The Queen and Beaver Public House

After an extremely long and hardworking day, a few of us decided to head to a popular downtown restauran. The Queen and Beaver Public House is a two-storey restaurant located on Elm Street which is in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Although the rooms are not very big, they were somehow able to squeeze a table of 14 for us at the front of the restaurant.They had a two-page menu with a few exotic items to choose from.  There were also some specials of the day written up on a chalkboard at the front of the restaurant.  For tonight, I went with the Deviled Kidney on Dripping Toast for appetizers, Crispy Duck with Colcannon as a main course and Lemon Cheese and Raspberry Tart for desert.

Deviled Kidney on Dripping Toast

The Deviled Kidney was drenched with gravy? and placed over a piece of toast.  I apologize for the picture as the lighting was not that great.  There were about four pieces of kidney on top of the toast.  I have no idea which animal these kidneys came from.  The kidneys however had a very strong "organ" taste to it.  The taste was something between a liver and a mushroom.  Personally it had been quite sometime since I had kidney and it probably was something I should have waited on or was better prepared for.  Others who also took a piece of it said it was very good deviled kidney.  For those who had issues eating meat that has a strong taste or after taste to it, they may want to avoid eating this dish.

Crispy Duck with Colcannon

The Crispy Duck with Colcannon arrived next.  The colcannon which consists mostly of mash potatoes and cabbage was absolutely amazing.  The outside was slightly fried and breaded however the inside of it was very, very smooth and very, very tasty.  The crispy duck was made to perfection.  The skin was lightly fried and a juicy sauce was placed on top of it.  The meat was soft and juicy.  It also came with some cooked beans which was a perfect compliment to the rest of the meal.  This was a very good entree indeed. 

Lemon Cheese and Raspberry Tart

The desert was quite yummy as well.  The lemon cheese was not too strong and the raspberry was very sweet. The top of the tart was slightly glazed just like the top of a creme brulee. It was light yet just hit all the right spots. It was certainly the perfect desert to finish off the evening.

Overall it was a decent night.  The meal was not overly expensive either as the appetizer was $12 dollars, the entree $22 and the desert was $8.  Service was pretty good and their alcohol selections were many and plenty.  A good place for a date or for an after work get together.  Overall I give it a 4.5 out of 5. 


The Queen and Beaver Public House
35 Elm St  Toronto, ON

(647) 347-2712

Fish Soup Supreme

The other night my wife and I decided to have a quick dinner over at the new Fish Soup Supreme Restaurant located in north Scarborough.  This place is fairly new and had taken over the location formerly known as Amigo Restaurant. 

Pig's Tongue

When we went in, the overall decor was quite nice.  The place smelled a little "fishy" and had fish hanging from the ceiling but seeing that this was after all the Fish Soup Supreme that one would presume that it was suitable. 

Looking at their menu, one can either order noodles, have hot pot or try a variety of their appetizers.  If one was to go with their noodles, you get to choose from one of two choices of soup, the types of noodles you want and 2 sides out of 20.  If you want extra sides, you would have to pay an extra dollar for each side that you choose. 

Udon and Meat Noodle Soup

I went with a udon noodle with a fish soup base and pork and beef meat.  As well, we ordered a side order of pig's tongue.  The pig's tongue was nicely marinated.  The sauce they use appeared to be the same sauce that they use for chicken feet during dim sum.  The dish was served slightly cold yet it was still quite tasty.  When my noodle soup arrived, I noticed they had also put some crab meat and vegetables in my bowl.  The fish soup was quite concentrated and fishy tasting but it was very very good.  The udon noodles were perfectly cooked and the meat was already cooked when I got my bowl.  The meat was a little thick and that having slightly thinner meat would have been a preferred choice. 

Overall the meal was nice and hot and it was great on a cold wintry night.  The staff was very good to us.  The entire bowl of noodles was $7.95 which I thought was reasonable.  I will come back in the future to this place.  Overall I give this place a 4.5 out of 5. 

Fish Soup Supreme
633 Silver Star Blvd
Scarborough Ontario
 
(416) 609-2888

Guu Izakaya

For Valentine's Day, I decided to take my wife to a popular Japanese restaurant over at Guu Izakaya located in the heart of downtown Toronto.  This popular place is located beside Ryerson campus and is frequented by many of its students who attend school there.  We got there early on this special day but as one can see it was packed already when we got there.

Takowasabi - Marianted Octopus

Amber Jack and Lobster Sashimi

Hotate Carpaccio - Scallop Sashimi

There was their regular menu and there was a Valentine's Day menu so we decided to order a little bit from each menu.  Included in tonight's orders was an order of Takowasabi, Maguro Tataki, Salmon Calpaccio, Lobster Sashimi, Kanpachi, Gyu Tongue, Hotate Carpaccio, Ton Toro, Blackrod Hot Pot and Kurogroma Tempura.  To top it all off we also ordered a Guu Sake to go with the meal.

Maguro Tataki -Seared BC Tuna

Salmon Calpaccio

The portions were slightly small however quality replaces quantity.  We surveyed the room and the biggest dish they had I think was the hot pot rice.  There really is no need to go through each dish as every single dish was amazing.  Appearance wise for each dish was a ten out of ten.  They had about six guys working in the kitchen and about 6 servers on the outside.  The food arrives very quickly however I think the kitchen keeps an eye on your table so that you are not bombarded but that it comes just as you finish the last one. You can watch them make your dinner while you are sitting up at the bar. 

