T.O.bites | Toronto Food & Restaurant Blog

4.5 bites out of 5

This post is kind of bitter-sweet, being that the location where Menchie’s is now used to be where T-Cafe sat in the annex.  The once dank spot against the exposed brick wall where I used to study while eating tapas is now dressed with photos of celebrities eating their frozen yogurt concoctions.  It’s incredibly tacky, but I also happen to love tackiness.

Menchie’s is a popular chain American chain which originated from the west coast (where they love their frozen yogurt) and has been spreading throughout the states like wildfire.  Much like a few other popular frozen dessert chains from the states, Menchie’s has now hit Canada, opening up in the Annex neighbourhood, which is already saturated by excellent dessert places such as Greg’s and Future’s.

The unique thing about Menchie’s is that you get to concoct your own yogurt creation and can do whatever you like with it.  First, you start off by grabbing a cup (or a waffle cone in a cup which is $1.00 extra) and you head right over to the yogurt machines.  There’s a huge variety of flavors.  Some of which I never knew existed in frozen yogurt form.  For example, there’s banana bread yogurt, and cookie batter too.  Plus they have the usual choices, strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.  For my own experiment, I decided to try regular tart and tart apple flavors as my yogurt base.   After you’re done filling your cup, you can shift on over to the toppings base, and feel free to go wild.  There’s all the staples of toppings such as chocolate chips, peanuts, and a variety of fruit, plus there’s some unique ones too such as klodhoppers.  Next to the fruit, there’s a few choices of syrup, but seeing as how my creation was already filled with a bunch of random toppings, I thought none of the sauces would go too well with the mix.

My cup, which was about half filled, came to $4.00.  Your creation is weighted upon completion and you’re charged 49cents an ounce, plus taxes.  Apparently the cups can hold 16 ounces of yogurt, and since the yogurt appeared to be the most heaviest ingredient, just be careful how much you fill up.  I can easily see someone going crazy and end up spending $20 on one cup.

not the most appetizing looking thing, but it was good!

Thanks to the huge variety of yogurt flavours and toppings, I definitely see myself returning to Menchie’s in the future.  I can’t wait to try a pina colada frozen yogurt mixed with oreos and mangoes.

Dr. Generosity’s would probably not be the first place you’d want to go to for Sunday brunch if you had a hangover. The place was packed of families with small children this morning. However, if you don’t mind the whining children, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how good Dr. G’s brunch is.

Each plate ranges from $10 to $12 (with the Steak being the only one that’s $15) and they also have a children’s selection for $7 a plate. We ordered Lisa’s Bloor West Village Special, Dr. G’s “Huevos Rancheros”, and the Classic Eggs Benedict. My first comment about the menu was that both the French Toast and Waffles came with meat in which Sara’s response was “Because he’s Dr. Generosity”.

One of the cool things, which also probably makes this a happening weekend brunch spot for families, is that all the tables are covered in brown drawing paper with a cup of crayons, much like Jack Astors. Unlike Jack Astors, you may want to refrain your friends from drawing male genitalia all over the table as this is a family restaurant. Another great thing about what’s on the tables is the big set of toast spreads: jam, marmalade, honey, and peanut butter.

Lisa’s Special contains kielbasa which is type of polish sausage that’s full of flavor (unlike the typical english sausages you get with brunch). They’re diced and mixed in the with the scrambled eggs and cream cheese. This is such an excellent dish as every bite is a bit different from the next. One bite you’ll get a full burst of some nice cream cheese while the next one may contain the nice smokey flavor of the sausage.

All of the meals we ordered came with home fries on the side. These home fries get a good high score in my book, though not as great as the tulips since they don’t have too many crispy bits, but they’re nice and flavoured. They’re also really soft on the inside too which ranks them in my top 5 for favourite home fries.

