HUSH Restaurant, Patio & Bar

Date Visited: Dinner on Tuesday Jan 21, 2014
Company: Reservation for 5 ladies before seeing Les Miserables

There was a group of us going to see Les Miserables at Princess of Wales Theatre on Tuesday night and I wanted to find a place to have a quick dinner beforehand. There are a ton of restaurants in the area of all different types of cuisines. HUSH was a reasonably-priced, American restaurant that I've heard of through the -licious' events that seemed like the perfect place to go for a casual dinner. 

I made a reservation for 6PM and hoped that I could make it down from Oshawa in time after work, which we did... (that's if we didn't have a few wrong turns downtown). We parked at the Princess of Wales underground parking which was across the street and a few restaurants down from HUSH. Our table was right near the window and gave us a view of the lively King Street West. The lighting was very dim but the decor was very classy and urban which livened up the place. We had two different servers oddly, which was mentioned to us by the first one. It appeared that one took care of us in the beginning and then they switched but the first one was still around in the area (maybe they share the area?). 
There were a lot good choices on the menu and it was hard to decide! Their sandwiches and burgers all seemed delicious but I decided to go for the Seafood Linguine consisting of shrimp, lobster, baby spinach, grape tomatoes, fresh herbs, sun dried tomato pesto, broccoli & roasted garlic aioli, a classic choice for me. Our orders came surprisingly fast after they were placed, great for us because our show was at 7:30PM. Everyone's food looked amazing, we all got different things and the presentation for all of them looked spectacular. The Linguine had huge pieces of shrimp and lobster sticking out and lots of veggies mixed in the sauce. The sauce was very thick, almost like chowder, but I thought the flavour was great. I really enjoyed the tomato-y addition with the pesto, definitely different from other Seafood Linguine I've had. I also tasted some other veggies in the mix, like zucchini but all of the flavours blended together nicely. The pieces of toast were awesome for dipping in the excess sauce. The pasta also was cooked perfectly. 

As we were having our meals, we noticed someone else ordering a dessert that looked like fondue. We checked the dessert menu and found out they have S'mores, to share between 2-5. We had about half an hour before our show and asked our waiter if they would take more than 15 minutes to prepare and eat and he said no (of course), so we got them! He wasn't lying because he came out right away with them! They were such a cute idea. The waiter light the burner and the flames immediately shot up a brilliant blue. We each got our own poking stick with Marshmallows, Graham crackers, Caramel sauce, and Lindt Chocolate to share. We had a lot of fun cooking/burning our marshmallows and creating S'mores. My sweet tooth had its fill for a while after that though. I wasn't impressed that they didn't fill our water once or really check on us throughout the dinner. All our waters were empty and I wanted a drink after the dessert. 

We got our bills though and I mentioned in the reservation that we needed separate bills which they accommodated and even split up the dessert evenly for us. :)

Food: 3.5/5 - Really enjoyed everything! Their dishes offer a lot of variety and creativity with quality ingredients.
Decor: 2.5/5 - Very typical King St W decor... dim and chic at night, I'd like to see it in the day and apparently there's a patio in the summer!
Service: 2/5 - Not the best service but the food came very timely.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Definitely! So many things to try there, great reasonably priced spot in the area.
Overall: 3/5
Website: http://www.hushrestaurants.ca/

The Patty Shack

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jan 27, 2014
Company: Dine in with +Will

I first noticed The Patty Shack while going to Buster Rhino's next door. I mentioned it to my sister and she said that her friends love that place and rave about their awesome burgers. I definitely wanted to try it out after I heard that. +Will and I met up there after work on Friday and since there was a Oshawa General's game downtown, parking was a bit difficult to find. I was lucky and happened to turn onto the right street but street parking was quite full otherwise. I went in and waited at an empty table for +Will to arrive. 

The place is kind of odd because there's 2 entrances, and 2 large areas for dining with about 4 tables in each section (lots of open space). One section has the area to order and you would think the whole restaurant is just that part, but there's section another connected also with more seating (and even more open space). Upon first glances, it doesn't feel very clean, lots of tables of crumbs on it and kind of dive-y with cheap table and chairs. They have a few large photos of their famous burgers, wings, and poutines around to help you with ordering.

