Here's the official best of Peru in Toronto
1. El Fogon
Ian, Anne and I went on Friday night. Things started well with the obligatory Inca Kola and some bread with aji (spicy pepper sauce). For appetizers, papas a la huancaina (potatoes with creamy egg sauce) and calmari were delightful. Main course of pescado frito (fried white fish with rice, plantain and salad), lomo saltado (beef with tomatoes, onion, fries and rice) and chicken with rice, beans and coriander sauce were all excellent and reasonably priced. Dessert was a highlight with flaky alfajor cake (dulche de leche filling) and creamy creme caramel.
Review #1
Review #2
Best of all - high marks for authenticity!
We've been about 10 times, and it's always consistently tasty with good service and decent prices.
2. Boulevard Cafe
Ian has been a number of times and me once. No major complaints, although much of the menu is Peruvian "influenced" rather than dishes you would actually find in Peru. It's a bit higher end and higher priced than El Fogon.
Review #1
Review #2
3. El Plebeyo
See our previous issues with this place. Not noted on Ian's post is the horrendously large multipage menu. For a small, not very busy joint, how could anything possibly be fresh? I suspect quite large portions of the menu are coming out of the freezer!
Ian's El Plebeyo vs El Fogon showdown post
4. Chachy's in Etobicoke
Ian and I went on a Friday night about 7:30 and were moderately disturbed to find only one other table eating and a couple of crusty bikers drinking at the bar. The live music was ok, but kinda loud. Crusty guys at the bar kept giving us the evil eye when we didn't applaud the musician after every song.
Even worse, the waiter was rather unfriendly and we felt like we were intruding and bothering the staff.
The lomo saltado was ok, but the beef was somewhat chewy. Ian had no major complaints with the really cheap roast chicken and fries.
The poor service combined with drinking bikers means we'll keeping making the trek to El Fogon.
Showing posts with label Peruvian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peruvian. Show all posts
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
El Fogon '08
We hadn't been out for Peruvian for a while so this weekend we hit the Peruvian strip in Toronto. (It's more commonly known as St. Clair to Toronto folk despite the two Peruvian places only blocks apart.) Of course we went to our favorite El Fogon.
To start things off I shared some Papas a la Huancaina with Janice. It was tasty as usual. Others had some Ensalada Criolla that seemed to be well liked.
Bread was fresh & light and came with some garlic hot pepper sauce.
As main courses the majority had Lomo Saltado while Janice broke from the herd and had Tacu Tacu. The Lomo Saltado was enjoyable as it had a nice flavour. My only complaint was that it was a little light on the lomo (beef). Overall though it was good with huge portions which always make me happy. The rice seemed to be reasonably peruvian so it was a nice change from the varieties we have at home. Janice seemed to like her Tacu Tacu as she devoured it (despite the large portion) and moved on to preying on the onions in my saltado.
With the big portions we had to skip dessert. Overall it was a good meal and we'll definitely be back.
To start things off I shared some Papas a la Huancaina with Janice. It was tasty as usual. Others had some Ensalada Criolla that seemed to be well liked.
Bread was fresh & light and came with some garlic hot pepper sauce.
As main courses the majority had Lomo Saltado while Janice broke from the herd and had Tacu Tacu. The Lomo Saltado was enjoyable as it had a nice flavour. My only complaint was that it was a little light on the lomo (beef). Overall though it was good with huge portions which always make me happy. The rice seemed to be reasonably peruvian so it was a nice change from the varieties we have at home. Janice seemed to like her Tacu Tacu as she devoured it (despite the large portion) and moved on to preying on the onions in my saltado.
With the big portions we had to skip dessert. Overall it was a good meal and we'll definitely be back.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Winterlicious - Boulevard Cafe
Although Ian has been to Boulevard Cafe before, this place seems like an incredible deal at lunchtime during the Winterlicious promotion. It is nominally Peruvian, but the majority of the menu appears to be items that you might not typically find in Peru!
El Plebeyo or El Fogon are much more authentic, albeit not as 'fancy' as the Boulevard.
Ian had the soup of the day - it was billed as a pureed yellow split pea, but was actually more of a shrimp soup in a yellow split pea kind of broth. Pretty tasty all around! Ian was delightfully surprised by all the seafood.
