As a brunch staple goes, eggs benny still tops my list. Still, there are times I’m craving something different, even if it’s just slightly enhanced for brunch. Enter Le Lert, a Thai influenced restaurant located near College Station. Don’t worry, they still serve a plethora of egg dishes, it’s just that it’s paired with pork belly and tom yum instead.

Such as the pork belly avo ($20) where a silky scrambled egg omelette is covered with slices of roasted pork belly and placed on avocado toast, which is great for soaking up the other ingredients. The dish is drizzled with thinned hoisin creating a sweet and savoury flavour that’s so different from the traditional salt and pepper.

And for vegetarians, their vegan menu offered some of our favourite dishes of the meal. The coconut curry used in the jackfruit curry ($22) was fragrant and just flavourful enough to entice you to have one more bite. Using large chunks of the fruit, it soaked up the sauce’s flavours and provided a meaty texture to the dish. It’s not exactly brunch but add some of the omelette to the curry to create a hearty meal.

Even though it was the last dish to arrive, the jackfruit dip ($13) could be a great starter. Jackfruit is tossed with Thai salsa, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and a chili jam, creating a flavourful concoction that’s spicy, sour, and slightly sweet. It’s great spooned onto the extra-large pappadums or works wonderfully as a condiment.

You’ll want to make sure you order the jack fruit dip and pork belly avo to go with the salmon tom-yum quesadilla ($18) as there wasn’t an ounce of tom-yum in the dish. Still, the well toasted quesadilla contained a generous portion of salmon fillet, and the poached egg added a nice rich saucy element. Yet, add some of the extra smashed avocado and the jack fruit dip onto the tortilla and the dish is perfect. And for the price, it’s a very big portion.

The umami pasta ($26) sees spaghetti swimming in a creamy miso sauce liberally topped with tobiko. Topped with seaweed and scallop, Le Lert’s not kidding when they say this is an umami laced pasta. Though I’d find it too rich for a single person, instead great for sharing.

Le Lert offers an extensive drinks menu – both alcoholic and virgin. The black jack matcha highball ($14.95) could have used a bit more of the jasmine honey syrup to sweeten the whisky, matcha powdered, and blood orange juice, but it was refreshing and had a floral element from the mint syrup, yuzu, and orange blossom.

Some customers may find the font a bit hard to read but since a lot of their cocktails are card inspired (Black Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Joker) maybe you just close your eyes and pick a card. Sometimes in life you need to try something different, give it a chance.

With a name like Pink Sky, I’m expecting a café, bubble tea shop, or maybe even a candy emporium. What I’m not expecting is a seafood restaurant. Hence, I’ve walked by the storefront on many occasions but never seriously planned a visit. I chalked it up to a place to be “seen” and party, but not for real meal.

Remnants of the former Weslodge are still apparent: the expansive bar and (on occasions) the unobtrusive DJ spinning beats on the second floor. Yet, Pink Sky has a coziness to it that feels different. The ease of making reservations, not being rushed with seating limits, and sit-a-while comfortable chairs – there’s even an element of hospitality that the former restaurant was missing that exists now.

If you’re in the mood for some light bites, their menu includes a selection of hot and cold appetizers that are great for sharing. For a simple crispy calamari ($24) the appetizer was tasty, the light breading incorporating salt, pepper, and sumac adding flavour so the spicy mayo wasn’t even required. And if you’re feeling adventurous, take a bite of the deep-fried lemon slices, my friends found this surprisingly tasty.

The beef tartare ($22) needs more than four pieces of too oily toasted sourdough to go through meat mixture. Yet, it had a lovely freshness from the bits of apple and tarragon incorporated into the recipe. Still, it’s not overly heavy in comparison to the predominantly seafood focused menu.

I preferred the beef to the tuna tartare ($26), which contained so much puffed rice that I half expected the dish to go snap, crackle, and pop. What little fish remained was completely drowned out by the watermelon and other ingredients.

Pink Sky offers a host of fish on their menu. The whole branzino ($85) was disappointingly small for the price and contained too many stray bones. And while I enjoyed the crispy skin, it might have sat under the broiler for too long as it was slightly overcooked.

Personally, I’d skip the branzino and go for the grilled salmon ($32), which also had a lovely crackling skin but was still flaky and moist. Served as a nice thick slice, the main was surprisingly filling despite it being sparsely served with sautéed spinach and grilled fennel. The dish was a little salty, especially with the lemon butter sauce. Be careful to dip and not pour.

Without any grains, you could augment the fish with a side of frites ($9) to share. They’re hot, thin, and crispy… my kind of fries.

Indeed, the best bang for your buck would be the fish and chips ($32) that arrives as a ginormous piece of beer battered haddock. While the breading was too thick for my tastes, you certainly won’t leave hungry since it also arrives with a generous portion of thick cut chips.

In fact, pair the fish and chips with a wedge salad ($21) and you’ll have enough food for two. The starter uses almost an entire head of iceberg lettuce slathered in a rich and tangy buttermilk ranch dressing, topped with cherry tomatoes, grilled corn, fried onion, and huge chunks of bacon that should be called pork belly pieces. The salad normally also contains blue cheese, but we had it removed and the salad was still hearty and flavourful.

