POLO BAR
1 East 55th Street New York NY, Open 5:00 to 10:30, 1 212-207-8562

Located in mid town at 55th street is the Ralph Lauren Polo Bar.  Five of us decided to try it while visiting NYC.

We entered this restaurant through the bar, which is glamorous.  

We were quickly whisked downstairs to the restaurant.

The restaurant downstairs took our breathe away, it was stunning!

We perused the menu.

It was a rather simple menu for such a lovely space.

The house sommelier came by and asked if we needed help in ordering the wine - he suggested a nice Californian, so we ordered two bottles (there were five of us). The wine was great!

A couple of us also had a cocktails.

As we were deciding a bread like item arrived that resembled Yorkshire pudding - it was light and very soft!

My wife and I shared a shrimp cocktail and it was very good!

A couple of us had the special app of the evening steak tartar - it was outstanding.

However, after this the meal went downhill!  Three of us ordered the chicken and mashed.  The chicken was almost raw - so we sent them back to the kitchen.  A manager came by and said they would make it up to us!

New chicken dinners arrived.  A couple of us found them too spicy - but we were very forgiving, until we were asked if we wanted desert and none of us wanted one.  They forced three deserts on us in lieu of the raw chicken (by the way a thermometer is a useful kitchen tool)! 
This was one of the deserts they gave us.

A cheesecake was another desert they gave us.

They also gave us a selection of sorbets!
We finished our dinners with cappuccinos!

Though the surroundings were magical and very glamorous the menu and kitchen need a serious re-engineereing.  The menu is boring and overpriced and the kitchen needs some training!!

 


http://www.ralphlauren.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=54938256

SERENDIPITY 3

3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S., (877) 346-4642, 9 am - 10 pm, except Fr. and Sat 9 am - 11 pm

Located outside Caesar's Palace directly on the strip Serendipity has a variety of offerings to dine on. 

There is also an inside restaurant - but we decided to enjoy the Las Vegas weather and sat on the outside patio.

The menu has a good variety of choices - we came for breakfast.

They also have an amazing drinks and desert menu.

My wife chose the 2 pancakes and they were gigantic!!

I chose the Central Park Omelette (they didn't have egg whites) that included spinach, swiss cheese and avocado.  It was served with breakfast potatoes.

The meals were rather expensive for breakfast at $18 each and it seemed they tried to justify this by serving very large portions that were difficult to finish.  We finished with coffee but did not finish our meals.

 

https://www.caesars.com/caesars-palace/restaurants/serendipity-3#.VfjNpyiJUTM

ABERDEEN TAVERN

432 Aberdeen Avenue, Hamilton On. (905) 523-7707, Closed Monday, Tues. - Sat. 11:30 am to 11:00 pm, Sun. 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

On a nice Thursday evening at the end of April we decided to try Aberdeen Tavern.  We had driven by many times and had heard a lot of good things about it and it seemed time to see for ourselves what good things were happening here.

There is a lovely outside patio that is always busy during the summer months.  In its previous life it was a bank and a quiet restaurant, but the new owners breathed new life into the space and it is quite different now.

The bar space is large and inviting. The layout works well.

The three of us were seated at a table near the bar area and were immediately greeted with a rather classy menu folder.

We selected a bottle from an extensive list of wines. It was one of their house reds Quattro Fontamara red and it was quite smooth and reasonably priced.  

We then selected our appetizers. My son Mark chose (as he always does) the pork belly - it was the Hoisin Glazed Pork Belly - he was quite impressed.

My wife and I chose the caesar salad - it was unique and delicious because it was not drenched in caesar dressing and had wonderful pancetta slices, garlic croutons and some parmesan.

Their list of mains caters to most tastes and has nice variety. 

Mark chose the butternut squash ravioli and enjoyed it.

My wife had the Lake Erie pickerel, it was surrounded with very flavourful accompaniments including olives, bacon puree and artichoke.

For my main I felt like a good pasta - and they did not disappoint.  I chose the shrimp and asparagus linguini. The linguini was perfectly cooked, the shrimp were tasty and tender in the white wine and butter sauce.

The three of us thoroughly enjoyed our evening here.  The space was very inviting, the meal was unhurried, the clientele were enjoying themselves and the atmosphere was great.  We will definitely return to enjoy more wonderful meals and evenings here.  Outstanding!!

http://theaberdeen.ca/

SON OF A PEACH 

#62 - 2049 Pine Street, Burlington, On. (905) 632-4040 

A new pizzeria located in downtown Burlington at the Village Square complex, Son of a Peach has taken a dreary storefront and brightened it up to give it a new life.  My son suggested we try it for dinner.

The interior is bright and new and very welcoming.

We selected the garlic knots made with fresh garlic, parmigiano regiano, herb butter.  They were delicious!!

Tom and his friend shared the JJ's Hawaiian pizza, which consisted of homemade tomato sauce, pineapple chunks, double smoked apple wood bacon, cherry pink pea meal bacon, house pickled jalapenos, with whole milk and virgin mozzarella.  Expensive at $33.

My wife and I tried their wild mushroom pizza.  It consisted of house made tomato sauce, garlic, thyme and white wine roasted mushrooms, whole milk and virgin mozzarella.  It was loaded, but at $31 not cheap.

The libations list.

We decided to try a couple of glasses of the 13 th street winery red blend.  All in all we liked the environment and music here.  The clientele were upscale hipster and seemed at home in here.  The food was alright but pricey, maybe in time they will expand their menu.  The service was great.  Their website needs work.  Get rid of the silly name!!!


http://www.heypeachy.com/