I went with salad - egg, avocado, artichoke heart, olive, onions, carrots on lettuce with delightful creamy dressing.
There was a mussels or chicken quesadilla option for the main course, but we both went with the tilapia fish of the day. It was a rather large piece of fish, pan fried, with some mango salsa thrown on for good measure. Came with some tasty roasted potatoes and more salad.
For dessert, my key lime pie was very creamy and had a very strong lime flavor. There were some berries and whip cream too. Ian had a flan de leche with an unfortunate bitter sugary sauce which was not all that smooth.
For $15 a piece, lunch was very good. The rather small dining room was packed - so I guess other people in Toronto agree with us?
Aside from the flan, the only other upsetting thing was that they automatically put a 17.5% gratuity on the bill. Do they not think winterlicious people tip? Then, on the credit card thing you sign, they have another opportunity to tip. Seems a little shady to me! I wonder how many people don't notice and end up leaving a 30% tip??
El Plebeyo or El Fogon are much more authentic, albeit not as 'fancy' as the Boulevard.
Ian had the soup of the day - it was billed as a pureed yellow split pea, but was actually more of a shrimp soup in a yellow split pea kind of broth. Pretty tasty all around! Ian was delightfully surprised by all the seafood.
I went with salad - egg, avocado, artichoke heart, olive, onions, carrots on lettuce with delightful creamy dressing.
There was a mussels or chicken quesadilla option for the main course, but we both went with the tilapia fish of the day. It was a rather large piece of fish, pan fried, with some mango salsa thrown on for good measure. Came with some tasty roasted potatoes and more salad.
For dessert, my key lime pie was very creamy and had a very strong lime flavor. There were some berries and whip cream too. Ian had a flan de leche with an unfortunate bitter sugary sauce which was not all that smooth.
For $15 a piece, lunch was very good. The rather small dining room was packed - so I guess other people in Toronto agree with us?
Aside from the flan, the only other upsetting thing was that they automatically put a 17.5% gratuity on the bill. Do they not think winterlicious people tip? Then, on the credit card thing you sign, they have another opportunity to tip. Seems a little shady to me! I wonder how many people don't notice and end up leaving a 30% tip??
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Peruvian Showdown
This past weekend (well if you include Thursday as the start of the weekend) we hit up the Peruvian restaurants at St Claire and Bathurst.
In the blue corner, El Plebeyo an unknown in the contest challenging for dominance of the Peruvian scen from the St. Claire and Bathurst area. And in the red corner, El Fogon, the defending champion.
El Plebeyo started off strong - it was open, while El Fogon was on vacation. But after that opening salvo things went downhill quickly. They had a massive menu and things were expensive. Lomo Saltado was 16 bucks! Janice had the slightly cheaper Tacu Tacu We got over the price and ordered but things continued to get worse. It took a while and it wasn't all that great. Bottom line, not a strong showing.
El Fogon on the other hand fought viciously for the title. Their lomo saltado was 12 and it was tasty and served quickly. At least the time sure passed quickly thanks to the tasty Papas a la Huancaina I had as an appetizer.
Bottom line, El Fogon is still the champ so it keeps the title of best Peruvian restaurant in the TO.
In the blue corner, El Plebeyo an unknown in the contest challenging for dominance of the Peruvian scen from the St. Claire and Bathurst area. And in the red corner, El Fogon, the defending champion.
El Plebeyo started off strong - it was open, while El Fogon was on vacation. But after that opening salvo things went downhill quickly. They had a massive menu and things were expensive. Lomo Saltado was 16 bucks! Janice had the slightly cheaper Tacu Tacu We got over the price and ordered but things continued to get worse. It took a while and it wasn't all that great. Bottom line, not a strong showing.
El Fogon on the other hand fought viciously for the title. Their lomo saltado was 12 and it was tasty and served quickly. At least the time sure passed quickly thanks to the tasty Papas a la Huancaina I had as an appetizer.
Bottom line, El Fogon is still the champ so it keeps the title of best Peruvian restaurant in the TO.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
El Fogon
Ian's aunt came across a Peruvian restaurant in Toronto on St. Clair near Bathurst. Unlike the more commonly known Toronto "Peruvian" restaurant, Boulevard Cafe, on Harbord, El Fogon actually seems to serve authentic dishes that you might actually find in Peru! And they are cheaper making the place even more Peru-ish!To start off with we had an Inca Cola. At $2 for the can, it can hardly be considered cheap, but it certainly was tasty! We shared a pretty good avocado salad with potato, tomato and onion for $5.95. A bit pricey for what we actually got.
