The Real McCoy

Living in Eastern Scarborough, I am almost embarrassed that I have never headed over to The Real McCoy for a burger.

Especially when I realized how close to home this place was (1033 Markham Road Scarborough, ON M1H 2Y5 - (416) 439-6804)

Problem was for a while any time I had free that I might want to try a new burger place was always a Sunday, and they happen to be closed Sundays.

At first I thought "what kind of a burger shop is closed on Sundays?"but after visiting the place I realized that it really is a mom and pop shop, it was run by an older couple and their son, all of them were super friendly too.

I was tempted by the Mojo Burger (there is a banner up about some award the burger won them from the now defunct Mojo Radio) but there was no explanation about what a Mojo Burger was, so I just went with a standard burger, fries (added gravy) and pop combo.

If memory serves correct it was around $8.00

Girlfriend was there too, we got an order of onion rings to split and a chicken burger for her.

Order came up good and quick, I started off sampling the onion rings, I loved them, they are the old fashioned hand dipped kind (was very happy to find them as almost everyone uses the frozen McCain rings now).

The flavor was perfect, the outside had a perfect crunch, while the onion inside was still soft, and they were not overly greasy either.

In short, they were perfect onion rings.

Next I had to try the fries, I am not sure if these guys cut their own potatoes, but they sure taste like it, the gravy was the old style that I like best too.

Then on to the main event, for some time I have been going to Johnny's Burgers at Victoria Park and Sheppard whenever the urge for a burger hit, but this burger changed my mind.

The bun was so fresh I was looking for the oven they must have just baked it in, I cannot remember having such a soft bun anywhere in the city.

Meat was really nice too, and cooked perfectly.

I really enjoyed the Real McCoy, and look forward to going back to try the Mojo Burger (overheard the explanation while eating, it is a home made burger topped with cheese and bacon).

Poutini's

1112 Queen Street West, Toronto - (647) 342-3732

So who would have thought, Toronto is really becoming a poutine town.

We have been a few times to Smoke's Poutinerie (who have now opened a second location right across from Filmore's Strip club on Dundas.

The new kid in town was Poutini's, I read a really positive review in Now Magazine and decided I needed to give it a shot.

So on a Saturday afternoon last summer we headed down Queen St. looking for the place (like many times in past I had no idea what the address was)

We finally found it a few blocks East of Dufferin just doors away from the Drake Hotel.

Staff were friendly, but ordering 3 orders of poutine took nearly 20 minutes.

The fries are really good, but they need a system to not make people wait so long.

The menu was pretty plain, either poutine or a baked potato and drinks.

As mentioned, the 3 of us tried 3 orders of poutine.

Because it was summer, it was crazy hot out, and the restaurant didn't seem to have any air conditioning, so sitting, or rather standing (as there were no seats inside) was not an option.

We took our poutine across the road and sat on the front steps of the Post Office.

There we enjoyed our poutine.

It was fantastic, the gravy was like the old style gravy you find at a real burger shop (as apposed to Smoke's who use a more Montreal style sauce).

The cheese was good too, and very generous.

Cool too that the packaging, even the fork was 100% recyclable.

In all I really enjoyed the poutine, I'd recommend it for sure.

We haven't been back, since it's not in an area we normally go to, but if you are near by, give it a try.

Their website is.

http://www.poutini.com/

Nice Poutine

218 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 1W7

http://smokespoutinerie.com/

Opened a while back, and based on much buzz, as well as some great reviews I decided I wanted....no, NEEDED to check this place out.

Before going, I read several reviews, all agreed the place was great, and a few called the pulled pork used to top the pulled pork poutine the best pulled pork in the city.

When we went the first time it was early afternoon and they did not open until the evening, so we had to skip it that time, but went back within the week.

Walking in I liked the place right away, a guy (turned out was the owner) was sitting by the front on his IMac playing some great 80's heavy metal. (I am a big fan).