Ton Toro - aka Pan Fried Pork Cheek

Blackrod Hot Pot

My favorite one had to be the amber jack and lobster sashimi.  They somehow are able to sear the outside part of the lobster just enough so that it is slightly cooked out on the outside and raw on the inside. None of the freshness and the true taste of the lobster is lost. The addition of the amber jack sashimi which is a special fish was also a great addition with the lobster sashimi.  The Hotate Carpaccio was also a close second as the scallop sashimi was very sweet and tasty.  The dressing that they used complimented the scallops very well.  The salmon was a little fatty in the salmon calpaccio and it still had a tiny bit of the ocean bitterness to it.  Still it was very good and it certainly should not deter anyone from ordering it.

Gyu Tongue - aka Beef Tongue

Kurogroma Tempura

Overall I have no complaints whatsoever with this place.  There is a paid parking lot directly across the street.  The staff was very nice as were the chefs.  There is a lot of yelling and screaming but that's their way of keeping you entertained and they WILL greet you as you arrive and as you leave.  Many students from the downtown area will know this is a great establishment.  I saw many of them that night as I am sure it is a hot spot to be even when it is not Valentine's Day.  I think everyone should give it a shot at least once if you haven't done so yet.  Total was just a tad over $100 tax and tip included. I give this place a 5 out of 5.

Guu Izakaya
398 Church Street
Toronto Ontario

416-977-0999

Jeon Ju Hyang

I went out for lunch at Jeon Ju Hyang which is a Korean restaurant located in north Scarborough.  This restaurant has been existence for about a year now and is known to serve a variety of authentic Korean foods.  Although the place is surrounded by a few Chinese restaurants, the place was still half full when we walked in for lunch.

Looking at their menu, I decided to go with the La Galbi which is about the equivalent of a Beef Rib Bento Box in a Japanese restaurant.  My wife went with a Gamiatang which pretty much translates to a pork bone noodle soup.

We actually wanted the special mushroom lunch that was posted on their wall however we were told that the only way we could get it was if we ordered 2 bowls of it.  I was thinking that would be somewhat overkill considering it was our first time there and although I wouldn't mind getting one to try, two would be too much especially if we more interested in trying more than one dish.

Gamiatang

The La Galbi arrived and there was a bowl of white rice in one corner, some vermicelli noodles in another, salad and an eggplant paste in the last corner.  There were four pieces of short ribs that were placed in another one of the other boxes.  The ribs tasted pretty good however there was very little sauce to it.  Although the ribs and salad were pretty good, the hard part was trying to eat the plain white rice.  There were no other sauces or condiments to go with it.  I had to get some soup from my wife's pork bone noodles in order to make the rice more edible.

La Galbi

The Gamiatang looked good and tasty however in reality it was actually quite bland and somewhat unexciting.  I thought it was a spicy noodle dish but it was hardly spicy at all.  Although one would say that they had avoided adding any MSG to enhance the taste and instead used the ingredients themselves to give off the taste, the unfortunate part is that if the pork itself was bland and the noodles didn't have that strong egg noodle taste to it, then unfortunately the overall taste of it would be bland itself.  The proportions were pretty big as there were three big pieces of pork bones however a little more flavor would have made this a much better dish.

Overall the dishes were filling however the blandness of both dishes always made it feel like both dishes were lacking something.  It was too bad the mushroom special could only come as a pair.  It looked good on the wall but unfortunately their company policy of serving two made it not possible to even try.  Parking could also be difficult too especially on a Saturday afternoon.  A fair place to try during the weekdays.  Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.

Jeon Ju Hyang
325 Bamburgh Cir
Scarborough, ON M1W 3Y1

Tatami Sushi

Tonight we went over to Tatami Sushi to have all you can eat sushi.  The place has only been opened for 3 months and shares the same parking lot with Eglinton Cineplex Movie Theatre in south Scarborough along the southwest side of Warden and Eglinton Avenue.

We made reservations to this place as we were expecting a crowd on a weekend evening however the fact that it was Super Bowl weekend, my thinking was that it was probably not necessary as most people were either at home or at a bar. 

They gave us a squarish centre table which one would have to straddle to get into.  It's not really the best table for any elderly people or people with difficulties with mobility.  We ordered a variety of soups, tempuras, sushi, sashimi and meats as they have over 125 items to choose from. Since it was the weekend, the price per person was $22.99.  There is no alcohol at this establishment as of yet and pop was one dollar person with free re-fills. 

Sushi and Sashimi Combo

As with my previous posts, again it is impossible to really go through everything we had.  The best way to do it is to just describe I thought was the best of the bunch and the worst of the bunch.  Ths sushi and sashimi were rather decent.  It is comparable to a lot of the other sushi and sashimi restaurants that I have had in the past.  What I thought stood out the most was some of their meat options. This included the ribs, the seared beef and the beef wrapped mushroom dish.  The ribs were juicy and tender and the meat was perfectly cooked, the seared beef were nice and pink on the inside and lightly seared on the outside which provided the perfect contrast and the beef wrapped mushrooms were juicy throughout as the sauce they used really enlightened this dish. 

Another sushi and sashimi plate

The worst part of the entire meal had to meat the u-dons and the tom yum soups.  Although they have a variety of u-dons and a chicken and a vegetable soup tom yum soup, the soups and their soup base was by far the most saltiest soups I have ever had.  It was extremely loaded with MSG and made it rather difficult to eat.  Furthermore the tom yum soups had what appeared to be excess vinegar as it was extremely sour as well.  There were certainly enough ingredients in the soups however the saltiness of the soups really made it difficult to eat. 

Sashimi Plate

Overall if one sticks with the meats and fish of this new restaurant then I would say that it is rather decent.  If going to the movies, it certainly would be a pretty good place to visit before heading out to the movies.  There is certainly room for improvement with respect to the soups.  Tonight I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Tatami Sushi
10 Lebovic Avenue
Toronto, ON M1L 4W1
Neighbourhood: Scarborough

416-752-4036