ice Cream Sundae, $10, with all the fixings. Fixings include brûlées banana, Maltesers, frosted cereals, nuts, and smarties.
It was so simple but so good, just perfect to end a meal. Last but not least, Homemade Donuts with grapefruit cream, $5.
I loved everything about this dish; soft, hot sugary donuts! I didn’t like the cream with the donuts but we did enjoy it by it’s self.
Overall a fantastic meal with a very attentive and accommodating staff, our cups were never left empty and they described what every dish was as they were being served.
I’ve heard many good things about Yuzu so I was incredibly excited when I finally had the time to go try first hand. We started off with two appetizers, Tuna Avocado Tartare, $12, tuna, avocado, Japanese herbs, garlic oil.
I really enjoyed this one, big chunks of tuna paired with the creamy, perfectly ripe avocado. The savoury sauce mixed into the tartare was delicious.
The second appetizer was the ika ring squid served withtartare sauce, $9. This was not a favourite of mine, it seemed very mediocre and the tartar sauce was very liquidy not like your average tartar sauce.
My dad got the Seafood Bowl with shrimp tempura, tobiko, scallops, seasoned vegetables, quail egg, rice, in hot stone bowl, $19. I stole a scallop from him and it was overcooked, I not sure about any of the other seafood but my dad didn’t really have a comment about the dish.
We also got the Sushi regular, $21, 8 pieces of nigiri, 6 pieces of maki. The fish was fresh but nothing special.
Both my mom and I got the Chirashizushi (chef’s selection of sashimi on sushi rice, $25) unaware that my dad was going to order a sushi plate. Again the fish was fresh but the selection was quite average with cooked shrimp, tuna, salmon, white tuna or butter fish, torched tuna and sea bream (I think).
The atmosphere was Yuzu is sleek and modern but also very warm at the same time.
We were completely stuffed to the brim when we left for obvious reasons, everything was good but nothing was outstanding. The prices are average for sushi downtown especially near the club district. Yuzu is good but definitely not my favourite. If you asked me to recommend an amazing sushi restaurant downtown it would hands down be Japango at Elizabeth Street right on Dundas.
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