The Bent Elbow

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday Feb 7, 2015
Company: Kitchener reunion with +Krystal

During a trip down to Kitchener for a birthday party, +Will and I met up with +Krystal prior to the festivities for a catch-up dinner. We were staying at a hotel in the city so after looking up some places nearby for food, we came up with the Bent Elbow. Luckily, Krystal had been there before and said the place was awesome! We walked down the street from our hotel and got a table for 4 to wait for Krystal's arrival. The place was a good size with a comfortable number of tables, most of which were already full. Our waitress introduced us to their beer bible which listed their draught and bottle selection, one on each page. When Krystal arrived, we all ordered a beer to start... it took a while to look since there was quite the selection. And because their taps are always rotating, the first one I picked was already out. I ended up getting the Wellington Chocolate Stout recommended to me by the waitress and I enjoyed it a lot.

For the menu, they have different specials everyday and everything is made in-house according to the waitress. We decided to all share a Chili Poutine to start (one of their specials) and we were told we made a good decision. The portion was hefty when we saw it and just looked incredible in general. The chili was deliciously meaty and a great pairing for the thick cut fries. There was also cheese in between the fries and layer of chili which melted nicely with the heat. It was a good size to share but got us a bit too full prior to our main meals arriving.

For my main, I got the Grilled Cheese of the Day, Brie, Apple and Ham (? from what I remember) with a Mediterranean Salad. The flavour of the grilled cheese was great, loved the sweetness from the apple. My only complaint was that the bread was a bit hard, near the end I was just tired of chewing. The salad was also great, lots of colourful ingredients in there that were fresh and not too much dressing. It would have been a better meal if I hadn't stuffed myself from the poutine and beer!

Our waitress was also the sweetest... very helpful and knew how to make conversation rather than making it awkward. It almost had a small town feeling from how friendly she was. I'm impressed that this place has only been around for like 2 years, great low key spot to enjoy some good beer and food with friends!

Food: 4/5 - Extremely fresh, creative rotating menu, and reasonable prices.
Decor: 3/5 - Liked the layout, nothing stood out too much, standard looking bar.
Service: 5/5 - Best service I've gotten.
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - I would definitely try to make a trip back if I was in the area!
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.thebentelbow.ca/

The Fifth Pubhouse

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday Jan 24, 2015
Company: Walk-in for 6

The boys were in downtown Toronto for a suit-fitting all day on Saturday so I met up with them for dinner before seeing American Sniper. We were going to the Scotiabank Theatre in the entertainment district and just down the street was the Fifth Gastropub. I had no idea this was the same location where Easy on the Fifth was in the upstairs. The guys arrived around 5:30PM and got a table for 6, it was very empty when I arrived shortly after. The restaurant looked very cozy with wooden furniture and warm lighting.

Their menu offers an interesting and wide selection of dishes to choose from. I opted for the 5th Burger because I didn't think I could go wrong with it. It took a reasonable amount of time for our dishes to arrive, +Stanley ordered the Duck Confit so they warned us it would take a bit longer. The Burger didn't look like it had very much sauce or toppings on it. From the first bite, I could tell it was very lean and wasn't juicy at all. It tasted fine but it was very plain and needed some flavour. I wasn't a fan of the fries either, they were way too hard and overcooked.

Our waitress was fine except that when she asked if we wanted anything else, but she was distracted talking to +Alex and ended up just bringing us our bills even though some of us were craving some dessert. It was a little awkward to bring it up then so we just let it go...

Food: 1.5/5 - The burger was nothing special, very disappointing for a gastopub.
Decor: 2.5/5 - Good atmosphere and ambiance but we were seated at stools with no backs when the restaurant was empty??
Service: 2.5/5 - It was OK but considering the place was empty, nothing outstanding.
Willingness to go back: 2/5 - Wouldn't go out of my way but it does have a nice selection of beer if you're in the area.
Overall: 2/5

Website: http://thefifthpubhouseandcafe.com/

Beerbistro

Date Visited: Dinner on Tuesday Dec 30, 2014

Company: Reservation for 4 turned into a party for 2.

