Winterlicious 2015 is Marben’s first time participating in the event and their menu was a hot pick. Offering the same dishes for lunch and dinner meant lunch reservations were quick to get booked up.

Atmosphere: I’ve been to Marben several times for dinner and drinks but this was my first visit during the day. The restaurant was packed and much more relaxed and casual than at night. Servers hustled from table to table and conversations were lively. Our group of 5 was seated at a comfortable booth with plenty of elbow room.

Service: Did I mention they were full? So full that service was behind and we waited about 30 minutes for our table. Winterlicious can really crowd great restaurants. The hostess was friendly, helpful and kept us updated on our status. On a positive note, our seating was at 1pm so by the time we were finished our meal, the lunch queue was done and we could take our time sipping coffee. Our server was also efficient and friendly, cutlery was changed in between courses and she checked in on us throughout the meal.

Food: Usually I get the charcuterie plate at Marben, but with their Winterlicious menu, I was eager to try the dishes with a more Spanish influence. For starters The Fiance and I split the Ontario Apple and Manchego Cheese Salad and Steamed PEI Mussels. The salad was tossed in a light mustard-herb dressing, the leaves sat on thin apple slices and was topped with roasted pumpkin seeds and slices of manchego cheese. The dish was everything I like in a salad, a light cheese, touch of crunchy and a light dressing. The bowl of mussels were fresh and cooked well with strong Asian flavours. We ended up dipping all of our bread in the lemongrass, ginger and chili flavoured sauce.

For mains, I started with the Spanish Seafood Stew and then switched with The Fiance to try half of his Johns Burger. Our table all agreed that the hand cut fries were amazing and there wasn’t a single one left. All of the seafood in my stew was fresh and cooked to just past raw. I found the saffron flavour rich and overpowered any seafood flavour. The snap peas were barely cooked, sweet, crunchy and perfect. My favourite bite was the octopus. Between the two entrees, I prefered the Johns Burger more. I loved the sweet chutney paired with a slice of aged cheddar cheese on the meaty patty. And there were those fries. I had one forkful of the vegetarian option, Cauliflower Tagine, but had to take a picture at the beautiful presentation. The bright colours almost made the dish too pretty to eat.

Between the three desserts, my favourite was the Nutella Creme Brulee, followed closely by the Vanilla Panna Cotta, which beat out the Chocolate and Olive Oil Truffle by a hair. I loved the flavour of the creme brulee, not too sweet and rich. The filling was more cream than custard and the top was very charred.

01. Fresh Burger

Rating/Price: 4.5 $
Why? Great burger, loose patty, good poutine
Must Order: Prime Fresh Burger
Good For? Burgers, quick meal

 

02. The Fry

Rating/Price: 4.5 $$
Why? Crispy, juicy, well spiced Korean Fried Chicken
Must Order: Half/Half KFC Combo
Good For? Big groups, beer and fried chicken

 

03. DaiLo

Rating/Price: 4.0 $$$
Why? Innovative menu, authentic Asian flavours, sickasianfood
Must Order: Big Mac Baos, Whole Fried Trout
Good For? Big groups, dates, late night bar, snacks and cocktails

 

04. Bar Isabel

Rating/Price: 5.0 $$$
Why? I wanted seconds of everything on the menu
Must Order: Roast Bone Marrow, Whole Sea Bream Ceviche
Good For? Dates, small groups, cocktails, late night meal

 

05. Yasu

Rating/Price: 4.0 $$$$
Why? Unique dining experience, refined atmosphere and hard to find sashimi
Must Order: Omakase
Good For? Couples, small groups, special occasions, sashimi enthusiasts

 

06. Gourmet Malaysia

Rating/Price: 4.5 $
Why? Rich authentic flavours, buttery roti
Must Order: Crispy Butter Prawns, Curry and Roti
Good For? Big groups, family dinners, casual meal

 

