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

PIER 39 FISH AND CHIPS 

3305 Fairview Street Unit 9, Burlington On., (905) 407-0565

Three of us had an urge on Thursday evening for a plate of fish in chips.  Thomas had seen a line up going into a brand new fish and chip restaurant in Burlington, so we decided to try it.  It is named after pier 39 in San Francisco which has an abundance of fish restaurants.  

After reviewing the menu we realized most items here are deep fried, so we ordered a couple of small appetizers; cheese sticks to share and deep fried mushroom caps.

Although the  cheese sticks were tasty and the sauce was quite good, there weren't enough of them for the price charged.  The deep fried mushrooms however were worth their price and were quite filling.

Thomas, Katie and I ordered the same main - halibut and fries.  It came with a vinegar based coleslaw, which is unusual with fish and chips, we usually see mayo based coleslaws with fish.  However, it was crisp and tasty.  The fish was rather ordinary and the fries were soft, but on the whole it was a pretty good choice.   

The restaurant is very new and not yet licensed so we had a coke.  The server was polite and efficient.  There is potential here, but I think they need to have some broiled options to attract a regular crowd.  Deep fried fish and chips are really the item of choice in pubs.  Hopefully as the restaurant matures they will look at some other methods of cooking besides deep frying.

There is a nice space on the side for a future patio, so hopefully they will get their license soon.  They also need to update their website.

http://www.pier39.ca/

MURRAY'S SANDWICH EMPORIUM 

671 Queen Street West, Toronto, On., (647) 345-7644 Lunch and Dinner Mon.- Sat. and late night Thurs. Fri. and Sat.

Mark and I decided to have something quick to eat before visiting a couple of pubs.  He had tried Murray's before and liked it, but it was very hectic here during the week - this being a Saturday we were able to enjoy it without a crowd.

The menu is displayed on a chalkboard and includes an interesting and unique list of sandwiches. That range from $7 to $9.  

We both decided on the BL-TIZZY which consisted of double smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, murray mayo and avocado. ($8).

The bun surrounding the bacon lettuce and tomato was outstanding and although large, was very light and tasty.  The sandwich contents blended well with the mayo and avocado.  The yukon gold fries were very crispy and light - although there were not enough of them.  The prices are very reasonable, the sandwich we tried was very good.  We will be back to try more of them on the menu.

http://www.ilovemurrays.com/

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/

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/