New Restaurant in Square One - Lemongrass

A few weeks ago, Lemongrass restaurants expanded their franchise into Square One. The mall has been in dire need for another restaurant, so Lemongrass is a welcome addition.

I went with another individual and we entered the restaurant from the mall entrance. Beware, as there is also an entrance from the outside. Since the two entrances are in completely different places of the restaurant, it can be confusing at times as to who should be seated next.
The decore of the restaurant is very stark. Dark wood, bright yellow, and white are the colours that make up the atmosphere, and it is very modern. Not much to my tastes. Plus there is dance music with thudding beats playing a little too loudly in the background. As this is a Thai restaurant, the dance music didn't seem to fit.

The first encounter we had with our server wasn't too pleasant. He seemed kind of pissed that we wanted to order drinks actually. I just ordered a soda, but the person I was with tried ordering one of their specialty teas only to be told that those aren't offered in this location. Why are they on the menu if you aren't going to serve them?

Speaking of the menu, it is huge! Everyone should be able to find something to eat at Lemongrass (assuming that they HAVE it). There is spicy and not spicy, vegetarian, and stuff full of meat/seafood/chicken/etc. I ordered the lemongrass chicken lunch special. It came with soup and rice. I tried the wonton soup as I love wonton soup, but it tasted kind of funny to me and I couldn't finish it. The lemongrass chicken wasn't what I expected of it. It was served in a red, sweet sauce. Is that lemongrass? I've had lemongrass chicken from other restaurants before and it's not served in any sauce. I wasn't too impressed, but the person I was with enjoyed her noodle dish.

Once we were finished eating, our server suddenly decided to become interested in us making sure we didn't want any more food and we were ready for our bill then bringing it promptly. Perhaps it was the fact that most of the lunch crowd had cleared out by then and he was in a better mood?

Overall, I wasn't all the impressed. They do have an extensive menu though so if I do go back I'll make sure to try something new.

See more reviews see ResToronto Reviews of Lemongrass.

Attempt at Winterlicious on the weekend at Alize

A couple friends from university and I decided to do a get together and try and hit up a Winterlicious restaurant before Winterlicious came to a close. As I'm sure many will agree, Winterlicious is a great time to try out new restaurants in hopes of finding a new favourite restaurant to visit (or because the regular menus are WAY above your typical price range!).

After looking through all of the restaurants that offer a lunch menu, we all agreed on Alize which is in the Uptown area. One of the girls got us reservations there on a Sunday only to find out that they don't serve the Winterlicious menu on Sunday for lunch (right....). But no matter, we were determined to go there anyways.

The place was PACKED! I think the only empty table was the one we had reserved. It took a while to get someone to seat us because they were so busy. The restaurant isn't that big, probably sitting about 30 people when full. But the seats are just packed so closely together you have to basically crawl over other tables to get to yours. Plus, when it's full, it is extremely loud and we were all talking in raised voices.

Is Alize a French or Italian restaurant? We argued with each other over it. They serve Italian food but the decor is French.

Anyways, we were given the brunch menu and ordered from the. Food took a bit of time but we didn't notice because we were in good company. My coffee was continuously getting topped off though so that was nice. I ordered the lasagne which came with a cesear salad. The salad was delicious!! So creamy and yummy. However the lasagne was fairly bland. They were both good portions. And once the place started clearing out, the atmosphere was much more enjoyable. No one tried any dessert.

The price was pretty good for the amount of food that was given. I'm not 100% sure if I would go back again. The restaurant is pretty far out of the way for me, so I probably wouldn't just because it is a lengthy drive.

To see more reviews on Alize, go to ResToronto Reviews.

Lunch before theatre - downtown Toronto

I love King Street in Toronto where the theatre district is. There is a whole block of restaurants for you to choose from before catching the show. Unfortunately the hours of some of those restaurants aren't quite condusive to eating before the show.
Before heading to the theatre this time, we were in a bit of a rush. We had 45 minutes to make the show so we wanted someplace quick. We ended up in Dunn's Famous Delicatessen, between Princess of Whales Theatre and Royal Alex (which is where our show was). We asked them if they could get us in and out in 45 minutes and they said no problem, so we were seated. This restaurant is long, but surprisingly not that narrow. It's nice and clean, with wood tables and benches. You can sit near the window (I suggest sitting there), or all the way at the back of the restaurant. It has a fairly pleasant atmosphere. And the washrooms are nice, clean, and don't make you want to hurl when you use them.
The two others I was with ordered their a deli sandwich, coleslaw, and a pickle. I had a chicken burger. The food was brought out quickly and was pretty tasty. If you like pickles, I suggest getting one when you are there. They are huge!
The service was so quick, that we actually had time for a coffee after our meal because we had been served so quickly.
I would definately consider going back if I'm in a rush and just want plain sandwiches/burger type food.

Go to ResToronto Reviews to see more reviews of Dunn's Famous Deli

Winterlicious in Toronto 2007!

Winterlicious is well underway. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to sample restaurants you may not otherwise visit (or try to find gems to add to your list of favourite restaurants). It ends exactly one week from now on February 8th!

Make sure you go over to ResToronto Reviews and add your thoughts on the Winterlicious restaurant you visited.

Keep an eye out for some new reviews to be posted on this blog. I have Alize Restaurant and Dunn's Famous Deli waiting in the queue.