When +Will arrived we both ordered 6oz(1/3 lb) Burgers and shared a Poutine and Drink. I was very overwhelmed the all the toppings and sauces you could dress your burger with. There were so many options, it was very tough trying to pick what you wanted without over-doing it. I had on mine: Golden Garlic BBQ sauce, sauteed mushrooms, pickles, spicy salsa, guacamole, and caramelized onions. I was so fascinated with all the new types of toppings I could get, I totally forgot to add good 'ol ketchup and mayo. I also got the Whole Wheat Bun instead of Regular. The wait wasn't too long to get our burgers, we were the only ones there at this point. I was surprised how thick the patty actually was, and it was cooked consistently all the way through and not too greasy. The bun held the burger perfectly and I'm glad I didn't pile on the toppings because it wasn't messy at all this way! It was a delicious and well-made burger that was the perfect size for me. I wasn't a big fan of the spicy salsa as it was really overpowering in flavour and also the sauteed mushrooms were cold, but that was all my doing with choosing the toppings. I love that you can get a totally different burger every time.

I also ordered a Regular Poutine but while we were waiting, we changed our minds and wanted to get Pulled Pork. Unfortunately they said that they didn't have Pulled Pork so we got the Patty Poutine which is a regular poutine but with their famous Gardillic sauce on it. It was $1 more and they didn't charge us for it. The Poutine was in a large take-out container and just bathed in gravy and sauce. The Poutine was very addicting, the Gardillic sauce added a whole new element to the flavour and didn't really taste like poutine! The fries were soft (not too crispy) but it was hard to think about the fries with all the sauce on top. The gravy also covered all of the cheese curds so they were all melted, just the way I like it. Perfect for sharing!

Food: 4.5/5 - They know what the people want and how to satisfy our cravings! :D
Decor: 1/5 - Leaves a lot to be desired.
Service: 3.5/5 - Awesome service, helpful, and didn't charge us for our poutine order change :)
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Would be my top choice for a burger in Oshawa, mostly to try the toppings.
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://thepattyshack.ca/

Craft Dog

Date visited: Dinner on Friday Jan 4, 2014

Company: Grabbed food with +Will before seeing Aladdin

+Will and I walk down Church street quite often to get meals and we happened to spot Craft Dog one time while getting lunch at another restaurant. We noted that we had to go back to try their gourmet home-made hot dogs one day. We tried to go there early on a Sunday before but unfortunately they were only opened at noon. Hot dogs are one of +Will's favourite foods so he was pretty keen on returning. We only had an hour or so prior to seeing Aladdin at Ed Mirvish Theatre on Friday night so we thought this was a great chance to finally try Craft Dog nearby for dinner.

This newly opened restaurant has very comical and eye-grabbing signage outside for anyone walking by which is how we first noticed it. Even entering the place, the decor is very bright and similar to a fast food joint. All their order options are hanging on the wall written on hot dog-shaped black boards. There's about 12 different choices in addition to a daily special. Each hot dog has different meats infused into the wiener and an arrangement of different toppings. They ranged from $7-$13 not including a drink or fries. Their 'meal' option gives $1 off the order of a drink and fries which isn't much of a deal. They also have unique, house-made pop flavours instead of the regular ones you get everywhere else and craft beer.

Checking out the menu, there actually wasn't many options I really wanted, either there was a topping I didn't like on it or I didn't want the meat it was made it. I finally decided on the Chicago Shout-Out after debating between that or the Naked Dog but there were so many toppings you could choose from for the Naked Dog, I didn't feel like deciding. The Chicago Shout-Out was made of Beef Chuck and Pork Shoulder topped with Yellowy Mustard, Sweet Pickle Relish, Raw Onion, Tomato, Pepperoncini, and Celery Salt. Will ordered the Philly Cheese Steak Dog made out of Local Beef topped with Sweet Peppers, Onions, Provolone, and House-Made White Cheddar Wiz. We also got Fries and a Drink to share. 

