Gu-Mi

Tonight we decided to head over to Gu-mi’s  to get some take out sushi and sashimi along with some pork bone soup.  This restaurant is located in the Scarborough and has been existence for quite some time.  There is plenty of parking and they mostly serve a combination of Japanese and Korean good.  I have been to the restaurant many times before however this is the fist time I have ever done the take out.

We called one and half hour in advance about the order.  We decided to order the  large sushi and sashimi platter which the lady said on the phone that there would be about 45 pieces of sushi and 45 pieces of sashimi. 

We got to the place exactly as the time prescribed.  Unfortunately it would take another 20 minutes after the suggested time before they could get the whole order together.  We finally got the order and headed back. 

Pork Bone Soup

 We did a quick count and found out that there were a total of 100 pieces which was roughly 10 more than was told on the phone.  I guess they might have added the extra pieces for making us wait an extra 20 minutes.  The platters were of the simple type containing mostly butterfish, tuna, salmon, and white fish.  There were maybe about 15 rolls and there were no specialty fish.  The fish was pretty cold but the icing on the cake was the butterfish where it was like frozen.  The fish was quite “icy” like it just came out of the freezer.  All the other fish was somewhat fresh and not a whole lot of mushiness to it.  We ate the butterfish last as we had to let it thaw out.

Sushi Platter

Sashimi Plater

The sushi and rolls were unremarkable.  There wasn’t anything special to them other than what was presented. 

The pork bone soup was quite nice.  It came with rice and it helped filled the stomachs.  The soup base was nice and the whole meal was not too salty.  The flavor was nice and the meat fell of the bones.  There were 2 big bones in the whole bowl. 

Overall, it was an okay night.  Being it my first take out experience here, it was respectable.  It is another simple sushi and sashimi plate.  The delay and the frozen butterfish were probably the only complaints.  Overall I would give it a 3 out of 5. 

Gu-Mi

1801 Lawrence Ave E
Unit 16-18
Toronto, ON M1R

Tian Xin Place Restaurant

We decided to go to lunch today up in the Thornhill area of Ontario to go eat some authentic Chinese food.  We head to Tian Xin Place Restaurant which is located at Yonge Street just north of Steeles Aveune.  The strip mall houses a lot of Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese supermarkets and restaurants.  We randomly selected this one because we figured we couldn’t go too wrong with the decision. 

We went inside where the place was half full.  The waitresses speak broken English and there were few non-Chinese patrons in there most likely on their lunch break from nearby workplaces.  We sat down for about 5-10 minutes however we were never given any menus to look at.  Finally I snatched a menu from behind us to look at.  As well, there was no tea served.  We looked around and everyone else had tea but not our table.  We noticed they took particular attention to the table next to us but unfortunately not us. 

The restaurant has one of those check mark systems where you just check off what you want.  We decided to do with the Dan Dan noodles, a dozen Steamed Soup Filled Dumpling with Crab Meat and Pork, Sauteed Green Beans, Hot and Sour Soup Noodles and Cha Man Tau or Chinese Fried White Bread. 

Steamed Soup Filled Dumpling with Crab Meat and Pork

Dan Dan Noodles

All the meals arrived rather quickly excepted for the dumplings which took almost 30 minutes to arrive and after we had to remind them off our food.  The Dan Dan noodles were the first things I tried since I love this stuff.  It’s basically noodles mixed into hot spicy sauce and peanut sauce.  The unfortunately part was that they got the peanut sauce right but forgot the spices.  There was not hotness to it at all.  On a scale of 0 to 10 on the spiciness scale I would have given this a 0.5.  Otherwise it’s just peanut sauce in noodle soup. 

The Hot and Sour Noodle Soup was interestingly similar.  Although, it came with some meat strips and tofu, again they got the sour right but not the spiciness.  This too lacked any degree of spiciness.  If you look at the menu, both of these dishes have a pepper beside the name of it indicating spiciness but there was certainly no spiciness to it at all. 

The next to arrive was the Sautéed Green Beans.  The beans were cooked with sautéed beef sauce and some chili peppers.  Now this dish was spicy!!  It actually tasted wonderfully good.  The flavor was nice and it wasn’t overloaded with meat sauce. 

