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Originally, we had reservations at The Good Son, run by Top Chef Canada alum, Vittorio Colacitti, however, we were just not wanting to go very far from St. Lawrence Market. Call it travel fatigue (even though it was only 3 days into our 24 day adventure), so we ended up across the street at Market Street Catch (sister restaurant to Buster's Sea Cove found in the market itself). Besides, we were on the "see-food" diet where we saw food across the street and wanted to eat it. Ironic that that they served "seafood" as well.
To start things off, we got both the Seafood Chowder and Lobster Bisque. Thick and relatively creamy, the chowder was chock full of tender potatoes, soften carrots and very little in the way of seafood. When we did find some, the clams were tender and buttery. There were a few baby scallops and even smaller pieces of fish. I found the broth to be fairly mild with only a touch of brininess and very little saltiness. As for the bisque, it was too thick in my opinion because it seemed too chowder-like. It wasn't very silky as there were bits of things including dry lobster or at least I thought it was lobster. There really should've been at least a few token pieces. In terms of taste, it was more tomatoey than the classic lobster aromaticness.
For my main, I decided on the Seafood Linguine which was a pretty generous portion of fairly al denta pasta. It was drenched in a bit too much sauce which made the dish rather heavy. I did find it balanced between tomato and cream. Although there wasn't a wealth of seafood, the 3 large prawns were on point being meaty with a buttery snap. There were only a few baby scallops and as many mussels as you see in the picture. I thought there was a bit too much in the way of red onion which dominated the flavour profile. Viv ended up with the Grilled Arctic Char which was beautifully grilled with a tasty and smoky char. The fish was well-seasoned while moist and flaky on the inside.
My son had the Cod and Chips which was also a huge portion, especially for $11.50. The 2 pieces of fish were prepared properly with a light crunchy batter and flaky soft fish on the inside. We found the fries to be rather overdone though as they were dense and more chewy than crispy. Tartar sauce was pretty good being creamy with some tang. As much as this was an inexpensive meal that worked out due to its location, the food for us was hit and mostly miss. Hence, your experience can be wildly different depending on what you order.
The Good:
- Large portions
- Reasonable pricing
- Casual and good for families
The Bad:
- Food is hit and miss
- Seating gets scarce during peak times
The likelihood that I willingly and knowingly make a visit to a vegetarian and/or vegan restaurant is pretty slim. Now add in the fact that I had to "fool" my son into eating anything remotely close to his non-preferred foods makes it even more remote. I think if I had told him straight up that we were bound for Virtuous Pie would elicit nightmarish screams and protest. However, we really went there and yes, I didn't say a word. To be fair, from what I've heard, the place ain't bad especially when no meat or cheese is involved.
Well, it wasn't too much of a stretch (sorry for the pun) for him to try their version of the classic Margherita Pizza. This featured San Marzano tomato sauce, cashew mozzarella and fresh basil on a 3-day hand-stretched crust. Normally, most thin-crust pizzas are generally softer in the middle, but not this one. It was firmly crunchy (and a bit dry) emulating a hard cracker-like texture. I found the tomato sauce to be decently flavourful with a mild tang. The cashew mozzarella did its job and fooled my son. However, the "Italian Field Roast Sausage" on the Flower & Water didn't emulate meat enough for him to like it. For me, I love gluten and the texture was spot on. The pizza was a little spicy with a strong roasted fennel sweetness as well as the aromatics from the confit garlic.
We also got the Super Funghi with scalloped potatoes, truffle almond ricotta, wild mushrooms and rocket. This was noticeably Earthy and aromatic with the robust texture of the potatoes. It was drier than the other 2 pizzas though. To change things up, we tried their Potato Salad sporting firm chunks of purple and regular nugget potatoes. There was a considerable amount of dill and onion flavour. I also enjoyed the large amount of plump mushrooms. So, from reading my post, you can clearly see I wasn't turned off by the non-meat and cheese pizzas. To be honest, I would prefer a typical Neapolitan pizza more, but this wasn't bad at all.
The Good:
- Fairly appealing for a vegan pizza
- Simple and minimalist, yet modern
The Bad:
- For meat-eaters, this may not replace the real thing.
