Calgary: Great Steak at Vintage Chophouse

We've been living in Toronto for over 3 years now and truly miss Alberta beef. You may not all agree, and I'm sure there are good butchers around, but we miss good steak, surviving mostly on Costco tenderloin and the Keg. On our first visit back to Calgary in 9 months, a steak house was definitely in order. We have been to Vintage Chophouse in the past and I often reminisce about the delicious lamb popsicles and Andretti wine I had the first time I was there (thanks Merrill!!). The server also treated me to my first glass of red ice wine, yum!

To start, we had escargots served on a baguette. The sauce was creamy and delicious but I prefer my escargot straight up without the bread. I also couldn't resist the beef tartar (made from prime tenderloin!), topped with a fried egg and accompanied by some delicious crispy toasts. I normally avoid the "sides" that are filler, but the toasts were so good! Needless to say, we quickly polished off the whole dish!

Without a doubt, we had an assortment of STEAKS for dinner: Tony opted for the New York striploin, and while I normally always have prime rib, I felt like the occasion called for indulgence in the rib eye, and my mom stuck with the old favourite, prime rib. Our steaks each came with a side, which came out family style so we could all share the sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and broccolini. On top of the standard sides, we also added the truffle mac & cheese (a bit too heavy for me) and lobster mashed (SUPER good and a MUST have).

Our server also brought us a selection of the sauces available: Vintage steak sauce, creamy peppercorn, chimichurri and bearnaise. Our favourite was the creamy peppercorn, but the chimichurri was quite good as well. My rib eye was best of all "naked," the great beef flavour medium rare was all I needed! Each of our beef selections tasted amazing and different, and of course, mom and I couldn't finish. We probably could have just shared one steak but I have no regrets in my rib eye indulgence. The best part was, our "expensive" steak meal was STILL CHEAPER than the average meal we have in Toronto. Amazing.

Vintage Chophouse is a great place for a special occasion, romantic night out, or a fun night out with friends over good food and drinks. The service is great and definitely a must-stop for visitors to the city.

Vintage Chophouse & Tavern

320-11th Ave SW

403-262-7262

www.vintagechophouse.com (reservations on OpenTable)

Dinner by the Water at Lake House

On our way back from our first cross-border shopping trip last week, we made a quick decision to stop in the Lake House Restaurant. A friend had told us about it before, but being quite out of the way, we never made it out. A phone call on the way secured us a lovely window table and beat the rush that was soon to fill the restaurant.

Starters:

I had a GREAT clam chowder, exactly what I was craving - hearty, full of clams and corn. Tony had a good warm mushroom salad, served with goat cheese and balsamic. Our friend Stephen had some tiger shrimp to start that were prepared with garlic butter. We were all happy with our starters and the speed with which they came! Perfect for our post-shopping hunger.

Mains:

After reading over the menu, I settled on a delicious mushroom risotto,

topped with fried leaks, which was a really nice touch, and seared scallops. The risotto was amazing, although half the portion size would have been more than enough for me.

Tony had the prime rib, which is the dinner special for Saturdays and Sundays. It was HUGE and really good, perfectly prepared at medium rare. As true Albertans, we don't often find good steak, but you can't go too wrong with prime rib. The accompanying mashed potatoes are worth a mention as well, they were not your usual mashed...I hazard a guess that they were actually Yukon gold; in any case, they were very flavourful (no gravy required!).

Stephen also had good beef, the filet mignon recommended by the waitress, served on a bed of gnocchi. We were pleasantly surprised the meat was all very good, but still think my risotto was the highlight :)

Dessert:

I gave up dessert for Lent, in case you had not noticed that sweets have been lacking my posts of late, but Lake House offered up "mini-dessert," for just a taste of something sweet. Stephen opted for the shot glass of creme brulee, which had looked very enticing on the menu, and Tony had a single scoop of sour apple gelato. Both got their small taste of sweets before we were back on the road.

