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hmn.. nice lists guys! Lots of stuff for even me, Toronto born and bre(a)d to check out. quickie notes: Chiado is great seafood. Heard good things about Sado.

Asian Legend and Sam Woo both have several locations. Leslie and Finch has an Asian Legend, (fairly new), as well as a Congee Wong. However, the Congee Queen at Don Mills has better turnip cake, and, a wine menu(!). Dim Sum is chiu chow style at AL and there's another two places in the same block of Congee Wong for Chiu Chow and desserts. HMN. Must go back to dessert place sometime and review...

Ahahah, yeah, the wine menu always makes me laugh. It's so odd to see an actual wine list at a Chinese fast food place. The fried turnip cake is greasy, but... so yummy! Better warm though. also good to eat if you ever have your wisdom teeth out. Soft, yet still tasty.

Hey Endy was it this turnip cake? If so, that's my fav. The Congee Queen at Donmills has a BBQ counter too. I see lots of takeout from there when I go.

He's right though - it's like assuming all there is to French cuisine is Cheese and Wine. There's a lot more to Japanese cuisine that most people don't consider...

If you're a really good food reviewer though, they won't ever know that you were even reviewing them. And to me, that would be the optimal way to get a review down, so you KNOW you're not getting a better or worse treatment than anyone else would have that day. I think notes because photos don't necessarily remind you how a particular dish tasted...! Hmn. I haven't actually taken notes before. I get to snapping the menu these days though. I can never remember exactly what I ate by the time I'm done...

It'd be an interesting experiment. As much as I know many people who shoot food porn, it's still a fairly odd thing to do for everyone else not so deep into foodieland. I have had someone ask me if I worked for a magazine (which, technically, I do, but not as a writer per se), when they saw me shoot my food, but that was in Noe Valley in San Fran... not yet in Toronto!

I've never really noticed a change in treatment when I take photos of my food - however, that might change if I pulled out a pro-style DSLR instead of my minicam.

I should note that I haven't read the article yet. I was just making my comment in general. I mean, truly, how can you get a subjective treatment from staff if they think you're possibly reviewing them? Or even if they know you're not - you're still considered to be very influential in their industry. They're going to kowtow to you no matter what.

A little photoshop fixes all...! I'd fix 'em for you now, but I've only allowed myself a few minutes of procrastination with lunch. Added you to flickr!

See, what I don't get is how Chatto can be subjectively treated in a restaurant when his face is so well known... Being incognito can't work well for him.

Another vote for Konnichiwa!

I did not have the lime and coriander one! I'll have to go back! And I loooove sea salt caramel. Had one from Recchiuti - sooo yummy. And I've had the one from Sen5es, which is pretty good too.

I haven't had Soma chocolates yet, (really must go...), and I have had JS BonBons. JS is pretty good, though I'd like to try a few more. Didn't eat too many at the time and it was about a year ago now. Sadly, I don't have any super "WOW" moments with them.

Yeah, that sounds great I read about it in the other thread, I may give it a go, if so I'll let you know. Otherwise, why the gasp, are you showing your shock at yourself for avoiding Kaji, or is it really, really expensive. ← more the "I haven't gone yet!" gasp.

Haven't tried truffle honey! We did buy the pine honey though. A friend of mine has some from a German family friend which was fabulous.

I'm fond of OMI for omakase - but I haven't been to Kaji (gasp!). And while I can't personally reccommend this place yet, I've been meaning to go to Sakura Kaiseki on Church to have their Kaiseki style menu. Very very different than the Japanese you're used to if all you've had is sushi and udon. Call for reservations, I think. Not sure how busy they are, but they did get highly rated in NOW Magazine recently.

did you go? what did you think? I really enjoy the visit to CB - the selection is smaller for prepped foods and I think, veggies, but the veggies are top notch. They all look perfect. Prepped foods, I've never eaten from there. I do like going with friends for impromptu picnics. We also bought some fresh white truffle a couple weeks back to eat with pasta. I have a photo of the owner (?) serving us tea. I felt like such a tourist, but I do have fond memories of drinking tea and shopping for cheese, bread, and other tasty treats.

What a terrible experience! I've had (wedding) dinners at the resto and catered by them, and it was good. I don't think I've gone there for dinner specifically. I have gone for dimsum though and that's usually quite tasty, though if I'm going to pay that much, I'd rather pay the extra dollars to go downtown and eat at Lai Wah Heen. There are too many good dimsum places around there to bother paying more.

I haven't yet. T_T No one wants to go with meeeee..... Or they do, but they're just not in Toronto right now. I'm still tempted to go on my own, but it's just never as fun.

chocolate. good. yes. Toronto-wise, there are quite a few artisanals in the city which have received a lot of praise. Soma Chocolates and JS Bonbons run off the top of my head. There's also Eitelbach and Sen5es (based out of BC though). I think there's a list already somewhere in this forum of Chocolate places to go!

Cheese Boutique over Pusateri's any day. Neither are bad, but I like the whole experience of CB over Pusateri's.

I reaaally liked the Coconut one! So did my other guests (I ordered a while back - meant to comment earlier!)

There's also a Sam Woo in Missisauga.

I think the two are totally different dining experiences? I didn't think Kaji did Kaiseki style?