Tasty BBQ Seafood Restaurant

With only one hour for lunch and totally famished from a busy morning, a friend and I drove by a Chinese restaurant that was hidden in a plaza.  Tasty BBQ Seafood Restaurant is located just off highway 404 and Finch Avenue and the best way to describe its location is that it is located beside the Ministry of Transportation office in that plaza.  Once inside, the appearance gave it a somewhat newly renovated and sophisticated restaurant with fresh duck and poultry hanging on its rack ready for consumption. 

Although it smelled like a "Cha-Cha Teng", I think the restaurant did boast somewhat of a more complex type restaurant however since it was l2 noon, we were looking for something quick, easy and affordable. After scanning their menu and taking a look around the room at what everyone else was ordering, I decided to go with their BBQ Duck and Noodles lunch meal.

BBQ Duck and Noodles

When it arrived, I noticed that the noodles were served in one bowl while the BBQ duck was served on a plate instead.  The plate itself was rather large and thus so were the proportions.  It smelled great and even the waitress who delivered the glistening duck said it was the hot special for the day because it was nice and fresh and came straight from the oven.   The duck tasted delicious while its meat was moist and its skin somewhat crispy.  Each piece had a small amount of fat in it while 2/3 of it had plenty of meat attached to it. The noodles were made to perfection with each strand nice and thick. My only disappointment was that the soup base did lack a bit of taste and seasoning to it.  

After finishing the meal, both my friend and I were pretty full.  Tasty BBQ Seafood was definitely quite a tasty place to go.  With their huge bowl of noodles and half a duck served to you in perfect condition, it was definitely a well worth the price for a lunch meal.  For $11.00, which included tax, tip and a cold drink and plenty of parking outside, it was like finding a diamond in the rough.  I would certainly go there again for lunch or for dinner.  Overall,  I give it a 4.25 out of 5.

Tasty BBQ Seafood Restaurant

3555 Don Mills Road

Unit 11

North York, Ontario

416-756-7773

Pho Xe Lua Restaurant

One thing I had not had in quite some time was Vietnamese pho.  Once upon a time it was a weekly event however it had been quite some time since we last had it so when we passed by a mall sometime last week, we spotted a Vietnamese restaurant that my wife and I had not gone to for quite some time and since it was just before the noon hour rush, we figured that this was a good idea to have.  When I saw the name, I think the name of the restaurant and thus the ownership may have changed recently.  I'm not too sure, but I don't think Pho Xe Lua was the name of the Vietnamese restaurant when we first had it many years ago.The restaurant itself is situated in a busy Asian Mall on the north east corner of Finch Avenue and Leslie Street.

Curry Chicken and Rice

Despite the ownership change, we still went in and we ordered our favorites whenever we go to any Vietnamese restaurant.  I went with my favorite Curry Chicken on Rice combo while my wife went with the Pho with Tripe, Beef Filet and Tendon.  Both dishes arrived within 10 minutes of ordering.  I can see from the curry chicken that there were about three pieces of chicken and after stirring the curry, there was one piece of potato that was sliced in half.  The rice, sprinkled with green onions, came on a separate dish.  I mixed the curry with the rice and discovered the curry was pretty spicy, much spicier than I had originally thought.  I would probably give it a 7 out of 10 on the spiciness scale.  It actually surprised me a little bit in terms of how spicy it was.  Extra water was definitely needed to finish the meal.  Normally I don't need to reach for that glass of water but this curry had some pretty good kick to it.  There was plenty of curry sauce to go with the rice.  The chicken was cooked well as were the potatoes.  Kudos to the chefs for kicking it up a notch to give a strong flavor to this curry chicken meal.

The pho was rather medium in size in where bigger portions have been seen before however having said that, almost every square inch of the bowl was covered with something.  There were plenty thick noodles that covered the entire bowl.  The meat however was all cooked even though I know my wife had wanted it  to be the rare type where she could cooked it herself in the hot soup.  The soup base's taste was not as strong in flavor and compared to the amount of taste in the curry chicken, this was quite tame and mild.  Despite this, it was satisfactory once the hoisin and hot sauces got into it.

