Grace Restaurant

Grace restaurant is a small 2-storey restaurant located in the middle of little Italy and little Portugal in the heart of downtown Toronto.  We decided to go there after work as it was a restaurant that had gotten pretty good reviews on numerous websites. We had made reservations for the evening and were given the party room upstairs.  There was a bar present where we could order our drinks and they had placed about 5 tables altogether where about 14 of us sat down and ordered our food for the evening. 

Albacore Tuna Crudo

Scanning their specialty menu for the evening, they provided a variety of beef, fish and pasta at this restaurant. I was looking for sophistication so I went with the Albacore Tuna Crudo ($14), Pan Roasted Haddock ($27) and the Summer Parfait ($10).  An hour before sitting down we were also given some ginger mixed scallops that were served on a spoon and some bread. 

From the time the food was ordered to the time the appetizer arrived took about 30 minutes.  It was not busy downstairs so we weren't really too sure as to why it took so long.  When the food did arrive, I have to admit presentation wise it was a 5 out of 5 however proportion wise it was like a 1 out of 5.  The tuna was mixed with some olive oil, citrus, tobiko, chili and cilantro.  The plate was huge however the amount of tuna served was very small.  There were approximately three pieces of tuna in my plate.  The taste was actually quite good.  The citrus taste blended well with the tuna as it gave the tuna a tangy taste to it.  It was quite soft and the tuna was quite fresh.  It was too bad that there was only so little of it.

Pan Roasted Haddock

From the time the appetizers arrived to the time the entrees arrived was about another 45 minutes.  We had no idea what on earth was taking so long.  By now, many of the guests were hungry.  They kept refilling our drinks but not the bread and the people were getting restless and hungry.  When the food finally did arrive, again it was in very small proportions.  The haddock was mixed with a fennel and tomato broth, leeks, flat beans and potato hay.  Don't let the photo fool you, the amount of fish served was just a little bit bigger than the size of my thumb.  I think I ate my fish in like two bites. Again taste wise it was pretty good however I was told by a couple of my colleagues that their food was barely warm.  I had to agree. For the amount of wait time for their food, quantity sure was not their strong point. 

Last to arrive were the desserts and for this evening I ordered the Summer Parfait.  This consisted of a multitude of berries, bison yogurt and candied granola.  The berries provided most of the sweetness as the yogurt was mostly bland.  The candied granola provided a sharp contrast to the sweet and soft berries that were being served.  Oddly enough the amount of dessert served was equal to the combined appetizer and entree that I had ordered tonight.  The dessert was okay although it was like eating a very large bowl of yogurt. 

Summer Parfait

Overall, it was a mix result for me all around.  I can see why this place would get top marks for the quality of their food.  However, if you are looking for quantity this is one place you may want to skip.  The waitresses were friendly however the wait time to get your food was just a bit too long.  There was also a paid  public parking lot right behind the restaurant.  For the total price and the amount of food one got, I am not too sure one would get full value for their dollar.  The fact that I had to drive to a McDonald's afterwards to get some more food pretty much sums it up.  Overall I give my experience a 3 out of 5. 

Grace Restaurant
503 College St 
Toronto, ON

416 944-8884

Ginger and Onions Cuisine

Ginger and Onions Cuisine is a very popular Chinese restaurant that serves wonderful dim sum during the day and tasty entrees in the evening.  As the last restaurant in a series of restaurants at Market Village, this place has been existence for the past twenty years and with the quality of food that they are serving, it could easily go for another twenty years.  We got there on a weekday morning where we were hoping that it would not be as busy.  We got there around 11ish and the place was packed.  We actually had to wait for a few minutes before we were able to get a table.  

Once we sat down, ladies were pushing their carts around, yelling out loud whatever was on their cart.  The usual dim sum we ordered amongst the few of us included shrimp dumplings, siu meis, rice noodle rolls and meatballs. 

Dumplings

One of the things I really enjoyed were their jumbo size sesame balls.  These things were huge and for the price of a “small” dish, it was certainly well worth the price.  The price that morning was $2.30 per dish although after the morning rush the price was actually closer to $2.60 per dim sum.  Regardless, the food that was served to us were all steamy hot and fresh.  It also helped that we were sitting pretty close to the kitchen so everything came out nice and hot.  Another dish I thoroughly enjoyed was actually the shrimp dumplings.  I normally don’t have much to say because I find it all to be about the same however in this case, I liked the dumplings because the exterior skin that holds the shrimp in place was nice and thin so one did not have to go through a thick layer of skin before one gets to the shrimp.  Their giant meatballs served with a bit of Worchester sauce were also a hit that day. 

The food was pretty good and the waiters and waitresses kept our tea kettles full at all times.  I noticed a couple of cart pushers assisting an English speaking couple about what kind of foods they were serving which was nice to see.  Although the price might be slightly high for some, the quality of their food was well reflected their price.  I have been here many times and I certainly say that both their dim sum and dinner entrees are pretty good and well worth the price.  No complaints here.  Overall I give them a 4 out of 5. 

