Great Cooks on Eight Commerical – Dine.TO from S7 Productions on Vimeo.

From the Pizza Pizza website:

From April 27 – May 3, all traditional Pizza Pizza restaurants in Canada will be offering cheese slices to consumers for $1.75, and medium cheese or pepperoni pizzas for walk-in customers for $5. $0.25 from the sales of each slice and $0.50 from the sale of each medium pizza will be donated to the Slice for Smile Fund. Customers looking to purchase four or more medium pizzas can pre-order through the call center for pick-up.

The Slice for Smile Fund benefits charities such as Sick Kids and Children’s Miracle Network. So if you’re hankering for pizza tonight, here’s a great idea to eat your fill while helping kids in need!

I made sure my girlfriend and I had reservations that night. She’s heard me ramble forever describing the tasty and innovative Thai cuisine at Linda’s; levels above the generic canteen-esque food served at its popular sister restaurant Salad King. Having lived mostly under the King’s shadow, this relocation is a great opportunity for Linda to truly carve out its own identity on the Toronto food scene.

Stepping through those heavy front doors, old patrons are greeted with the familiar intimate color scheme re-interpreted with a smooth polish. However, I’m not convinced if the decor and the dining area setup is an improvement. Though the lighting and miscellaneous decorations were esthetically pleasing, I wasn’t a fan of the wall mural — it’s an overdone concept. The mural mistakingly paint Linda’s as a lounge, conflicting with a staff operating with no pretension that Linda is still a restaurant. At this moment, I can’t help but miss the brick walls and creaky wooden floors from the old Linda.

Whereas the former Linda was a getaway from the bustling Salad King crowd, the new Linda brought along Salad King’s lively atmosphere. It gets quite noisy very quickly when the crowd fills in. The table setup in the middle of the dining room seem cramped amongst the red partitions. Diners would have to nudge and excuse themselves with every significant movement. The dining area felt like a darker, classier, but smaller Congee Wong / Congee Queen. No longer does it seem conducive to an intimate dining experience. Whether this will turn away previous regulars remains to be seen.

Service delivered a more promising start to our Linda experience. The wait staff talked with seeming knowledge, were happy to provide suggestions, and answered questions quickly with a smile. Though our waitress seemed apprehensive about eating soft shell crabs, she was attentive and accommodating. We did encounter a long wait between our appetizers and entrees. I already anticipated this before we sat down, since I surveyed the dining area and saw many diners waiting with empty table tops. My girlfriend and I even joked that we finally experienced the “Hell’s Kitchen wait”. In their defense, it’s not fair to penalize a kitchen working its first night in a new environment. My acid test would be judging the food quality being pushed out.

I’m happy to report that the food standards were kept high, compliments to Chef Wing Li and his staff. Every dish were perfectly spiced and flavourful. Glaringly absent however was the famous Salad King chili system from the menu. Our waitress assured that it would still be honored upon request. I’m happy this gimmick has been dropped, but diners yearning for extreme spiciness will still have the option.

The Tom Yum Goong soup had plenty of shrimp, mushrooms and kaffir lime leaves. The soup did not taste particularly hot nor sour, but was fresh and mellow instead. I’m used to having a bit more sour kick in my Tom Yum Goong and this offering felt toned down for western palettes. But I still appreciated the respect the chef paid to the fresh ingredients.

The Soft Shell Crab Appetizer. The light batter was perfectly spiced. You could easily enjoy the crab on its own, but don’t miss the opportunity to try the spectacular dipping sauce! The dipping sauce is a testament to the efforts of the owners who travel the world to research and compare. Portions were small, especially considering the menu promoted it as “extra large” soft shell crabs. Though the crab was good, we didn’t feel like we got value with this dish.

The Curry Duck (Duck In Red Curry Sauce) is a big favourite among many devoted Linda foodies. Grilled smoke duck breast with vegtables in Thai Red Curry with Coconut Milk, Yummy! I’ve never had duck in Thailand, and will probably never get the opportunity. But I know what I like, and I like this! This is a well-executed and unique dish; you won’t find many Thai restaurants serving smoked duck. This dish plays to Linda’s strengths — embracing its French/European influence in plating and flavour combinations. But the dominant flavours remain authentically Thai, albeit a modern interpretation.

Baked Young Coconut with Fried Rice. Young coconut filled wih rice stir fried with shrimp paste, coconut water, white shrimp, scallop, topped with coconut milk and tamarind sauce. The coconut husk makes for a terrific presentation. The inclusion of shrimp paste made the fried rice fragrant, but not overwhelming. Generous shrimp / scallop portions. The tamarind sauce playfully contrasted the fried rice. I love playing with my food and scraping the coconut meat of its husks was simply fun.

