Burger Club

I just read an article from XYYZ.ca about "Charlie's Burger" a sort of Fight Club for chefs, except it's more like eyeballing a searing Kobe beef steak rather than holding a cheap cut over a bruised eye. I'm half salivating and half annoyed.

Here's the article: http://www.xyyz.ca/thewyre.php?wc=4&wid=1291

photo of kobe striploin from prawnco.com

Wonderful Weezie's

Toronto Restaurant Review on Weezie's, 354 King Street East (at Power Street).

Sample of the lunch menu:

Frissee Salad $9
Salmon Nicoise
Burger
Mac & Cheese

(no substitutions)

I had the Frissee, which is why I remembered how much it cost, but all of the dishes were under $15.

It was exactly what I wanted - which can be difficult to achieve all of the time. I was wondering just what it meant that the egg was poached and fried and once it came, it all made sense. It was a poached egg coated in panko and fried! YUM! The expertly dressed homemade dressing made the a lettuce such as frissee, which is usually bitter and uninteresting save for it's shape, all crunchy, tangy goodness. The lardons were very salty and so, per the server's suggestion to incorporate the egg fully (most of her clients who order it save it for last), would have worked much nicer if I had better headed the advice (it was more broken into pieces than mixed togeter).

My P-I-E (partner in eating), Rebecca, had the salmon salad and the fish looked just as I like it, just a touch undercooked in the middle, not raw, but not well-done (I actually prefer raw salmon to cooked) and she pronounced it as scrumptious!

wonderful service - perfect timing - perfect execution. No wonder it's a neighborhood fave! Will certainly be back.

If you would like to try a similar poached egg salad at home, I've found a recipe from the What's Cooking America website: The image above is also from the site -- it looks much like the salad I had, except image the egg pretty in panko.

Andros Taverna (previously Mesogio) on Yonge

Andros Taverna, Greek restaurant, 2029 Yonge Street

I know I haven't had time to blog at all with the full time job this past, what 6 or 8 months, but I had to make a quick post about this restaurant. With a lot of little choices - you know when you've exhausted all your work lunch take-out options - one gets excited about a new place. Well, in our case, we had dropped by Mesogio a few times and found it to be both delicious and of good value. We've tried the chicken breast salad, and trio of dips lunch special (I think it was $8.95) and had a tender 4 or 5 oz of meat on a fresh salad of crisp greens with a generous sprinkling of feta. Well, that was then.

The place is under new management now, along with being renamed and although we were promised the same menu, the quality of the food has suffered greatly. Although the price has dropped to $7.50 (pre-tax), they gave a measly amount of lettuce much like a handful of after thought for the chicken salad; although no real complaints about the chicken itself and a thumbs up for decent quality olive oil. However, the accompanying pita was burnt and the pork souvlaki "tasted funny" and was tossed out, unable to be finished.

What a disappointment - looks like Sobey's Urban Fresh around the corner is even a better bet for a Greek salad (under $4) and you can get a nice piece of panko-crusted breast at the deli, charged by weight.