Over Easy

Date Visited: Breakfast on Sunday Apr 6, 2014
Company: Girls brunch date for 3

For hung-over Sunday morning, +Gisele and I decided to find somewhere to grab a nice breakfast, ideally located in between her new place at King West and Will's. We couldn't exactly find somewhere right in the middle but she did locate Over Easy at Yonge and Wellington (with another location in the Annex). Laura and I moseyed over and luckily +Gisele had already gotten a spot in the line because it was extremely busy when we arrived. The restaurant is situated inside Hotel Victoria so the decor was very old-fashioned but quaint. We got a spot on the booth and I was very surprised to see how many tables the place had because you don't expect it to be very large.

We asked our friendly waitress what she would recommend and she said anything on their Specialties section is unique and also they have great hollandaise sauce for their Benedicts. There were so many interesting and appealing options from their Specialties section, the Eggs Bruschetta, Breakfast Poutine, not to mention their many Eggs Benedict. I decided to order the Vegetarian Skillet with the Poached Eggs, Hollandaise & Toast add-on (to get some Benedict in there too). Most of their options were priced around $11-$13. 

My dish came and it looked so colourful with the yellow Hollandaise sauce, green veggies underneath, and bright red tomatoes on the side! The poached eggs were cooked to perfection and the Hollandaise sauce did live up to the reputation that the waitress had just given me a few minutes prior. The skillet itself was filled with tons of veggies, with a bit of potatoes at the bottom and cheese topping it off. I love their tiny home fries which were cut up in small cubes. The baked cheese on top was also a great addition to the dish. So filling, I only had one of the eggs and about 2/3rds of the skillet. Also, their brown bread was delicious! It was sour dough which was a nice surprise and I usually don't care for the bread but I wish I had more of this! 

+Gisele ordered the Eggstro which she was already confused about what it was with the 'baked eggs' but it wasn't very appealing once it came. Everything was baked in a plate together and very greasy. Laura ordered the Waffles with Strawberry which looked amazing. It was topped with fresh strawberries and also came with a side of strawberry sauce.

Food: 4.5/5 - Tons of options for those who want a twist from their classic breakfast. Perfect for a 'morning after' brunch/breakfast, they have greasy options as well was healthier ones. 
Decor: 4/5 - Loved the small town feel of this place but still hip and modern.
Service: 3/5 - Waitress was chatty and food came at a decent time.
Willingness to go back: 5/5 - Definitely returning, so many more things to try!
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://www.overeasyrestaurants.com/

Banu

Date Visited: Dinner on Monday Feb 10, 2014
Company: Winterlicious Reservation for 3

One of the things that my friends and I try to do during the '-licious' time is to pick at least one restaurant that we usually wouldn't go to to try new foods. This was once instance where we decided to try an Iranian dinner at Banu located at Queen West. It was a cold, snowy night in Toronto but we drove from Oshawa to the shopping district to eat here and found parking on the street close by. The restaurant is very tiny, very much like the other shops in the area. 

Upon entering, there were only a few tables lined up on the side of the narrow restaurant and a group of 4 tables in the back. This isn't the place to go with a large group. The decor wasn't very lively but had an eccentric feel with pillows on the seats, white walls, bright blue tables, and minimal decor. There were only two servers for the whole restaurant, both who were very relaxed and probably not Iranian. 
We looked at the menu and had a not-so-fun time deciding what to try. The server also had additional appetizers on the menu which were available. I almost got the Kashk o Bademjan, roasted eggplant, turmeric, caramelized onion, fried mint, and whey paste but I got a different version with Creamed Eggplant instead (from what I remember). The portion was pretty small with a chunk of sauce in the middle with 4 pieces of sesame bread to pair. The dip was very creamy with lots of flavour which I can't even know the words to describe. it was a bit smokey with lots of spices in the mushy eggplant, an interesting dish for sure. They asked if I wanted more bread, but I turned it down. It wasn't the most vibrant of flavours to be having a lot of. 
For the mains, two of us got the Koobideh, two skewers of ground angus sirloin with roasted tomato, basil, mint, and tarragon, and lawash bread, and +Joslynn got the Morgh, which was the chicken breast with saffron citrus glaze version. We got everything on one huge plate. We were kind of confused at first when we all got smaller plates before the meal came out, we thought that they had other plates to place on top of ours or something. But all the kabobs came on a huge plate with naan on the side and beneath, and the sides. Our waiter told us to basically take a bit of the meat, mint, tomato, the yogurt-y sauce, and spices and wrap it in a bit of the flat bread. The combination of those flavours were actually very delicious together and every aspect played a huge part of the bite you take. The hard part though was trying to ration everything evenly for each time you took a bite. The beef was very flavourful but there was so much of it, not sure how we could possibly finish it all, we were eating the bottom bread at the end of it. I also got to try to the chicken which was surprisingly juicy. The sauces we got were also very delicious but we ran out of them, along with the tomatoes which were very well seasoned. They were a bit stingy with everything but I know that some of the spices are extremely expensive (ie. saffron). We were joking that we had no idea if we were doing this right or not and the employees here must have a blast making fun of all the newbies that try the food.
Finally, for dessert, I got the Saffron, Rose Pistachio Ice Cream which came in a bowl with one scoop. It was a nice, sweet ending to our filling meal and wasn't too sugary. It had subtle flavour with bit of pistachio in it and very light.