Linda becomes an early restaurant entry at the outdoor mall “Shops On Don Mills”; which by the way is my early pick for the summer shopping hot spot. Judging from the full opening night, Linda should enjoy many more busy nights to come as they continue their soft opening, tweaking their kitchen and service. Hopefully some of the opportunities I mentioned pertaining to the dining area and the serving portions can be corrected by their Mid-May grand opening. I’ll definitely revisit Linda when the time is right.

RECOMMEND:

The Curry Duck, selections from the “Catch from the sea” menu section seemed interesting too!

SKIP:

The appetizers to leave more room for another entree? (except maybe the Meng Kum, I was envious of surrounding diners who ordered this app)

Mucho Burrito is celebrating Cinco De Mayo Day with $5 Burritos on Tuesday, May 5th. Click link for locations (some in Vaughn, Mississauga)

Burrito Boyz to fill up on my favourite… halibut burritos! (downtown)

Jalapeno Restaurant produces good authentic Mexican cuisine. Mariachi bands on some nights, and sangria by the picture (downtown) 725 King Street West, Toronto, ON, 416-216-6743

El Trompo Taco Bar & Grill has garnered many quite a fan following in Toronto, serving Mexican “street-style” food.

El Jacal has some droolingly good pictures and interesting menu items that beg to be tasted!

Tacos El Asador. Not really Mexican, and is really Salvadorian, but they have some good home cooked Mexican dishes in their repetoire. They’ve been cooking up tacos, and tamales for 13 years. Try the papusas (Salvadorian) too. I first tasted papusas on a trip to North Carolina and loved them!
690 Bloor St West, Toronto, ON

Rebozos is a bit more off the eaten track, but this modest taqueria take-away opened not 4 years ago keeps it simple by serving soups, sandwiches, and the reqquisite quesadillas, tostados and tacos. Check out this Now Toronto review.

El Sol has operated business on the Danforth since 1994. Often spoken on the lips of Northern Mexican foodies, maybe you should check out what the hype is about.

For higher end Mexican food, check out Dos Amigos, opened by 2 friends. They will be introducing a summer special menu from July 3^rd-July 10^th. Go with their suggested expectations “intensity of flavours, not fire”.

Milagro Grill wants to show you Mexican dishes with attitude. Patrons often speak of enjoyable times at the restaurant.

Johnny Banana. Don’t let the name fool you. This Mexican-owned restaurant is the type of place that you would find in La Condesa, which is the arty, and bohemian Soho neighbourhood of Mexico City. The decor is indeed nice, but what about the food? Let us know!
181 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, 416-304-0101

Thanks to @TOFoodie for reminding me about Rancho Relaxo . Live music nightly, but some people may prefer peace and quiet.

Z-Teca (with three locations in Toronto) is offering $5 burritos as well

Many Ways To Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

See anything missing on the list? Let us know! We’re always yearning to know more about Toronto’s Mexican food scene here at T.O. Reservations.

By no means is this list the authority on the best retaurants out there. Just think of it as another recommendation list. But controversy has already stirred with the significiant absence of one Hell’s Kitchen chef. Maybe they told him to “get out”!

The world’s 50 best restaurants 2009 (and 2008 ranking in brackets) according to San Pellgrino

1 El Bulli, Spain (1)
2 The Fat Duck, UK (2)
3 Noma, Denmark (10)
4 Mugaritz, Spain (4)
5 El Celler de Can Roca, Spain (26)
6 Per Se, US (6)
7 Bras, France (7)
8 Arzak, Spain (8)
9 Pierre Gagnaire, France (3)
10 Alinea, US (21)
11 L’Astrance, France (11)
12 The French Laundry, US (5)
13 Osteria Francescana, Italy (new entry)
14 St. John, UK (16)
15 Le Bernardin, US (20)
16 Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville, Switzerland (27)
17 Tetsuya’s, Australia (9)
18 L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, France (14)
19 Jean Georges, US (17)
20 Les Creations de Narisawa, Japan (new entry)
21 Chez Dominique, Finland (39)
22 Ristorante Cracco, Italy (43)
23 Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany (35)
24 D.O.M., Brazil (40)
25 Vendome, Germany (34)
26 Hof van Cleve, Belgium (28)
27 Masa, US (re-entry)
28 Gambero Rosso, Italy (12)
29 Oud Sluis, Netherlands (42)
30 Steirereck, Austria (new entry)
31 Momofuku Ssam Bar, US (new entry)
32 Oaxen Skargardskrog, Sweden (48)
33 Martin Berasategui, Spain (29)
34 Nobu, UK (30)
35 Mirazur, France (new entry)
36 Hakkasan, UK (19)
37 Le Quartier Francais, South Africa (5)
38 La Colombe, South Africa (re-entry)
39 Asador Etxbarri, Spain (44)
40 Le Chateaubriand, France (new entry)
41 Daniel, US (41)
42 Combal Zero, Italy (re-entry)
43 Le Louis XV, France (15)
44 Tantris, Germany (47)
45 Iggy’s, Singapore (new entry)
46 Quay, Australia (new entry)
47 Les Ambassadeurs, France (45)
48 Dal Pescatore, Italy (23)
49 Le Calandre, Italy ( 36)
50 Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden (new entry)

Source: The S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants

Personally, I don’t want to see Toronto’s reputation go to the gutters. Most visitors and tourists have a good impression of the food scene here, so let’s keep it that way. It just seems wrong when street vendors operate more hygienically than restaurants. There’s no excuse!

