Royale Fine DIning Banquet

Royale Fine Dining Banquet is one of the newer banquet restaurants that have opened up in Scarborough.  The restaurant occupies a space that once housed a buffet restaurant and is grand enough to host many large parties including weddings and birthday parties.

We were there for a birthday party and decided to go with their 10-course $640.00 meal.  It’s a course that is similar to many of the typical 10 courses meals which often includes roasted pork, lobster, chicken, rice, fish, and crab claws. 

Shark Fin Soup

Crab Claws with Roasted Almonds

 Rather than go through each dish one by one, I will just comment on a couple of my more favorite dishes of the evening and make comment on one dish where I thought it could have used some improvements. 

My favorite dish of the evening had to have been the Crab Claw sprinkled with Roasted Almonds.  The almonds were roasted with a definitive aroma and covered the entire crab claw.  The presentation itself was interesting in that a large piece of ginger was placed in the centre of the dish.  What made this dish so good was that the almond had enhanced the flavor of the crab claws even more.  It gave the crab meat texture and taste as opposed to many of their competitors where it is just crab meat and nothing more.  That “crunchiness” made it that much more unique and made this dish a more desirable dish to have.

Scallops with Vegetables

Steamed Fish

Another dish I really enjoyed was actually the last meals of the night which were the rice and noodles.  I know one would say what a silly thing to say but despite the slight increase in oiliness in both the rice and the noodles, they both tasted pretty good and far better than some of their competitors.  The noodles were actually immersed in some sort of soup base while the rice had contained green onions, seeds, mango strips and Chinese sausages.  Both were uniquely made and although these two dishes are often left as an after thought after a ten course meal, both these dishes actually stood out for me to the point where seconds and thirds were attempted.

Stir Fried Lobster

Chicken

The one dish that I thought could have used a bit more creativity was the Roasted Chicken.  This dish in my mind was poorly presented where the chicken only occupied half the plate, the meat was quite dry, and there were no sauces to dip the meat in.  I actually found it difficult to meat as the pieces and the meat was at a minimal and in some cases, some pieces contained more bone than meat.  It did not provide much taste and in my mind was probably the worse dish of the evening. 

Rice

Noodles

Dessert

Overall the rest of the dishes were decent and acceptable.  There were no spectacular dishes other than the two that I had mentioned earlier.  The price was acceptable as it covered ten people per table and included gratuity.  The price also included pop and drinks.  It would be a good place to host a wedding although it was a little troubling to see it somewhat quiet on a Saturday evening.  Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5. 

Royale Fine Dining Banquet

648 Silver Star Blvd

Scarborough, Ontario

416-299-0928

Elegance Chinese Cuisine

When one sees the name Elegance Chinese Cuisine, one expects to walk into a restaurant full of elegance, otherwise why own a name like that?  We went there on a weeknight and naturally it was probably a little bit more quiet than usual.  There were only ten tables that I could see that were occupied so finding a seat that evening wasn’t a problem at all.

Peking Duck

We wanted to try some of their more delicate dishes so we went with their Peking Duck skin and wrap, A Stir Fried Lobster with Ginger, Steamed Baby Bok Choys and Shrimp Mixed with Tofu and Egg White Sauce.

Diced Peking Duck with Wraps

 Traditionally the Peking Duck will always arrive first as they will skin the duck in front of you and that it is often used as an appetizer  The duck skin was crispy and the duck meat was marinated well and had just the right amount of fat in it.  The wraps were hot and plentiful as no extra wraps were needed.

Stir Fried Lobster

The rest of the duck meat was diced and brought back out so that it could be used as the main ingredient for the wraps.  The tradition use of hoisin sauce and green onions along with their cabbage wraps made this a much more enjoyable dish to have.    

Shrimp Mixed with Tofu and Egg White Sauce

The lobster was comparable to its competitors.  The meat was tender and the sauce was able to penetrate into the meat making all the lobster meat succulent and delicious. 

The two vegetable and fungi dishes were simple, tasty and were a good compliment with all the meat dishes that we had ordered that evening.  Despite the amount of egg white sauce in the latter dish, the shrimp remained tender and fresh.     

Baby Bok Choy

Overall, the dishes were all pretty good.  The dishes were fresh, colorful and plentiful to go all the way around.  Staff was always by our side although that could have been the fact that it was a quiet weeknight at the restaurant.   Prices were reasonable for the quality of the food that was presented. Dim sum I’m told is pretty good here so the next time I visit, we will try some dim sum at this place and report back to you.  Dinner overall was satisfactory with plenty of smiles all around the table. Overall I give it a 4 out of 5.

