ROLLY ROCKET'S 

470 King St. West, Hamilton On. (905) 393-3555, Open for Lunch, Dinner, Late night 7 days a week.

Decided to try Rolly Rocket's for dinner. This restaurant has been around for a few years now and has a regular following in the downtown.  It is basically a bbq ribs and chicken kind of place that is very informal and kitschy.  It has picnic tables for furniture and rock music in the background. 

The menu has an extensive list of bbq items. The interior is furnished with picnic tables and is very informal.

There is a bar that extends around into the pool table area.

There are rolls of paper towel on the tables reminding you that your hands  will get messy.

For my meal I chose 2 pounds of wings one in mild sauce and one in dry rub.

My son Thomas chose the pulled pork dinner.  It came with 3 pulled pork sliders, sweet potato fries, coleslaw, a maple covered cornbread biscuit and a cup of baked beans.  It was gigantic and he had to take the leftovers home.

All in all it was a good hearty meal.  We were full and everything tasted quite good.  The coleslaw was especially tasty.  They have karaoke on Fridays!



http://www.rollyrocketsbbq.com/index.php?pg=home

EAST THIRTY-SIX 

36 Wellington St. E. St. Lawrence Market/Old Town, Toronto, (647) 350-3636 Open for Dinner and Late 7 days a week

Located in the St. Lawrence Market area of Toronto, East Thirty-Six is the third restaurant change in the same building. Previously it was the Lucien, then changed to Olde Town Bistro and Oyster Bar.  Although now it has a new name, it seems to have a similar menu as the previous Oyster Bar.  It appears to follow a similar philosophy - do only a few items and do them well.  The menu is rather limited and encourages sharing.

We decided to begin with a nice red Cotes du Rhone and it did not disappoint, it was smooth and delicious.

We decided to get started with some bread and olives.  They charge $3 for some crusty pieces of bread and butter, which seemed a little chintzy for a restaurant like this. (We ate a couple of pieces before this pic was taken)  

The olive selection was delicious for $4 and had some unusual types of olives, including a small one that tasted lemony.

We then ordered an appetizer each and shared them. Mark (http://www.markallen.ca/) ordered the Cailletes (made of various pig organs and marinated in red wine) sitting on a small piece of toast.  They were very tender and melted in your mouth.

My wife ordered the e36 salad with castelfranco, kale, endive, ricotta salata aioli, focaccia, it was very good, but it was the only salad available.

I chose the cauliflower with capers, preserved lemon, brown butter, hazelnuts and parsley.  We all agreed they were different and flavourful.

We decided to each try a different main.  Mark had the duck

confit and he loved it.

My wife had the halibut with artichoke, white wine, lemon and fennel.  The halibut was perfectly cooked and the sauce, which seemed more like a soup, was filled with a variety of flavours too hard to identify.

For my main I selected the braised beef shortribs with brussel sprouts and pureed potato in red wine sauce.  It was delicious the meat was tender and the bone was removed, however it could have been hotter, it arrived on the lukewarm side.  It was very filling.

We shared a dessert of a very dense chocolate cake that was drizzled with caramel and covered with nuts.

We enjoyed our choices here, however, there are not enough choices available for us to come back.  The service was efficient and the flavours of our food were great but the menu is very limited.

http://eastthirtysix.com/

QUEEN'S HEAD 

400 Brant Street, Burlington, On., (905) 632-1300, Lunch and Dinner, 7 days a week,  Late night, kid friendly, Private Parties

My son Thomas and I decided to go for dinner on Thursday evening.  We thought we would go back to Queen's Head, a place we used to frequent quite often.  It is a typical British Pub, on Brant Street in downtown Burlington, that serves comfort food (perfect for a cold evening in winter).

It has a number of different rooms inside and a large patio overlooking the street.  The patio is very lively on warm summer nights.  

We hadn't been here for a while and found some interesting changes on their menu.  The special tonight was a ground jerk chicken burger.  It was very tasty and was accompanied by sweet potatoes, which were quite good.

I chose the steak and mushroom pie covered with puff pastry and filled with tender beef chunks and mushrooms, with a rich brown gravy and yukon potatoes.  It was accompanied with some seasonal vegetables, that were perfectly cooked.

We accompanied our meals with pints of Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale.  A very satisfying meal, typical of most pubs.  The service was timely and our waiter was friendly. They seem to be trying to expand their menu and get more creative and that's a good thing. 

    

WORK RESTAURANT

WORK RESTAURANT 

337 James Street North, Hamilton, On., (905) 777-9675, Late night, Free WiFi, Live Music

There is a small hip restaurant on James Street North (near Liuna Station) in downtown Hamilton.  The restaurant is called WORK. 

From the outside it looks very small but it is quite large inside.  It has a nice long bar and a simple calm design.

The menu is written on a chalkboard and has a very good selection - ranging from pastas to sandwiches and various appetizers including edamame and asparagus in tempura. 

They have a good selection of beer.  Tom (my son) ordered a 50 and I ordered a Corona.  They are only $3.99 here. This is a very good price.

We decided to select two different sandwiches.  Tom ordered the Jerk Chicken. ($8) 

I ordered the braised beef sandwich. ($7)

They both came with a tasty coleslaw.  The beef sandwich came with a nice horseradish which was hot and sweet at the same time.  We shared both sandwiches and they were filled with flavour and meat.  The jerk chicken was lightly spiced and melted in your mouth, while the roast beef was tender and copious.  The buns were fresh and delicious. The service was friendly and efficient.

The menu items we tried were delicious and very reasonably priced and the beer was cold and inexpensive. We will definitely return to try other menu items.

http://www.workrestaurant.ca/

CROWSNEST PUB

CROWSNEST PUB 3.25 out of 5

5 Bay Street, Tobermory On., N0H 2R0, 519-596-2575, Open 11 am to late night.

The Crowsnest Pub is located in the Big Tub harbour in Tobermory Ontario (at the very end of Highway 6 North).  It has a great location overlooking the harbour, where boats from near and far can be seen moored.  We have come to Tobermory on July long weekend for years and sometimes go  to the Crowsnest Pub.

We came here on Sunday for dinner and were seated on the deck outside with somewhat of a harbour view.

We looked over the menus, which were easy to read.

Kathy (my sister in law) chose a Sleeman for a beverage while I had a Pabst Blue Ribbon. My wife had a nice light, red wine.

We skipped appetizers and went for the mains.  We all ordered the grilled whitefish (which is fished locally).  My wife and Kathy had the fish plain.

I had mine with lemon-butter seasoning.

All mains came with baked potatoes, coleslaw, sliced tomato and dinner roll with butter.  Unfortunately all three of our baked potatoes were undercooked.  However the waitress had them reheated and they were better, but still a little hard.

 It was a rather ordinary meal.  The location and surroundings added to the experience.  We later discussed that we did not like some of the renovations that made the interior more like a cafeteria and less like a homey pub that it was before the renovations.  

They have entertainment some evenings.

All in all it was a pleasant evening in a nice location.  The service was good, the menu was reasonable (the wine selection could be improved with a wider selection), the beer was cold and the evening was warm.

http://crowsnestpub.ca/