Kelsey's

Four Cheese Spinach Dip: served with pita chips. (J) Got this free from joining their newsletter! So good and cheesy. The bread was fluffy like naan. (S) The cheesy dip was so good! Too bad the bread had to be so big and thick, took up a lot of room in my belly.

Rib & Wing Combo: with Guinness sauce. (J) Ribs were saucy and tender. I thought the wings were fried a little too long.

Smokey Portobello Chicken: smokey bacon whiskey mushroom sauce, mash potatoes, cajun onion rings. (J) Interesting flavour. Crispy onion rings are always good. (S) The mushrooms and chicken went well together, and the mashed potatoes was so creamy and fluffy.

Location: 1972 Eglinton Avenue E, Scarborough ON M1L 2M6
Phone: (416) 285-7126
Website: http://www.kelseys.ca


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Swiss Chalet

Festive Special

Chicken Festive Special (J) Pretty good fall-off-the-bone chicken with chalet sauce as usual. (S) The chicken is always good with the Swiss Chalet sauce. The stuffing was tasty as well.

Ribs Festive Special (J) I didn't know they had a ribs version of the special. It only comes with Lindor chocolates though, and not the extra sides. The edge of the ribs was dry. (S) This Swiss Chalet was pretty busy during lunch and the server forgot to bring the ribs sauce. The ribs were pretty fall-off-the-bone as well.

Location:900 Don Mills Road, Toronto ON M3C 1V6
Phone: (416) 449-4530
Website: http://www.swisschalet.ca


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Tastes of the Hill

(J) Like last year, local Richmond Hill restaurants gave out samples after we paid an entrance fee for charity. There weren't long lines this year and I got full pretty fast. I really enjoyed the shepherd's pie, steak, cookie and butter tart. Unfortunately Nando's and Turtle Jack's didn't give out chicken and wings respectively.

(S) I was disappointed that Nando's didn't have the chicken from last year. I always enjoy Moxie's steak, mushroom and blondie dessert. Unfortunately, we had too much sweets and cake the night before, so we passed on most cakes from Costco and other stands.

Location: Richmond Green Sports Centre
Website: Tastes of the Hill


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Ikea

Salad and Salmon: Berry goat cheese salad and Stuffed salmon plate. (J) The creamy cheese, tart vinaigrette and nutty nuts went well together. I couldn't identify the yellow sauce on the fish. The vegetable medallions tasted like cream of broccoli soup in cake form. (S) The salad was good, I liked the combo of flavours. The stuffed salmon was also very good, though the vegetables seem like they're from frozen, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Those tart-like things were really good though. Creamy and delicious.

Rib & Chicken and Almond Cake: (J) The beef rib was huge and meaty. Chicken was dry, but we did get the last one of the batch. I liked the crispy coating on the fries. Cake wasn't too sweet. (S) The rib was very meaty and fall-off-the-bone goodness. The chicken wasn't too bad. I liked the almond cake.

Location: 15 Provost Drive North York, ON M2K 2X9
Phone: (416) 222-4532
Website: http://www.ikea.ca

Memphis Smoke House

Garden Salad: small size with French dressing on the side. (J) We got this to balance all the meat we were going to eat.

Miles Davis Delight: ribs, rib tips, roasted chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket, wings, fries, coleslaw, baked beans and corn bread.

(J) This basket was full of win. I liked the huge variety. Ribs had a nice char and the roast chicken was crispy and moist. I think I want a basket like this for my last meal. (S) Everything was fall-off-the-bone goodness. This basket was huge enough to eat twice between the two of us.

Location: 4916 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M2N 5N5
Phone: (416) 225-4343 ‎
Website: http://memphis-smoke.com

Grenadier Restaurant

All Day Breakfast: sausages, eggs, toast and home fries. (J) Nothing says picnic in the park more than an air conditioned restaurant in the middle of High Park. I really enjoy breakfast foods. (S) I really liked how the home fries were seasoned. The sausages were yummy, and the rye bread was good.

Ribs Special: half-rack ribs with fries and coleslaw. (J) Not the best, but quite good for $7.99. (S) The meat didn't fall off the bone, but for that price...can't complain.

Location: 200 Parkside Drive, Toronto, ON M6R 2Z3 (High Park)
Phone: (416) 769-9870

Real Canadian Superstore

Location: 825 Don Mills Rd, Toronto ON M3C 1V4
Phone: (416) 391-0080
Website: http://www.superstore.ca

Summer Meal Deal: full rack of hickory smoked pork back ribs, large potato wedges and small coleslaw salad. Free pop with coupon. (S) The ribs were not fall-off-the-bone good, but it wasn't too bad. The guy behind the counter gave us a really full box of wedges, probably to make room for fresh batch, can't complain! (J) We got the last pack of ribs. They must have been old because the ribs were chewy and dry. I couldn't taste the hickory flavour. Wedges were kinda chewy too. Coleslaw was nice and sour.