Chinese Fried White Bread

Hot and Sour Soup Noodles

The Chinese Fried White Bread comes with condensed milk and this dish was nicely done.  It is not really too difficult to make fried bread especially when there is nothing else needed to add to the dish, so really nothing remarkable here. 

Sauteed Green Beans

Finally the Steamed Soup Filled Dumpling with Crab Meat and Pork arrived.  Now we decided to go with the extra crab meat since it was only two dollars more but one can certainly just ask for the meat alone.  I have to admit this dish was a little difficult to stomach.  The crab meat by far overwhelmed the entire dumpling.  The crab meat itself wasn’t all that fresh and it was quite “zang” or very fishy tasting.  It certainly leaves a crazy taste in your mouth.  Certainly not what I had expected and not something I would recommend to anyone.  Bottom line, it tasted like cooked sushi. 

Overall it was an interesting experience to say the least.  I couldn’t make heads or tails out of the dishes.  When your best dish is the vegetables green beans, then something is not all right here.  The lack of service I have to admit was appalling.  If the restaurant was full and packed to the rim, I would fully understand, however when there were only 5 tables seated and no tea or menus were given, then this is unforgivable even when there was only 2 waitresses working there.  The food was edible but not the greatest.  For this place I give this a 1.5 out of 5. 

 Tian Xin Place Restaurant

23 B-5 Glen Cameron Road

Thornhill, Ontario

(905) 707-7990

Win's Seafood Restaurant

Tonight we ventured into the Markham area to have some seafood at Win’s Seafood Restaurant.  This place is located on the southwest side of 16^th Avenue and Warden Avenue where there is plenty of free parking.  When we got there around 7:00 p.m. the place was only half filled but by 7:30 pm, the place was completely full. 

The waiters and waitresses came by rather frequently and within five minutes, they were ready to take our order.  Tonight there was the five of us plus our little one.  Tonight we decided to go with 4 dishes.  The Fish and Vegetarian Plate, Seafood with Rum, Pan Fried Jumbo Scallop with Mushroom and Broil Bean Leaf with Garlic. 

The Seafood with Rum arrived first.  The plate came with its own gas heater.  Inside the bowl, there were mussels, clams, scallops and fish.  I have to admit that the mussels were about half the size of what Diana Seafood had served, however the soup base was pretty good.  It had a buttery creamy taste to it and you could taste only a tiny bit of rum.  It certainly brought out the flavor of the seafood.  It also comes with one loaf of bread should anyone wish to dip some bread into the sauce and eat it. 

Pan Fried Jumbo Scallop with Mushrooms

The Seafood with Rum

Next to arrive was the Broil Bean Leaf with Garlic.  The dish was simple yet quite tasty.  Five pieces of garlic were placed on top of the vegetables.  The garlic was not overwhelming and it was a good contrast to the seafood. 

Next to arrive was the Pan Fried Jumbo Scallop with Mushrooms.  This dish smelled good and tasted good.  It kind of had a peanut and sesame type flavor to it.  The scallops were fairly fresh and nicely seared.  Great dish to have at twenty dollars. 

Broil Bean Leaf with Garlic

The last dish to arrive was a Vegetarian and Fish bowl.  The vegetarian part was the wheat gluten.  Unfortunately this dish did not meet up to expectations.  It was actually a little difficult to eat.  The taste was a little bitter although there were no bitter melons in this bowl.  Although the fish was okay, it seems the sauce base for this dish was a little bitter.  The dish was not overcooked or burnt but just had this really funny taste to it.  Certainly not what I had expected and one of our friends who has eaten there many times says that the dish certainly didn’t taste like this before. 

Fish and Vegetarian Bowl

Although there was no introductory soup, there was complimentary dessert.  You can choose from black sesame soup, red bean soup, green bean soup, almond soup and Guilinggao or herbal jelly.  We ordered a little bit of everything.  The dessert was fine, not too bland and not too salty

Overall, it was a respectable night.  Outside the vegetarian dish everything else seemed pretty decent.  Each person chipped in $20 dollars tax and tips included.  For this place I give it a 3.75 out of 5. 

