What are your favourite restaurants in your city?

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Generally speaking, Canada is a pretty terrible place for burgers. The average restaurant burger in the US is pretty good whereas the average burger here is an overpriced mess with bland, overcooked beef and terrible bread.

You’re probably right overall but I think Toronto is a decent burger city overall. Can’t speak for Montreal but I would have assumed the same. We have our fair share of old-school burger joints, good smash burger ones and restaurants that serve a proper medium-rare thick burger. Allen’s on the Danforth has been doing medium rare for decades now - it’s so good.

Been to a lot of good burger places in Chicago and aside from the size part of the equation they aren’t really any better than here. Aside from Au Cheval which is divine.

[urbandreamer]

Is the chicken big mac any good?

Back in my burger eating days, I ate everywhere from Jumbo burger on Runnymede to a beet burger at the Beaver, to a gourmet big mac knockoff somewhere on Dundas near Dufferin, the Drake had an excellent burger 15-20 year's ago, the whole gourmet burger trend began at some place on Parliament in Cabbagetown iiirc c.2007 (owned by some Australian), Burger's Priest I never really liked, way back in the day Terri's Garden on Queen West had Ukrainian-style bbq chicken sandwiches so good (c.1999-2001), I had an excellent burger at Barque on Roncesvalles a decade ago, also ok at The Ace iirc. The point I'm making, it's easy for KT or anyone to say a city's burgers suck, but until you've tried dozens of them you look kind of ignorant. Does anyone remember Bronto Burger at Dundas and Pacific, back when Crema Coffee was the only cafe on the entire Junction strip? (My absolute favorite burger was at this Kazakhstani shawarma place next to Israel's on Eglinton West: a Kofta-style sandwich on a burger bun.)

Still, I miss the simplicity of a grilled all dressed burger served with fresh poutine and an ice cold Molson Ex made at those old school Greek diners on rue McGill - the one on the east side north of Hotel St Paul was the best. (Now Brit & Chips or its neighbour. I was at Hotel St Paul on opening night, late summer 2002. I knew the interior designers. It was Montreal's first boutique hotel.)

[TorontoDrew]

I'm Keto so most fast food places are a no go for me. But I did used to love the Chicken Sandwich at AAA, (now called Daddy's Chicken) on Queen East in Leslieville.


Great now I want all the carbs.
https://daddyschicken.ca/

[TorontoDrew]

What's everybody's favorite Sunday brunch spot? I don't think any can claim to be the best but we all have our local favorites. For my in Riverside it would have to be the White Lilly Diner. They have a small menu, everything is local, and I've heard they even have their own chicken farm for eggs just outside the city. One I need to try maybe this weekend is Eastside Social, a seafood restaurant that has some of the best food east of the Don, now serves Sunday Brunch. I haven't heard of anybody I know going yet but if the breakfast is as good as their dinners then I look forward to it.

Honorable mention goes to the Maple Leaf Tavern. This former Dive Bar/Rooming House now has some of the best gastro fare in the east end.
source: https://www.thecuriouscreature.com

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Is the chicken big mac any good?

In my opinion, no. I tried it and the chicken was bland and flavourless.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

In my opinion, no. I tried it and the chicken was bland and flavourless.

[urbandreamer]

I just made a PC gluten-free chicken burger for lunch: lettuce, mayo, ketchup , dill pickle and grilled cheese on toast. My craving for a big mac mcchicken satisfied.

The last place I brunched at in Toronto was B, now a Jimmy's Coffee at Dundas and Roncesvalles. I feel that brunch is a 20-30something thing and I'm too old, picky and poor for that scene. (At one point in my late '90s life, I thought brunch began at Future's and ended at the Green Room, with perhaps an exotic tour down to sister restaurant Java on Queen West or Butler's Pantry. What was the name of that cool TexMex burrito place on Queen West of Bathurst?) Anyway, as my grandmother used to say, every decade you're a new person so maybe someday I'll find restaurants exciting again.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Is the chicken big mac any good?

I tried one yesterday. I thought it was gross.

Ended up taking the whole ensemble apart and eating the chicken patties and pickles without the buns, without the "cheese" (a definition that only loosely applies!) and without most of the lettuce and sauce.

When I do eat McDontchawishyouhadn't, I usually stick to egg mcmuffins and the double quarter pounder with no cheese and extra onions and pickles. And I still regret it.

I do prefer their coffee when given the choice between Gimmie-my-Timmies and McD. But the food... only happens during desperation-time and those instances when it seems like a good idea in the moment.

[SignalHillHiker]

In Europe, Rotten Ronnie's has the McPlant burger. It's not very good.

Burger King (at least in Spain) is, by far, the biggest of the fast food chains we'd know. It's everywhere, often the only option in airports, beach boardwalks, etc. The veggie burger they use there is truly great in terms of how closely it resembles regular fast food burgers.

The nice thing about Spain is that all the restaurants that do their own thing, not chains... they've never heard of Beyond Meat or Impossible Burger, both of which taste like machinery to me. They mostly seem to be using a heavily-spiced black bean patty. It's nothing like meat but VERY satisfying and works flavour-wise with everything a burger would.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Montreal is your go-to city in Canada if you want unique innovative locally-sourced cuisine. By a longshot I'd argue.

But Toronto and even Vancouver offer a wider range of the world's culinary diversity.

I mean, Vancouver even has what is arguably the world's best Québécois restaurant. But the cuisine itself didn't originate in Vancouver, and even the chef-owner is "imported" from Quebec!

