Cabo Eats: Campestre

Date Visited: Dinner on Monday May 4, 2015
Company: Walk-in for 4

So... it's been a while, but I'm back and ready to hit the restaurant scene again... and just in time for patio season! I was in Mexico the first week of May and had spend the most of the month prior at the gym and trying to eat better in preparation. I was pretty lucky to to be able to try lots of the restaurants in Cabo San Lucas as we didn't stay at an all-inclusive. But instead of blogging about all of those places, I thought I'd just pick one that really stood out to my palate :)

Campestre is the spot where I thought we got to try the most authentic Mexican food, it was filled with locals and located off the beaten path. Our Cabo expect Laura suggested it when we asked for a cheap, authentic Mexican restaurant to check out, and it also happened that two of her local friends work there. It took about 10 minutes to get there from our hotel via taxi into some dirt road streets away from downtown. We were dropped off and entered a fairly large open restaurant with ample tables and even more floor space. It was about half-full for dinner and I didn't see any tourists there. Luckily they still had some english menus. We also got started off with some chips and salsa for the table. The portion of salsa was hefty compared to other restaurants, there was also a spicy salsa that was more liquidy. The tomatoes in the mild one were extremely fresh but light in flavour.


To start, I ordered the Bloody Merry (according to their menu) while the boys got beer and Laura got a Beer and tomato juice combo drink. I hadn't ordered a Caesar as of yet the whole trip so I was very excited to see how it would taste. The drink looked fancily dressed but more importantly it tasted amazing. Almost exactly like a Caesar but with more of a kick of different spices. The prices here were cheaper than anything we had seen before too which made things even better!

Their food menu had a lot of options with some photos to accompany. The one dish that stood out to me though Grilled Steak Tampioueña with Quesadilla, Enchilada, Guacamole and Rice, mostly the photo beside it looked delicious. The plate I got however, looked even better. The steak was perfectly grilled a medium-well (just like how I asked) and extremely tender. It was a thin slice but had a lot of character with some fatty and muscly parts on the edges and tons of flavour. I thought I had gotten a tortilla on top but turns out it was filled with cheese! One difference I noticed from home was that their tortillas are flakey and layered unlike a soft taco shell. Also their quesadillas are mostly just all cheese, no veggies inside. The Enchilada was great too, I could only finish one of the two but I loved the red sauce and cheese on top. The guacamole was a nice addition to the plate as well as the rice, which had a lot more flavour compared to other plates I'd had.

Overall, I was very happy with my choice of dish... even happier the next night where I got to drunkenly finish my leftovers. Like many of the restaurants we visited in Cabo, the service was quite slow, we were sitting a while just waiting for our bills before we could find anyone to flag down. But despite this, they were always accommodating and even nice enough to call us a taxi to pick us up since there was no way we could flag one nearby. I would definitely recommend this to anyone going to Cabo that wants to try a local authentic restaurant, I'd try to come back here anytime I was in the city.

Food: 4.5/5 - Best meal we had in Cabo and cheap prices!
Decor: 3/5 - Pretty cute restaurant.
Service: 2.5/5 - Really friendly, but pretty slow. Little bias since Laura knew our servers though
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Totally worth the trek.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.restaurantcampestreloscabos.com/#_=_

Canyon Creek Chophouse

Date Visited: Winterlicious dinner on Wednesday Feb 11, 2015

Company: Reservation for 6

Canyon Creek Chophouse was the restaurant I chose for this year's Winterlicious dinner with university friends. It was between that or Joe Badali's which were right next to each other and in hindsight, I probably should have chosen the latter. It was a packed night when I entered the restaurant around 6:45PM, they didn't have our table ready until 7PM on the dot. We were seated at a table in the far most corner of the large maze-like restaurant close to the kitchen. Our table for 6 was a very tight squeeze and was probably meant for only 4. When we were looking at the menu, we noticed that they didn't even give us the Winterlicious page and had to wait a long time for a waiter to return and then request it. Once we ordered, we got some warm, fresh bread with honey butter to start, so delicious.

For the appetizer, I got the Potato Dill Soup, creamy potato, diced garlic pickles, with sour cream, chives, and fresh dill. The presentation was nice and the soup looked pretty good but after the first few sips, all you can really taste is pickle. I didn't even read that it would have little pieces of pickles in the soup, I thought it was just going to taste of dill. It was a really weird combination and just didn't work for me. Near the end of the bowl, all that was left was basically pickles. The proportions were really off and the broth and potatoes were lost in the flavour.

