You know it’s funny, we said to ourselves this morning “make sure we have something to eat before you get on the ferry because the food is terrible.”

And then we didn’t.

So here we are stuck on this boat for an hour and a half again and hungry.

We definitely won’t make the mistake of Eggs Benedict again.

I went to save a seat and Merilynn came back with a breakfast sandwich.

When I first looked at this I thought this was going to be as good as the Eggs Benedict.

Surprisingly though it was actually good. Not great. But good.

The English muffin wasn’t dried out. The egg was cooked fine. That cheese doesn’t look great but it’s not a terrible plastic American cheese slice, it’s more a real Cheddar slice. The potatoes even had some seasoning in them including rosemary. They could have used a lot more seasoning but it was there.

That’s one of the best things I’ve had on the BC ferry. It’s a pretty low bar though.

6/10

The post BC Ferries appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

Live music, lots of people and great smells waft from within.

And it’s close to our hotel. I swear we can smell the place from our room every night, as well as hear the live music.

We really didn’t feel like venturing far tonight so the location was ideal. A short walk down the hill is perfect.

From the moment we walked in the ambiance was fantastic.

The waiters were dancing.

The musicians were rocking it.

The whole place was alive.

There’s a waiter dancing with a bonfire in his hands. Turns out this is how they serve the fajitas.

This is how they serve the guacamole.

I’m not much of a guacamole fan. I’ve never enjoyed the stuff that comes out of a jar from the supermarket.

But this was fantastic. Likely the best I’ve ever had.

I love how much lime he put in. And fresh Mexican avocados are the best in the world.

Along with the guacamole we got fresh made salsa.

It tasted very fresh. I usually prefer Pico de Gallo this was so tasty. And no vampires here. Lots of garlic!

And of course fresh made tortilla chips, a must in any Mexican restaurant. If they don’t serve you fresh made tortilla chips just head right on out the door.

As usual I ordered way too much food for us. I just love to try things.

Here we have Cilantro fried cheese.

If you’ve had Saganaki at a Greek restaurant you’ll be cool with this. Gooey, salty, melted cheese in a tomato/cilantro sauce. Though it could have used more cilantro. I tasted no soap.!

And my first ceviche this week. Why did I wait this long?

I’ll skip the octopus ceviche and stick with the fish.

It was very good. I do prefer a ceviche  that’s a little more citrusy, but no complaints. Still very tasty. A very good balance of tomato, fish, onion and avocado.

Drinks were a margarita,

And a Mojito,

I guess the show they do here sometimes of pouring your tequila into the drink at your table is supposed to impress you by how much they appear to be adding.

I find this makes a very unbalanced drink though. The tequila floats on the top of the drink, so unless you mix it in really well yourself you end with with iced lime juice to start and then watered down tequila to finish.

Best to mix the drink properly to start with.

The mojito was very good. It’s essential to get a nice balance of mint and sweetness to balance the rum, often not achieved. This one was perfect.

And tonight’s bill came to 1200 pesos. That’s $84 CAD.

For the amount, and quality of food and drink we got tonight I think that’s pretty reasonable.

We have eaten cheaper this week for sure. but it wasn’t quite this good.

8/10

The post Casa Tradicional Mexicana appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

Are you just walking into a tourist trap with crummy food and expensive prices?

We already had a less than great experience at the Blue Shrimp our first night here. After a long day of travel we were thirsty and hungry and wanted to enjoy our first Mexican sunset. Regardless of quality or cost.

Maybe you can actually get a decent food experience at an establishment not geared toward the locals?

Joe Jack’s does get a 4.6 out of 5 on Google, with over 2600 reviews. To me that is pretty positive.

However The Blue Shrimp also gets a 4.3, with roughly the same amount of reviews.

So it is with some trepidation we decide we will give Joe Jack’s a try.

You will find Joe Jack’s right in the heart of the Zona Romantica.

Right next to Pancho’s if you want something more authentic.

And right across the street from the Margarita Grill if you just need a really big drink. I suspect you will find us there later.

Speaking of a drink, it seems the cerveza scene is improving here in Mexico. Thankfully.

I mean Corona and Pacifico are fine enough, but I would enjoy a good micro brew over a plain Mexican beer any day.

The Latina Agave ale is a great choice, especially if you’re avoiding gluten.

It’s a full bodied amber ale with a slight sweetness and subtle fruit flavours. Very refreshing.

Unfortunately their version of a mojito isn’t very good.

For me, a good mojito has to find that perfect balance of mint and sweet. Not the easiest thing to do.

To achieve that I always infuse my simple syrup with mint, eliminating the guess work when mixing the cocktail.

