Greek Tycoon

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday May 29, 2015

Company: Walk-in for 2

On Friday night before I was heading to Toronto for the weekend, I asked +Stephanie to get some dinner with me before I left. We debated a few places to visit but decided on Greek Tycoon since it's on the top of my list of restaurants still to visit in Oshawa. My parents were recommended this place by a Greek neighbor and they said there were large portions when they went.

The restaurant is located in a small plaza close to the 401. I was waiting in the parking lot for Steph for a few minutes and saw a lot of people walk-in. When we entered, most of the tables were full and even though we didn't have a reservation, they were able to get us one. It was a lot bigger inside than I had expected with an elevated floor near the back where we were seated. The seating was a bit tight as we were pretty close to other tables but once we got settled, we hardly noticed.

There were many options that looked really good, all the seafood sounded delicious! All the dishes started with a Greek Salad and Bread. The Salad was in a pretty big plate and filled with iceberg lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta cheese, and dressing. everything was extremely fresh and the dressing was light and a good proportion to the veggies. Quite filling for a starter. We also got a warm dinner roll which tasted good but Steph said she saw they were from The Baker's Table in Oshawa from the packaging near the kitchen.

There were many tables ordering something which required a waiter to come out and pour alcohol on the dish, light it on fire, and call out 'Opa!' but I wasn't sure what it was!

For my main, I chose the Shrimp Saganaki, pan-fried in garlic butter, wine, tomato sauce, and topped with feta cheese, rice, potatoes, and steamed vegetables. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from my choice, I just Googled imaged the name and saw some delicious shrimp so I thought it would be OK. We waited a bit for our orders, but it was very busy so I could see why. When I got my order, I thought the colours looked great on the plate! The portion wasn't as large as I was expecting, I think the Souvlaki dishes had a lot more than the Seafood. The flavour of the shrimp was OK, very tomatoey above all, I thought there would be a bit more uniqueness to it. The shrimps though were very large and fresh, and cooked excellently. Steph and I both agreed the rice was a bit hard and bland. The potatoes on the other hand, were delicious and had so much flavour. 

Food: 3/5 - Disappointed by the rice but everything else was good, would like to try the souvlaki!
Decor: 4/5 - Very nice decor and cozy feeling.
Service: 3/5 - Friendly and decent wait considering.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - When you don't want to go to the mall for Greek, one of the only places in Oshawa/Whitby to go!
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.greektycoonwhitby.com/

Bistro '67

Date Visited: Lunch on Friday Apr 3, 2015
Company: +Stephanie

Bistro '67 is a restaurant I've been wanting to visit ever since I heard about its existence. It's unique because it's a teaching restaurant apart of the Durham College campus which focuses on local farm ingredients. They happened to be open on Good Friday which excellently timed with trying out their lunch menu as they are usually only open for dinner on Saturday during the weekends. I made a reservation for 2 at noon and drove into a fairly empty parking lot at the College's Centre for Food. I took my time walking around the building a bit before heading up to the second floor where the restaurant was located. It's a very new building with large windows and modern decor. I was the first one in the restaurant and the waitress seated me to one of the side tables beside the large glass walls with the bright sun shining in.

When +Stephanie arrived, we took a look at the menu which was filled with quite a few sandwiches, salads, and hot plates. I decided on the Muffulleta, layers of salami, mortadella, ham, Edwardsburg cheese with spicy relish. Their Soup was a Carrot and Coconut with a cilantro creme and bacon bits which I also opted for because it sounded amazing. We really enjoyed talking about the restaurant and how cool it looked. They even had a screen which projected a live video of the chefs making our food in the kitchen!

Our waitress was also sweet and told us about their drink specials but all I was craving was a caesar. She brought me the Caesar '67 in a long, tall glass and it looked pretty appetizing. I thought the juice was a bit too thick, maybe they used tomato juice and not clamato? The spiciness was on point though.

Our lunches came extremely quickly (only ones there still!). I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the Muffulleta (never heard of the word before) but it looked like a very large panini with lots of meats in the middle. What they stated on the menu was exactly what you got. I thought there would be a bit more toppings in the sandwich, not just the relish. There was a lot of meat and the cheese was nicely melted but though the relish was salty, it didn't add much flavour. It was a bit plain for my liking, I could probably whip this up myself if I had a panini press... but at $13, I can't really complain.

The Soup on the other hand was a different story. The combination of carrot and coconut was creamy and delicious, I didn't mind the little pieces of carrots in there either. The creme on top was a bit spicy and added another complexity to the soup. The bacon bits were minimal but huge, each one was a treat. The temperature stayed consistent throughout and I really savoured each spoonful.