07. The Stockyards Smokehouse and larder

Rating/Price: 5.0 $
Why? Darn good fried chicken
Must Order: Fried Chicken Dinner Platter
Good For? Takeout, small groups, quick meal, comfort food

 

08. Emma's Country Kitchen

Rating/Price: 5.0 $
Why? One of the best buttermilk biscuits ever
Must Order: Buttermilk Biscuit, Pancakes
Good For? Small groups, brunch, breakfast

 

Honorable Mentions:

• Khao San Road – 5.0 $$
• Pho Dau Bo – 5.0 $
• Porzia – 5.0 $$$
• Dumpling King – 5.0 $
• Jacobs & Co – 4.0 $$$$
• Taro’s Fish – 5.0 $$
• Oyster Boy – 4.5 $$$

Did I miss your favourite restaurant? Let me know in the comments.

Last Updated: 12/30/2014

While on vacation in Maui, The Fiance and I took a set of engagement photos around North Shore with the lovely and talented Anna Kim. Unfortunately, I managed to hurt my knee during the last photo, a jumping shot, and The Fiance was ready to head back to our hotel. However, I had planned for us to grab lunch at Paia Fish Market and I wasn’t willing to pass it up. After some convincing (aka stubbornness), The Fiance gave in and helped me limp into the restaurant. We arrived just after the lunch rush and was able to grab seats at the communal picnic tables inside. The decor reminded me of an old school boat cabin with wood beams and fish everywhere.

For lunch, we split an order of fish tacos and a fish burger. Our fish tacos were heaped with fresh toppings and served on creamy coleslaw. The fish was well seasoned and shredded, making it easy to get a bit of every ingredient with each bite. I liked how extra corn tortilla shells were included. There was so much filling, it was easy to make 4 tacos out of the two. At $12.95, the portion size was a great deal. The fish burger ($10) was the best I had on the island that trip. The giant slab of fish was cooked to just opaque, had an even crisscross of grill marks and was lightly seasoned, not overpowering the taste of the fresh fish. I loved the tangy tartar sauce and the simple sesame bun. It was worth a little pain to get my hands on that burger.

Signaling the end of summer each year, the CNE brings a carnival to Toronto. Fully equipped with rides, games, concerts, a casino and most importantly, festival food, a visit to the CNE is an annual tradition. For me, the draw has always been the promise of calorie-laden goodness. I’m over the novelty of deep-fried twinkies and chocolate bars. This year the focus was grabbing old favourites and trying new treats.

Epic Burger is a long time vendor, home of the “Crispy Cream Burger”, and was originally offering the much hyped “cronut burger”. Unfortunately, many customers fell ill with food poisoning after having the burger and the cause was identified as the maple jam topping provided by Epic Burger’s affiliate bakery. By the time we visited, the “cronut burger” had been removed from the menu and we didn’t have any concerns.

We ordered The Behemoth burger, a burger with grilled cheese buns. The burger looked good, fresh bread and stacked high but the grilled cheese buns disappointing. The bread wasn’t grilled very long and could’ve used more butter. The burger itself was fine but for an indulgent burger, this doesn’t quite compare to the Vatican, a similar burger concept, from The Burger’s Priest.

Next up was The Cheeseburger Poutine from Bouchard’s Poutinery. There are a lot of toppings on this poutine. I love the addition of pickles and ground beef, but could do without the mustard. I also like the classic and The Canadian.

New to the CNE this year was the Spread Nutellerie booth, specializing in all things Nutella. AMAZING. We ordered the Sweetchips, sweet potato fries topped with nutella, sea salt and icing sugar. This was my dish of the day and the wrapper was licked. I cannot wait for Spread to open their permanent location to try out every other menu item they offer.

Another classic food I have to get is the bloomin onion, a giant onion cut, battered, deep fried and served with ranch dressing. It’s always a challenge to finish the entire plate but we were pretty close this time between four people. This was also the “vegetable” of the day…

We finished the night with three dozen Tiny Tom donuts for the road and a need to hit the gym, eventually.