Overall, I think everyone should try out Banu at least once! It was a fun experience for everyone and the food was extremely satisfying. I wouldn't want to eat there everyday but the kabobs were really good. When we got in the car though, we realized the beef kabobs we took to go home smelled like farts. :/

Food: 3.5/5 - Enjoyed the main and dessert, great quality of food.
Decor: 2/5 - Minimalist, extremely chill atmosphere (almost too chill).
Service: 4/5 - Pretty good service but not surprised because its so tiny. Fair waiting times for food
Willingness to go back: 1/5 - One of those 'been there, done that' restaurants.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: http://www.banu.ca/ 

Bier Markt

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Mar 13, 2014
Company: Reunion Dins for +Stanley

As a last minute dinner plan to get together for +Stanley's visit home for his birthday weekend, he made a reservation for 6 at the Bier Markt on the Esplanade. I've always loved the Bier Markt for Friday/Saturday nights out as they have a great selection of beers and fun live entertainment to dance to. With their lunch/dinner menus however, I never really knew what to order as their selection is very limited. They don't serve your typical bar food... it has more of a German/seafood theme than anything and a bit pricier also. But despite my reluctance, it was another fun opportunity to do a blog post with my friends around giving their critiques (and not being embarrassed by me taking pics!).

We all met outside the restaurant on a warmer than usual Winter night on the lovely Esplanade. We had made a reservation for 6 but knew we were expecting 3 more later on. When we told the hostess, she said she'd see what she can do as they had many reservations that night but we were in a small secluded area in the back so it might be easier to add tables. The place was already very lively with people standing around and drinking already. The restaurant is very dim which sucked for taking pictures because I had to use the dreaded flash. 

We all ordered drinks and I decided to get one of their Beer Cocktails, the Peach Cider Bellini which had Blackthorn Cider, house-made ginger syrup, Ciroc Peach-infused vodka, fresh lime juice, and a dash of peach bitters. It was a nice mix of sweet and bitter, the ginger flavour was very prominent but didn't overpower the sweet cider. 

For my main dish, I decided to get the Merchant Burger which was the only burger on the menu for $25. It came on a large circle platter with the burger, fries, and 3 types of sauces. As +Brian pointed out, we didn't get very many fries. I could have definitely had more as they were very delicious, all soft (no crunchies!) and lightly salted. The patty of the burger was pretty big and grilled perfectly on the outside. The inside was nice and red, but not bloody. The patty tasted amazing, so juicy and tender, and still held together well. The bottom bun was drenched in oils from the meat though which made it very messy. It kind of reminded me of the Stn Burger from Richmond Station (my favourite burger of all time) with the quality of the beef, but that burger was actually drenched in sauces, not the oils like this one. 

Our waitress was very sweet and friendly, when our other friends came we were able to pull up another table to accommodate them. There was a bit of fuss as there were empty tables all around us and we need to rearrange them but in the end it worked out. It was weird being so close to where the dance floor usually is as you feel like it's already late and you're out for the night already when actually we were just grabbing dinner. Everyone else there seemed to be pre-gaming to stay the whole night. It's a pretty classy bar though that seems to cater to the yuppy crowd telling by their menu. I love their bar scene, but not so much an fan of the restaurant side.

Food: 2.5/5 - The best meal I've had from here by far, but there's nothing else on the menu I'd want to try. Overpriced and limited menu.

Decor: 3/5 - It's a pretty big and nice bar/restaurant with a vibrant atmosphere, good for drinking. 

Service: 2.5/5 - Nice waitress, but she definitely took my drink before I was finished with it!

Willingness to go back: 1/5 - I wouldn't go back there for dinner, but it's nice for summer patio drinking/casual lunch with their huge beer selection. (That doesn't include going back for a Fri/Sat night out because you'll see me there for sure!)

Overall: 2/5

Website: http://www.thebiermarkt.com/