Last night I had dinner at Xam Yu on 339 Spadina Av (north of Dundas on the East side).  I frequent the restaurant as the food is reasonably priced and the seafood is excellent.  Soup was fish maw with crab meat - I liked it but Linda didn't... I guess she doesn't like the texture of the fish maw.  The other dishes we had were greens with giant mushroom, steamed snapper and tofu with bean curd - all general chinese fare but they all came through with flying colours.  Bottom line, if you are looking for a solid, inexpensive meal in Chinatown, definitelly check out Xam Yu.  Choo Chew rating - 7.5.

Tonight I'm heading to Toronto Taste.  The website describes it as follows:

Seduce your senses! Toronto Taste 2005 celebrates the 15th anniversary of this extravagant, glamorous affair. As the original, must-attend event for gourmands, Toronto Taste offers spectacular sights, inviting smells and tantalizing delicacies that entice you throughout the evening. You will delight in the sumptuous food prepared by 70 of the city's finest chefs, while savouring the beverages provided by 30 top vintners. Our fabulous silent auctions and raffle will stir you to temptation, while the beautiful florals and talented musicians draw you into an indulgent spirit.

Restaurant & Chef Participants
Toronto Taste attendees have the pleasure of choosing from an astonishing range of delicious cuisine as they roam from station to station, enjoying the culinary creations of the city's elite chefs.

Toronto Taste 2005 features barbequed veal with maple-chipotle glaze, raspberry lobster gazpacho, campofrio jamón Serrano, and Bajun fish cakes with coconut curried biscuit. Desserts include coconut lemon and meringue puffs, and chocolate fudge squares with mocha glaze.

Tickets are pricey, but the event is a benefit in support of Second Harvest, which supplies food to the needy.  I'll report on Toronto Taste later...

The Courtyard Marriott Downtown Toronto is located on Yonge Street, just North of College.  I had heard that the restaurant (Yonge Street Grille) there has a buffet on Saturday nights featuring all you can eat lobster... the price?  $24.95.  Yesterday evening I decided to give it a try.

I called ahead to verify that the buffet was on and was told that it ran until 9:30 but to show up before 9:00 to ensure that the food is still out.  My companion and I showed up 7:00 and were told that, since we didn't have a reservation, we had to wait for a table.  Why didn't they recommend we make a reseravation when we called (forget the fact that, looking into the restuarant, there were quite a few empty tables)?  Right after we were put on the waiting list, a group of 9 showed up without a reservation and the hostess informed them that she would ask the manager to see if they could be seated.  Well geez, thanks a lot Courtyard Marriott - treat me like a second class citizen because there's only 2 of us.  Immediately after the 9 were seated, I went to check how my waiting status was - they were getting a table ready, but I still tersely reminded them that it's not great optics when they serviced a larger group that showed up behind me.  On to the dining...

OK, let's be upfront.  The Yonge Street Grille is a standard quick-meal type place in a middle range hotel.  Decor is average (bench seating in some areas, chain restaurant type furniture), the lighting is so-so and the place is pretty noisy.  However, for 25 bucks, what do you expect?  This is a place you come to for the food, not the atmosphere.

Operating from memory, the buffet starts with some cold cuts and salads (tomato, green, shrimp and artichoke).  Next you have some pasta, rice and potatos.  Then there is some kind of seafood stew and a tray full of steamed lobsters (with butter for dipping of course).  Next is baron of beef and peel and eat shrimp.  Finally a bunch of desserts and some fresh fruit.

My strategy was, screw the filler, let's eat what we came for - lobster!  OK, not 100% true, I had a small bit of tomato salad and some of the shrimp and artichoke salad, but the rest of the time all I ate was lobster and peel and eat shrimp.  So how is the lobster?  Quite good - you can tell it was frozen because some of the claw meat had a different texture than fresh lobsters and the tomalley is more of a paste than a gooey liquid, rendering it virtually inedible.  However, what do you expect for the price?  The tails and claw meat were still very tasty and of a good quality.  The peel and eat shrimp were a nice, cool change when taking breaks between gulping down huge pieces of hot lobster.  The damage?  5 lobsters on my end (my companion had a more demure 2.  I could have squeezed in another to make it a cool half dozen, but why go overboard?  My choice of dessert?  A granny smith apple - it felt like the best way to finish off the meal and the sweet/sour crispness of the fruit tasted great while I nursed my full belly.  Overall a 7.5 on the Chew Choo meter - this place just misses getting Hall of Fame distinction but it is still highly recommended.