Win’s Seafood Restaurant

50 Lockridge, Unionville, ON L3R 8X4

(905) 305-6634 () ‎

O Mei Restaurant

Tonight we spent part 4 of my wife’s birthday dinners over at O Mei Restaurant in Richmond Hill.  This place was highly recommended for their big fish, crab and lobster dishes not to mention their fat tiu cheung delicacy soup. 

We got there with reservations and the staff was very nice in accommodating us.  They made sure that everyone was here before they started making our dishes.  We decided to go with the lobster special, their fat tiu cheung and a vegetable.  FYI, the first two dishes are quite pricey where the lobster was at $20 dollars a pound and with a nine plus pound lobster, that was $180.00 right there.  As well, each bowl of fat tiu cheung is $25 each. 

They scooped our lobster out of the tank and showed it to us prior to serving.  This on record will be one of the largest lobsters I would ever have eaten.  They brought it to the back and within ten minutes brought out the first dish of four.  The first one was made of vermicelli and onion mixed with lobster meat.  It was delicious.  The taste was nice.   Not too much MSG but nice and light.  They certainly did not over do this dish and allowed the lobster to give it its flavor. 

9 lb Lobster

Lobster with Vermicelli

Lobster Cooked in Onion Sauce

 

The second lobster dish was a fried lobster.  They took mostly the arms and body and fried it in a light batter with bits of spicy pepper and onion.  Very delicious and the spiciness was not so much that it would make it difficult to eat.  The batter wasn’t too oily or fattening.  This was good because it allowed one to enjoy the lobster meat and the true taste of the lobster. 

The next lobster dish was a special onion sauce mixed with the lobster.  This was very, very tasty but probably just a tad on the salty side.  To prepare this dish, the head, claws and tail were used to mixed the lobster meat with the sauce.  This one was probably the highest in flavor and MSG but it was too good to past and having this once in a while is not a bad idea. 

The last lobster dish was the lobster meat and membrane mixed with fried rice.  The chef added some onions and egg white to give a good dish.  It was wonderful.  Very little oil and nicely fried, it made it a wonderful final dish to go with all the great food. 

We also ordered some snow peas mixed with mushroom.  The mushrooms were so “slippery” and smooth and tasty that it was absolutely amazing.  The snow peas were perfectly done.  It was mixed slightly with garlic sauce.  Absolutely no complaints here. 

Lobster in Onion Sauce

Fried Peppers with Lobster

Fat Tiu Cheung - aka Buddha Jumps Over the Wall

Snow Peas Shoot with Mushrooms

 

Fat Tiu Cheung which is also known as Buddha Jump Over Wall is a delicate soup that contains ginseng, Chinese black mushrooms, shark fin, abalone, scallions, scallops, chicken, duck and bamboo shoots.  Although the stock is mostly chicken stock the combination of these ingredients into this one soup makes this one of the most extraordinary soups ever.  This soup takes 2 days to make so it is best to call in before you go into the restaurant just in case. 

Lobster Fried Rice

Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls

Mango in Coconut Paste

Lotus Paste Pastries

There was still the desert.  We were so stuffed by this stage we didn’t think we could stuff anymore food but we had to.  We just had to.  They brought us mango sweets covered in coconut, black sesame glutinous rice balls, and lotus paste pastries. They also gave us not red bean soup but red bean mixed with chee mi low (sorry if someone can give me the English for this that would be great.  The mango inside the coconut was cold but very sweet and fresh.  Overall, the dessert was phenomenon. 

It was an absolutely wonderful experience tonight.  The staff was extra nice and we were given first class treatment.  If you do any research, some of their lesser expensive dishes are not as good but their more expensive dishes are out of this world especially their seafood dishes.  I agree and for a restaurant lie this, what you pay is what you get.  Yes the bill was high but it was worth every penny.  Everyone had a great time. Thanks to Leo Wan for the reference!!!  I can’t give this place a less than perfect mark.  It was just that good.  This restaurant definitely deserves a perfect 5 out of 5 for their service and food for the night. 

O Mei Restaurant

420 Highway 7 East

Richmond Hill, Ontario

905 881 8188

Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse

Tonight we continued with part 2 of our celebrations with my wife’s birthday by going to the Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse. There, they have a buffet where one can have an all-you can eat feast.  Being a Sunday night, the price for the evening was $36/person.  Located in the centre of Toronto on the northeast side of Eglinton Ave East and Yonge Street, this packed and popular Brazilian place was certainly the place to be on a Sunday night. 

