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/

Milagro Cantinas

Date Visited: Winterlicious dinner on Tuesday Feb 3, 2015
Company: Annual Licious meal with the high school girls.

Again this year, the girls were down for a Winterlicious meal in Toronto to enjoy one of the many great restaurants in the city. +Krystal was the one who picked out Milagro, a Mexican restaurant on Queen from looking at their enticing Winterlicious menu. Unfortunately, she herself was not able to make it to the dinner but we gladly still took her up on her suggestion and booked a table for 5. Our reservation was at 6:30 but unfortunately, 4 of us were 40 minutes late coming from Oshawa and left +Clare to fend for herself at the restaurant.

When we finally arrived, our waitress was quick to ask us if we wanted anything to drink. Even though it was Margarita night, none of us took her up on the offer and went straight for the water already on the table. We also got 2 plates of Chips and Salsa for the table shortly after. The tortilla chips were very crispy but also greasy, the napkin at the bottom was covered in oil. You couldn't really tell when you were eating them though, very delicious still. The salsa was also mild, light, and refreshing, very different from what you would get the store.

For my appetizer, I choose the Ensalada Cesar as I heard good things about it here. It was served with a ton of Parmesan on top, whole Romaine lettuce leaves, and a large crouton in the middle... a little different from what you would normally see but I loved how different it was. I think my salad could have used a bit more dressing, it would have made the cheese easier to stick on. The leaves weren't that fresh either, needed a bit more crisp to the bite.

For the main dish, I ordered the Filete Poblano, grilled rib eye steak in a creamy poblano and white wine sauce with diablo potatoes. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the steak and overall heftiness of the meal, there was a lot of food on the plate. The steak was very tender and cooked with perfect grill marks on the side. I had no idea what Poblano was but the sauce was a light but still creamy. The potatoes were in a sauce that was a bit oily but mixed well with everything else. It was topped with a bit of fried onions which added even more flavour and complexity to the dish. There was a lot going on with all the spices which gave me the indication that it was authentically Mexican. When I was finished, I just had no idea what I had just eaten was there were so many new flavours introduced to me .

For dessert, they ran out of the one I wanted, so I went with the Mousse de Mango instead since everyone else was getting the Flan. The small bowl looked to cute when I got it, filled to the brim with a thick yellow paste. The mango flavour was amazing and very prominent. It was almost like a yogurt dessert and topped with some chili spices to give it a kick.

Food: 3.5/5 - Awesome authentic Mexican food at the price we paid, salad wasn't great though.
Decor: 3.5/5 - Very traditional looking, the lady 2 tables away was talking so loudly though.
Service: 3.5/5 - Really happy with the service except it took forever to find our waitress for the bill.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - For sure!! They have a few locations too.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://milagrorestaurant.com/

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