blogTO | Posts by Frank

A Lot At Steak

Frank — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:42:31 PDT

I'm an unabashed carnivore. As much as I like the idea of vegetarianism, it's just too darn impractical for someone who loves red meat as much as I do.

Luckily for those rare occasions I'm not in the mood for a big bowl of pho or the small plates that litter trendier cards across the city there are places like Steak around to sate my prehistoric hunger for huge, primal, juicy slabs of meat.

Read my full review of Steak Restaurant in our restaurants section.

The Best Pubs in Toronto

Frank — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:15:22 PDT

Being an inveterate drunk you'd think writing this post would be easy. I spend a lot of time in pubs 'Keeping a shine on the bar with the sleeves of my coat' but I realized during the writing process that putting in your time at pubs can be counter productive since, by the time you're done, you're not really in any condition to be critical of such places. You always leave with a slight wobble and a warm fuzzy feeling as you walk out the door .

It's once you walk out the door, alone into midnight and our cold common darkness, pulling your collar up in the way you'd imagine Tom Waits does (ah, you're such a romantic) that it hits you.

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The Best Tapas In Toronto

Frank — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:00:59 PDT

Ah Tapas. Is there any single more over-heated trend on Toronto's dining landscape than the small plate? It attracts more buzz than molecular gastronomy and I think I understand the rationale behind it: most restos make their biggest profits on the booze and small plates can highlight a kitchen's creativity, allow people to keep eating while they drink, and share a whole bunch of flavour without tying themselves to one dish. Makes sense. Much like their penchant for fascist dictators, the Spanish were way ahead of the curve on this one.

Though it's easy to be cynical when even the humble tubesteak is falling victim to this rampant tapas-try there's still much to love about the ability to indulge culinary ADHD and enjoy a little bit of everything your tastebuds crave.

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The Best Crepes in Toronto

Frank — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PDT

There's something undeniably romantic about a crepe. Though I can't quite put my finger on it, it may have something to do with its inherent Frenchness, or the fact that I've gone on so many dates that involved a crepe and a long walk/talk that the humble paper-thin Gallic pancake will forever be associated with that giddy excitement of nascent affection.

Whether or not that's the case for everyone you can probably agree that even a substandard, rubbery crepe can almost be forgiven if it's slathered with creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread and stuffed with bananas and strawberries or busting at the seams with black forest ham and gruyere cheese.

Crepes are an awesome portable food that reminds the eater that it's always rewarding to think outside the sandwich. And now with new street vending regulations in effect, it'd be nice to see a crepe stand pop up on a corner somewhere seducing folks with the scent of butter and the hiss of the crepe pan.

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The Best Pizza in Toronto

Frank — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:00:00 PDT

Now there's perfect breakfast food (eggs benny or any thing from the late, great kitchen at Mimi's at Bathurst & Queen) and there's perfect dinner food (a huge porterhouse at the Tulip or maybe some omakase courtesy Kaji-san) but is there a better breakfast/dinner food than Pizza? Luckily Toronto's got it's fair share of slice-serving establishments to provide the serious foodie and the spirit-soaked post-club crowd with enough fine examples of that Neapolitan pie to almost quench this cities nearly obscene hunger.

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The Best Fish & Chips in Toronto

Frank — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:52:13 PDT

Ah it's that time of year again when the only thing sprouting up outta muddy, half-frozen ground is crosses...and whether or not you partake in such Lenten entertainment, the fact remains Good Friday is Christmas Eve for your local chip shop.

Toronto has a fine selection of piscine purveyors; enough for any woody marionette boy to long for a real mouth to tuck into some fantastic fish and chips with no strings attached.

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Pocket Aces: El Gordo Fine foods

Frank — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:47:12 PST

El Gordo is certainly not about ambience. There's plenty here to suspect that its previous incarnation was a Kensington market butcher shop (increasing the suspicion is the fact that the proprietors at Segovia Meats next door run the joint). Harsh light fluorescing off a vast rank of identical glass display cases and men in pristine white coats behind every counter. Combine all that with a conspicuous absence of any seating and it means you're takin' home or eating on the hoof.

This place's disguise isn't very convincing until you realise that El Gordo isn't a bakery disguised a butcher shop; one look at the sheer preponderance of empanadas scrawled wall-to-wall on whiteboard menus like some mystical equation and you realise this place is actually a science lab disguised as a bakery! And from the array of flavours they've managed to stuff into their empanadas, I'd say they were mad scientists.

Read the full review of El Gordo Fine Foods in our Restaurants section.

A Little Chile: Jumbo Empanadas

Frank — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:29:10 PST

So empanadas eh? I can eat a couple. Especially if they're from Jumbo Empanadas in Kensington market.

Unlike the picture above, this particular frigid afternoon it's hard to tell whether the steam on the windows is from the steady stream of hungry mensches waiting to be served or the steady turnover (heh, see what I just did there) of warm pockets arriving fresh from the oven. One thing's for sure: the winter's absence of patio space makes it impossible to get a table in this humble eatery. Good thing this is street food, jackson. And despite how packed it gets with a loose queue threatening to riot at any moment, they never manage to test the patience of the staff who always serves with a wry, flirty smile. And could there be a better way to keep your hands warm on a cold January day? Okay, don't answer that...

Check out the full Jumbo Empanadas review in our Restaurants section.

