Arkadia House

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Jun 20, 2015
Company: Walk-in for 6 with the girls pre-bridesmaid dress shopping

In preparation for +Joslynn's wedding, the girls and I planned a date to go into David's Bridal to try on some bridesmaid dresses. Our appointment was just on a Saturday afternoon just after lunch so I decided to find a place for all of us to eat beforehand. While looking, I was pleasantly surprised at all the options I found, there were a ton of nice places to try in the industrial area. The bride made the final call in getting some Greek food.

We all met at the restaurant just before noon and the large restaurant was empty at this time. We got a big round table for 6 in the centre of the restaurant. We all admired the lovely decor and how fancy and cultured it looked. We got some bread to start as we checked out their menu. The butter we got was rock hard though so it was very difficult to spread over the bread. Most of us chose something from the lunch menu as the prices were cheaper than dinner and we probably couldn't finish all the food from a dinner plate. The waiter was very friendly and was attentive as he needed to be.

I ordered the Chicken Souvlaki with Greek Salad and Potatoes and the portion size was perfect. Everyone also thought the plates the food was served on was super cute. The chicken was very tender and juicy, great flavour also. I'm not a fan of very thick tzatziki sauce but the flavour was delicious despite this. The potatoes were pretty boring, not enough flavour and a bit dry. The greek salad was delicious, the dressing was thick, creamy, and rich if that's what you like! It was a good authentic meal at a reasonable price.

Food: 3.5/5 - Authentic and good flavours.
Decor: 4/5 - Spacious with lots of lighting and Greek decor!
Service: 3/5 - Really good, only a bit slow at the end to get the bill.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - Would definitely go there again!
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.arkadiahouse.com/

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/

Fran's Restaurant

Date Visited: Brunch on Sunday Apr 21, 2013

Company: Getting breakfast after a night out and before the Jay's game with a group of 6 friends.

I've had this review pending for a while in my 'to-write' list because I wasn't sure if I was going to post it or not. The main reason was because my taste buds may not have been on their game this particular morning. After a night of drinking, my opinion on food may not be in sync with how I'd normally feel. Regardless, I've decided to go forward with this post because blogging is fun :)

So Fran's is located at the bottom of the Pantages Hotel across from St. Michael's Hospital on the corner of the street. It doesn't seem like it's attached to the hotel but according to the website it is. +Gisele lives just beside the hotel so I've walked by this place a few too many times. Upon first glance, it definitely looks like an old school diner/all-day breakfast place. I was pretty excited to finally try this establishment that fine morning. 

We were lucky to grab a table quickly upon arrival as the place was pretty full and more people started to fill in. We had a nice window seat with the sun shining in which is why my photos have so much shadow. The menu offered a huge variety, almost Pickle Barrel-like. They had unique combinations of classic dishes (for example, they have 6 types of Eggs Benedict). I was enticed by the Vegetarian Rainbow Benedict and ordered that along with a Vanilla Milkshake. From what I remember  we had to wait a while to get our food. Our drinks came in the meantime and I was very impressed with the Milkshake. I didn't like how it came in the mixing cup as it wasn't very pretty and a bit messy, but the shake itself was very delicious, thick and creamy how it should be.

When our food did arrive, the presentations of the plates were not very appealing. Laura ordered a waffles with strawberries and you can tell that they were previously frozen and not fresh, not very appetizing. My vegetables and fruits looked like they were just thrown on the plate. I was expecting a nice arrangement of the vegetables included but all I saw was a bed of spinach and some chopped peppers. The fruit wasn't very fresh either, the strawberry was literally shrivelled, why would you serve that as a garnish?

The actual eggs and Hollandaise sauce in terms of taste wasn't bad though. Half the plate was home fries which were good but I think everyone had a lot of that left over. +Alex and +Brian ordered the Steak Benedict which looked like it would've been a better choice but the consistency of the poached eggs were really off. One was completely cooked all the way through while the other on the plate would be runny which I found extremely odd. Everyone else seemed satisfied with their meals though, I definitely want to try their other options as breakfast was a bit disappointing. I'm curious as to how the other foods measure up when breakfast, their main attraction, didn't do it for me.

Food: 1.5/5 - Wasn't very impressed.
Decor: 2.5/5 - Surprisingly large but average.
Service: 2/5 - Busy time of day but we had to wait quite a while.
Willingness to come back: 3.5/5 - As mentioned above, wouldn't mind trying lunch or dinner here.
Overall: 2.5/5
Website: http://www.fransrestaurant.com/