The Chase Fish and Oyster

The Chase Fish and Oyster

10 Temperance Street

Toronto, ON M5H 1Y4

647-348-7000

Birthday weekends are the best! We haven't eaten out and tried a new restaurant in a long time, so Howard did a little research and picked a restaurant for my birthday dinner last week. The only stipulation I gave him was that I wanted oysters. I think it's been more than a year since I've had a good oyster platter!

Oyster platter delivered. Each table is given a card and pencil to mark the amount of raw seafood they would like to order. So I penciled in three Foxley Bay oysters and three Salt Grass oysters after our knowledgeable waiter went through the description. All oyster platters come with fish and oyster hot sauce, cocktail sauce, and migonette. Just so perfect that I could try each sauce per oyster. Maybe eight next time so I can really load up the lemon and horseradish on one.

We tried a bunch of sharing plates and this was by far our favourite. The big eye tuna "nachos" - in quotation marks because it was made with crispy taro root chips, hot mustard saffron emulsion, and sweet onion and shoyu dressing. Delicious and refreshing, it was so good during this chilly winter, imagine how much better it would be eaten on the patio during the summer!

Next up, the hot smoked white fish on toast with caviar and pickles. Great flavours and I don't even like pickles! But everything worked together to form that perfect bite.

Couldn't resist a side of shoestring fries. I love fries.

Octopus with harissa, spiced merguez sausage, mustard greens, and sauteed red onions. We made merguez sausages last summer and I thought they were pretty awesome. But this one was a hundred percent stronger and punchier in flavour. There were only a few slices on the plate, which is a good idea because it can easily overpower the octopus.

We decided to share a main, but thought that the portion was similar to the sharing plates. Regardless, the scallops with pumpkin ravioli, foie gras butter, and arugula was rich and creamy.

I always look forward to dessert, but felt this was too much chocolate and sugar for one person. Did I just say that? Darn, I am getting old! But thank goodness we shared it because it could not be finished as a single serving. The hazelnut bombe with hazelnut whipped ganache, dark chocolate cream, chocolate cake, and candied hazelnuts was like a giant Ferrero Roche minus the thin wafer shell. I can't believe I'm going to say this as well, but dessert was our least favourite dish of the meal!

But that doesn't matter, we are definitely going back and looking forward to trying the other restaurants from this hospitality group: The Chase (which is upstairs), Little Fin (right beside), and Colette Grand Café.

Gordon Ramsay Steak

Gordon Ramsay Steak

3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(877) 346-4642

To celebrate the end of the conference, a bunch of colleagues and us went to have dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak. (A few of us were also adding on a few extra days in Vegas since we didn't have that much time to explore the city during work hours.)

The hostess pointed items out in the restaurant as she led us to our table upstairs. The room upstairs was quite different from the main dining room on the main floor. It was quiet, dark, and conversations at a hushed tone in the wood-paneled room.

Since we were at a steakhouse, we were introduced to all the different cuts of meat they carried. Yup, a steak trolley.

Bread platter, probably the most excited shared dish we had!

Howard and I shared the fried Blue Point oysters in herb breadcrumbs, served with a crème fraîche tartar sauce. Sadly, nothing to be impressed by as the breaded portion overpowered everything, so it was pretty one note in flavor.

We had our steak with spinach sautéed with parmesan cream and fingerling potatoes with parmesan and truffle. This was delicious, so we recommend that you stick to the entrées and avoid the fried oyster appetizers.

Summerlicious: Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill

Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill

100 Adelaide Street East

Toronto, ON M5C 1K9

(416) 366-7827

We're not strangers to Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill this year. This little gem quickly made it to the top of our favourite restaurant list this year. For us, they're mostly saved for "special occasions," but when we saw that they were participating in Summerlicious, we had to make reservations. 

We went for an early seating, but the table by the window had already been requested for a later reservation. That's okay, we still got a view of the park and some sunlight as the diners didn't arrive until near the end of our meal.

There weren't too many people at first, but when our mains were served, the restaurant filled up pretty quickly. It's not a very big space, so there isn't a lot of staff in the front. I think our waiter was working the entire floor! Regardless, he was attentive and automatically gave us extra utensils when we told him we were sharing each dish.