Pho Real: Que Ling

Frank — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:43:05 PST

It only takes one of our city's flop-sweating, smog alerting summer dog days to remind me what an amazing meal pho really is since it's probably one of the last things I want to eat on a afternoon when Toronto's channeling Ho Chi Minh's spirit. Despite it's improbable origins I'm eternally grateful for that meal-in-a-bowl from the tropics, cos really, what goes better with blizzard than this week's best bowl of beefy, noodle-y, soupy Vietnamese goodness?

And how better to forget about the weather than by tucking into a steaming bowl of soup at Que Ling; a setting that feels as real-deal (minus the snow, natch) as any mom-and-pop Saigon soup shack. As long as it's open that is, which is never a sure thing.

Read the full review of Que Ling in our Restaurants section.

The ACME Burger Company: All Your Burger Are Belong To Us

Frank — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:05:35 PST

Toronto's been burbling with digital chatter lately on just who serves the city's ace burger. There are more opinions on the T.O.'s fave sandwich stalwart than there are obscure pop culture references in a Ryan Couldrey post. And heck, to their credit, you couldn't swing a coyote lately without hitting a new burger joint opening up to near-messianic expectation ready to feed Toronto's nearly insatiable craving for grill-kissed ground beef. Sure, We all think we know the contenders (and the pretenders), but before you post that 'best-of-2007' list, have a look westward cos what you'll find there might just surprise you.

Nestled on a generic stretch of the Queensway tucked in-between strip malls, big box super-gargantuan-mega complexes and the odd purveyor of modular furniture of Scandinavian design hides the ACME Burger Company. The dining equivalent of a borg drone separated from it's cube, it's truly a restaurant in search of a franchise.

Read the full review of The ACME Burger Company in our Restaurants section.

Grounds for Optimism: I Deal Coffee

Frank — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:13:39 PDT

Ideally, my coffee would be dark and complex, roasted to perfect Viennese brown; the liquid spirit of a shady East african hill top with a warm, smoky aroma as big as a room--a brew that could temper even the most savage morning and make things a little more bearable.

So any Saturday I can, I'll skip my local mug-slingers and head down to Kensington for a cup of pre-grocery shopping joe at I deal Coffee. More addictive than a game of facebook scrabble, the heady scent of beans freshly roasted to perfect, rich mahogany wafts through the eclectic, shabby-chic digs of I Deal's Kensington Market location.

Read the full review of I Deal Coffee in our Cafes section.

Man Bites Dog: Buddha Dog's Tasty Paradox

Frank — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 16:37:48 PDT

There's a particularly stubborn old Zen koan in which a young pupil asks his master whether a dog can indeed posses Buddha-nature. The master (in typical zen obliquity) implies that the question itself must be unasked for any wisdom to be attained.

This pseudo-mystic morsel offers a useful bit of question begging distraction while awaiting your order from the grill of this pleasantly Scandinavian-decorated Roncesvalles satellite of the much loved Picton wiener shop.

So then, just what is the nature of a Buddha Dog?

Read the full review of Buddha Dog in the Restaurants section.

Global Warming: Hot & Spicy Food Festival

Frank — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:01:46 PDT

Image: Spiced Tiger Shrimp on Endive Salad

Some do indeed like it hot. Not that there's much choice lately as most Torontonians find themselves crammed sweatily ass-to-elbow into these dog days like passengers on an un-air conned rush hour bus. Luckily, along for the ride is some sweet relief as our city's suddenly lousy with open air food festivals appearing like so many beads of sweat on an ice cold glass.

For those (like me) that grew up along the Greek stretch of Danforth and keen to avoid the char-broiled, flaming cheese anarchy of that 'other' food festival this weekend and looking for something with a little more bite, the past week's temperatures are like John the Baptist: promising something even hotter to follow, namely: Harbourfront's annual, capsaicin orgy better known as The Hot & Spicy Food Festival.

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Eating The East: Toronto Night Market 2007

Frank — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:59:10 PDT

I've been on a 'cleanse' for the past month whose stifling strictures and gory details I'll spare y'all but sufficed to say, the closest I've actually come to proper Asian fare lately is reading the excellent Eating Asia blog and watching episodes of the insanely fun Cooking Master Boy on Youtube. Lucky for me the cleanse is about to end and the timing couldn't be better since this Friday marks the launch of the annual Toronto Night Market.

From it's start in 2002 with 20 stalls and about 1000 visitors, this event now boasts nearly 100 vendors and expects crowds in excess of 60,000 people.

Toronto Night Market is run by members of Power Unit, a volunteer organization 40 strong of young people between the ages of 15-24 committed to 'hands-on' leadership and development and giving back to their community. This year's night market will generate $10,000 to be donated to the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care. The choice of recipient also influenced the theme for this year's night market of 'nostalgia and memories of the past', and also provides a wonderful symmetry between the young organizers and the cause they're helping; creating a bridge between the past and future through a truly 'memorable' event.

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Spanish Fly: Tapas at Julie's Cuban Restaurant

Frank — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:16:57 PDT

Thoughts turn to smoochin' once Toronto escapes the clutches of its winter prison. The newly summer-skinned brothers showing off tats and sisters in sundresses come charging through TTC turnstiles like glittering clouds of tropical fish into afternoons that wear the sun fiercely like a giant gold pendant. The heartbreak and heatstroke of August dog days still months away, now's the time to find that special sweetie 'n' head for the patios and there's no patio more likely to get you laid (patience, there'll be plenty of time for that) than the one in front of Julie's Cuban.

Read the full review for Julie's Cuban in our extra fine Restaurants section.