Amidst the holiday buzz, +Stanley tried to plan a get-together dinner, but after a few last-minute cancellations, I was the only one who was able to make it. Either way, we met up at Beerbistro downtown Toronto to grab a nice dinner with some drinks. Staying true to their name, Beerbistro does have a wide range of beers from various parts of the world. Many of them are limited to either bottles or draught but they have a good variety from what you would normally find. I opted for a Weihenstephan, a light and fruity German beer to start off an easy night. 

I had read on some blog that Beerbistro has one of the best 'cheap' steaks in Toronto so I had to try it since I was there. They also had a variety of mussel and pizza options that looked really good too but in the end I got a steak. +Stanley got some mussels and we ordered some fries to start (Stanley forgot I had fries with my steak already). Our waitress took a while to get to us because she wasn't sure if our 2 extra seats were going to be filled or not. After a while we just called her over to take our orders.


From what I recall, it didn't take very long for our appetizer to arrive. The Belgian Frites were described as blanched in beef and duck fat, served with house made mayo and smoked tomato ketchup. I was surprised at the portion size when it arrived, it was served in a large cone napkin with handy condiment holders on either side. The fries were amazing! They were lightly salted and were crisp on the outside but perfectly tender in the middle. The mayo and ketchup were good but hardly even needed as they tasted fine just alone, very addicting.

The New England Style Mussels had beer bacon, leeks, potatoes, smoked cheddar, parsley, shallots, la fin du monde, a touch of cream and came with sourdough bread. The bowl it came in was pretty large, we weren't sure what to expect but it was a hefty amount of food. We did notice that the mussels were pretty small but the overall flavour was good, especially with the bread to dip.

The Steak Fries was a grilled flat iron steak topped with caramelized onion jus and pommery stout aoli. We weren't even done our fries appetizer and I was getting more fries added to my plate! Even with the excess of fries, I could not stop myself from eating them. The steak was cooked a bit more well-done then I would have preferred for medium-well but there was a still a hint of pink there. The onions added some flavour to the otherwise plain steak. It was a good piece of meat but a bit tough and not much seasoning, slightly disappointed in it.

Food: 3.5/5 Could have been beer but still decent food I enjoyed.
Decor: 4/5 - Very classy and interesting layout, not too loud either.
Service: 3.5/5 - Pretty good until it took forever to get our bill.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Great spot for a fancy dinner with good ambiance.
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.beerbistro.com/ 

Hunter's Landing

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Oct 17, 2914
Company: +Will

+Will and I were heading to +Ishraque's new place for the night and decided to have dinner at a restaurant nearby. Luckily for us, Hunter's Landing is just down the street and it was a restaurant which I had either heard of before or read reviews on because the name sounded familiar. I later realized that it's the location where they have the epic Caesar, "The Cure". Unfortunately for me, they're only served during brunch on Sundays... but the rest of their food still looked good too.

We were seated at the top level of the restaurant and I noticed walking though that the place was very large with ample seating throughout. The decor was very modern and chic, catered to the yuppy downtown crowd. The menu was decently priced for a gastopub and a variety of dishes to choose from. For drinks, I wanted to try one of their Beer Cocktails and ordered the Creem of Dublin (Creemore + Guinness). It took a while to get our drinks, maybe because of our location, they were coming from downstairs? But mine was very interesting since the Guinness was clearly sitting on top so it was like drinking one then the other.

I ordered the Signature Fish Tacos with Grilled Pineapple & Jicama Slaw, Avacado, Cheddar, and Smoked Chilli Sauce. It was an appetizer so I wasn't sure how large it would be but I thought three was enough (you could add another taco for $4). Luckily, I was right as the tacos were quite large and stuffed to the max! The flavour of the slaw was very bold and perfect amount of acidity to sweetness. I actually thought the Jicama were radishes while eating them but now looking it up, they're actually Mexican radish. They were very overpowering in the overall taco and took away from the rest of the flavours, by the 3rd taco I was a bit tired of the flavour. It helped cleanse the pallet but I think they went a bit overboard with it. The texture of the fish was flaky and soft, great contrast to the crunchy slaw. I didn't have much of the chilli sauce on site because I wasn't quite sure how to add it in, but it tasted pretty good.

