BISTRO SIX ONE 

61-63 Queen Street, Niagara on the Lake, On., (905) 468-2532, Lunch and Dinner 7 days a week

On a cool, but sunny March afternoon my wife and I decided to take a drive to one of our favourite tourist places, Niagara on the Lake.  It is a quaint and historic village that has the famous Shaw theatre, along with a variety of boutiques and restaurants.  Being the off season for tourists, some shops were closed, but the restaurants were all open.  We decided to try Bistro Six One after reading their menu posted near the front door.

The inside has a variety of booth seating which we like.

Located in the centre of Ontario's wine region, restaurants here tend to feature the local wineries in their wine lists.  We chose our favourite local wine from Jackson Triggs, their Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend VQA, a full bodied red with a rich flavour.

The menu has a nice variety to choose from including wood oven pizza, sandwiches, salads and mains.  

Since it was late afternoon, we decided on a salad and sandwich.  We both chose the Caesar salad.  The romaine was fresh and crisp, the bacon was real and the parmesan cheese and croutons were delicious.

For her sandwich, my wife chose the ham and brie melt on multigrain bread.  It had thin layers of smoked ham, soft brie cheese and a wonderful pepper jelly that was very tasty.  It was accompanied by a mound of french fries.

I decided on the grilled chicken ciabatta.  It had tender grilled chicken, lettuce, bacon and cheese.  The bread was crisp and fresh and the sandwich was excellent.  It too, was served with fries.

It was a wonderful meal in a peaceful restaurant with nice music and good wine.  We will definitely be back again.

  

http://www.bistrosixone.com/index.htm

TURTLE JACK'S MUSKOKA GRILL 

Mapleview Mall 900 Maple Avenue, Burlington On., (289) 288-0484, Open for lunch, dinner, late night seven days a week

My wife and I went to Turtle Jack's in Mapleview Mall after some New Years shopping.  We decided to have a light dinner of seafood.  

It is a comfortable place that invites you in with it's warm fireplace.

I began with a 9 oz glass of Chianti.  My wife decided on a coke.

We began our meal with a small Caesar salad (with real bacon, not bacon bits).  It was tossed in a garlicky dressing and was topped with shaved asiago cheese.  It was just the right size and quite tasty.

My wife decided on the grilled salmon.  It was served with basmati rice, seasonal vegetables and topped with pineapple mango salsa.  She really enjoyed the salmon, which was tasty and well cooked.

I had the rainbow trout, seasoned, pan seared and topped with butter sauce.  It was served with seasonal vegetables and sweet potatoes.

We completed the meal by sharing a dessert of Skor Brownie Obsession.  It consisted of a classic fudge brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and Skor pieces.  It was awesome and we highly recommend you try it.  

This restaurant has a comfortable feel and a varied clientele.

Clean and fancy washrooms.

The price was reasonable. The service was efficient and delivered with a friendly smile.  We will definitely come back to try some other items on their varied menu.

http://www.turtlejacks.com/menus/mapleview-mall-menu

GREEN EGGPLANT 

1968 Queen Street E, The Beaches, Toronto On. (416) 913-3361, Open for Lunch and Dinner seven days a week, breakfast Sat. and Sun.

After having a picnic lunch and a very long walk along the boardwalk at the beaches, my wife and I decided to go to dinner to the Green Eggplant for a light dinner.  This restaurant is a very popular one in the beaches area of Queen Street near Kew Gardens.

We took a look at the extensive menu and decided to choose something from the seafood section.

First we began with a simple Chianti.

We selected one of the house specialities, the rainbow trout fillet with a garlic lemon sauce, served on a sizzling plate.  It came with a Caesar salad and Basmati rice.  First came the bread basket with three different dips.  One of the dips was a tzatziki base, the second was barbecued base and the third was a hummus based dip.

The accompanying salad was large but quite plain and bland.

The trout fillet was large, hot and simply broiled on a sizzling plate.

The basmati rice was large and nicely cooked.

The inside is comfortable and nicely decorated with large windows opening to the street.  

It is quite a popular restaurant in the beaches for its price, quantity of food and family friendliness.

 Although it was a large quantity of food, it was rather bland and simple.  The server was quick but lacked personality.  The surroundings were comfortable and many meals we saw looked large - especially the salads.  We will probably return to try other selections on their menu.

http://www.greeneggplant.com/

SARCOA 

57 Discovery Drive, Hamilton On.  (905) 528-5757, Lunch, Dinner, Late, Tuesday to Sunday, Dinner only Monday

After giving this restaurant time to settle and get over the hype of it's entry to the Hamilton restaurant scene, we decided to go for dinner on a beautiful Sunday evening in early August.  This restaurant has a wonderful large and complex patio, consisting of various table arrangements, and seating configurations including couches and pods.  It is worth the visit to sit on this patio, even at the large bar that anchors it.

Since we did not have reservations, we had to wait for a while in the bar area until a table became ready, so we had some wine and watched the boats go by in the bay.  It was a beautiful evening to be on the patio.  My son Mark (http://www.markallen.ca/) had a rum and coke, a perfect bar drink for a sunny evening.

The bar tender serving us was friendly, efficient and made us feel comfortable as did all the staff at this restaurant!!  When our table became ready, we took a look at the menu.

We ordered a nice Chianti to share.

My wife and I decided to start with the Caesar salad.  It was absolutely delicious with a wonderful balance of real smoked bacon, lemon, croutons and Parmesian.  

Mark, my son decided to start with quinoa fritters with romesco and quacamole.  They were scrumptious, with a lot of flavour.

For our mains my wife and I decided to have the pasta special.  It was the house made fettucini with roast chicken and parmesian, tomatoes and sprouts in a light sauce.  It was outstanding and we both enjoyed every morsel.  We would order this again if it was on the menu.

Mark ordered one of his favourite combinations, not often seen as a main, seared scallops and pork belly, with sweet pea puree and rhubarb-daikon slaw.  It was very good.

My wife and Mark decided to try a desert.  My wife had the cheesecake. It was heavenly - though a little small.

Mark had the vanilla gelato.  It was sweet and tasty.

It was a wonderful meal on a beautiful evening.  

If the weather or the season changes there is a beautiful interior to this restaurant as well.

The food, the service and the location make this restaurant worth a visit.  We will definitely return.

Well, we returned exactly a year (August 2 2014, approximately 7 pm ) later.  The attitude had changed.  There was a snotty girl receptionist who told us there was no way we would be able to get in without a reservation (which we tried to make about 3 o'clock the same day).  This was such a different attitude from just a year ago, when we were allowed to drink at the bar until a table became ready!!  We saw many empty tables both inside and out!!  So, we went to Spencer's in Burlington (a far superior restaurant by most standards) and were welcomed with open arms - they too were very busy but made an effort not to turn us away.  We had a wonderful table on the patio overlooking the lake and spent a lot of money there!!  Sarcoa needs to get back to the attitude they previously had, sooner or later it will lose patrons!!!!  I have seen tweets and stories of patrons who will not return because of the attitude here!!

http://www.sarcoa.ca/