Bb33 Bistro and Brasserie - Summerlicious

My last "Licious" for the Summer. Let's just say everything went downhill from my visit to Sassafraz a couple of weeks back.


Appetizer: Muskoka Wild Mushroom Bisque - Porcini & Rosemary Scented Cream, Infused with Fireweed Honey
- To keep it short, it tasted like any typical cream of mushroom soup. As a matter of fact, it tasted like the ones that are made from Campbell's. Not impressed.


Entree: Black Tiger Shrimp Pappardelle Pasta - Sautéed Black Tiger Shrimps with Green Asparagus, Roasted Peppers, Charred Fennel, Garlic & Shallot Pinot Grigio Reduction
- Not that much sauce in this dish. The noodles tasted very dry and I didn't end up finishing this plate. One of the shrimp still had their shells on. Another disappointment.


Dessert: Dark Belgium Chocolate Crème Brûlée, Candied Lemon & Fresh Berries
- I want to say this was my favourite part of their menu but I can't. Not after I started feeling sick after my entree. I'm pretty sure there were no candied lemon but I will give some credit for the bold flavour of belgium chocolate.

May I add that service was pretty slow and the complimentary breads were partially stale. I will be honest though and say that I arrived at the restaurant with little expectation, considering that their Summerlicious menu were the same for lunch and dinner. My friend and I were tempted to finish the day off with some french food at Midi Bistro but with no appetite, that didn't happen. Sad face.

Looking forward to trying a couple of restaurants in New York for Restaurant Week 2011! I'm super excited that they extended it through September 5th. Countdown: one more week!

GUU SakaBar

Anticipated our reservation for Trevor's Kitchen and Bar all afternoon for Summerlicious but with the traffic delays we ended up missing it. It wasn't a problem since we decided to go this coming Sunday instead. Theresa and I decided to go to Guu Sakabar (our original hangout plan) and boy were we stuffed. Out of our 5 dishes, 2 were new to me.


Takoyaki Gratin: this dish was a bit salty and it did surprise me at first since I was expecting just takoyaki squid balls (I guess I didn't read the full dish name properly).


Gyu Carpaccio: I had this before at the Church location and it was definitely one of my favourites so I had to order it.


Kimchi Udon: Another dish that I already tried at the Church location. One of my favourites.


Carbonara Udon: I was told that this dish was one of their popular ones so I had to order it and taste it for myself. I wasn't impressed as it reminded me a typical creamy pasta dish. I'd prefer the kimchi udon over this.


B.C. Albacore Tuna: Sashimi dishes at Guu never fails to impress me. The tuna pieces were fresh and the sauce was the cherry to a perfect dish.

From visiting the Church location numerous times, I was already tired of sitting at the long wooden tables so we decided to dine in the Zashiki room for a more traditional Japanese experience. It felt very cramped at first since it took a while to settle down with the minimal space given (it was hard to cross my legs) but the room felt cozy afterwards.


It was another fun experience dining at a different Guu location. The area is even more spacious than the Church location and there were no wait time. However, the prices were higher than the Church location and there weren't that many food options.

Summer List 2011

Time to make a list and stick to the plan before 4th year starts!

Ontario Place - free admission all summer!

Summerlicious - max 3 visits already attended 2 with 2 more reservations to go

AGO/ROM

Wonderland - just to try the new ride "Windseeker"

Panorama

CNE - one visit only, I don't know how I went to CNE three times last summer.

Turtle Jacks - to try fried pickles and fried ice cream

Centre Island

Buffalo, NY

Fallsview Casino and Casino Rama

Night Market in Markham!

Finally try Ippai and Inatei

Guu Sakabar

Menchie's 

Moksha Yoga for 1 month

Spoon and Fork (new location!)

Vancouver/Calgary 

Macbook (hopefully) in August 2011

iPad or Playbook?

Catch up on the Harry Potter series in preparation for the Deathly Hallows II

Dave and Busters - save up to get a big Minion

Glee Concert - June 12th SO EXCITED :)

Friend's brother's wedding 

Tattoo

Biff's Bistro - Summerlicious

Drinks: Shady Lady and White Wine

Pork cretons with moutarde & O&B Artisan loaf

Skin roasted Arctic char with jardinière & sauce verte

Gâteau au citron with blueberry compote & cassis crème fraîche
Second Summerlicious event at Biff's Bistro was just slightly disappointing considering that our main came out 1.5 hours after being seated. However the appetizer and main course made up for it. The dessert reminded me of Starbuck's lemon poppyseed loaf so the lemon cake did not appeal to me whatsoever.

I'm still excited to try their regular menu though! $1 oysters after 5pm? I can't say no to that.

Lovely Orange

Creole Spiced Gulf Shrimp on Corn Grit Cakes with Cayenne Bell Pepper Sauce

Grilled Swordfish with Olive Smashed Potatoes, Roasted Sweet Cherry Tomatoes, Haricot Vert and Herb

Rose Water Scented Chilled Cherry Soup with Dark Chocolate Mousse and Crisped Rice Croquant, Vanilla Tuille
Haven't touched this since February so I figured it's time to stop neglecting this blog and start posting. Attended my first Summerlicious restaurant this year at Sassafraz, located in the heart of Yorkville. Felt under dressed at first but me and my friend slowly forgot about it as we enjoyed our meals. We left the restaurant with a smile on our face as the food and service exceeded our expectations. Even though we did find a piece of hair in our bread basket, we were way too satisfied to even bother bringing it up to our server. It was nice of our server to fold our cloth napkins while we were away from the table and how they got rid of the bread crumbs on our table. Definitely going back for their regular menu.

Going to end this post with this picture. Cheers!