Mambo Lounge

Date Visited: Summerlicious Dinner on Monday Jul 16, 2013

Company: Reservation for 4 ladies to enjoy some Cuban food on a hot day

Currently, this is my last planned Summerlicious meal of 2013 and this season has been the most meals I've had in one round! I've had such a great experience trying new restaurants in unfamiliar parts of town, I'm really glad that Toronto has something like this twice a year :)

Anyways, the girls and I made a reservation at Mambo Lounge in the Danforth for our second Summerlicious meal together. Mambo Lounge is an authentic Cuban tapas restaurant that has live music on the weekends. We were excited for something different and hoped we'd get a flavour of Cuban culture as well. 

It was a sweltering day in Toronto and I was a bit nervous when +Clare told me we got a table on the patio. As +Stephanie and I left Broadview subway station, Mambo Lounge was only a few steps away on Danforth. There was no patio in the front, but an open wall with tables lined-up leading to the bar, and then the patio was at the very back. The patio has a backyard feeling, as you see neighbours of the old 3-storey houses BBQ-ing on their balconies. It was very spacious and shaded, with little decorations all around.

We started off with drinks and I ordered a Pina Colada. Every drink on the menu was at least $9 which was quite steep in our opinion, especially for 1-2oz of alcohol. Apparently they have authentic Mojitos here but I tried it and thought it had too much mint. I'm not a mojito fan anyway, but +Clare said she's had better and that it needed more sugar. +Stephanie ordered the Mambo Cocktail which was a crazy concoction of every type of liquor with some grenadine and lime... she didn't enjoy it. The Pina Colada though was very tasty and flavourful with a fresh piece of pineapple on the side. There was quite a bit of foam at the top unfortunately which didn't exactly make it worth $9.

To start, I ordered the Tropical Salad that consisted of mixed greens, tomatoes, avocados, and mango topping with a mango balsamic dressing. I found that some of the mixed greens were a bit wilted but the other toppings were very fresh and ripe. The mango balsamic added a kick of flavour to a somewhat simple salad.

For my main dish, I ordered the Bistec con Yuca, medium-well. I was pleasantly surprised when the steak arrived, the yuca fries formed a little hut that the steak was placed on which made the dish very appealing. We all noted how large our portions were, especially compared to some other Summerlicious restaurants we had visited. Everyone wanted to try my yuca fries, they smelt so delicious! They were seasoned with spices and very tasty, thick like taro but more stringy. There was a 'jus' at the bottom for the steak with what seemed like mushroom and onions sautéed, but it was hard to tell. The sauce was very mild, I was expecting a lot of 'Cuban' flavour and spices but it didn't live up to my expectations. The steak was also quite tough, it was more well-done than medium. But overall, it was a splendid dish as the fries and steak with jus went perfect together. This dish is usually $25 alone, so I definitely got my money's worth on it.

As for my dessert, I had to order the Torta la Chocolate (I can never say no to chocolate mousse). It was such a gorgeous plate when it arrive, with the Piroline on top and accented with whipped cream and strawberry with caramel. It was very rich and creamy, I loved every bite. Apparently Costco sells this cake, as +Stephanie has seen it before. It's a bit disappointing knowing that they don't make their own but I'm a bit happy knowing where I can get this now :)

Food: 3/5 - Great portions but average food.
Service: 2.5/5 - Very friendly, but had to ask a few times for water.
Decor: 2/5 - A bit tight on space in the main area, but patio was nice. Kind of tacky.
Willingness to come back: 4.5/5 - I would definitely come here for a tapas meal or Licious again! Not for drinks though.
Overall: 3/5

Website: http://mambocubano.ca

Wine Bar

Date Visited: Summerlicious Lunch on Saturday Jul 13, 2013

Company: Catch-up session with +Will

For a last minute lunch date, I booked +Will and I a reservation at Wine Bar the morning of. The location was close to where we were and it had an entree that I knew that Will would enjoy (pulled pork sliders). I had passed it a few times before, walking on Church down to the Esplanade, but it never really stuck out to me to give it a try. Upon further research, I discovered that it's a tapas style restaurant that uses local and natural ingredients in their dishes. 