I also had a bite of +Will's Pulled Pork Pizza and the BBQ sauce tasted really good. Overall, the place has a great atmosphere and decent food, nice gem in the neighbourhood.

Food: 4/5 - Impressed with the food!
Decor: 4.5/5 - Loved the different levels and perfect noise level and lighting.
Service: 2/5- Service was nothing special, didn't really check on us.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Ummm I need to try The Cure!
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://hunterslanding.ca/

Mill Street's The Beer Hall

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Jul 10, 2014

Company: Girls dinner date for 5

It's not often that my girl friends from high school and I can all find time to get together but when we do, it's always an occasion. I was very excited that for Summerlicious this year they wanted to hit up Mill Street Brew Pub in the beautiful Distillery District. It was a great place to catch up over delicious food and good beer. The sun was beaming this Thursday evening which made for the perfect patio weather. We drove up from Oshawa with some time to spare walking around the area. Mill Street had quite the line entering the place but we were actually in the wrong one when we told them about our reservation. They had another entrance for the 'Beer Hall' around the corner which had no line, but it was very confusing as they led us to our table which was visible from the original line-up outside where we were. The place is huge to be fair, but we had a nice table in between their inside and outside areas (missing the walls to separate the two). 

We took a long look at their beer menu while the waiter brought us some samples of Palomar Ale... with hints of chipotle and lime it definitely had a kick! I decided to get the flight which is an awesome way to try out a few of their beers! The service is nice here that they'll give you samples if you're not sure of what you want to order. Our waiter was extremely helpful but it really took him a while once we did order something from him to get back to us. We were waiting forever for him to get back to us to take our food orders and I accidentally asked him what the Soup of the Day was and he had to leave again and go ask! Eventually we all had our orders in and we can just relax and wait for the food.

For my appetizer, I ordered the Heirloom Tomato Salad with local organic heirloom tomatoes, pecorino fresco, torn basil leaves, olive oil, and beer reduction. Everyone else had gotten the Pretzels and Fondue so I wanted to try something different. My tomatoes arrived and my plate was so bright and colourful looking, it was a beautiful mess. The dressing was sweet but not too overpowering of the flavours of the ingredients. The basil really stood out in flavour but they were so fresh it's hard to complain. The tomatoes and pecorino combination was amazing also, I never had pecorino before so I was pleasantly surprised how light it is after finding out its made from ewe's milk. I was very glad I got this appetizer as the fondue was very heavy and the cheese was a bit crumbly.

For the main, I got the Beer n' Beer Kabob while everyone else got the Chicken Schnitzel... I wasn't sure if I liked Schnitzel but I'll have to try it one of these days... The contents of my plate seemed less compared to the chicken because the schnitzel was huge! My plate had two kabobs of braised beef, cherry tomatoes, pearl onions, and peppers with fennel apple slaw and roasted mini red potatoes on the side. The plate didn't look very full with the 3 portions all separated and all over the place. The kabob was nicely grilled and the beef was a bit tough but had a very nice flavour. The small onions and tomatoes paired well with the beef and everything was cooked consistently through. I couldn't really taste the apple in the slaw at all but it was a refreshing flavour.  The potatoes were also nicely cooked with a soft centre and light seasoning. 

And finally for dessert, they didn't have the Frambrozen Apple tart that I wanted but only the Homemade Butter Tart left. According to the server though it was still very delicious. It was a very cute mini butter tart (not sure why we were given spoons) that you could eat in two bites. Our server was right as it was still very delicious but not enough! There also could have been more filling in proportion to the tart. It was a nice sweet taste to end your meal but definitely left you wanting more!

Also note that the sun was coming down during the meal which was really annoying as it was right in our faces and we just had to wear sunglasses just to look at each other :(.

