July 31st, 2008 §
Reds Bistro is a classy restaurant well-known for its extensive wine list. Located in the Financial District of downtown Toronto, it is frequented by men with loosened ties and women in matching suits after a long workday. This may explain why its bar is not open on Saturdays, much to my dismay.The service was truly that of a high-end restaurant. Our server was bright, cheerful, and perceptive. He easily adapted to our pace and mannerisms (the average age of my party was probably younger than most of their customers) without making us feel out of place. He was patient in explaining the wine list, as well as the items on the Summerlicious menu.
The wine list was its own book, perhaps the book they swear by around here. Impressive. We ordered a bottle of Hogue, a German Riesling that was crisp and tart, everything a Riesling should be, while we waited for the final member of our party to arrive. My friends and I chatted over wine and bread and took our time ordering. When we finally ordered, the food took a while to come, but I barely noticed with the good company.
I started with their “Fresh from Ontario Garden Salad,” which was easily forgettable. In fact, I didn’t even take a picture of it because it was so unimpressive. It was a quarter of uncut iceberg lettuce, and some steamed rhubarb and scallion halves on the side. The miso carrot vinaigrette was the only redeeming quality of the dish, but I spent most of the appetizer portion of the meal brooding over the fact that I had to cut my own salad leaves. “Why aren’t you taking a picture of it?” My friends asked, knowing I’d be reviewing the restaurant later. “It’s a salad. It’s a boring salad at that. What can I say? The picture won’t be worth a thousand words. It won’t even be worth a hundred.”
My entree was Wild Alaskan Copper River Salmon Fillet with Maple Soy Glaze, Warm Field Cucumber and Wasabi Salad. What they didn’t mention on the menu was actually the part of the meal I enjoyed the most, a fried spelt cake. The spelt was crunchy, and the cake was crispy while expertly foregoing the taste of deep-fry batter. It was delicious. Possibly because I have an irrepressible desire for all things deep-fried, but this cake scored points even for originality. I mean, a hardy wheat in a deep-fried cake? Who would’ve thought?
The presentation of the salmon was slightly better than the salad, and I had high hopes for it after I had tasted the fried spelt cake. However, I nearly spit out my first forkful of salmon. Now, let me preface this by saying that I am not a seafood lover. It takes a lot of skill – and I mean a lot – for me to be able to enjoy a seafood dish. Steamed fish fillet with a salt and pepper rub and some lemon is not going to do it for me. In this case, it was salmon fillet with a soy glaze. Sorry, but yuck. I almost felt bad for being so utterly turned off by the salmon fillet, since the restaurant had a nice atmosphere, the service was attentive, and the wine was outstanding. But even after taking a gulp of the wine and tackling the salmon again, I simply could not swallow it. The slices had noticeable layers of fat in between and all I could really taste were salmon lipids. The fillet was slightly seasoned but no amount of seasoning could cover up the unmistakable smell of fish – the kind of smell that develops if the fish was dead before it was cooked. Yes, I know it’s salmon, and yes, I know Toronto isn’t exactly a fishing village, but I can’t compromise my taste buds, now can I? I find it nearly impossible to enjoy seafood that is not fresh. The times I have enjoyed eating fish have always been when the fish was alive right up to the point it was prepared for cooking.
Some of my friends ordered the steak, which they seemed to find more agreeable.
For dessert, I had originally ordered the Pudding Chômeur, but my friend and I switched after she had a taste of mine and loved it. The pudding chômeur was rather good, although a little sour.
I ended up having the rest of her Chantilly, which was decent. It tasted basically like chocolate mousse, not nearly as light and “whipped” as it should have been.
Overall, I was not impressed with the food or the presentation of Reds Bistro (still not over the fact that the salad was just a quarter slice of a head of lettuce). Perhaps I’ll come back on a day when all I want is a nice glass of wine (a day when their bar is actually open), but for all the other days of the year, I’ll take my money elsewhere.
Rating: 
July 29th, 2008 §
Yogoberri is one of those places you pass by and you think, “Hey, that looks cute. I want to try that one day.” Well, that one day came on Saturday night, when my friends and I were driving up and down Yonge St, looking for a place to hang out after dinner. Suddenly, I pulled the car into a small parking lot.
“Where have you taken us?” They asked, as they looked up through the glass window of Yogoberri to see a few Asians chatting over dessert.
Without a word, I walked up to the door and held it open for them. In they filed, and up the stairs we went, arriving at a small but busy room, decorated with black and white leather seats, green highlights, and fake potted plants along the wall.
I immediately plastered myself against their cake display. There were only three cakes on display, sweet potato, butternut squash, and fruit cake, but I also saw signs for mocha and green tea. I was smitten.
