The Abby

Hey all.

Check out this place.

Pretty standard pub if you are in the west end.

It is called The Abby and is on College just west of Ossington.

Went there for a quiet night and has a pretty cool patio with a huge mural on the wall just to the side of it. Decent beer choices with an Irish waitress set the mood and a good selection of food on the menu.

I decided on a curried chicken but I went off menu a little with subbing fries for the rice. Curried chicken on fries is amazing. it soaks into the fries and amazes the taste buds.

There was entirely too much food for everyone. All of the portions were very large and would feed 2 people at least so ring your appetite.

Good food. Decent prices. Decent beers. Not a place to go out of your way to but if you are in the area and looking for these things please pop in.

NXNE Take it to the Street!!

This is the second in a 2 part series from the NXNE festival.

I love events to say the least. Unintentionally I was involved in a second one on the same day. After getting out of a NXNE show at the Mod Club I found I was right in the middle of Taste of Little Italy. On College between Bathurst and Ossington there is a large street party that went all weekend. All of the restaurants and other venders pull out their patio and spill into the street. Go for a walk and have some fun. There were many band everywhere and lots of old people dancing.

I got some samosas and it came with a "secret sauce" which was tomato base and amazing. The meat was nice and moist which sometimes gets baked out in samosas.

Where was also some spaducci which is some juicy lamb on a small skewer. You add a little salt and cook it on a special charcoal grill that is exactly the width of the meat on the stick. Amazing little snack right off the grill.

We then stopped at Duff's on College for some beers and to people watch.

Check it out again next year and also check out Taste of the Danforth in August.

Cheers.

NXNE Portuguese Edition

Long time coming but I have set it out here.

This is the first installment of my NXNE food tour. For those who don't know NXNE is a music festival in Toronto called North By Northeast and ran last weekend with over 700 bands from across the world playing in small venues all over Toronto. If you can you should get a wristband which gets you into everything and just giver' for the week/weekend.

Churrasqueiras. They are the primary restaurant in little Portugal. They are also delicious. It is a style of cooking rotisserie chicken and is a staple of the Portuguese diet and I went to a place on Dundas just West of Dufferin called Ribeirinha Da Dundas. Between 2 shows we needed a fairly quick dinner and we decided to check it out.

I will be trying more places like this. It was quick and it was amazing and the meal was as follows;

1/2 chicken: Juicy and cooked very well with a little bit of a chrispy skin. This was the grilled chicken and not the rotisserie (that would have take 30 mins longer and we did not have the time).

Salad: Pretty standard but huge and very fresh garden salad.

Potatoes: Cooked into little balls that were a little bit crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with a little bit of balsamic drizzled over top.

All in all there was too much food for me to handle and I will be checking out some more of these restaurants as I love the style of food.

Eat it up!!

MMMMM:BRGR

WHOA!!

Ok this will be an interesting one.

Went to a place called M:BRGR and I will have to say that it was one of the best things I have eaten in my life.

Just East of Spadina on King there is a store front. Within this storefront is a restaurant. For this restaurant there is a menu. On this menu there are choices. SOOOOOO many choices and what are these choices for? They are for wonderful burgers made to order.

1st you pick your bun, then you pick your burger, then you pick any of the amazing toppings.

The burger choices range from Kobe beef to Tuna burgers while the cheese goes from Brie to Blue. The toppings are extensive from Bacon to Grilled Pineapple to even Pulled Pork. There is even a "crazy expensive" section with toppings like shaved truffles and foi gras! There is even a $100 burger but I could not bring myself to get it.

The Burger I got was a Beef burger on a whole wheat bun with smoked Gouda. My toppings were caramelized onions, Applewood smoked bacon, grilled salami, a fried egg and pulled pork. Delicious!! The mix of flavours really kicked in about the 3rd bite and lasted for many hours after the meal. I also had some sweet potato fries with Chipotle mayo. Might have been the best combo of my life.

This place is a little expensive but if you have the means you should mean to get down here for a mean burger.

Cava for some Tapas

I am sorry as I have been out of town for how long it has taken for me to put up a new one.

Took the lady to this place on Yonge just North of St. Clair that has some great Spanish tapas. I will have to say you pay for it but it is amazing.

We chose to let them bring out dishes to us to create the experience and I will break it down that way as well.

Pincho of Gamay-Poached Foie gras with Pomegranate Onions:

This was good. The onions made for a great break in the richness of the Foie Gras. The only difference I would make in the dish is a thinner slicing of the Foie Gras as it is so rich it almost overpowers.

Smoked Kingfish Ceviche with a Frisee Salad:

This was served with some corn chips that you can pile on. This was light and refreshing with that kingfish taste. Had to ask for some more chips to finish it.

Grilled Squid and Fingerling Potatoes Green Onions and Romesco:

This was amazing. The squid was perfectly grilled being crispy and tender at the same time with not being chewy. the sauce was incredible. get this for sure

Line-Caught Albacore with Jamon Serrano Oyster Mushrooms and Tarragon:

This was alright. Interesting mix of flavours but I thought it was a little to busy.

Venison Anticucho with a Warm Red Cabbage Salad:

Amazing meat. Was tender and juicy and melted in your mouth. Adding some of the cabbage to it was a perfect compliment. Get this too!!

Forty-Eight Hour Beef Cheek with White Puree and Chimichurri:

Perfect dish. I would have licked the plate if I was at home. Mix it when you eat it and the flavour will melt together and perfectly form. If nothing else get this.

Go here and try some things but make it an occasion as you will spend a little bit. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Canadian Music Week Edition 1: Clintons and the Bill Type

Hey all. This week has been crazy as there are 700 bands playing in the city over the last 7 days. I personally have seen about 20 so far and so in doing this it ends up that I eat out a few times.

I hit Clintons on Bloor street just near Christie Station for a light dinner before hitting up some of the shows.

I will be reviewing this place again as the next time I will be psyching up myself to have the Soy Wings. No idea how they work or will taste but will be trying them.

Anyways this time We decided to go for the huge nachos. They were good with olives, cheese, tomatoes, and baked goats cheese. The plate was HUGE and came with 3 large portions of salsa, sour cream and Guac. This is one of the only places that had no charge guac and that is a big deal for me. The only issue that I have with them is that they were not layered but having the big dips really helped.

As for the beer it was decent prices and I had Rolling Rock which is an American beer that has just come to Canada and is a beer of choice for me.

Check it out!!

Burger Surprise

Hey All.

Ok Just wanted to drop a quick note in here.

I had an amazing burger this week.

BMQ Diner is pretty much between The Rivoli and Horseshoe Tavern on Queen West just East of Spadina.

Huge selection of burgers with tons of toppings. I had one named Riverside which has bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce, an onion ring, and garlic aioli. Perfect combo of flavours and the burger was cooked perfectly to a medium consistency.

They have beer deals too. $2 half pints at 4pm and I think that runs everyday.

Check it out and eat it.