Congratulations to Cindy Lam for winning the draw for a $100 GC to the restaurant of her choice! Cindy, please email me at admin@shermansfoodadventures.com!!!
Staying across the street from The Royal Ontario Museum (aka the ROM) allowed us to get some needed sleep before it opened. But in a blink of an eye, the place had a lineup out the door and was bustling with activity. After a few hours there, it was no wonder why since there was so much to see! It was established that we had to grab some lunch and come back in the afternoon to see the rest. We made the short walk (or long walk according to the whining kids...) over to Burger's Priest on Bloor. When they say TO is a burger town, they aren't kidding as we spotted many different joints around as well as many restaurants offering a good one on their menus.
But over at BP, it was all about the Vatican City sporting a double-cheeseburger sandwiched in between 2 grilled cheese sammies with lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo and ketchup. Due to the large amount of processed cheese, the burger ate on the saltier side (probably exceeds one's sodium intake for the day), but was still enjoyable since the meat was moist and juicy. The grilled cheese was on point with crispy and buttery surfaces while melty on the inside. It was good, but really, the shock factor was more impressive than the burger because my Double-Cheeseburger was much more tasty as it was less salty and the soft bun served as the perfect vessel for the moist and well-seared meat.
Viv went for something a bit different in Peter's Denial featuring a fried breast that was moist and nicely brined. The batter was crispy and appealingly spicy. It was balanced out by the sweet creamed corn (yes really) and gravy on the same soft bun. This was actually quite good despite the weird corn concoction. Along with my cheeseburger, I had the Chili Cheese Fries which were overloaded with meaty chili and melted cheddar. I found the chili to be overly mild for my own tastes, but okay overall. There was enough of it to coat every fry. About those fries, they were crispy, starchy and really good.
Lastly, we added a Chocolate Milkshake for good measure and it was good as well. Lightly creamy and totally drinkable, it was more airy than thick. It was chocolatey without being overly sweet. Due to the airiness of the shake, it melted rather quickly and became a rich chocolate milk. So did Burger's Priest live up to the hype (well, the hype about it for a visitor that is)? For us, it was a yes as we enjoyed the double-cheeseburger with its simplicity and being well-executed all-around. As I said before, the Vatican City was more for the novelty than anything else.
The Good:
- Meaty and juicy beef patties
- Soft, but robust bun
- Good fries
The Bad:
- A little pricey
- Made-to-order, so we had to wait (not really a bad thing though)
Sometimes, heading into Downtown Vancouver is not very practical. First, you have the traffic. Second, many of the parking spots have been eliminated by bike lanes and certain right turns as well. Third, it might actually be far away for some people. Therefore, if one wanted the Downtown experience, particularly a steakhouse, it generally means The Keg. But hold on there. We do have some other options including Chop in Richmond. Recently, I was invited to check out some of their most popular items.
We started with some appies including the marinated Steak Bites. Served on the side were dijon-BBQ dip and horseradish aioli. Caramelized and seared appealingly on the outside, the sirloin bites were tender with a nice meatiness. There was a noticeable pepperiness on the outside and a considerable amount of saltiness from the marinade. I found the horseradish aioli very necessary to bring down the salt content with a soothing creaminess and a slight tangy kick. Next, the Albacore Tuna Tataki was served on a bed of daikon radish, jalapeño peppers & edamame. It exhibited a fresh sheen that was confirmed by its sweet buttery texture. There was no absence of impact from the soy garlic lime vinaigrette as well as wasabi aioli and togarashi. The dish could've done without the peppers though as they were pretty overwhelming.
Served with crispy and airy crostinis, the Beef Carpaccio sported seared tenderloin, capers, arugula, lemon truffle aioli, extra virgin olive oil & shaved Grana Padano. I liked the bright colour of the beef as it looked fresh and vibrant. Sliced super thin, the tenderloin really did melt-in-my-mouth. I enjoyed the restraint used with the truffle as it was evident without being too strong. When eaten with the crispy crostinis, there was a mouth-satisfying textural contrast.
