To be completely honest, the majority of what Shelby and I did while on vacation was
eat and
drink. I love me some good food! Prices in Canada were much higher but when you take into consideration the exchange rate, it is about the same as in the US. However, one thing that was different was the portion sizes. I sure did miss the American size portions.
We did notice a couple other different things they do at restaurants in Toronto. For instance, they don't put salt and pepper on any of the tables. Only 1 restaurant we went to had them on the table. Paying with a credit card is also much different there too. They bring the credit machine to you and stand there and watch you use it at the table. Awkward...because then you hand it back to them and it displays the tip. Even if you pay with cash, their aprons have change that they will give back to you at the table instead of taking to the other payment area like in America. Pretty much every restaurant took credit cards and one time I even paid using US dollars, which I'll never do again because she didn't covert it and I totally got screwed on my change back.
We typically ate 2 meals a day: brunch and dinner, sometimes a snack in between. Here are some pictures of the delicious food we ate while on vacation, with our silly little stories that go along with each meal. The name of the place we ate at will be listed below the picture.
South Street Burgers: This was the first place Shelby and I went to when we got to Canada.
It was right down the street from our condo on King St. We experienced "seating yourself" for
the first time, which I will
forever hate.
God bless America and our hostesses.
Le Petit Dejeuner: A little french place that is known for having the best waffles in Toronto.
They were amazing! But overpriced. I was so disappointed that we got there at 10am and I
was not allowed to be served a mimosa til 11! Very popular place, had to wait outside for 15
minutes; something we quickly learned was normal around here, after I walked in like an idiot
and asked to put our names in. The "hostess" takes names and party sizes outside.
The Rivoli: We stopped at this cool place for a mid afternoon snack after doing some shopping
on Queen St. $5 mimosas made up for my disappointment earlier in the day.
Guacamole is also my new favorite!
Queen Street Warehouse: What do I even say about this place...Shelby & I used Yelp a lot to help us find places to eat, which was super helpful. This restaurant came up as having all food for $4.95, how cheap! Well we went there Sunday night around 7 and waited outside for about 20 or so
minutes while we realized this was a CRAZY bar. Couldn't even hear each other talk.
The table next to us was on their like 5th round of shots while the girl danced on the table.
Food was...well, worth $4. The drinks, on the other hand, were way overpriced, look how tiny!
Drunken craziness on a Sunday...people in Toronto party hard!
Shelby's face pretty much describes this experience.
Eggspectation: Best breakfast! Look at that plate of deliciousness!!! And yes, I ate it all!
(Don't worry Mom, I didn't eat the grapefruit...
thyroid problems)
Lavazza Espression: Everyday we were in Toronto, I got a chi tea latte. Lavazza had the most creamy chi tea latte, just look at all that foam, mmmm. I don't understand all the rave over
Tim Hortons, they cannot make a chi tea latte at all, it was nasty!
The Corner Place: This place has the cutest outdoor area and it was nice so we sat outside. The sangria was pretty good, the food however, ehh. Check out our "chicken kabobs"...2 pieces each! The dish next to it is "poutine". Poutine is a traditional Canadian dish that everyone raves about so we figured we'd try it. Let me just say, why would you ever ruin fries like that?
Gravy, cheese & onions?! EW. Atleast we tried it.
Barsa: Favorite restaurant/bar of the whole trip!!! Shelby and I went here after Corner Place
for a "second dinner" since we didn't like what we had. It became the joke of the trip that we
always went for a second dinner since we did it a few times. The 2nd place always ended up
being a lot better too! We had the most amazing pitcher of sangria, it was SO good. It went down
like water, wish we would've gotten a large. It was so nice that day so we sat outside and
drank all evening! Perfect way to end the day!
Buster's Sea Cove: We visited St Lawrence Market Tuesday morning, the market gets a ton of attraction around here. It basically is a large indoor farmers market. I was not impressed,
I'm so use to Findlay Market in Cincinnati so it was nothing great.
It also didn't compare to the farmers market at The Grove in LA.
We were starving and I'm not sure why we thought getting seafood was a good idea
that early in the morning, because it wasn't. The seafood was good it just was too early for it.
We had lobster bisque and seafood risotto. (It doesn't look that appealing)
El Catrin: We fell in love with the distillery district in Toronto and this restaurant has the coolest decor inside and outside! We made reservations and were excited for our tapas.
First we had guac, yum! Then we had these crab fritters that were gross.
They were in a chocolate sauce and it just did not go well, but that is ethnic Mexican for you.
The Pollo Con Mole tacos were good though.
Although, I'll always prefer Bakersfield when it comes to Mexican.
Mill Street Brew Pub: Since El Catin was a bust, we went for our second dinner at Mill Street,
which is also in the distillery district, if you couldn't tell. I enjoyed a nice flight of beers,
followed by some fries and a beermosa. Yes I know, I don't know how I stay so thin with the type
and amount of food that I eat in a day, let's blame good genes!
Fran's Restaurant: This place was not anything great. Subpar at best. I got the Montreal hash with corn beef, eggs, potatoes (fries) and toast. It was about as good as it looks.
Wish we would've picked somewhere else.
Vagabondo: Our last dinner in Toronto was at a super nice Italian restaurant. You can never go
wrong with some good gnocchi. We treated ourselves with creme brûlée since it was our last
night in the city. (Can you tell I love sangria?)
Well if you made it to this far in this post, bravo to you! That was long and lengthy and now you're probably hungry. Go enjoy some sangria and make yourself something yummy!
