This year for Summerlicious none of the menus really enticed me. I still decided to use the event as an excuse to grab dinner with friends and only looked at dinner menus at the $28 or $38 price point. After waffling between restaurants, we ended up at Bannock, an O&B restaurant in heart of downtown. For $28 the 3 course dinner was a good value, but perhaps wrongly, I had higher expectations.

Atmosphere: With the facade of Bannock being under construction the entrance was little hard to find. Inside, the restaurant separated into two sections. On the right was a “grab and go” area and on the left the “dine in” restaurant. Decor was modern with natural wood chairs that contrasted the light tabletops. Throughout dinner, the room was lively and we had to raise our voices to maintain a conversation.

Service: Our server was friendly and always made sure drinks were full. Courses arrived together and we had no trouble getting anyone’s attention. Overall, there wasn’t any aspect of service that was super memorable, which is how I like the majority of my meals to be.

Food: For dinner, I ordered the Ontario Heirloom Tomato Salad for my main, which also had sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and garlic brittle. I was expecting slices of tomatoes or bite size chunks, instead the tomatoes were large wedges, or halves and just piled in the center of the plate with sad shreds of garnish. The tomatoes were ripe and sweet but wasn’t seasoned enough for my taste.

A friend and I split our mains, allowing both of us to try dishes. All of the mains sounded promising and we chose the Northern Woods Mushroom and Gouda Pizza and the Birch BBQ Tri-tip Steak. Between the two, I prefered the pizza, which had a thin crust fresh arugula and strong earthy flavours. With the steak dish, the portion was large and cooked well, but again I thought it was underseasoned. Maybe I really need to cut back on salt in our own kitchen. Served with the steak was charred ratatouille, avocado and blue corn tortillas. Ok, but nothing spectacular.

Dessert was the highlight of dinner. Between the three of use, we ordered a Citrus Mousse Mess and two slices of Vanilla Cheesecake. Heavenly. None of us were tempted by the Crickets on a Log, real roasted crickets on a stalk of celery.

Sitting high atop the iconic TD tower in the heart of Toronto, Canoe remains the crown jewel of Oliver & Bonacini’s restaurant empire. My first experience with Canoe was a disappointing meal during Winterlicious back in 2010 and I vowed only to return during regular service. Initially, I had booked a table on Valentine’s day, but decided to postpone for a week to avoid another hectic and crowded occasion that could potentially cloud my dining experience again. Perhaps as a result, my latest meal at Canoe met every expectation and proved their reputation to be well deserved.

Atmosphere: One of the draws of Canoe is their 54th floor location, with spectacular views of the city and Lake Ontario. At a window table, the sunset turns into twinkling lights providing a romantic backdrop to dinner. For me, I was happy when the hostess led us to a well-lit table in the centre of the restaurant. Dress code didn’t include t-shirts but I didn’t spot many jackets either. The restaurant was warm, lively and hummed with conversation.

Service: I really liked our server, who was friendly and charming. He introduced the daily specials and shared his personal recommendations. We ordered the special appetizer, which had Chef Armstrong coming tableside to shave black truffle fresh onto the plate. Our server checked in on our table regularly and each course arrived promptly. Empty plates did not sit long before being taken away. I felt our table was well taken care of without any hovering.

Food: For dinner, the daily appetizer centered around truffles. The kitchen had two kinds, one from France and another from BC. Chef Armstrong came table-side to shave each truffle onto a pile of tagliatelle in butter sauce and invited us to taste and compare. We didn’t know which was which and honestly, I couldn’t really tell the difference. The Hubby thought one had a deeper earthy flavour but both were delicious, not overpowering and just subtle hits of umami.

The other appetizer we chose was the venison tartare with crispy bacon, pink peppercorn, wild mustard and foraged pickles. I really enjoyed the crispy, sweet and sour pickles, and the mustard had a hint of heat. The venison itself was lean and savoury.

