Wednesday, June 25, 2008

June 2008 - My Zaidy's Pizza

441 Clark Avenue West, Thornhill, ON L4J 6W7 905.731.3029

Another mediocre pizza & falafel joint. It's far from fine cuisine, but it's a good place to "grab a bite", if grabbing a bite is your thing. My friends and I went there at lunch time, and it was crowded, dirty and noisy. I had a falafel, which was mostly good, certainly not above that. The other people I was with had pizza slices and had praises such as "it's OK". My pizza was $4, so that's a bonus -- I guess you get what you pay for.

Parking is pretty good, as it is in the "Sobey's Plaza", with a large parking lot. There was no visible or easily accessible washroom.

Don't take someone here for a first date. It won't impress.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

May 2008 - Marky's Deli

280 Wilson Ave., Toronto, ON, M3H 1S8 416.638.1081

In May, I was here three times for dinner. Marky's has been around for years -- it is a Toronto institution. It's the quintessential Toronto kosher deli. It's Ashkenazik comfort food. The service is adequate to good -- not great. The food is good -- not great. It's clean. It's got a very good selection -- from classic (tongue, fricassee, corned beef, pastrami), to veggie, to light (chicken breast salad).

When the owner is around, he walks around, is friendly, and schmoozes a bissel. The prices are fair. In the 3 times we were there, the total, including tax and tip (for four people) came to between $50-$60 (but that was just for a main courses, no drinks and no desserts).

It's casually comfortable and consistent. It's a place you can take a non-Jewish client without feeling embarrassed. I took a client there about a year ago for lunch, and he found a "BLT" (beef fry, lettuce and tomato) sandwich. He even ordered it on white bread with mayo. He liked it!

The washrooms are downstairs and reasonably clean. Parking in the less-than-inviting strip mall is sometimes difficult. I was lucky 3 of the 4 times, and found a spot in front of the restaurant. The others in my group found parking spots a few minutes away.

I checked the DineSafe website, and found they have passed all inspections listed (from Aug. 06 to Feb. 08).