Crystal Buffet.

$5 Buffet!!!... This is not a joke. Crystal Buffet opened in November and is offering Buy One Get One Free buffet from Monday to Wednesday for both lunch and dinner. Lunch is $9.99 and dinner is $16.99. Which means for lunch, 2 people the bill comes to... you guessed it! $11.29 including tax! So if that isn't enough to get you to go, I must admit the food wasn't terrible. Crystal Buffet like Mandarin, Dragon Pearl/Legend, King's Buffet, and the list goes on and on, all serve the same Chinese-Canadian food. Fried rice/ noodles, fried chicken, sushi (sans raw fish), california rolls, dim sum were all on par with any other buffet I've ever been to. And anyone who believes buffets are about food quality is really missing the point. Buffet is about quantity. So although I'm not a buffet connoisseur, the food was well... food! and the selection wasn't bad either. Every station was constantly being refilled and stocked. And for that price, it was well worth the trip. I actually paid more because we had 3 people in our group which meant we paid $20+tax. So the lesson here is to always go with an even number of people. // 22 Metropolitan Rd, Scarborough

Sunshine Spot.

Breakfast!... The best time to have breakfast is all damn day!!! I was recently craving some eggs and bacon, so I went out a nearby restaurant in North York called Sunshine Spot that has been around forever.  I was pretty hungry and craving an eggs benedict so I went to their location on Sheppard and ordered their loaded $9 Bacon Veggie Melt version of the benedict- 2 Poached Eggs with bacon, spinach, mushrooms, onions, green peppers on an english muffin with tasty hollandaise sauce drizzled all over. Huge delicious portions that fixed my breakfast craving. My friends ordered the Chicken Sandwich + Soup and the Sausage + 3 egg breakfast combo that also comes with toast and roasted potatoes.  All simple, but super tasty foods. This is a great spot to hit up if you're too lazy to cook on a sunday morning or even for dinner on a friday night! Check out that sideways face on the sausage and egg plate (sausage= hair, egg yolks=eyes and nose, potatoes= mouth)! LOL

796 Sheppard Avenue E 

Toronto, ON 

M2K 1C3

Il Fornello.

Pizza Fichi

Il Fornello Tuesday Pizza Special!...  I was recently introduced to the tuesday $10 special for any of their pizzas and have been coming back regularly for the deal at the Bayview Village location in North York.  They have a large list of wood oven baked pizzas with a variety of toppings- normally ranging from $11-$17 each.  The one flavour that my friends and I regularly get is the Pizza Fichi, with tons of savoury and sweet toppings including mascarpone, prosciutto, figs, shaved grana padano cheese, honey and arugula.  That mascarpone base sauce is so damn good! Other pizzas featured here are the Pizza Prosciutto + the Pizza Gorgonzola.  The prosciutto pizza is covered with 2 giant strips of that tasty italian ham + artichoke hearts, black olives and peppers.  If you are looking for some INTENSE flavours, try the Pizza Gorgonzola, which is loaded with strong tasting Gorgonzola blue cheese and pears, caramelized onions + walnuts.  I would have preferred the cheese to be a little less strong as it masked some of the other awesome flavors.  Overall pizza tuesdays at Il Fornello is a great chance to taste their pizzas at an affordable $10/ pie.  They are really busy on these days, and do not take reservations on tuesdays because of this special.  Come early (6pm or earlier) and with small groups to avoid waits.

Il Fornello Restaurant
2901 Bayview Ave
Toronto, ON
M2N 5Z7 
(416)227-1271

Pizza Prosciutto

Pizza Gorgonzola

Amsterdam Brewhouse.

Brew pub... Checked out recently opened Amsterdam Brewhouse, on Queens Quay, the first venture into food service for Amsterdam brewery. First off, it's a big place! 800+ seats including a massive patio that faces Lake Ontario. Definitely a place to be in the summer patio months. 

Upon entering, you're greeted with The Tanks! These large brewing tanks supply the restaurant with seasonal brews, Amsterdam favourites and adventure brews. This is what really makes this place so unique and beautiful. Their beers are brewed in small batches and once they're gone, it's gone. That gives me reason to always go back to see what they're brewing. You can even submit your idea @amsterdambh!