The bar that is almost the whole length of the dining room. Great place to sit if you want to watch them shuck oysters and grate horseradish!

Everyone around us was ordering the ShuckerPaddy’s L’il Shucker-Seafood Tower which came with an oyster, clam, prawn, sashimi, and crab. That was originally what I came for, but Howard pointed out that I don't usually eat prawns or crabs. Which was true, I'm actually not a huge seafood fan - unless it's sushi, oysters, or fish - so we decided to order a plate of P.E.I. oysters on top of our Summerlicious items.

Delicious, the oysters were so fresh and had a very clean taste!

The house-smoked haddock fishcakes with black olives, pickled ramps, grapes, and cucumber. I had to pick out the olives and piled them on Howard's fishcake. The fishcakes themselves were good, consistent with our previous visits. And the grapes! Loved their use of grapes and how this element changes each time we have it.

This was their Spanish style tomato, salt cod, and chorizo chowder. Not as piping hot as we would have liked, but it still tasted good. Howard loves his soups!

For the main dish, we tried the Irish organic salmon with a risotto of toasted barley, vine ripened tomatoes, fresh peas, basil, and Grana Padano. The salmon was quite good, my favourite part was the crispy skin. This was a first for me, I've never had risotto as a meal before!

Following, the Kawartha Berkshire pork loin with a succotash of grilled corn, chipotle cured bacon, black beans, and coriander. While it was good, I think we both missed having the rib-eye!

Starfish frites! We just had to add this to our order. The fries are seasoned so well, making them insanely addictive.

For dessert, Howard had the poached Ontario apricot with a raspberry and Gamay wine reduction, and Tahitian vanilla ice cream.

The first thing he did was take the pit out of the apricot. Then he sliced off a piece for me to try. =) I liked the apricot more than the ice cream, if that's even possible.

The famous sticky toffee pudding. Now, how could I resist?

One thing that did surprise me was that their lunch and dinner menus for Summerlicious were exactly the same. Most participating restaurants change it up, offering lighter courses for lunch. So really, for a lower cost, you could go and have the exact same meal during lunch. I'm wondering if maybe the lunch portions are smaller? Or, we may have been charged the premium for dinner service. Another thing to note, gratuity was included with the bill - perhaps only for Summerlicious, as we never saw it on the bill before.

Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill

Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill

100 Adelaide Street East

Toronto, ON M5C 1K9

(416) 366-7827

Once again, took the photos on my iPhone. But more importantly, why did it take us so long to try this restaurant???

One of my best friends recommended Starfish to us and because Howard knew that I was having oyster cravings, he took me there for my birthday dinner.

We ordered a North American oyster platter to start. These were fresh and tasty. Look at that horseradish puff ball in the middle! Once we finished all the oysters, we knew we should have ordered a larger platter.

Next time. There will be a next time.

The calamari starter blew me away. It was beautifully plated, but every piece had a purpose. We ate the calamari with the greens and diced peppers dipped in the orange and yellow sauce. If the leaves had been bigger, they would have made great taco shells with this delicious filling.

More please!

Fishcakes with a dill yogurt dressing. Again, eat everything together and the flavours just meld in your mouth.

Howard ordered the grilled Ontario heritage beef rib-eye with frites and knowing that we were sharing, our server had the dish split for us. Love it when restaurants are thoughtful and don't mind the extra plate. (Some places actually charge an extra sharing fee. Starfish doesn't!) This way we don't have to both awkwardly share from the middle of the table.

The rib-eye was medium rare like we asked, juicy and tender. The fries were incredible. I would go back for the fries alone! Who knew that we'd get the best rib-eye and fries at a seafood restaurant?

I think the pastry chef brought the desserts out for us. The sticky toffee pudding. I hear that Starfish is famous for it. Try it. You will not be disappointed. Mmm this was so good!

One more, the earl grey crème brûlée with candied orange zest and orange cookies. Strong earl grey flavours - over and beyond our expectations. 

It's safe to say that Howard and I have found our new favourite restaurant in Toronto! The service was excellent, the place was cozy and intimate, but also had a fun vibe to it. The best part is, their menu changes daily, so we can continue to visit and will be delighted with new dishes!