Food: 4/5 - Great meal! Left you decently full (we still got Gelato after but... you know) and I love the flavours they have in their dishes here.
Decor: 3/5 - Kind of a weird layout into their patio but I love the inside, great for large groups.
Service: 2.5/5 - Really took a while for our waiter to get us settled in, but once our orders were put in, they were pretty quick with the food.
Willingness to go back: 5/5 - Love Mill Street, would definitely go back, especially for Summerlicious.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://beerhall.millstreetbrewpub.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/

Vagabondo

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Feb 14, 2014
Company: Valentine's Day Dinner with +Will

Last year, I was looking for restaurants to go to for Valentine's Day and Vagabondo's $55, 4-course, fixed-price dinner really caught my eye. This year, I linked +Will two different restaurants' menus to choose from and he picked Vagabondo's, forgetting that we went there last year. I was happy to go again though because I had a great experience the first time around and now, I had an opportunity to blog about it! I made a reservation on OpenTable, a great site to make reservations and earn points for dining for many restaurants in Toronto and other cities!

Vagabondo is in a bit of a odd location, not really on the street but in a square. It's pretty noticeable though if you know where you're going as there's a large sign outside. The interior was decorated well for the occasion with tons of red and white balloons. We were immediately greeted and taken to our table. The restaurant is large with many different rooms, and we were placed in a small one with about 5 other tables. The placements of these tables were pretty close to each other so I felt a bit squished especially because we were also right against the wall. A waitress gave me a balloon upon entering and I tied it on my chair but I was worried it would keep hitting the guy behind me (that's how close we were to each other) so I stuffed it under the table instead. Anyways, we ordered Spearheads to drink which is one of their beers offered on tap which was described to us as a Toronto local brown ale. 

Once we placed our food orders, we were immediately brought some warm bread with olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, and butter to start. I loved that they gave the oil and vinaigrette in their bottles (which fit perfectly together, so cute) for us to pour on our plates ourselves for dipping. The bread was great, so soft on the inside, it felt like it was just baked. Shortly after, our first course arrived, the Bruschetta Feta! I remembered when I had this last year, that it was literally the best Bruschetta I'd ever had before. I'm happy to say that it still is. The perfectly toasted baguette was loaded with tomatoes and feta. They were very generous with the toppings and literally pack it on! The tomatoes are so flavourful and lightly brushed with olive oil. The bread doesn't crumble and the toppings don't fall everywhere when you bite into it which is a nice change from previous bruschetta experiences I've had.

For my second course, I choose the Gamberi Coco, tiger shrimp dipped in coconut batter served with honey garlic sauce. The plate came with two large deep fried tiger shrimp on a bed of arugula and the sauce on the side. The shrimp was very hot and pretty large. I loved the coconut flavour with this dish, not something I've had before. The honey garlic sauce was also delicious, an interesting but tasty combination! I would never think to pair those together but it made for a nice appetizer.

There were many good choices for the main dish but I had to go with the Fettuccine Pescatore, pasta with fresh mussels, clams, king crab, tiger shrimp, jumbo scallops and calamari cooked in a tomato basil sauce. The dish was huge when I saw it with large clams topping it off and an empty accompanying bowl for the shells. The pasta was excellent, it was hand-made and the texture was a bit on the hard side which I enjoyed. There were so many mussels, calamari, shrimp, and clams in the pasta, the thick tomato sauce was complemented well with the seafood. There was only one jumbo scallop in my dish and it was awful, it was so hard I couldn't even eat it after one bite. The king crab was also disappointing since there were only about 3 small sections cut of it, so very little meat. No complaints about the rest of the seafood though, they were great. I left just under half of it to take home because there was no way I could finish it and still have room for dessert. I also had a bite of Will's medium-rare filet and it was very tender, I enjoyed it a lot.

Finally, our meal was finally ending with the Chocolate Lava Cake. It was a cute sized little cake packed with chocolatey goodness. There was the sauce coming out from the top and nothing really came out when you broke into it. Will said that you really had to get to the middle for it to come out. It was great though, the perfect end to the meal. I only had less than a quarter of it and asked for it to be packed up but unfortunately the waitress had dropped my lava cake! She was very sweet and said they can make another one but I really didn't need to take it home so I said no. 

Overall, I had a wonderful romantic meal at Vagabondo. I must say that the waitress was extremely attentive the whole night and always made sure we had enough water and asked us how we were doing. It was a bit much at times but definitely no complaints about service or wait times for food. The $55 fixed price dinner was definitely worth it, great value for delicious food as I know their menu is normally quite pricey.