We sat down to wait for our order which they said they would bring over to us. Our fries came first and they said there's home-made condiments we can dress them with. We walked to the counter and indeed they had Smoked Ketchup, Curry Mayo, Petter Mayo and Homemade Mayo. My favourite was the Curry flavoured one but they were all very well made. Their fries were very delicious, lightly salted, and home-made.

So our hot dogs finally came and they looked so huge stuffed with all their toppings! The wieners fit perfectly in their buns and wasn't falling apart. The hard part about eating these were the falling toppings everywhere. The Chicago Shout-Out had a lot going on in terms of flavours, the mustard and onions were very overpowering. I did noticed that the dog was filled with lean meat and didn't taste like regular preserved hot dogs. It was fine quality. The Philly Cheese Steak Dog had a much smaller dog than the other and the didn't have very much flavour not did it taste like Philly cheese steak. There was a lot of cheese on this and I didn't really enjoy the Wiz. Both of the dogs fell short for us in terms of flavour. 

+Will is a huge hot dog fan and he was very disappointed in our meals especially for how much they costed. I appreciated the concept and what the Craft Dog is trying to do for hot dogs here but it wasn't for us. I have to mention that the guys serving us though were extremely friendly and attentive. They filled up our pop when it was done and let us try another one of their funky flavours. The Cola Root Beer and Vanilla Cola were great!

Food: 1/5 - Good quality hot dogs but nothing came together to make it a good meal.

Decor: 3/5 - Very shiny and clean, reminded me of a average fast-food sit in place.

Service: 4/5 - Awesome service, so nice and welcoming. 

Willingness to come back: 1/5 - Unlikely I'd go back, but if I did I'd definitely get a Naked Dog and dress it myself.

Overall: 2/5

Website: http://www.craftdogs.com/ 

Tangerine Asian Cuisine

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jan 3, 2014

Company: Early CNY dinner with +Stanley, +Kelvin, and company

Tangerine was recommended to me by my Tamil friend who said it was an awesome Hakka restaurant in the Whitby/Oshawa area. For those who don't know, Hakka is a style of cuisine from China that the Hakka people cook. They have traditional dishes but they're popular for their Indian style Hakka food which combines Chinese dishes with Indian spices. My dad is Hakka so I've had my share of the traditional dishes but don't get to try the Indian style ones very much unless we go to a restaurant. Some Asian friends of mine were going to be in town/convinced to come and wanted to go for some Chinese so I thought it was a great opportunity to try it. I actually don't know any good primarily Chinese restaurants near me so I really had high hopes for this place!

+Stanley and I arrived first and got a table for five. It was pretty full and we just waited a few minutes as they cleared a table for us. The restaurant is about small-medium sized with a hall upon entering that spans the length of the dining area taking you to to the waiters in the back with a small waiting area there. There weren't any Asian customers but I guess that isn't very surprising as it is in the Durham Region. As we waited, we checked out the menu and saw that a pot of Chinese Tea was $2, which usually should be free. +Stanley also wasn't impressed that they didn't have chopsticks on the table, only forks and knives but I expected that. They had a lengthy and wide-range of Asian cuisine from Thai to Indian and dishes were reasonably priced as if they would be in a typical restaurant in Scarborough/Markham.


After everyone arrived, we ordered a soup and four dishes from the waiter that took our order. He also assumed that we wanted White Rice and we weren't sure if he was going to charge us but it was actually free! We started off with a Large Seafood Hot & Sour Soup for the five of us. We served ourselves and waited a bit for the soup to cool down! I was impressed on how much seafood they actually packed in this soup. It included the regular items you would see in hot and sour soup like tofu, bamboo, and wood ear, but also had shrimp, imitation crab, scallops etc. (ie. the seafood part) It was a great addition the soup and added nicely to the flavour. The hot part was spot on but I thought it could have been a bit more sour.


