Spring Grill House (Korean)

Spring Grill House is part of the Spring Sushi chain which we have been to several locations of. It's located at 1441 upper James Street in Hamilton, about 70km SW of Toronto. The lunch menu was only available on weekdays when we went but is now available on weekends as well, which is very good as as it is currently $15 cheaper than the dinner menu, a surprising difference. Amazingly, AYCD fountain pop is included in the price even on lunch, so I'm certainly not going to complain that it's all Pepsi products. BBQ spice at table was very good and a well-chosen and seemingly original spice blend. Interior was gray and modern with all booth seating. Soy at table was thick, fresh, savoury, sweet and delicious.

Miso soup was just the opposite of dilute and was thick with miso, with normal levels of dashi... we both loved it. Mishy enjoyed the seaweed salad, commenting that it was more sweet than salty which is how she prefers it. Thankfully, the kimchi was not excessively hot and I was able to finish it, and it was good enough. French fries were wonderfully crisp and served with a delicious sauce. Pickled radish was quite good. Tofu was deep fried and spicy, and although a little dried out it was still enjoyable.

Honey-glazed General Tso chicken was a nice variant on the usual, and was sort of like sweet-and-sour without the sour, but it was still enjoyable. Mishy ordered the regular General Tso and preferred it although she said it was a little on the sweet side and heavy on the breading. I also prefer the old standard as it has more flavour than the honey-glazed. She also loved the beef noodles, but there are a lot of them in one serving and I ended up finishing about half... good thing I liked them too. Spring rolls were good and not too oily and the sauce was good. Dumpling aka gyoza was well-seasoned. Bean sprouts had excellent if somewhat understated seasoning. Chicken balls although horribly misshapen were quite tasty and I didn't mind the sauce either. Mishy said hers didn't have enough chicken but mine was fine.

From the BBQ, sausage was delicious and it and everything else went very well with the sauce and seasoning. AAA beef was excellent with a nice savour. Beef short ribs were delicious, among the better I've had. Basa fish was delicious with its seasoning and did not require any sauce. I even enjoyed the calamari with its sauce and seasoning. Pineapple was delicious, although I don't think it had any cinnamon on it, but at least it was available. I don't know why they serve the pepper in large rings because it makes it hard to get into the sauce. Steamed bun I included the barbecue because one can use it for DIY sliders; it had a lovely coconutty flavour.

For dessert, there is ice cream and deep fried Oreos, but the latter are $5.99 extra. Matcha ice cream according to Mishy was rather boring lacking matcha flavour. I think it was just green tea rather than matcha, but was pretty good as green tea so possibly mislabelled. She loved the mango ice cream which she said had a powerful flavour like soda pop. I loved it too. With the included pop, this is a superlatively excellent price especially considering the offerings. It was a very good to excellent lunch and worth the trip.

Rating: 8 - 8.5  / 10 + 1.5 value adjustment = 9.5 - 10 / 10

Top of the Fair (Western)

Top of the Fair is located in London (the Ontario one of course!) approx. 200km WSW of Toronto at the harness racing track at 900 King St. There are floor-to-ceiling windows to watch the racetrack from, a racing feed TV at every table, and a betting counter right in the restaurant. In-season it offers a Friday evening dinner buffet when the harness races are being run. Note that after making a reservation, a Google Calendar entry will automatically be added with a one-hour duration, but this limitation can be disregarded as it’s just a default OpenTable duration; table is from arrival until close. Being only three hours in duration, seasonally on a single weekday night, and so far from Toronto, it was a challenge to get there, but we're always up for one... if the results are worth it. AYCD pop is $3 which is reasonable and is Coke products.

Mishy loved the roast beef which is the star of the show and indicated that it was perfectly cooked, juicy and with just the right amount of fat. I do agree was better than average for buffet roast beef, very moist and tender and well-cooked, worth being the star of the show. Watch out as the provided horseradish is not creamed, so is very hot. She also loved the jus although I found it dilute and would have been better-than-average if it wasn’t.

Watermelon, feta and arugula salad was a nice flavour combination and enjoyably different. Harvest orzo salad was alright but understated. Curried chickpea and broccoli salad had some broccoli odour but thankfully tasted better than it smelled and was enjoyable. As I expected, the taco salad with its Mexican flavours was my favourite and I should have had seconds.

Potato gnocchi with forest mushroom ragu was pretty good, although not exemplary, but still enjoyable. Honey mustard roast chicken was a good moist, well-cooked standard roast chicken, as the honey mustard sauce was quite muted, but at least it was still good as roast chicken. Creamy red skin garlic mashed potatoes were very tasty with the savoury garlic, chives, and it seemed a butter flavour, but weren't really any different than better-than-average plain mashed potatoes elsewhere.

Mishy said that the Mediterranean vegetables had a flavour like Band-Aids (she’s used this before), and I think that was due to the marjoram(?) in the seasoning, but I didn’t mind it and thought it was original. Beer-battered fish and chips at least had malt vinegar for the chips, and they appeared to be made on premises rather than commercial. The fish itself and batter was quite good, on a level with a specialized fish-and-chip shop. The tartar sauce is definitely made-on-premises as is better than the stuff out of a bottle, more savoury and with dill notes.

The charcuterie board was, as best as I can describe it, lame, a mess of irregular cheese pieces that appeared to be leftover ends, and one or two prosciutto pieces on the whole platter buried under them. At least they tasted better than they looked, and the smoked gouda was quite “goud”. Cheddar was alright too... there were no other cheeses. The one piece of prosciutto I managed to score was fresh enough. Potato bacon soup was alright, although the seasoning was a little odd, and it really didn't have all the flavour and/or savour it should have given the bacon. Mishy didn’t like it.

For dessert, Mishy said that the caramel cheesecake was divine; I also loved it. Even 200 km from Toronto they still had the ubiquitous King’s Pastry cakes, specifically the strawberry ones. Cherry mascarpone cake was delicious although it seemed more lemony than cherry. Piña colada trifle was an alright trifle except for the missing piña colada, which both of us found undetectable. All of the desserts were pastries on one table; there was no ice cream, pudding, etc. There wasn’t anything bad, undercooked, etc. at Top of the Fair but it seems to err on the side of bland, save the roast beef which was excellent. This would have been a sufficient $40-45 dinner given the prime timeframe, and comparing the offerings to those elsewhere, but unfortunately it was $55.99, which I average out as being $12.50 too expensive. Unfortunately, the final rating suffers significantly for this.

Rating: 7.5-8 / 10 - 2.5 value adjustment = 5-5.5 / 10

August 8 - Stoney Creek (Pan-Asian)

August 8, the fifth iteration of this chain we've reviewed thus far, is located in Stoney Creek, a suburb of Hamilton about 90km SW of Toronto, at 835 Paramount Drive. We went for weekend lunch, is $32.99. August 8 has an elegant high-ceilinged interior. AYCD fountain pop is available for $3.99. iPad menus are used, reusable chopsticks are used thankfully. Ginger is not dyed pink. Soy at table was delicious with wine notes, savoury and not salty at all. One feature is that there is a whole row of over a dozen types of sauces that can be ordered from the menu, which I have not seen it any other restaurant. There is a 90 minute dining limit posted, and this was just enough.

Miso soup was excellent, savoury and not at all dilute. We both loved the beef taco; it certainly wasn't Mexican but was still delicious and I think it had guacamole in it or some other light sauce which did it justice. Plain fries were made interesting by being brown and crispy and much more flavourful than usual. Loaded fries were very good with beef and onions and the same sauce it seems as the tacos.

Steak teriyaki was amazing, and I'm really glad it was all the lunch menu as it was large chunks of delicious beef and the sauce was very good as well. Chicken teriyaki was excellent, not “rubbery”, the sauce was good, and it had a nice smokey savoury flavour. Chicken nuggets are karage and were good but the dipping sauce had a little too much heat for my liking... personal preference. Chicken cutlet aka torikatsu Mishy liked although I found it dry, one of the few times where she preferred something more than I did. The sauce’s flavour was also a little over the top, but at least it had flavour. Mishy really did not care for the beef skewers, saying that they were far too dried out and should not have been served, and although I think that was a bit much, they were certainly dry and I did not enjoy them as much as I should. Chicken was much better being more moist and tender. 

Philadelphia roll was quite good with enough cheese and large chunks of salmon. Mishy enjoyed the salmon nigiri saying that it was fresh and went very well with the soy sauce which more resembled teriyaki-style... it was excellent especially with our brought wasabi. Crab aka surimi nigiri was very good. Surf clam was excellent and super fresh. Red snapper aka tilapia and butterfish aka escolar were very good and very fresh.

For dessert, banana tempura was good and had plenty of chocolate sauce. Lava custard bun was a delicious variety on the classic chocolate-filled bun. Chocolate ice cream was excellent, full of rich chocolate notes, and no freezer burn. Mango ice cream was delicious and while the mango flavour wasn't intense it was very good, and also no freezer-burning. Vanilla was French and quite good.  Weekend lunch is $32.99 and this is with the $3.99 pop a little more than the area, but the offerings were worth it and it was certainly an excellent lunch.

Rating: 9-9.5 / 10 - 0.25 value adjustment = 9 / 10

Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham - Lindsay (Western)

Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham Lindsay is located at 134 Angeline St S., in Lindsay about 100km NE of Toronto. Breakfast buffet is served. It has a small buffet but with enough of the basics. Coffee and juice are included, and Mishy liked the coffee; she drinks it without adding anything so is usually a reliable opinion on this. I liked the orange juice.

Sausages were very good and fresh, without any hint of stale oil flavour they often have, and I ended up having seconds and a couple of thirds. Bacon was quite good and crisp. Raisin bran with milk was fresh, but hard to get that wrong. Scrambled eggs were probably from mix but still very good fresh and enjoyable with Red Hot. Slightly lemony chocolate chip muffins were good and fresh.

Mishy and I both had make-your-own waffles from the station and loved them; the waffle mix is in little pre-portioned glass jars. Activia yogurt containers are a nice addition. Boiled egg was good with pepper. But the best part was saved for last: the cost was only $15, and that is for non-guests (I think it’s inclusive for guests.) This is a fantastically good price these days... I was filled up enough that I didn’t eat for the remainder of the day. Coupled with the offerings, which were all quite good for a basic breakfast, and I just don’t have enough points to give...

Rating: 9-9.5 / 10 + 2 value adjustment = 11-11.5 / 10 = 10 / 10