Rusty's at Blue restaurant

Food for Thought went out of town recently up to Blue Mountain, Ontario to take part in some outdoor activities.  We stayed in at one of the inns near the resort and decided to dine in at Rusty’s at Blue Restaurant which was located right inside the village.  Despite it being on a busy weekend, we were able to make reservations and were able to get our seats on time despite having a group of ten there that evening.  After a quick glance at the menu, my family and I went with the Full Rack of Rusty’s Ribs while my wife went with the Fire Grilled Atlantic Salmon.

Full Rack of Rusty’s Ribs

All the food arrived at the same time despite being such a big group.  There were about 2 racks of ribs on my plate.  I also had side orders of French Fries, coleslaw and steam vegetables to go with my ribs.  They used a special BBQ sauce to marinate the ribs and that was quite evident on the meat.  The meat itself was a little over-cooked that evening.  Where some places would have the meat fall right off the bone, the meat was actually quite stuck to the bones. Although the BBQ sauce was satisfactory, the meat was unfortunately a little bit chewier than we would have liked.  A little bit of cutting was required in order to separate the meat from the bone.  The exterior of the second rack was burnt pretty good and was not actually edible. The fries were satisfactory however I was told one could have had this substituted for sweet potato fries which might have made this a more decent meal.  The vegetables were simply steamed and no extra additives were added to enlighten their flavor. 

The salmon arrived on a layer of mashed potatoes which together was situated on top of some steamed vegetables.  I found the salmon to be a tad bit dry although one could argue that that is what a grilled salmon is.  For me, I prefer the inside of the salmon just a little bit softer and juicier to give it that bit of contrast.  The salmon in this case just felt over-grilled and dry overall.  The mash potatoes were decent as were the vegetables. 

Fire Grilled Atlantic Salmon

Overall it was so-so dinner.  They even had troubles switching the channels on many of the televisions in the room.  It took the waitress about 40 minutes to switch to the hockey game that evening.  Some people at our table couldn’t even watch the game where others had to watch it through the reflection of a mirror.  With Collingwood being ten minutes from the mountains and with plenty of options to choose from, it might not have been such a bad idea to head into town and try something from there.  For $24.95 and $21.95, I would have expected the food to be better than what was presented.  Overall I would give it a 2.75 out of 5.

Rusty’s at Blue Restaurant

150 Jozo Weider

Blue Mountain, Ontario

705-445-2718

Shangri-La Banquet Hall

Although I have been to this place for numerous weddings in the past, this was actually my first time attending Shangri-La Banquet Hall for dim sum.  Located in the heart of Markham, this banquet hall has been in existence for at least ten years hosting various events including weddings and special engagements.

Rice Noodle

The place was about three-quarters full when we got there.  As we sat down, we chose our dim sum on a piece of paper and passed it over to the waiter.  There were no carts being pushed at this place.  We ordered about 16 items and as in the past, I will only highlight the best and worse of the dim sums as it would be impossible for me to go through each and every dim sum that we had ordered.

Deep Fried Dumpling Pork

Siu Mai with Conpoy

For starters, the one main dish this place is known for is the Spy Cuttle Fish.  This dish consists of spicy squid tentacles that are lightly deep fried in a batter.  The tentacles were unfortunately a bit chewy.  They were a little cold as well and it was a little hard to grasp the true taste of this dish.  Although it was classified as a specialty dish, I personally didn't really find anything special about it. 

Shrimp Dumplings

My personal favorite was the Shrimp Turnip Cake.  At most other dim sum places, the turnip cake is often fried.  However this came like a pudding in a bowl.  The texture was similar to a very smooth mash potato.  It was actually quite good and one can certainly get a good taste of the shrimp mixed with the turnip.

Bean Curd Vegetable

Another dish I found it to be above average was the Deep Fried Dumpling Pork.  The four dumplings came in their unique plate that had a spot for each one.  They were not overly greasy which was pretty good and all four were nicely fried.  The pork on the inside hit all the right spots. As well, the skin of the dumpling was not overly thick and was well proportion with the amount of pork on the inside.

Ribs Honey

Another dish that I will give a fair shake was the Beef Tripe with Ginger.  The tripe was nice and tender and it was well marinated where the sauce melded well with the tripe. 

Shrimp Turnip Cake

We had also ordered Shrimp Dumplings, the Siu Mais with Conpoy, Dumplings with Cordyceps, Rice Rolls, Egg Yolk Tart and Bean Curd Vegetable to name a few. However the food here was not bad but not great either.  For the price they charged per item I was expecting it to be more fancier, tastier or more unique.  I certainly did not get that feeling with the majority of the dishes. The average price for each dim sum dish was like 4 to 5 dollars.  I think that for such a grand place their dim sums need to kick it up a notch and have a certain uniqueness to them.  Otherwise I would give this place no more than a 3 out of 5.

Shangri La Banquet Hall
50 Esna Park Drive
Markham Ontario

905-475-6571