Elegance Chinese Cuisine

20 Gibson Drive

Markham, Ontario

Jacob's Steakhouse

So what is the big deal about Jacob's Steakhouse.  Well to coin a phrase from the Toronto soccer team a while back, it's a bloody big deal.  This clubhouse boasts some of the best international steaks from all around the world.  Although the price is often out of the range of the average person, it is certainly worth a once in a lifetime adventure to eat at this restaurant.

Beef Tartar

We made reservations for 4 for a Saturday evening and were given our seats right away.  The waitress who attended to us took the time to explain to us all the different types of international steaks and even took some of the raw meat to our table to show us what was the difference between a regular steak all the way to a Japanese A5 steak.

VanGroningen Farm Ribeye

After scanning the menu, we wanted to order a couple of North American steaks, 1 Australian steak and 1 Japanese steak.  We went with an 18oz US Prime Black Angus Bone in Striploin, a 12oz Van Groningen Farms Ribeye, a 10oz AAco Westholme from Australia Tenderloin and a 4oz A5 Black Tajima-Kagoshima California Cut Striploin from Japan.  We also got a Caesar salad and a Beef Tartar to round out the selection.

USDA Prime Black Angus Bone in Striploin

The Caesar salad was freshly made before us.  A waitress would make the salad in a teak bowl standing by your table.  The salad was given some punch with the addition of a couple pieces of anchovies to spice up the flavor.

AAco Westholme Wagyu Tenderloin

The Beef Tartar was outstanding.  If nothing else was ordered for the evening, just the one serving alone of beef tartar for one person would have been enough.  The taste was amazing.  It had a certain tangy taste to it and the meat was super fresh.

A5 Black Tajima-KagoshimaCalifornia Cut Striploin

The steaks all arrived at the same time.  Although it would not have been foolish to start from the cheapest steak and work one's way to the more expensive one, we were concerned that by the time we got to the most expensive Japanese steak, that one we would be full or two, the steak would have gotten cold.  The Japanese steak was by far our favorite. Made to medium rare, the meat was so fatty and juicy that like the waitress said, the meat would just melted in one's mouth.  Surprisingly, the Australian steak was equally as good.  It didn't melt as much as the Japanese cut, but there was still a certain aura to it.  The 2 North American steaks were good but were typical and comparable to many of the other North American steaks I have had in the past.

We ordered a bottle of wine to enjoy this meal with.  For 4 people, it was $750 tax and tip included.  Not cheap but certain well worth it!!!

Jacob's Co and Steakhouse
12 Brant Street
Toronto, Ontario

416-366-0200

Old Country Inn

Long before Pokemon Go showed up on Main Street in Markham, Ontario, there was the Old Country Inn that was delivering top notch service and food in that neighbourhood.  We headed out on a Friday night and made reservations to this popular diner located along the popular strip.  There were six of us and oddly enough, when we all flipped open the menu, the first and only thing we all noticed was their $25.95 Friday night only Black Angus Prime Rib Dinner.  This deal not only included a nice piece of prime rib but also included a Caesar salad and their own version of a sweet apple strudel to go along as dessert. 

We all wanted our prime ribs to be medium rare and I can surely attest that the chefs in the back of the kitchen hit it spot on.  As for the prime rib, the meat was absolutely delicious with the perfect gravy seasoning poured on top of it.  There were plenty of vegetables included as well on the plate.  But back to the meat.  Everyone at the table concurred that it was one of the most softest piece of meat they had ever cut into. The meat was also able to absorb all the juices really well which made it super tasty.  We were all very happy with the cut.  Strangely it was only 7pm when we ordered the prime ribs however we overheard the waitress tell another table that our 5 prime ribs were the last prime ribs available for the evening.

Black Angus Prime Rib

The apple strudel sure was different than an apple pie and truthfully I would have preferred an original apple pie.  Nothing wrong witht he apple strudel but it comes with less apples and tend to be more flakes and bread than apple.  Having said that, it still tasted fine. Again not as sweet as some of the more traditional apple pies but I would consider it to be acceptable quality.