Ginger and Onions

7131 Kennedy Road

Markham, Ontario

905-479-7730

Yang's Izakaya and Japanese Cuisine

Looking for a place to have lunch without the hassle of waiting turned out to be a tall order the other day as many places were packed and had line ups well outside the door.  Having said that we were surprised to find this restaurant to be relatively quiet on a beautiful afternoon then again Yang’s Izakaya, located on the east side of Richmond Hill, had just opened their doors for lunch when we approached them looking for a table of 8.  They were certainly able to accommodate us and even gave us the center table.  It almost felt like a VIP lunch as there was no one around us except the sushi makers and the waitresses. 

Bento Box - Chicken and Salmon Teriyaki

Looking around the room, the place reminded me of being in a club as the place had its lights dimmed in contrast with its black colored walls.  Scanning the menu, I was about to order the curry chicken with rice however the bento boxes really caught my attention.  Actually it caught the attention of many of my fellow peers that day. 

Bento Box - Salmon Teriyaki and Shrimps

I decided to go with the chicken and salmon teriyaki bento box ($12.00) while some of my fellow peers went other variations of the bento box which included scallops and shrimp as well which was priced at $18.00 each.  A couple of katsu-dons and 1 nabe udon later and we were set to order.  Prior to the arrival of the entrees, some of us were given miso soup and salad as starters.  Both starters were pretty decent and were nice appetizers to have to start the day.

The entrees arrived soon afterwards.  The bento boxes contained its usual items.  My chicken and the salmon teriyaki were placed in separate compartments, and there were dumplings, a bowl of rice, and the cucumber sushi were placed in the other ones.  The dumplings were nice and crispy and the chicken was quite delicious.  The one thing I hated about my salmon was that the bottom and the skin were completely seared.  As you can see from the picture, one of the pieces was burnt to a crisp and I for one really try to refrain from eating anything that has been burnt that badly due to the potential risks that it can have on one’s health down the road.  So I ended up having to carve the burnt salmon skin and some of the meat off the fish prior to eating.  I looked over to my friend's salmon and it too was burnt pretty badly on the side.  The sushi was just a basic cucumber sushi which to me fell a tad below standard as the rice was again mushy.  

Katsu Don

One of the other meals that was order that day was a katsu don bowl which was basically pork mixed with seaweed and rice.  This dish was actually quite nice and the porkwas nicely marinated, soft and tasty.  If I had to choose between the bento box and the katsu donI would go with the katsu don.  It was more filling, the meat was juicy and it only cost $6.99 to have. 

Nabe Udon

Another dish we had ordered that day was the nabe udon.  The dish which consisted of an egg, mixed with pork, carrots and shrimp tempura looked good and based on my peers actually tasted pretty good.  I took a sip of the soup base and it was pretty enticing and I noticed the noodles were nice and thick as well.  The meat were all well cooked and the single shrimp tempura was decent.  This dish cost about $11.80 and personally I thought this was well worth the price. 

Overall it was a nice setting and the exterior to this place looked somewhat majestic as they also had an outdoor patio for one to sit at if one wished to eat their food outdoors.  I would have given them higher marks if the quality of the sushi was better and if the salmon was not burnt as badly as it was.  It was at least better than some of the other sushi places that I have been to and could warrant a second visit in the not so distant future.  I give it a 3.25 out of 5.

Yang’s Izakaya and Japanese Cuisine

8432 Leslie Street Unit 110

Markham Ontario

905-881-9808

Kaze Japanese Cuisine

Prior to going to this next restaurant, I did some research online on this establishment to see what this place was like.  What I found oddly enough was that one either loved this place or that they really, really hated this place.  I found this to be strange as I had never seen such extremes for one restaurant before.  After reading all the comments, a group of eight of us decided to give it a try last night and made reservations prior to going.

Although it was a Saturday evening, we didn't find the place to be busy at all.  The restaurant was only half full when we walked through the doors. They offered us a choice of all you can eat buffet or a la carte, and on this evening we decided to go with the all you can eat buffet style so that we could try a little bit of everything on their menu.  Scanning their menu, it stated that they had over 100 items to serve however as the night progressed, we wondered if that was actually true or not. 

Complimentary Sashimi Starter Tray

As we placed our first order of the night, we were told that our table was going to get a 15% discount.  Why, I have no idea, although I did have my reasons by the end of the evening.  Prior to getting our first order, they provided us with a special-made, on the house shrimp tempura.  It was battered differently where I believe they used a bit of coconut oil and yam strips to bread the shrimp.  It actually tasted very good and it was a nice way to start the evening.  Another on the house complimentary dish that soon followed was a sashimi tray which included salmon, butter fish, octopus, shrimp and surf clams.  The butter fish, octopus, shrimp and surf clams were all nice and fresh however the salmon were much thicker, not as "orange" as some of the other salmon sashimi that we had seen before and was actually a little bland. 

