Tag Archives: Restaurant Review

Tarahumara – Impossible to pronounce – but awesomely good Mexican


I’m in Park City, Utah – home of Sundance Movie Festival, Deer Valley Ski area – and some pretty incredible Mexican food. And the very best of the bunch is not located in Park City – it’s actually in Midway!

Located in a small shopping mall, this family run restaurant literally packs people in. We tried to go on a Friday night – too many people. We tried again on a Tuesday – and things were lots better – crowds had dispersed – and it was family night. There was a clown doing face painting – free – but you don’t go for the family entertainment.

Nope – you go for the food. On the blackboard over the simple counter is the list of intriguing options – from Mango and Pineapple Chicken Quesadilla to Mole Poblano, Scallops in Passion Fruit & Tomatillo Sauce to a selection of Burritos and Tacos.

You line up to order – get handed chips to carry back to your table, along with your table number. A quick trip to the 30 item salsa bar nets you a selection of different salsas – from ‘kids salsa (my favorite)’ to 3 fire versions that are clearly way hotter than I’m willing to try!

Weaving your way past table after table packed with families on a Tuesday night out, you finally score a table – make sure your number is visible, and wait. Sooner rather than later, your order arrives – more food than you can possibly eat at a price that makes you want to come back the next day. Can you say – Wow?

I got the Mango and Pineapple Chicken Quesadilla – and it was outstanding. Other dishes that appeared on our table included the Scallops, a Mole Pablano, and a yummy Ceviche. For dessert we shared the home-made cherry pie – gently warmed. And I picked up a giant-sized cookie to take skiing with me the next day.

Inexpensive, delicious, memorable, and fun. A prefect recipe for a repeat trip!

Tarahumara on Urbanspoon

Bistro 1843 – crazy location, awesome food


Who’d a thunk it? A crazily great place to eat on Ile Bizzard. I mean – I thought ile Bizzard was just about the golf courses – not about food.

But there I was – guests of a friend of ours who positively loves great food – and bring your own wine places. He’s clearly an ‘oeniphile’ – that’s someone who knows a ton about wine – with over 1000 bottles in his cellar – and he knows his food too.

So joining him somewhere new to you – but not to him – is definitely going to be good. And this was very very good.

The owners/chef are a bright young – completely bi-lingual couple – who just 6 months ago had their first child. The wife (Sara-Ann) is the hostess, waitress, and general friendly soul, while the husband (Karik) does the cooking – and great cooking it is. Meanwhile the baby is upstairs – with her night-nanny. Turns out the 2nd floor of the historic homestead turned gourmet restaurant is where they live. Talk about a seriously easy comute.

The restaurant has been open for 4.5 years – which just says that sometimes I’m incredibly slow at learning about new places. Our friends have eaten there dozens of times – and were greeted warmly by the hostess – who in addition to providing outstanding service – gifted us with an extra dessert. Given that our meal extended over 3 hours – and she locked up behind us – I’m pretty sure that extra dessert was our reward for last of the night!

Rumor has it that you must make reservations a month in advance – and our friends admit to thinking they have scored if they can get a reserveration with just a week’s notice – yes it’s that good, and that popular.

But I know you are waiting to hear about the food.

The menu is quite limited – as would be expected of a place with just 30 seats, and one chef in the kitchen. The Table d’hote – which just means off the menu – all the meals come with a soup or sald and dessert – had 3 offerings – of which 2 were outstanding. My friends adored their steak – one served with a bernaise sauce – made up to order since it wasn’t supposed to be served that way, and the other had the steak with the reduction of bacon and maple. Yummy. I positivied adored my meal – a completely yummy piece of cod served with figs. My husband’s lamb offering wasn’t quite as good as ours – so sorry dear.

The soup d’jour was a sweet potato ginger concuction that was a tad heavy on the giner – but not so heavy that my husband didn’t lick the bowl.

For entrees, following our friend’s suggestion – we ordered the scallops in curry. Oh my – that was easily the best dish of the evening.

Desserts were also excellent – well presented, and elegant. I tried the walnut tart – packed with walnuts and served with home-made ice cream. My husband had a blueberry upside down cake which he finished with joy. The free dessert i mentioned earlier was the flourless chocolate cake – heavy on cocolate and served with a maple ice cream that I loved.

So – good food, good wine, good friends – comfortable chairs, pleasant surroundings – and the feeling of being in a home – not a high turn over restaurant.

Great meals are made of this.

Bistro 1843 on Urbanspoon

2 Star Michelin Restaurants – Seriously – are they worth the price?


Hard to say actually. We only ate at two 2-star restaurants this trip – the fabulous Atelier in Munich has only 1 star.