Apple Strudel

Overall, we were all very surprised at the quality of the Black Angus Prime Rib.  We all agreed that $25 was an amazing price.  For such quality, some places could have easily sold it two to three times that amount.  Now that we have discovered it, we may have also found a new hangout place on a Friday night.  And of course, once one is done, one can join the hundreds of people outside chasing Pokemons all around.  This place was fantastic and the staff was also super nice.  Overall I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Old County Inn
198 Main Street.,
Markham, Ontario

905-477-2715
www.oldcountryinn.ca

Kaka All You Can Eat

A restaurant that has a long waiting list for reservations? A restaurant that has a long wait to just to get in? What kind of place is this??  For starters, this is Kaka, an all you can eat Japanese sushi restaurant located in the GTA area.  This establishment has one of the best all you can eat sushi places north of Toronto.  If one has ever tried to call in and make reservations, the service will tell you that they are booked weeks in advanced and even if you try to walk in, you might be waiting for an hour or two just to get a table.  So how did we do it?  First of all prime time hour for dinner is 6pm so obviously one would have to get there before 6.  Second, make sure your entire party is there.  We got there around quarter to 6 and our party of 5 were all there standing at the podium.  There were 5-6 empty tables and we were told that they were supposedly all reserved.  After about three minutes of waiting and sitting there, with constant reminders to the hostess that we were all there, the waitress decided to bring us in and give us our table. We were told that we would need to however vacate the table by 7:30.  Having agreed to their terms, our night was set.

When we sat down, we were given an Ipad that had all the special plates for the evening.  There were plenty of rolls, sushi and sashimi to choose from as well as noodles and cooked food. There were no drinks other than water and tea included in the set price. When I eat at one of these places, I always look for accuracy, freshness and uniqueness of the food that was being served. 

Chef's Special Assorted Sushi

On Friday evenings, the price is somewhat higher than the regular week and that's because of their chef's assoreted sushi special and on that particular evening, special sushi rolls of scallops, eel, salmon and hamachi were introduced to us. Displayed to perfection, I can honestly say all four pieces were soft, warm and very fresh.  This could be attributed to the high turnover in their food.  None of the fish eaten appeared to have been frozen and the rice was perfect.  It was about as perfect as a piece of sushi one could have gotten. 

Assorted sushi rolls

The rest of the evening was dotted with a variety of sushi rolls, sashimi and cooked foods and they were all absolutely delicious.  Every item was fresh as there were no bad pieces to be found.  The tempuras were all very crispy and even the eggplant and spicy hand rolls hit their mark.  Their blow-torched sushi was also pretty good as those were some dishes usually not served at any other all you can eat sushi places. With respect to accuracy, I have to say that I still have not encountered a restaurant that has gotten our order correctly, even with these tablets. Our first order of miso soup and edamane went AWOL and did not appear until the second order was placed.

Despite this it was a very delightful evening. At the end, they did rush us out as there were plenty of people waiting at the door.  We left right at 7:30, however they were already clearing our table 15 minutes before that.  One special mention is that their slushy mango dessert is also something to get.  It was purely awesome, especially on a hot summer night.  The table beside us had ordered like 8 of them between 2 girls.  Cost was about $40 per person and that was tax and tip included.  Was it worth it?  I can definitely say yes and with no reservations and being able to get a table within five minutes of entering the restaurant was certainly a bonus.  I would definitely go again as it was an amazing experience.  If they got our first order correctly, they would have gotten full marks.  Overall, I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Kaka All You Can Eat
3235 Highway 7 #19A
Markham, Ontario

905-604-5023

Kiu Japanese Restaurant

So what's so"Kiu" about this brand new Kiu Japanese Restaurant?? Many of my friends have eaten there, some once, some twice and others almost on a daily basis.  They kept telling me that I must go and check it out because I was totally missing out.  So finally after weeks of procrastination, a few of us finally made the choice of going out to Kiu Japanese Restaurant to try out their wonderful food.  Although, they boast some of the fresh high end sushi and sashimi, along with fresh lobster and lamb chops, for today anyways, I was actually more interested in some of their ramens and Nigri Chef's choice. 

We didn't have reservations for the evening but because the restaurant was half empty and we were actually in a rush to go see a movie, we darted in, convinced the waitress that we would be gone in a half hour's time and as a result found nice cushy seats in the back somewhere.

Nigri Chef's Choice 11pc plus Egg Castella

My friend had the nigri chef's choice and he said it was very good.  There were 11 very fresh pieces of sushi which included shrimp, scallop, tuna, salmon and geoduck.  Although it did not look like there was a lot of food on his plate, he said that it was still pretty filling.  In the end, he was quite pleased with the quality and with the price of the food. 