The Doctor's House

Location: 21 Nashville Rd, Vaughan ON L0J 1C0
Phone: (905) 893-1615
Website: http://www.thedoctorshouse.ca

Elaine & Adrian's Wedding Reception




















Lunch Buffet: pasta, mushrooms, bread, asparagus, ham, salmon, ribs, beef, potato, salami, cheese, mushroom soup. Desserts: wedding cake, fruits, cheese, eclairs, cheesecake and cookies.

(S) Ribs were so good. I also really liked the cold pasta, and the soup was really nice. The desserts were really good too! I liked the cheesecake on a stick, a slice would have been too rich. I enjoyed the chocolate wedding cake and the yummy cookies.
(J) Mushroom soup was good and earthy. I really liked the ribs; I wish I ate more. Good variety of desserts. I was so full I couldn't try any fruit or cheese.

Casey's

Location: 37 William Kitchen Rd. Bldg L Scarborough ON M1P 5B7

Phone: (416) 412-2078
Website: http://www.caseysbarandgrill.com

30th Birthday Menu
The Butcher Block Burger: served with side house salad with orange poppy seed dressing. (J) We had this before, but it was on sale so we had to get it again! Burger was good like before. I didn't taste orange in the dressing. (S) I liked the bacon bits in the salad. The burger was good again!

Casey’s Famous Back Ribs: full rack basted with Jack Daniel’s Budweiser BBQ sauce. Served with coleslaw and fries. (J) I felt like eating ribs this day, and they were on sale! I guess the BBQ sauce was different, but I was too busy eating to notice. (S) The ribs were pretty good. I liked dipping the fries in that BBQ sauce.

Apple Mary: apples with brown sugar, cinnamon, rolled oats, ice cream and caramel. (J) I was so full when it came time to eat this. The apples warmed up the ice cream, so it was a yummy melting mess to eat. I liked the rolled oats. (S) They kinda gave us the dessert way too early and the ice cream melted before we could really get to it. Owell, still good!

Applebee's

Location: 155 Kingston Road, East Ajax ON L1S 7J4
Phone: (905) 426-6440
Website: http://www.applebeescanada.com

Steak and Riblets: 6 oz sirloin served with our world famous riblets, garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. (J) Steak was alright, riblets could have used more sauce. (S) Can't beat Baton Rouge. The tendon was still on some part of the steak, so it was hard to chew.

Crispy Orange Chicken Bowl: delicately spiced breaded chicken covered in a spicy-sweet orange glaze and served over almond rice pilaf and a tasty mix of mushrooms, broccoli, red peppers, sugar snap peas and shredded carrots. Topped with toasted almonds and crispy noodles. (J) I really liked the crunchy coating on the chicken. (S) I like the mix of stuff, but I thought it was a pasta dish, I was not expecting rice.

Triple Chocolate Meltdown™: this rich and magnificently moist chocolate cake is topped with both dark and white chocolate. Its fudge-filled center will erupt upon first bite, richly rolling into vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. (J) Really good. (S) So warm and gooey, yumm.

Bâton Rouge

Location: 520 Progress Avenue, Scarborough ON M1P 2K2
Phone: (416) 296-2222
Website: http://www.batonrougerestaurants.com

$25 Prix Fixe
Starters

Lentil soup: (J) tasted like a regular vegetable soup. A bit too salty.

House salad: fresh mixed greens topped with croutons, chopped eggs, bacon and honey mustard dressing. (J) Great cheesy bread. I liked the egg flavour of the salad. (S) Agreed. Cheesy bread was so good.

Main Dishes

BBQ Ribs and Chicken: 10 oz. of our signature pork back ribs and a 6 oz. marinated grilled chicken breast basted with our own BBQ sauce. With coleslaw and fries. (J) Such mountainous fries and slaw! The server was right and the ribs were really good. The chicken was moist, but I was too full to eat it. (S) The ribs were good. I ate the chicken and it was good too! I didn't like the coleslaw as much though but whatever, it's just a side.

New York striplon: 10 oz. AAA Sterling Silver. Mouth watering steak, grilled to perfection. With steamed vegetables and garlic on the side. (J) Steak was easy to cut and chew. Vegetables had a nice sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Didn't use the garlic much. (S) Agreed. I'd get the Peppercorn sauce instead of the garlic next time. I kept dipping into Andrea's Peppercorn sauce.

Dessert

Chocolate mousse: (J) so light and sweet, which only became a bit too sweet near the end. I would like the flavour in brownie form. (S) It was nice at the beginning, but got too sweet for me, it was kinda hard to finish.