Another sharable dish is the truffle lobster mac and cheese ($46) that has a cheese pull that’d make any dairy lover swoon. Big tubes of rigatoni were tossed in a spicy pickled jalapeño cheese sauce and topped with bread crumb and chives. It’s an interesting decision to include the jalapeno, I found it balanced out the truffle oil, which can sometimes be overwhelming. If anything, it just needed more lobster as there wasn’t much to go around.

Pink Sky’s seafood risotto ($34) has a spicy tomato sauce base, so the dish ends up tasting like a cioppino risotto. It’s a twist that I don’t mind given I love the hearty seafood stew but could be disappointing if you’re expecting a more traditional saffron taste. All in all, it incorporated a passable portion of seafood (mussels, shrimp, and whitefish) although the mussels could have been fresher.

Located in the bustling area of King West, Pink Sky is an ideal pre-clubbing dinner destination. Their varied menu means you can choose a lighter dish to avoid sporting a food belly or go big with the fish and chips to soak up the liberations to come. One thing is for sure, it isn’t a frilly café, you’re coming for the food.  

Read mainstream articles written about And/Ore and their two-in-one concept and stunning décor are well cited characteristics. With that in mind, I’m not going to rehash these details and instead focus on Ore, the restaurant located on the bottom floor of the building.

As you descend by elevator into the cavernous dining room, it gives off a haunting tunnel-like ambiance. It’s here they serve their 8-course tasting menu ($150) with an optional wine pairing ($80) that’s begins with a glass of champagne and ends with a cocktail (in our case, a floral espresso martini).

The starting bites were a hit and a miss. The hit being a crispy and creamy arancini adorned with aioli and truffle shavings that made for an amazing first taste. This was followed by the biggest miss of the evening, a fishy tasting piece of fluke that couldn’t even be saved by the grapefruit segments. I quickly chased this down with the tuille wonton topped with caviar, which would seem inventive if it weren’t for the off-putting taste still lingering in my mouth.

At least the Timbit sized bread was as delicious as it looked: hot, soft, and buttery… three words that all milk bread should aspire to achieve.

Beautifully caramelized, the scallop was just cooked through and sat in a delicious lettuce and leek oil sauce. At first glance, the sheer number of hazelnuts and diced pear seemed excessive, but somehow worked. In fact, for someone who dislikes nuts and fruit on savoury things, I really enjoyed the dish.

Our table unanimously declared the maitake as our favourite item. The mushroom was cooked perfectly taking on a meaty feel. The celeriac base held a hint of curry, but the entire dish mellowed with a splash of vinegar. The only miss was the unfortunate wine pairing, which I can only describe as “salon-like” with its aroma of perming solution and soapy floral taste.

Chef Missy Hui should consider leaning more towards a “vegetable first” menu as she does meatless dishes beautifully. The roasted honeynut squash looked plain but was flavourful in a bright refreshing manner. Who would have known salsa verde could be a great compliment for root vegetables? And I love how she brushed the shiso leaf with egg white, rather than dipping it in tempura, to create a crispy but not oily bite.

The salmon was poached to a medium doneness, so it was juicy and tender. And while I enjoyed the cucumber and green tomato garnishes, I can’t help but feel it was missing something. A grain of some sort, whether it be couscous to keep it light or a risotto to make it hearty would be appreciated.

Generally, I find sorbet palette cleansers to be too sour or sweet. At Ore, their pear sorbet was fantastic with a hint of nuttiness and a cold pop from the semi-frozen green grape. Can I get another one of these with dessert?

Boy did the short rib smell amazing glazed in a lemongrass (?) and soy demi glace. And while the sauce was a tad salty, it did fully permeate the chunk of tender beef. Yet, it was the fluffy smoked potato dumpling that stole the show for me. You can’t go wrong with meat and potatoes.

When I heard their dessert was Black Forest cake, childhood memories of disappointing birthday celebrations flooded my mind. Luckily, Ore’s rendition was good, incorporating a moist chocolate cake and Amarena cherries that had its sweetness balanced with bourbon. Ultimately, it was the dark chocolate ganache that really helped bring it all together… maybe this cake has redeemed itself.

Ore’s petit fours were a welcomed ending. While the rum baba needed more liquor to not taste like a profiterole, I enjoyed the bite along with the soft chewy macaron and micro chocolate truffle.

Sitting in the cave-like environment, I couldn’t help but get sleepy, especially as our meal went past the 3-hour mark. Ore attempted to keep us awake by blasting music, which was too loud for the enclosed low ceiling environment. As much as I enjoyed the unique dining room, increasing the meal’s pace and decreasing the music’s volume are some small changes Ore could implement. 

Do you have a favourite neighbourhood restaurant? It’s that place you head out to for an impromptu meal, somewhere that offers a solid menu with reasonable prices, and you know you can likely score a table without waiting too long. The food may not be Michelin quality, but you’re usually not disappointed, and the menu’s varied enough that you’ll find something to eat. If I lived in the Yonge and Eglinton area, Wild Chicory could be one of those favourite local haunts.

