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Located on Yonge near Lawrence, this Mediterranean restaurant offers many favourite dishes from Italy, Portugal, Spain and even Greece. I visited this restaurant for a dinner and came away pretty impressed.

As appetizers, Grilled Calamari were served with Kalamata olives and a cumin spiked vinaigrette that perfectly complemented the texture of this dish. As a main, I tried the seafood paella which featured tiger shrimp, mussels, and of course, chorizo sausage. Priced at just $23.95 CAD, it was a relative bargain as the dish was rich, tasty and ingredients seemed top notch.

Other choices on the menu include fresh catch of the day fish specials, and meat selections such as rack of lamb, veal limone and Angus New York steak.

If you’re north of the city and you are in the mood for Mediterranean fares, make sure to visit Mezza Misto.

Address: 3185 Yonge St, Toronto, Ontario
Phone: (416) 485-8338
Website: http://www.mezzamisto.com/

Only Cafe is located on Danforth, east of Pape in a neighborhood with a lot of food offerings. I’ve had the chance to check out the brunch menu (available on the weekend between 9:00AM and 4:00PM), and unfortunately it was a disappointment. The menu is simple, featuring only 10 items. There’s a waffle – smothered in fruits, traditional eggs served with black forest ham or sausages, there’s of course a french toast and they even feature a baked french toast with goat cheese embedded within.

What drew me to the restaurant was the Huevos Rancheros, although what they serve isn’t traditional. Two eggs are topped with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and refried beans. At Only Cafe, they serve it with crispy tortilla chips which ruin the experience. Salsa wasn’t as fresh as it should have been and there wasn’t enough kick to it either.

As long as you avoid Huevos Rancheros, you’ll find the rest of the menu to be pretty good.

[The Only Cafe official website | menus]

Room 39 (or Rm 39 as they write on the website) offers 2 locations: 1 in Leawood and the other in downtown Kansas City. Its menu is full of reasonably priced dishes that are pretty well executed. They do claim that the menu changes daily, but those are minor changes - perhaps done so they could claim their menu changes daily.

I visited the Mission Farms location which opened pretty recently. The interior is pleasant although it doesn’t offer any view (unless you enjoy looking at parked cars). It is a fairly convenient location (on Mission Road, close to 435) and easy to find.

The food itself is what elevates this restaurant from countless other American cuisine eateries. Nicoise Salad ($9) was recommended and the grilled romaine heart was outstanding. Seared yellowfin tuna was average and it definitely could have benefited from a higher quality tuna - perhaps ahi. Another recommendation was chicken livers with bacon, capers and white wine butter ($8) which was pretty successful as the fatty taste was well complimented by capers and the butter.

As for the entrees, I had the chance to taste the smoked pork chop ($23) which was cold smoked preventing the meat from being overcooked. That benefited this dish considerably as the end result was juicy and tender pork chop. Another entree that was great was lamb rack ($27) which was served with grilled potatoes and glazed carrots. It was nothing exceptional but it was beyond average, and especially at that price, it is a great deal.

In the end, this restaurant will not be known as the best of the bunch, but coupled with reasonable prices and better than average food, it will build a solid clientele.

[Visit website for directions and menus]

Terra isn’t technically inside the city of Toronto, but it offers one of the most rewarding dining experience in the GTA area. Granted it doesn’t have the view of the cityscape, or the most expensive menu, but its blend of high quality ingredients and great food combinations make it worth visiting. Their menu does change every now and then to reflect the availability of the ingredients, but there are a few staples worth mentioning. Their seared ahi-tuna ($16.95) in a honey-wasabi soya glaze is perfectly executed with the glaze adding just enough spice to this delicate fish. Another recommendation is the duck confit ($32.95) which is prepared crispy with Yukon fries in a porcini sauce. It isn’t a traditional French taste, but they manage it pretty well.

In addition to the main dining area, they also offer a separate Tapas and Oyster bar. The prices are a bit on the high side for tapas (crispy lobster and prawn dumplings for $21.95 seems a bit excessive) but the taste is great. They wisely avoid going the traditional route with tapas, as this restaurant is anything but traditional. Its modern decor and ambiance screams high end, and the oyster bar is one of the best I’ve seen in GTA. You can have oysters starting from Merigomish (New Brunswick) all the way to Kumamoto (Washington): I would strongly recommend getting a dozen assorted oysters ($19.95) as it’s really tough to just eat one.