The report also exposes that an estimated 1 in 6 Toronto residents get sick every year over food hygiene related issues. That’s a high number! Are you in that number? What restaurants have you ventured into and swear to avoid due to is hygiene issues? Comment here if you’ve got stories!

After much procrastinating to finish the first batch of posts, I’m ready to officially launch T.O. Reservations. Toronto is a world class food city that is just beginning to receive recognition. Just what will it take to get Anthony Bourdain to visit this city to film an episode for his show, “No Reservations”?

Personally, I’m not sitting around till he comes. Join me on my tour around the restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area. My quest – to eat all that Toronto has to offer, and to report back to you. The hard part will be convincing my girlfriend to allow my camera at the tables for every meal. I’ve been assured that as long as I’m quick with the picture taking, it will be tolerated. Thanks sweetie!

So if you’re ready, make sure you subscribe to the T.O. Reservations RSS feed, or subscribe via email and come back often to check out Toronto dining here on T.O. Reservations!

Condiments

Considering that we arrived on a Saturday afternoon, there may be good reason for the restaurant’s hustle and bustle. Then again, we probably would have assumed the worst if it weren’t busy. Eagerly we waited our turn to be shown to our table. The first thing I noticed sitting down was a big bottle of fish sauce, conspicuously sitting with the condiments. I had never seen such a big bottle on the table before. Fish sauce is super strong, and could spell disaster in the wrong hands. Having such obtuse amounts available table-side was… an interesting decision.

Looking over the placard menu, I get the sense that Vietnam Noodle Star employs a “build-your-own-pho” approach. There’s a section asking customers choose their own combination of meat items for their pho and vermicelli dishes, with additional charges for some items. This might be a novel idea to shorten the menu, but feels as gimmicky as those often bad “build-your-own-curry” concepts.

Time to order for the taste test! My pick would be the yardstick by which all Vietnamese pho restaurants are measured – Beef Pho. My friend ordered the vermecilli with grilled chicken and sugar-cane shrimp. And like a moth to a flame, I ordered Roti when I spotted the item in the South-East Asian snack section. No, not the Roti hailing from the West Indies, that most Torontonians know and love. I’m talking about the light, fluffy version Singaporean version of Roti Prata. Secretly, I was hoping that this meal will turn out real good.

Roti

But the dining experience took the wrong turn after this. A plate of limp, uninspiring, pan-heated frozen Roti was served. It wasn’t light, nor fluffy, nor was it served with any curry! Wasn’t this item listed in the South-East Asian section? I felt betrayed. There was no joy to be had, no memories to be invoked while eating this. The way I see it, if you can’t make Roti fresh, why bother listing it on the menu. I could do better buying the frozen variety from a grocery store.

But we came to judge the Vietnamese cuisine. The beef pho was brought up next. Generous in portion, the start looked more optimistic. But one sip of the bland soup gave me second thoughts. There wasn’t any particular character to the broth. It wasn’t anything thrilling, but it will feed me. Instead of burying my face in the bowl, I looked up and got my answer. There were no Vietnamese customers in this place. All the clients were Cantonese-speaking Chinese. The management don’t seem to be Vietnamese either. Vietnam Noodle Star felt like a Hong Kong diner masquerading as a Pho House. The beef pho seemed appropriately dumbed down for its intended audience.

We had one more dish to sample. The vermecilli bowl (Bun Thit Nuong) with grilled chicken and sugar cane shrimp was Vietnam’s Star last chance at redemption. The timid garlic chili sauce integrated into the vermecilli bowl was passingly enjoyable. But there was no forgiving a bland sugar cane shrimp. The traditional way of making Chao Thom is by grilling. Deep frying it seems lazy, and the sacrificial lamb of this preparation method is flavour.

Walking out of Vietnam Noodle Star, I reflected on why this place is popular? The success of a restaurant depends heavily on its location. Located in a busy intersection, surrounded by residential areas. Vietnam Noodle Star might just be the convenient place for an adequate pho fix. But if its patrons venture just a bit further, Pho 88 and Pho Viet are better Vietnamese owned establishments, and not too far away.

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