For mains, I ordered the Halibut that was flakey, tender and served with a creamy citrus sauce. The Hubby had the Ontario Lamb Saddle, which was served on a bed of hearty greens with a side of beautifully stacked root vegetables. Carrots were sliced thin, perfectly cooked, sweet with a smokey flavour. I found the lamb a bit gamey but The Hubby loved it. We added a side order of beets that was slices of cooked beets, layered, topped with chunks and decorated with slices showing off the beet’s rings. The dish was sweet and truly showed off the often overlooked vegetable..

Canoe’s menu changes often, always highlighting local Canadian ingredients like BC salmon and Ontario pork. My second experience at the restaurant far eclipsed the first. I found the dishes I liked best to be the simple ones, when the ingredients weren’t overcomplicated. Overall, my meal wasn’t the best I’ve had in Toronto, but combined with the romantic atmosphere and delightful service, dinner was lovely.

As per tradition, for his birthday I took The Hubby out for steak. This year I picked Hy’s Steakhouse for their downtown location and aged steaks. The exquisite dining room and attentive service helped make dinner feel special and worth the splurge.

Atmosphere: To start, I was awed by the size of Hy’s in Toronto and loved the vaulted ceilings. All of the booths had been booked already but tables were placed at an angle from each other and provide an air of intimacy while dining next to strangers. The decor was masculine with dark, warm colours and walls filled with wine. All of the servers wore crisp white chef coats and moved quietly through the restaurant. The majority of diners I noticed leaned towards an older demographic and most of the men had suit jackets. I wouldn’t deem a jacket 100% necessary, but a shirt and tie probably.

Service: From the moment we walked into the lobby where complimentary coat check was offered, to when we collected our jackets, service was lovely. I requested a well-lit table (photos and what not) and we were shown to one next to large windows with natural light streaming in. We ordered the Caesar salad, which was prepared tableside and I was again amazed by how many ingredients go into the dressing. Our server checked in on us subtlely without hovering and I felt like he was always close by if needed. With my reservation, I had submitted a special request for dessert to have a birthday message written on it. However, after our meal, both The Hubby and I were Full. I fretted about what to do. Should I order something just so the kitchen could fulfill my request or try to discreetly cancel it. We decided against dessert and Hy’s still managed to wow me with a simple plate decorated with whipped cream, strawberries and a chocolate birthday message.

Food: Our meal started with an order of cheese toast instead of the complimentary garlic bread, Caesar salad, split between the two of us and escargot. The cheese toast was warm, cheesy and crunchy. My plate of salad had a heavy sprinkle of parmesan and each leaf was coated in dressing. I would’ve loved a few more croutons and some bacon. The plump, tender escargot arrived under a thick blanket of butter and garlic with two toasted chunks of baguette, perfect for soaking up any leftover butter.

My entree was the Steak Neptune, a 10 oz New York stip, cooked medium rare topped with Dungeness crabmeat, asparagus and hollandaise sauce. For my side I chose mashed potatoes, which turned out to be the best mashed potatoes ever. Fluffy clouds of potato heaven. This was why we didn’t have room for dessert, we polished off 26 oz of steak (in total) and 5 potatoes worth of mash. I’m not sure how this was seasoned but the potatoes were savoury, rich and buttery smooth. Just perfect.

Onto the steak. The vegetables served with mine were fresh and crunchy. I didn’t find the crabmeat added much to the dish and the hollandaise sauce was thicker than what I prefer. I would skip the “Neptune” and order just the New York Strip alone. My steak was lean, pink and juicy on the inside. There was lots of beefy flavour but I would’ve liked a bit more char on the outside. The Hubby’s ribeye was delicious and the tastier steak.

Cooked medium, the 16oz ribeye fell apart under the knife and was well-marbled, which meant loads of flavour. The fat cap was rendered well and the outside of the steak had a heavy char marks sealing in all the fatty flavour.

Looking back, my dream order would’ve been the ribeye with a side of mashed potatoes (double serving of potatoes if possible).

Normally, I reserve meals at expensive steakhouses for a special occasion. However, we were able to score a great deal for Ruth’s Chris Steak House during their Gift Card promo which made a visit for regular date night, more reasonable. With over 140 Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses worldwide, mainly in the US, and 5 in Canada, their sizzling plates are well known. While service was lovely and the steaks were good, I wasn’t convinced they were as good as the price tags were high.