As the night wore on, we ordered quite a few more items including sushi, hand rolls, beef ribs, tempura and meat wraps.  We also ordered a couple of udons and noodles for the little ones to eat as well.  However, as more and more of their dishes came out, I soon realized where all the negative comments were coming from. 

Shrimp Tempura

For starters, the beef ribs were a mess, literally.  I am sure many of you have had ribs elsewhere where there is a solid piece of meat wrapped around the bones.  The beef rib that they served here was "shredded" and it looked like a pile of rags when it came out.  It looked as if it had gone through a blender before it was given to us.  The sushi and the hand rolls were also average at best.  Once again, the quality of the rice is very important.  If you serve sushi with "wet" rice, the sushi will taste "soggy".  Although I was sure that the sushi was fresh, the wet rice feel sure will make one question as to whether this was actually the case or not. As bad as it had been, the kicker of the night however had to be the fact that it seemed like any time we ordered something off their menu, it was either sold out or it was not available because the items were "limited edition".  For example, we wanted a second order of the surf clams, octopus and shrimp sashimi and we were told that we were not allowed because it was only available in the starters tray.  The specially made shrimp tempura was also limited to just the starter tray only.  There were about five or six other items that were either sold out that evening as well.  Looking around, it sure didn't look that busy to have items to be sold out. They might have over 100+ items on their menu but it sure seemed like only half of it was available to order that evening.

I won't go through every single I item that we had ordered as that could take all night however what I have written pretty much summed up the night.  The food was average at best outside of the complimentary starters and service was so-so.  A coke I ordered took over 15 minutes to arrive.  At the end of the night, they even brought us the wrong receipt.  My guess was that the 15% off was to compensate for all the missing items on their menu.  Who knows.  Fifteen minutes prior to closing time, they were already starting to dim the lights, shut off the music and ushering us out the door. This restaurant is not conveniently located and if you don't have a car, it would be quite difficult for one to get there.  For one to have to travel to such a remote area, I would have expected quality service and food and unfortunately this was not the case. The cost was $22.99 per person this evening.  Compared to the all you can eat restaurant I had blogged about 1-2 weeks ago, it was certainly almost night and day.  I see where all the negative comments came from.  Overall I give it a 2.75 out of 5.

Kaze Japanese Cuisine
1285 Elgin Mills Rd E  Richmond Hill, ON L4S 2V9

(905) 883-0188

Yamamoto Japanese Cuisine

A new all you can eat sushi place opened up at Market Village very recently and after hearing great reviews from many of my fellow peers, I thought that it was a great idea to take the entire extended family over there to go check it out.  Yamamoto Japanese Cuisine opened up where the old Mongolian Grill use to be.  It serves a variety of sushi and sashimi.  We went there on a Thursday evening where it was $21.99 per adult person, $11.99 per child and $19.99 for seniors.  Of course, weekends would be a couple of dollars more but people would be allowed to choose from a few more extra items. We made reservations since we almost had 20 people going that evening.  When we got there, we were given seats on the upper level.  Despite being on a Thursday evening, the restaurant was completely packed. 

The waiters gave us a bunch of menus and blank pieces of paper where we would write down what we wanted.  The minute we handed in our selection to the waitress, we were given starter sashimi trays. The trays were filled with a variety of sashimi and meats. (see picture below)  It was all complementary from the restaurant and was a great idea to fill in the waiting time from the actual items that we had ordered.  It would be impossible to go through every single item that we had ordered that evening as we order an exuberant amount of food that night so I will just comment on the complementary dishes and their signature that evening. 

Sashimi Starter

I decided to go with their Yamamoto sushi special which was their "signature" dish.  In the middle of about 8 mango sushis, they would have some cucumber sushis with some sort of crab meat laitd on top of the sushis.  The crab meat dressing as I would call if for now was very good.  Truthfully all of the food that we ordered was quite delicious that evening.  From the sushi and sashimi, to the udon and ribs everything that we had ordered was up to standard. 

Yamamoto Sushi

The other complementary dish that arrived that evening was their garlic filled lobster.  This was quite a surprise as I was certainly not expecting this.  Children were not given the lobster, only adults and seniors.  The lobster that arrived were medium in size but the lobster was very tasty.  There was plenty of meat in the lobster and in the claws and in what I could see of the majority of the lobsters, there was plenty of tomalley in many of the lobsters. 

Complementary Lobsters

In the end, it was a very good evening.  Although they said there would be a 90 minute time limit, we were there for almost 2 and a half hours eating away.  The waiters and waitresses were right beside us the entire time and changed our plates constantly.  The quality of the food was surprisingly very good and in good quantity as well.  One secret I will share with you is that it is wise to order the dessert early or mid way through your dinner.  They run out quick and if you have a family like mine that likes to eat 5 of every desert, then this you want to place your orders in before they are all gone.  We gave them a fairly good tip and I would recommend anybody to go and give it a try.  As for me, there will certainly be a second time in the very near future.  Overall I give them a 4.25 out of 5. 

Yamamoto Japanese Cuisine
4390 Steeles Avenue E
Markham, Ontario 

(905) 305-1234