PS - don't dress well -  you are eating lobster and it's a messy beast. 

One of my favourite websites is Chowhound - its Message Board is a great resource to check out the best places to go eat in your local city.  The website has a FAQ that explains the difference between a Chowhound and a Foodie - which end of the spectrum do I fall in?  Who cares - I enjoy my food.  Yeh, I like to try the trendy new places, but I also enjoy good food, regardless of the price.

Here are a couple of gems I found through Chowhound:

• best sushi in Toronto - Japango (at Elizabeth and Dundas, right by the bus terminal).  This place is raved over for the best quality sushi - prices are a little higher than average but definitely worth it.  There is also a Japango on Queen East but not much is said about that location. 
• best samosas - the Sultan of Samosas - 1677 O'Connor.  A little out of the way (Vic Park and Eglinton), but great samosas - yum!

Had lunch yesterday at Garvey's at 1104 Bloor West (at Dufferin) - last July it received Now Magazine's distinction as the best Jerk Chicken in the city.  My dining companion had the jerk chicken and I had Oxtail.  It's a tiny little place that is meant for take out (but it will sit up to 6 people... very tightly mind you).  The meals were served with cole slaw, which I'm not a big fan of, but was a nice complement to the hot, spicy food.  A strange but not unwelcome touch was the giving of fortune cookies with the meal.  Food was decent, West Indian fare and worth a repeat visit.  Choo Chew Meter score: 7.0 out of 10.

Side Note - We both ended up with upset stomachs after the meal.  Not sure what happened, but all was fine going in to Garvey's.  The score is downgraded to a 5.0

I saw the documentary Enron:The Smartest Guys in the Room last night.  It was an engaging look at what led to America's largest corporate bankruptcy.  A cautionary tale on how greed, a lack of morals and arrogance can poison a company.

Before seeing the movie, I had dinner at John's Italian Caffe on Baldwin Street.  Dinner was salad and penne arrabiata washed down with a Moretti.  The salad was a basic mixed salad.  The penne was ok, with spicy peppers, olives and sausage in the sauce - there were a few grainy bits in it... maybe the vegetables needed to be more thoroughly washed.  Service was OK - I had to ask for bread and for a sideplate.  Choo Chew Meter Score: a 6.5 out of 10.  John's has a nice patio where it would be nice to have drinks on a summer day/evening and maybe snack on appetizers or a pizza.  I wouldn't necessarily return for the sole purpose of eating a full meal.

So yesterday was the final day in New York and I had a crazing for pizza.  After browsing through Slice (which claims to be America's Favourite Pizza Blog), I chose Una Pizza Napoletana, which had an outstanding review.  After trekking out there, I was disappointed to find the joint CLOSED.  I should have called ahead to confirm hours...  By now, I had a pizza craving so the next stop was Lombardi's - this was with a little apprehension as, it has a reputation of apparently being one of America's best pizzerias, but Slice was not terribly impressed with it.

At Lombardi's, they tried shoehorning us into a postage stamp sized table (even though there were other empty tables at the time), but that was quickly nixed.  Anyhow, lunch started with a mixed salad.  For $7.50, it was a little weak - tons of onions, 4 cherry tomatoes and a dressing that had way too much vinegar.  Next, the pizza - the toppings were mushrooms, onions, italian sausage, meatballs and garlic.  The pizza was OK, nothing great... the sauce was tasty but the crust was soggy.  Iced tea was the beverage du repas.  After wolfing down the thing, I figured out something - we had been seated, taken orders, served, eaten and received our bill within 30 minutes (oh yeah, cash only too).  On the way out the door, there was a line of people waiting for a table and the hostess didn't even have the courtesy to say "Thank you", "Good Bye" or whatever... hell, I would have been happy to have been on the receiving end of a New Yawk "F*ck You" as that would have meant acknowledgement.