We arrived at noon on the Saturday and were one of the first diners there. We were seated in a small dining area near the main window to the right of the door where there were about 6 tables. There was a long bar leading to the kitchen in the main area but I didn't get to walk around to see what the rest of the restaurant looked like. It was quite fancy and authentic though, with a wide assortment of wines at the bar.

They had a pretty cork material menu customized for Summerlicious to match their main menu and every dish had a wine pairing. Upon ordering our meals, we received our appetizers almost immediately. I had ordered the Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Dip. The presentation of the dip was very lovely and they also provided a fancy butter knife to scoop the dip. The flavour was subtle and not as heavy as I had expected. I also thought it would be thicker but it was more runny which made the knife helpful. The crostini's were rather crispy, but it complemented the dip nicely. The pickled roasted red peppers and red onions were delicious too on the side. It was a excellent light start to the meal.

For my main, I ordered the Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich. I'm not sure why there's 'Almond' in the title because I didn't taste anything almond related in the sandwich. The chicken salad was quite refreshing and had a nice combination of vegetables mixed in. The foccacia wasn't as heavy as it's usually made and toasted to a crispy, but not too hard texture. The shoestring fries with the spicy mayo dip was also fun to eat.

To end, I decided to have Creme Brûlée for the first time. I'm not sure why I never had an interest in it before because I do love custard. Maybe because I'm not a fan of the hard syrup texture of the top layer because it gets stuck in your teeth. Despite this, the brûlée was very tasty with strong egg flavour, and the strawberry was a nice complement.  

Overall, this was a very light and somewhat healthier Summerlicious meal that may be good for first-timers to try to introduce you into the fine-dining experience.  I was very content after the meal and felt just a bit better about myself knowing I supported the community :)

Food: 4/5 - Fresh ingredients and well-planned dishes.
Service: 5/5 - The waiter was so attentive and eager, too bad we didn't need much service.
Decor: 3/5 - Nice ambiance and well established.
Willingness to come back: 2/5 - I'd be a little lost ordering if they didn't have the fixe price menu.
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://www.9church.com/ 

Toni Bulloni

Date Visited: Summerlicious Dinner on Monday Jul 8, 2013
Company: Get together of 5 girlfriends from highschool

On the treacherous evening of the Toronto flood, my friends and I happened to organize a Summerlicious dinner in Yorkville. We unsuspectingly ventured to the downtown area from the east end, very unaware of the chaos happening in certain areas of Toronto. Half of the group was stuck coming from Union Station and had to walk half-way up to Bloor Street. Fortunately, the rest of us took the unharmed Bloor subway line from Kennedy to Bay station where Toni Bulloni's was located. We arrived first at the restaurant and were able to settle in for quite a while, waiting for the rest of the group.

While walking from Bay station to Toni's I was able to check out the ritzy area of Yorkville, in which I've never visited before. It was seemingly nice, even in the pouring rain. The shops on Cumberland are all very narrow and close to each other. I was not expecting Toni's to look how it did on the outside as it had very unique and bold signage. Upon entering, the bar area in the front was very tight but the restaurant went back quite far. There were surprisingly only about 8-10 tables in the dining area. They knew us by reservation so we were seated immediately.

As we waited for the rest of the party, we ordered a bottle of the Summerlicous House White, the G.Maruis Chardonnay from Niagara. None of us are really wine connoisseurs so we didn't have much input into this decision. But the choice was actually very nice and light with a sweetness too (that's the extent to how I'm able to describe wine), we didn't want anything too strong. 
After some more waiting, we spoke to the server about ordering and he suggested that we start with the complementary Bruschetta instead. We seemingly obliged and the waiter brought us 3 pieces. The bruschetta was a flat bread topped with tomatoes, herbs and oil. It was a nice fresh, light start to our meals. I really enjoyed the flat bread as it had a nice crispiness and was easy to eat.