My friends and I ended up ordering a slice of each cake, as well as half a waffle (I’ve never seen half-waffles being sold but here they were). Each slice was amazing, although I ended up buying the sweet potato cake to bring home for my dad’s birthday, because it had the kind of taste you can never get sick of – subtle, sweet, and smooth.
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July 29th, 2008 §
Chilli Secrets, or Ban Mu Yuan (半畝園) as it is known in Chinese, is a newly-opened restaurant that has already garnered quite a reputation among the chili-loving crowd of The Other Chinatown. Located on Leslie St. just north of Hwy 7, it is in a small plaza surrounded by industry parks. My father, who works in the area, says they have an excellent lunch special and so are quite popular with the Chinese who work nearby. But what about their dinner?
I’ve been there several times now. I was there when they first opened, then three times after that. And still, I hesitated to write a review. Why? Well, for one thing, they were new and young and gaining popularity, but could they keep it up? Consistency is a huge problem with these restaurants. Sometimes the first time you go, it’ll be the most amazing thing you’ve ever had, and the second time, it’ll be ordinary and bland, and you’re left wondering, What the hell happened?
This was the case for one of their competitors, Ba Shu Ren Jia, located in Markham. They were very popular and known for their authentic taste – it was rumoured that their chef brought over the chilies and sauces and oils that they used from China himself. Word-of-mouth traveled fast, and when the local mainland Chinese heard there was an authentic Sichuan restaurant in their midst, they flocked to it like no tomorrow. The line-ups were outrageous, sometimes around the block, with at least an hour wait. A normal patron would probably find another restaurant, but virtually no one in this line was planning to leave. They, like us, were dying to try something that had the true taste of mainland China, not the poor imitations you find in Chinese restaurants that have been here for over ten years and were modifying their taste to suit the predominantly Hong Kong Chinese population. People flocked from all over the GTA to this newly opened all-Mandarin-speaking restaurant (we, ourselves, drove all the way from Mississauga). At the peak of their popularity, their chef suddenly went on vacation, or got scouted elsewhere, or something. Either way, the authentic and delicious taste of Sichuan left with him, and the dishes afterward lacked a certain je ne sais pas that made them the good kind of mouth-numbingly spicy.
I’ve been searching high and low for another restaurant that could deliver that kind of straight-from-China kick, and finally found it in Chilli Secrets. At first, I was afraid to review this place for fear that it wouldn’t be able to keep the taste after it became popular. But by the fourth time, I decided I had to review this place. It’s actually managed to consistently deliver the kind of ma la (numbing and hot) that makes me salivate and yearn and beg for more.
On Saturday, my friend and I visited early in the evening to beat the dinner rush. Our waitress was a Cantonese-speaker but like everyone else who worked there, she was obligated to know a little Mandarin. The clientele here is slightly more varied than some restaurants in Markham and Scarborough; while most speak Mandarin, some speak Cantonese or another dialect, and there is the occasional non-Chinese-speaking person or two (although usually accompanying a Chinese party). Like many Asian restaurants in the area, Chilli Secrets has done away with the simple, plain (and often dirty) family-restaurant feel of typical Chinese restaurants (actually spending money on interior decoration seems to be a trend in Chinese restaurants these days, especially in The Other Chinatown), and has also put their staff through some sort of customer service training.
My friend and I ordered a leng pan (appetizer) of spicy pork belly slices, an entree of spicy fried beef, and a fried rice dish of chicken and pineapple.
The spicy pork belly slices is one of my favourite dishes. It’s actually quite a large dish considering that it is an appetizer. The pork belly slices are sliced very thinly and drenched in spicy oil. The slices themselves are not marinated, so it doesn’t feel too overwhelming.
The spicy beef dish was completely different from what I expected. When the menu said “fried,” I assumed stir-fried, not deep-fried! And the beef was wrapped in batter! How very unexpected. It had a distinct aftertaste of Sichuan peppercorns, but was not initially spicy. This is probably one of the less successful dishes I’ve ordered. I think I’ll stick to pi jiu ya guo (beer duck pot) next time.
Finally, we had a chicken and pineapple fried rice that was surprisingly thoughtful and delicious. Usually, I expect fried rice to be one of the least interesting dishes – there’s oil, there’s MSG, there’s frozen peas and carrots, and there’s rice. What is there to say? But this, this fried rice came in a pineapple. It had pineapple and raisins and carrots, and it didn’t taste like MSG. I especially loved the raisins.
Other dishes I’ve had here that are also winners include jellyfish salad, and fried hot and sour potatoes. Unfortunately, this place does not do the well-known Sichuan dishes (the dishes that made the cuisine famous) as well as some other places I’ve been, such as gong bao ji ding (gong bao chicken with Chinese red lantern chilis) and fu qi fei pian (two fish filet in spicy sauce). For that, I still recommend Hot Spicy Spicy at Finch and Leslie.
Rating: