Category Neighborhoods

Oh, there’s no getting over the fried perch of Dover.

#thebeachhouse #portdover #lakeerie #beautyview #greatfood #greatlake #roadtrip

Fried perch at The Beach House in Port Dover, ON. So tender and sweet. And the view is mesmerizing.

The Beach House
2 Walker Street
Port Dover, ON N0A 1N0
Telephone:(519) 583-0880

Susur Lee’s Chinese food restaurant, Luckee, is a jewel. From the moment you enter the door, thoughtful details – from décor to Nouvelle Chinoise delicacies – stir you sensually.

Enter from Toronto’s SoHo Metropolitan Hotel through the sultry bar, accented with ultra-feminine hits of lipstick red, sumptuous velvet, and a stunning, floor-to-ceiling canvas.

Asian motifs are repeated throughout the décor – in the delightful butterfly and lantern decals at the street entrance, in the beautiful floor tiles, and a flashy neon sign. Even the intricate pillars are pretty. Juxtaposed against modern wooden tables and chairs, sleek black tile, and dark wood floors and panelling, the décor is an embrace of masculine and feminine, modern and traditional.

Catch a glimpse through the open kitchen of the hidden gems soon to be revealed at your table.

Steamed Long Xia Gow are plump, supple dumplings filled with luxurious lobster and asparagus, and garnished with green onion. Siu Mai (steamed chicken and shrimp dumplings) are crowned with scallop and black truffle.

Steamed Long Xia Gow and Siu Mai

Leave the delicate Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork soup dumplings) in your bowl when you tear into them; a delicious broth of tender, shredded pork will cascade out.

One of the things I love about dim sum is the dipping sauces. Luckee serves a variety of exquisite, housemade sauces. Crispy, caramelized Chicken Pot Stickers (stuffed with chicken, chives, and cabbage) are served with black vinegar ginger dip. Soya dip is laced with fresh, hot chili peppers. Chef Susur Lee’s Sriracha and Chinese mustard have different flavours of heat. A bright, ginger and green onion pesto adds a whole new, fresh dimension.

Chicken Pot Stickers and Salt and Pepper Spiced Squid

There’s a bounty of seafood delicacies to choose from, like Salt & Pepper Spiced Squid. Hong Kong Style Steamed Whole Sea Bass is so tender and sweet, garnished with julienned red pepper, leeks, and ginger, and dressed at the table with sweet soya juice.

Hong Kong Style Steamed Whole Sea Bass and Spicy Soya Bean Crumble Shrimp

Succulent Spicy Soya Bean Crumble Shrimp sit on top of crisp cucumber slices in a gorgeous puddle of sweet and tangy kaffir lime and Thai basil glaze.

Service is informative and attentive. As much as I enjoy the typical, cheap dim sum dives, the pleasures of our dim sum brunch at Luckee left us feeling utterly pampered. A must-try stop on your next trip into T Dot.

Luckee Restaurant and Bar
328 Wellington Street West
Toronto, Ontario

Telephone: 416-935-0400

Website: http://luckeerestaurant.com/

Di Liso’s Fine Meats has the best legs in town – duck leg confit, that is! Tender, moist, meaty duck legs are rich and flavourful; the crispy skin my #guiltypleasure. Chef-prepared for this butcher. Priced in range with other duck leg confit available in the burbs but Di Liso’s quality makes the drive to St. Lawrence Market absolutely worth the trip. Definitely my go-to-guys for duck leg confit in our region. Can’t wait to try their duck sous-vide, chocolate and caramel pork tenderloin, and Mennonite-prepared stuffed boneless chicken legs.

Left photo credit: Angela Mondou

Confit is a traditional French method of preparing duck: legs are covered in duck fat and cooked slowly at low temperatures to tenderize while retaining flavour and moisture.  All you have to do is warm up the prepared duck confit under the broiler until skin is crispy and meat is hot. Here is how I served it for my girlfriends on our fabulous weekend getaway: on a bed of greens, with fresh fig, tiny dabs of fig goat cheese, and fig vinegar (all available at the market). High in fat but during an active weekend of night snowshoeing, dancing until 2:00 am, and yoga in the morning I figured we girls deserved a treat! Such a satisfying indulgence and so easy and special for entertaining.

To avoid the crowds at the market, get there very early on a Saturday morning or just after morning traffic on a Friday. If you look for it, you can find public parking dirt cheap within two blocks of the market – if I tell you where I’d have to kill you after. 😉

Di Liso’s Fine Meats
91 Front Street East
Toronto, ON
M5E 1C4
(St. Lawrence Market)

Contact info, map, website, and hours here: http://www.dilisosmeats.com/contact.html

Craving a bite of homemade lasagna but can’t even dream up the time to cook it? Molisana Bakery layers soft sheets of lasagna with cheese and a ragù of meltingly tender ground meat in tomato sauce. Packed with homemade flavour. Total comfort food. Priced right. Olive it!

The Molisana ladies make about 20 lasagnas a day. Call ahead to order because these beauties sell out quickly. Dinner – fast, cheap, delicious – done!

Molisana Bakery
1474 Pickwick Drive, Unit 1
Mississauga, ON
L5V 2G2

Telephone: 905-826-8260

Barrie’s The Farmhouse puts a fresh, hip spin on family dining with a focus on farm-to-table, locally sourced food. Here’s a quick glimpse of a great night we enjoyed while dining there with family this fall.

Good variety of starters to choose from, like freshly-shucked PEI oysters or french onion soup brimming with cheese.

French onion soup and freshly shucked PEI oysters.

Entrées come with two sides from a choice of eleven, including: roast garlic mash, baked potato with three cheese bacon butter, mac’n’cheese, daily soup, daily grain, three types of salads, and baked beans.

Roasted chicken with garden herb pesto, farmhouse greens salad, and baked beans.

Side salads, like romaine salad with house-smoked bacon and parmesan vinaigrette, are served in charming mason jars.

Romaine salad with parmesan vinaigrette.

Feltis Farm fries are served in mini deep fryer baskets.

Flaxseed-crusted seared tuna with Feltis Farm fries and daily salad.

The side daily vegetable that night was a delicious combo of pretty beets and fresh kale sautéed in thyme butter. The daily salad had beets in it too. A healthy dose of fresh vegetables – olive it!

Crispy trout with maple lemon butter, daily salad, and daily vegetable.

The crispy trout with maple lemon butter was so darn good: crisp exterior with a touch of sweetness; rich and moist inside. Others at our table enjoyed the garlic rosemary braised lamb shank, the farmhouse signature roast beef with thyme peppercorn goodness, and the flaxseed-crusted seared tuna with wasabi mayo.

Flaxseed-crusted seared tuna with wasabi mayo and daily salad.

Lots of other creative, farm-to-table-fresh dishes on the menu, including weekend breakfast. Located in a historical building with outdoor patios overlooking the waterfront. A great reason to hop off the 400 on your way up north.