MARTORANO'S 

3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South, (702) 946-4656, Dinner Sunday - Thursday 5pm - 10:30, Friday - Sat 5pm - 11:00pm

Went to Martorano's after exploring it on the web.  It is now located in Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  

It is a rather large place with a variety of seating places.  We decided to sit outside in the plaza of the Paris Casino.  It has a rather extensive menu.

They provide you with an electronic notebook that includes all wine selections.

We selected the house chianti.

Upon ordering a chef created amuse bouche arrived.  It was delicious.

We ordered the caesar salad and it was huge, but far too garlicky and far too large.

A basket of bread arrived with a variety of toppings.

My wife ordered the chicken parmigiana.  It was covered with too much cheese and no accompanying vegetables or pasta!

I ordered the veal piccata.  It was far too salty and lemony and the veal could have been more tender.  Again no accompaniments!

We were not impressed with the food but the house chianti was delicious!  

 

https://www.caesars.com/rio-las-vegas/restaurants/martoranos#.Ve5FKiiJUTM

NANDOS FLAME GRILLED CHICKEN

832 Bay Street, Toronto, On. (416) 925-8888, 11:00 am to 11:00 pm every day, except Fri. and Sat. 11:00 am to 12:00 am

Originating in South Africa in the late 80's Nando's quickly became a success story due to it's Portuguese style rotisserie chicken with a peri peri sauce that sure has a kick.  It has since spread around the world and recently opened a spot on Bay Street in downtown Toronto (it also has 5 other locations in the GTA).

The interior is rather cramped when it gets busy and very noisy and the Brazilian music is quite loud.  The furniture is sourced directly from South Africa and is very colourful and unique.

Upon entering you may find yourself in a line (we have been here a number of times and it can get very busy) that may include take out patrons.  You are seated as the line moves and are given a menu.  Here is where it gets tricky - you select from the menu for your table (you have to remember your table number) and place the order at a counter where you will also pay for the entire order including any drinks and alcohol!  You better remember what each person in you group wants because once you pay for it if someones order is wrong, or someone wants to add something - you will have to get back in line!!  This may work in South Africa, but I find it a silly process.  Next, you have to go to a counter to collect all the utensils for your table.  The food is prepared and then delivered along with any alcohol ordered.  Soft drinks are self serve.  On a very busy evening it can be a nightmare.  We saw an employee being a waitress, busboy, cook and maitre d.  Our only conclusion here - cost savings!!

Pop machine is self serve and includes coca-cola and various flavours like vanilla, cherry, strawberry etc. that can be added to it.

We chose their Catedral red wine (we have had this wine here many times) and it was very good and not expensive.

My son Mark ordered their hummus dip with pita as an appetizer. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of it - but it contained a good portion of hummus and an unequal portion of pitas.  When we asked for more (not to waste the large amount of hummus left in the bowl) we had to pay 85 cents!!
For his main he ordered the quarter chicken with leg (with medium peri peri) and peri peri fries.  The fries where very tasty and the chicken was very meaty and tender.

My wife ordered the quarter chicken with breast and coleslaw.  She really liked the coleslaw and found that even the breast meat was very tender.  I ordered the half chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and coleslaw.  The potatoes were filling, the coleslaw was delicious and the chicken was tender and meaty.

All in all we have found the food here quite good and filling and reasonably priced for the portion received -unlike Swiss Chalet where they look more like pigeons than chickens. The wine is very reasonably priced and tipping is not necessary, since you are paying at the cash and are not really assigned any waitress.  The only problems here are the ordering process is very annoying and the noise can get quite loud. We have been here several times and found things much the same each time.

http://www.nandos.ca/

NOODLES 

Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Nevada, (702) 693-7223, open Monday to Sunday 11:00 am to 2:00 am

Located in the Bellagio Hotel is a classy clean oriental restaurant called noodles.

We began by ordering a wonderful, reasonably priced California wine.

We ordered the calamari (usually our favourite app).  They were tender crispy and were accompanied by a delicious Thai chili sauce.

We also ordered edamame and they were warm and nicely salted and there were plenty of them.

Knowing that the portions here would be large - we decided to split a shrimp pad thai.  It contained very large and tender shrimp that were cooked to perfection.  The noodles were firm not mushy and ratio of sprouts to vegetables to noodles was perfect.  It was one of the best pad thai's we have ever tasted.

We did not have room for dessert so my wife had a cappuccino.

I had a double espresso.  Both coffees came with a plastic spoon coated with sugar to stir the coffees.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meals here and would definitely recommend it if you visit Las Vegas.  The food is outstanding and the prices are very reasonable - especially considering that this restaurant is located in the Bellagio.



http://www.bellagio.com/restaurants/noodles.aspx

WISH  

3 Charles Street East, (416) 935-0240, Toronto On., Lunch and Dinner Tuesday to Sunday.

Went to Wish, after having dinner at Dimmi in Yorkville and a long walk to wear off our meals.  We came upon Wish, located between Yonge Street and Church street, near the gay village.  

It was a funky and interesting place that had an eclectic mix of people, drinks, furniture, music and a nice vibe.  We didn't expect to get in, since it was peak time in the evening and it was Summerlicious, however, we found ourselves in a cabana like table partially surrounded by white curtains, cushions and a nice little banquette.  It was very South Beach on a beautiful July evening!

We began with some cocktails from their list.  Mark and Thomas (my sons) had the Hemingway.  It was made with spiced rum, lime juice, simple syrup, fresh grapefruit, heering cherry liqueur with a thin slice of lemon floating on top.  It was delicious!!

I decided to try the Wish Gulp.  It was made with Belvedere vodka, lemon juice, wild honey, blackberries, lemon and seltzer.  Although a little sweet, it went down very easily.

  After we had several of these tasty cocktails we decided to share the charcuterie.  The selection included pate, artisinal cured meats, crostini, grainy spiced mustard, marinated olives and assorted pickles.  It was perfect for our slight hunger created by the drinks!!

We spent a lot of time here and found the atmosphere unhurried and relaxing.  The staff was friendly and accommodating. Definitely worth a visit!!

http://www.wishintoronto.com/

KELSEY'S 

777 Guelph Line, Burlington On., (905) 633-9323, Lunch, dinner, late night 7 days a week

Three of us decided to go to Kelsey's on a Friday afternoon in June for lunch.  This particular one was located on Guelph Line just above the Lakeshore.  

We found the interior similar to all other Kelsey's.  It had a variety of seating options.  We were led to a nice booth and ordered some Coronas.

We decided to go light for lunch.  My wife and I ordered the sesame chicken salad.  It was delicious.

Mark, our son decided to order a couple of appetizers.  He chose popcorn shrimp.  They were very tasty, crispy and with a nice spicy jalapeno flavour, accompanied by a sweet and spicy Thai chili sauce.

Mark also had their four cheese spinach dip and it was surrounded with numerous deep fried pita triangles.  Three people could share this app easily.

Our lunches were very enjoyable and reasonably priced.  We will definitely return to explore more of their current menu offerings.  A good restaurant with a good selection of food.

http://www.kelseys.ca/