Finally, the rest of our party had arrived just as we were finishing our bruschetta. They were soaked, but we were all there and could start ordering our meals :) For my appetizer, I got the Mixto Platter with prosciutto, artichoke, olives, tomatoes and bocconcini. It was a very beautiful combination of Italian delights. There was a decent amount of prosciutto that was delicious. The tomatoes and bocconcini was done in a Caprese way which I hadn't had before. It was quite light with subtle hints of flavour. This plate was a great appetizer especially if you wanted to share and try different things.

For my entree, I ordered the Scallopine de Pollo. There were many options so it was really hard to decide. We were told that some dishes had even run out. When it had arrived, it was done differently then I had expected. I thought it would be more of a grilled chicken rather than baked in a sauce. They had literally just finished cooking it before they brought it out because the chicken was still hot with every bite. The chicken extremely tender and though it was delicious, I found it rather simple. There was a nice mix of grilled vegetables on the side, with one of each kind. I found there was a lot of flavour on the plate, it was heavily seasoned but not overdone.

To end, I ordered the Tiramisu, which is something I usually don't order but none of the other desserts enticed me. When we got our cakes, I couldn't believe they were such tiny pieces. I was rather disappointed because it was probably the best Tiramisu I've ever had. The lady fingers were soaked with flavour and there was just the perfect ratio of it to cream. If all Tiramisu tasted like this, I'd have it all the time.

Food: 3/5 - Some ups, some downs, but a decent Summerlicious meal.
Service: 4.5/5 - Spectacular staff, except the one who couldn't speak English wasn't very helpful.
Decor: 3/5 - Very small, quaint and rustic. Nice atmosphere for an intimate night.
Willingness to come back: 3/5 - Their regular portions are huge!
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://tonibulloni.com

Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill

Date Visited: Summerlicious Lunch on Saturday Jul 6, 2013 
Company: Party of 9, SJ reUnion

Summertime is upon us which means for me, reunions over Summerlicious meals! I checked out many of the menu options online and we had decided on Pure Spirits because I wanted to go to a seafood restaurant and they had a nice variety of dishes to satisfy the different tastes in our group. Pure Spirits is also located in the nice Toronto neighbourhood of the Distillery District which I thought would be a nice hang-out location prior or post lunch.

It was an extremely hot Saturday afternoon so we decided to sit on the patio to enjoy the beautiful weather. We had made a reservation for 12 people that apparently they could only do two tables of 6, but our group on the day of was only 9 which they were nicely able to accomodate. Their patio area was huge and I was checking out other people's foods and drinks on the walk to our table. Their drinks all were very pretty and they had a nice selection of Sangrias, Mojitos, and Virgin Cocktails all which were around $10 and $5 for the non-alcoholic drinks. I ordered a Rose Sangria that was $11 and quite pricey IMO but I usually don't order girly drinks like that so that might be their average price. It was very delicious though with pieces of green apple and lemon floating in the drink, but it wasn't as sweet as I was expecting it to be.
For the foods, I decided to go for the seafood dishes to  get the full experience of the oyster bar. Many of the other customers seemed to be having the mussels and it looked like a good portion size. After we placed our full order, we had a nice basket of rolls to enjoy. I've actually had never had Mussels Provencal before and was very excited to try them as I've only had them prepared in Chinese dishes. What I enjoyed about them after having a taste is how flavourful they were and the unique flavour they had. Who would think that the combination of white wine, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs would be so delicious? The broth was quite salty but I assume that is to get the flavour in the mussels because they were fine. The rolls were perfect for dipping the extra broth in, but I couldn't have too much of that either because of the saltiness.