The first was the Essigbratlein in Nuremberg, the 2nd was the Fischers Fritz in Berlin. Both are seriously expensive, very elegant, service intensive restaurants – both are clearly intended to offer ‘blow-you-away’ food at prices that will dent your pocketbook.

First – the Essigbratlein. Nuremberg is not Berlin, and one wouldn’t expect either Berlin prices, nor Berlin quality – and you’d be exactly right. The meal at the Essigbratlein – a tiny 10 table hole-in-the-wall located within spitting distance of the Nuremberg Castle – was good – heavy on veggies (unusual in restaurants of this type) – and generous with the wine. But the courses blur together in my memory – delicious why we enjoyed them, but except for the Brussel sprouts with mandarin – not worth blogging about. The one exception were the Brussel sprouts. Not a vegetable I would quickly assume I would enjoy – and in this case – I’d be very wrong. This was a stunning dish. Light, flavorful, full of texture – completely delicious.

And I must compliment the restaurant on the wine service. Traditionally – I don’t order the wine pairing – it’s a lot of money for a lot of alcohol I simply can’t drink. But at the Essigbratlein they went ahead and poured me a sipping portion of each wine served at the table. I could taste, enjoy – and they didn’t charge us. Cool.

Second – the Fischers Fritz. This is a much larger restaurant – more servers, more tables, more space. And located as it is in the Regency Hotel in Berlin, I’m going to guess a much much larger kitchen. The result is as should be expected – a superior experience. Highlights included the Sea Bass in Sel (an entire fish cooked in a flour/salt pastry shell so that the juices are sealed in), and the Cheese Course.

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I adore a cheese trolley – and their trolley was outstanding. On the other hand – they did not accompany the cheese with as many treats as did the Atelier in Munich – so I can only give them a B+ for that course. I also loved the first appetizer – a tartare of sea bass with avocado and quickly fried mini-octopus.

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Wonderful texture, delightful favors, plus it looked great. Unfortunately – the desert was a disaster – I think the Fishers Fritz needs a pastry chef – bad! The ‘franchise’ on the other hand were delightful tiny bites of chocolate truffles, jellies, and treats. They were as good as the desert was bad.

I must admit that while the Fischers Fritz was the better of the two, the Atelier in Munich trumped them both. Oh well – you never know if you never try!

Pazzo Restaurant and Bar in Stratford, Ontario


Pazzo Flashback – Too good to ignore

Sometimes it really is location – location. And Pazzo is perfectly located – right on the walk way between the main theatres in Stratford. It’s insanely hard to avoid getting pulled in. Between the location (perfect) and the adorable cafe tables that liter the sidewalk and the 2 floors of eating establishment – housing a bar, a restaurant and a pizza/restaurant combo – there’s clearly something for everyone.

Our meal was perfectly acceptable – not insanely expensive, well prepared, properly served, and fast. We were naturally rushed (in Stratford – that’s the norm, not the expectation) and as we’ve begun to suspect – restaurants know the pattern and are totally prepared. Our meals were served amazing promptly – including our make to order pizza.

Was it outstanding. Nope. Was it do it again-able. Yes

A B.

Pazzo Pizzeria on Urbanspoon

Pazzo Ristorante Bar & Pizzeria on Foodio54

Pickering, Ontario – More than just a Nuclear Power Plant


Don’t knock Pickering – sure it’s got a Nuclear Power Plant – but it also has the “I love Roti”. Even better – right near by is a Cold Stone Creamery. It’s a win-win for hungry travelers.

I’ve actually ate at the “I Love Roti” before – many years ago when a conference required me to drive from Montreal to Toronto – and I ended up hungry about mid-way. This time was no different –

“I Love Roti” is hardly your white-table cloth restaurant. Located in a mall that offers little else besides a Tim Horton and a Cold Stone Creamery, it’s long, thin, and basic. The menu consists of just a few very traditional foods – chicken with or without bones, in Roti or on rice; beef without bones, and a chicken curry. But what they do – they do right. I got the chicken with bones wrapped in a Roti and served with a delicious home-made curry sauce – and it completely and totally hit the spot. Such a nice option if you don’t feel like American Fast-Food.

After lunch – we strolled over to the Cold Stone Creamery for Ice Cream. Oh my – that was delicious. For those of you who don’t know what Cold Stone is about (and I admit – I didn’t) – the idea is simple. You pick your ice cream flavor, pick your size, and then – this is the cool part – you pick your garnish. There were at least 2 dozen options – from Reese’s Pieces to Toasted Almonds. They put your ice cream on the cold stone (hence the name), and then they chop and dice it to mix up it up for you. It’s delicious.

And a perfect way to break up a long drive.

I Love Roti on Urbanspoon