Restaurants
The Rhino
When in need of decent sit-down place to eat in Parkdale, time and again I find myself at Rhino.
The atmosphere at this bar/restaurant is totally laid back and the menu not bogged down by the usual bar fare. Still, even though I find myself returning for more, I'm not completely convinced the kitchen can handle their own menu.
I'm there in a party of three (with very different cravings), and we order up Fish & Chips, a Prosciutto Sandwich with Fries and a Thin Crust Primavera (veggie) Pizza.
First to arrive (from friendly staff) are 3 waters (with lemon) and a beer. Simple items and for the sake of mentioning, perfect.
When it came to food, the clear winner (pictured above) is the prosciutto sandwich. The bread is soft and fresh, prosciutto and other fillings savoury, and the fries are light and crispy.
From then on it's just downhill.
The fish and chips look promising, but the balance of the dish is way off. The fish, while lightly battered was just too heavily fried. I had to donate my napkin to the owner of the dish to deal with the grease. Meanwhile, the accompanying chips/fries were SO lightly fried they were flavourless -- aside from half of them which tasted like fish from their plate-neighbour. Bleh.
Finally, my own dish, was the primavera pizza. Again, it looked pretty good. Starved, I even dug in before remembering to photograph. The other three slices though, were relunctantly finished.
The crust was ok. Thin, kind of pita-like, but not very crispy at all. The veggie toppings (ie. the best part) seemed good too. It was the ingredients that fused these two that really ruined the meal.
Do you remember when McDonalds came out with pizzas a decade or two ago? Mini ones they used to bake in microwaves that looked like pizza ovens? Yes? Well, if so, do you remember the nasty sweet and slimey tomato sauce that topped them? Fresh out of a can, surely? Well, let's just say I had the most unwelcome feeling of deja vu.
That and the melted cheese for which I have real way to describe but am assuming it was some kind of bland processed mozza, just destroyed any potential this dish might have had.
(And the stomach rumblings later that night would congratulate me again on a choice well made.)
Still, I like this spot, and something tells me I'll probably end up at Rhino again. It's just one of those places where you need to find the dishes that rock, and stick with 'em.
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but then there's the glory that is the rhino burger.... probably the best burger in the area.
I've always found the service to be solid.
The Rhino is also an awesome place for birthday parties or stags. Good food, lots of choice with beer.
No one's mentioned their awesome beer selection, which is considerable.
- the menu has not changed since the first time I ate there in 1993
- neither have the prices
- usually the fish and chips are the best thing on the menu (but are better at lunch, always)
- everything on the menu can range from astounding to really, terribly awful, and there's no real way to determine if it's going to be a bad meal until it's in front of you
- we go back for the great (and cheap) beer selection, and usually decent desserts
The quesidillas and the prosciutto sandwich are delicious, the wings are pretty good too.
Despite some of the negatives, I will keep going back. The staff is great and the atmosphere is very laid back. The beer menu is one of the best. There is a huge selection, including one of my favourites, Wunderweiss.
You're looking at a horrible dive serving Blue Light to match that kinda price in Toronto.. if you're lucky.
But the comments re: food are definately true - it's like navigating a minefield. For instance, you get more salad if you order a burger with salad (instead of fries) than you do if you order a salad alone.
I guess if I want good value meal wise I'll go across the street, or to one of the 10 restaurants I passed on the way there from Sorauren...
I clicked here from the story "The Best Cheap Drinks in Toronto" there's nothing about the drinks in this story all about the food.
What are the drink prices?
Do they have specials nights?
I'm sure its changed since this review.... time for a new review...
Came here to celebrate my birthday with a group of friends. I made a reservation for 20 but when we arrived they hadn't even set up our table. Nevermind the fact that we were told to go find the table ourselves but there was only seating for 10. We had to move tables ourselves to make sure all the guests had a seat.
Waiter was despicable. Gave us ONE menu between each group of 10 and when he finally managed to take all our orders, our food didn't arrive for the next 2 hours. By the end of the night we were so fed up with the bad service and the waiter's bad manners we left tipping him only $4. To which he bitched at us for. Believe me, none of us will ever step foot in that place again.
You'd have to argue that one pretty hard - Cadillac Lounge has a far superior patio. The only benefit of the Rhino's patio is being able to watch the Parkdaliens go by.
The fries are actually amazing, they must have a different cook from 2006. I find The Rhino always has such different options than any other pub I've been to without seeming pretentious either. There are also a decent amount of options always available for vegetarians.
As a local I keep coming back to The Rhino because it's a convenient place to have a beer and some snacks outside. But man, the service just keeps getting worse. I'm not suggesting the staff are evil, sometimes they're actually pleasant. The problem is that they are either severely understaffed or just plain terrible at their jobs. I've been there twice this week and on both occasions the service was crap. My girlfriend and I ordered a pint each, one came out, then food arrived, and finally the second pint came out 15 minutes later, well after our entrees had arrived. Wtf. I had side orders not arrive at my table. On my first visit I even reminded my server about said missing food, but alas it never did arrived. Yesterday my food that never appeared was put on the bill!
And about that beer list. There's a reason they ask you for a "2nd choice" in case they are out of something, it's because they never have anything good in stock. I would guess that they are stocking about 25% of what's on the menu.
I have to remind myself to go to Cadillac Lounge more often.