Lake House was the perfect stop, our food was all hot and fresh and we were lucky to have arrived before the restaurant really filled up around 6:30pm. You can tell it's an "old favourite" kind of place, with several groups celebrating birthdays with their families. A summer seat by the window with boats on the lake would certainly make a very nice, romantic dinner.

Lake House Restaurant

3100 North Service Road, Vineland, ON

905-462-6777

http://www.lakehouserestaurant.com/index.htm

Adventurous Eats at The Black Hoof

The Black Hoof has been well received and reviewed in Toronto since its inception 2+ years ago. Regrettably, we never made our way there because of the "no reservations" policy...I am not always keen to line-up, especially given there are so many options in the city. On the warmest weekend of the year yet, we decided to head out to Dundas West and try our luck. I should mention that driving there was probably a mistake - Dundas West is currently under some major road construction with parking at a super premium. It also kind of explained why the area seemed a bit quiet for a Saturday night. We love the neighbourhood and hope the businesses are not suffering too terribly under construction, like those on St. Clair have. But I digress! We walked into a full house around 7pm, not surprising since the restaurant opened at 6pm (parking seriously took some time!), but the hostess was quick to take our number and suggest a place for a drink down the street, The Press Club. I'd probably never walk into the Press Club on my own, but it's a dive'ish-neighbourhoody kind of place, I have no doubt some great times have been had there! Once we arrived, we were pretty sure the rest of the patrons were waiting for tables at the Hoof (we jokingly asked the bar tender if they open early just for those waiting for a table...I think it's true!). We were told it would take up to 45min for a table, but something opened up for us before I could even finish my drink, so back to the Hoof we went for our food adventure!

The Black Hoof's menu is found on a blackboard at the back end of the restaurant - simple sounding items, yet not for the unadventurous. A sample of the food offered can be found on the website, but it's just a sampling of what you might find in person. Although we don't really find the menu all that "adventurous" or crazy, it's definitely not your average restaurant!

No surprise that we tried to order as much as we possibly could (until the waitress tells us it is too much food...but we still find they generally underestimate how much we can eat!). Below is how our indulgent food adventure went:

House cured meats - a fantastic assortment of...well, house cured meats. I can't honestly recall all that came on the platter, but it was plentiful (bigger than I expected, enough for a table of 4+ really!) and we enjoyed all of it. The meat ranged from light to strong and was served with some good, grainy mustard. Loved this, and if you're going to visit a charcuterie, this really is a must have! There wasn't any meat on the board I didn't enjoy.

Bone marrow - served with sea salt and chimichurri. This was a small yet indulgent dish, even the bread that accompanied was indulgent, drenched in butter or oil of some sort. It was, however, quite delicious...the sea salt and chimichurri gave it just a hint of flavour to kick it up a notch.

Smoked beef tartar - this is a pretty standard dish for us to order, but it was not served standard at Black Hoof. It came with bread pressed with garlic and soaked in egg yolk. I am actually not a fan of egg yolk so it felt a bit much for me...but the beef tartar was really AMAZING. GREAT beef taste, and not at all mushy, which some tartars can be. This was very well prepared (minus the heavy bread in my opinion, but I can see how it could be enjoyed by others). I enjoyed it just in its simplicity.

Duck taligatelle - confit with current, brussel sprouts and almond chips, this dish was fantastic...nothing like FRESH pasta (it's a basic expectation from a good restaurant, right?). After the heavy egg-dipped bread from the tartar, I wasn't too thrilled the pasta hid an egg to be mixed, but on another day, I probably would have liked it. Overall though, the pasta was light and delicious, and was almost a pallet cleanser from our heavy, meaty meal.

Glazed pork belly - no doubt we HAD to order this. It was as good as expected (fatty of course, so don't be surprised!), and the accompanying apples were quite delicious. It was the perfect size for the 2 of us to share.

