Loire

It's not French cuisine seemed more like Asian food to me.

When you enter Loire all you see is white white white. Pretty clean looking place.

For our starter we had the rainbow trout tartare with yuzu dressing, cilantro sour cream, teriyaki glaze scallion and cucumber salad. This was incredibly refreshing and tasted sooo good. Too bad there was not enough of this scrumptious dish cause I wanted more.

Cafe En Passant

Surprisingly, it was pretty good for a French restaurant in Richmond Hill. The last French restaurant I went to was Scaramouche and it was spectacular.

Cafe En Passant is definitely not comparable to Scaramouche nevertheless, it was still tasty.

It's a small restaurant but had a nice romantic feel to it. Perfect for a date or in this case, dinner with a couple of good friends.

The place was empty when we arrived. I like having the whole place to ourselves so we can be as loud as we want. Not like that ever stopped me before hehe.

First off here is the crepe St. Jacques with bay scallops, baby shrimp covered in a creamy rose wine sauce. I absolutely loved this dish. It was scrumptious. They definitely did not skimp out on the seafood. Every bite was filled with shrimps and scallops.

Cafe du Lac

On Urbanspoon, out of 104 votes only 50% of the people actually liked Cafe du Lac. Not so great. Against the reviews I wanted to go see for myself. Mostly because when I glanced at the menu my eyes went straight to the short rib poutine with foie gras. Even better when there was a deal for it so I was still excited to try it out despite the negative reviews.

Wow I should have listened for once. It really was pretty bad.

Let me just warn you first. The pictures may appear

mouthwatering but in reality they did not taste as great as it looked. In this case, looks are really deceiving.

The place is cozy and I like the little blue pillows on the seat which gives the place a nice pop of color.

Here was the complimentary onion bun with truffle butter. This was nice. The bread was fluffy and once I teared it apart there was steam coming out of it. Once the butter touched the bun it melted quickly into the pores of the bun. It was luscious. Great start so far however, after this sadly it was just downhill.

Forte Bistro

I bought a voucher for Forte Bistro and I was really looking forward to trying this place out. The menu is enough to entice anyone.

The bistro is located on Richmond street but I later discovered there was another entrance as well. From the outside the place looked pretty tiny but remember that saying "Looks can be deceiving" well it certainly applies in this case. The restaurant was huge with very tall ceilings and a whole lot of space.

The layout was of a u-shape. Here on one side was the sushi lounge. It was the other entrance I was mentioning about. I think it faces York street.

La Boheme

La Boheme serves some of the best French pastries in the city.

Since they don't have a kitchen at the cafe all their items are brought over from Jules Cafe located along Mount Pleasant. There it is baked fresh on a daily basis.

This little cafe patisserie has one of the yummiest apricot tart I have ever tasted. It is not overly sweet. Just perfect. The two other flavors for this tart were apple and pear.

I want to try their quiche and croissants next time.

TOTAL BILL $5...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Crepes a GoGo

I've never been to Paris before but at Crepes a GoGo it sure felt like I just walked right into the city of l'amour.

For a while my friend has been dying to try the creperie place so finally we got to "gogo" for some crepes today.

Upon entering the restaurant we were warmly greeted by the waiter with a "Bonjour!". Felt like I entered a cafe in Paris. Never have I been greeted in French before. The place is really tiny and it was packed. The seating was very limited. I think it can only seat up to a maximum of 18 people. Luckily didn't have to wait long for a table.

Their limonana is a must try. I was reading the menu and the waiter recommended it. He offered a small sample and asked whether I would like it hot or cold. We got both and I have to say it was definitely something I never tried before. It was a mixture of lemon juice, cane juice and fresh mint leaves. All made from natural ingredients. At first when I saw the word lemon I was hesitant whether to try it since I don't like lemons nor even lemonade for that matter. But thought I would give it a shot. It was very refreshing and sweet. I think the sweetness came from the sweetened organic cane juice so it was not citrusy at all.

