Na ROMA PIZZA BAR 

215 Locke Street, Hamilton On., (905) 525-5599, Mon.-Thurs. and Sunday 11 am-9pm, Fri. and Sat. 11 am-10 pm

My son Thomas and I, decided to go to Locke Street in Hamilton for a pizza on a Sunday evening in early November.  We went to Na Roma Pizza.  

It is located in a converted Victorian house and has a good sized patio on the front facing the street.  This particular Sunday evening every restaurant on Locke Street was extremely busy. The interior of the restaurant has an unusual  layout consisting of two levels.  The lower level has tables and the upper level has bar height long tables.  It is quite tight inside - but it works.  There are many interesting photos of Hamilton's history lining the walls which helps encourage discussion.

Although conversation is encouraged here, the room is noisy due to the hard surfaces and needs a bit of soundproofing.  However, the food is very good.  We ordered a beer and pizza.

We split a small pizza with two different choices on it.

One half was Brie and Prosciutto and consisted of mozzarella, triple cream brie cheese, prosciutto, fig jam, caramelized onions, arugula, and reduced balsamic.  The other half was Pollo Alla Brace.  It had mozzarella, BBQ chicken, cheddar cheese, red onion and mushrooms.  The crust was nice and light and the toppings were copious and very tasty.

The food here is very good.  They usually have a featured soup and their salads are gigantic.
We went back August 16th 2014 to try some more of their delicious pizzas and they were still great as was the service.  Keep up the great work Na Roma!!

The house wine was good too!

http://www.naroma.ca/

THE KEG STEAKHOUSE and BAR 

26 The Esplanade, St. Lawrence Market District, Toronto, (416) 367-0685 Dinner and Late Night seven days a week.

On Saturday night in early November, we decided to have dinner at the Keg in Toronto on the Esplanade - behind the Sony Centre.  Bon Jovi was playing a couple of blocks away at the Air Canada Centre, so the area was unusually busy.  We have been to this Keg before, for appetizers and drinks before a Leafs game a few weeks earlier and we wanted to try it for a full meal, since it had such a comfortable ambiance.

 While reviewing the menu we ordered some beer and wine.

A nice fresh warm loaf arrived with butter to get us started.

Our son Mark ordered the bacon wrapped scallops with a martini sauce as his appetizer and he enjoyed them, though they were rather small.

Our son Thomas ordered the baked garlic shrimp with herbs, Jack and cheddar cheeses for his appetizer.  He found them delicious.

I ordered the escargot stuffed mushroom caps in a curried butter sauce.  These are always amazing and the butter bun is great for mopping up the remaining sauce.

My wife opted for the caesar salad - it was cool crispy and delicious.

Mark ordered the Creole Chicken with shrimp and scallops sauteed in Creole seasonings, accompanied with garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. He really enjoyed this dish.

Thomas had the Teriyaki sirloin steak done medium rare with garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.  He found it very satisfying.

My wife had the Zesty grilled salmon fillet basted with a sweet and mildly spiced sauce, with rice pilaf and seasonal vegetables.  She said it was very good.  I tasted some of it and she was right.  It was a delicious piece of salmon.

I had a perfectly cooked sirloin with baked potato and butter, with seasonal vegetables - it was classic keg - the steak was tender and the taste was pure steak!

We all completed our dinners with the classic keg dessert Billy Miner pie, a mocha ice cream on a chocolate crust with hot fudge, caramel and almonds.  It doesn't matter how full you feel there is always room for this dessert which tastes lighter than it looks.

At this point we were treated to a nice surprise.  When we first arrived, our very efficient and personable waiter asked whether we were here for any occasion, or just dinner.  I had mentioned that we were here to celebrate our sons' birthdays (they were both near the end of October).  They received complimentary Billy Miner pies with sparklers!  This was a nice surprise which we did not expect.  

Also, the restaurant General Manager arrived with two cards wishing them happy birthday!  

A very nice touch, which we all really appreciated and will certainly bring us back.  Thank you Keg Esplanade, it was a very enjoyable evening.

http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/locations/ON/toronto/esplanade-keg/