Reseñas de grian1954
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Yonge Street 220, Toronto Eaton Centre, M5B 2H6 Toronto
grian1954
el 6 Diciembre 2009
Visiting Richtree Market restaurant in Toronto in November was an unforgettable and unique experience for me. There is nothing I know of in Scotland and the U.K. that compares. The experience is difficult to describe by the standards of conventional reviews of eating houses. Make no mistake the Richtree restaurant is a market with a ‘carnivalesque‘ atmosphere. Panache, vibrant colour; heaps, piles and stacks of produce, hustle and bustle that presents anarchy and organisation side by side: these are some of the first impressions gleaned from a visit.
What we have here is a novel concept. Those who put it into practice deserve to be applauded.
So impressed were we with this restaurant that we ate there several times but since Qype rules forbid me reviewing the same business more than once I will describe only one of our visits.
A group of us went there for supper one evening late November. Usually in the early evening you have to queue to be seated. When allocated a table each person is given a swipe card. Then, when you select from a menu an assistant takes your card and the order is added to your account. There is a good variety of very tempting foods. I settled for some soup, beef barley broth, with a main course of some chicken, cooked Cajun style, served with potatoes and vegetables. We shared a bottle of Mundavi wine. The bill was moderate. I think part of the trick eating at Richtree inexpensively is to stick to a special offer or few items as I did. Once you start selecting portions right, left and centre (and it is very tempting) your bill will mount up rapidly.
The service was civil and efficient; utensils not being used are taken away as soon as you sit down. The restaurant appeared fairly popular for families with young children. An eclectic and interesting range of music was played, loud enough to be appreciated but not intrusive. I also really liked some of the music played. I am not knowledgeable of contemporary Canadian music but what we heard that pricked up my ears was similar to the sounds of a band like that of Les Cowboys Fringants: that is a fusion combining folk and country elements with rock music.
When you leave your table your bill is settled by your swipe card at a cash point close to the exit. As is typical in North America since our group comprised at least 4 adults the service charge was included. Since various Richtree employees may have been involved in serving you it may be that a fraction of the service charge will be allocated to each of them through the data processed by the swipe card. This seems fair.
If you have not been to a Richtree Market restaurant then it is an experience that you must try.Publicado en: grian.wordpress.com/
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The Esplanade 45, M5E 1W2 Toronto
grian1954
el 4 Diciembre 2009
(actualizado el 6 Diciembre 2009)
Novotel is part of the Accor Hotel group, a massive global chain. They are surprisingly reasonably priced places to stay.
Our last night in Toronto was spent in the Novotel Hotel on The Esplanade near the waterfront. We arrived to check in quite early. There were two receptionists present, one was reticent and the other talkative. For our sins we were served by the talkative member of staff. He could not find our booking. Finding it entailed going to another area which meant the other arrivals would not be dealt with promptly. So he asked us if we would mind waiting while he served the next customer. The problem was that a string of customers appeared in succession and formed a queue. He served the queue. We waited and waited... My partner was patient. My patience evaporated after the first customer had been served and he didn’t get back to us as we understood he would. I was quietly simmering for a period and eventually I became infuriated. Fortunately it was my patient partner who dealt with the receptionist so my steam evaporated from a safe distance away. Good customer service is something I know about, appreciate and respect. When we finally checked in some 30-odd minutes later I was already soured towards Novotel hotel, Toronto.
Everything else was OK. The room and bathroom was clean and the bed comfortable although the bed covers were just a little thin. This was ironic since we had turned down the heating to make the air in the room less stuffy through the night.
The hotel allows you to leave your car in their underground park until midnight of the day you have checked out. This saved us some bucks.Publicado en: grian.wordpress.com/
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The Esplanade 56, M5E 1A7 Toronto
grian1954
el 2 Diciembre 2009
Scotland Yard is the name of a homely pub located in downtown Toronto close to the harbour front area. We visited the pub for supper one evening towards the end of November. The pub’s style and design resembles a typical Scottish [but of course!] or British pub. I found the music a little too loud and the pub itself just a shade too dark but relaxed and atmospheric nevertheless. It’s quite a ‘sportsy’ place. Some darts enthusiasts were seriously involved in a match close to our table. In front of me was a large TV screen showing a game of basket ball between, I assume, two Canadian teams.
I ordered a Guinness stew from their menu as did one of our friends. My partner opted for a macaroni dish. The stew, typical pub grub, was fine. I washed it down with a pint of Guinness. The food was moderately priced and the prices of the drinks were on a par with those of central Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland.
The service was civil and cordial in the Canadian style to which we had become accustomed.Publicado en: grian.wordpress.com/
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Yonge Street 378, M5B 1S6 Toronto
grian1954
el 2 Diciembre 2009
The Elephant and Castle is a pub in central Toronto. Part of a small chain of pubs and restaurants of the same name across Canada and the U.S., the first E.&C. was opened in Vancouver in 1977. We went to the one in Toronto for a light lunch and a beer towards the end of November. The pub interior is not unlike that of a typical Scottish or British pub. E.&C.’s vision emulates British pub style offering a range of beers and traditional meals like fish & chips.
The customers present seemed quite a varied bunch. The atmosphere was relaxed and quite pleasant. My partner and I ordered some beef barley broth. The soup was great with plenty of beef chunks, so many in fact that it resembled an Irish stew. On a cold Canadian late-November afternoon it was just what we both needed. The soup was very reasonably priced too. My partner had a half pint of Guinness and I was going to have a Guinness too until I spied Kilkenny on tap. Not having had a pint of Kilkenny ale for a good while I decided to try one. The creamy head is similar to that of a Guinness but the beer is more like pale or red ale. The prices of the beers were on a par with those in pubs in central Glasgow or Edinburgh in Scotland. We were served with typical Canadian civility.Publicado en: grian.wordpress.com/
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Carlingview Drive, Toronto
grian1954
el 27 Noviembre 2009
Arriving at Toronto’s Pearson airport fairly late in the day meant spending the night in a hotel close-by. This was my first time in Canada and first experience of eating there. It was on Sunday 15th November and the meagre bar of the hotel, the Courtyard Marriott, was closed. The receptionist informed us of a place called “Mr. Greek” where we could have a drink and something to eat. This is a bar and restaurant located literally yards away from the hotel. We looked through the restaurant window and a friendly female face beckoned us in. Canada was cold that night and we were glad to be inside a warm, homely place. We were then made very welcome by some male staff with typical Greek exuberance. The seating was akin to that of a typical North American diner. We had a ½ carafe of a dry white house wine from which our Canadian/Greek host kindly poured a welcome glass. This was wonderfully cheering after a long day of travel. I was starving and ordered some lentil soup and some Taverna chicken from the menu. The lentil soup Greek style was fantastic; the best lentil soup I had eaten for ages. The Taverna chicken cooked in herbs and seasoning Greek style was served with rice with some golden-yellow saffron on top and a salad with some grated feta cheese. My partner, not as hungry as I was, also had lentil soup and some Bruschetta instead of a main course. The Bruschetta, which I sampled, was very nice.
Overall the food was delicious, the service civil and friendly, and the bill was surprisingly reasonable by the Scottish and British standards to which I am generally accustomed. I was impressed! This was a great start to my Canadian experience.