Their menu is extensive, with several starters that would work well as “tapas” or even act as a main with a side dish, for nights when you don’t have a big appetite. The flavours of the Seoul chicken ($16) were decent – a combination of sweet, sour, and spicy – but could use more gochujang for heat and less rice vinegar as it was a tad tart for my taste. Crispy and juicy, these would have been even better if it arrived hotter.

My husband hypothesized that the chicken likely got cold as they were waiting on the rice nuggets in the crispy pork belly ($17). Indeed, they were searingly hot, very crunchy and addicting – the best part of the dish. Disappointingly, the pork belly wasn’t actually crispy. Perhaps it’s because the big chunks of meat are difficult to render and the dish would be better served as slices so there’s a larger surface area. More likely, there could just be too much hoisin sauce covering everything, which I did find overpowering and would have worked better smeared on the plate so diners can adjust the amount they want on the pork.

The problem with such strong-tasting starters is that the mains feel bland in comparison. A special that evening was the beef rib ($28) that was prepared to tender but not too soft. However, a thick piece of beef needs liberal seasoning to permeate into the meat. When I was having it au natural, it tasted plain. Luckily, the dish did come with a creamy sweet corn bisque and barbeque sauce, two things to dunk the beef into. What impressed me most were the sides, a light creamy potato salad that was bursting with flavours and a crispy and fresh coleslaw.

In the coast to coast ($38), only the scallops were seasoned perfectly, the bit of salt enhancing the beautifully crusted seafood that arrive just cooked through. The salmon was okay, not overly flavourful but at least had a lovely crispy skin. If it was done a touch less it’d be even better since the dish doesn’t come with a sauce and the fish tends to dry out quickly. Meanwhile, the leek and pea barley was too mild and so over powered by the lemon foam that it started having a bitter undertone. Perhaps, it could have been saved with salt.

Maybe I was lucky I didn’t finish the barley as it left me room to share Wild Chicory’s tiramisu ($12), it was delicious… the perfect balance of soaked lady fingers and mascarpone laced cream. Shaving chocolate on top was a nice touch, but I’d still add a touch of cocoa powder as its bitterness would better balance the dessert. Consequently, the tiramisu’s sweetness did go particularly well with an espresso martini ($17), which had a slight bitterness that diluted the sugariness.

Ah… an espresso martini, my go-to drink lately for elongating a meal to make it last a little longer. And time is what you have at Wild Chicory: you’re not being rushed to leave or warned about a two-hour seating limit. That’s how neighbourhood spots should be – walk-in, choose something new or order a favourite, and then just sit back and enjoy.

Since restaurants have been gradually opening for stage two and three in Toronto, I’ve gotten into conversations with friends and loved ones about why even dine in a restaurant, they all offer take out and some deliver. Isn’t it just convenient, not to mention safer, to just continue eating their food at home?

At first, I gave the easy answers: the food tastes so much better fresh (boy does it) and I’m already wracked with guilt about all the takeout containers I’ve used, anything to go back to less plastic waste (although, I know, even dining in means more waste lately from the one-use menus and the number of wipes discarded). But then I realized, it’s also about the connection you feel with the food.

It really came out when I settled in to try to write this post about my delivery experience with Cucina Di Paisano… yes, I can talk about the food and how it tastes, but other than that I felt very little connection to the restaurant itself. There were no past dining experiences I could re-collect and no feeling of nostalgia towards the dishes themselves.

So, to me, all I can describe is how their Caesar salad ($12 for large size) used way too much dressing, so much so that if I actually had romaine lettuce on hand I could have augment the salad by another 50% without skimping on flavour. And that despite the relatively higher price point for the salad, it was a bare bones interpretation of the dish: lettuce, sauce, a few croutons, and powdered parmesan instead of shavings.

On other dishes, they don’t skimp on the cheese, such as the garlic bread ($8), a hefty portion with six thick baguettes covered with ample amount of the dairy. Although, I would have traded some of the mozzarella for garlic as it just tasted like bread with butter and cheese.

While I didn’t taste their eggplant parmigano ($18), it’s another dish encapsulated with mozzarella and is made to feed two given you’re provided with so many pieces of eggplant, a side of penne big enough to feed a child, and an equal amount of vegetables. Paisano knew that cheese is the way to my husband’s heart (emotionally and literally) as he loved the dish.

Since the meal was being delivered, I moderated my expectations for the grilled salmon ($23) and knew it wouldn’t be a lovely pink doneness in the centre. Indeed, it was cooked through-and-through but still fairly moist, especially on the thinner end where there’s more fat in the meat. The simple lemon, basil, and olive oil was just enough to flavour the fish and compared to everything else the dish was a more manageable serving with crunchy vegetables (broccoli, peppers, and carrots) and the roasted potatoes that arrived overdone but nonetheless flavourful and creamy.

I guess it would be remiss of me not to mention that if you’re doing takeout, they have four great 2-for-1 options that are an economical choice. If it’s anything like their eggplant parmiagno, you may have enough food for a family of four. I wish I could do Cucina Di Paisano greater justice with this post, but try as I might, it’s difficult when there’s no connection to draw upon.