While waiting for our food, I was listening to the staff speaking in French. I was attempting to see how much I could decipher but given it's been quite some time since I last took those French classes in high school I couldn't make out anything. Also coupled with the fact that they were speaking pretty fast I didn't have a chance at all so I diverted my attention to the live music. There were musicians playing that accordion theme you would normally hear in a movie of a cafe in Paris. Don't think I'm describing it correctly. Let's just say the music was lovely and went perfectly well with the Parisian ambience.Wonderful setting for a first date or in my case, a place to hang out with a friend.

The crepes were freshly made right in front of you. I was able to snap this photo right from my seat. Love my iPhone 4. I was able to zoom in without having to move an inch.

We ordered their signature crepe which was called the Big Ben, rolled with mozzarella and raspberry jam. It was delicious. The crepe was paper thin and although the filling was very little however, it was packed with full of flavor so it made up for the small portion. Sorry didn't take a picture since there were people waiting for a table so they were standing right next to our table and casting their shadow over my food. But I was able to take a picture of the other crepe we ordered. Here is the crepe Mademoiselle filled with goat cheese, red onions, smoked salmon and maple syrup. It was tasty but it was a teaser. Just wanted more but we couldn't eat too much since we had our massage appointment right after so it was suppose to be a light lunch. This was truly the right place for it. But I left yearning for more.

If you are looking for a Parisian experience then I highly recommend you to "gogo" to this delightful shop. French speaking staff, French music and sweet and savoury treats is a perfect way to start off the day. When you leave you might end up speaking Francais for the rest of the day.

Merci Sue for recommending this hidden Yorkville gem. We have to "gogo" again and this time it will not be a teaser:P

TOTAL BILL $19...MANGER ICI LA PROCHAINE!!!

Scaramouche

Last night I went to Scaramouche for dinner. Upon entering the restaurant all I could see was a staircase leading downstairs, a seating area and coat check. The first thing that came to my head was how can this restaurant advertise that it has a great view of the city's skyline when the restaurant is located below ground level. Man was I proved wrong. After heading downstairs I saw this huge window with an incredible view of the city lights. I even clearly saw the purple light emanating from the CN Tower. It was breathtaking.

Now onto the food. Thanks to my boyfriend's blackberry I was able to take pictures without it being hidden in the dark. Sadly the flash was blinding but just had to snap some photos for my blog. This place is definitely worth blogging about.

The food was truly exquisite. It was full of flavor and presented beautifully. Not one dish I disliked at all.

Here we received complimentary amuse-bouche. Man was it a tease. After swallowing it in one bite I couldn't wait for the real food to come. I have no clue what it was but it sure was good and made me wanting more.

We ordered 4 appetizers.

Here is the smoked salmon carpaccio with buckwheat pancake and the foie gras terrine with sourdough toast with a drizzle of fig port syrup.

Here is lobster ravioli with double smoked bacon, honey mushrooms, spinach in white wine sauce and Fanny Bay oysters with red wine mignonette and horseradish.

Our main courses were elk with smoked bacon, hazelnut whipped potatoes, crispy shallots in red wine jus and halibut with caramelized fennel byaldi, shaved artichoke heart and lemon pinenut relish.

For desserts we also went all out as well. They were all so heavenly and luscious it was just overwhelming. Never have I ate that many sweets in one sitting especially after a heavy meal.

Here is toffee bread pudding and coconut cream pie.

Here is creme brulee with bourbon madagascar vanilla and raspberry sorbet and chocolate cake with cafe latte ice cream and whipped chocolate ganache.

With its stunning view of the city lights and ambrosial food to pair with it this place is the perfect restaurant for a romantic dinner with your significant other or for a celebration where you feel like splurging a bit. After this meal don't think I can eat out for a while. Have to let my wallet heal before I can touch it again.

TOTAL BILL $360...EAT HERE NEXT!!!