M:Brgr

M:Brgr Bar

M:Brgr is located just east of Spadina on King St, on the south side. What a beautiful place! I actually don’t know what to call it. It’s a glorified burger joint, but posh, classy bar. Squeezed right between some of the top dogs in the restaurant industry on Kings st, M:Brgr is sure to keep customers, coming back for more. The first thing that instantly catches your eye is an immaculately created Smoke glass landscape of an industrial city, this theme continues throughout the walls of the restaurant.  Amongst the accent of orange banquets, and stained wood panel walls, lays a long, FULLY stocked bar. The bar is obviously the focal point of this restaurant, with trendy “deco” bar stools around it.

I must say, the service at M:Brgr was phenomenal, which is extremely rare for me considering the usual  huffy servers I get. As soon as you open the wine/champagne and regular bar menus, it’s clear why they call it a Bar. I enjoyed a glass of their regular Port wine, Taylor LBV ($8). I do however think that the beer selection on tap was slipping just a bit. With only two Canadian beers on tap, and one Belgian, they definitely need to step up their beer game (although they had more than twenty different beers in bottles).

Now, the food! I thought it was really smart to show right on the menu that a portion of their profits go to the Sick Kids Foundation.  They have the classic “build your own burger” as their main seller, but they did it in a new and Flavourful way. A step by step guide to build your own unique and fantastic burger. The new twist that they give their burgers is the special toppings like Truffle Carpaccio (Chopped raw beef, marinated in truffle oil, $10), and Foie Gras (Ducks Liver $11). There also is a burger on their menu that costs $100. Of course, they do have your old faithful hot dogs, Mac N Cheese, Sandwiches, and salads.

All considering, I would easily give M:Brgr four stars out of five.  

NIRVANA

Located just off the north east corner of college and Bathurst, is located a large, popular, trendy, restaurant that is called NIRVANA. This location is just popping with young bar hoppers, mixed with couples on dates, this makes it very crucial to open  a restaurant that is laid back, and casual, but at the same time being modern and sophisticated.

When you first enter Nirvana, you notice the size, and the amount of tables, this is very rare for a Toronto restaurant! Most places could only fit around 40 people, but Nirvana is lucky enough to be able to fit around twice that much.  You also notice the distinct pattern of east Asia. Its very calming and with the dim lights and candle lit tables, Nirvana is a great place to go on a date, but also share pints with eight  or nine friends.

Now for the service and food!  I just want to make it clear that if someone orders an appetizer and a main, DONT BRING THEM AT THE SAME TIME!  Anyways, I personally enjoyed that this bar carries regular year round beers, but they also have a nice selection of seasonal beers too. For example, I enjoyed the Black Oak Pale Ale ($5.50 PINT). They also have a wide variety of martinis, wines, and spiced coffees and teas.  The food menu is equally as long with a list of Asian and Italian food (All options under ten bucks). I think that they should stick to the Asian menu because the Vermicelli noodle bowl($8.95) was  spot on, whereas the easy to make Ravioli and mushroom white wine sauce($7.95) was disappointingly flavourless, served with brown bread???

In conclusion, as a cook, it upsets me that the food coming out of the kitchen is bringing down the great atmosphere that the customers enjoy night after night.  

I would give Nirvana three stars out of five, but capable of so much more.

Uncle Bettys

So I was invited to a new restaurant just north of Eglinton on Yonge st, named Uncle Bettys (2590 Yonge st).  It’s a little blue place on a strip of Yonge that you’ll find some of the city’s top fine dining, pretentious and over priced Italian food. Walking into the place feels like you’re in a modern day old school, family ice-cream, mom and pops place. The smell of the Dreesens famous Donut maker filling the air, and a full ice-cream bar, really makes you feel like a kid in a candy store!

The menu makes you think of down home, country comfort food. I really like that the hot dogs (beef, turkey, salmon) are all made with no artificial ingredients, or fillers ITS ALL MEAT! It’s a really nice breath of fresh air knowing that almost everything on the menu is ether made from scratch in house, or carefully selected for prime quality. Now we get to one of the most important points about Uncle Bettys, the home made Twink “eh” and pop tarts. Yes, they actually have our childhood friends on their menu. Although I didn’t get a chance to try them, I can surely say that I will be back for one of the red velvet  twink “eh”s.  The Boylan brand Birch beer($2), Root beer($2), and Cream soda($2) were awesome and went down nice with one of their home made Dreesens Donuts($1). Finally, i took on one of their signature dishes, the Ultimate grilled cheese ($12), it was something that Guy Fieri would love to take hold of, basically it was a regular grilled cheese with the succulent addition of Mac N cheese, and pulled pork.

To conclude, the prices are great, the food is indulgent, and the design is whimsical.

This place deserves three and a half stars out of five

Insomnia

So yesterday the two of us left work, and decided to go for some food.
walking around king and bathurst wasnt interesting us, so we went north to bloor. Right away we found Insomnia. From the outside of the restaurant, it looks like a nice, trendy, arty place. The decore was nice, high and low tables, small bar and lounge area in the back. We noticed alot of interesting local artwork on the walls, (all for sale). Daniel had a steamwistle and the seafood pasta($16+$5.50), and I had a Krombacher Dark and the Asian chicken stir fry($16+$7). The pasta was par, not seasoned enough, but had enough seafood to make up for it. The Stir Fry on the other hand was dry, overcooked, and flavourless.
 This place deserves two stars. 

Cooks Hideout

The Goal:      This blog is for anyone who wants to know about Good places to go in Toronto. The food, and drink in Toronto is endless! Every street you walk down is littered with different Restaurants, Bistros, Cafes.... so why not keep a record and opinion on each one? Hopefully this blog will give people knowledge about were to go, and were to stay away from. My name is Kory Dipucchio, i am a cook/chef that lives, works, and plays in Toronto. So naturally i decided that making a blog would be a good way of informing people about hidden gems around the city.
The Plan:       To go places i see at random, places i want to go, places i've heard about... Sample what they have to offer, and report back with my findings. This is not some pratencious blog that is going to bitch and complain about every little flaw or imperfection. I am not going to spend thousands a night and go to the best places in town, i am a real person, on a really small budget.
Hope you enjoy.