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/

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/

Momma's Family Restaurant

Date Visited: Dinner on Oct 7, 2014
Company: +Joslynn and +Caroline

The Oshawa girls and I decided to get together for dinner and a cheap Tuesday movie after deciding we all wanted to see Gone Girl. The movie was around 7PM so we had to find somewhere for an early dinner close to the theatre. I wasn't feeling the chain restaurants on Tauton so I decided to do some searching for other things in the area. There aren't many known restaurants in Oshawa I haven't been to at this point but I did find Momma's Family Restaurant in the Five Points Mall. I haven't heard of the place before but it had positive reviews on the internet despite not having much internet presence.

Five Points Mall isn't a very busy mall (if you can even call it a mall) so I'm sure I've passed by it on my odd occasional visit. I wasn't even sure where in the mall it was located, I found a sign outside and just parked outside the entrance. The girls said they did the same but it happened to be where I was closer, to the Target. The restaurant was right where we entered and was bigger than I had expected (not sure what I was expecting), it looked almost like a smaller East Side Mario's. Their sign said to seat ourselves so we grabbed a booth mid-way back.

They had an interesting selection of menu items, quite extensive but not sticking any one theme... had some Greek and Italian features. We all decided to share a Large Caesar Salad which was actually massive! There was 3 of us and we couldn't finish it. There was tons of parmesan and dressing which I enjoyed. There was also lots of bacon bits but I didn't like that they were the artificial kind and very crunchy. The lemon on the side was a great addition to add more flavour to the salad. I thought it was very delicious.

I couldn't decide between a few things on the menu for my main but +Joslynn was getting Lasagna already so the waitress said I could have a bit of hers when I asked for a recommendation. I decided on the Chicken Breast Parmesan with Baked Potato (I think that's what it was). I wasn't sure what to expect from the description, I thought I'd get something saucier rather than chicken with a layer of sauce and cheese. The chicken itself wasn't bad, don't think it was fresh but tasted fine. My criticism would have to be on the sauce, it had an odd flavour which tasted like the Chef Boyardee canned pasta sauce. I tried the Lasagna also and it had the same sauce which I found too creamy and thick. The cheese was nicely melted on top but was very unconnected to the chicken with the sauce inbeween. The baked potato was also fine, nothing special about that, came with butter and lots of sour cream. The side of coleslaw was tasty but not as sour as I would have liked. It was an interesting dish paired altogether, I was surprised how full trying to finish it because it didn't seem like that much food.

Food: 2.5/5 - Not the best food I've had but fairly cheap and reasonable.
Decor: 3/5 - Very cute and spacious with pictures of different mothers all around.
Service: 3/5 - Pretty quick and waitress checked up on us appropriately
Willingness to go back: 1/5 - Don't think I'll be returning soon on my own accord.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: none

Avli

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday Aug 16, 2014
Company: +Stephanie

+Stephanie and I were hanging out in Scarborough on the weekend, attempting to do some hiking at the Bluffs and I suggested going to the Danforth for some dinner afterwards as we were kind of close-by. I really wish I had more chances to visit the Danforth because Greek is possibly one of my favourite types of food. We found a parking spot a few blocks from the core of Greek town and walked down trying to decide where to go with all the options we were presented with. Avli seemed like a small, busy (but not packed) restaurant on the strip and we were appealed by their 'World Famous Dips' sign. They had their menu specials presented outside their door and were surprised how cheap it was... Little did we know that it was their Lunch Specials and they forgot to change the sign.

We started with some World-Famous Dips and ordered a combination of 3 for $16.50 instead of $6.50 each. It also came with Grilled Pita for which we got an extra order for $2. An order was 2 round pitas and we though it was too many but we actually used all of them. We tried the Kopanisti (Feta Cheese, Roasted Red Peper, and Olive Oil), Skordalia (Creamy Potatoes with Olive Oil and Garlic) and Melitzanosalta (Eggplant with Onions, Parsley, and Garlic) to try ones we've never had before. The plate was presented with some cucumbers and olives on the side which were a nice addition to eat with the dips. Some of the pita looked a little burnt but still tasted OK, it was thick and held together well with the various dips and also delicious on its own. When we ordered our dips, the waitress warned us about the Skordalia, saying that it has garlic in it... aka there's LOTS of garlic in it. The creamy potatoes was basically only for the texture which was nice and smooth but the kick was from the garlic flavour. The Melitzanosalta was an fun one because I tasted something different in each bite, it was sour, eggplanty, sweet, and refreshing all in different instances. The Kopanisti was the thickest and richest of the three, mostly from the feta cheese, the red pepper gave it a nice orange hue and subtle flavour. You could get really full off that one alone, so it was nice to have all three to complement each other as they were all so different.

