Sunday, August 17, 2014

Bistro 238

Date Visited: Late dinner on Thursday Jul 31, 2014
Company: +Will

+Will was spending one of his working days in Oshawa and had some time to spare afterwards to go out for dinner with me. Since the GM Head Office is near the Oshawa/Courtice border, I decided to look up some places in that area. I haven't eaten in any restaurants in Courtice before and there wasn't very many I found to be honest. There are were a lot of bars but I wanted something nicer without being too pricey. I read some reviews on Bistro 238 and saw that they were a local favourite, it sounded fancy but their prices were reasonable. I called in the morning to get a reservation but they only had something available at 5:30PM or 8PM! We went for the 8PM so we didn't have to rush after work.

Driving there, it was a tad difficult to find because their sign wasn't visible from the main road, but you had to drive into the parking lot of the strip mall to find it. When we entered, it lined you up behind a divider from the dining area to be greeted. There was one couple in front of us and it seemed pretty full, we arrived around 7:45PM as they said they should be ready for us around then which they were. There's two small rooms for dining with about 6-8 tables in each? Most of the clientele were mature families or groups of seniors.
We came on their Pasta night for which they had a chalk board listed with their specials. Each pasta came with a Caesar Salad and was only $12! They were very keen on 'no substitutions' but there was plenty of pasta variations. I went for the Fettuccine with Atlantic Salmon and Asparagus in a Pesto Alfredo Sauce and Will got the Potato Gnocci with Bacon and Mushrooms in a Cream Sauce. We got some slices of a dark brown rye bread to start with butter on the side. Our salads came and they were fairly sized for starters, definitely not a small portion. It was topped with a crouton with pesto spread which gave it good flavour to eat by itself. The ingredients of the salad was pretty standard. The only thing I would say is that I found the Caesar dressing had a bit too much anchovy flavour. I usually don't like to taste that part of the sauce but found it to stand out.

The atmosphere of Bistro 238 is very relaxed and calm so it's great to come here for a date or a low-key family celebration where you can have a conversation. The staff were also very sweet and humble. I was pretty excited when our pastas finally arrived, I also got mine topped with some fresh Parmesan. The portions were a good size but I was already a bit full from the earlier food! They also told Will that he got the last serving of Gnocci, which I'm sure made him very happy. I tried the Gnocci and it was so good, it almost melted in your mouth after a bite. His dish also had tons of mushrooms and bacon mixed it, he finished it in no time! I couldn't say the same for mine though, mostly because I found it it very hefty and rich. The fettuccine pasta was cooked a bit hard and I didn't really taste much of the pesto in the sauce. The salmon was very fresh and you could taste it throughout the pasta. There wasn't enough asparagus though and I wish you could taste the flavour more like the salmon. Overall, everything was cooked perfectly and even though I only finished half of it, I enjoyed eating every bite!

Food: 3.5/5 - Great deal for what we paid!
Decor: 3/5 - Very old-fashioned but comfy and welcoming space.
Service: 3/5 - Pretty good, nothing too extraordinary.
Willingness to Return: 5/5 - Hope to make this a regular spot for me!
Overall: 3.5/5


Bistro 238 on Urbanspoon

Friday, August 15, 2014

Toasters Family Diner

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jul 8, 2014
Company: Walk-in for 5

You would think that it was pretty random that we ended up in a small diner in Cambridge one Friday night road tripping up to the Pinery, but it happened to be one thing we could all agree on during the car ride up. We left Toronto around 3:30PM heading to Grand Bend for the weekend and +Stephen remembered the old diner that he used to go to during his co-op term there. We didn't know the name but did some Googling of diners and did locate it... seemed like a pretty legit place to check out. It was really close off the highway in a small strip mall with a huge, plain, black and white 'Family Diner' sign outside. 

The restaurant was a decent size and had a very welcoming atmosphere. It looked like your typical family-run diner and it wasn't too busy so we could eat quickly and get back on the road. They had a good variety on their menu with even more daily specials on the chalk board at the front. We had a nice lady bring us some waters and tell us about the specials. The prices were pretty cheap and we were told that the portions were large also. 

I decided to go for a Triple Decker Chicken Club Sandwich with Fries, our table actually all got a nice variety of dishes... Philly Cheesesteak, Breakfast, Burger... all the options looked good! Our wait wasn't very long for food luckily, mine came out first and it looked amazing! Lots of colour on the plate and just a huge portion of food. The sandwich was crafted perfectly with even ingredients on each corner. The grilled chicken was juicy and tender, but the bacon was a tad soft and not as crispy as I would have preferred. Everything else about the sandwich was great though, it really held together during the eating. The fries were pretty standard but had the perfect golden colour, cooked in fresh oil probably. The coleslaw was also the kind I really enjoy, just simple cabbage but sour and tangy. 

