RED CROW COFFEE 

211 James Street South, Hamilton, Ontario (905) 521-2124, for hours of operation see there website provided below.

Went to Red Crow with my son Tom for their Brunch and a coffee.  He had been here before and suggested we try their brunch.  It included a selection of omelettes, so we both selected their mushroom and potato omelette.  We were going to order an americano coffee, but Bob at the counter suggested we try their Red Crow version.  It was very strong and satisfying version that was just the way Tom and I like our coffee.

 The Brunch selections were written in a blackboard, and today the omelette selection was $5!  

It was accompanied by a nice salad, watermelon, and a multigrain toast.  It was a tasty brunch that was not greasy, but very tasty and good value for $5.  There are a variety of seating choices and it was quite full on a Victoria Day holiday Monday.

We sat at a bar table at the front window overlooking James Street South.

The inside is typical of many independent coffee bars.

The menu is posted on a board:

We found Red Crow friendly, inviting and reasonably priced.  The Red was a great coffee and we will definitely return.  It has a relaxing atmosphere and a good variety of food choices.

http://www.redcrowcoffee.com/

THE EXPRESS ITALIAN EATERY WESTDALE 

1034 King Street West, Hamilton, On., (289) 389-2008, Sun. - Wed. 11:30 - 10:00 pm, Thurs. - Sat. 11:30 - 11:00 pm

Went to the Express, in the Westdale Village in Hamilton, early on a Saturday evening for a light dinner.  It is a relatively new establishment in Westdale, that serves wood oven pizza in an open kitchen, panini, soup, salads, pastas etc..  It is licensed and the house red was only $6 a glass.

It has a quaint bar area

and a variety of seating, including a window view of the village.

There is a wood oven and take out service.

I checked the menu. 

I chose the Muffaletta panini.  It included salami, mortadella, prosciutto, arugala and provolone and came with a soup or salad for $12.

The soup was prosciutto and potato, it was rich but quite salty (because it contained large chunks of prosciutto).

The panini was crisp and quite thick with rich meats.

By the time I was finished the restaurant was filling up.

All in all it was a nice meal.  The service was efficient, the food was tasty (albeit very salty) and the prices were reasonable.  There is another much larger Express located at the other end of Hamilton in Stoney Creek on Grays Road.

http://www.expressrestaurant.com/

FAMOSO NEAPOLITAN PIZZERIA (the annex) 

386 Bloor St. W. Toronto, On., (647) 748-2333 Mon. Tue. and Sun. 11:00 to 10:00, Wed. - Sat. 11:00 to 11:00

Five of us decided to try Famoso for dinner on a cold Saturday in March.  It is located in the people friendly annex area of Toronto.  I decided to call for a reservation earlier in the day and I am glad I did because this place gets very busy and is very popular in the area.

When we arrived we were greeted right away by friendly people that arranged a large booth for the five of us near the back.

There is a long open kitchen and an imported pizza oven in plain view as you walk through the restaurant.  These ovens cook pizza quickly and perfectly crisp.

We were ushered to our table and the unique ordering process used here was explained by our waitress.  We decided what we wanted for appetizers and mains (pizza) and I took the order to an order counter.  The rest was done by the waitress assigned to our table.  This seemed rather cumbersome, but it worked very well and was very efficient.  We ordered two bottles of reasonably priced valpolicella to get us started.

We began with some unusual but very tasty prosciutto wrapped mozzarella balls that were immersed in a wonderful light tomato sauce, they were accompanied by seasoned flatbread.

We each ordered a half salad (great idea), four of us had the caesar with prosciutto crisps, grana padano and house made caesar dressing.  They were a perfect size and great.  

Katie had the Napoli salad which included field greens, red onions, chick peas and balsamic dressing.  She really enjoyed it.

For our mains (they only serve pizza here) three of us, my wife, Mark and I shared the Capricciosa pizza.  This included italian ham, roasted mushrooms, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, extra virgin olive oil and pecorino romano.  It had a wonderful combination of flavours and ingredients.  This was a great pizza. It was light, flavourful, not greasy and perfectly cooked.

Katie and Thomas shared the Abruzzo pizza, which included oven-roasted italian sausage, slivered red onions, roasted mushrooms, fennel seeds, smoked mozzarella and pecorino romano.  They both really liked this combination.

All of us really enjoyed our evening at this restaurant, from the friendliness of all of the staff, to the efficiency of our waitress and to the wonderful food here.  We will definitely return and highly recommend this restaurant for its all round experience!!

Well done!!

http://www.famoso.ca/

BANGKOK SPOON DELUXE 

57 King Street, Dundas On., L9H 1T7 (905) 628-8808 Breakfast Mon-Fri, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night 7 days a week

Went for lunch to Bangkok Spoon Deluxe in downtown Dundas Christmas eve.  It was quiet here, everyone was in malls shopping.  

It is a clean and smartly designed interior.  The front floor to ceiling windows open to the street in the summer.  It has become a popular restaurant in Dundas.  

The lunch menu is very reasonably priced and my son and I decided to try a couple of items from it.

I had the deep-fried basa fish with Thai mango sauce.  The fish melted in my mouth and the spring roll was delicious with the dipping sauce (I have come here before just for their spring rolls).  The jasmine rice was a nice neutralizer for  all the flavours.  I did not like the dressing on the salad that came with the lunch (fishy clear sauce).  I would order the salad with another sauce or without the sauce.  The vegetables in the salad were crisp and tasty.

My son selected bok choy with garlic and mushrooms jasmine rice and spring roll.  He really liked the meal.  It was a filling and very reasonably priced lunch.

I have had their pad thai with chicken and a number of rice dishes and find them very filling and good.
There is a lovely patio at the back of the restaurant and a Starbucks directly across the street.  The restaurant also has a busy take out business.

http://www.bangkokspoondeluxe.com/home/