Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Pre-Concert Dinner Downtown Toronto at The Wokker

My friend and I were heading over to the Billy Talent/Alexisonfire/Moneen concert at The Opera House on Queen Street East and needed some food before we went. The restaurants in the area are pretty sketchy looking and we had to choose between The Wokker, and Dangerous Dan's Diner. Both looked very suspect, but there was no where else to go. We ended up at The Wokker. We figured it was ok since there were about 3 other tables worth of patrons in there, and people getting take out. Power in numbers!
It's a very small place, only about 7 tables and a bar area in the entire restaurant. We were seated quickly and given a much larger menu than expected from such a small place. The seats are gross. You sink into them when you sit down and there are weird stains all over them. All menu items are very cheap. If you order a dinner, you can get a won ton soup for 95 cents! You just can't beat that kind of deal (unless you get food poisoning or something).
I ordered won ton soup, an egg roll, and cantonese chow mein (plus a pop). My friend ordered the egg roll, chicken curry, and a drink as well. The food arrived fairly quickly. I got my soup and egg roll. The soup was yummy, as was the egg roll! And the main courses were fairly tastey as well. Much more food than I could finish. I was offered a doggy bag, but those aren't too good for concerts so I couldn't take it home.
The best part of the meal was the price. All that food for only $14! So there you go, sometimes the sketchy places turn out to be pretty good.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Happy Court in Mississauga - again!

We wanted a simple dinner last night. We've been so busy with the holiday season we just wanted something simple. So we went to the local Chinese buffet joint. For anyone looking for a place to eat during Christmas day - HAPPY COURT IS OPEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY!
Anyways, the buffet, as usual, was fairly good. It's not the best chinese food you're going to find, but it's good enough for a local place. It wasn't that full, perhaps because everyone is out for the holiday season. I wasn't that hungry but I really enjoy their won ton soup so I had a cup of that. They have an ok selection of Chinese and "Canadian" food. I like their sweet and sour pork and their egg rolls. They also have take out for anything on the buffet so for those that want to take out here, that's a good option.
For more reviews on Happy Court, see ResToronto Reviews for Happy Court.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Springrolls at Erin Mills Town Centre

Recently in the mail we received a brochure for the new restaurant at Erin Mills town Centre, Springrolls. I've heard plenty of great things from the downtown restaurants from this chain (specifically the Springrolls on Dundas), so I was excited to go try it.

The restaurant is located in what I think used to be a loading dock. It's weird because the only entrance to the restaurant is from the outside (you can't get at it from inside of the mall). It's a fairly small spot - although it does have a big area for patio space in nicer weather. The bar area is what you first see when you walk in, and it's pretty nice. We were told it was going to be a 10 minute wait, so we waited in the bar area and were asked if we wanted anything to drink.

10 minutes later, we were seated in a very small eating area. I was surprised at how small this place is! And because of it's small size, the tables are all very close and you can hear everything that your neighbours are saying.

The menu is quite large and there are a lot of options. Most of them are spicy, and not being a fan of spicey food that limited my selections a fair amount. I ended up chosing a rice dish, and my mom had a chow mein. They were both beautifully presented. Mine was a pyramid, which was pretty neat, however it was mostly rice and not as much shrimp or bbq pork. My mom's was better.

The service is average. They served us well up until when we had finished our meal then it took us a while to get the bill. I don't know why, but that seems to be happening more and more in restaurants these days.

Given the choice, I'd probably go to the Viet Thai Restaurant just down the street.

For more reviews, see Springrolls ResToronto Reviews.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Emerald Chinese Restaurant - Dim Sum in Mississauga

I went out last week for dim sum - the day when it was raining like crazy - with my mom. We usually don't head out for lunch until about 1pm, but we went out early this time, and thank goodness we did. We went to Emerald Chinese Restaurant north east of Square One in Mississauga, and only about 15-20 minutes after we walked in, the place was full! We were seated very quickly and the food arrived right away. The place doesn't look the cleanest, but I tried to put that out of my mind. It's essentially a huge dining room, with a bar on one side, and all the tables on another.

I did notice, however, that we were seated in the Non-Asian section! Is this because the servers would know they have to speak English instead of Cantonese or Mandarin to us? I didn't get it. Why couldn't we go sit with the Asian people?

As for the servers themselves, you have to make sure you stop them to tell you what the food is. Not all of them are English speaking so it's a little difficult. But if it looks yummy, we snatched it!

Anyways, there was a great selection of food brought out. I tried some things I don't even really know what they were called! Some weren't to my tastes, but it was interesting to try new things. I think my favourites were the shrimp dumplings. Those were awesome. They had pork short ribs and spring rolls which were also very tasty. If you like any type of authentic Chinese food, you should like this place. It was pretty reasonably prices as well.

I would go back, as soon as my belt line recovers!!

For more reviews on Emerald Chinese Restaurant, see ResToronto Reviews for Emerald Chinese Restaurant.