Toronto Restaurant Tips by jamiesno

Sightlines Restaurant: Sightlines Restaurant

Site Lines is a restaurant in the Toronto Skydome and it turned out to be the site where I say my first ever professional baseball game. A colleague working for the company the runs the operation treated me and I was impressed to say the least.

The way it works is you go to the Skydome hotel and in the lobby your turn left after entering the main door. It’s just about fifty feet away and you get an open air table to the game. We ended up getting front row. At the site you are out in centerfield and once you see the food you will quickly realize you loose track of the game. They do have televisions and play by play there so you get to see the replays often.

It’s a buffet style with lots of selection. I was excited to be pleasantly surprised to find they has Spanish Paella on this night with an amazing selection of other national dishes from other countries.

It roughly about $50 for the buffet and the game, so I think that is a steal really. During my visit the Jays where playing the Baltimore Orioles and they won 7-3.

This restaurant is operated by Levy Restaurants!

Address: 1 Blue Jays Way

Comparison: more expensive than average

Other Contact: http://www.rogerscentre.com

Phone: 416-341-2364

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

In Camera: In Camera

In Camera is a restuarant located within the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It is catered by Compass Group one of the world leaders in restaurant catering and their food is great at all the locations I've ever been where they catered.

In Camera has a nice decor, great service and the buffet was really nice.

I guess the main point of this tip would be business related. If you are traveling to Toronto for business and or have any dealings with the government this is a good place to make a reservation and meet officials. It's a easy place for them to meet because its right at their workplace and if you don't have any meetings arranged and you know who you want to talk to its a good place to bump into government people.

This place isn't cafeteria style. It's a fine restaurant and great place to meet. Enjoy!

Comparison: about average

Phone: 416-325-7398

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 4

Theme: Local

The Mandarin: The Mandarin

The Mandarin was a very unique expeirence and one I'll probably never forget. The Mandarin is a chain of buffet restaurants in Ontario and they are famous for their customer service. The location I went to was in Missasauga and it was extremely busy there.

You will hear a constant ring of "Welcome to the Mandarin", Welcome to the Mandarin, Welcome to the ..... They are very focused on customer service.

Once you get to your seat and decide to tackle the buffet its hard to know where to start. The buffet is extensive and I don't know how you are suppose to eat the right proportion at a place like this.

I ate two heaping plate fulls of main courses and then two more heaping plates of desserts.

Favorite Dish: It's hard to say at a place like this what would of been the favorite. I remember the prime rib was extremely good and the spring rolls but there was just so much food to remember it all.

Comparison: about average

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 5

Theme: Buffet

Website: http://www.mandarinbuffet.com

Hot House Cafe: Hot House Cafe

This is a nice restaurant located on Church Street. Apparently they have a really good buffet according to some police officers on bike outside the place and they would know. When you check out their web site it also sez the buffet is award winning and have some pictures of it.

This was another disappointing experience for me becuase I was sick with a sore throat. The food at this place looked awesome and I had a main dish with some saffron in it which I liked but unfortunately I spent most of the time sipping carbonated water to help with my throat again.

Favorite Dish: Chocolate Chip Banana Cake - $6.95
Four layers of moist sponge cake with fresh Bananas and Chocolate Chips covered in Milk Chocolate Truffle. White Chocolate drizzle finish.

This went down well and didn't irratate my sore throat at the time.

Address: 35 Church Street

Comparison: about average

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 4

Theme: Local

Website: http://www.hothousecafe.com

The Sultan's Tent: Belly Dancing!

The Sultan's Tent is one of my more memorable eating experiences and at the same time one of my worst. I quickly explain why one of my worst. I was extremely sick with a sore throat and this was the type of food the helped the situation. I was in extreme pain eating a lot of this food in the state I was in. This was very annoying because this is one of my favorite types of food.

Anyway for $39.95 you get a four course meal and you want to make sure you book about 30 to 40 minutes prior to the show starting and sitting in the aisle is pretty good becuase you get to see a lot of the show.

You get an appetizer, a great main meal and dessert and the tea ceremony is something neat to watch. I got a nice picture of this.

During the belly dancing performance I wasn't sure what was going to happen for pictures but a lot of the patrons were taking pictures so I snapped a few too which you can enjoy with this tip!

Favorite Dish: I honestly can't remember my meal here. I was so sick that I couldn't enjoy the food and ended up sipping on the Perrier water for my throat and enjoying the belly dancing show.

Address: 49 Front Street East

Comparison: more expensive than average

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 4

Theme: Middle Eastern

Website: http://www.thesultanstent.com/

Jimmy the Greek: Greek

Jimmy the Greek's is a chain of greek restaurants in Ontario. I found this one in Toronto underground in the PATH.

Overall in a nutshell the service there was quick, they were greek, the food seemed authentic for a faster type food place and I would eat there again.

Favorite Dish: Before leaving I had backlavia which has developed into one of my favorite deserts.

Comparison: less expensive than average

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.jimmythegreekgroup.ca

Toronto Christian Youth Centre: Toronto Drop In Network

This tip is for the least fortunate I guess but the fact is there is homelessness everywhere. In 2006 just before Christmas I was in Toronto and through a joint venture partner company I was invited to assist with serving Turkey dinners one evening at the Toronto Christian Youth Centre. I got to meet the Ontario Deputy Premier, Minister of Health and local MLA, George Smitherman. He is well known there and liked for his work on homelessness.

During the visit I got to meet other nice people as well and got a perspective on life that I never had before. I was talking to one of the workers who shared a lot of information about the area Regent Park, their plans and the types of people that drop in.

They serve hundreds of dinners each day to homeless people. About half of them are regular people in the city but I was interested to learn that many of them are homeless people that are just travelling through each day who are heading out west to find work.

Being from Newfoundland and Labrador I know many people leave for employment but it was sad to hear that many of them have to drop by here to get food.

In any event the centre was on 40 Oak Street in the downtown area of Regent Park. If your starving and need food its worth the visit.

Address: 40 Oak Street

Comparison: least expensive

Other Contact: http://www.toronto.ca/housing/

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Website: http://www.regentparkplan.ca/

The Little House of Kabobs: The Little House of Kabobs

During my stroll along Toronto's Yonge Street was needed a lunch to get me through to what I knew was going to be a big dinner and there is obviously lots of choices as you explore this street.

So then I decided let's go for something foreign keeping in line with the cultural diversity theme of Toronto and then I finally had to just decide so this place had a huge sign so I walked in.

I am a fan of Saffron and all the chicken had saffron infused into it so i was optimistic I was going to get some authentic Halal food and I did it would seem. I went with a simple wrap because they only took cash and I was very low but the chicken was great.

Traditional people were also at the restuarant as I overheard several conversations about Muslim culture and politics.

So overall the Little House of Kebobs was a unique and worthwhile stop along Yonge Street.

Address: 357 Yonge Street

Comparison: less expensive than average

Phone: 416-595-9988

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Kosher/Halal

Mortons Steakhouse: A steak to die for!

It's very hard to put into words when you have possibly one of the best steaks of your life. Up to the time of my visit to Morton's, Queue de Cheval in Montreal and Le Charbon in Montreal where by far the best steakhouses I had ever tried and then there was Morton's.

The restaurant in Toronto is right across the street from the Four Seasons hotel so it was a short walk. In any event the service here is great. There is a bar downstairs on the main floor where they make great Martini's and they serve little steak sandwiches to keep your stomach from growling.

The eating area is great and for private functions you can get what they call the boardroom. This is where I ate at my visit and they treat you really good there. It's quieter as well and condusive to a business type of dinner.

Favorite Dish: THE FOOD! I ate a lobster appetizer, the Cajun Ribeye Steak was was melted in my mouth and for dessert I had a chocolate mouse cake with raspberries. I can't beleive I ate the cake after the steak and trimmings, but I did, LOL.

Address: 4 Avenue Road

Comparison: most expensive

Directions: Park Hyatt Hotel
4 Avenue Road at Prince Arthur (just north of Bloor Street)
Toronto, Canada M5R2E8

Phone: 416-925-0648

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 5

Theme: Steakhouse

Website: http://www.mortons.com

Embrujo Flamenco: Embrujo Flamenco

Ok so they say Toronto is a cultural place and I took a liking for Spanish food, culture and flamenco a couple of years back when I visited Spain so on a visit to Toronto I decided to seek out authentic Spanish food and flamenco and sure enough there is one place in Toronto at least that is authentic.

All the other listing I could find seemed to be more like Mexican places versus Spanish. This place Embrujo Flamenco is about $8 in a cab from the Four Seasons Hotel on Avenue Road. It's small place, but the service would good. One of the waiters came outside and hailed down a taxi for me for example.

My visit was on a Sunday night and I caught the last set of Flamenco so it wasn't as busy. They say its busier early on the weekends and earlier on Sunday nights. They only have live Flamenco late in the weeks and weekends.

There was a $25 minimum charge and I had already eaten but a glass of good red wine, a tapas and a dessert will cost you $25.

It seemed like a great place to bring a friend or spouse for a unique night out. For me nearing closing on a Sunday night it was like a private Flamenco performance. Gotta love it when things work out and you find something cool!

Favorite Dish: Shrimp Tapas in Chocolate Saurce.

Address: 97 Danforth Avenue

Comparison: more expensive than average

Phone: 416-778-007

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 5

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.embrujoflamenco.com