The bartender tonight did not achieve that balance, not being sweet enough.

Merilynn decided on the beet salad for food, a meal she seems to gravitate to.

The flavours were quite good. We love goat cheese which adds a nice creaminess,and the toasted pecans gave it a good textural component.

My complaint here would be the arugula. Or more specifically the dressing. The arugula was drowning in it. The dressing itself had nice flavour, it just needs way less of it.

I decided to splurge and got the whole grilled red snapper.

Deboned tableside by our server, expertly I might add, this was one of the best entrees I’ve eaten in a while.

It was well cooked, and the garlic, chili lime butter added a nice bite to the fish.

The rice and beans were good, though I would have preferred refried.

Make no mistake about it, Joe Jack’s Fish Shack is not a local eatery. It is meant for tourists and it has tourist prices.

If you are looking for something truly authentic you should keep looking.

7/10

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I have been to Hell.

It was phenomenal.

Based on the TV show, which I have watched often, this restaurant is now near the top of my favorite meals ever.

While they do not shoot the actual TV show here they do have the kitchen set up in the familiar red and blue format. The waiter said they do appies on one side and mains on the other. Or something along those lines.

This is a fairly impressive place. It’s big, seating over 300 people at a time. It’s busy, earlier this year reaching their 2 millionth customer served in 5 years. It wasn’t me.

Yet somehow they maintain a Michelin star level quality experience.

Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas itself does not have a Michelin star. I understand the Michelin guide does not visit Las Vegas anymore. I don’t believe that any of the six Hells Kitchens have Michelin stars. But Gordon Ramsay himself has 17. So I expect very good food coming our way.

For starters Gin and Tonics

Botanist gin, one of the better ones. No Isle of Harris though. Still very good.

We decided on 3 appies to share to get a good variety of dishes. First up -Golden beet salad.

Served chilled, with goat cheese, citrus, pistachios and balsamic vinaigrette.

This is a solid dish.

Really nice balance of sweet from the beets, tang from the vinaigrette and crunch from the pistachios complemented by the smooth and creamy goat cheese underneath.

Next up we have one of Ramsey’s signature dishes, Seared Scallops.

Very pretty!

The scallops, perfectly seared, are perched on celery root. The bacon lardons add some saltiness with the pickled apples adding a nice touch of acidity. The sauce is a “jus du poulet”. Might sound odd with scallops but it worked.

Now we get to the main event.

I think I do a damn fine Risotto myself. Time to see if it measures up to the pros.

So funny story here.

The waiter was very good. And very smooth. He suggested we get white truffle shavings on top of the Risotto. Normally they only have black truffle you see. But for this one special month of the year White truffle is available.

Now I’ve never had white truffle so it didn’t take a lot of convincing.

After he walked away I casually remarked to Merilynn “I wonder if I just paid $50 for some white truffle on top of our risotto?” I didn’t. I paid $54. Oh well, you only live once.

I’m not saying getting the white truffle was worth it. But it was incredible. Took the risotto to a whole new level for me.

As for the Risotto itself. It was very good. Butter poached lobster and crispy onions only added to its goodness. But honestly I think I prefer mine. I make it a bit looser.

And what would a trip to a GR restaurant be without having the Sticky Toffee Pudding.

This is a great example of STP. It’s light. Sickly sweet almost, but you don’t want to stop eating. And don’t. If you take too much time to finish you may not be able to. A nice black coffee helped cut through all that richness. For me it’s actually too much dessert. Good thing we are sharing.

So the food was excellent. As good as anywhere I’ve eaten. Well maybe not Joel Robuchon. But close.

The service? Absolutely incredible. Honestly the best I’ve ever experienced.

There was a team of 5 or 6 serving us. Well thereabouts, I lost count.

New utensils with every new dish. Dirty dishes whisked away without us even noticing. My water glass never more than half empty. Or is it half full?

The service was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Even at L’Atelier.

The food was excellent. The service outstanding. The setting pretty cool.

From start to finish it was truly superb.

The post Hell’s Kitchen appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

If you’ve ever watched Cake Boss you know who Buddy Valestro is.

We are at one of his many establishments in Vegas tonight.

Is it just me or is Vegas becoming too crowded with celebrity chefs eateries now? It’s also an old folks home for over the hill musicians too but that’s another topic altogether.

Off the top of my head I can think of 5 Gordon Ramsey restaurants. I lost count of how many cake vending machines for the cake boss I saw. Never mind the 3 restaurants of his I saw.

Perhaps Vegas has picked up on some of Hollywood’s inability to come up with original ideas?