Black Sesame Tan Tan Noodle

I personally ordered the Black Sesame Tan Tan Noodle Ramen.  The waitress warned me twice that this was actually one of the more spicier ramens that they had. Hearing that made me nervous however I was in quite the adventurous mood that day.  Whenthe bowl arrived, it came with pieces of pork, lots of green onions and a bowl of sesame with a pestle beside it so that I could grind the sesame into a fine powder form.  I took a sip of the soup base and it was extremely rich in spices and meat juice.  There was a small portion of noodles and about three pieces of pork.  The noodles were quite tender and when you mixed all the ingredients together, it tasted fabulous.  What I loved the most was the soup base.  It was so well seasoned and not too spicy at all  despite the waitress' warnings and when one mixed all the ingredients together, it actually tasted very, very good.  It was hands down one of the most delicious ramens I have ever had.  The only disappointing factor I had was that the amount of the noodles in the bowl was just a tad bit on the low side.  If there was one more handful of noodles inside the bowl, I think I would have given this a perfect 10!!

Spicy Red Miso Ramen

The last bowl that was ordered was the Spicy Red Miso Ramen.  Once again the waitress gave us the heads up saying that this was one of the more spicier ramens in their menu.  The person who had this noodle soup said it too was very, very good.  It was well seasoned, filled with ingredients but again the main complaint was that there just wasn't enough noodles in the bowl.  Although it looked like there was a mountain of food in the bowl, appearance sometimes could be deceiving.

In the end it was a very good night even though it was a rather quick evening in the restaurant.  Many of my friends who have tried this place have gone all in by trying their lobster, their omakase and their pork chops and all have said that the quality had been unbelievable.  I must admit I do concur with their overall assessments and highly recommend going to this restaurant.  Also when finished, you can simply go catch a movie in the VIP theatre as they are all in the same building.  If you are there, give Kiu Japanese restaurant a try.  I don't think you will be disappointed.  Overall I give it a 4.75 out of 5.  

Kiu Japanese Restaurant
169 Enterprise Blvd
Markham, Ontario

905-513-6368

Chez Cora

There are many Cora or Chez Cora restaurants located throughout the Toronto and greater Toronto area.  A friend and I decided to stop into one and give it a try as we were literally in between breakfast and lunch during a weekday.  Naturally during that time of the day, it was reasonably quiet as most people had gone to work.  We went in and saw that only 2 or 3 tables had been occupied throughout the restaurant.  Their menu consisted of only a single page laminated paper filled with various breakfast offers and fruit dishes.We were pretty famished so we decided to try a couple of their more filling dishes in their menu. 

The first thing we ordered was the Jo Construction in which the number 3 was the key to this dish.  There were 3 strips of bacon, 3 pieces of sausages, 3 sunny side up eggs, 3 pieces of fruit and a load of sliced up roasted potatoes.  It also came with a couple of slices of toasted buttered bread.  Taste wise, the food tasted exactly what was advertised.  I think my only issue was the overall appearance and the variety of foods present.  Although there was plenty of food quantity wise, the whole presentation and appearance seemed rather boring.  Perhaps more pieces of fruit could have enlightened the dish as it certainly would have provided more balance to the plate.  It just looked it was very hastily put together and if you ever go on their website and see what their version of the Jo construction would  look like, you will see that what was served that morning was vastly different that was presented on their menu. 

Jo Construction

If one was hungry still, then the Bluebery Field Pancake may have been a better choice to fill the empty stomach.  This triple layer pancake with blueberries sprinkled on top had a good dousing of English cream to make it look very grand.  It was sweet tasting like good old fashion pancakes would but it seemed to lack maple syrup or taste "throughout" the pancakes.  The top pancake had all the cream, the blueberries and the syrup but once you got to the second and third pancak at the bottom, there was really nothing left other than the pancake itself .  It might have been possibly better if "each" layer got its own layer of English cream and blueberries.  Now that would have a Blueberry Fields Pancake to die for.  The pancakes were good but it just wasn't consistent from top to bottom.

Blueberry Fields Pancake

Overall, it was a fair brunch meal to have although I have always wondered whether these all day breakfast places can really take it up a notch and really make it mouth savory and present it in a method so that one would really, really want to come back again.  I have truthfully yet to step into any restaurant, let alone this one whether it be in Toronto or North America for that matter.  The breakfast was simple with no uniqueness or creativity to them and for that matter lacked the old saying "I really want to come back for that again." If I am to pay $10 per plate for each meal, I would expect it to be a little bit more extravangent or dressed up to make me want more.  Don't get me wrong, Chez Cora will fill the stomach, however it doesn't give you a lasting impression that would make you want to come back again.  Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.

Chez Cora
16 Vogell Road
Richmond Hill, Ontario

905-508-1755