I ordered the Peruvian Chicken, marinated and grilled double chicken breast, roasted red jacket potatoes and red peppers in aji amarillo chili sauce with jalapeno crema for my main. I was thinking about getting the Striploin but the waiter told +Gisele that it came medium-rare and they couldn't change that?? I'm glad though because when we did get some steaks, they were all different portion sizes. The Chicken looked like the better option, larger portion and lots of colour on the plate. Unfortunately, it didn't taste as good as it looked. The chicken was really dry and rather plain, they tried to dress it up with the sauces but made it too spicy. There were a lot of flavours from all the sauces but I'm not quite sure what I was eating as you couldn't taste the chicken at all. The fresh peppers were a random and unnecessary addition to the plate. The only redeeming part of the dish was the potatoes which were a bit crispy and everyone at the table seemed to enjoy them.

Finally, for dessert I ordered the Chili Chocolate Pot de Creme. I was warned prior to my visit that that dessert it has a kick to it but I was still intrigued and wanted to try it for myself. The chocolate taste of it was great, rich and thick, but the chili slowly creeps up at the back of your throat. It kind of scared me so I only had it in small bites while others downed the thing and got the kick all at once. I really wish it didn't have the chili part because it did taste pretty good but left a weird taste in my mouth.

Our waiter was also the hardest person to get a hold of, +Stephen was coming late and we wanted to put an order in for him but he was no where to be found. +Gisele said it was the worst service she's ever experienced. He was always friendly when he was around, but he was never there. Either way, I don't think it could have redeemed our meal at Canyon in any way. It's sad that the best part of the meal is the free bread and honey butter.

Food: 0.5/5 - Terrible meal, didn't enjoy any of the three courses.
Decor: 2/5 - Very standard looking chain restaurant.
Service: 0/5 - So bad, I'm not even sure if we had a waiter.
Willingness to go back: 1/5 - I would never recommend it to anyone but I've seen so many great reviews on this place so I could be convinced to return.
Overall: 1/5

Website: http://canyoncreekrestaurant.ca/

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

Frankie's Bar & Cafe

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday May 24, 2014
Company: Triple dinner date before seeing RENT at Lower Ossington Theatre

A group of 6 of us had tickets to see RENT in the Queen/Ossington area at 8PM and decided to meet up before hand to grab some dinner in the area. The theatre wasn't really in an area which we went to often so there were tons of new unfamiliar places to check out. We had originally planned to go to County General but it would have been a 2 hour wait, the place was very tiny! Closer to the intersection of the theatre, we saw Frankie's with a sign that claimed 'World's Best Burgers'. It didn't seem to be very full so we were seated immediately and got a large table in the back corner. 

We waited for the rest of the group to arrive while the waitress served us some waters. The place has a diner vibe but pretty modern decor. There aren't very many tables either but a few stools on the counter. They have a variety of beer on tap and seems like a decent not busy place to grab a drink. The waitress we had was very friendly but I spilled some of my water and asked for some napkins and she just wiped it away. There was so water on my pants I wanted to dry up but it wasn't much so I didn't ask again.

Their menu mostly focused on their Signature Burgers and had many different choices. I was debating between the Smokin' Hot Honey and the Aristotle Burger (like a Greek Burger) and I think I would have been happy with either as both were ordered at our table and looked great. I went for the Smokin' Hot Honey with Fries in the end. The burger had Jalapeno Havarti, Jalapenos, crunchy onions, bacon, letture, tomatoes, and smoked mayo. I actually didn't know that it had bacon as I usually never order burgers with bacon but it wasn't too overpowering. I also had to pick some of the Jalapenos off, a little too spicy for me but it was great once I did that. Their signature burgers are really well put together and creative. The patty very juicy and held really nicely together. The fries were pretty good but nothing too spectacular or memorable. Good place for a reasonably priced burger to fill you up!

They also had some board games behind the counter that you can play! We played some Connect Four to pass the time and didn't even notice how much time was passing by during our wait for food. 

Food: 3/5 - Not the best burgers ever but fresh ingredients, appealing meal, and reasonably priced.
Decor: 2/5 - Quite plain and not that much stands out.
Service: 2/5 - Nothing outstanding, she did her job.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - If I was in the area I would definitely go again.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: none