Food: 3.5/5 - Sandwich was not impressive but the soup! Reasonable price though.
Decor: 4.5/5 - Loved the decor, simple, spacious and lots of natural lighting.
Service: 4.5/5 - Extremely quick... but we were the first ones there :)
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - For sure, dinner is pricier but it's a unique gem in the Durham region you got to support.
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.bistro67.ca/

Melanie Pringle's

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Mar 21, 2015
Company: +Stephanie and +Caroline

+Stephanie was down from Scarborough for the weekend and we decided to hit up the gym on Saturday morning. Afterwards, the timing was perfect for some lunch in the area before I went to Toronto. +Caroline was also free so we called her up to meet us at Melanie Pringles at 12:30PM. When we arrived, it was surprisingly busy with a surprise birthday party occupying a front block of the restaurant. The decor was very cute, a true throwback to a 50's and 60's diner with colourful booths and old school decorations on the wall. It was a huge restaurant with lots of different areas and ample seating, good for large parties.





While we waited for Caroline, we had a long look at their extensive menu filled with delicious sounding foods. When Caroline arrived and was deliberating what she wanted, we started discovering more options just from what she was looking at. She noted they had lattice fries and I haven't had those since university so I really wanted to get them. We decided to share the Coney Island Fries which were Crispy Lattice Fries smothered in Chili and Cheese Sauce, topped with Sour Cream and Green Onions. It came out surprisingly fast and looked amazing. The chili was delicious and thick, and they weren't exaggerating when they said 'smothered'. It was really filling though and I wanted to save room... but I couldn't stop eating it. So mind blowing, I might have to order these every time I'm here...

I also decided to order a Crispy Crunch Milkshake. It was less than $5 which I haven't seen before at a diner so I was impressed already. It came in a cute milkshake glass topped with whipped cream and a cherry. It came with the excess but there wasn't much in it. The shake was delicious and creamy, just enough crispy crunch flavour with tiny chocolate pieces too.

For my entree, I had a really tough time choosing as there's a lot I wanted to try. In the end, I got the Meatloaf with vegetables, onion rings, and cheddar mashed. The waitress asked if I wanted gravy for the potatoes and I instinctively said yes before realizing that I probably had to pay for it and there should be gravy on my plate already.  The meatloaf came with 2 large pieces that tasted rather meaty and still good, but the gravy on top was just a tad too thick. At first glance, the plate looked a bit empty to me but after a few bites, I really started filling up. The onion rings were perfect and stood out among the other sides. The mashed potatoes were pretty creamy and smooth, but I could have survived with the gravy from the meatloaf. The vegetables tasted good also, there were some yellow-looking carrots that I'm not sure what they were but it all was cooked perfectly.

Overall, I was really impressed with the food at Melanie Pringle's. It is however on the pricier side for diner food, most dishes were around the $14 mark. They also charged me $2 for the gravy which I wasn't impressed about. The service is less to be desired as our waitress was very slow, not with just our table but our surrounding tables were also looking for her. Nonetheless, this is easily one of my new favourite places in Whitby!

Food: 4/5 - So much good food here!

Decor: 4/5 - Very roomy and they really commit to the theme.

Service: 1.5/5 - Very slow and inattentive waitress.

Willingness to go back: 5/5 - Absolutely going to recommend this spot to everyone, not sure why it took me so long to discover it!

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.melaniepringles.com/

Desiam Thai Restaurant

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Mar 7, 2015
Company: Walk-in for 2.

Anith and I were planning to meet up for lunch to catch-up after his recent trip to California. We decided on Desiam in the Whitby Plaza per his suggestion. I had previously gone there once, a long time ago with my sister. I didn't remember much from the meal at the time but my sister said that the Pad Thai was amazing. I'm in the particular area a lot and have always been meaning to return so I was glad when it was suggested. 

There's a lot of construction going on in the complex but all the shops are still open. We entered to a fairly large, empty restaurant with lots of colourful decor. There is seating on either side of the main entrance and we were lead to the right side closer to the kitchen. Their menu was very large with tons of options so it took us a while to look through everything. Our waitress kept on coming back to us to see if we were ready but never were :(. I finally just decided to get the Veggie Pad Thai after a lot of deliberation and Anith got Bangkok Spicy Noodles. I also ordered a Thai Iced Tea, not really know what it is but thought it might be good. Anith ordered a Mango drink and when we first got the drinks, I thought mine was his. It was opaque and orange coloured which I wasn't expecting. I thought it would be a transparent liquid but turns out there is some milk in there. It was rather sweet and I'm not really sure what flavour it consisted of. I wasn't sure how authentic is was, it kind of tasted like powdered bubble tea drink... it didn't taste bad though considering I had no idea what I was getting.

