Chiado - Groupon Tasting Menu

Rich and I were recently discussing how it had been quite a while since we had dined at our favourite high-end Portuguese restaurant. Chiado is known for its vast and varied selection of seafood, having a fresh batch of fish flown in daily from Portugal.  The server brings out the daily choices on a platter and describes each one in great detail.

It seemed quite serendipitous that the very next day, I spotted a Groupon offering a five course tasting menu for two at Chiado for a mere $79.  The tasting menu was created specifically for the Groupon special since there was no equivalent offering on the menu.  This was a great way to try a variety of dishes and was too good a deal to pass up.

The first course was a moist slab of cheese made of cow's milk, served with a drop of honey and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and rosemary.

The next three courses offered a choice and it was hard to select since they all sounded so good.  For our second course, I chose a delicious grouper carpacio with white asparagus and pine nuts, while Rich picked the grilled sardines with bell peppers and red onion.

 Rich's third course consisted of pan roasted monk fish in piri-piri sauce sitting on a bed of navy beans.  I was tempted by the monk fish but really don't like hard beans so I chose instead the seared scallop on a puree of celeriac and a port wine reduction.  My scallop was tasty but nothing I hadn't had before.. Rich's fish was delicious and I regretted not getting this - I guess could have just left the beans.

Our fourth course was another tough decision between pan-roasted skate with a lemon coriander risotto and tyle fish, which was described to us as the wing of a sting ray served on garlic mash with a tomato/jalapeno salsa on a bed of garlic mash potato and crisply steamed vegetables.  Both main courses were perfectly cooked and flavourful.  I would have preferred the risotto that came with Rich's skate but enjoyed having vegetables with my more exotic tyle fish.

Our dessert course was an assorted sampler which included a tangy blueberry cheesecake, a chocolate fudge cake, and an interesting Portuguese specialty called a "molotov" made with sugar and egg white, with the consistency of a wet meringue.

Rich selected the wine pairing option which was surprisingly inexpensive at $5 per glass.  His final drink to accompany dessert was a special Portuguese tawny port that cannot be found at the LCBO.  It was so delicious that I ordered a glass for myself.

A great meal at a great price ... who could ask for anything more!  I will be on the lookout for other Groupon opportunities.



Chiado
864 College St West

Lobster & Chips at Toca in the Ritz Carlton Hotel

The Ritz Carlton Hotel is one of the oldest and most prestigious chains of high-end luxury hotels in the world, so getting one in Toronto elevates our status as a city.  That in itself seemed like a good enough reason to try its signature restaurant "Toca - by Tom Brodi".  So when we read about an item on their menu that was a fusion of two of my favourite foods - lobster, and fish and chips - it seemed like a special way to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.

Our favourite way to eat lobster is simply to boil or steam it and then dip it in clarified butter.  Lobster does not need any other spice or flavouring to mask its natural sweet succulent taste.

We find that the Chinese style of cooking lobster which is to chop it up into pieces and then stir fry it with ingredients like green onion, ginger or garlic does just this.  You mainly taste the extra ingredients instead of the lobster itself.

At Toca, the "Fancy Fish and Chips" consisted of sizable chunks of beer battered lobster, frites sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and accompanied by spicy tartar sauce.  Unfortunately this sounded much better than it tasted as the batter overwhelmed the flavour of the lobster.  Again this confirmed that the tried and true method of eating lobster unadorned is still the best.  In addition, the fries were not very crispy and tasted a bit bland.

Despite the prestige and upscaleness of the Ritz and the rather pretentious name of "Toca - by Tom Brodi", we found the food only average for a high-end pricey restaurant.  Ready to be impressed, we admired the beautiful bread basket and butter, which we thought had the name TOCA colourfully etched into it.  It was a bit of a letdown to know that the "engraving" was just printing on a piece of wax paper.

Our salad appetizers - heirloom tomatoes, gouda cheese and greens with a pesto vinagrette, and BC prawns with romaine hearts, celery salt, bacon tuile and horseradish dressing were good, but nothing special.

I hate to be "putting down the Ritz", but it was a bit disappointing that this spectacular looking hotel did not have a more impressive restaurant.

Family Style Dining at Ruby Watchco

Ruby Watchco is the restaurant recently opened by celebrity chef Lynn Crawford (host of Restaurant Makeover).  The unusual name was inspired by the former resident of the building, the Ruby Watch Company, as indicated by the large sign hanging on the wall.

Ruby Watchco is unique in that it offers only one 4-course set menu per day for $49, with the menus for the week described in advance on their website.  There is a vegetarian option if you ask for it.  The food is served family style, giving you the feel of going home to mom's and finding out what's for dinner.  This restaurant tries to use locally grown, organic produce and ingredients.