Service was very prompt and friendly, I had the traditional poutine (just fries, gravy and cheese curd) just to try the poutine at its purest.

Smoke's did tempt me with the dozens and dozens of toppings you could add to your poutine(hot dogs, bacon, curry, the above mentioned pulled pork) but I thought for my first visit I just wanted to try the most basic.

I got my order and was a little worried, I thought the box it came in looked small, but in the end I could hardly finish what I had, so any more would have been a waste.

As for the poutine, the fries were perfect, they were cooked to the perfect consistency.

The cheese curds used were fantastic too, very squeaky and firm.

My only issue was with the gravy, or the sauce.

I am a really big fan of regular gravy, but Smokes has gone for more of a Quebec style sauce for their poutine (which really is more authentic).

Rather than the regular gravy that I know and love, they make their own sauce using chicken and beef stock along with a wine reduction.

Really it is a great sauce, I just was expecting a regular gravy.

As mentioned above, the box I thought was small filled me right up, and after a few mouthfuls I really began enjoying the gravy.

So in the end, while I do prefer regular gravy, the sauce used in Smoke's Poutine separates them from the rest.

I will be back for sure.

Reggie's Cheese Stick's

So Toronto finally has a good 24 hour sandwich place

http://www.reggiessandwiches.com/

They opened a few months back down on King St (571 king street west) and seem to have already captured quite a following (and not just from the strip club down the street)

I read a really good review in Now Magazine and decided we should check this place out.

The Menu http://www.reggiessandwiches.com/menu.html was pretty big, so much to choose from, but the staff were very gelpful in making suggestions.

We decided to have the Monte Cristo sandwich for me, Ham, roast turkey, Swiss, mozzarella,, Dijon mustard & mayo for $7.25, and the Chicken Parm for her $7.95Breaded cutlet, spicy tomato sauce & mozzarella.

Took around ten minutes for our sandwiches to come from the kitchen (the cook told us it was because he dropped one and had to make a brand new one)

The sandwiches were a fair size, and had generous amounts of meat.

I really enjoyed mine, hers was ok, but after having the same at California Sandwiches it's hard for these guys to make a better chicken parm.

My only complaint would be for nearly ten dollars a sandwich, give me some sides, some fries, a bag of chips, whatever.

Since we knew that there were no sides we ordered a side of cheese sticks (because the description reminded me of a great appetizer at the cheesecake factory)

The sticks were ok, but nowhere near cheesy enough, they are essentially macaroni and cheese formed into sticks, battered then deep fried.

I think with a cheese dip on the side they could be really good.

Overall, fast friendly service, good food, open all night, I'll be back.

CNE Is Done

Always makes me sad when the fair ends, only made it down there 3 times this year, but we saw a lot so it was good.

Had planned to go again over the last weekend because I wanted to see the RCMP Musical Ride, but when I saw on the news that there were 1,000,000 people down there for the air show I decided against it.

Instead we stayed at a friends condo to watch their cat, and watched the Air Show from the 20th floor at Yonge and Eglington.
The planes were all tiny from that distance, but it was still fun to watch.

CNE Food Stuff (Corn on the cob)

A quick tip, if you are at the CNE, avoid the corn on the cob guys on the midway, they are charging $6.00 for corn and a pop.

Instead get into the food building and right beside the corn dog place I had previously mentioned there is a sausage place with corn on the cob for only $2.00 AND they baste it in a great herbed butter.

CNE Food Stuff (Hotdog)

I can't remember what company it was that started the yellow booth in the food building selling cheap chicken dogs, but whoever it was seems to have long ago given up on it, and now the booth seems to be run independantly.

I have been going there for years for their cheap hot dogs, and (questionable) back bacon on a bun (I say questionable since there were a few times I would have called their back bacon more of a warm ham sandwich).

Over the years their prices have gone up, and they have in the last few years eliminated their small hot dogs and only sell the jumbo dog now.

