Le Pain Quiotidien at the corner of Yonge and Yorkville

Bread, bread, and more bread.  Bread means carbs.  Too many carbs are bad. Incase you haven’t noticed, I’m sort of going on a bit of a health kick lately so I was actually a little reluctant to go to a place known as “the daily bread”.  Fortunately, as noted a few times by Antony, there aren’t too many unhealthy selections at Le Pain Quotidien.  Infact over 90% of the menu, not counting the desserts, are actually healthy choices full of grains, fruits, and many other organic ingredients.  I’ve been told that they use local ingredients too though I don’t see anything on their website which confirms it.

the joint's quite hopping on a sunday afternoon

For our mid autumn brunch, Sara, Antony, and myself decided to head to LPQ (now I’ll say LPQ because an acronym looks better than Le Pain) up in the Yorkville area which is located a hop, skip, and jump from the subway Bloor subway entrance.  The place was bustling with patrons and staff, eagerly serving the Sunday brunch crowd.  It had a very nice rustic and cozy feel to the place, with wooden tables, and a wood-colour stained cement walls.  The restaurant also sported a bunch of chalk boards listing the specials up on a couple of walls, giving it a very french cafe feel.  They also had this one wall in the back area of the restaurant that had these giant metal items hanging on it which I could only describe as.. bicycle seats?

the awesome tea setup/the cold coffee and sorta hard but yummy croissant

For starters, Antony ordered a tea and Sara ordered a coffee, while I just stuck with coffee.  Antony noted that the tea setup was wonderfully done and came with traditional style french teacups.  Yes, he’s pompous about his tea and even what type of pot the hot water comes in.  On the other side of the table, Sara’s issue was that her coffee came in a pot which cools down too quickly, and would’ve preferred to have had the diner system, where waitresses come by every 10 minutes to refill your cup with hot coffee.  She also said her coffee was overly roasted.  We can thank Starbucks for this trend as they’ve trained everyone’s taste buds to prefer overly roasted coffee.

For our entrees, I went with the Rustic Tuna Sandwich which comes with bacon bits, cheese, and green onions.  Probably not the healthiest choice, but definitely sounded tasty.  Their soup of the day was butternut squash so, knowing my love for that soup, I had to order a small cup of it.  Sara went with an almond croissant to start, and a quiche lorraine as her entree.  Antony with a bowl of handcut oatmeal and berries served with non fat milk, and a fruit salad bowl on the side.

butternut squash soup

First let’s start with the butternut squash soup which came with a squirt of pesto oil on the top (thanks goes to Sara for identifying it for me).  Even though it’s a cream based one colour soup, you could easily taste an array of different types of vegetables within it’s creamy yet textured goodness.  But I’ll be honest, my first initial taste was a little disappointing.  This is mainly due to the fact that the last two butternut squash soups that I’ve tried have been loaded with brown sugar and gave it an excellent sweet taste.  LPQ’s soup didn’t really contain much sugar at all.  But after a few more spoonfuls of the soup, everyone agreed that it was awesome.

rustic tuna

As you can see in the photo, the rustic tuna sandwich is presented open faced with a few slices of tomatoes.  The collection of ingredients sitting on the nicely toasted and crunchy bread was quite good.  The tuna was nice and flaky and didn’t have much mayonnaise on it, which is a good thing.  The addition of bacon, green onions, and bit sof cheese added a nice touch and helped to dissipate the fishy taste which is usually present with tuna.  The downfall about this sandwich is that it was sort of difficult to eat.  It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to pick up with your fork if you’re going to cut it and eat it, and it also wasn’t much fun to pick up with your fingers as the bread would absorb some of the moisture and collapse from your fingers.

