Johnny's Eatery

Date Visited: Brunch on Sunday Apr 5, 2015
Company: +Will

On Easter Sunday, Will stayed over the night before and we planned to have breakfast in the morning before he left back to Toronto. I heard about Johnny's from a co-worker who told me it's a very popular breakfast spot in Oshawa with 2 locations. We called ahead just to make sure it was open and they were! We drove down to their newer King St. location which is in a large plaza. The place was pretty large with lots of seating and sections. The crowd was a bit older but there were also lots of families with large groups. We were seated immediately (I think by Johnny?) in a room beside a large TV playing sports. 


We took a glance at the menu and we decided to share a sweet and a savoury dish. +Will ordered the Waffles with Fruit and I got the Reuben Sandwich with Fries. Our waitress wasn't the nicest or fastest but she did her job. I noticed there was a very friendly atmosphere in the air, everyone seemed to know everyone and the workers too. My sandwich came out extremely fast! Will still had to wait a bit for his, which was just coming out of the iron. 

The sandwich looked really good, it had lots of layers of corned beef with some sauerkraut on the top. There was some plain mustard on the side for dipping. My only complaint would be that the bread was extremely buttery and not fun to hold. Maybe if they toasted it a bit more then it wouldn't have been as wet? The fries were plain but crisp and almost perfect looking with a golden colour. This is usually not something I'd order normally but wanted to switch it up and I'm glad I did, very reasonably priced also!

Will wanted the waffles and we also asked for it to be topped with some fruit and whipped cream. I was very impressed with what we received. The fruit was fresh and there were tons of it. The waffle was thick and fluffy but not very crispy on the outside. Will and I finished half our dishes and switched so by that time the waffle was pretty moist, but made the syrup easier to soak up! Delicious waffle and even better pairing of the two dishes by Will and I if I do say so myself :)

Food: 3.5/5 - Nice assortment of classics at fair prices. 
Decor: 2/5 - Very old feeling to it, nice amount of space but not very appealing to the eyes.
Service: 3.5/5 - We were in and out so quickly! Waitress was just ok.
Willingness to go back: 3/5 - Good spot for a quick breakfast but I can imagine how busy it gets with all its regulars.
Overall: 3/5

Website: n/a

Symposium Café

Date Visited: Brunch on Saturday Dec 6, 2014 

Company: Walk-in for 6, post-sleepover at +Stanley's

The morning after a sleepover in Markham, we were looking for places in the area to have a nice brunch. After intensive researching on Yelp and Google, we found a Symposium in the area. I've been the the Symposium in Uptown Waterloo before as it's pretty popular for a fancier dessert place in the city but didn't know it was a huge chain. It had been a time long ago (before I was really into food) that I went there for dessert so I was excited to try out their savoury plates. The location was easy to find and in a newer plaza with very little surrounding the area.

For drinks, they had $4 a Bloody Caesar special so I definitely had to order one of those. It was pretty nice with little garnishes, I was very impressed for only $4 from 11AM to 3PM (everyday!).

I wasn't really feeling any of the breakfast specials and decided to order a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich, one of their "Symposium Signature Dishes". Our waiter was quite friendly and helpful, he seemed a little busy with the other tables also but was still attentive to us when we needed something. The wait was a bit long for our food but it wasn't too ridiculous... I think it was worth the wait when all the servers came and brought our dishes from the kitchen, it all smelled amazing.

The piece of breaded chicken was very large with odds and ends sticking out from the little Ciabatta bun. I was hoping for something very saucy and tender and even though I didn't get exactly that, I was not disappointed at all. The flavour from this sandwich was spectacular, the marinara sauce was brilliant, packed with flavour and the mozzarella cheese added texture to the breaded crust of the chicken. The fries came with an aoili that paired well if you still wanted ketchup. The fries were rather standard though. I could only finish half of the sandwich and packed the other half to go so I could enjoy it later. +Will ended up having it as I went to see him after and he hadn't had lunch yet. He also agreed that it tasted 'really good' which is saying something as he usually don't have much of an opinion on food.

Definitely one of the best Parm Sanwiches I've had to date, this is one dish where I would order again and again and worth not trying something new over.

Food: 4/5 - Great food and prices!
Decor: 3/5 - Got a nice window seat and interesting decor.
Service: 3/5 - Nice waiter, just a bit slow.
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Definitely have to try their desserts also.
Overall: 3.5/5 

Website: http://www.symposiumcafe.com/

Cafe Mirage

Date Visited: Brunch on Sunday Sunday Sept 14, 2014
Company: Walk-in for 5

The morning after +Clare's housewarming in North York, we all went for brunch in Sheppard Centre at a place she's been wanting to check out for a while. The Cafe Mirage is primarily known for their desserts from what she knew and also from what I pulled up from the internet. We were pretty excited for bunch as it looked very legit from what we could tell... What a surprise we had...

When we arrived the restaurant was basically empty, I surprised how big the location is with an entrance from Yonge Street as well as the Sheppard Centre. Their menu is quite extensive with a bit of a Mediterranean focus with their main dishes. There was lots of choose from and look at with their book of a menu and we took a while to decide what drinks/breakfasts to get. I finally decided on my classic Back Bacon Breakfast and Vanilla Milkshake.