Food: 4/5 - Overall great food here, they know how to do the simple things right!
Decor: 3/5 - Nice place but a little too packed, expected for Valentine's day though.
Service: 4/5 - Would be perfect service, minus the dropping of cake and asked us how we were a bit excessively.
Willingness to go back: 3/5 - Love their Valentine's menu options, wouldn't say no to coming again but wouldn't initiate it either.
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://www.vagabondo.ca/

Mercatto

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Dec 20, 2014
Company: Annual SJ Secret Santa gift exchange with 11 participants

This year, I was put in charge of organizing the annual Secret Santa with university friends, handed down from +Stanley who's off in NYC doing bigger and better things. I started planning early because I knew it would be difficult to find a reservation for a large group during that time of year near the Financial District downtown Toronto. I looked up a few places and decided on Mercatto, a restaurant where I could blog about the food and my non-foodies friends could still get familiar dishes without spending too much. They have a few locations in the downtown area, all situated fairly close to each other. Anyhow, I emailed them and they were very accommodating of our reservation for 14 and even warned us of the 18% gratuity fee added to large parties.

Our reservation was at 6PM and people slowly started to trickle in while others we knew would be arriving late. About 3 people went to the Eaton Centre location because of a bug on Facebook phone app leading them to the wrong address (not my fault, worked fine on a browser!). We got a long table in the back near the kitchen, but the restaurant isn't very big anyway so you could still see the front entrance from where we were. The staff was helpful and gave us an extra table to put all our presents on so they didn't have to be on the floor. I especially enjoyed the lighting of the place, it was warm with lots of candles but still bright enough to see each other. It was also very warm in temperature which made it extra cozy.

For drinks, they have a huge selection of wine and about 3 choices for draught beer each at $7 so I ordered a Moretti from Italy. We decided to put in our orders around 7PM as it was uncertain when the others were going to make it. My friends had a bit of trouble figuring out the menu which consisted of many Italian words which I think may have been a bit imitating. After questioning the waitress, we all ended up getting pizza anyways. I ordered the Speck e Spinaci with was topped with smoked ham, spinach, padano cheese, and besciamella sauce. We also requested the complementary bread as their menu noted that we had to ask for it.

Our free bread came and it was joyous because we were starving. The bread was soft and the olive oil given was surprisingly flavourful. Funny story, one friend of mine (who I"ll keep nameless) tried to spread the oil across the bread with his knife and it got everywhere! It was hilarious as having gone to university together, we're used to going to McDonald's and low-budget bars together and not classy adult restaurants, so it was a fun(ny) experience!

Our pizza came and as I was taking pictures of mine, +Alex had rolled his up to a tortilla and finished his first slice already! The pizza looked big on the plate but it was extremely thin, possibly the thinnest pizza I've had. I found the dough a bit floury especially on the crust. I was also not used not having a tomato based sauce so it was an interesting eating experience for me as well. The ham was delicious, crispy like bacon and the spinach was mushy (in a good way!) and added subtle flavour. There was something I didn't quite enjoy fully about the pizza and I'm not sure if it was the sauce or cheese. I was also very envious of the Pepperoni Pizza because that looked amazing and I almost got that instead.

After everyone had arrived and ordered, we got to exchange presents and pass around chocolates that people had received for dessert. We had settled the bills and still stayed for a quite a while after that. I think the restaurant wasn't too impressed but they didn't say anything to us. They didn't need the table or anything but I think we stayed about 4 hours there. I want to think that everyone had a fun and good dining experience here, for me it was a great night and Mercatto was very accommodating.

Food: 2.5/5 - My pizza wasn't the greatest, thought it was over-priced. I can appreciate the authenticity but I've had better. 

Decor: 4.5/5 - Great ambiance and atmosphere, many large groups that night similar to us.

Service: 3/5 - Very helpful and I don't think we were the easiest party to service but they were nice and friendly. Waitress wasn't impressed that I didn't tell her separate bills in the beginning though.

Willingness to go back: 2/5 - Good for parties like this but probably wouldn't go here specifically on a date night or anything, could think of better places.