If you’re looking for fine dining outside of the city downtown, all you have to do is venture a little bit north (to 8199 Yonge Street, to be precise). Once you start tasting the food, you’ll forget you’re no longer inside Toronto.

[Visit Terra Restaurant's website for more information and menu]

When you name your restaurant Vegetarian Haven, you are catering to a very specific market. Folks may want to choose vegetarian option in a regular restaurant, but it is tough to get them to a place where the know they won’t be able to order juicy meat. Unfortunately, this restaurant won’t make any converts.

The menu features everything you would expect from a vegetarian restaurant, such as vegetables, rice, noodles, veggie burger, wraps and many tofu dishes. They also cook something called seitan (also known as wheat meat or gluten) which is made by washing wheat flour dough with water to obtain gluten. It is chewy, and different from the texture of tofu, but it is nothing special as it is pretty bland. Another vegetarian product they serve is tempeh, basically soybeans. It does taste different from tofu even though they are made from the same ingredient as tempeh is a lot firmer and stronger in flavor. If you are bored of tofu dishes, and eating meat is out of the question, tempeh could be an interesting change of pace.

Restaurant itself is nicely decorated, prices are reasonable, and the dishes I have tried were pretty good. If you don’t mind giving up the meat for one meal, tempeh or seitan is worth giving a try.

[Visit Vegetarian Haven's website for location and menu]

If you want Greek food in Toronto, your best bet is to go to Danforth area where Greek restaurants are plentiful. The trick is to figure out where local Greek population go out to eat, and if my visit to Mezes is any indication, many of them choose this restaurant. Open since 1996, this restaurant is cozy with just 65 seats. Without reservations, you should be prepared for a long wait.

The restaurant’s menu features all the traditional Greek fares such as filo pastries, souvlakis, plenty of dips and mousaka. No matter what you choose in the menu, you will be greeted with authentic smell and taste. Atmosphere is vibrant, especially during dinner time where all the times are full with patrons and savory food, and the prices are very reasonable.

When you visit GreekTown and you are looking for an authentic experience, make your way to Mezes which is located at Danforth and Logan intersection.

In a city as diverse as Toronto, it’s always fun to discover new restaurants featuring ethnic cuisine of other than Canada and United States. The Boulevard Cafe (located in the Annex at 161 Harbord St) is a cozy eatery featuring pretty good Peruvian dishes at very reasonable prices.

Peruvian cuisine is well-known for its meat and seafood - without becoming Surf & Turf - and The Boulevard Cafe delivers with its menu filled with traditional grilled fares such as Anticuchos featuring beef tenderloins, and varying selections of fish and shrimp. If meat is what you crave for, then Parrillada Mixta is perfect as you can taste lamb, chicken, beef and sausage expertly grilled for just under $20.

The Boulevard Cafe doesn’t try anything needlessly fancy with its food, and thankfully it is devoid of most attempts of fusion food. What you’ll get is good traditional entrees, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

[Visit website for menus and more | Visit OpenTable for online reservations]

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Ted’s Montana Grill is a franchise with locations on the Eastern Seaboard and Midwest of the United States. I’ve visted their Kansas City location near the airport, but I’m assuming the menu and the food don’t vary from region to region (Click here for a list of locations). So what makes Ted’s stand out compared to countless other grills? Their fame is bison meat as evidenced by the logo featuring a buffalo.

Bison meat is available in steak form or in burger form: since I was there for lunch, I decided to try the Vermejo (Monterey Jack cheese, grilled onions & mushrooms), served with fries and a nice American flag on the side - as if I somehow forgot that burgers are instinctively American. No matter, what’s important here is the taste. Fortunately for the restaurant, the meat did not let me down. This was only my second time biting into a buffalo, and the meat was very tender. Mine was cooked to medium-well which is my favorite setting for burger meat, and it was definitely more flavorful than beef. The accoutrements blended well together although it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that cheese goes well with mushroom.

Another little thing that adds to the dining experience is the pickles… they’re not the salty variety usually found in diners and rightfully so. Instead, pickles here with slight hint of peppercorn are light and go well with summery drinks - in this case a chilled glass of a nice rose. In the end, this fairly upscale American-style diner benefits from bison as its meat is tender, juicy and perfect for burgers. With over 25 varieties to choose from, in addition to traditional steak cuts and other dishes, Ted’s Montana Grill is sure to please.