Beef heart and seared scallops -

this was our last dish, but boy, did we save the best for last! I'm glad we didn't sacrifice this in our long list of menu items. It came sort of like a deconstructed salad, but no salad this was (but there were greens!). The beef heart was perfectly seared, softly red in the middle...imagine perfect ahi tuna if you will for the preparation. The delicate, tender flavour was well matched with the seared scallops, seasoned cauliflower and puree. I was so stuffed by the time this dish came (with the pork belly) but I couldn't stop eating! This was definitely our favourite, and most outstanding dish, of the night.

We had a great time at The Black Hoof and were glad we finally made our way there (I'm sorry it took so long!). We have only heard good things from all of you who have stopped in; and yes, it is as good as they say :) It's worth a little adventure out to Dundas West!

The Black Hoof

928 Dundas Street West

416-551-8854

www.theblackhoof.com

Vive La Brunch at Bonjour Brioche

Brunch is very much a part of living in Toronto, there are options galore all over the city, and most are small, quaint little places that have unique offerings with varying specials week to week. Some of our favourite places include Saving Grace (amazing but I recommend visiting on a not-so-hot day!), Aunties and Uncles (the BEST waffles), and Queen and Beaver (this is a dinner post, but the brunch is something a little different and in a lovely setting). This weekend, my friend Julie and I stopped in Bonjour Brioche in Leslieville for a visit. Brunch is great because it's a chance to catch up with friends and enjoy some great comfort food. I often thing brunch could be one of the most unhealthy meals, but oh-so-good, right!? Like most other favourite brunch locations, there are no reservations and it's first come first served...and your whole party better be with you. This worked to our advantage this time, as Julie and I were the first in the line-up to be a "complete" party, and so we were quickly seated on the covered patio, intimately at our little table, ready for our meal! Bonjour Brioche offers daily specials for omlettes, quiches, and sandwiches. The asparagus, brie and apple quiche was very tempting...but I also couldn't resist the call of the croque madame for a savoury taste. I should mention at this point that we had just come from another GREAT place in Leslieville, Bobette & Belle, for cupcake tastings...that is definitely a MUST STOP in the area (try the mango-passionfruit, I guarantee you won't be disappointed, I don't even like cupcakes that much and I love!).

My croque madame was great, with a perfect fried egg on top, served with a healthy side of salad. Julie had the omlette with smoked salmon and caviar - the egg was actually a tad bland but I supposed you really had to mix up the caviar. Our highlight I think was the passionfruit juice - it was fresh and delicious; and best of all, no skimpy little juice glass which is often my pet peeve!

I think I will definitely have to give the quiche and sandwiches a try. There's always next time!

Modern Japanese/Korean Fare at KOKO! Share Bar

We were struggling where to have dinner on Saturday night on our way out from Holt on Bloor. First, I tried to make a last minute reservation at Sushi Couture for Omakase (no luck, need one day's advance notice); next, I tried Swish by Han, a Korean hot pot place near by, suggested by a friend....completely full. Finally, we decided to try One at the Hazelton. We've always wanted to go but never made it and partly wanted to save it for a special occasion. Well, we never made it there. As we were walking, I thought of KOKO Share Bar, which I had read about at some point, but I didn't know where it was...and right there, was the restaurant. We took a quick look at the menu and decided to give it a try.

KOKO Share Bar is a small restaurant, with only about 8-10 tables and one longer table for groups (fits only about 6). It is clean, simple and modern, but not pretentious. Our very personable waiter brought us our menus, gave us some time to look it over, and took us through some of the favourites by section - appetizers, mains, modern and traditional sushi. First, the cocktails were calling my name, some unique drinks mixed with soju. I had the honey ginseng martini - not for everyone but I like ginseng, and Tony had the citrus twist which was delicious in a very understated way - a drink that grows on you more and more one you could sip and drink all night!