This year the jumbo dog is priced at $1.25 and the bacon on a bun is $3.00

I could be wrong, but I think the dog was $1.00 last year.

Either way, the dogs have never been great, if anything they have been a vehicle for ketchup and mustard, and this has not changed, they are still rather bland, but the cheap price makes up for them.

The back bacon was not bad at all (they seem to be using real back bacon this year) my only complaint is the shoddy little hamburger bun they serve it on, if they used a kaiser or any kind of a real bun I think they would have line ups.

Anyways, back to the hot dogs, I have found a new place for them, actually several new places.

In the Food Building, and at 2 different trailers on the CNE grounds Maple Lodge Farms are selling some fantastic grilled chicken hot dogs for $2.00

They have a few other sandwiches and wraps available, but it's the hot dog that I like best.

My girlfriend wont eat beef (she thinks cows are too cute) so the fact that MLF sells a chicken weiner is even better.

Oh, and to make it even better for her, they will cover the dog in a really tasty chicken chili for an extra $1.00.

We will be back at the ex this weekend, and the MLF booth will be a for sure on out places to go list.

CNE Food Stuff (Corndog)

So a bit of a rundown on what I have sampled down at the ex.

Was craving a corndog, and was lucky to find a booth in the food building that sold a footlong corn dog for $5.00

Far better deal than the ones on the midway that were going for $8.00

And another thing that made it a better corndog than those on the midway was that it was made when I ordered it.

Sure I had to wait a few minutes for it, but I always wonder how long the corndogs on the midway have been sitting around.

So, if you are headed to the ex for the final weekend be sure to look for the corn dog booth in the Northeast corner of the Food Building (it is across from Mamma's who are selling the pizza on a stick).

CNE

So I spent the entire weekend at the CNE.

I love the ex, I've been going since I was old enough to walk (except for one year when I was in the hospital) so I have tonnes of great memories from there.
My mom and grandmother (Both now passed on) would take my brother and I, so giong back now kind of allows me to relive some of those memories.

One memory that really lives on is eating at the CNE lol.
When we were kids my mom would give my brother and I $20.00 to spend however we liked in the food building, and man did we ever stretch that $20.00.

One of the best things I remember trying was from the booths that used to be outside the food building, the were called "Around The World" and each booth would feature food from a different part of the world.
I went to the France booth and tried the cheesiest looking thing I could find, they called it cheese fondue, but looking back all it was is pizza on a french stick, but man when I was a kid it was so exotic (it was a french stick halved and basted with some tomato sauce a few pepperonis and a bunch of cheese)

The days of exotic food at the CNE are pretty well gone now.
The food building is nothing like it once was, it's pretty much just a big food court now.

I think a great idea would be for the CNE to stop selling the booths in there to the highest bidder and instead try and get some smaller mom and pop restaurants in there, hit up the big food manufacturers to set up some sampling booths in there, and let them all set up shop at a reduced cost, if they started offering something you can't get at any mall in the GTA people would start looking forward to going in there again, rather than going because they need to eat people would go because they were excited about what was inside.

Angry with Quizno's

Awwww Quizno's, I loved you because you launched the $5.00 after 5:00 promotion and unlike Subway Sandwiches, all of your locations were actually participating.

I was really excited about the Subway $5.00 sub promo until I realized that there was only one location I could find in the entire city that was participating (Bloor & Dufferin) it was at that point I started my Subway boycott (and the girlfriend and I had been going very regularly to Subway)

Soon after, Quizno's launched their 5 after 5 promo, I was very excited because EVERY Quizno's I passed had signage in he window for he promotion.

But part of the problem was I did not have a local quizno's and whenever I passed one in my travels they would be closed (they seem to all close at 9:00)

But I tried for weeks to get to a Quizno's if for no other reason to support this promotion, but I could never get to one.

But then Tuesday I was set to meet the girlfriend after work, and she passes a Quizno's on the way home from work.