Nevertheless, we are eating at Buddy V’s tonight. Good old fashioned Italian home cooking.

To be perfectly honest I went into this meal with more than just a little bit of doubt that we were going to eat well.

So up first, as in any good Italian restaurant, comes the Focaccia bread.

Well I have to say this was a pretty good start.

As someone who has made focaccia bread many times I will say this was excellent. Light and airy, large crumb structure and great flavour. Only disappointing thing was the poor quality balsamic. Serves me right for getting used to the taste of the good stuff I guess.

Up next Grandma’s meatballs.

Beef, veal and pork meatballs that were so soft and tender. Served with marinara and parm just like Grandma did. And just like I do too.

They were very good. The marinara was very fresh and flavourful.

Nice portion size as well.

Then we went with Bucatini Carbonara

Certainly one of my favorite sauces. Am I allowed to have 6 favorite sauces?

Cracked pepper, pancetta and a creamy garlic sauce. This was incredible. Love the Bucatini too. Really fantastic noodle for a Carbonara. Will be adding some to my pasta drawer soon. If there’s room…..

And of course to finish off a cannoli.

Not one of my favorites, but when in Rome right?

Chocolate drops on one end, pistachios on the other end. Creamy sweet ricotta in a fried cinnamon pastry.

Ya ok these ones were pretty good.

I’ll still take a good tiramisu anyday though.

My impression of Buddy changed a little tonight. I always though Duff did more impressive cakes when I watched Buddy vs Duff.. I suspect Duff can’t cook like Buddy does though.

Food 8/10

Ambiance 8/10

Service 8/10

Overall 8/10

Mangia Mangia!

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On our first night in Vegas I wanted something a little fancy. Right in our hotel (Paris) was Vanderpump. Lisa Vanderpump is not a chef, she was on one of those terrible “Real Housewives” reality shows and owned a few bars and restaurants.

Whatever. I read good reviews and it’s handy.

And busy. We had to wait until 10pm to get in. On Tuesday night too. I definitely underestimated the need for a reservation here. The first table available was at the front, but it was a great place to people watch.

It’s quite a lovely space. Feels quite Parisienne. And I’m not just saying that because we are in the Paris hotel.

One of the recommended dishes I have hear about is the Beef Bourgignon pot pie.

It was very good. Perhaps not as rich as I’m used to when I’ve made Beef Bourgignon myself. It was more beefy than winey. The Bourgignon should be more prevalent. The pastry Voul-a-vent was very flakey and tender. I did forget there would be fungi. Too many fungi. One fungus is too many fungi really. But choked ’em down.

Merilynn had a salad as I had warned her about the risks of getting scurvy in Vegas. It’s easy to not get enough fruit and veg in a Vegas diet.

Yes that salad bowl is a parmesan tuile. Very cool! White Goddess dressing with guyere cheese. Think Caesar but elevated. It was really good. And we ate the whole bowl! Note the watermelon radishes. My favorite new ingredient.

For my bevvie I went with Chimney Red beer. First time for me. It had an incredible head. Look at all that foam. It was a bit bitter for my taste though. Plus that’s a really cool color for a beer.

Merilynn went with Pinky’s Poison.

Gunpowder gin, pink tonic, juniper berries, hibiscus, cucumber, ginger bitters and lemon. The thyme sprig creates a nice forward aroma with subtle cucumber/lemon flavour that linger on your tongue.

To finish the evening with some flair we ordered a “Louvre at first sight”.

Beautifully presented in a pyramid shaped glass case reminiscent of the pyramid in Paris.

As the case is opened hickory smoke wafts out and surrounds the immediate vicinity for a few moments, heightening your anticipation of what surely must be a memorable experience.

And it did not disappoint.

Flavours of lemon, hickory and spice in a mezcal and prickly pear created a wonderful combination.

Was it worth $26 USD. Well that’s debatable. But it still was a fun experience. A little cheaper than the $600 Grand Canyon helicopter flight anyways.

Overall we had a good time at Vanderpump. The food was great. The drinks were fantastic. The ambiance really fun.

If I were to stay at Paris again Vanderpump would definitely be on the itinerary.

The post Vanderpump appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

As we still haven’t found a great Benny yet here in Hogtown and we are now on day 5 it’s about high time to get that issue resolved.

Ma Maison is trying to do what Cluny did in creating a little slice of Paris in TO, just not quite as well. Props for trying though. It is a lovely little café.

The latté was lovely. I really think Starbucks needs to start properly training their Baristas and demanding consistent quality. Great foam and proper tasting espresso. Nicely done.

