Rodney's Oyster Bar

On 56 Temperance Street here in Toronto, there is a little hidden restaurant called Rodney's Oyster Bar and it is fantastic. We did not have reservations for a table for 2, but we were seated anyways and served immediately around 5:45 PM. It is a hip place where all the business/financial types go for oysters, drinks and other good food. I ordered the moules and frites - it was excellent - the mussels were fresh, the fries crisp and the roasted garlic mayo that came on the side of the fries was amazingly delicious (I asked and they make the mayo in-house). My husband had the fish n' chips and the fish was perfectly crispy, fries, and the coleslaw was thinly sliced in a refreshing vinager dressing. My only observation is that it is noisy in there thus making it hard to hear any conversation without yelling across the table. Music is loud and it makes the crowds talk louder to compete. Aside from that, we had an excellent meal and at around $50 including tip for a meal for 2 downtown, super reasonable. I recommend this place heartily and will go again.

"Open"

On Monday, November 23, 2009, I went to Costco and bought a book I was very interested in reading. It is written by Andre Agassi and it is called "Open". Being a tennis lover, having watched Agassi play against Alex Kim in the first round of the U.S. Open in 2001 and having followed Agassi's career in my youth, I was very intrigued by his latest work. But the thing that got me, was a New York Times review, where I read how Agassi has always hated the sport that he excelled in. Myself, being a professional violinist having started at the age of 4 (like Agassi), I could relate to his feelings of ups and downs, wins and losses completely. "Open" is 386 pages long. I finished reading it last night (Thursday, November 26) at 1:30 AM. I could not put it down. I was riveted, fascinated, laughing, crying, understanding, sympathetic and the way it was written made me feel like I was right there with him, getting ready for each match. It is a brilliant book and I recommend it to everyone. I love it, I love how it was written, and I am ever so thankful for Agassi for writing it. It has helped to save myself for what lies ahead.

Nati's Mexican Restaurant

If you want some old school Mexican food that is cheap and fast, go try Nati's. It's a main stay resto of over 40+ years in Ocean Beach. I had the fish tacos and the plate of 2 tacos, beans and rice was under $10.00. The taste was excellent - the fish could've been a little crispier on the outside, but nevertheless, I still enjoyed it. The best part are the complimentary fresh fried tortilla chips and salsa - YUM! This place is also kid friendly and they have their own parking lot out back.

In N' Out Burger

I love a good burger - and I love a good burger that has a drive-thru window, paraphenelia on sale, friendly and relatively fast service. In N' Out Burger is my favorite place to go for just that thing. I get a hamburger "animal style" (it's secret code language for grilled onions), extra lettuce and tomato. I get a side of fries and a milk shake or a coke. For roughly $5.00, it's a steal. That's the funny thing I noticed in San Diego - the cost of eating out is remarkably cheaper than eating out here in Toronto. I don't think I can get a homemade burger and all the fixin's for under $5.00. Unheard of! Two thumbs up for In N' Out. I love it!

Negligent Writer

I have been a negligent writer of food, and I am very sorry for that.
I will make it up by writing on a smattering of food I just had in San Diego/Los Angeles.
My bad...I have no excuse.

Auberge du Pommier (an old review from Feb. 9)

Ahhh...Winterlicious. Something as a foodie, I look forward to every year. It's difficult getting a reservation here because of it's fame and for $45/prix fixe 3-course meal, it's supposed to be good bang for your buck. And being a foodie, I have heard delicious things about Auberge du Pommier. It is one of those Oliver Bonacini restaurants that are like a dime a dozen here in Toronto, except this one is supposed to be the Mother Ship of them all. Maurizio and I went with our delightful friends, Beatriz and Alberto, whom we always have a fabulous time talking and catching up with. But my food was so-so and the service was worse so. When given a menu that describes each dish with a written essay, I grow very wary. To start, we had the tiniest of all amuse buches - which was a mushroom quiche or tart. Meh, it was just o.k. All 4 of us ordered the "Salade de Saison" - arugula and endives with Muscat raisin dressing, Bleu de Gex and toasted walnuts. I am sad to say, this salad was the best thing on my tasting menu (next to the bread basket, the artichoke/onion/olive oil spread and the plump kalamata olives). As the main dish, we ordered the "Medallions de Boeuf" - swede aligot and roasted onion with comet tail (btw, what's a comet tail?) peppercorn jus. Everyone's meat was chewy in texture, and over cooked for a fine dining experience. I had and still have no idea what swede aligot is and if it was on my plate. Lastly, for dessert we had the "Brioche Pudding" - bread and butter pudding with apple puree and milk chocolate caramel. There was no brioche bread in here and no milk chocolate. It was more like flan meets creme brulee. It had no structure and no real taste. I ate it anyways more out of hunger than delight. Funny thing is, our waiter also agreed that to call this dessert a bread pudding was false advertising. The drip coffee was made of beans on the over burnt side and the coffee came AFTER we had already eaten our dessert. The "mignardise" were short bread cookies - to their credit, they were flaky, but again, no taste. My husband and I had a lovely appertif at the start of the meal and we ordered a bottle of the Shiraz, a 2006 Penmara Shiraz from New South Wales, Australia. It was nice and reasonably price pointed at $40/bottle. Would I ever come here again? No way. No one could pay me enough money to come here again. I would certainly go to Quince or Delux faster than I would go back here again. I can not, in good faith, recommend this restaurant to anyone. It's just not worth the bang for the buck and we clearly went on a night when the wait staff were not on their game.

Foxley's on Ossington

Foxley's - located on Ossington, a few blocks north of Queen Street, is Asian Fusion at it's finest.  My girl, Janice, and I went there a couple weeks ago - it's taken me this long to write about it because it was such a special evening and a very unique dining experience.  We had no wait - we arrived a bit after 8 PM, I believe, and we sat at the bar.  We ordered a couple glasses of red wine that was very smooth and easy to drink.  As this is a tapas type resto, we ordered a few treats - the shrimp with spicy sauce, the ribs in a shallot glaze and the blue crab avocado salad.  The shrimp was amazing - each one, very fresh, crispy and the sauce was spicy without being too over the top.  I believe the word jalapeno was in the sauce description and if you know anything about Mexican food, a jalapeno can be "burn your mouth" spicy!  The crab salad came on top of a halved avocado.  I took a spoon and separated the avocado from the skin and we just dove on in for what was a delicious and fully loaded crab salad.  It was just awesome.  The textures of the crab and the avocado were just amazing.  Lastly, the ribs - omg...those ribs are out of this world.  We actually ordered 2 full orders of the ribs, knowing how good they were - Janice had been here before and absolutely drools over these ribs and now I know why.  If ever I want a unique dining experience, or to treat myself to a nice meal, Foxley's Bistro would be an excellent choice.  Between the 2 of us, with tip and tax, we spent $36 each.  Not bad if you ask me!  As it is Asian Fusion, I don't know about you, but I have to be in the mood to be enticed by different flavors and textures - so when the mood hits you, go for it, because you can't go wrong here.