Pho with Tripe, Beef Filet and Tendon

It had been such a long time since I had Vietnamese food that I was almost craving it when we were hungry that day.  Having said that the meal was hot and all of it was goggled up that afternoon.  The food was not overly spectacular but the price was reasonable and there was plenty of parking on a weekday afternoon. Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


Pho Xe Lua  Restaurant
157 Ravel Road
North York, Ontario

416-490-8822

Barberian's Steak House

Barberian's Steak House is one of those fine dining restaurants located on Elm Street in the heart of downtown Toronto.  Oddly enough, it was the last restaurant on that street that I had never eaten at so I was really looking forward to the occasion.  We had a late night dinner reservation for that evening as some of the party members wanted to take advantage of their after ten only souffle dessert menu.

Certainly a restaurant with the name steak house in it would have indicated that this place was clearly a meats only restaurant however they do carry soups and salads, some vegetable sides and fish orders as well. Having said that, we were all here for their special meats including their prime ribs, sirloin steaks and baby back ribs.

For starters, a couple of us wanted to try out some of their fresh Seafood Chowder ($10.75). When it arrived it looked pretty delicious and it came in a rather large bowl.  The taste was spot on and there was plenty of clam inside the chowder bowl.  Although the chowder had the correct taste and thickness to it, I wasn't too sure what other ingredients were available.  Much of the seafood ingredients were rather small and it was hard to distinguish what exactly was in it. 

Fresh Seafood Chowder

Others however decided to go with their Caesar Salad ($11.50) instead.  The salad itself was about the same compared to any of the Caesar salads that I have had at other restaurants before.  The only difference with this Caesar Salad was that their dressing was a little bit more creamier and had a bit of a kick to it in that it was a little spicy.  I wasn't too sure whether they had added more garlic or maybe even peppers to the dressing but one could certainly taste a bit of spiciness to it. A slight twist to an otherwise simple salad.

Caesar Salad

One of those two main courses that we had ordered that evening was the Prime Rib.  The Roasted Prime Rib of Beef ($49.50) looked delicious and it looked pretty red when it sat on the table.  Most of the prime ribs ordered that evening was of the medium rare variety and I think the chefs hit it spot on this time around. When one was cutting into the prime rib, everyone said their meats were made to exactly what they had expected.  The only problem was that other than the pepper seared skin on the outside of the meat, there was little to no taste to it at all.  We actually had to ask the waiter for a bowl of gravy sauce and oddly he brought out one huge of bowl of gravy sauce for everyone at the table.  When we poured the gravy sauce over the prime rib, it was as if the prime rib had come to life.  All the great flavors on of the prime rib came out to the forefront and finally one could see a smile on people's faces as they were munching through their meal.

Prime Rib

I was really looking forward to the Barbecue Baby Back Ribs ($40.75).  I'm a huge baby back ribs fan and after hearing so many great stories from this establishment, I was really itching to give it a try.  When the barbecue ribs arrived, i could tell there was a chance I was going to be headed for some disappointment. The meat was very dry and the barbecue sauce was actually served in the separate bowl.  Usually, the meat would literally fall off the bone however in my case, the end pieces especially, the meat was literally stuck to the bone and the meat was as hard as a rock.  I am assuming that the meat was never steamed prior to being grilled which would explain the toughness and the dryness of the meat. In some cases, I was almost tearing the meat of the bone with my two hands just to get it off.  I hate to say in these terms but it was by far one of the worse baby back ribs that I have had in quite some time.  There was no flavor to it either and with the sauce itself being served on a different bowl, there was no marination of the sauce to be absorbed into the meat.  When your bake potato was the best serving on your plate, you know that this dish was simply not up to par.

Barbecue Baby Back Ribs

A birthday party without some sort of dessert or cake would be an injustice and since they didn't have any cakes on their menu, the banana split was the next best choice. With oven baked almonds sprinkled on top of a sweet chocolate syrup, it gave this dish a bit of life.  The bananas were fresh and the ice creams were scooped with correct proportions. Oddly enough, to me anyways, it was probably the best meal that I had eaten all night. 

Overall, the prime ribs were up to par but the baby back ribs were just simply awful.  We did make mention it to the waiter and he quietly told us that they were working with a new supplier for the ribs which may have accounted for the poor quality of it.  Either way, when a customer is charged the money that they are chard, one expects the best of the best.  Do make a special visit to their wine cellar in the basement.  It would definitely give you a shock and awe effect.  If you do go, avoid the baby back ribs and go with their steak or prime ribs as they are much better choices for your money.  Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.

Barberian's Steak House
7 Elm Street
Toronto, Ontario

416-597-0335