We quickly made up our mind about dinner. We started with some modern sushi, the Maguro roll with yellowfin tuna and kimchee mayo. It came topped with okra and was delicious, not overly spicy or with too much mayo - simply delicious. We also had the butterfish sashimi, which was actually torched and served with ponzu, also quite good. For our mains,

Tony had the baked sea bass served with a sweet miso butter and king mushrooms. The fish was served whole and was baked with parchment paper just right, with the perfect firmness for the fish. A bowl of miso butter was served on the side to spread on the fish as you like. This was a nice healthy dish! I decided to have the spicy seafood boullaibaise hot pot.

I imagined some version of one of my favourite dishes, Korean tofu with seafood. The hot pot was a lovely modern version of what I was expecting, a spicy broth infused with seafood flavours and filled with black cod, prawns, scallops and mussels. It's not as spicy as you would get at a traditional Korean restaurant, but the milder taste combined with seafood flavour was just right for me. I slurped up the entire personal pot!

Around us, tables ordered the signature share dishes - you can choose between a Korean platter with pork belly, spicy chicken and Korean bbq or a Japanese platter with assorted sashimi, soft shell crab, and tempura. They looked plentiful and delicious, and with some friends, we'd love to try both out! Overall, we were happy to have stopped in KOKO Share Bar, we enjoyed the modern interpretations of traditional foods, done with respect to the clean, natural flavours of the food itself. The menu is diverse, a good place to visit whether you are normally adventurous or conservative with food -I'm sure you will find something to your liking.

KOKO! Share Bar

81 Yorkville Ave

416-850-6135

www.kokosharebar.com

(reservations available on OpenTable)

Vancouver: Ultimate Comfort Food at Burgoo Bistro

I love Burgoo. It must be one of the restaurants I miss most about Vancouver (plus the general seafood and fresh sushi, of course!). The Burgoo I frequent is off West 10th - since then, other locations have opened in North Van and on Main Street. This was a favourite of mine when I lived on campus...the perfect comfort food in a cozy, rustic setting. Who wouldn't love a restaurant that specializes in stews and soups??

Favourite items at Burgoo include the decadent French onion soup, Kenturky Burgoo, lamb tangine, cheese fondue and for dessert, the chocolate banana bread pudding. I originally fell in love with Burgoo over a Singapore Laksa, but it's been a long time since it disappeared from the menu...sadness. They always change and expand their menu, adding items of different origins and also a lighter offering during Summer, more suited for the warm weather. The Winter stews and soups, of course, are why I love it though!

Without any fixed plans on our "free" day in Vancouver last week, we made our way to Burgoo for lunch. Sure, we could have gone to Main Street, but I'm emotionally attached to the West 10th location :) We stopped in just before 1pm, and funny thing, it was PACKED. Late lunch for a lot of people on a balmy Friday afternoon I guess! The menu has expanded since I was last there, but the old favourites remain. We started with a delicious wild mushroom pate that was topped with salted hazelnuts. It was served cold and MUCH bigger than I expected. If I really had to eat 50% of it, I probably would have been full! Luckily, if anyone loves mushroom pate more than me it's probably Tony! We also couldn't resist ordering the Fonduemental fondue - Guyere and Emmenthal melted with white wine and other herbs, served with grapes and bread. Sooooo good! As you can imagine, we were already quite full after our "starters." But we pressed on, with a new item on the menu (new for me!), paella. It was quite big, so it's a good thing we didn't each order a "main."

It was as deliciously savoury as I had imagined, but I think not as unique as some of the favourites I like. Still, we inhaled it all. And sure enough, we bravely ordered the chocolate banana bread pudding. Even the waitress was impressed we could still eat....BARELY, but it was worth a try. The chocolate banana bread pudding is really AMAZING, with melted chocolate chips on top, it's actually not too sweet either, because it's dark chocolate with banana bread. The fruit crumble is actually quite good as well, but really, how can you have room for more than one dessert after all the amazing food to start?

Burgoo, will you please open in Toronto? I promise to visit all the time!

Burgoo Bistro, Vancouver

4434 W10th Ave/3 Lonsdale Ave (North Van)/3096 Main St

www.burgoo.ca

Valentine's Day: A Phenomenal Meal At Lee Lounge!

