The taco craze taking Toronto finally made it up to North York in November with the renovation of Smokey Joe’s, an old bar with a great rooftop patio just north of Yonge and Sheppard. With an impressive selection of bourbons, daily specials and over 60 tequilas on hand, Estrella is on track to being the new bar in the area.

Atmosphere: I had only visited Smokey Joe’s once and it wasn’t for me. It was nice to see the space re-incarnated with the unique decor and bright colours, there’s even ping pong tables in the back for customers to use free of charge. There are cozy leather booths and lots of wooden tables that can be put together for large groups. I can’t wait for the rooftop patio to open up when the weather warms up.

Service: When the BF and I stopped by, it was still super early for dinner, just past 5:00pm cause we were both hungry and couldn’t wait. The staff hadn’t ramped up yet and we were one of the first customers of the night, which meant service started a bit slow. We weren’t sure who our server was at first and it took some time to get our order in. Our tacos did come out quickly and it was fun to see the guacamole made fresh at the table.

Food: On Monday nights, Estrella offers a $5 taco deal with soup and salad, $5 pints and $5 house cocktails. We passed on the taco special, which was bulgogi in favour of ordering from the regular menu. I did take advantage of the drink special and tried their white sangria while the BF had a bourbon sour. My drink was fruity and easy to drink; the bourbon was quite sour and served with a thick foam topping.

The table-side guacamole arrived in a giant mortar and pestle that was used to mash up the avocado and mix up the ingredients. When I make guacamole at home, I’m very liberal with the cilantro and lime so I thought the flavours were a touch understated. It’s a more traditional recipe and doesn’t mask the avocado. The chips served alongside were crispy and topped with a sprinkle of spice. They were pretty oily but delicious.

On to the tacos. We ordered one of each on the menu except for the vegetarian and oyster ones. My favourite was hands down the Taco de Panza. The fatty pork belly was full of flavour and I liked the pairing of a light, crunchy cabbage topping. Next were the duck confit and short rib tacos. Both were flavourful and I loved the spice in the short rib. For me, the best fish taco I’ve had so far was still at Grand Electric. The offering at Estrella was solid and had great toppings but couldn’t compare. I had high hopes for the tuna and ceviche tacos, but they fell a bit short. The ceviche taco was ok but the tuna taco didn’t have the same kick in flavour as the others and the texture of the tuna made the bite feel mushy.

Ending the night with dessert, we had the pineapple ice cream and churros. The churros were not very good. They were very doughy and uneven, none of the airy crispiness I was expecting. I’m not sure if it was because we ate so early in the night and the oil wasn’t ready, but it was disappointing. However, I loved the ice cream. It was creamy, sweet and sour with little chunks of pineapple. Scrapping dulche de leche with each spoonful of ice cream was a great way to end a meal. The macadamia nuts felt a bit unnecessary. There wasn’t really enough to incorporate into each bite and I forgot about it for the most part.

Nome has been one of my go-to dinner restaurants since I moved to North York a year and a half ago. This is especially true on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when they have their $1 Malpeque oyster special. I’ve been guilty of ordering just oysters for dinner in the past.

Atmosphere: Walking into the restaurant for dinner at 6pm, the dark wood tables, dim lights and pretty servers gives off a bar/lounge vibe to the restaurant. As the night gets later and the line to get in is still packed at 10pm, the buzz inside is definitely building. With drink specials Thurs-Mon and a DJ presence on Friday and Saturday nights, Nome’s a great place for a drink in the neighbourhood on top of their satisfying food menu.

Service: Usually, service is a hit or miss. Sometimes there’s long gaps between dishes, and other times everything arrives at once. I’ve had orders mis-directed to my table as well as lost to others. The servers are friendly but the pace is hectic. It’s more on par with pub/bar style service than restaurant.

Food: Our group was actually 13 people, but we split up into two groups to facilitate ordering the small tapas style dishes. It still takes a bit of food to feed 6 people and we ended up ordered the majority of the menu.

The special of the night was a pitcher of Sapporo with an order of their Japa-Burger, sliced rib eye sliders with bbq sauce. The meat is tender, soft bun and a great sauce. I do usually order this as it’s one of the more filling items on their menu and goes great with beer. Pictured next is the Deep Fried Pork Belly, Grilled Beef Tongue and Mack-Attack sashimi. The pork belly was flavourful, but a little on the chewy side, same with the beef tongue. The seared mackerel was great, no hint of fishy flavour. The Marinated Black Cod (pictured with the fries) was just okay, doesn’t compare to the same dish at Guu.

A giant plate of Shrimp Udon Salad was next. The noodles were cold and covered in a light vinaigrette and mixed with a generous portion of shrimp. This dish was light, sweet and tangy, a good break from the fried and heavier dishes. The Slammin’ Salmon was amazing and the picture really speaks for it. The outside was lightly seared, the meat inside was still a light pink and finished with a light ponzu sauce.