To pick what dishes to order, I actually looked on Foursquare recommendations and literally everyone said to order the Mango Chicken or the Bombay Chicken (both which were also on the Chef Recommendations part of the menu). We of course, got both. The Mango Chicken ended up being my favourite dish of the night and I'm actually still craving for some now. The sauce was sweet and packed with flavour but it wasn't overbearing and thick. The chicken was crispy and the mango was ripe. I couldn't get enough of it! The Bombay Chicken was a dry dish and had a lot of spices added to the chicken. It was also tossed with some onions which were cooked perfectly. This dish had more Indian spices and flavours to it but I didn't find it spicy at all.

We also wanted to order calamari and were debating between the appetizer dish and a main, but we ended up getting the Spicy Deep Fried Calamari main dish. I found this one pretty greasy (deep fried of course) but the calamari itself wasn't bad. I found that certain pieces were saltier than others but the overall flavour with the onions, pepper, and garlic was great. 

Our last dish was a Seafood Hakka Noodle which was in a huge bowl and was the only one we were too full to finish and had to take home. The noodles were cooked nicely though and there was a nice mix of vegetables and seafood in the dish. I thought the flavour was a bit bland and probably could have done without this one.

I was very impressed with Tangerine overall, the food came timely after we ordered and being in a group, our food was pretty cheap after we split everything. It's probably the best you'll get in the Durham Region hands down. Usually you see many small, sketchy take-out Chinese restaurants but this place is actually legitimate and presentable.

Food: 4.5/5 - Delicious flavour, huge portions and reasonably priced.
Decor: 3/5 - Clean but very standard and simple.
Service: 3/5 - Nothing spectacular but servers were attentive.
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Yes, totally taking anyone who wants to go for Chinese in the area there!
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.tangerineasiancuisine.com/ 

Pho Viet Nam 999

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Dec 26, 2013
Company: +Lilian




+Lilian and I decided to check out Pho Viet Nam 999 on Boxing Day when our parents were going out for dinner with their friends. We had noticed it opened a while back and wanted to check it out, but never got around to actually going there.  When we pulled in the parking lot, we could see that it was pretty busy and parking was scarce. They share part of the lot with the popular Red Lobster next door so that may have been why there were so many cars. We were told to seat ourselves upon entering and there were a few open tables around but it was surprisingly full for the spacious restaurant.

Checking out the menu, +Lilian and I both felt nostalgic toward our University pho restaurants we'd regular back then as the set-up was identical to them. We were served tea and wrote down our orders on the paper on the table for the waitress to take. To start, we got the classic Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls. I read some reviews in the meanwhile and many complained about the service received here. I was surprised because our food came very timely and the place was busy too. Just after eating half of our Spring Rolls, our Pho came right away. Their Shrimp Spring Rolls also included shredded pork which wasn't something I saw regularly. I think the most important aspect of this simple dish is having fresh ingredients which they did. They were stingy on the shrimp though, only two in 1 roll (maybe because of the pork) and the rice paper didn't fully wrap the ends. The sauce was also a bit bland, needed to be more sweeter as I felt like I had to put a lot of it on.

For the pho, I ordered my go-to Rare Beef & Beef Balls Noodle Soup in medium. The portion size was good and there was a perfect amount of beef. The bean sprouts, mint, and lime was very fresh and I was happy they just had all the classic staples of a Vietnamese restaurant like hoisin and Siracha sauce. I found the broth a bit oily, especially just looking at it. The lime gave the broth a very strong sour flavour rather than a subtle one which I am used to. The beef was very tender and the balls had excellent flavour. Other than that there's no real criticisms, it was very authentic pho and even run by a family. We went up to the cash after having some more tea to pay and we were on our way! Most people will point out that it is pricier than what you would find in the Toronto area but I'm super excited to have a place like this so close to me. I left with the perfect amount of fullness in my belly. Brings back a lot of memories!

Food: 3.5/5 - Not the best Vietnamese food I've had but still good nonetheless

Decor: 3/5 - So classic, large open space, lots of tables, minimal random decorations.

Service: 3/5 - Quick, to the point with no small talk, just the way it should be. Decent waiting time.

Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - For sure would go back when I'm craving pho.

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: none