mkjr

Good point. Perhaps the full tasting menu is out of your price range at Splendido. There is the three course option $98 each with desert is $110 each BUT you can order mains and other separately (at least you could the last time I was there). Keep in mind, I assumed as this person from from the US, the price they noted was in US$. The mains outside the tasting menu are HUGE and there is often the "for 2 option", such as the pork at around $90 or so for two and is also HUGE also, and you can share a desert. I have done this twice there (March and Dec. 06) with my wife and we both left stuffed (it was only when I had the full tasting menu that I was not loosening my belt). But for our wine costs we can get out for under $200 for the two of us and throw in a beer to put you around the $230CDN mark that I assumed. Note, what will kill you is the 30% that you will need to add to the whole amount on every bill you get ( 14% tax and 16% tip and booze tax is a little higher).

It's in there, it's just a bit of an Easter Egg hunt to get to it... Looks interesting. ← There it is, although with all due respect, this is not a bonus disc of a DVD...it's a restaurant. A simple PDF of a menu on page 1 (sans spash which is jus skipped) would suffice. I think this style of web page is a little dated. Music....yikes so 2004. I suggest you click on Bymark's site and compare the music.

Charming website ← Now if only it had a menu and some additional information?

After Ami Pataki's review of the same http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/197460 I think I may wait a while before trying.

For a splurge go to Splendido or Canoe. I think that you can go to Jamie Kennedy Wine bar by yourself and sit at the bar and have a pretty good time.

.... Oh nevermind.

In your opinion.

Crush, Far Niente, or Reds. Have been with groups about that size and I think the price may be OK sans liquor.

No Zins here in that range. I would go with the Mount Eden Estate Cabernet. VINTAGES Item # 31831 $ 49.95 and buy three bottles. I think its a great wine and great price. I think Queens Quay still has some and a few other stores if you check www.lcbo.com. I am unable to advise on Bordeaux since, IMHO, I do not think there are any values from Bordeaux at the LCBO as compared with the US market. The good Pinots are snapped up at that range. I seached for 3 that I know of that are no longer in the system.

Very interesting post. I did notice the year was off on the Struie in the system. I do have some 96 left and some 00 of the Mount Eden. Did by 4 of the 01 and plan to hold off. I find this stuff ages up there with Peter Michael and Marcassin.

I think that what happens is there is product that agents bring in and then end up not being able to sell them to their clients and then arrange to sell them through the LCBO after the fact OR people buy from agents and I think that since all wines are technically purchased through the LCBO, the must accept returns. I have seen this happen many times, usually wines with the orange stickers. I think this is why it is so hit and miss. Case in point, many many bottles of the 2002 Spottswoode showed up 6 months before it came out in the classics. I think classics got it at the same time but held back on the release and then the agent was overloaded and need to unload. I read in a newspaper a rant about not being able to taste the ISD's. My view is that (i) I would prefer the LCBO not waste a few bottles on the trade with the small amount they have (I personally could care less what any writer in Canada has to say about wines other than Canadian wines) just so people can have a local review, since there are many writers out there other than local writers, case in point Robert Parker rated the Mount Eden 2001 Chardonnay with 93 points and that is good enough for me and should be for many out there so why do I need a local writers view, and (ii) local reviews appeal to those who do nothing more than open up the local rags that review wine each week and ..... surprise surprise the reviews seem very close, if not identical, to the other major reviews - I mean really, does a local writer need to tell me the Bollinger RD is outstanding...PLEEASE!). I think it is impossible to understand the LCBO.

Looks like you went to the Sun Sui Wah in Richmond. Never been to that one...actually I always thought that the only one was the one on Main. Nice photos.

For those looking for great California values I suggest you try to pick up some of the Mount Eden Cab and Chardonnay that were in today's release. Very little out there (40 cases total of the Chard and 18 of the Cab). Both around $47 bucks. These ISD's will not have write ups by the locals (for those who care) which make them a little easier to get since many prefer to follow. Also, there are a few bottles of the 2004 Torbreck Struie Shiraz to be found. Also around the same price.

You may also want to check out the review in today's Toronto Star from Amy Pataki as she notes the prices of her meals. Her review is there also.

Interesting since I never really thought of Sun Sui Wah as a great place for dim sum. Dinner yes, but not a willing to crawl through glass fan of the dim sum there. Now the fresh King Crab when in season, I would crall through broken glass to eat that....sadly, the little critters do not make their way to Toronto that often.

I see!

If it is not in the link provided TOP GUN just of Garden City is some of the best I have had (discounts before 11). I have been to about a hundred+ places in Vancouver and Toronto and this is the best out there! Outstanding jook (would use the word congee but I refer to the dish in cantonese and not the Tamil origin form - I had never heard of congee except from Gui Lo's :-) like ME and only when I moved to Toronto).

Valid point. I have not been to Perigee so I really could not compare the two.

Keep in mind, it was not good enough for me to even remember when I was there.

I do not think of the QG as a loss but of an experiment gone bad. Since no one was keen on some old QG wine I had for sale, I drank the last 94 I had on the weekend, which was palatable but not much more. Very little varietal characteristics. This stuff does not hold up. The others I think I will donate to some BC charity auction for a tax receipt. I will not bother drinking them. QG sets out the drinking windown on their site. Funny, but the 94 was not even listed. I recall it may have been the first one. http://www.quailsgate.com/media/QG_WineMaturationChart.pdf

I can not remember the last time I was there. I think it may have been a year ago? Each time I think about going back I look at the prices and pass. When I was there I recall it was good but not worth the $$$$. I have no idea how much a private function would cost, I would think alot!

Those look like some good thick portions.

Sure but it is a review nonetheless. If I owned the place and saw a staff member kicking some paper around and not picking it up I would fire his ass ASAP as this is just plain sloppy and not professional. In front of customers makes it soo much worse. I think that when I saw part of the review I was able to get a visual picture of things. To have this at the start of your dinner would also bug me. I love to see both sides of the coin. I actually found the menu on line a little too much of everything. Can someone tell me what the supplement refers to. I assume you can put a tasting menu together but can not see a reference to the same (in which case if so the supplement price reference makes sense). Would a negative review turn me off, only if it was from someone that I have been able to guage my tastes too. The prices seem OK too in my view. If I was in Vancouver I would give this place a shot.

Sounds good. I think that I may just go back this weekend. ← I did go back last Saturday. Each time I go back I love this place. We tried many new things, including a grilled ocean pike dish with a japanese BBQ sauce which was fantastic and another very very spicy hot octopus dish (sorry I can not remember the name as I was well into the second large beer by then). As always the noodles are great. My wife also thinks this place is outstanding! It got us thinking about perhaps taking our vacation in Japan this May.....then the thought of the jet lag set in....yikes.

Great notes. Thanks. I think I agree with many of your notes. I have not been to the Japanese place you noted.