T.O.bites | Toronto Food & Restaurant Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

When most of us think of Queen West, we tend to think of hipsters with a sprinkling of yuppies.  With it’s abstract photographic art on the walls and skeleton butterfly paintings on the back patio, Shanghai Cowgirl’s ambiance embraces the area’s distinct flavour but within a 1940′s diner like setting.

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).

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.

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

I’m unsure whether the name Eggsmart is a fusion word for either Eggs mart or Egg Smart, but if I had to chose based on how I felt after eating at this restaurant, I’d go with the latter of the two.  Eggsmart is a relatively new Ontario based brunch franchise with a few locations popping up on the radar.  The one I went to was one of it’s newest locations at the intersection of Bay and Elm St.  Taking over the shady spot that Coffee Time had for years, Eggsmart lies across the street from the extremely cheap Bay Street Hotel, and is destined to become a good breakfast/brunch spot for its guests.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

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

I’m never really satisfied with these little sandwich and coffee chains that we’ve got around the city.  Druxy’s, Cultures, Bagel Stop, Coffee Time, the list goes on.  Unfortunately, Croissant Tree does little to stand above the rest.

With only a handful of locations, all based in Toronto, the franchise isn’t exactly in your face unlike the bigger guys such as Tim Hortons, and most locations are tucked in small street corners or within malls.  According to their website [Psst, your Joomla favicon tag is sticking out!], the name has been around since 1981.

Having one right nearby where we work, Ashley and I decided to finally try it out.  I’ll admit that they do have a nice patio, but we didn’t bother sitting outside with the weather being a bit breeze.

Ashley ordered a simple pasta salad (if you’re wondering why there’s no tomatoes, it’s because she requested to leave them out) which she described as excellent, and not too tangy.  I, myself, went with a bit of comfort food, grilled cheese and a fruit salad.

I wasn’t expecting much to come out of this grilled cheese, as it’s a simple sandwich to begin with.  Two slices of bread and some cheese, possibly butter the sides and pan fry it til crisp.  Well at Croissant Tree, they don’t pan fry, or butter it.  They just shove it in a panini press, and wait for it to toast.  Not that I don’t mind, as the less butter and frying, the better.  But this is a grilled cheese.

My fruit salad was good.  The fruit was really fresh and it did contain the usual coctail of fruits:  melons, grapes, kiwis.  What it lacked were berries, and there was hardly any kiwi in the salad.

Overall, it was a decent quick lunch for under $10 without any frills.  The upside is that the location we went to near Church and Bloor has a nice patio, which will be perfect once the warm weather rolls around and stays.

Average Price: $4-$5 per sandwich, $8 for a combo with a salad