The 3 Brewers (Toronto)

A franchise from Montreal (or France, I'm not sure) opened up recently in Toronto across from the Eaton Centre. The 3 Brewers doesn't roll off the tongue as smoothly was Les Trois Brasseurs, but still worth a try to see if it was up to par with it's Montreal counterpart.

We started with the sampler of their 4 beers that they micro brew at the restaurant. $6.95 for 4 mini shots of beer was perfect for me, but I only liked 3 of the 4. You have your Dark, Amber, Blonde, and in between golden colour.

Although one of the specialties is the 'Flamms' (crunch Flatbread pizzas that hail from Alcase, France), I've never tired one. [But after trying the dessert Flamm, it was really good and I will try it)  I can't pass up the Pork knuckle (or in English it was just the Braised Pork Shank). They also don't have as many "Moules" (mussels) as in Montreal. Only one type.

Sorry for the crappy quality photos, as this is what iPhone gives you.

Their presentation doesn't seem their forte. To the left, Alexey ordered the Beef Stew (I thought it would come in a pot, $10.99). Served with rice, and salad and a small Challah.

My blurry pic on the right is the Braised Pork Shank, $13.99. A pig's hoof, slow simmered in a beer infused broth, the meat fell right off the bone. What they don't tell you on the menu is that it comes with a baked potato, butter and sour cream, salad (no dressing and plain), and hidden coleslaw that looks like sauerkraut.

When I had this in Montreal, I clearly remembered having a hard time finishing this, but it was easy, and we were hungry out of all of it.

Don't get me wrong the food was really good, but I guess expected more. I would suggest getting an appetizer next time.

We decided to order dessert.

For $3.95, you get an Apple Flamm. It's deceivingly good. The picture didn't look to appetizing. For $1.00 you get an ice cream. Could have added other toppings but we didn't. It was a crunchy cracker, covered in apple, and sweet goodness.

The menu here didn't seem as comprehensive as the one in Montreal. Slightly disappointed, but a good choice if you're in the area. Different and unique foods you wouldn't get at Jack Astor's, or Milestones.

Montreal: http://restodiary.blogspot.com/2009/09/les-3-brassuers

Spice Route

The Sangria's are to die for. Amazing.
http://www.torontolife.com/features/fruit-looped/

The desserts were good too.

But the food to me, was overpriced Chinese food. Bak Choy was $10. I can make that at home. The patio is worth going to.

Isola (Hong Kong)

IFC Buildling near Lane Crawford

Italian food
$$$

salad bar

Alice Fazooli's

pre-club possibility

cool table in the lounge

Joe Mama

great for: pasta

Live jazz

Queen Mother Cafe

Fusion food, casual setting

Great for : pre club, wine, small group, date

AlleyCatz

Swing night

http://alleycatz.sites.toronto.com/entertainment.html

Spacco

Great for : large groups

Pool tables, bar, nice patio in the summer time

C5

http://www.c5restaurant.ca/

Came here with my parents for a psuedo thanksgiving dinner, Oct 10, 2009. Surprisingly it was easy to make a reservation via OpenTable tonight. Good view if you sit to the east. Although I still hate the crystal and it's awkardness, the high ceilings make the room spacious, and the glass windows give the room light. There is a lounge area, that was empty, but seems like a nice place to have drinks and dessert. It wasn't busy at all, but maybe because we ate at 6pm and finished around 8pm.

Their menu isn't extremely diverse but has enough choice of excellent food. There are 2 salads. My dad got the poached salmon salad. 4 pieces of salmon, delicately poached, melt in your mouth softness, with juices and fruits surrounding it.


They have appetizers to share. A set of vegatables, or meat, or chachuturie, or seafood. Each around $15 per person. we didn't try it.










I ordered the Rack of Wild Boar. The menu says glazed with Coffee, Pancetta risotto with raisins. The meat was not as tough as I thought it would be. It's seared sides actually was crispy and full of flavour. The risotto was creamy and tasted yummy. It was a good portion and filled me up just enough.

My mom got the Squab and Foie Gras. She's a sucker for the seared liver, and it was good, but a very small portion, because it's so pricey. Served on top of a polenta. It wasn't really that filling at all, but it was very good.

My dad got the Pan Seared Halibut. It was tender and very flavourful. That green thing on the side was like a spinach puree.

For dessert, I had a choice between the Lemon Olive Oil cake with gelato, or this Apple Whiskey Baba.  Many things in here. Here is the menu entry:

Apple Whiskey Baba

Crab Apple Sauce, Cider Jelly, Salt & Pepper Gelato, Squash Leaves, Maple Fudge

It was really interesting. 

Crab Apple Sauce (more like a cake) is the round thing

Cider Jelly is the pink maple leafs

Salt & Pepper Gelato on top like ice cream

Squash leaves were crispy and the golden things on the right

The Maple fudge is the crunch bits in the middle

As the night fell, the place got REALLY dark, and took a long while to adjust. Not sure if they can do something about that.


I would recommended, and the best part is that AFTEr dinner, we walked around the museum... free! (Well no one stopped us) And the gift store was still open!

Bar Volo

south of yonge and wellesley

Lots of beer choices

http://barvolo.com/

Les 3 Brassuers (Montreal)

http://les3brasseurs.ca/eng/toronto_yonge.php

They just opened one in Toronto, but many open on St. Catherine's and all over Montreal.
Mussels, and Pork Knuckle yummy. Very good choice of beers. I like the frites too.

Caren's Wine and Cheese

$$

http://www.carenswineandcheese.com/
Came here again for dinner on a late friday evening. Altho it was already fall and we had our leather jackets on, we still sat out on the patio. We ordered an amazing wine and shared a cheese platter to start. I couldn't resist ordering the Spicy Mac and Cheese, again, while Arun had a burger of some sort. I can't remember if we got dessert, but we did end up going to the Cheesecake place down the street.

This place is still one of my favourites in the area.

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Been there 2x now (Sept'09) and it's both been amazing. The staff are extremely friendly, knowledgeable and I always feel I am getting my money's worth.

Sunday Brunch - vanilla pancakes

Truffle Frittata

Dinner - Spicy Mac and Cheese

wine and cheese pairings and platter

great for : couples, drinks, small groups

big patio in the back - corporate event