The moral of the story?  IMO, Lombardi's is one of those tourist trap places that thrives on some years (decades?) old reputation as having great pizza.  The joint is now an assembly line to get you in and out quickly (and if you don't have enough cash, there's an ATM with exorbitant service fees to help you out - luckily, I didn't fall victim to this).  The awning out front has a Zagat endorsement printed on it... I found that insulting as well - either the quote was years old, or Zagat is now a barometer of popular opinion instead of culinary skill.  Rating?  A 6 out of 10.

Since many of my posts are about restaurants, I'm working on putting together a little list - unfortunately, it appears that the lists part of MSN Spaces is extremely inflexible so I'll have to find an alternative way to do this...  Anyhow, now that I'm back home, today will be about errands, a little catching up on work and maybe go see a movie.

The Woodbury Common Outlet Mall is a trek from NYC (one hour bus ride) but it is huge!!!  Great stores including Tag Heuer, Off Fifth, Barney's, etc.  I didn't spend a ton of money, but got a few items from Hugo Boss as well as Zegna.

After getting back from power shopping, took a nap and then decided to hit Pearl Oyster Bar - they don't take reservations so you just have to show up and wait.  Anyhow, it started pouring rain and, since cabs get snapped up when it rains here, I was already soaked by the time we got there (about 8:00).  The wait list was huge and the earliest that dining could take place was 9:00.  Luckily, down the street was a sushi place called Sushi Mambo where a small snack (beer, edamame and a roll) could be consumed while waiting.  Back to the Pearl Oyster Bar and the place was still jam packed with tables now available at 10:00 for those just showing up.  Anyhow, within minutes, I was seated at the bar and consuming the following: raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, a small bucket of steamers and a lobster roll.  The food was outstanding - fresh, juicy oysters... plump shrimp... amazing steamers (a little gritty, but definitely worth ordering)... a small roll jammed overflowing with tender pieces of lobster.  The alcohol of choice for dinner was Chimay Ale.  The verdict? A damn fine meal worth the drenching and wait...  a definite repeat - 8.5 out of 10... also, $80 for 2 people is a pleasant surprise price-wise.  I wanted to take photos of the joint but it felt like the wrong thing to do as it was jam packed full of people who loved food - who wants some blogger ruining that?

Awesome performance of Glengarry - the acting was outstanding (yes, even Tom Wopat was great in his role). It was funny to compare the personalities on the stage to some of the characters I work with.  No names mentioned...

Before the show, dinner was at Danny Ng, which was selected after peering through the Village Voice today and seeing that it received a positive review as a "cheap eats" place.  Food was good - a decent Chinese meal at a good price.  Restaurant rating - 7.

Today, the shopping agenda is to hit Woodbury Common.  I've never been there before and it's a bit of a trek to get there (1 hour bus ride) but the store listing looks impressive (Diesel, Hugo Boss and Zegna for starters) so maybe this will add to the decimation of my melting credit card. 

Oh yeah, it's my birthday today so I'm entitled to spoil myself, right...?  

So, as mentioned yesterday, I've uploaded some photos of the hotel and the view of Ground Zero from the room.

Today was very rainy and dreary.  Started off by going to a tailor to get my pants hemmed and then took a small walk before heading back to the hotel to do a little work before LUNCH.  Lunch was at Bouley - it was a damn fine meal and the prix fixe menu was a bargain.  It was $200 for 2 (including a half bottle of wine) but the food was outstanding.  I give the place an 8.5 (the only downside was that the venison was prepared medium rare and I prefer my meat rare).

After lunch, took a walk up Broadway, did a little shopping and now its time to rest in the room before grabbing a snack then going to see Glengarry Glen Ross.  It will be interesting to see Alan Alda play Shelley "The Machine" Levene...  To follow on to yesterday's quotes, here are a few bits of trivia, courtesy of IMDb.