Sarah’s almond croissant was a little on the hard side, but this could be due to the fact it was sitting in the dessert bar all morning before being consumed.  It did appear to contain a lot of butter, but what croissant doesn’t?  I didn’t try any of it but her and Antony both seemed to enjoy it.

the quiche lorraine

The quiche lorraine came along side a slice of bread, and a mesclun salad.  I had a bite of Sara’s quiche and it was nice and fluffy in the middle with an excellent flaky crust.  The mesclun salad is a nice healthy alternative to the usual garden salad, but in my own experience, it sort of churns my stomach after eating.  Maybe it’s due to the fact that I don’t eat enough organic greens, or it could be all in my head that I feel like I’m eating a houseplant rather than a salad.

the oatmeal.. looks smaller than it actually was

Antony’s oatmeal came with a nice assortment of blackberries and raspberries on the top.  But rather than add sugar in his oatmeal, he decided to start throwing in his fruit salad which contained the same berries but also had melon pieces and strawberries.  It was a pretty large bowl of oatmeal though, which he couldn’t completely finish.  Without the fruit added, the oatmeal tasted no different than the microwave oatmeal you’d buy at Loblaws, so I saw nothing special in calling it.  But I guess whether it’s handcut or not, it’s still going to taste the same.

Overall we had no complaints about our experience aside from the staff not coming to check on us as much as we’d like.  But this was a Sunday afternoon and the place was packed.  Not to mention that the table we were sat at was kind of in the corner and not completely accessible without playing hopscotch over the other patrons to get to us.  The price was a little up there though (just shy of $11 for my sandwich, and Sara’s quiche coming in at $12) but given the area it was pretty reasonable.  There are cheaper choices on the menu though, but we went with our stomachs, not our wallets.  I definitely look forward to returning to LPQ again in the future, and I recommend if you do go with a few friends, don’t hesitate to try the Organic Baker’s basket if it’s your first time checking the place out.  It’s well worth it and gives you a nice assortment of their different types of breads and spreads to try out.

Average Price: $6 – $12 per entree
Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30am – 7:30pm, Sat 8:00am – 7:30pm, Sun 8:00am – 6:00pm
Address: 10 Yorkville Ave (not 18 as listed on Urbanspoon)
Phone: 416-926-7555
TTC Directions: Get off at Yonge/Bloor station and exit out into Yonge street.  Walk two blocks north on the west side of Yonge until you reach Yorkville Ave.

Inside Coffee Culture

Local coffee chains are sort of given a bad reputation.  I’m not talking about Tim Hortons, but looking more towards Coffee Time and Urbana (Urban Chic, Urban Cool, Urban You… need I say more?).  So when I first heard about Coffee Culture, a new chain which started in back in 2006 in Woodstock, I just dismissed it like everyone else.  Then I was told “they’ve got free wi-fi and lots of plugs!” but so does every other ma and pa cafe.  Then I was told “they’ve actually got good cheap food too!” and with that I was sold.  On a side note, their US website completely leaves out the fact that they’re Canadian!  Of course, it’s not that hard to find out where they originated from, but just odd that they left it out.

Coffee Culture sits near the intersection of College and Bathurst, right at the edge of Little Italy.  It’s a busy little cafe and has an overall great ambiance, much like that of a European cafe.  The floating LCD TVs piping CP24 give you somewhere to stare off to when your date-from-hell turns to ice.  Now that I think about it, wouldn’t Starbucks be that much better (and local) if they too hung televisions from the ceiling and aired CP24?  I guess not.  Like Mama always said, “Television rots your brain!”, it also kills conversation.  Thankfully, at least on the day I went, the TVs lacked any sort of volume and were more there for the visual aspect.

Mmmm Butternut Squash soup

Now onto the food.  They had a special going on that day – for just shy of $7 you get a soup, any sandwich of your choice, and a bottled water.  I choose the minestrone soup while Antony had the butternut squash.  We both went with the roast beef and cheddar sandwiches.  The sandwiches themselves were great, grilled with a panini press.  I’m starting to learn that the most plain sandwiches become the best sandwiches in the world once they’re shoved in a panini press.  I absolutely love how they get these nice crisp ridges in the bread.  Bread aside (I’ve got to get me a panini press.  Hey, my birthday is coming up soon too), the roast beef and cheddar was nicely done, garnished with a slice of lettuce and tomatoes.  There wasn’t anything special about the roastbeef though.  It was just your standard cold-cut meat, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t taste great.

Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwich and Minestrone Soup

The soups were surprisingly good.  I have to say, I’ve never had butternut squash as good as the one these guys serve.  I’m not sure if they actually make it there themselves, or if it’s prepackaged, but whatever it is – it’s awesome!  There’s a hint of cinnamon in it too, so it gives your tongue a happy.  I’m planning to return there soon just to get some more butternut squash soup pending they are serving it that day.  The minestrone was also incredibly good and had tons of vegetables in it.  The broth was great too, not too salty and not too water-y.  I would also recommend it too!

Hooray for places that open late!

Oh and did I mention this place also has free wi-fi, and a decent amount of plugs?  Not to mention the front booth tables are really comfy.  They made my 5 hour study session quite comfortable.  I also had a piece of strawberry mouse cake, which was fricken huge!  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it.  It wasn’t the best mousse cake I’ve had, but it was also far from bad.  I highly recommend this place if you’re ever in the area, and it’s also a great place to study at too if you’re looking for an alternative from Golden Griddle, which I’ve noticed is getting a lot students now.  Coffee Culture is open until midnight (or 1am on weekends).  It doesn’t quite qualify for the late night study places, but it’s not a bad alternative.

Average Price: $4 – $8 per entree
Hours: Sun-Wed 6:30am – Midnight, Thurs – Sat 6:30am – 1:00am
Address: 409 College St
Phone: 416-868-9078?
TTC Directions: Hop on the College streetcar and head towards Bathurst.  Hop off at Bathurst and College and walk half a block east on the south side of College.

New Yorker Deli

If you’re going to insert “New York” somewhere into the name of your restaurant, then you’ve got some big shoes to fill.  Does the New Yorker Deli live up to its name?

Sitting right up near Bay and Bloor, the New Yorker Deli caters mostly to the office crowd and probably gets the odd patron heading down from some high end shopping in Yorkville looking for a cheap eat outside of the ‘ville.  The deli was pretty busy on the Sunday afternoon when Antony and I decided to go check it out for brunch.  They do have an amazing breakfast deal for under $5 but unfortunately we weren’t early enough for that.

inside the New Yorker

Antony ordered the three eggs and hash special which came with toast and homefries.  I decided to order a burger with cheese.  Our food came pretty quickly, and we sat where we could see the front counter as the cooks prepared our meals.  Antony’s eggs came over easy, as asked.  The toast was nice and thick texas style toast which is the best toast for egg yolk dipping.  The meat hash wasn’t all that great, nothing too special.  No added spices or anything to give it a burst of flavor.  The home fries were you standard McCain frozen then deepfried variety, almost like the same ones you get from Frans Diner.

Eggs and meat hash

My burger was also the same mediocre patty you get from President’s Choice.  Actually, I think it was the same as those thick President’s Choice burgers, as they have a pretty unique gear-like shape, as did this thick burger.  Not saying using frozen supermarket burger patties are a bad thing, but they also lack imagination.  I prefer hand made burgers myself.  The bun was a great choice though, an onion bun, which you don’t see too often in Toronto.  The fries that came with my burger, shoestring, were actially a bit better than the home fries, as they weren’t nearly as potatoe’y in the middle.

Cheese burger

A note about the staff, we had a really great waiter serving us, but when he wasn’t present, we did ask the manager (I’m assuming she was the manager as she wasn’t dressed in the usual waiter uniform) for water as she walked by.  Instead of her getting it for us, which was right behind us, she snapped her fingers and told another waiter to grab us water.  Her hands were free and honestly, there was no excuse for her not to grab the water herself.  Antony wanted to add a comment about how she seemed like the type of manager who walks around and looks for stuff that has to be done, but gets everyone else to do it for her.  This creates a stressful environment for the staff and as patrons, we can feel it too.

Overall, the food was okay although most of it seemed to be frozen supermarket food rather than made from scratch. The price of it all was pretty cheap though considering the area, and service was quite fast. I’d definitely go back if I’m in the area for a cheap eat and not feeling up to shopping at the grocery store nearby.