All our meals filled us right up and got us ready to hit the road again. They had those 25 cent candy machines at the entrance also that we had to get some of :), a nice throwback.

Food: 4/5 - Cheap and delicious.
Decor: 2/5 - Kind of a boring for a diner but nothing more than they need I guess.
Service: 3.5/5 - Pretty quick and our waitress was very sweet.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Like +Stephen, I would definitely recommend this if I was in the city, lots of things to try on the menu.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: none

Toasters on Urbanspoon

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Mill Street's The Beer Hall

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Jul 10, 2014
Company: Girls dinner date for 5
It's not often that my girl friends from high school and I can all find time to get together but when we do, it's always an occasion. I was very excited that for Summerlicious this year they wanted to hit up Mill Street Brew Pub in the beautiful Distillery District. It was a great place to catch up over delicious food and good beer. The sun was beaming this Thursday evening which made for the perfect patio weather. We drove up from Oshawa with some time to spare walking around the area. Mill Street had quite the line entering the place but we were actually in the wrong one when we told them about our reservation. They had another entrance for the 'Beer Hall' around the corner which had no line, but it was very confusing as they led us to our table which was visible from the original line-up outside where we were. The place is huge to be fair, but we had a nice table in between their inside and outside areas (missing the walls to separate the two). 
We took a long look at their beer menu while the waiter brought us some samples of Palomar Ale... with hints of chipotle and lime it definitely had a kick! I decided to get the flight which is an awesome way to try out a few of their beers! The service is nice here that they'll give you samples if you're not sure of what you want to order. Our waiter was extremely helpful but it really took him a while once we did order something from him to get back to us. We were waiting forever for him to get back to us to take our food orders and I accidentally asked him what the Soup of the Day was and he had to leave again and go ask! Eventually we all had our orders in and we can just relax and wait for the food.

For my appetizer, I ordered the Heirloom Tomato Salad with local organic heirloom tomatoes, pecorino fresco, torn basil leaves, olive oil, and beer reduction. Everyone else had gotten the Pretzels and Fondue so I wanted to try something different. My tomatoes arrived and my plate was so bright and colourful looking, it was a beautiful mess. The dressing was sweet but not too overpowering of the flavours of the ingredients. The basil really stood out in flavour but they were so fresh it's hard to complain. The tomatoes and pecorino combination was amazing also, I never had pecorino before so I was pleasantly surprised how light it is after finding out its made from ewe's milk. I was very glad I got this appetizer as the fondue was very heavy and the cheese was a bit crumbly.

For the main, I got the Beer n' Beer Kabob while everyone else got the Chicken Schnitzel... I wasn't sure if I liked Schnitzel but I'll have to try it one of these days... The contents of my plate seemed less compared to the chicken because the schnitzel was huge! My plate had two kabobs of braised beef, cherry tomatoes, pearl onions, and peppers with fennel apple slaw and roasted mini red potatoes on the side. The plate didn't look very full with the 3 portions all separated and all over the place. The kabob was nicely grilled and the beef was a bit tough but had a very nice flavour. The small onions and tomatoes paired well with the beef and everything was cooked consistently through. I couldn't really taste the apple in the slaw at all but it was a refreshing flavour.  The potatoes were also nicely cooked with a soft centre and light seasoning. 

And finally for dessert, they didn't have the Frambrozen Apple tart that I wanted but only the Homemade Butter Tart left. According to the server though it was still very delicious. It was a very cute mini butter tart (not sure why we were given spoons) that you could eat in two bites. Our server was right as it was still very delicious but not enough! There also could have been more filling in proportion to the tart. It was a nice sweet taste to end your meal but definitely left you wanting more!

Also note that the sun was coming down during the meal which was really annoying as it was right in our faces and we just had to wear sunglasses just to look at each other :(.
Food: 4/5 - Great meal! Left you decently full (we still got Gelato after but... you know) and I love the flavours they have in their dishes here.
Decor: 3/5 - Kind of a weird layout into their patio but I love the inside, great for large groups.
Service: 2.5/5 - Really took a while for our waiter to get us settled in, but once our orders were put in, they were pretty quick with the food.
Willingness to go back: 5/5 - Love Mill Street, would definitely go back, especially for Summerlicious.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://beerhall.millstreetbrewpub.ca/ 

Mill Street Beer Hall and Brewpub on Urbanspoon