Paradise Banquet Hall

Vince & Isabel's Wedding

Hors d'oeuvres


















Spring rolls, rice ball, stuffed mushroom, beef, pastries, chicken and shrimp. (J) I liked the crispy ones like the spring rolls and battered shrimp. (S) I liked the spanakopita and the spring rolls! The stuffed mushroom was pretty good too.

Dinner

Butternut Squash Soup (J) Thick and hearty. (S) SO delicious.

Cheese Agnolotti in Rose Sauce (J) Mmm so creamy and cheesy. I'd eat seconds if we didn't have more food coming. (S) The servers piled on a lot for us. I wish I could have eaten more, but had to save room!

Chicken Forestiere & Veal Maria: chicken breast with oyster, shitake & button mushroom sauce; breaded veal topped with mushroom, pepper & tomato, served with Greek salad. (J) The salad was really good. We couldn't finish all the meat, but luckily they packed our leftovers for us. (S) I really liked how the vegetables were seasoned, very tasty. I couldn't believe it when we got both chicken and veal. I'm glad they let us pack it up.

Dessert

Paradise Trio: half tartufo, ice cream crepe and chocolate covered strawberry. (J) I really liked the crepe, which had a fruit spread inside that went well with the other flavours. (S) I liked the tartufo, I liked the different flavours and textures.








(J) There were lots of cakes and pastries, but we were full from dinner, so we stuck with fruits. I had the printed chocolate though and ate the bride and groom up! (S) We were also able to take home some fruits, thanks to Vince & Isabel, we had pineapples for a week!

Tako Sushi

Soup & Salad (J) We're here again after failing to eat at Ikea due to their ridiculously long lineup. (S) This is our go-to sushi place if all else fails.

Unagi Don: (J) Mmm eel. Came in a cute lunch box. Too bad they didn't give double portions of eel like they did with their chicken. (S) I was weary that there would be little eel when I ordered this, but oh well, it was nice and soft.

Chirashi Don: (J) I liked the vinegar taste of the rice, but not the small pieces of ginger scattered throughout. (S) We picked around the ginger. Fish was good though!

Ice Cream: (J) Red bean as usual. This time we were able to finish all the food. We didn't order any sides, and these dishes were relatively small.

Location: 1300 Don Mills Road, North York, ON M3B 2W6
Phone: (416) 391-9188
Website: http://www.takosushi.ca


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Tako Sushi

Appetizer: spider roll. (J) We had a blackout in our area so we had to go out for dinner. I ate all the crispy crab legs. (S) Good excuse for some crunchy-goodness.

Vegetarian Dinner: salad, miso soup, avocado rolls, cucumber rolls, vegetable tempura, croquette, tofu and broccoli. (J) I liked the croquette and fried tofu, although all the fried food wasn't so good for us. (S) I felt like veggies, crunchy, fried veggies.

Take Dinner: miso soup, salad, California rolls, salmon rolls, teriyaki chicken, pasta salad, vegetable & shrimp tempura and broccoli. (J) I like this place because you get more chicken than other places. Pasta salad was new.

Dessert: red bean ice cream. (J) Even though we had a takeout box full of leftovers, we still had room for ice cream! (S) Red Been!

Location: 1300 Don Mills Road, North York, ON M3B 2W6
Phone: (416) 391-9188
Website: http://www.takosushi.ca


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Casa Manila

Lumpiang Shanghai: pork and vegetable spring rolls; calamansi (sparkling lemonade) drink. (J) So crispy and good. I liked the drink, it reminded me of Sunny D. (S) The rolls were so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I could have eaten so many more.

Pancit Canton: egg noodles with chicken and shrimp. (J) Very satisfying. A bit too salty for me though. (S) This dish is pretty similar to Chinese style fried noodles. Although it was a bit on the greasy side for me, it was tasty enough.

BBQ Chicken Skewers: served with java rice and pickled papaya. (J) I liked the sweet glaze of the chicken. I'm not sure what java rice is. I don't like papaya, but the salad was good! (S) I really liked the texture of the salad, it had bite. The java rice was very soft and mushy, I personally like some bite in my rice. The chicken was nice with the sweet glaze.

Halo Halo: mixed beans and fruits on shaved ice. (J) So many flavours; perfect for dessert ADD. I liked the ube ice cream and beans. (S) I liked the variety of flavours and different beans. I could have had more beans and aloe and less ice cream. It got much too sweet for me near the end; it was a good thing we shared.

Location: 879 York Mills Road, Toronto, ON M3B 1Y4
Phone: (416) 443-9654
Website: http://www.casamanila.ca

The Old Spaghetti Factory

Clam Chowder: (J) It could have been warmer. (S) Soup was good on a cold day.

Salad: green salad with French dressing. (S) There was ample dressing. Veggies were pretty fresh and crisp.

Spaghetti with Meatballs: (J) Big peppery meatballs. (S) The meatballs were big and peppery all right.