So for some reason, half the drinks came in one batch then the server had to go back to make the rest of the drinks. She later told us that their drinks person was late that day but there was a lot of people around in the back that could have helped? The Milkshake was actually very delicious though, very thick and good amount of ice cream :). Maybe the desserts/drinks is what they should stick with because our meals were not good at all. Our plates were huge and I got 2 small, thin, overcooked pieces of back bacon, and some stingy scrambled eggs (they say 3 in the menu but there's NO WAY that was 3 eggs). They could not have plated this breakfast any worse to make it look more empty. The rest of the meals didn't look any better either, the quality was not fresh and everything was overcooked. Also, some of the peanut butter they gave us was already opened and got over the rest of the jams. If I was a waiter there I would be so embarrassed to serve this plate to a customer.

After we had eaten, we were literally sitting for about half an hour before we had to wave a waitress over to clear our plates and get the bill. The service was horrible and it's not like they weren't there, they were just walking by and ignoring you. Needless to say, I did not tip very well and was glad to get out of there. I'm very intrigued by their desserts though, how can they look so good while my breakfast was so bad?

Food: .5/5 - AWFUL BREAKFAST, milkshake was only redeeming part.
Decor: 3/5 - Very spacious and modern black and silver decor.
Service: .5/5 - Again, SO BAD. (not the worst I've had though)
Willingness to return: 1/5 - No way I'd come here willingly unless someone dragged me out for dessert... which I'm very actually interested in checking out.
Overall: 1/5 

Website: http://cafe-mirage.com/ 

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/

Mamie Clafoutis

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Aug 3, 2013
Company: Getting a quick meal for a group of 4 before Osheaga

It was our first full day of Osheaga and +Elliott wanted to take us to a nice breakfast place for brunch. We Bixied over to this restaurant on St Denis but was met with disappointment seeing the large line of people waiting outside. Instead ,we went to the Boulangerie next door to grab some French baked goods and enjoy it outside in the park nearby.

The bakery was very spacious and modern, but still had an authentic feeling to it. Upon entering, we had to grab numbers to get our orders taken. All the foods were on display for our choosing and there were tons of options to satisfy what kind of food you wanted: pastries, desserts, breads, they had it all! I decided on a Chicken Curry Sandwich for lunch and a Raisin Roll for some sweetness. The servers were very patient and didn't rush your orders, they even toast the sandwich for you to have it warm. They had an upstairs with a bathroom and I assumed a sitting area but I didn't get to see it. It looked like a large area though so it was probably a nice and comfy cafe area.

We all got our orders and walked over to St Louis Square and sat on the benches to eat our meals. One noticeable thing was that all the breads were extremely fresh. The loaf was delicious, I loved the hardness as it was still chewable but not soft and soggy. The chicken curry in the sandwich was very mild but had nice flavour. The sandwich was actually very large once you start eating it, they put a lot in there! I couldn't finish it all when I still had my Raisin Roll to go. The roll was a pastry dessert coiled up with fillings of raisins and custard between the layers. It was a delicate, but fun roll indeed! The pastry was flakey but the custard added moisture so it didn't fall apart. The taste wasn't overbearing or sweet and had an excellent balance between all elements. I was extremely happy with my lunch choices that day and that we got to go to an authentic french bakery!

Food: 5/5 - I don't know what could've been better!
Decor: 4/5 - Great lighting, space and look.
Service: 3.5/5 - Took some time but mostly from waiting for them to toast the sandwiches, good system of serving people.
Willingness to come back: 3.5/5 - I would eat the same thing again too.
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://mamieclafoutis.com

4 Cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory is probably the most happenin' place in Walden Galleria. The wait for a table was 1.5 hours on a Saturday night. We opted to get take-out slices of cheesecake and just eat them in the food court instead, since we were still quite full from lunch. Here's some blurbs about our choices:

Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake

- Layers of Our Fudge Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse and Chocolate.

This was my choice for cake of course. I loved that it was chocolate cheesecake in the middle, probably my favourite dessert. The vanilla mousse was amazing and a nice flavour in contrast to all the rich chocolate.
Rating: 4/5

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake

- Raspberry-Vanilla Cake, Creamy Lemon Cheesecake, Raspberry Lady Fingers and Lemon Mousse.

+Joslynn Gallant got this one and when I had a bite, I thought that it was extremely and surprisingly sour. I'm a huge fan of the lemon-raspberry combination but this didn't exactly work for me.
Rating: 2/5

Pineapple Piña Colada Cake Cheesecake
- Moist White Cake Layered with Original Cheesecake, Pineapple, Coconut and Rum.

The last 2 were about 50 cents more expensive because they are clearly larger slices. This one was very simple but well done overall with all the right elements. You could taste the subtle pineapple flavour while the moist cake and original cheesecake were delicious. This isn't something I would get for myself just because it is a bit plain, but very tasty still.
Rating: 2.5/5

Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

- Layers of Red Velvet Cake and Cheesecake Covered in Cream Cheese Frosting. Finished with White Chocolate

I'm always cautious of red velvet because I know how rich it can be despite how pretty. This was no exception, the cake was heavy and the cream cheese frosting just added to it. It was amazing, but one bite was enough for me.
Rating: 3/5

I've always wondered about the hype of The Cheesecake Factory because everyone goes there but their cheesecake slices are like at least $7. They obviously taste amazing and are done well culinarily, but I still think it's over-priced.  Despite this, I will probably fall into the trap, because you can't just not get one when they're all on display in front of you looking all pretty. 

Website: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/