Overall: 3/5

Website: http://www.mercatto.ca/

Ein-stein Cafe & Pub

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday Oct 5, 2013
Company: Group of 9 getting drinks and food before a night out.

When I saw that Ein-steins was in the area that I was looking for a restaurant for a get-together with friends, I instantly chose it this shady, but popular student bar. I prefer dives over classy restaurants and Ein-steins definitely has a reputation for a lack of cleanliness and extremely cheap prices for good food and drinks. I had walked by before while in the U of T area and my friend had recommended it to me if I was around again as it's a classic student hangout. Thus, when I had a chance to experience some nostalgia for my student days at Waterloo, I couldn't say no. 

+Will and I were the first ones there, so we entered the basement restaurant to find a table for all of us. Walking around the place, they had many large tables for groups, couches for lounging and pool tables at the back. It's not very large but we found a few empty tables as it was 6PM on a Saturday night. 'Dingy' is the perfect word to describe this place, the tables were sticky, students who probably spend the whole day studying and hadn't showered in days populated the area, and very low-lighting all around. 

When the whole group arrived, we all ordered food and drinks. We couldn't resist the $10 Einstein pitchers, where else could you get a deal like that? I also got a single order (10 pcs) of Hot & Honey Garlic Wings with Fries. Ein-steins is infamous for their wings, rated one of the top in Toronto, so I had to see what the hype was about. The service was really lacking the whole time we were there, we had to ask the bar for menus and always had to wave our waitress down to take orders for food and drinks. The hockey game was on a small screen near us so we entertained ourselves by taking bets with each other, for and against the Leafs. 

Just being in the environment, I couldn't blame anyone for being sketched out with having their food by judging the surroundings. There was a bit of nervousness on my part to see how the food would be. When our orders started coming not too shortly after, everything looked extremely delicious and appetizing. I also got an extra basket of fries because I didn't get very many on my plate. The wings were very savoury and delicious. They were a hefty size and drenched in sauce. The Honey Garlic was my favourite of the two. The Hot was very saucy as well (which is a little weird) and not as spicy as I thought. They didn't have Medium for some reason which is my preferred spice level. I also tried +Brian's Cajun wings and they were uniquely spiced, I really enjoyed the flavour. The veggies came with blue cheese dip which I usually hate but I actually enjoyed it this time, as it wasn't too pungent. The fries were so addicting, I could not stop eating them. 

Overall, this is a great place if you don't have any expectations for the night except getting good food and cheap drinks. It probably wasn't the best place for a large group of friends as some people aren't comfortable with sketchy bars. It was definitely more dirty than I had expected but the substances made up for the appeal.

Food: 4/5 - Yummy cheap eats, wings were great but not the best I've had.
Service: .5/5 - Horrific, I'm surprised they even acknowledged us when we called them.
Decor: 1/5 - DINGY & student loungey.
Willingness to come back: 3.5/5 - Like I said, I love dives. So if I'm in the area, I'll definitely be back... as long as I'm with the right people.
Overall: 2.5/5
Website: http://www.ein-stein.ca/

Toronto Poutine Fest

Event: Toronto Poutine Fest 2013 presented by Joylister 
Location: Beer Academy 

Time & Date: 5PM-10PM on Thursday Aug 22, 2013 
Price: $35 for all-you-can-eat poutine and three craft beer samples.

I happened to be one of the lucky ones to get tickets for Poutine Fest TO. Tickets sold out in two minutes but fortunately I got mine exactly when they went on sale at 11AM, two weeks prior to the event. It was the first Poutine Festival in Toronto, so it received a lot of media coverage even though it was run by a small start-up company named Joylister. There was a bit of negative press also due to the fact that tickets were oversold and some had to be refunded, but mostly because it sold out so fast/site crashing. +Will and I were the only ones out of our friends who were able to get tickets and I was even skeptical about going at first until I heard others were interested. Tons of foodies packed in the Beer Academy waiting in line all night to get poutine didn't sound that appealing to me, but to my great fortune, the event ran flawlessly.