Average Price: $6 – $10 per entree
Hours: Open 7 days a week [I'll get back to you on the actual hours when I find out]
Address: 1140 Bay St
Phone: 416-923-3354
TTC Directions: Get off at Bay Station, at the Bay Street exit, and walk south a block towards Charles St on the west side of Bay

Caplansky's sky blue sign

There’s a few things I have to point out before I get started on my review.  My friends and I went to Caplansky’s new location on College street right on their opening weekend which was during labour day weekend 2009.  They were still trying to get a few things right, and a few of the things we ordered were sold out.  That said, the owner was there that night and did sit down to chat with us and ask us how we felt so we were honest, and everything said in this review has also been told to the owner.  Even though Caplansky’s is at a new location, the owner has been running the previous restaurant at the Monarch Tavern for about a year, and is very eager to please.  What also makes this restaurant unique is Caplansky runs a blog detailing his ordeal with running a restaurant which has been really interesting to read and I look forward to his updates.

When I think of the strip of College between Spadina and Bathurst, the first thing that springs to my mind are cheaply and competitive computer stores.  Recently nestled among the heart of this computer store strip right near Little Italy sits a white and sky blue deli by the name of Caplansky’s.  It recently opened yesterday (labour day weekend) and Sara, Antony, and myself decided to go check it out.

The deli was bustling with tons of patrons, waiting eagerly to check out what this new deli has to offer. The staff of about a dozen or more were quickly buzzing around taking and delivering orders.  The paper menus are laid across the tables as place mats, allowing you to check out the menu the second you sit down (and allowing them to adjust their prices every time they order a new batch of paper place mats).  The menu features such Jewish deli favorites as matzoh ball soup, knish, and kishke.

Coleslaw

Sara went ahead and ordered a smoked meat sandwich on rye, with matzoh ball soup, and coleslaw.  I also ordered a smoked meat sandwich, but had a smoked meat poutine as my side.  The sandwiches come in fatty, medium, and lean.  Lean tends to be more dry so I went with medium and Sara with fatty.  Antony went to order the smoked meat hash but was told they were out of it.  So he went ahead and ordered the “Special” which comes with three eggs, smoked beef bacon, latkes, and toast.  Unfortunately they were out of latkes, so he had it replaced with a poutine instead.  Sara asked for some pickles (a deli favorite) and they were sold out of those as well.  Yes, we know, opening weekend hiccups, but I did take note to mention it to the owner.

Smoked Meat Poutine

Our poutines, coleslaw, and soup all arrived quickly enough.  Antony’s poutine came on the side as well so it was delivered before his meal came.  The poutines were okay with beef gravy, chunks of smoked meat and a fair amount of cheese on them.  I wouldn’t say they were the best though as the best smoked meat poutine I’ve ever had came from Montreal, but it wasn’t too bad and I’m glad there’s a place in Toronto that now has decent putine.  Sara’s coleslaw was a little too dry, but that’s good for Sara as she prefers the dry coleslaw over the moist wet kind.  I prefer my coleslaw to be soaked in mayonnaise, and for my own personals tastes, the coleslaw wasn’t so great.  Now as for the matzoh ball soup, it was a little on the bland side, almost like there was too much water in the broth.  I was expecting more than one matzoh ball, but Sara wasn’t as shocked.  Sara has claimed in the past that she hasn’t found a place in Toronto that has matzoh ball soup that’s comparable to the good stuff she’s had in New York.  After eating the soup at Caplansky’s, her claim still remains.

matzoh ball soup

After about 10 minutes, Antony’s special came, and voila, with fries.  Of course after consuming all that poutine, Antony didn’t bother eating the plain fries.  He said the beef bacon was good, had a bit of a crisp on the outside, and was chewy all around.  He asked for his eggs to be done over easy, but the were more cooked then what you’d usually get, with no liquid remaining inside the yolk.