I wasn't sure where we were going for Valentine's Day...it was going to be a surprise! But I had a sneaking suspicion when by chance, I found Susur on twitter last weekend, and noticed that Lee Lounge was going to be open for the 14th, and I was right! Arriving at Lee, we quickly discovered Lee Lounge was really an extension of the always popular Lee, breaking through the East wall of the existing restaurant into a more laid back and open lounge/restaurant area. A case of mismatched expectations, we thought Lee Lounge would be a totally different restaurant like Susur and Madeline's had been in the past, but it actually shares the Lee menu. To be fair, we've always really liked Lee, it just wasn't what we were expecting for whatever reason. We were excited to see Susur in the house and knew we'd have a good meal ahead! There is a refreshed menu, which still boasts favourites like the Singapore slaw, braised beef, cod, orzo and others, but with some new items we were eager to try. Lee was also featuring a "double happiness" Valentine's special menu. We ultimately ended up with a phenomenal feast, a party for our pallets, and one of the best meals we've had in a long time. Susur, we've missed you!

We started with half a dozen oysters from the Valentine's feature menu, topped with a bit of salted chili, shallots and calamansi lime. It added just a hint of flavour to enhance the delicious oysters. And we were on our way for the food adventure! Next came something from the Lee menu, spicy tofu served on a thick honey glaze, coated with a secret mixed spice, aptly named "golden dust" and topped with mushroom and pepper compote. This tofu was AMAZING! You may read a lot of "amazing" in this post, but the tofu was one of the most surprising and enjoyable dishes we had all night. The firm tofu cubes was just loaded with flavour, and not actually too spicy. Every bite was exciting!

Then came the seared diver scallops, also from the regular menu. They were gigantic, seared just right of course, and boasted a familiar old school dim sum flavour while not being traditional at all. I can't tell you exactly what that familiar flavour was, but we felt like the scallops really embodied "modern" Chinese food with traditional influences. No one integrates flavours quite like Susur. We also had the peking duck from e Valentine's menu... served with a deliciously light foie gras mousse. This dish was so intricate and detailed, from the delicate rice wraps, to the exceptionally tender (and plentiful) duck, to the assortment of cucumbers, green onion and persimmon strips that accompanied. It was a fun course, making our fancy little duck wraps and topping it with foie gras, you really can't go wrong. It was light and just enhanced the taste perfectly! Could our meal get any betterr??

The answer is yes. Next came a new addition to the Lee menu, Susur's dish from Top Chef masters, where he scored the highest score on the show: green curry chicken with chili mint chutney and sun fried tomato jam. I don't exactly remember the episode to recall the judge's reactions, but simply this dish was WOW! I was expecting some normal curry dish (sauce like) with chicken; but instead, was served breaded chicken with a unique infusion of green curry flavour accented with other great Thai flavours scents. It tasted so amazing I felt obligated to tell the couple next to us they had to order it (they were already spying on our dishes, I might as well!). This is a MUST-HAVE if you are stopping by Lee, no over-rated dish here.

Needless to say, we were pretty full by the time we got through our dishes, but couldn't possibly pass up dessert. We had the combo platter with chocolate lava cake (always good and a favourite on the menu) with black sticky rice pudding (black barley), and also the new French and Chinese tong-yuen (glutinous rice balls filled with sesame, nuts and other goodies) served on individual spoons. Sooo good and totally worth stuffing our already stuffed bellies.

Lee did not disappoint us this Valentine's Day! We have found some V-Day menus to be sub-par in the past, but Lee's renewed menu along with the new, more luxe and spacious Lee Lounge was definitely a treat for us. Definitely one of the best meals we've had this year! Please stop by and eat the green curry chicken, the tofu and the tong yuen! My one recommendation for Lee Lounge is they need a bigger assortment of cocktails to live up to the lounge name :)

Lee/Lee Lounge

603 King Street West

416-603-2205

http://www.susur.com/lee/