Our meal started off with a beet and watercress salad with cucumbers, carrots and goat cheese covered in a pistachio vinaigrette.  The menu lists the farms that these vegetables come from.  The main course was grilled Ontario veal chops with a sweet bread lemon caper sauce, accompanied by corn on the cob covered with honey and smoked paprika butter, grilled zucchini with herb pesto and dill potatoes with caramelized onions.

The third course was a soft and aromantic Riopelle cheese from a local fromagerie, served with grilled bread slices and chunks of Ontario peaches with an orange marmalade.  Dessert was a refreshing fruit crisp consisting of blueberries, strawberries, apricots and raspberries topped with a small dollop of whipping cream.  Summer time seems to be a good time to come for dinner, since the local harvest is plentiful.

This was tasty, wholesome,  hearty food with nothing too showy or splashy in terms of presentation or ingredients.  It rather reminded us of a good home cooked meal.  And if you don't like what's on the menu for the day, then I'm reminded of what Rich's father used to tell him when he didn't want to eat his dinner .. "That's too bad, it's a long time until breakfast".

Ruby Watchco
730 Queen St East

Al Fresco Dining at Dynasty in Yorkville

Two experiences that don't usually go together is Chinese food and outdoors dining.  Despite having eaten at numerous Chinese restaurants in Toronto and even throughout China, we had not found many examples of ones with outdoor patios or seating areas.  One exception is Dynasty Chinese Cuisine, formerly located on the 2nd floor of the Colonade building on Bloor Street, but now in its new home in the heart of Yorkville.

While the prices at Dynasty are understandably significantly more expensive than the traditional Chinese eateries, there is something surreal and extremely cool about sitting outdoors watching the Yorkville crowd go by (including the Jaguars, Ferraris, Maseratis) while chowing down on Chinese food.  The strings of purple Christmas lights strung overhead made it feel like you were dining under the stars.

Appetizers of oyster tempura with sweet and sour sauce, and squid in spicy pepper salt, followed by grouper chow mein with vegetables made for a good late dinner/night time snack after watching an outdoor play at U of T's Philosopher's Walk.  However we've had better versions of each of these dishes for more reasonable price at various restaurants up in Scarborough and Markham.  What we were after was the ambiance and the experience, and for that we were quite satisfied.

Dynasty Chinese Cuisine
69 Yorkville Ave

Red Tea Box on Queen St West

The Red Tea Box on Queen St West is a unique tea shop and restaurant that fits well with the other fun and quirky establishments on that street.  The store is at the front and sells tea leaves and teapots as well as sweets (cookies, cakes, chocolates).  There are also a few dining tables and chairs in the middle of the store that hint at the tea salon and restaurant area in the back.  It seemed strange to dine in midst of the shoppers so we opted to have our lunch in the official dining areas.

Walking through the store and then down a narrow hallway adjacent the kitchen, we emerge into a beautiful garden patio that was perfect for a warm summer afternoon.  The decor in the patio complemented the zen feel of the tea shop with a large red Asian parasol, and an ornate metal screen that had Indian motifs.

I was intrigued by the idea of the soup sampler - small bowls of three different types of soup.  Since it was such a hot day, the daily sampler consisted of a set of chilled soups - pea and ginger, fennel vichyssoise, corn and cilantro chowder.  Each of the delicious and refreshing soups had a distinct flavour.  I love the concept of getting to try a bit of everything rather than having to choose from equally enticing options!

The featured lunch bento box of the day included generous portions of moist seared black pepper chicken with brown jasmine rice, grilled octopus salad, and roasted vegetables with a sesame dressing.  The presentation was quite appealing with little cucumber chunks cut in the shape of butterflies and the rice heaped on a porcelain spoon.  The crisp fresh vegetables came as a triangular wedge artistically layered in alternating colours. 

Since we were eating at a tea salon, of course we had to order tea.  Again because of the heat, we opted for iced tea.  While there were over 30 types of hot tea,  the selection of iced tea was more limited. We picked the ceylon tea with kaffir lime which was perfectly brewed, sweetened and chilled.  The taste of the actual tea was evident, unlike most store-bought iced tea.

After such a large lunch, we were quite full but could not resist ordering the gorgeous looking dessert cakes that we saw passing by on route to other tables.  We picked a chocolate hazelnut toffee cake and a pistachio lime caramel cake, then waited to be surprised by the decorative fondant toppings that they came with.  The cakes were almost too beautiful to eat, and in fact when we did eat them, we found them a bit too sweet.

Further back behind the outdoor patio was an enclosed dining area called "The Coach House" that offers a totally different dining vibe than the outdoor patio.  The Coach House has a more European feel with an eclectic assortment of mismatched tables, chairs and chaise lounges.  We will return when the weather is colder and try the "tea bento" in this room.  Served from 2pm (noon on Sundays), you can choose to have either savoury or sweet snacks with your tea.


Red Tea Box
696 Queen St W