Atmosphere: The Toronto location of Ruth’s Chris was in the basement of the Hilton hotel. There was no natural light but plenty of overhead lamps provided a warm, cozy glow to the dining room. Each table was rotated offset from those around it, creating a private space even in the middle of the room. Perhaps a touch outdated, the decor still felt elegant and timeless, reminiscent of an old boy’s club or university alumni room. Plenty of masculinity. Many tables around us were from out of town or celebrating special events.

Service: All of the waitstaff who took care of us that night were professional and efficient. As soon as a drink was empty, someone was there asking if we needed another. Our steaks arrived sizzling (as promised) and sides were all served together. When we ordered only one salad, our server asked if we were splitting the dish and made sure it would be served as such. With each course we were offered fresh ground pepper and all together had a lovely experience.

Food: When ordering at Ruth’s Chris, potato ($12 each) and vegetable ($12 – $15 each) dishes are separate items. No sides were included with any entrees. Each side is a very generous portion and more than enough to share with two people.

As is our tradition, The Hubby and I ordered too much food. We started with one order of the Caesar salad, the dish was split into two portions and served individually. I found the leaves evenly dressed and my plate was covered with shaved parmesan. For sides, we ignored the vegetable selection and ordered both Shoestring Fries and Onion Rings. We managed to eat half of each, but wasn’t even close to finishing. The shoestring fries were fantastic, thin, crispy and well seasoned. I was eating these by the mouthful. The onion rings (not pictured) were massive, wider than my fist, crunchy and not oily.

For our mains, The Hubby ordered The Cowboy Ribeye steak and I had the regular Ribeye steak, both cooked to medium. My ribeye was a beautiful pink throughout. With the bone-in Cowboy, the steak was rarer closer to the bone as expected. Both had a delicious rendered fat cap and a charred exterior sealing in all the juices. The steaks were mildly seasoned and relied heavily on butter. This was a good quality steak, soft, tender with lots of meaty flavour. However, we’ve gotten pretty good at cooking steaks at home, which sets the bar higher when we’re eating out. I wasn’t blown away by Ruth’s Chris.

We ended the night with a slice of Cheesecake and Blueberry sauce, a sweet final note for an already indulgent meal.

This year for our group summerlicious meal, I wanted to try an established restaurant, one that has proven to deliver great meals over time. Having had lovely dinners at other Oliver & Bonacini’s restaurants, Luma and Auberge du Pommier, I had high expectations for Jump. Unfortunately, while the service and atmosphere were top-notch, the food was underwhelming.

Atmosphere: Walking into Jump, I felt the decor was masculine and contemporary. I loved the wall of scotches and the glass wine cellar. Cube pendant lights hung below the glass ceiling, which made the transition from natural to artificial light smooth and barely noticed. With the strong leather furniture, dark wood tables and dark wall drapes, I felt like a cigar and scotch neat were needed (although we went with wine for the table). Our fellow diners ranged from groups of Asian girls to older couples and families out for a nice meal.

Service: Our server was outstanding. She was friendly, efficient and professional. Water and wine glasses were kept full, each dish arrived promptly and we had no trouble having the bill split. One of my friends ordered the soup for her appetizer, didn’t enjoy it and our server was more than happy to switch her bowl for a plate of salmon tartare.

Food: As per all meals during summerlicious, I tempered my expectations. Even so, for a $35 dinner menu, I was disappointed. There was a lack of finesse to the dishes that may have been due to a busy kitchen but still couldn’t be overlooked. One friend had bones in his sea bream while The Fiance had greens that were yellow in his salad. These small details really put a damper on the meal.

We started with an order of Jump fries while we waited for our entire party to arrive. It was a good plate to share and snack on. The tomato mayo was light and still more mayo than tomato.