the special

10 more minutes later, our sandwiches arrived.  Yes, it took 20 minutes from the poutines and soup until our sandwiches arrived.  I have no idea how they took 20 minutes to make as we sat right next to the sandwich counter and all these guys have to do is slice meat, stick it on some bread, and serve.  So how was the smoked meat?  It was okay but a little bit too dry.  I generally love smoked meat.  I think Mel’s, up in the Annex, had some of the best smoked meat the city had to offer.  I also worked at a deli for a few years where we served smoked meat so I know how good smoked meat should feel and taste, but unfortunately, dry and crumbly isn’t it.  The smoked meat did have a nice hint of smokey flavor in it though.  It was actually kind of a unique smokey taste that I haven’t had before, almost like it was smoked on pine wood.  This did help salvage the overall experience of the dry sandwich.  What also was really good was the side set of condiments that came with the sandwich which included my favorite, honey mustard.

smoked meat sandwich

The owner, Zane, did come and sit down with us and we discussed with him how we felt about the food.  He shows good initiative as an owner and I believe if you give him feedback, he will do his best to accommodate you.  He removed Antony’s special right off of the bill due to his eggs not being prepared the way he asked, but he also persuaded us to try a slice of cheesecake topped with blueberries.  The cheesecake wasn’t too bad, and had a very homemade feel to it.  It wasn’t really to my liking though as it felt more crumbly like a dry pastry than a soft bakery cheesecake.  On the other hand, the blueberry topping was really excellent and we could also tell it too was homemade.

Blueberry cheesecake

Between the three of us, we have mixed feelings about Caplansky’s.  I’ve had better smoked meat sandwiches, but there aren’t too many great places in Toronto that I’ve had them at.  I’ve heard recently that Caplansky’s smoked meat is still a bit on the dry side, but if I ever hear that they’ve fixed the problem, I wouldn’t mind giving them another try and adding to the review.

Average Price: $8 – $12 per entree
Hours: Sun-Wed: 10:00am – 11:00pm, Thur-Sat: 10:00am – 2:00am
Address: 356 College St
Phone: 416-500-3852
TTC Directions: Hop onto the College Streetcar and get off just west of Spadina
Website: http://caplanskysdeli.com

Skeleton butterflies on the patio

From what I’ve been hearing from friends, the dish to try at Shanghai Cowgirl would have to be the grilled cheese.  Yes, the grilled cheese is the usual bland dish Ashley and I sometimes have when we’re stumped on what else to order, but the cowgirl apparently does the triple-decker-cheesiness really well.  Unfortunately, I decided to be a little bit more adventurous and stray slightly off of the well beaten path this time.  So I went with the tuna melt (okay, maybe not that far off the path).

Tuna melt with home fries

The tuna melt, which was just shy of $9 bucks, came with a choice of fries or mixed greens.  I went with home fries over french fries, but I have to point out that these guys do make sweet potatoe fries (yum!).  They were an excellent choice too.  They were soft and buttery in the middle, but contained just enough crisp around the edges to make each bite a wonderful combination of crunch and ‘mmm’.  As you can see from the picture above, they were the excellent hand made home fries, and not the frozen toss-in-the-oven-and-bake kind that you usually get from most breakfast diners.

The tuna melt itself wasn’t too bad.  The tuna was not too wet with mayonnaise, and not to dry either.  The tuna, which was covered in melted cheddar, sat on top of a piece of lettuce, all of which was contained neatly on top of a bagel half.  Each half of the tuna melt was garnished with some sprouts on top.  It’s a bit too large to be a eaten like a sandwhich, so that made utensils mandatory for this meal.

Sara went with the perogies stued with garlic, chilli, ginger, onions, and BBQ pork, all for $12 bucks.  She felt that for the price, there wasn’t a lot of food, but the quality was decent.  The perogies were a little too doughy, but the touch of chilli, ginger, garlic, and onions added a nice burst of flavor.  One interesting thing to note is that the BBQ pork is the same BBQ pork you’d get in Chinatown, from the pigs hanging in the windows — the traditional Chinese BBQ pork.  It was a little on the dry side but wasn’t too bad overall.