Onto the mains, we had the Slow Baked Salmon with butternut squash purée & arugla pesto and herb quinoa. The salmon was so soft, buttery and barely done that we mistakenly thought it was sous-vide. Texturally it was on point and I didn't mind the slightly pink interior. However, when fish is cooked so slow, caramelization on the exterior is often missing, which meant the flavours were pretty mild. Somewhat of a surprise, the Half Oven-Roasted Free Range Chicken was both attractive to look at and a delight to eat. I found the meat to be succulent (even the white meat) as well as being nicely seasoned. Furthermore, the skin was well-rendered and tasty on its own. The basil lemon pan jus added an extra shot of flavour and moisture to the already tender chicken.
As for the steaks, we were presented with a selection of sustainable 28-day aged beef. The New York Striploin was done a beautiful medium rare with an even and aggressive sear on the outside. This resulted in a slightly crispy exterior with a good deal of smokiness. The steak was well-seasoned and richly meaty in flavour. It was fairly tender with a few chewier parts. My favourite of the bunch was the Smoked Rib-Eye that delivered on the promise of smoky flavour as it really came through. The smoke was pretty strong, but that was fine for me since it was impactful. Furthermore, the steak was also done a perfect medium-rare where it was tender and juicy.
Lastly, we had the Bone-In Rib-Eye with garlic and shallot confit. This was a massive steak that was a little more rare than medium-rare. As such, the meat was pretty juicy while being a touch chewier. It tasted great with the aromatics provided by the confit though. From the items we tried, most were quite good. Naturally, being a tasting, they were probably on their A game, but as I've said before, chefs are only as good as they can be. Therefore, Chop remains in my mind a decent option for steak if you didn't want to head into Downtown Vancouver.
*All food, beverages and gratuities were complimentary*
The Good:
- Decor is consistent with Downtown steakhouses
- On point steak
- Non-steak items were good too
The Bad:
- Not unlike other steakhouses, it is not a cheap night out (but beef is expensive ATM)
- Meat was tender for sure, but could've been even softer IMO
Posts
Originally, we had reservations at The Good Son, run by Top Chef Canada alum, Vittorio Colacitti, however, we were just not wanting to go very far from St. Lawrence Market. Call it travel fatigue (even though it was only 3 days into our 24 day adventure), so we ended up across the street at Market Street Catch (sister restaurant to Buster's Sea Cove found in the market itself). Besides, we were on the "see-food" diet where we saw food across the street and wanted to eat it. Ironic that that they served "seafood" as well.
To start things off, we got both the Seafood Chowder and Lobster Bisque. Thick and relatively creamy, the chowder was chock full of tender potatoes, soften carrots and very little in the way of seafood. When we did find some, the clams were tender and buttery. There were a few baby scallops and even smaller pieces of fish. I found the broth to be fairly mild with only a touch of brininess and very little saltiness. As for the bisque, it was too thick in my opinion because it seemed too chowder-like. It wasn't very silky as there were bits of things including dry lobster or at least I thought it was lobster. There really should've been at least a few token pieces. In terms of taste, it was more tomatoey than the classic lobster aromaticness. 
For my main, I decided on the Seafood Linguine which was a pretty generous portion of fairly al denta pasta. It was drenched in a bit too much sauce which made the dish rather heavy. I did find it balanced between tomato and cream. Although there wasn't a wealth of seafood, the 3 large prawns were on point being meaty with a buttery snap. There were only a few baby scallops and as many mussels as you see in the picture. I thought there was a bit too much in the way of red onion which dominated the flavour profile. Viv ended up with the Grilled Arctic Char which was beautifully grilled with a tasty and smoky char. The fish was well-seasoned while moist and flaky on the inside.
My son had the Cod and Chips which was also a huge portion, especially for $11.50. The 2 pieces of fish were prepared properly with a light crunchy batter and flaky soft fish on the inside. We found the fries to be rather overdone though as they were dense and more chewy than crispy. Tartar sauce was pretty good being creamy with some tang. As much as this was an inexpensive meal that worked out due to its location, the food for us was hit and mostly miss. Hence, your experience can be wildly different depending on what you order.