For appetizers, I ordered the Salmon Tartare while The Fiance had the Prosciutto Cotto Salad. Between the two, the salmon tartare, an okay plate, was by far the winner. Every component of the salad dish was mild in flavour and I expected the green goddess dressing to be more tangy than it was. Entrees were better. I enjoyed my broiled sea bream, which had a nice crispy skin and I liked the sweetness of the corn succotash. The fish was tender and flakey and the kernels of popcorn added a crunch. Both The Fiance and I liked the flavours of the Beef Cheek Vindaloo, but the piece I had was 90% tendon and hard to chew through. The level of spice was good, hot but not sweat inducing and the pilaf was a great blend of savoury and sweet.

Dessert that night was the highlight. I chose the Buttermilk Panna Cotta while The Fiance had the Peach and Passion Fruit Trifle. Both options satisfied my sweet tooth with the trifle being slightly better with more texture in each bite. The panna cotta was rich, creamy and complimented wonderfully with the drunken blueberry sauce. Each spoonful of the trifle was crunchy (meringue) and creamy (custard), and sweet (peach) and sour (passion fruit).

Based on this summerlicious experience alone, O&B has lots of other great restaurants I would re-visit or check out before returning to Jump.

The organizers of Winterlicious are brilliant to hold the event in February. After a long winter in Toronto and a month after the holidays it’s easy to hibernate. 2014 especially has started with cold winter weather and personally I’m starting to count down to spring. So having a reason to get dressed up, leave the house and eat an amazing meal is a welcome light in the midst of dreary weather. I started this year’s Winterlicious adventures with a return visit to Starfish being enticed by their 3 course $35 oyster dinner.

Atmosphere: Large booths occupy one side of the restaurant across from the oyster bar and smaller tables for two fill the area between. I love the plentiful seating at the bar to watch the live shucking action. For a Monday night, I was surprised at how busy the restaurant was, even during Winterlicious. The noise level was lively but not loud and there wasn’t any background music to compete with. With the intimate lighting, I would highly recommend Starfish for a romantic date out.

Service: Walking into Starfish, I was greeted and brought to my table. The host offered to take my jacket but I was carrying too many things (lunch bag, purse, gloves, hat, etc) and flustered from running to the restaurant (because I’m always running “just 5 minutes” late) to get all my things in order to hand off. Once my friend arrived, water and bread was served while we looked over the menu. It was a busy night and after placing our order I was warned of a wait for the oyster meal, and it was quite the wait. My seafood platter didn’t arrive until my friend was basically done her entree. All three “courses” were shucked and arrived at once. I would’ve preferred if the appetizer oysters came out first but it was easier to dress all the oysters at once.

Food: I was there for the oysters but I was happy to share and I’m lucky all my friends have gotten used to sharing their meals as well. My friend ordered the haddock fish cakes, rainbow trout and sticky toffee pudding. While I waited for my meal, I snuck bites from her plates. I loved every component of the fish cake dish as evidenced by our very clean plate afterwards. The haddock was flakey, the roasted beets sweet, the sweet onion jam tangy and the perfect pickled green bean. I tasted a bite of the rainbow trout and almost wished I’d ordered that instead. The flesh was pink, moist and the skin was a beautiful crisp.

When the server arrived with our oysters, I was eager to dig in. I always taste one oyster undressed before adding lemon juice, seafood sauce and horseradish. Between the three types of oysters, my favourite were the Sawmill Bays. They were sweet, not too fleshy and were easily slurped in one try. Next, I enjoyed the Kumamotos followed by the Green Gables. The Kumamotos were the “dessert” oysters and I was expecting a sweeter taste, but they were actually very mild, needed a few bites and had a rich almost creamy flavour. The Green Gables were classic PEI flavour, salty and fresh. This was my first time trying out raw clams and they had the strongest seafood flavour of the night. They were much chewier than the oysters and musclely.

Our meal ended with a slice of The Sticky Toffee Pudding and oh my, it was a good piece of pudding. The cake itself was moist, warm and not overly sweet, perfect for soaking up the generous spread of toffee. I’m glad I don’t have access to this dessert on a daily basis because my dress pants are still snug from the holidays.