Restaurants
The Tulip: 80 Years of Steak-Searing Expertise at Work
Somewhere between Leslieville and The Beaches lies a modest strip of Queen East where The Tulip's big yellow sign (or at least two-thirds of it) light up the street. The steakhouse might not seem like much in passing, but having heard great things, I decided to look past the faded facade as I stopped in for dinner with some friends.
We're seated quickly as our waitress rushes off to serve other tables. The place is hoppin' and she forgets us for a while, but we're busy making decisions and marvelling over the prices on this menu anyhow. Most seem too good to be true. Something's got to give, right?
When the orders arrive we find that the ingredients may not be very fancy and the presentation certainly lacks any sort of frill, but the food is quite simply excellent.
Pictured at the top, the Roasted Shoulder of Lamb ($9.70) weekend special, is so soft and moist it falls apart at the touch of a fork. Most of us steal a piece of the dish as there was plenty to go around. Served alongside veggies and a side of potatoes, it was an absolute bargain.
Chicken Parmigiana ($9.95) and an open-faced Hot (Ontario) Turkey Sandwich ($8.95) make for happy white-meat eaters. The turkey is particularly fantastic as it features a stack of both white and juicy dark meat along with buttery smashed potatoes.
For the lean-minded diner, a Pan Fried Filet of Sole ($10.50) is light and flavourful, yet generously portioned with two filets and two sides.
Yes, of course, we ordered the steak.
The Tulip has been serving up ye old steak and potatoes for nearly 80 years and it shows. A 12 oz Black Angus N.Y. Sirloin ($21.95) and 8 oz Steak Sandwich ($6.25) knock the socks off even the pickiest steak snobs.
The N.Y. Sirloin appeared a little bare on the dish, paired only with a couple scoops of mashed potatoes, and a slice of tomato and onion but quickly proved to be seared to medium-rare perfection and tasty as hell.
I'd go so far as to call my friend Ron, who ordered the dish, a steak connoisseur and when he looks up from his plate wide-eyed and says,
"This is EASILY one of the tastiest steaks I have ever eaten!" well, I take him seriously.
Before finishing, he was already professing that he'd be back to try out the Porterhouse. You can bet I'll be joining him.
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Steaks are excellent. And the steak and eggs ($10 I think) is the best in town hands down...I secretly think its the same striploin they charge you $20 for for dinner...mmmmm
The lamb looks amazing...
This restaurant is the reason why I've stopped going to the franchises. Let's support privately owned establishments such as the Tulip.
The Tulip rocks.
we were there early - 4:30ish and witnessed the son of the long time owner throw out a rather elderly man - because he came in alone and wanted to know why he wouldn't be seated - the waiter said it was policy that singles could not have a table during the dinner rush (there ware maybe 8 other tables occupied at the time) - the man, who was soft spoken & polite said he had been a customer for over 30 years and he didn't understand that policy - the owner came barrelling out of the kitchen and HOLLERED at him that it was "his damn restaurant and he could make any policy he dam well wanted and the man had to get out - right now".
I was so upset by that I couldn't eat - I approached the 'owner' and quietly said that I had been a customer of his parent's for as long as I could remember and that I thought his mother would have been appalled at the way he treated one of her customers. He yelled at me that I had no business interfering in his restaurant and that I had no right to talk about his mother that way (maybe he doesn't understand what appalled means) and then a woman who works started yelling at me that his mother was dead and that I was not good enough to eat in their restaurant and I had to pay my bill & get out!
Note, she said pay my bill!
We left and will never go back!
My Dad used to take me there for breakfast every Sat morning when I was growing up - I'm now retired and various friends & I have dinner there 2 or 3 times a month.
The old marketing thing - a happy customer comes back and an unhappy customer tells at least 20 people!
I wish this man luck with HIS restaurant.
Catherine
Disappointed, was looking to try the Eggs Benny.
I'm sure you'll be a regular after your first visit.
cause other than being alone.
Very disturbing, set us off our food and made us leave. Sure biz is biz, but you gotta deal with the public in a genteel manner.
Do you mean sirloin, or N.Y. Strip (striploin)? I've never heard of a NY Sirloin before.
Today, my friends and I were seated promptly in the semi empty restaurant. The waiter took his time (15 minutes) to make his way to our table and without water. I ordered the Sunday special and at which time the waiter indicated they’re out of veggies and order will come with coleslaw. No problem… I then proceeded to ask for mash potatoes as one of the order option and once again was told my non apologetic waiter that they're out of mash potatoes and the only option available was French fries. Ok… no problem… My friend asked if our bread could be toasted (all the orders come with bread). Well… they ran out of bread. Moments after hashing out the order the waiter returns to tell me that they’re out of the Sunday Special...
I don’t expect a restaurant to always have everything on the menu but I’ve never seen it this bad. It’s unlikely that my friends and I will return. It’s such a shame… They had something good going…
PS. Just shortly after my friends and I were seated, a couple stormed out shouting at a staff member that the pervious owners were “better”. I could see who they were shouting at but the staff member saw it fit to exchange profanities… Very unprofessional…
While the prices are good the food quality is decent at best, but the state of the condiment containers they put on the table are so disgusting dirty, old and reused that they seem unsanitary, and they actually make the food seem unappetizing overall.
In our last visit, (and I do mean last visit), to this restaurant I did make a comment to the wait staff regarding the quality of my meal in particular, which went no further than the waiter's ears. When I asked to speak with a manager I understood why that was. After speaking with the manager I felt a little guilty, and almost fearful for the waiter due to the manner in which the manager openly dealt with the situation in general.
I understand that this restaurant had a very good reputation for quality and value at one time, but I'm sorry to report that my experiences with this restaurant in recent times say that time was long ago, and far away from its quality today.