I think that still under-estimates Montreal's culinary prowess.

For example, metropolitan French cuisine is surprisingly weak in Toronto (even worse in Vancouver by a longshot). I could probably count in one hand the number of excellent restaurants that we'd go back to (Le Baratin etc.). There's way too many Toronto French restaurants that are overhyped and under-deliver. Given how important French cuisine is on the world stage, Toronto still plays a weak game in this regard.

Whereas in Montreal, excellent French restaurants are a dime a dozen. Even Gatineau seems to have a better selection of French restaurants than Toronto, in my opinion.

On a related note, after a trip in the Alps we wanted a fix of fondue and raclette. Thought it was going to be easy to find, but found out it's next to impossible to find in Toronto. We tried a few, but they couldn't hold a candle to the real cuisine served in Suisse and France. We ended up grabbing our fix at La Raclette on the Plateau to satisfy the cravings.

[rousseau]

My impression is that French food isn't as important in Toronto anymore as it clearly still is Montreal. "Haute cuisine" used to be the aspirational byword everywhere for all that was good in cooking, but those days are long gone. It's obvious that the ancestral relationship between Quebec and France is the reason for the preponderance of French restaurants there, whereas Toronto's Britishness has diminished and been superseded by its South Asian and Chinese demographics. And British food, well, isn't really a tradition that you work to maintain like French food would be.

As for me personally, I'm far from an expert on food, and really only have a basic working knowledge of the Asian and Mexican things I like, but the snootily posh and forbidding legacy of French food is offputting to me and raises my egalitarian hackles. Give me delicious peasant food every day, please, and I don't want to (can't) pay a lot for it. I'm sure I'm missing out on some really good stuff, no doubt, but I find it hard to care when there are so many amazing Asian options in Waterloo and Toronto (that, indeed, aren't as commonly available in Montreal).

Not being an urban foodie, my opinion is barely worth a pinch of kosher salt, I guess. I have never paid for a meal that cost over $100 for two people, and doubt I ever will. At least not until inflation takes us to the point where it's inevitable.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

In Europe, Rotten Ronnie's has the McPlant burger. It's not very good.

Burger King (at least in Spain) is, by far, the biggest of the fast food chains we'd know. It's everywhere, often the only option in airports, beach boardwalks, etc. The veggie burger they use there is truly great in terms of how closely it resembles regular fast food burgers.

I was a fan of Lick's Nature burger in Toronto, I used to get it not because I was vegetarian but because it just tasted good. There is only 1 location left now and it's up in Parry Sound. AnW also has a good veggie burger.

I am now trying to live as vegetarian as possible. Sticking to fish and chicken when options are slim.

[kwoldtimer]

The only French(ish) restaurant that I know of in Ottawa is in a hotel in Centretown. It seems to be out of style in terms of dining out.

[harls]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Burger King (at least in Spain) is, by far, the biggest of the fast food chains we'd know. It's everywhere, often the only option in airports, beach boardwalks, etc.

That's interesting. BK seems to be shuttering its locations in Quebec. I can think of only one that exists now in Gatineau.

[niwell]

There are plenty of classically trained chefs in Toronto but as mentioned above I don't think French food is really that popular here - both from a public perspective and what most up-and-coming talented chefs want to do*. I personally enjoy it, but also would never be my go-to. Lived around the corner from Le Baratin for a while and have been multiple times - it's really good but don't think would even crack the top 20 restaurants in the city for me. I do tend to prefer more "French inspired" cuisine than the real thing which I'm sure is also heresy in certain circles.


*I've actually had conversations with people in the industry about similar topics. There is certainly a preference in style between cities and they are becoming more disparate in specifics (not a bad thing) - wouldn't surprise me that French cuisine is more popular in Quebec.

[shappy]

^ I agree. Dailo, for example, with it's French-Asian fusion, is a much more interesting experience than Le Baratin. Like, no contest IMO.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The only French(ish) restaurant that I know of in Ottawa is in a hotel in Centretown. It seems to be out of style in terms of dining out.

The Savoy Brasserie in Westboro has closed down. But there’s a couple downtown, including one that opened recently.

[urbandreamer]

Maybe the exotic cuisine in Quebec should be English food? When I lived in Montreal I mostly ate Quebecois food, ie working class food. Laurier is where I'd go to see how the elite lived.

Anyway I mostly eat bland homemade food these days: soups, roast chicken/turkey, casseroles, baked beans, seafood. I found out my half-Indian cousin has GERD, meaning very little South Asian food is tolerable ha.

[harls]

Les Fougères and L'Orée du bois were the only real fancy-type frenchy restaurants my podunk ass knew about when I moved here.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

The Savoy Brasserie in Westboro has closed down. But there’s a couple downtown, including one that opened recently.

Cuisine styles are all over the map now, and in practice a lot of simply nice and expensive restaurants are considered "French" at this point.

For example, in Ottawa places like Play and E18hteen are generally categorized as French restaurants.

I guess it's a bit more obvious in Quebec though places like Harls mentioned (L'Orée du Bois and Les Fougères) mostly propose a fusion cuisine of French and Québécois styles.

This mix is actually extremely common in Quebec and in fact it is the dominant style of cuisine among high-end restaurants in Quebec.

For example, this is a menu from L'Orée du Bois in Gatineau Park:

http://fr.oreeduboisrestaurant.com/M...1/Default.aspx