O&B Canteen

Date Visited: Brunch on Saturday Sept 13, 2014

Company: Walk-in for 6

On the second weekend of TIFF, we somehow decided to go to the O&B Canteen for Saturday brunch. For those of you who don't know, it's a restaurant attached to the TIFF building and also very close to where most of my friends live downtown. +Will and I were the first to arrive and they said it would be a 20 minute wait. We hung out in the TIFF building and found a spot to sit and wait for everyone since we had a beeper which would call us when our table was ready. We waited over our 20 minutes and decided to go back to ask what was up with our table, all they told us it would be ready soon. It was very busy but they didn't seem too concerned that we had been waiting along time already and they weren't giving us anymore information than we had 30 minutes ago. When we were finally seated we got a nice corner table surrounded by their large windows.

I wasn't very impressed with the selection they had for breakfast/brunch, it was a tad limited overpriced. I decided to go for their $17 Canteen Burger with bacon, aged cheddar, pickled jalapeño, herb mayo, and hot house tomato. Our waiter had a bit of attitude but tried his best in getting us all our drinks and orders. I wanted to order an orange juice but it was $5, no way I was going to pay that. I know that it was O&B but I couldn't justify it knowing it would be a small glass. We had some nice conversations while we were waiting for our food and I had to help +Gisele pick a movie to see for TIFF. We left a bit to look at the schedule outside when +Rosemarie texted us that our food was there!

I was impressed with the look of my burger, the portion size was better than I had expected and the herb mayo sauce smelled awesome. The burger was very lean and less juicy than I would have liked but all the toppings were delicious together. It was better than the average burger and very meaty, the herb mayo was awesome (I want that recipe!). The fries were also great, lightly salted and crispy. There was a lot of mixed reviews of everyone's dishes at the table. They all seemed pretty good although the Gnocci portion looked a little small for +Will although +Gisele claims that she ordered it last week and couldn't finish it.

Food: 3/5 - My burger was pretty good but had higher expectations for the menu.

Decor: 3.5/5 - Loved all the natural lighting and modern decor, the isles are a bit small though and you have to go upstairs the TIFF building for the bathroom.

Service: 1.5/5 - Not vey impressed, a bit snooty.

Willingness to return: 2/5 - I would return if it was suggested but I can't think of a good occasion where I would to suggest going there again, neither the food or prices were enticing enough.

Overall: 2.5/5

Website: http://oliverbonacini.com/Canteen.aspx 

Bannock

Date Visited: Lunch on Sunday Jul 6, 2014
Company: Summerlicious reservation for two.

While browsing through the many menus Summerlicious has to offer, I came upon one with some interesting items that intrigued both +Will and I. We decided that we had to make a reservation for lunch and see if their take on these items were actually good or not! The location is very close to the Eaton Centre but easily missed with all the scaffolding surrounding the exterior. The restaurant has a very urban look and was pretty busy when we got there at noon on a Sunday. We were seated to the main dining area which was already very lively, and they also had another grab-and-go section with pre-made sandwiches that you could sit at also.

What were the menu items that intrigued both Will and I you ask? Well for me, it was the Iced Bloody Caesar Soup because I actually love Caesars and always try to order them if available. For Will, it was their Bulgogi Hawaiian Pizza, a combination of one of his favourite foods, Hawaiian Pizza and one of his most eaten foods (because there Bob's Bulgogi is steps away from his apartment). After walking by their kitchener serving area, I saw quite a few odd combinations and takes on foods being made (at least for brunch) so it would be interesting to check out their regular menu (Canadian comfort food, they say). After our orders were put in, they were surprisingly quick in serving us.

The Iced Bloody Caesar Soup was exactly what you would picture, cold tomato soup with clams and seasoning. It was quite spicy as well and I had to take my time with the sips. I'm surprised how spicy they made considering soups are usually mild ways to start your meal. The flavour was good but I'm not used to having iced soups and the clams in it just felt sad and cold. I was disappointed with it and definitely will stick to Caesar drinks opposed to soups. Will ordered the Smashed Cucumber and Head Cabbage Salad to start and the one bite I had of it was absolutely delicious. There was so much flavour from both the ingredients and the dressing, it was a light and eye-appealing dish to start your meal compared to mine.

For my main, I ordered the Roast Peameal Bacon Melt with Sauerkraut, Cheddar, and Smoked Tomato Marmalade. I was pleasantly surprised with the appearance of my meal as the sandwich was pretty hefty. The flatbread was thick and warm with melted cheddar pressed between perfectly cooked pieces of peameal bacon. It was a simple but delicious sandwich where the meat spoke for its self. The sauerkraut added a nice hint of flavour admist the seemingly plain layers and I couldn't really taste the tomato marmalade. The Taro Chips were an interesting side as they are quite plain otherwise but the salt added some flavour.

I also got to try the Bulgogi Hawaiian Pizza and the one word to describe this dish is SPICY! I'm pretty sure their sauce base was just hot sauce so beware for all those who are interested in trying it. The flatbread was pretty decent otherwise, I found it a crispier than most and very thin. I was surprised on how the bulgogi was presented as it's not how it usually looks in the Korean dish: tender, sweet, and saucy. I found the meat a tad dry and just wasn't very appealing. It was an okay dish in theory but it was hard getting past the spiciness of the pizza.

For our dessert, we both choose to have the Cortland Apple Fritter but it didn't quite look like what I thought an apple fritter would be like. I was expecting sometime more wet and saucy to be honest. The flavour was quite good combined with the dulce de leche accompanying it but I also thought it was too dry. It was difficult to taste the apple flavour in the doughy, hard dessert.

Food: 2/5 - Hit and miss here, pretty disappointed with most of our choices.
Decor: 3/5 - Very slick and modern decor with a vibrant and bright atmosphere.
Service: 3.5/5 - Impressed on the speediness of our dishes.
Willingness to Return: 3/5 - I would like to give this place another try just because you expect more from Oliver and Bonacini and maybe their Summerlicious menu just didn't do it justice.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: http://oliverbonacini.com/bannock.aspx