The Eggs Benedict was very good as well. The peameal bacon works so much better than your traditional slice of ham, the eggs were poached perfectly and it was on a croissant. Not the usual English muffin but excellent.

I also decided to give the pistachio cake a go even though it was 10am.

I probably should have skipped it. Not due to the early hour, due to its freshness. Had it not been in the display case for a few days it would have been great. Unfortunately it was quite dried out. You win some you lose some.

So if your on Bloor near Jane and your hankering for a pretty good Benny and latté check out Ma Maison.

Food 8/10

I’m not counting the cake….

Latté 8/10

Ambiance 7/10

Overall 8/10

The post Ma Maison appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

It was on our doughnut tour that this “Best in Toronto” Dim Sum house was recommended to us. Since Dim Sum has been on our to-do list we decided to hit it up.

Typically Dim Sum is served only at lunchtime, but apparently here in Toronto it’s becoming an all day affair. Even into the wee hours. I have to see if that’s happening here in Vancouver as well.

We arrived at 530 expecting a line up but fortunately it wasn’t long. The place was packed though. Squished in like sardines we were.

The great thing about Dim Sum is the Tapas like experience. The opportunity to try a large variety of small plates is an ideal eating experience for me.

So check off what you want on the list and sit back and enjoy.

First up, deep fried pumpkin with yolk and sweet potato.

That’s a pistachio sticking out the top.

Should have had these last honestly. They were surprisingly very sweet. The shell was crispy and the middle gooey and delicious. I think the shell was fortune cookie dough. Had that distinct flavour.

Next out of the kitchen was the short ribs with black bean sauce.

If you like fat you will like these. The black pepper sauce was very tasty but the texture really isn’t my thing. Way too fatty and grisly.

Next came pork dumplings with shrimp. Give me more of these please. The flavour from the pork and shrimp with pleasant popping of the Tobiko made for a wonderful combination.

The wonton (chicken and chive) soup was pretty standard fair. Just as good, but no better, than any of the wonton soups I’ve had hundreds of times before.

Finally came the sticky rice and pork in a lotus leaf

The lotus leaf imparts a mild tea flavour into the rice which is really nice. Lotus leaf is edible but I found it like chewing on tea leaves so skipped that part. Does anyone actually eat that much lotus leaf? Regardless I finished the stuffing completely. Probably my favorite dish of the night.

Food 8/10

Ambiance 7/10

Service 7/10

Overall 7/10

Dim Sum for dinner! Great idea! Come on Vancouver…..

The post Rol San appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

As we did some research into what food we wanted to partake while in the city one thing that repeatedly came up was the Peameal Bacon sandwich, specifically from the Carousel Bakery in St Lawrence Market.

It’s funny though. When we landed and talked to one or two of the locals the had never really heard of it

I began to suspect this is not in the same league as going to Schwartz’s in Montreal. Now that is a must do everytime you are in La Belle Province’s largest city.

Regardless we trundled off to St Lawrence Market in search of Toronto’s most famous sandwich.

St Lawrence Market seems to be your standard permanently fixed farmers market. If you need baked goods or seafood you will find a choice of 6 or 7 different shops of each kind. There is a selection of cheese shops, counter service restaurants and florists, plus a smattering of other services.

We found the sandwich spot. Emeril has been here as evidenced by the signed poster out front. Bam!

As for the sandwich? Ya it was good. Was it worth all the effort getting here? Not entirely sure. I’m not the biggest sandwich guy to start with so maybe that’s not entirely fair. So I asked Merilynn. Same answer.

The bacon was good, but too much mustard for me. Nice bun though. Very fresh and crispy.

The butter tart though…..

This is everything a butter tart should be.

Buttery, flakey, pecaney goodness. Yes I made up a word there. A truly wonderful example of this Canadian classic.

So go for the sandwich. Or don’t. But go for the butter tart.

Food 8/10

7 for the wich, 9 for the tart.

Ambiance 7/10

Overall 8/10

The post Carousel Bakery appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

Smack dab in the middle of the vibrant Kensington Market is Seven Lives Tacos. I am told this is a must visit for any Taco lover while in the city.

We had literally just finished the doughnut tour available here in town so we weren’t exactly hungry, but we thought we better check it out while we were just 5 or 6 shops away.

We decided just to share one and went with the Gobernado.

Smoked tuna, shrimp, crema, pickled onions and salsa roja. It looked pretty messy and with no where to wash my hands I started to eat it with a fork. And it was ok. Merilynn had decided to pick it up about halfway through though so I did the same and what a difference it made. When all those flavours came together in one bite it went from ok to wow that’s a great taco.

If you’re in the market and hungry this would be a great stop for a quick bite.

Food 8/10

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