• The word "f*ck" and its derivatives are uttered 138 times.
• The word "s*it" and its derivatives are uttered 50 times.
• The character of Blake was not in the original play. When adapting his play for the screen, David Mamet created that role specifically for actor Alec Baldwin.
• Co-star Jack Lemmon said the cast was the greatest acting ensemble he had ever been part of.
• During the production, the actors referred to this film as "Death of a F*ckin' Salesman".
• During the course of the movie, Shelley Levene and Dave Moss talk about selling the Glengarry leads to a man named "Jerry Graff". 'Jerrold Graff' is an actor who has starred in only four movies, all of which have been written and directed by David Mamet (Things Change, Homicide, State and Main and The Spanish Prisoner)
• The title refers to Glengarry Glen and Glen Ross Farms, two properties mentioned in the movie.
  

Had a great brunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Caesar's Palace.  I started with Sophie's Chopped Salad, which had lettuce, tomatoes, chick peas, kidney beans and pieces of tortilla.  For the main course, I ordered the spicy chicken/sweet potato hash, which was well presented, had juicy cubes of chicken and was served in a couple of towers with perfectly poached eggs on top.  It was so nice to have a decent meal in this city and I walked out stuffed.  The added bonus was, instead of bread, they served a basket of pastries (blueberry corn bread, cheese scones, rasberry squares and some crunchy thing with chocolate chips) with the meal.  Breakfast was washed down with pear iced tea and some great coffee.

After breakfast, I hooked up with the guys and 4 of us entered a hold 'em tournament at the Indigestible Pooch-Ass.  Alas, none of us ended up in the money but I had a great double up hand where my four of a kind (8s) beat some woman's four of a kind (6s).  Enough fun for one trip - time to go home!

So, yesterday was a pretty rough day.  I didn't get to bed until 2:00 in the morning and then got up at 6:30 to get various things squared away before I hit the road.  My flight to Vegas was through Denver -  I got small naps in on both flights but nothing of significance.  There were some mechanical problems with the plane in Denver so I ended up arriving about an hour late.  From there, zipped to the hotel, downloaded email and cranked out a few replies and then OFF TO DINNER.

I had a 7:45 PM reservation at Bouchon in the Venetian.  If you have never been to the hotel, it is European themed with lots of columns, paintings everywhere (walls, ceilings, etc.) and basically is your over the top Las Vegas hotel experience.  That said, who cares about the tacky, overdone decor... how is the food?

I started with a half dozen oysters and duck confit for appetizers, washed down by a Stoli tonic.  The oysters were on the smaller side but were quite tasty.  They came with 2 sauces: cocktail and a vinaigrette - I tend to prefer cocktail with my oysters but the vinaigrette was definitely a winner.  The foie gras sounded tempting but, at 45 bucks, I figured the duck was a better call.  It was served with lentils and was also a hit.  Yeh, it was a little greasy but this is duck so that is to be expected.  However, the skin was nice and crispy with succulent, juicy meat beneath it.

For the main course I had leg of lamb on polenta with a side of sauteed spinach and a glass of Pinot Noir.  The main course was solid - no overwhelming bursts of flavour, but the meat was nice and tender that was complimented nicely by the polenta.  The spinach was good, but the butter and garlic was a little much in comparison to the subtle flavours of the main course.  I would order the same meal (the wine was also a good match because it wasn't too robust) but skip the spinach.

I'm not usually a dessert guy, but I'm a sucker for a lemon tart and, lo and behold, there was a Tarte au Citron on the menu.  What arrived was a lemon tart the size of a slice of pizza - how the hell was I going to finish this?  Anyhow, the lemon tart was great... the perfect balance of the bitterness of the lemon with sugary sweetness.  The crust had unique flavour that was also enjoyable - I think it had some almonds in it but I'm not sure on that.  This was washed down with a couple of cups of coffee.  Needless to say, I couldn't finish the huge slice but put a huge dent in it.

Bouchon is a noisy, active restaurant, so don't expect to go there for a romantic meal.  But you get quality French bistro food at a reasonable price (my meal came to $120 US with tax and tip - keep in mind I had 2 appetizers and an extra side with dinner as well as a couple of drinks).  Now that my meal at Bouchon is taken care of, I have one remaining side mission: locate that bottle of 18 year Talisker!

The rest of the guys will be showing up at around 11:00 local time so I have time to do more catch up on work and maybe rest up before the festivities begin.

PS - for those of you that read my entry about my portable rig, the E3c's did a great job of blocking out ambient noise during the flight.  On top of that, the sound quailty was excellent!