One of my favorite restaurants in Buffalo. Some of the dishes have a Caribbean accent - they make a mean jerk chicken - and some have wonderful sauces. It's in a not-so-great neighborhood in Lackawanna, just outside Buffalo, and looks like a corner bar from the outside. The space is nice and the service is very good. Favorite dishes: Chicken Puligny; Scallops Bilboa; Jerk Chicken; most fish specials. June 2003, 2004, 2005
This is a fine restaurant in divy space in a seedy part of town. The menu is overwhelming. I love the stuffed hot pepper appetizer and seared tuna entree - lots of specials on the menu. They don't take reservations and it gets crowded fast. Be prepared to wait for more than an hour during prime dinner time. July 2002
This placed has transformed itself over the years - from a drinkin' bar and partying place to a very fine restaurant last time I was there. The space is nice, right on the lake, and the food is good - interesting ingredients and very fresh fish. July 2002
Housed in the former location of the Old Pony Post Inn on Abbott & Willet, this fairly new restaurant calls itself Italian & Continental. We had a great lunch there with my mother recently. There was a 15 minute wait at 1:30 on a nondescript Wednesday afternoon - this is a popular place. Most lunches were priced under $10.00 which included a soup and a salad and some very good bread, a bag of which is given to you upon exiting. A first glance at the soup and I thought, "Oh no, it's Campbell's vegetable soup." But it wasn't - lots of lentils, big chunks of carrots & potatoes, and lots of black pepper. The house vinaigrette was very good on a fairly sizable salad. Tom and I both had the shrimp & mussels fra diavlo - good, spicy, but not too spicy sauce - over linguine; and a nice little glass of Chianti. My mom had a special: shrimp rolled in salmon with a crabmeat sauce. It looked great and she loved it. Service was good, especially considering we were told just after sitting that they were short-staffed. We'll be back. July 2004, October 2005
I've been here a couple times - a nice, neighborhood restaurant on the Lake. We went with a large party of 10 and had great service - of course, we had a regular in our group and I'm sure that helped (lots of regulars at McKenzie's - always a good sign). We had some coconut shrimp to start, which was good - crispy batter and nicely cooked shrimp. The "maison bleu" dressing on the salad is French vinagrette with crumbled blue cheese - very good. For entree, I had tuna encrusted with sesame seeds in a mango sauce. I asked the waitress before ordering if it was sushi-grade tuna. She didn't know what that meant so asked the chef and came back with a strong "Yes." So I ordered it rare and it came out way overcooked, although it was still tasty enough with the sesame seeds and mango sauce. I'd order something else next time. There are some nice selections of wine by the glass here. July 2004
A dive bar with my favorite chicken wings in yet another not great neighborhood (is there a theme here?) December 2003 Yummy. July 2004; 2005 and every time I'm in town.
On Church Street in Downtown Toronto, we knew this was a trendy place because you could barely see the sign. (I hate that!) Anyway, I made a 1:30 lunch reservation a month in advance and was told on the phone that this was not uncommon. We were seated at the bar, where you watch the chefs prepare your meal at the open kitchen. We quickly realized that these are the coveted seats in this place - it got warm up there, but it was fun to watch the action. The menu is different - no appetizer and entree sections, rather they all seem to be "small plates." I started with French fries with mayonnaise & lemon - perfectly cooked French fries although I noticed they didn't fry them twice. Tom started with a chilled corn and summer squash soup, which I so eloquently described as "corn juice." Oh, it was so good. I don't think soup requires lots of extras (like cream) if you have ripe, tasty, good vegetables - just a puree. That's what this was like. We decided to do the recommended wines with each course. You can get a half-glass, a full glass, a half-bottle or a bottle. With our first courses, I had Cusomano Insolia Chardonnay and Tom had a Cave Spring Off-Dry Reisling. Next, I had a braised rabbit salad with bacon & french beans and a glass of Langmeil Shiraz Barossa. Tom had a sundried tomato & olive marinated cornish hen with a glass of Boudinaud Marsanne. Both dishes and wines were wonderful. We shared the cheese plate for dessert along with a half a glass of the Nuits St. George - it was pricey! The cheeses were great - a couple from Ontario and one from Quebec. It's not an inexpensive restaurant, even in Canadian dollars, but we enjoyed it immensely. July 2004