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/

WENDEL CLARKS CLASSIC GRILL

380 Brant Street, Burlington, On., (905) 633-9217, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night

Went to Wendel Clarks on Brant Street for dinner on Tuesday evening for my son Thomas's (http://rebuildhamilton.com/) birthday.  This was my second visit here.  When we arrived we were ushered to a booth on the main floor (there are two floors here).  

We reviewed the menus and started with a couple of draft beers.  They were cold and refreshing. 

We decided to start with a couple of appetizers, so we ordered calamari.

We also ordered tempura shrimp in a Thai sauce.

For our mains Thomas (birthday boy) ordered the pulled pork sandwich with mashed potatoes.

I ordered the same sandwich with an accompanying caesar salad (which I had tried on a previous visit).  This time the sandwich tasted like it had a different flavour which seemed odd.  The caesar was just an ordinary caesar.

Katie, my son's girlfriend, had the Wendel burger which included cheddar, bacon and an large onion ring.  She also ordered the sweet potato fries.

My wife ordered the Haddock Crunch with chips.  It was big on crunch but little on haddock!

The meals were rather ordinary in a restaurant that was more like a recreation room filled with Wendell Clark mounted photos and televisions.  The service was rather slow and some of our food did not arrive hot.

http://www.wendelclarks.com/index.php

CHARRED ROTISSERIE HOUSE 

244 James St. North, Hamilton, On. (289) 396 - 0662 , Lunch and Dinner Mon. - Sat.

On a blustery rainy Saturday afternoon my sons Mark (http://www.markallenrealty.ca/) and Thomas (http://rebuildhamilton.com/) and I decided to try a new restaurant on James Street North in Hamilton.  It features charcoal rotisserie chicken and piri piri sauce. It is located in a rapidly changing community of restaurants, bars and art galleries.

There is a chalkboard menu on the exposed brick wall that can be a bit confusing, but they hand you a simplified version on entry.

The interior space is clean and simple in design.

My son Mark decided on their Pulled Charred Chicken Sandwich with peppers and onions, topped with aged cheddar homemade piri piri mayo and cilantro ($7 plus $3 with fries and coke).  The sandwich was tender, tasty and filling.  

My son Thomas and I decided on the 1/2 chicken with fries and a coke.

The chicken was juicy, tender and very good.  The piri piri sauce was a little bland.  The bread was fresh and the fries were great ($13).  Charred has a nice atmosphere, great chicken and worth a visit. The people are friendly here and the prices are reasonable.  We will definitely come back for more delicious chicken.

http://charred.ca/

NERVOSA TRATTORIA 

75 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto On., M5R 3V6, (416) 961-4642, Open for Lunch and Dinner

We went to Nervosa for an early dinner before exploring Nuit Blanche on Saturday evening in Toronto.  We were brought upstairs to the balcony where we could overlook the street.

Upon arriving at our seat, which had a great view of the heart of Yorkville, a basket of fresh bread arrived at our table.

After reviewing the menu, I decided to order the in-house marinated olives with roasted garlic, herbs and chilies. It was a good start.

I followed this with their caesar salad.  It was simple, but I did not like the fact that I had to break up the lettuce as I ate, even though I realized it was to hold the pancetta and fried capers in place.

My son Mark (http://www.markallenrealty.ca/) ordered the pan seared scallops, farro grain panzanella, zucchini, butternut squash, fresh corn.  He really enjoyed it.

We shared a litre of their house red and it was quite good.

For our main we decided to split a prosciutto, arugula, and shaved parmigiano pizza.  It was delicious.  The prosciutto was sliced very thin (easy to chew) and the arugula and cheese were fabulous.  The sauce was mild and the crust was perfectly baked.

This Trattoria is located in the very heart of Yorkville, at the corner of Yorkville Avenue and Bellair.  It has a great people watching patio and is always busy.

We will definitely return for it's atmosphere, location and food.

  Well, my son Mark and I did return with my wife the following Saturday to try some other dishes on their menu.  After having the same appetizers as our last visit, we tried some different mains.  Mark had the chicken marinated in rosemary and thyme with garlic potatoes, chilies and green beans in a red wine reduction ($22.00).  He really enjoyed it.

My wife chose the fettucini con funghi with portobello, oyster mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, cremini mushrooms parmigiana, truffle paste, in a light cream sauce.  It was delicious and a good sized portion ($16.50)

I tried fettuccine alla bolognese with a beef and veal ragout and shaved parmigiana.  It was hearty and worth the price ($17.00).  

The service was efficient considering it was very busy this Saturday.  The atmosphere was as relaxing as our last visit and the food was delicious.  Well worth a visit if you are in Yorkville.
http://www.eatnervosa.com/

LA FORCHETTA RISTORANTE 

613 College Street, Toronto On. (416) 534-3100  dinner only

On a warm Thursday evening in late September we decided to have dinner on College street in Little Italy.   After reading some reviews of La Forchetta we were eager to try it.  We had a nice street view from our table with a warm breeze wafting in.  There is a very small patio on the front of the restaurant that is meant for couples.

While we were reading the menu, a wonderful plate of house made crisp and mouth watering bread arrived.  It was unique and dipped in olive oil with some rosemary bits scattered on it.

There is an extensive wine list here, but we decided to try a litre of their house Chianti.  It was very good for a house selection.

They have an extensive menu (available on their website), however we decided to select two of their prix fix choices.  For $22 there is a selection from an appetizer list and a main list, which my wife and I chose.  For $30 there is a selection from the same list but a dessert is added, which my son Mark (http://www.markallen.ca/) chose.  My wife, Mark and I selected their caesar salad and it was superb.  The lettuce was fresh and crisp, the crispy prosciuttino was delicious, the Grana Padano was tasty and the dressing was unique and very good.

For our mains my wife and I decided on the butternut squash agnolotti, with parmigiano reggiano and crispy sage brown butter.  It was wonderful, the butternut filling was slightly spicy, the pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was a perfect match.

For his main Mark chose the seared sea scallops with sweet potato mash, steamed bok choy and snow peas, spicy olive oil drizzle and cream of balsamic glaze.  He thoroughly enjoyed it right down to the last morsel.

To complete his meal Mark chose their vanilla panna cotta with fresh raspberry coulis and found it to be delicious.

The service was efficient, the food was very good.  The restaurant however is very small, so reservations would be a good idea on the weekend.  Their prix fix is great and we will return again.

http://laforchetta.ca/