If you're here for sports, like I was, they have a semi-horseshoe bar that seats about 30 accompanied by a huge TV. They also have surrounding flat-screen that are more effect than effectiveness. At first, their menu can be challenging to maneuver. They have their favourites, meaning the beers that they have and will always have, name 416, Blonde, Big Wheel, Boneshaker, etc. Then they have seasonal and adventure brews on a separate menu. They also have "From the Cellar" which are extremely expensive aged beers ($20+). If you don't know what you want, they also have "Flight Tours" for $8. You get to choose based on taste from Light to Strong Beers. Each Flight Tour gives you four 5oz glasses of their selection. It's a great way to taste different beers and at $8, it's really a great deal. All their beers are $7 flat for 20oz pint. They also have some beers by other local brewers but I didn't pay much attention to it. Overall, the food was good. We tried their 416 Fish and Chips, Lobster Rolls, and Potato Pizza. 

The entire second floor looks like it's dedicated to special events. It over looks the bar/restaurant much like Real Sports does. Overall, the beer and food was excellent. Service, which only reviews would suggest it to be subpar, was also good. However, we were sitting at the bar which tends lend itself faster service. 

Amsterdam Brewhouse
245 Queens Quay, Toronto
www.amsterdambrewhouse.com

Wonderpho- Free PHO for Father's Day.

free pho!...  Wonderpho is a restaurant in North York that specializes in vietnamese food.  I found out from my friend, Jason, who also runs the restaurant, that they are offering a FREE pho for Dads on Father's Day (Sunday, June 16 2013)!!!  It's a nice casual place to go for lunch, as the restaurant has a more modern decor than the typical Pho restaurants in Toronto- the only place in T.O. that I have eaten Pho at an Outdoor Patio!  I went yesterday and had the Rare Beef + Beef Brisket Noodle Soup (Regular Size- $7.99 + tax/tip) along with some appetizers (half price from 3-5 pm!).  The pho is pretty good- with the soup being pretty light, if you are used to heavily flavoured soup bases.  Also had the Pork and Tiger Shrimp Spring Rolls (~$2-$3/ plate with the happy hour special), which are stuffed! I want to go back for more of these super crispy + tasty spring rolls!  Also must try their complimentary Taro Chips, thinly sliced and baked pieces of Taro!

Info for FREE Pho on Father's Day:

- Print or Show Coupon to recieve Free Regular size Pho for Dads on June 16, 2013 (Valid for tables of 2 or more with another full paying adult order)

- Add $2 to upsize to a Large size Pho

La Mexicana.

mexican food!...  My friend Park recently told me about a new mexican restaurant, so we went to check it out!  I headed over to La Mexicana just after lunch and Park introduced me to the owners, Jon and Alex.  This is the newest of their family's chain of mexican eateries in Toronto, as they also run 3 other restaurants (2 other La Mexicana's and their downtown location, Cocina Lucero). The newest La Mexicana restaurant is on Clark, just East of Bathurst where you wouldn't typically find authentic mexican food. I learned about La Mexicana's history in Toronto, a restaurant their Mexican mother Lucera, started in 1988.  What really caught my attention was how much they stressed using fresh ingredients to make all their dishes from scratch! We were given the menu and the first thing I saw were the Baja Fish Tacos ($16+ tax/tip)- had to try that!  This plate came with 3 tacos with pieces of battered and deepfried fish, topped with cabbage and chipotle mayo.  These taco's also came with a small plate of cheese + gaucomole + pico de gallo, which I loaded onto each taco, adding to the deliciousness! Each plate also came with a heaping serving of refried beans served in a small tortilla chip bowl.
After eating the fish Taco's, Alex insisted that we had to try one of their more authentic mexican house specialty dishes.  I had the Pescado a la Tropicana ($20 + tax/tip)- a fish filet poached in coconut cream with spinach + jalapeno.  This was a savoury dish, with lots of fresh flavours from the cocount and fish!  The fish was the highlight, with simple sides complementing it nicely (Rice/ salad/ refried beans).   La Mexicana is a great new addition in Vaughan and definitely a place to check out for quality, authentic, fresh made mexican food in Toronto! I was also told they serve a Mexican Brunch and on my way out I saw deep fried ice cream being served.  The owner, Alex is also a professional arm wrestler- Mexican Food makes you Strong!

La Mexicana

441 Clark Avenue W 

Vaughan, ON L4J 6W7

905-597-7272