When we got there, the whole restaurant was filled with people. With a live band at the front, it made it a very popular place for many hungry people.

It is hard to document what arrives at the table because there are constantly people coming to your table asking you if you want a slice of meat, pineapple or shrimp.  The restaurant also has an all you can eat salad bar that contains about 20 vegetables including tomatoes, beets, cauliflower, cucumbers, salad, some macaroni and cheese, pasta and fish.  I grabbed a little something of everything and took a shot of it. 

Grilled Pineapple

Various items from their salad bar

Grilled Pork

Sirloin Steak

As I said before, as you are eating waiters come by your table and will ask you if you slabs of meat or fruit.  There were leg of lamb, sirloin steak, prime ribs, shrimps, grilled pineapples, garlic covered steak and many other meats to name a few.  They come to your table every 5 minutes so they definitely keep you eating.  The only complaint I have is that the food was pretty salty.  Many of the meats are juicy but the flavoring and seasoning is pretty heavy.  Highly recommend getting a beer or coke or just plain water to go with your food. 

Lamb Chops

Garlic and Cheese Steak

Overall it was a good experience.  Better than my very first experience ten years ago in downtown Toronto.  There is plenty of public parking and reservations are recommended.  I made one mistake in ordering a large bloody Caesar because the food was quite salty and having a bloody Caesar made it doubly salty.  Certainly the food was much better than what it was compared to the last couple of nights.  I give this a 4 out of 5.

Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse

150 Eglinton Avenue East
Toronto, ON M4P 2K5
(416) 916-2099

Saigon Star Restarurant

Tonight we decided to go out and celebrate my wife’s birthday by having messy seafood for dinner.  By messy we mean messy and one can only do this over at Saigon Star Restaurant located in the Richmond Hill.

Grilled Pork Neck Meat

We had reservations for 15 people and they accommodated us rather quickly.  The place is packed and bringing a stroller and/or huge pieces of equipment is strongly not recommended.  After cramming into our seats we ordered probably the best stuff on the menu and of course their signature Curry Crab Dish.  We went with the Grilled Pork Neck Meat, Grilled Prawns, Charboil Oysters, Pineapple Fried Rice, Shrimp and Mango Salad and Pad Thai.  We multiplied everything by 2 so that we had enough food for everyone. 

The Grilled Pork Neck Meat arrived first and it wasn’t all that bad.  Like ribs, the meat was very soft but a little fattening.  It tasted quite good.  The good thing was that there are no bones so no need to try to take the bones out of your mouth. 

Shrimp and Mango Salad

Sauteed Curry Crab

The curry crab arrived next.  Now one can order this dish with bread, rice or Chinese pancake.  The curry sauce is very similar to the Japanese sauce that was posted on this blog a few days ago where it is only mildly spicy.  The messy part is getting the meat out of the crab shell.  Eating Crab can be messy already but eating crab with curry sauce is even messier.  They do provide wet naps for you.  The crab tasted pretty good.  No complaints here.  The curry was wiped up with the bread and pancake. 

The shrimp and mango salad was next. Personally I liked this dish because with all the seafood on the table, it was refreshing to have fresh mango with a little lemon sauce to offset all the seafood.  Fairly light, the salad had a bit of zing to it.  A nice touch and good contrast for what was to come on the table. 

The pad thai arrived next and that too was not bad.  It is not heavy and oily like some other pad thai’s I’ve have had in the past.  The noodles were nicely prepared and it does fill your stomach pretty good.  It is comparable to original pad thai from Thailand.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Vegetables

The pineapple fried rice was next and this too was nicely done.  The other problem with this dish was that our dish had quite a lot of pineapples in it while the other table’s plate did not.  I had a couple of bowls of this as it was too bad at all.  One can certainly taste the pineapple in the dish and the rice again wasn’t too oily or heavy. 

The last two dishes arrived and probably were the most heaviest and expensive foods that they had in the restaurant.  The prawns were huge.  They came out with what looked to me some sort of meat sauce on top of them although the origins of the sauce is unknown.  However when one bites into the prawns, one can not mistaken the mushiness of the prawn.  As one friend put it, they took the prawns out, they thawed and then they threw it back in the freezer.  It was not that good.  Couple with mixing the huge amount of “meat sauce” over the membranes of the prawns really made this a not so great tasting dish.  Appearance wise was good however given the price one pays for a prawn which was like $11 bucks for one, one needs to say that this was a failure. 

