Category: Restaurants [之牛牛心得]

Dec 07 2012

Jackson Triggs and Niagara Falls revisited

Another wonders of the world – Niagara Falls.  If you are a follower of my blog, you probably remember I went there with a few of my friends last month to see the Winter Festival of Lights, you can find that post here “Niagara Falls Weekend 2012”.  Most of the times my friends would drive when we travel to places which require long driving hours but this time, I had to be the host for my guest.  You might ask, why?  very simple, because I have no patience driving long hours 😛  And to be safe, I booked a hotel there so we could stay a night then drive back the next day 😛

Our first stop of the day was Jackson Triggs – Jackson-Triggs is a blend of  founders’ names Allan Jackson and Don Triggs, who established the winery in 1993.  I also went there once a long time ago, but this time I had a super cool digital camera with me, hehe  Anyways, the wine tour was great, though all the grapes died out already because of the cold weather but a look inside the machines and barrels was awesome!!!  I also bought a few wines that are not sold in LCBO too, perfect as X’mas gifts, hehe.

Second stop of the day was Niagara Falls – wonders of the world again 😛  The weather was a lot better than I expected, consider I was there a month ago, it was FREEZING… but surprisingly it wasn’t that bad this time, we could actually stay outside for a couple of hours near the falls and the main area, finally got a chance to really walk around in details and of course, tons of pictures were taken 😀  Had our dinner at one of the Montana’s – yet, another famous chain restaurant in Toronto, don’t think I need to say much about it here 😛  Anyways, it was really fun hanging out in bars, D&B and bars again the whole night 😛

More photos of the whole album on my facebook link here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151326100620211.522211.689775210&type=1&l=aaf259f425

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Dec 06 2012

Downtown hang out – CN Tower revisited + misc.

My friend Michael came to Toronto for a short visit so it was my pleasure to show him around like a tour guide, tho I have no sense of direction at all :-p.  I chose to go downtown first because it was a Thursday, not a lot of traffics and people 😉  Our first stop was one of the wonders of the world – CN Tower – world’s tallest tower at one time.  Tho I had been there a few times, the tower itself remains the same, inside hasn’t really changed much over the years but they added a new attraction on top of the tower – Edge Walk, the outside looked a little different, under construction at the moment, was told they are improving the area.

Then we headed to Eaton’s Centre, not a wonder of the world but one of the biggest mall in Toronto hehe.  After a short tour around, we stopped by Trattoria Mercatto – Classic Italian food since 1997.  I had been to Eaton’s Centre soo many times but it was actually my first time trying this restaurant.  From their interior design to their food choices, everything was pretty amazing 😀  So if you are looking for a diner after a day of shopping, this is a perfect choice since it is right inside the mall, hehe.

BTW, I got lost a few times while trying to get to our destinations in downtown 😛

More photos of the whole album on my facebook link here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151326100620211.522211.689775210&type=1&l=aaf259f425

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Nov 28 2012

Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill

While we were at Bayview Village shopping, of course we had to find something to fill our empty stomachs, Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill, the very first restaurant when you enter the shopping mall.  This large urban space feels very downtown despite its North Toronto location. A gleaming open kitchen extends into the airy dining room, featuring washed tin ceilings, leather banquettes and dramatic and distinctive light fixtures.  I strongly recommend this place because of their nice constructions inside which makes you feel very causal and formal at the same time.  Food wise, 2 thumbs up!!!

Sorry for the shaky food pictures, I didn’t realize until now, guess I was really hungry 😛

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Nov 03 2012

Niagara Falls Weekend 2012

We planned going to this event for sometime because of the 30th Annual CAA opening ceremonies with Disney Winter Festival of Lights at Niagara Falls Ontario.  It was cold and rainy all day Friday but our trip still went on no matter what :p

After our breakfast and 1.5 hrs of driving, we arrived at our first stop, Niagara Parks – Butterfly Conservatory.  Most people know that I hate anything with more than 4 legs, but because I had never been there, I had to take a look inside…  When we first got in, I almost freaked out, seriously…  It was a glass house full of butterflies flying around, so many kinds and different sizes, the biggest one was as big as my hand…  Well, after a few minutes of walking around, it wasn’t as bad as I expected BUT I still can’t stand the fact that sometimes those butterflies would land on your head, arms, legs, etc. …  Anyways, it was a good experience for all of us for sure, it was probably a fairy land for most people but for someone that hate anything with more than 4 legs, umm, I don’t think I will go back :-p

We stayed at Embassy Suite, one of the tallest hotel in Niagara Falls with Falls view, really not bad if you are not afraid of heights :-p  Our dinner was on the 9th floor at the Keg, which also had an amazing view of the falls and food was very good as well.  We were expecting the Grace family to arrive at around 9 but instead, they arrived at  10ish…  Anyways, didn’t really do much that night, went to the bar downstairs with Simon Lam and went to bed after :-p

On to the next day, after having our breakfast at Canada one Factory Outlets, of course shopping time for me, yay!  Didn’t really buy much but we did spend a long time there tho :-p  SkyWheel for Marcus next and we killed sometime there until the time for the Winter Festival of Lights.  It was freaking cold when the event started, I think the temperature must had been about 0º not counting the wind tho but the kids there were soo excited to see Mickey and Minnie and they already forgot about the cold weather…  Anyways, it was a fun experience over all, the shows they provided were a little boring, maybe good for kids but not for me, hehee, fireworks was amazing, extremely close, thumbs up for that 😀

The most horrifying experience was the walk from the event area back up to the eating area.  Like I said, it was really cold, and the walk towards the wind up was horrible…  Anyways, if I even do this again next time, I would be totally prepared I am sure 😀  It must have been like 15 minutes walking but it really felt like 30…  Luckily, with all our toes still attached, we got to Outback, a restaurant that don’t exist any more in Toronto area, don’t really know why but everything there still taste very well :-p  Anyways, I had a great weekend really, the whole trip cost me only $130 with hotel, food and everything, not bad huh?

Tons of facebook pictures here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151276448875211.515167.689775210&type=1

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Oct 26 2012

Joe Sir’s Birthday Dinner @ 利家盛酒家 2012

The birthday of our cooking class teacher Joseph Ho is near so we decided to bring him to a fantastic dinner just like last year.  Joe sir wasn’t able to drive because he got a terrible burn on his both hands from hot boiling frying oil preparing stuffs for a cooking class…  Glad he was OK but his hands were still wrapped up with bandages and stuff, so Christine picked him up to our dinner party gathering 😀  利家盛酒家 was our choice, which has been around in Toronto for sometime, located at 14th Ave. and Kennedy Ave.  A place where you HAVE to make a reservation or you will never get a chance to dine there if you walk in :-p  It was a fantastic restaurant choice aside from other restaurants we go to all the time, price was not bad really, about $40 a head with all the dishes we had, just look at those amazing food pictures below, yum yum…  If you are planning to have a big dinner with at least like 10 people, 利家盛酒家 is really a good place if you don’t want to spend too much, food quality is really not bad either but don’t forget to call to make a reservation tho :-p  anyways, too bad they don’t have a website but luckily, I have their no. 905.475.2822

Well, happy birthday Joe sir and wish his hands will get well soon 😀

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