We were able to have a good taste of the dips before a manager came back to let us know that the $12 Chicken Souvlaki 'specials' we ordered from the front menu was only for Lunch. Our waitress had told us we could still get those prices because we couldn't find them on the menu and had to show her what was written  outside. The manager I guess didn't allow that so we said didn't want them anymore (since we already were pretty full from the dips). She then mentioned that they had a dinner with one chicken skewer for $13 instead of the $17 one, we decided just to order those instead.

We go got our Greek Salads shortly, it was a small appetizer plate topped with lots of feta cheese and the standard ingredients. I didn't like how shredded the lettuce was and the dressing was rather plain and flavourless. I also tried to save most of it for the main meal since there are usually no vegetables with Souvlaki plates.


So at this point, we were pretty full already so when we got our very hot plates, I can't say that the appealing food added to our hunger. The plating looked bland with all the brown colours and the placement made the plate look empty. The potatoes had amazing flavour though and melted in your mouth, it was over-cooked but the taste made up for it. The rice on the other hand was also over-cooked but was pretty bland and dry. The chicken and tzatziki was not bad, it was really hard to tell when you're stuffing yourself. It wasn't too dry and had good flavour, I tried to add some tzatziki to the rice but it made it even more dry, nothing could save it.

Overall, I was left unimpressed by Avli, if we hadn't had ordered the Chicken Souvlaki's I think I would have a different impression because the dips were amazing. I think they have some other interesting dishes on the menu that I wish we had room for to try instead of the Souvlaki. The dips really fill you up so I would be mindful of that for the future.

Food: 2/5 - Torn here because I was left with a bad impression from the Souvlaki but the dips were actually good!

Decor: 2/5 - The tables where we were near the window were pretty close to each other in the small restaurant.

Service: 3.5/5 - Very sweet waitress we had, manager was less nice but good timing between dishes.

Willingness to go back: 2/5 - Depending on the nature of the meal, definitely know how not to order here as it left me ridiculously full and hating myself.

Overall: 2.5/5

Website: http://www.avlirestaurant.com/home

Frankie's Bar & Cafe

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday May 24, 2014
Company: Triple dinner date before seeing RENT at Lower Ossington Theatre

A group of 6 of us had tickets to see RENT in the Queen/Ossington area at 8PM and decided to meet up before hand to grab some dinner in the area. The theatre wasn't really in an area which we went to often so there were tons of new unfamiliar places to check out. We had originally planned to go to County General but it would have been a 2 hour wait, the place was very tiny! Closer to the intersection of the theatre, we saw Frankie's with a sign that claimed 'World's Best Burgers'. It didn't seem to be very full so we were seated immediately and got a large table in the back corner. 

We waited for the rest of the group to arrive while the waitress served us some waters. The place has a diner vibe but pretty modern decor. There aren't very many tables either but a few stools on the counter. They have a variety of beer on tap and seems like a decent not busy place to grab a drink. The waitress we had was very friendly but I spilled some of my water and asked for some napkins and she just wiped it away. There was so water on my pants I wanted to dry up but it wasn't much so I didn't ask again.

Their menu mostly focused on their Signature Burgers and had many different choices. I was debating between the Smokin' Hot Honey and the Aristotle Burger (like a Greek Burger) and I think I would have been happy with either as both were ordered at our table and looked great. I went for the Smokin' Hot Honey with Fries in the end. The burger had Jalapeno Havarti, Jalapenos, crunchy onions, bacon, letture, tomatoes, and smoked mayo. I actually didn't know that it had bacon as I usually never order burgers with bacon but it wasn't too overpowering. I also had to pick some of the Jalapenos off, a little too spicy for me but it was great once I did that. Their signature burgers are really well put together and creative. The patty very juicy and held really nicely together. The fries were pretty good but nothing too spectacular or memorable. Good place for a reasonably priced burger to fill you up!

They also had some board games behind the counter that you can play! We played some Connect Four to pass the time and didn't even notice how much time was passing by during our wait for food. 

Food: 3/5 - Not the best burgers ever but fresh ingredients, appealing meal, and reasonably priced.
Decor: 2/5 - Quite plain and not that much stands out.
Service: 2/5 - Nothing outstanding, she did her job.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - If I was in the area I would definitely go again.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: none

Cali Eats: Panini Cafe

Date Visited: Lunch on Wednesday Apr 16, 2014
Company: Walk-in for 5

One of the fanciest places we got to check out in California was definitely Rodeo Drive in LA. The streets were so fancy and populated with brand name stores everywhere. We weren't sure exactly where we would find a place to eat but right by where we parked the car, we found a reasonably-priced restaurant, Panini Cafe. It looked very quaint on the outside with a large patio and very rustic furniture. We were seated rather quickly considering how busy it was and their inside didn't look very large.