Pad Thai

Cho Lon Grilled Prawn

Charboil Oyster

The oysters were not that much better as there was way too much garlic on top of them.  The oysters themselves were okay and medium in size.  However one can see the amount of oil and garlic sauce on top of the oysters which killed almost all of the oyster taste.  It’s like taking a jar of Lee Kum Kee garlic sauce and dumping it into your mouth and then eating a small bit of oyster to go with it.

It was my first time there surprisingly however many of the friends who were that night had been there numerous times.  They say tonight the food was only average and I must agree with that assessment.  Actually many came out somewhat disappointed.  The service was okay.  I know on many other sites people have complained of being rushed out of there however that was not the case that night.  Each person paid $43 dollars for their share of the meal.  There was plenty of free parking available.  The plates were huge but quality was lacking.  For this I give this place a 3 out of 5.

Saigon Star Restaurrant
330 Hwy 7 E, Richmond Hill

(905) 731-7221

Nota Bene

Tonight we had a chance to go out and celebrate your truly’s birthday with a dinner over at Nota Bene.  This somewhat higher class restaurant is located in downtown Toronto located near City Hall and many of Toronto’s best hotels. 

We had reservations for four and when we got in, we were quickly led to our tables.  The waiter gave us bread and we proceeded to order an appetizer and a few main dishes for dinner.  We decided to go with the Hamachi Ceviche as an appetizer and with the Grilled “Rare” Hangar Steak, 2 plates of Lobster Alla Chitarra and Charred Wild Digby Sea Scallops amongst the four of us as entrees.

The Hamachi arrived first and it was a rather small dish.  There were 5 small pieces of hamachi and it was mixed with corn, jalapeno peppers and lime sauce.  The raw fish was very soft and the sauce was quite tingy.  It complimented the fish very well and actually provided the fish with a very good taste to it. 

Soon afterwards our entrees arrived.  Again although the plates were quite big, the first thing we noticed was that the portion sizes were quite small relative to the plate.  My wife went with the lobster and I had the rare steak.  

Hamachi Ceviche

Grilled “Rare” Hangar Steak

 

The rare steak was definitely rare.  There were 2 pieces and the meal looked good.  It came with an onion type sauce.  When I first started cutting the steak, I can tell it was quite tough.  I double checked the steak and it was definitely rare.  Upon eating the steak, I can tell you that it was a very chewy.  I have eaten a lot of steaks in my days and I can tell you that this was definitely one of the hardest steaks I have ever had to chew on. 

The lobster alla chitarra was quite a tasty pasta that had a few pieces of lobster mixed with spaghetti and tomato sauce.  The lobster tasted already and was relatively fresh.  It blended with the pasta well.  The overall taste was very similar to a shrimp linguine in tomato sauce. 

The scallops dish was done in a way where there were about 3 or 4 pieces of scallops mixed in with some small potatoes.  There were also small pieces of bacon and shaved black truffles sprinkled on top of the scallops.  The scallops were soft and nicely done and complimented the sauce very well.  Again the only complain I had of this dish was the amount of food served which really wasn’t all that much considering the price and size of the plate. 

Charred Wild Digby Sea Scallops

Lobster Alla Chitarra

Overall the meal was a little disappointing for me.  The hamachi was very tasty and highly recommended. I would never order the steak again.  The scallops were good but simply not enough.  The pasta was probably the best out of the 3 dishes but again the portions were quite small.  The total price was $150.00 for 4 people not including taxes or any drinks.  Averaging it out, that is about $35/dish.  Personally one can certainly get a lot more for that price in both quantity and quality.  The other thing that we were disappointed in was that the waiter after taking our order never really returned to our table again except to give us our bill.  He never once asked how our meal us or even offered the complimentary black pepper.  Being my first time there, I guess I was probably expecting a little more.  Unfortunately it certainly did meet my expectations.  Tonight I would give this a 3.25 out of 5. 

Nota Bene

180 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 3X3
(416) 977-6400