Table 17

Table 17
782 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M4M 1H4
(416) 519-1851

Howard and I stopped by two more dessert places before heading to dinner, but since we didn't eat those until after, we'll post them after this. I made us reservations at Table 17 since it was near the end of our dessert run.

All afternoon Howard had been complaining that he didn't have any meat products. Which was true, we started the day with brunch - homemade chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup. Then we went to La Bamboche and the Designer Cookie for desserts. So to remedy this, I told him that we'll have meat for dinner. Fair is fair, there has to be balance in our relationship!

We showed up a bit earlier than our reservations, but they seemed okay with it. To my joy, we even got a seat by the window - which I prefer because it allows me to take better photos. =)

It's an interesting restaurant setup, I didn't realize that there were two rooms at first. The one you enter includes the bar, a little look into the kitchen, a staircase (to private dining is my guess), and a couple of tables. The main dining room has the majority of tables and one in the centre that hosts the water pitchers, cutlery, napkins, pepper, bread, and olive oil. It was refreshing to see the staff go there, instead of a nook off to the side - like in most restaurants.

I really wanted to try the hot balls that every table around us was ordering, but since we had a gigantic rice ball the day before, Howard wasn't too keen on another. Next time!

Instead, we tried the fresh oysters from Effingham Bay.

They were so good! I'm not even what you call an oyster fan, but after New Orleans, I've been trying a lot more seafood. While I would have liked to try the hot balls, I am so glad that we did not miss out on the oysters that day. Howard and I even had a "aww shucks, we should have ordered more" moment!

Then it began, our dinner of meat (because we had so much sugar during the day). Our first ever salumi board! A selection of local artisanal cured meats as it is described in the menu. This quickly won Howard over, he's a huge fan of prosciutto. I believe his exact words were "this was fun." I rarely hear him say that about a dining experience, but I've always joked that you can lure him anywhere with good prosciutto and smoked salmon.

So far so good, this was turning out to be a great date night! The best part is that you're encouraged to take photos at Table 17.

Once we were told the specials of the day, Howard knew he would be getting the 14 oz heritage beef rib-eye. One thing we did noticed was that the meat comes pre-cut, but I guess this made is a little easier for us to share.

Howard exchanged two of his pieces for two of my steak. Our only hiccup came when I spotted a tiny speck of metallic in my rib-eye piece. I asked him if he saw it too and if it was foil. Unsure, we asked one of the staff members who immediately agreed that it looked shiny and took it back to the kitchen for the chef's take on it.

You should have seen the look on Howard's face, hehe, he wanted his rib-eye back! It did come back and it was explained to us that since the greens were cut fresh, some of the fertilizer must have fallen and got brushed onto the meat. They offered to re-make it, but Howard didn't really mind and just wanted to eat.

I got the steak frites, oh those fries were so good! It came with a complimentary sauce béarnaise - I don't order sauce as I find the salt and pepper to be good enough. Compared to Howard's rib-eye though, we both agreed that his was more tender and juicier.

By the end, we were too full for dessert (we did just do a dessert day) but we ended on a good note. As always, on a first visit to a restaurant, Howard and I ask ourselves if we would come back, and our answer is yes!

Lüke

Lüke

333 St. Charles Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70130

(504) 378-2840

Happy hour at Lüke! Actually, it was our dinner after a long day at work. =) We were seated in the second (back) section where the open kitchen was visible to the diners. Along the way, we saw many good looking dishes on the tables - lots of seafood and meat!

You can see our waitress getting menus in the photo. She was bubbly and energetic, giving us great food and drink recommendations. Again, we found the hospitality in New Orleans to be top notch!

To start, we had “Le Plateau” of Gulf oysters. The oysters were fresh and the taste was clean. I was never a raw shellfish kind of girl, but these ones were good! Plus, when you're in a city known for seafood, you have to at least try it!

To fulfill my oyster craving, I also had the fried oyster, bacon, romaine, and avocado salad. It was light enough to help me save room for dessert. =)

By now, you can probably guess that Howard is a meat and potato kind of guy. He tried the entrecôte grillée au frites, a grilled rib-eye with maître d’hôtel butter, sauce béarnaise, and a jumbo lump of crab-meat. So neat that it was served on a cutting board and the fries were in a tin pail!

I told you I saved room for dessert. Brendan’s bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream and hot buttered pecan sauce. Ridiculously amazing!