I got off work at 5PM in Scarborough and had estimated arriving downtown at 6:30PM. Right when I was leaving work, I checked Twitter and Instagram to see what was going on in the Beer Academy and it seemed like there was a hold-up of poutine being served and a huge line to get in, just great. Will's lucky enough to live right beside the venue, one where we pass by on a daily basis but have never gone in. According to Will, it had gone though renovations recently and he wasn't sure if it was opened again. Once I arrived, we walked down the street and luckily, there was no one in line! We gave the door people our tickets, got our IDs checked, received wristbands, drink tickets, and a voting card, and off we went. There was a map of the everything on the back voting card which included both a bottom and main level, the place was unexpectedly massive. So with our empty stomachs and hungry eyes, we went to try all the poutines! Here's my ranking of the five that were offered:

1. Pulled Pork Poutine from Lou Dawg's http://www.loudawgs.com

I'm not sure if I was just starving when I got there and this was the first poutine we had, but this was my favourite of the night. The pulled pork was tender, sweet, and delicious. The cheese curds were perfectly melted between the gravy and the pulled pork they loaded on. The chicken gravy was a nice light complement to it as it didn't weigh you down after eating it and keeps the focus on the meat. The fries were also deliciously crisp with nice flavour from the peel.

2. The Works Poutine from Poutini's House of Poutine http://www.poutini.com

I was surprised myself how much I enjoyed this simply made poutine topped with sour cream, bacon, and chives. It was like a baked potato poutine basically. The bacon was nice and crispy and the sour cream was chilled and didn't melt with everything else. I think it was the gravy that did it for me on this one, it was the best flavour of them all. The cheese curds were also huge as seen in the picture. After the top layer though, I didn't bother with the rest of the fries as it was very heavy.

3. Duck Confit Poutine by Coquine http://coquinerestaurant.com

So this was the overall winner of the night voted by all the attendees! It was no question, the most 'foodie' and somewhat pretentious of all the poutines, with duck confit, smoked provolone, and brie topping the fries. I will admit that it was a complicated and well-thought out dish. The brie melted smoothly into the fries while the provolone had larger cubes. I would have liked a stronger taste of the duck, although the gravy thoroughly ran to your fries at the bottom of the cup. The fries were the thinnest of all of the poutines and there were pockets of saltiness from some of them. It stood out from the other poutines and the cheese was fabulous, so I can see why it won.

4. Butter Chicken Poutine from Great Burger Kitchen http://greatburger.ca

I was very excited for this poutine as I love anything Indian infused with other foods but was let down by GBK on this one. I've actually had poutines at GBK before and they were absolutely delicious. This on the other hand, was a miss on a great idea. The sauce was extremely creamy but had little flavour overall. I couldn't even tell it was butter chicken while eating it. The cheese also had little flavour and seemed like random pieces just there that didn't quite fit.

5. Shepherd's Pie Poutine by Feisty Jack Mobile Food http://www.thefeistyjack.com

Fiesty Jack is a food truck that was located outside the venue and served from there. This was the last one we tried and were totally full at the this point. I'm not completely sure if that had anything to do with it, but we could only have about two bites of this poutine. The top was totally covered in meat that created a layer of grease before even getting to the fries. It looked very unappetizing but I didn't enjoy the flavour of the meat of it either. Wasn't for me even though I love shepherd's pie, it didn't taste like that at all to me.





I was totally impressed by Joylister from this event of over 400 participants. They had tons of volunteers keeping the event in line and ensuring everyone's happiness. I anticipated a lot of waiting around and not getting enough food or drinks, but it was completely the opposite. There was plenty of food to go around (they even had people coming around with trays of poutines), although some places ran out around 9PM. They crowded the Poutine King around 8:30PM which was earlier than I had thought but the venue was dying down at this point. They provided the restaurants with excellent exposure and the chefs were extremely friendly when they served you. Arriving an hour or two before the event start probably helped with less wait after the rush. The Beer Academy was extremely spacious and provided many areas for sitting and standing. The line for drinks was large at first, but died down quickly. They had plenty of craft beer options and provided pairings for each dish. It was totally worth the $35 for this amazing event, I'll be back next year for sure (if I get tickets)! They're also putting on other events coming up which I'd consider attending as well.