Our waiter was pretty awesome, he was a large Italian man? We had a bit of a debate on what his background was, but I think he was the owner. He was quick with the jokes and really wanted us to try their specials. After checking out their menu, most of us went for a Greek plate rather than a Panini, much to our dismay considering the restaurant name. Everyone's orders coming out around us looked so incredibly delicious though, it was hard not to order a larger meal.

I went for the Charbroiled Chicken Shish Kabob served with Basmati Rice and Mediterranean Greek Salad. When my order came though, I got a Romaine Avocado Salad instead of what I ordered. There was a bit of confusion when we all got our plates because I didn't think any of them were mine, but luckily our waiter was overlooking us being served and he said that the plate was mine. I told him what I thought I ordered and he got me a side plate of Greek Salad on the side shortly thereafter :).

The plate was very colourful and had great appeal overall. The chicken looked slightly charred but I was impressed that it maintained its juiciness. The skewer had tomatoes and onions between the large pieces of chicken breast. The flavour was very mild and nice to add some lemon on it to complement the grilled taste. They must have used very small onions because there were so many layers to each piece. The Basmatic Rice was pretty plain, the top layer had yellow rice which I guessed just had some butter in it. Other than that, it was plain rice and a bit dry. I got to try both salads and I think I liked the Avocado Salad better. The Greek Salad had tons of feta and was topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives and onions. I thought it could have used a bit more dressing as it was a bit plain. The Avocado Salad was mixed better with the dressing (maybe because it wasn't prepared in a rush?) and had tons of avocados which was the highlight. 

I was glad we had a somewhat healthy meal during our trip, all the ingredients were extremely fresh and they kept everything nice and simple. It was affordable but still had the appeal that it was an upscale restaurant you might see a celeb at.

Food: 3.5/5 - Amazingly filling and well-prepared meal, only complaint is that it could have used a bit of different seasonings to tingle the taste buds a bit.
Decor: 4.5/5 - So quaint and cute.
Service: 4.5/5 - Spectacular customer service!
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Would definitely check out any of their many locations in California again.
Overall: 4/5 
Website: http://www.mypaninicafe.com/

Great Burger Kitchen

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Sept 28, 2013
Company: Casual outing for a meal nearby with +Lilian, +Will, and his brother.

+Lilian and I had just come up from Oshawa, and were going to meet up with +Will and his brother for lunch near his place before heading out for our separate plans in the afternoon. We had originally planned to get Thai, but +Will wasn't exactly sure where the restaurant was located so ended up wandering and finding out that it was closed. We were at Church and Front so I suggested Great Burger Kitchen for lunch. I had only gone once before, late at night after St Patty's Day and really enjoyed their poutine, so I wanted to try it again to see if it was as good as I thought it was.

GBK is a promoter of organic and locally sourced food, the beef they use is also from naturally raised cows in Ontario. Their prices are pretty decent considering this. They have a range of different burgers and poutines to satisfy anyone's  preferences. For me, all of options looked delicious. Their menu is right on the wall beside where you order in large font which makes things easy for customers to read, but not so much decide what they want. They also offer a Burger/Poutine of the Day which is written on a blackboard below the menu and outside the restaurant that always looks appealing every time I walk by.

After we placed our orders at the counter, we found a booth to sit at. The restaurant isn't huge but it has enough space as only about 1 out of 5 tables has been occupied both times I've been here. Ours orders were made at a reasonable time by the one server at the counter, and we were called up one by one for our various foods. I ordered the Greek Burger with Feta, Tomato, Red Onion, and Tzatsiki. The bun was grilled lightly and the patty was cooked perfectly, it was just a classic and simple burger (with Greek toppings). The burger tasted great and the toppings were refreshingly fresh. In addition to the burger, we also got poutines to share. We got the Mexican Poutine with Salsa, Cheddar, Guacamole, & Sour Cream. This was basically having nachos, but with fries instead of chips. +Lilian pointed out that this was probably the healthiest poutine ever... due to the lack of gravy. There was a nice surplus of toppings for the fries but they still remained crispy. We also got the Poutine of the Day which had Bacon, Jalapeno, Salsa, & Cheddar. This was somewhat similar to the Mexican Poutine but with more of a kick of flavour. Both were good, but I probably wouldn't get them again in the future, need some sauciness to the poutine IMO.

Overall, this is a great place to come if you want something more than just a fast food burger, and are willing to spend a bit more time and money. I think it's still a great deal for what you're getting here because it's definitely cheaper than going to a sit-down restaurant. It supports the local farming culture and you can tell that a lot of work as gone into making your food for such a small place.

Food: 4/5 - Fresh, natural, and organic! Delicious AND you don't feel as bad eating it. 
Decor: 3.5/5 - Small but local favourite feel to the place.
Service: 3/5 - Good wait time.
Willingness to come back: 5/5 - I'm totally a fan of GBK, definitely would come back! So much more to try.
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://greatburger.ca/