The Manager's Favourite: half rich meat and half mushroom terragon sauce. (J) I liked the mushroom side better. (S) It was hard to eat without mixing the sides. I wanted to try both before turning it into a huge mixture, so I cut the noodles down the middle. I liked the mushroom side better too, but the meat sauce was pretty good.

Spumoni Ice Cream: chocolate, pistachio and vanilla. (J) There used to be strawberry instead of vanilla before, but still good. (S) I thought they used to serve real pistachio, this one tasted too much like candy. Not as big of a fan.

Location: #54 The Esplanade, Toronto, ON M5E 1A6
Phone: (416) 864-9761
Website: http://oldspaghettifactory.ca

Momiji

Miso Soup & Salad. (J) Salad dressing had a strong orange taste that I enjoyed. (S) The same citrus scent was throughout the restaurant, not that I minded. It was refreshing.

Love Bridge B: spider roll 9 pcs, spicy roll 6 pcs, nigiri 12 pcs. (J) I've never had a bridge before, and I thought it was a great alternative to a boat. There was also a fire in the little white cup! Spider rolls were really good. (S) Mmm...I liked the variety. Would have been easier if things were split into 3s though.

Maki Dinner B: dynamite roll 9 pcs, California roll 6 pcs and spicy roll 6pcs. (J) I liked the crunchy bits in the spicy rolls. (S) I didn't love the spicy rolls :P The dynamite rolls I enjoyed, though.

Churros: chocolate and vanilla with ice cream (?) dipping sauces. (J) Desserts were 25% off, so we had to try one. The menu called these "Chewrros"! They tasted good like Tiny Tom donuts. (S) This seemed out of place in a Japanese restaurant, but it was nice and sugary.

Location: 2111 Sheppard Ave E., North York ON M2J 1W6
Phone: (416) 499-2111
Website: http://www.momijis.com

Toko Sushi

RedFlagDeals Deal of the Day

Miso Soup & Green Salad: (J) Soup was nice and hot. Salad had good orange dressing.

Chicken Udon: (J) big, filling bowl. (S) The soup looked clean, and the chicken kinda tasted like nothing, lol.

Tempura Appetizer, Edamame & Glass Noodles: (J) Tempura was hot and fresh. We didn't even touch the glass noodles and brought them home because we had too much food. (S) I could have had more edamame. The glass noodles tasted very salty.

3 Yellow Plates: cucumber and avocado rolls, rice-filled tofu, and egg sushi. (J) Tofu and egg were nice and sweet. (S) I liked the sweets.

2 Green Plates: cucumber rolls topped with shrimp or imitation crab. (S) The mayo was interesting.

2 Red Plates: spicy salmon and salmon rolls. (J) Rolls got better at the red plate level. I liked the spicy rolls with crispy bits on top. (S) Spicy was ok, I liked the flakey more.

1 Blue Plate: tempura shrimp rolls topped with eel and fish eggs. (J) Tempura was soft. Looked like the turnover rate for blue plates wasn't too high. (S) Eel was nice and I liked the fish eggs.

Desserts: green tea mochi (left); tempura ice cream (right): fried dough ball filled with green tea ice cream, served with chocolate sauce, cream, cantaloupe and lemon slices. (J) Mochi was semi-frozen yet chewy, and had a very good flavour. The tempura ice cream plate was a very odd combination, but I enjoyed it a lot. (S) Although the tempura ice cream looks much more exciting, I really liked the mochi because of its texture and taste. The tempura ice cream got pretty messy in the end, and I wasn't a big fan of the lemon/green tea ice cream.

Location: 637 Yonge St, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1Z5
Phone: (647) 436-9943
Website: http://www.tokorestaurant.ca/

CNE

Pizza: Hawaiian and deluxe slices with pop $5.50. (J) We had a coupon for a free slice with the purchase of a slice and drink. Nice thin crust with lots of ingredients. (S) I think this was the healthiest meal we had today.

Deep Fried Butter: topped with powdered sugar and various sauces $5. (J) Lighter than I expected. The middle was hollow and filled with melted butter. The salty middle balanced well with the sweet toppings. (S) I was expecting to see more butter, but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Ice Cream Waffle Sandwich: $3.50. (J) Ours didn't last too long because the ice cream was already melting before they made it. (S) Yea, boo! I wanted another one to make up for this one, but that would have been too much.

Breakfast Mac and Cheese: with egg and sausage from the Mac & Cheesery. (J) Egg was burnt on the bottom. Pasta was kinda mushy. Top tasted good, but the bottom parts were tasteless. (S) I liked the sausages and the top, cheesy layer. Otherwise, the mac & cheese tasted like nothing.

Chicken & Curly Fries: from Kentucky Style Chicken. (J) The chicken didn't have any herbs or spices. It was cooked well though. Fries were stuck together, which made them hard to eat. (S) Lesson learned: if you want fried chicken, go to Popeyes or KFC. There was no seasoning on this.

Location: The Canadian National Exhibition
Phone: (416) 393-6300
Website: http://www.theex.com/