For my entree, I ordered the Haddock and Chips. It was quite the toss-up between that and the Jerk Chicken Sandwich but I think either choice would have been good  because everyone seemed to be satisfied with their food well into the meal. The fish was extremely hot as it probably came straight out of the deep fryer and it didn't help with the beaming sun either which really exposed the oiliness. The haddock was very tender and just a nice looking piece of fish on the plate. The homemade tartar sauce didn't impress me much because it didn't have too much flavour, it was mostly mayo. There wasn't many fries on the plate either but it was a very filling amount overall so I'm glad they didn't try to overload you with it. The dill coleslaw was very refreshing and light, I'm usually impartial to coleslaw but this was a much needed complement to the dish.

To finish, I had the Peanut Butter and Cream Pie which was pretty unique, I've never had anything like it. The pie crust was quite sturdy and you could just eat everything inside without breaking the hard crust at all. It was topped with a rich peanut butter and a custard-like base. There was also a raspberry sauce at the bottom that gave the dessert a nice sour berry flavour. I wasn't really a fan of the peanut butter, I found it too sweet and had to have extra of the other elements to balance it out. It was a cute little dessert and concept but I wasn't the biggest fan. The custard was very good (but I love custard), but everything else was just okay. I found the combination of flavours kind of random and didn't find they went well together.

Food: 3.5/5 - Very satisfying Summerlicious meal :)
Decor: 4/5 - Large patio and cool interior.
Service: 3.5/5 - Waitress was really good to us!
Willingness to come back: 3.5/5 - If i was in the area, I'd definitely try to drop by but it is quite pricey. 
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://purespirits.ca/

Big Boy's Burgers

Date Visited: Dinner on Tuesday Jul 2, 2013

Company: Take-out for myself

Big Boy's opened in Whitby about a year ago and its kind of made an impression as it really sticks out amongst its surroundings. It's just off the highway at Thickson near the gas stations and just along the way is the Empire Theatre complex, where it would look a little more fitting, but still not really fit in. Everyone passes it to get to the highway and it looks a bit ridiculous as I'm pretty sure the owner has a hummer which is always parked right in front. At first, we thought it was just part of the decor and added effect. Eventually, I heard a lot of good things about their burgers and thought it was about time for me to try it out this lonely night I was home alone.

I arrived just at 6PM and was the first customer for the dinner rush. I ordered the Big Boy Burger (1/2 lb) Combo that includes fries and a small refillable drink and came up to $10. The owner was very friendly, and really enjoys interacting with his customers. The cooks were also very nice, he asks you what toppings you want on the burger and I had everything except for relish. They have just the standard toppings with some banana peppers. The wait wasn't very long, about 10 minutes and a few customers filled in during this time. There's a self-serve drink counter and condiments for your fries as well. It's quite spacious and bright in the restaurant, I think every table is beside a window, and it has a colourful racetrack theme. 

I headed home with my take-out and snacked on some fries on the way. You can tell that their fries are extremely fresh, they have that taste of potato skin like you get from chip trucks. When I finally got home and took some pictures of my food, I finally got to try the burger! It was a great first bite I must say, the burger was so flavourful and aromatic. I could hardly taste any condiments the whole time because the burger was so overpowering. I can see why they stick to the simple ingredients because the burger really speaks for itself. I was a bit turned off by how white the bun is and thought they could have grilled it a bit more but I couldn't taste it anyway. The fries were lightly salted but they gave me a bunch of condiments to go which was nice. I enjoyed that most of them were very thick but some were the sides which were thin and crunchy, a nice variety. It was a lot of food in the end as it was hard not to finish everything... for future reference, I would definitely go for a smaller patty.

Food: 4/5 - Great classic burger, nothing fancy.
Decor: 3/5 - Bright inside and out, really sticks out.
Service: 4/5 - Friendly & fast customer service, but I was first one there.
Willingness to come back: 4.5/5 - There's a lot on the menu I'd like to try
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://bigboysburgers.com/