I did not hear a single complaint from Sara or Antony regarding their meals so the Rancheros and Eggs Benedict appear to be great choices as well. Sara especially enjoyed the clear glass mugs that they serve their tea and coffee in. One of the great things about the tea is that it comes steeped so you don’t have to wait for it to be ready when it comes to your table.

I highly recommend Dr. Generosity’s for brunch if you’re in the High Park Bloor West area. The prices aren’t too over the top, the service is efficient and friendly even during peak times, and above all the food is excellent.

I first heard about Tim Horton’s doing their trial co-branding with Cold Stone Creamery last year but had not really gone to check it out quite yet. Having tried Marble Slab, I loved the idea of taking some ice cream and mushing it together with your favorite crunchy and sweet ingredients on a cold slab of marble. What I didn’t like was the price of it (it can cost you $7+ just for a small!) and the lineups in the summer.

My friends on foursquare can probably tell you that after trying Cold Stone Creamery last month, I’ve been in love with the place having gone back about 4 more times in the last 4 weeks. The price is a bit cheaper (You can get one of their small signature creations for less than $5) but you can tell the ice cream is of slightly lesser quality than Marble Slab. Never the less, it’s still pretty darn good.

The frozen slab at Cold Stone, where the magic happens!

I find that whenever a place lets you go wild with the ingredients, I’ll always stick with the recommended/pre-selected creations as they’re usually more tried and tested. I’ve tried my own random Cold Stone ice cream creation of Cookie dough ice cream with oreo and strawberries but it just wasn’t that great. However, their signature selections are heck of a lot better. My favorites would have to be the Cookie Mintster (Mint ice cream with oreo cookies), and Our Strawberry Blonde (graham cracker pie crust, strawberries and caramel).

I know it’s been a year since they first put Cold Stone in the Timmy’s up at Bay and Bloor, but I do hope they roll out a lot more of them around the city.

Chew Chew's train mural

The giant mural of a train on the side of the restaurant is sure to get a few groans along with the ironic name of the diner, but if you actually step inside the front door, you’ll quickly see that this bustling little diner’s train theme actually works quite well for itself without getting too tacky.

The scene of some Canadian mountains is displayed right next to the booths lined up against the wall, acting as a faux outside window of the mock train you’re sitting in.  It’s a bit tacky, but it works.

I was told the best thing to order at Chew’s would be the Conductor’s special, but I wasn’t feeling like breakfast today so I went with the standard diner fare of cheese burger and fries.  We also ordered a hot hamburger chicken plate also with fries.

Chew's cheeseburger

The burger was quite good and came piled with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.  The bun was nice and grilled too (I hate floppy untoasted burger buns as they got soggy right away).  The side of coleslaw was really good with shredded veggies in it, and it wasn’t too tangy, just right.  The fries were quite excellent and still had the potato skins on which is exactly how fries should be.

Hot Hamburger Chicken

The hot hamburger chicken was smothered in some nice beef gravy and sat atop a piece of texas toast bread.  It also came with some fries and some nice steamed vegetables which included broccoli and carrots.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a “hot hamburger” reviewed or mentioned on this site before, so if you’re not familiar with it and are wondering why it doesn’t look like my cheeseburger, that’s because hot hamburgers are just meat on a piece of a bread with gravy on top.  I was slightly confused the first time I ordered one years ago at Dangerous Dan’s diner and wondered where my hamburger bun was.  The waiter explained to me that hot hamburger plates is an idea that comes from the southern US and incorporates a hamburger patty placed on a piece of bread and covered in gravy.  Wikipedia tells me that it’s “occasionally compared to the poutine” if that helps at all… that statement actually allows me to revel in my state of food confusion, but hey, it’s still great food.

Chew’s is a great addition to the Cabbagetown restaurants and I do plan on going back some day and trying the conductor’s special.  One of the great things about this diner is it’s open concept kitchen area.  I know there’s a great deal of older restaurants that have their cooking area right out in the front, but I just think it’s great that you can see your food being cooked while you wait.  Thank goodness they didn’t make their staff wear conductor uniforms.