She is not a fan of the toasted sub (in her mind the veggies should not be heated) but she decided to try and get me one of the $5.00 subs, and the promotion had ended.

Oh well, back to making my own sandwiches.

Pacific Mall

So as mentioned we went to visit taste of the Danforth on Friday, well in years past that would have been a weekend long event, however since the crowds and their SUV baby strollers took over, one visit is plenty for me.

So with that thought, and the bad weather, we decided to head to Pacific Mall http://www.pacificmalltoronto.com/

I had no idea how easy it was to get there until a guy at work told me it was as easy as getting on the Kennedy bus from Kennedy Station, but it's exactly that easy.

We were there (obviously to get some bootleg dvd's) to have a bit of a better look around (since the last time we were there we just kind of breezed through.
The mall is quite big, and is surrounded by other malls that I'm sure popped up to try and take some of their customer run off.

We started on the outskirts of the mall where we stopped into a bakery and picked up some Chinese Buns, they were ok, but the selection was lacking since we got there late in the day.

Then we wandered the mall for a while, picked up some weird Chinese Kit Kat bars (strawbetty, green tea) and eventually ended up upstairs in the food court.

There are actually several food courts upstairs, the area we ended up was a jumble of about 5-6 little places and each one had a picture of every dish they served.
This was great because half the time I have no clue what some places are serving, but pictures did do some justice.
There was some weird combos too, ramen noodles and hot dog in soup lol.

We werent starving so we just ordered some snacks, had some spring rolls with fried won tons and some really good dumplings.

Soon after it was getting late so we headed to the dvd store, got our movies then headed home.

Taste of the Danforth

So this weekend was the 15th annual Taste of the Danforth Festival.

We went Friday night, and I must say it was the smallest Friday night crowd I have ever seen at this festival.

I'm thinking it had a whole lot to do with the weather (which was very cool Friday night) but turned to rain for the rest of the weekend, so seems Friday night was the best time to have been there.

With the giant propane fire all over the news http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/475968 I'm not sure how much media attention was on the Danforth, but I am willing to bet that had it been a slow news weekend we would have heard of the low numbers at this years festival.

I have always said to friends, the only time to even bother going to Taste of the Danforth is during a rainstorm, as normally it is too busy to even attempt to walk through, the festival has become a victim of it's own success.

The festival idea came from the Taste of Chicago Festival http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalEntityHomeAction.do?entityName=Taste+of+Chicago&entityNameEnumValue=166(in Chicago of course) and there, once the festival outgrew the area it was held, it was moved to a nearby park.

There is no reason that TotD shouldn't do the same thing, I mean on a busy day, you really can not even get from one side of the street to the other in less that 20 minutes, so you may as well forget about the food.

After a block or two of this I have always given up and gotten back on the subway.

Anyways, as for Friday night, it went well, we had some good (if not really overpriced) food.

I'll go again, but I have to say it saddens me that every year it's getting more and more expensive.

I mean we went to Kalyvia (we have been going there every year for as long as I remember)

http://www.kalyvia.com/

We started off eating there one time just by chance (pretty much means there was no lineup there) and we were wowed, the meat was generous, the pita was fresh, and they drizzed some sort of olive oil and lemon over it before serving.

It has gotten worse every year, Friday I paid $10.00 for 2 chicken on a pitas, there was maybe 3 little pieces of meat on each pita (the pitas were dried out) and the sauce was the tiniest drizzle.

I mean isn't the thought of this festival to wow people so they will come back after the festival for more?

But year after year it has just become a bigger and bigger cash grab.

Most of the restaurants tick me off enough that I wouldn't go back when the festival is not on (and I spend a lot of time on the Danforth).

The organizers don't even hire any good bands anymore, I remember seeing some great shows at this festival (Jim Cuddy, Crashtest Dummies, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) So even if the food was overpriced there was a reason for me to go there anyway.

Well, here is hoping that next year will see a better set up.