Year-in-Review: Dining Out

I thought I'd close out the first year of this blog with a year-in-review theme.

This is the first post.

I'd picking the top 5 places in the city that i've reviewed.


5. There is no 5. I think the first 4 on the list are a lot better than any of the candidates that could file in the 5th spot, so there would be a big drop in the quality of the experience between the first 4 and the fifth.

4. Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar. I like the feel of the place and the choices on the menu. It's a decent value and there is a great choice of (good) wines at reasonable prices. It's got a tapas style menu. I like the frites here as well as the scallops a lot. If you get a couple of glasses of wine and some tapas your probably looking at like $120-$140 for 2.

Rating: 2 Bunnies

3. The Foxley Bistro. The place is not as polished looking as Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, but the food is still really good. No need to worry about the wine here, there are just too many spices in the food to get a stable enough wine that could stand up to the variety in the menu. Hence my recommendation that you stick to beer or some other beverage. Like Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, this is a tapas style menu -- but the servings are larger than the traditional tapas dishes. The menu is really reasonably priced. Dinner for two here can easily be $80.

Rating: 2 Bunnies

2. Splendido. This place is the place to go if you have buckets of cash to blow and want to get pampered. Whenever you get up someone will be waiting to tuck you into your chair when you get back. The plates are served all at one and unveiled together. The menu changes from season to season. The menu is not a menu in the traditional sense, you order different variants of a tasting menu, with some selections in the components. When I went there were a few different variants of the menus (some had more courses than others). There is a really extensive wine list, with a big range in the quality as the price points of the wine. The sommelier is really helpful and knowledgeable. However, be prepared to pay the price. If you go for the lowest price tasting menu and a bottle of wine, you're basically looking at $300 for dinner for 2. If I lived in Rosedale and was a real high roller then this would probably be the number 1 on this list. But I don't.

Rating: 2 Bunnies

1. Jamie Kennedy Restaurant. This is a more formal dining room located within the wine bar, but it offers a regular menu instead of the tapas available in the wine bar. The service is good, but you don't get the show that Splendido puts on. The sommelier is helpful and knowledge and there is a big selection at really good prices to pick from. Its pricey -- but not as pricey as Splendido -- dinner for two is probably in the $200-$220 range,

Rating: 3 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool