Salt & Steak

When Salt & Steak opened a year ago, I was a bit sad that Fresh Cravings had closed.  Hey, it wasn't the best place to get brunch, but it was affordable and completely serviceable.  Well, when one door closes, another opens right?  With The Keg a bit up the road, there is competition nearby.  That also includes Cactus Club across the street from the Keg on Scott Road.  One thing that Salt & Steak has over everyone else in the neighbourhood is that their steaks are Halal.  I dropped by one night for dinner to see if their 4.6 on Google was reflective of their food.

We started with the Warm Three Cheese Spinach Dip.  This was definitely cheesy as advertised and the spinach portion of the dip was creamy and well-seasoned.   They didn't skimp on the portion size and was more than enough for us as an appie.  However, we felt that garlic toast was not the best accompaniment though.  Even though it was good, there was too much bread.  Something like tortilla chips or fried pita chips would've been more appropriate.  

We had their monthly special in the Beef Lasagna and despite it being serviceable, I thought it was not very refined.  I appreciated the plethora of melted mozzarella, but that was far too much it and I would've liked to see a bit of a cheese crust going on.  Inside, it was okay with tender ground beef, bechamel and even more cheese.  I wanted to like this, but it wasn't my preference.

Before I get to the steak, I'll discuss the Salt & Steak Signature Beef Burger.  Despite not looking like it, the burger was actually decent.  The house-made patty was almost a bit airy and extremely tender.  For some people, it might be a bit too soft of a patty, but I didn't mind it.  The brioche bun was light and barely held together.  The side of fresh-cut fries were somewhat crispy.

Okay, for our steak, we had the T-Bone that was around 18 to 20oz.  We asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and it was as such (on both the striploin and the tenderloin).  Nice char on both sides and the seasoning was sufficient.  Since this should be their bread and butter, I'm glad to say this was done right.  Meat was tender and definitely smoky from the grilling.  The side of veggies were also grilled and not overdone.  In the end, we liked the burger and the spinach dip, but the lasagne, not so much.  However, the steak was our favourite dish of the meal.  Good thing too as the place is a steakhouse.  

The Good:
- Steak was cooked perfectly
- Friendly service
- Certified Halal

The Bad:
- I may need to try more dishes, but other than the steak and burger, some refinement maybe needed

Craft by Smoke & Fire

After our first day at Dinseyland, we were somewhat tired and sunburnt, but okay otherwise.  It helped that we arrived for rope drop, but left just before lunch.  That meant we avoided the most busiest time in the part as well as the hottest temperatures.  Before we made it back to the park for the evening, we made the short drive out to Craft by Smoke & Fire at the Center Street Promenade.  Place was hopping and super busy, but luckily, I had made a rez.

Even with that, it took a bit to be seated and even longer to put in our order.  Now I'm not placing the blame on our server because she was super sweet and was truly doing her best.  Seeing that everything was taking so long, she treated us to the Prime Short Rib Quesadilla.  Oh this was money as the smoked short rib was super tender, fatty and flavorful.  The whole thing was loaded with meat, Oaxacan cheese, comeback sauce, cilantro and onions.  This is best shared or eaten as a main for one person.  Even at that, it ate heavy with all that rich meat and cheese.  Still freakin' delicious though.

Our meal didn't get any lighter as the Brisket Queso Fundido hit the table next.  This was a considerable amount of melted cheese and chopped smoked brisket with blue corn tortilla chips.  Not sure why they only supplied only a smattering of chips, so we asked for more.  Extremely cheesy with a nice crust on the edges, this was aromatic and meaty.  Good smoked essence as well as the natural saltiness of the cheese.  Chips were crunchy and held up to the cheese.

If you thought the 2 dishes we had so far were large, try the Brisket Tacos on for size.  They didn't skimp on the smoked brisket which was fatty and moist.  Possibly a bit too fatty, but I just pulled those pieces out.  It was nicely sauced which kept things from drying out and offered up some sweet smokiness.  A good amount of curtido slaw made for some tangy crunch to go with the splash of creamy comeback sauce.  As for a side, I went for the Street Corn Named Desire with a good amount of fried onions on top.  The corn underneath was creamy and sweet with a hint of spice.

For Viv, she also had brisket in the form of The Madison featuring prime smoked pastrami brisket, bread & butter pickles, curtido slaw, comeback sauce and American cheese on Texas toast.  We found this sammie to be decent with enough pastrami so that it was meaty and filling.  The slaw was crunchy and tangy while the pickles added even more crunch.  The toast was a touch dense, but nicely seared on the flattop.  She selected the Red Skin Potato Salad which was passable but the potatoes were a bit underdone.  Furthermore, the mayo was not seasoned enough.

My daughter had probably the less interesting item in the Brisket Grilled Cheese.  Once again, the brisket was tender and fatty, but not as abundant as the other dishes.  Since they melted the cheese with the brisket right on the flattop, it was pretty crispy.  However, there was a disconnect between the toast and the ingredients.  They were literally not connected.  Hence, it didn't eat as cohesive as a grilled cheese should be.  Her side of Garlic & Herb Mashed Potatoes was pretty thick and dense.  Flavor was good, but could've been lighter.  Overall, we found the food at Craft to be decent and well-priced.  Service was super-friendly, but the kitchen was slow.  It could've been due to the full house and also the challenges of staffing by businesses these days.

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Large portions

- Some good dishes

The Bad:

- Some dishes were clunky

- Food was slow coming out

Anatolia's Gate

There have been certain restaurants that have been left sitting on my "to eat at" list from the very beginning of this blog. Due to its location and operating hours, Anatolia's Gate has never been an eating destination after Friday hockey. I've had to endure the "you haven't eaten there before???" query for the past 3 years regarding this place. On a side note, how many people can claim to have eaten everywhere and never be asked that question? I digress... So with an 11:30pm game looming, Gordo suggested we eat before the game instead of after. That was a pretty good idea considering the fact we could finally make it out to Anatolia's. However, we would learn later this was not the ideal meal to have before a hockey game...

I sent out an email and in addition to Gordo, Milhouse, Sweet Tooth and Bear was able to join us for some pre-game eats. Now, I'm not going to pretend I know much about Turkish food because I don't. I've never been to Turkey and with the lack of Turkish restaurants in town, the only thing I know is that it is a hybrid of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. We ended up sharing a bunch of items beginning with the Mixed Plate consisting of Chemen, Eggplant Salad, Hummus, Barbunya, Babaghannush, Stuffed Grape Leaves and Olives. We got a Whole Wheat Lavash to share as part of our meal. At first, we were concerned that it would be tough and chewy since it was made of whole wheat. Our fears were alleviated once we took a sample of the soft, slightly chewy texture (with a slight crispiness on the outside). This was so good on its own, yet went well with everything else too. Sweet Tooth spent a whole month in Turkey which made her our resident expert at the table. She took the least amount of time deciding what to order, selecting the Beef Iskender. This version was slightly different than the ones she had in Turkey, yet we didn't mind since it was tasty. Although it wasn't exactly juicy, the combination of yogurt and tomato sauce moistened up the dry beef. It had lots of meat flavour and went well with the lavash underneath.

Gordo went for the Chicken Curry and it was essentially grilled chicken kebabs with a curry sauce on top. The curry was spicy with a definite coriander and cumin hit along with the typical turmeric colouring. The chicken was relatively moist being in big chunks. This wasn't bad as it went well with the nicely textured rice and the lavash. Milhouse randomly chose the Chicken Filet with Cheese and it was probably our least favourite item. He took the blame but really, how could he have known? The chicken breast was pretty dry and even the abundance of melted cheese couldn't help the cause. The peppers and mushrooms on top were pretty good, however, the dish was not all that flavourful. While I was munching on the chicken, I could not stop thinking that it resembled something out of a Lean Cuisine box. That's not an insult, it was the thing that popped into my mind.

Lastly, Bear went for the Mixed Plate consisting of Chicken Shish, Lamb Chop and the turd-looking thing in the front, Adana Kebab. This was ample meat for one dish and for one person, could be quite filling. Despite its appearance, the Adana Kebab was quite good. The meat was moist and well-seasoned with onion and spices. It could've used a bit more charring though. The chicken was exactly like the ones from the curry (without the curry of course). As for the lamb chop, it was forgettable. It was fatty, chewy and pretty pale. Sure, the lamb wasn't that good and neither was the chicken with cheese. However, the food was something out-of-the ordinary and satisfying. In a city that boasts some of the best Asian food in the world, it is nice to find something else to eat, even if there is nothing really to compare it with.

The Good:
- Something different
- Good portions
- Loved the lavash

The Bad:
- Meats are somewhat dry (but then again, can't compare with Asian cooking)
- Although we thought the value was there, it is not exactly cheap either