They brought out same tasty warm bread with a hot peppery spread thing.
I strayed slightly away from hard core Peruvian food and had the only nominally non-Peruvian dish on the menu - arroz a la cubana. I did eat these dish numerous times in Ecuador - a close neighbor to Peru so I shouldn't feel too bad?? Came with yummy rice (arroz), some fried plantain, a mini-salad and two fried eggs....mmmmmm. Great deal for a meager $5.25.
I convinced Ian to skip the $10.95 lomo saltado plate and instead go with the $6.25 sandwich. Came with the usual stir fry tomato, onions and beef with spices. It was all on a tasty roll and came with fries on the side (of course Ian stuffed them into the sandwich).
Ian's Bonus Comments
The rice with janice's dish was pretty good. It was formed into the usual nice round mound and it tasted like the classic peruvian rice. Quite tasty. The only let down was not getting a full regular lomo saltado.
Faithful readers may find it interesting that this keeps up our annual april/may tradition of eating at a new peruvian place. May 2005 was a place in NYC, April 2006 was in Washington DC.
Cultured readers may enjoy the peruvian theme of the weekend since on Friday we went to see that Peruvian Sican exhibit at the ROM.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Boulevard Cafe
I was helping out with a recruitment event and as a result I got to go to dinner to the Boulevard Cafe with everyone. I'd been before years ago but the price prevented a return visit. This time the price was right.
Since there was quite a few of us we had the whole second floor and it was a fixed menu. The second floor was quite nice and I sat right beside the fireplace which. I had a "martini to camarones" as a starter and then the pescado del dia (which was tilapia). Finally I had a chocolate khalua cheesecake for dessert. The "martini" was terrific. The tasty shrimp came with guacamole and as we all know guacamole is where it's at. The fish was fairly good with some potato like things on the side. Of course I loved the cheesecake although it didn't seem like the serving was large enough. Other people had a pasta dish or a steak both of which seemed reasonably well liked. Overall I'd say it was a great meal but I guess I'd say that about any meal where I leave without seeing a bill.
While the food was great, one big disappointment is that this place bills itself as serving "authentic peruvian cuisine". Well if that's true where is the chupe de camerones or lomo saltado that I crave. It's like going to a Burger King that doesn't have a whopper on the menu.
Since there was quite a few of us we had the whole second floor and it was a fixed menu. The second floor was quite nice and I sat right beside the fireplace which. I had a "martini to camarones" as a starter and then the pescado del dia (which was tilapia). Finally I had a chocolate khalua cheesecake for dessert. The "martini" was terrific. The tasty shrimp came with guacamole and as we all know guacamole is where it's at. The fish was fairly good with some potato like things on the side. Of course I loved the cheesecake although it didn't seem like the serving was large enough. Other people had a pasta dish or a steak both of which seemed reasonably well liked. Overall I'd say it was a great meal but I guess I'd say that about any meal where I leave without seeing a bill.
While the food was great, one big disappointment is that this place bills itself as serving "authentic peruvian cuisine". Well if that's true where is the chupe de camerones or lomo saltado that I crave. It's like going to a Burger King that doesn't have a whopper on the menu.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Washington DC
Trip was pretty good, a bit short on time so will keep it short.
Ian pretty much ran a tight ship and has us up at 6:30 AM and going strong till 6:30 PM seeing numerous attractions/day.
For dinner, we ate at Ethiopian once. They pretty much seem to be on every block, sorta like the TO sushi joints. Pretty similar price and taste to our usual TO ethiopian place.
Other than that, some OK Thai, pub food and Ian really liked the Peruvian he went to.
Ben and Jerry's was tasty as usual.
Ian pretty much ran a tight ship and has us up at 6:30 AM and going strong till 6:30 PM seeing numerous attractions/day.
For dinner, we ate at Ethiopian once. They pretty much seem to be on every block, sorta like the TO sushi joints. Pretty similar price and taste to our usual TO ethiopian place.
Other than that, some OK Thai, pub food and Ian really liked the Peruvian he went to.
Ben and Jerry's was tasty as usual.
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