Perogies with BBQ pork

I do plan on coming back here some day to try out the triple decker grilled cheese, or their famous cheeseburgers I’ve also been hearing so much.  Overall though, we felt the food was great, but the price was just a tad bit steep.  Then again, this is Queen West.  I highly recommend you do sit out on the back patio if the weather is great.  Hopefully though, there won’t be too many smokers out there as there were a few when we went.

Average Price: $9 – $12 per entree
Hours: Sun-Mon: 10:30am – Midnight, Tue-Thur: 10:30am-1:00am, Fri-Sat: 10:30am-4:00am
TTC Directions: Hop onto the Queen Streetcar and get off just east of Bathurst
Website: http://shanghaicowgirl.com

Antony and I couldn’t believe that the previously vacant Coffee Time had finally been renovated and opened into a new restaurant, so we couldn’t resist the urge to go in and have a bite to eat.  We were greeted with an extremely friendly waitress who promptly sat us to the desired seat, “near the sun but not directly in it”.  She was very attentive to our needs and was not too intrusive.

Inside Eggsmart

Even though it’s largely a breakfast place, the Eggsmart menu does come with more lunch oriented choices, such as sandwiches, salads, and wraps.  But I was feeling like a brunch this time so I ordered the Sausage Scrambler, a bowl of scrambled eggs mixed with sausage, cheddar, green peppers, and onions.  It came with a side of excellent texas toast, and home fries.  The Sausage Scrambler was an excellent choice, with it’s nice blending of the two tastiest brunch vegetables.  There was enough in the bowl for it to be filling too, and I had more left over to share with Antony who also liked the dish.  The texas toast came buttered, but was slightly drenched in it.  Antony noted that sometimes it’s best to ask them not to butter your toast.

Sausage Scrambler

A container of jam packets sits at each table, so you never have to worry about being short of jam.  And the home fries… they were excellent!  Soft in the middle, crispy on the outside, and they had just the right amount of seasoning (a bit of salt and a bit of spice) to make them really good.  Antony said his home fries came out a bit too salty for his taste, which he told the waitress about.  She quickly had them replaced with no hassle, and even inquired later how they tasted.  Antony said they were excellent and was glad that there was no problem getting them replaced.

Antony had the traditional breakfast, 3 eggs served with choice of meat (bacon, ham, or sausage) choosing “bacon, extra crispy and eggs over-easy” as usual.  His eggs came in perfect shape, with the yolks intact and waiting to be punctured releasing their slimy, yolkie goodness.  His bacon was perfect and his request was met, it came extra crispy!  Each dish also came with a slice of orange twisted with a slice of melon, a great addition to the meal.

Traditional Breakfast, bacon extra cripsy

We both were extremely satisfied with our meal, and even more satisfied with the bill.  The grand total of all this good food for the both of us?  Just shy of $14.  It’s been ages since the both of us have had great food at a sit down restaurant for under $20.  In fact, I don’t think we ever have outside of a fast food restaurant.  While looking at the small bill, I’d also like to say that you better make sure to tip your waitress.  At $14, I felt stingy leaving the usual 15% tip, so I went ahead with Greg’s Twoonie Rule (that you should usually try to give a toonie per person), and gave her a $4 tip.  This place is also open until midnight, and I’m a sucker for great late night eats, so I definitely plan on going back again. [Edit: I recently went by Eggsmart about a week ago, and unfortunately, they are now only open until 3pm.  I guess staying open until midnight wasn't viable for them.]

Here’s something cute.  On the way home later on in the day, I walked by Eggsmart, and caught a picture of an Eggsmart Smart car in the parking lot across the street.  Once again, reaffirming, that these guys are smart.

The Egg-Smart car

 

Average Price: $6 per entree
Hours: 6am – 3pm
TTC Directions: Get off at Dundas Station, walk west on Dundas St. until you reach Bay St.  Walk 2 blocks north to Elm St.
Website: eggsmart.ca