Next were the fried items:
Mentai Potato (thin potato chips with a creamy cod roe sauce) – oily but so rich in flavour
Yam fries – good as expected
Karaage – the chicken was fried well, crispy and moist, the wasabi mayo was the highlight for me though
Takoyaki – okay but can be passed, they were a little doughy in the center

We were ready to wrap up at this point but saw the Unagi Risotto at the other table and had to add an order, which was the best decision of the night. This was a great fusion dish and I highly recommend trying it. The rice was creamy, cheesy and accentuated the sweet sauce of the unagi.

I was born in Suzhou, a city about an hour west of Shanghai, and lived there before moving to Canada when I was 6. Every time I go home, I try to spend a day in Shanghai binging on xiaolongbao and street food. In the GTA, I’m always eager to try out Shanghainese restaurants in search of an authentic xiaolongbao.

Atmosphere: Shanghai Dim Sum in Scarborough is a casual family style restaurant located in a detached building with a limited dining area. The space seats under 30-40 guests at a time and there was a line waiting outside as we left. There were couples enjoying a quick dinner as well as larger groups having a family meal. All of the serving ware were undecorated white china, which really focused the attention on the food itself.

Service: The service was friendly, but unorganized. All the servers worked the entire dining area and it didn’t seem like they were assigned to specific tables. The hostess (and possibly owner?) was also helping take orders and made recommendations for chef specials. It took some time to get our bill and one of our dishes was sent to another table. We were quickly served a replacement plate though when the error was discovered.

Food: Each dish tasted authentic and all of the buns were freshly handmade. We started with a cold dish of drunken chicken, which is steamed chicken with a cooking wine based sauce. The meat was tender, moist and the sauce had a well balanced flavour.

Next up were two trays of pork xiao long bao and one tray of pork and crab. These are a must order. The wrapper was thin, perfectly steamed to the the right texture and full of savoury broth. The usual way to eat a xiao long bao is to dip in vinegar if desired, place it into a spoon, take a small bite from the side of just the wrapper, make sure to blow air in and cool the hot broth, slurp up the broth and then eat the rest. My favourite step is the broth slurping, so there should be a nice spoonful worth wrapped inside. The ones at Shanghai Dim Sum are the best ones I’ve had yet in the GTA. The crab flavour was subtle for me and I didn’t taste a huge difference between the two types.

We also tried the shengjian bao, which is a pan fried bun with a crispy bottom. I can devour these and would eat them daily for breakfast when I’m home in China. The ones here were a bit disappointing. The filling tasted right but the bread was too thick and should have been thinner and denser. They’re still good, just not what I expect from the dish.

Aside from buns, we had the lion’s head (giant meatballs), stewed duck, rice cakes and tang yuan soup for dessert. I liked the meatballs but they were hit or miss around the table due to the texture. The meat is loosely packed and falls apart with each bite. Everyone enjoyed the duck that was topped with a sweet soy sauce sauce. The rice cake dish was savoury and the cakes had a nice chewy texture and didn’t stick together. We capped the meal with a warm bowl of sweet tang yaun, small chewy balls made of glutinous rice flour.

El Catrin is a brand new Mexican restaurant that opened in July occupying The Boiler Room’s old space in the Distillery District. I was lucky enough to be invited to their media launch “fiesta” for complimentary margaritas and hors d’oeuvres.

Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge by the restaurant. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

Atmosphere: El Catrin features a sprawling front patio, complete with a full bar, private booths and a fire pit. The space was warmly lit, decorated with colourful furniture and plentiful cushions. It would be a great party event venue or for a night of margaritas with friends. The interior of the restaurant is dominated by the two storey wall mural featuring beautiful colours and a strong skull motif, which echoed throughout the entire restaurant’s decor. There are two private dining areas available for larger parties, both fully decorated with the restaurant’s theme and furnished with an extra long dining table.  

Food: The first dish I sampled was the “Vuelve a la vida El Catrin”, which was seafood ceviche on top of a fresh shucked oyster. The bite was amazing. I could’ve easily had a dozen of these. With that start the appetizers rolled out. Servers brought around corn salad in shot glasses, cubetas (a bucket of marinated tiger shrimp), baja fish tacos, pork tacos, tuna ceviche and beef short rib quesadilla (not pictured). We ended the night on a sweet note with two desserts, fresh churros and jamoncillo de leche (Mexican fudge) with bacon walnuts.

My favourite dish was the cubetas. The shrimp were plump, flavourful and was the one dish I couldn’t pass on whenever it came around. I found the pork taco was more memorable than the baja fish with stronger flavours. Between the two desserts, the churros were a bit disappointing and I had to shake off a lot of the sugar topping. The mexican fudge was dense and sweet. I liked the contrast of the saltiness in the bacon topping.

This was a great preview of El Catrin’s menu and I look forward to trying out their full menu, especially brunch which has mexican inspired omelette and pancake dishes.