We started with a Kanuck Roll as an appetizer. It was really hot upon arrival and stuff with ground chicken and various vegetables inside. I really enjoyed the filling, it had a good mix of ingredients inside almost like Sheppard's pie. The plum sauce gave it a sweet touch. It was an unique, delicious, and crispy spring roll.

Finally comes our main dishes... Anith didn't think his looked very appetizing at first but actually tasted really good. I found my Veggie Pad Thai very saucy and sweet. The vegetables were fresh and noodles cooked perfectly but just the flavour was very overpowering. It was a lot of food and finally I had to give up on finishing it. I didn't take it home just because of all the sauce, I wish they just went a bit lighter it and I might have felt better about eating it.

All-in-all, it was a very filling meal all for less than $20. Not my favourite Pad Thai but if you like your noodles on the saucy, sweet side then you should definitely check it out.

Food: 2/5 - OK meal but not spectacular Thai food.
Decor: 3/5 - Really cute restaurant with lots of Thai trinkets.

Service: 2/5 - Our waitress was pretty annoying and not very friendly.

Willingness to go back: 1/5 - Wouldn't want to go back unless I was in the plaza and wanted Thai.

Overall: 2/5

Website: http://www.desiamthairestaurant.com/ 

Mexico-Lindo

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Oct 10, 2013
Company: Reservation for 2

On days when I work from the office, I take the Steeles/Tauton road all the way from Scarborough to Oshawa to get home. Whenever I get to the Brock intersection, I always notice the sketchy-looking restaurant on the corner and their busy parking lot. It's not a very attractive restaurant and the parking lot is pretty much on a dirt path along the main road. It also seems like there's a house attached to the restaurant at the back, hidden among the trees. It looked shady, but I figured it must have had decent Mexican food if it always seemed to be full with Durham locals. I looked up the spot and found that it had a lot of raving reviews for the best Mexican food found in the Durham Region. I had to go!
+Will was working in town and I decided to make a reservation after work to check this place out. Most websites/reviews recommended reservations for dinner and knowing how busy I've seen this place, I thought it was the safest bet. We arrived around 6:30 and parked on the dirt parking lot a few meters away from the door, most spots were already taken. The entrance is pretty small and the counter is very close to the door. There are seats to both sides of the door in smaller connecting rooms. We were seated and taken to the right side, most seats seemed to be filled in the smaller room on the left. 

The waiter that took us was a pretty young guy and it looks like its a family run place. The walls were covered in Spanish paintings and knick-knacks you would see if you were on a resort down south. The whole restaurant isn't very big but they try to fit as many people in as they can with tables close to each other. Thus the atmosphere is very lively and filled with chatter. When we sat down, we were given some chips and a small bowl of salsa. The salsa was mostly tomato sauce as it almost looked like soup/watery ketchup. The chips were also very hard and thin, not the best.

To start, we ordered Guacamole which was served with the chips we already had on the table. I think either the Guacamole, the bowl, or both were kept in a very cold fridge prior to serving because it extremely cold when we tried it. The taste was decent, it could have used a bit more lemon IMO but the ingredients were fresh. It was much better when it warmed up a bit.

For drinks, I ordered a Pina Colada and +Will  got a Strawberry Daiquiri. The drinks were rather pricey but they were large glasses. The Pina Colada was very frothy and thick, topped with some nutmeg. The taste was good but a little too thick, almost like milkshake and too much foam. The Strawberry Daiquiri was like a slushie and a bit too sweet for my liking.

For our main dish, we decided to share Chicken & Steak Fajitas for Two. It came with tortillas, sour cream, lettuce, and cheese. We were glad we had the guacamole to add in the fajitas. The pieces of chicken and steak were very large but I was expecting more flavour from the hot plate. The had minimal and bland seasoning, didn't seem very authentic to me. The tortillas came with a bit too less and we had to ask them for more (not sure if we were charged for it) in order to use up all the fillings. The portion was way too much for us with our drinks and app also.
It was a good and filling meal but I was disappointed after hearing about the authenticity. I could have had the fajitas at any restaurant that would have tasted similar. It was also pretty pricey after everything added up, not great value for your money. I would give it a second shot though and try anything with the rice, it looked promising. 

Food: 2.5/5 - Huge portions, pricey, decent food.
Decor: 2/5 - Definitely makes you feel like you're in an authentic Mexican restaurant, not the prettiest outer appearance though.
Service: 2/5 - Nice & friendly waiters, nothing special though.
Willingness to go back: 2/5 - If I wanted something different for the night, I'd go again.
Overall: 2/5 
Website: http://www.mexico-lindo.ca/