Located at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Yorkville,
Morton's is a little taste of the windy city in Toronto. Chicago is well known as a steak loving city, and it's great that Toronto has one of the few international outposts of the renowned Morton's of Chicago steakhouse chain.
Jumbo Shrimp Alexander
The jumbo lump crab cake is some of the best crab cake around, with large chunks of tasty crab meat and not much filler.
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
Cold Water Lobster Tail
Morton's uses USDA Prime beef, aged from 23 - 28 days, for some juicy, flavour filled and perfectly cooked steaks.
Chicago Style Prime Bone-In Ribeye
Morton's has an excellent selection of desserts. Some of their signature desserts like their decadent Hot Chocolate Cake and their Upside-Down Apple Pie require some time to prepare so it's best to order those with your mains.
If you're in the mood for a classic, white linen, fine dining experience with succulent steaks, fresh seafood, and good wine, then Morton's should definitely be on your list.
Smith Bros. Steakhouse & Tavern is a meat lover's destination with affordable prices. The steaks are wet aged for a minimum of 28 days, and come with a choice of sauces: Peppercorn Cream, Mushroom Cabernet, Teriyaki, and Crumbled Bacon & Bourbon.
Though wine is available, Smith Bros. advocates enjoying your steak with beer. They serve their own brand of $5 all-natural premium draughts in association with Great Lakes Brewery. They also have “The Tavern Sampler,” allowing you to try any 4 taps for $7.
I particularly liked how the sampler came on a numbered board so you could easily keep track of what brew you were sampling with every bite. Granted, 4 beers shouldn’t tax your memory that much, but it’s a nice touch as someone is bound to forget what’s what while engaged in lively conversation and delicious food.
Even if they do specialize in steak, a great draw at this steakhouse is the all you can eat Mussels and Fries for $17. It features PEI mussels steamed with Smith Bros. Premium Natural Lager, shallots and parsley. The matchstick fries tasted great. Their narrowness made them a little harder to handle (i.e. shove into your mouth), but gave you more surface area for flavour and added crunch.
We also tried their hearty Steak and Potato Chowder, loaded with lots of meat.
For mains, we tried 10 oz. New York Strip ($24) with Garlic and Cream Mashed Potatoes, and the 12 oz. Roasted Rib Eye ($25) with Sea Salt Rubbed Russet Baked Potato. We also tried the Atlantic Salmon.
The steaks were moist, tender, and flavourful. The sides were also yummy. We especially loved the baked potato. The sea salt rub made the potato skins crusty and salty, an awesome contrast with the soft and moist potato and the cool cream.
For dessert we had a Triple Chocolate Brownie and a Crème Brûlée. The Crème Brûlée came in a generous serving and was perfectly torched. The Brownie was to die for. It was dark and delicious with different textures to it and came à la mode.
While Smith Bros. isn’t Jacob’s or or Hy’s, neither are its prices. It certainly makes enjoying a good steak a more regular possibility than for those super special occasions. It stretches casual dining without stretching your budget, allowing you to include more friends or family perhaps. And at the end of you’re meal, you’re more likely to have a smile on your face as you enjoyed great company, food and drink, in a a smartly decorated environment, after shopping perhaps or before a movie right across the street , at the corner of Warden and Eglinton.
Smith Bros. Steakhouse & Tavern
880 Warden Ave
Toronto, ON
Phone: (416) 751-3100
Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse is regarded as one of the best places to get a steak in Toronto. Steak still sits atop the food pyramid of most people as a decadent treat, which is ironic given that conceptually, all it is a grilled piece of meat. However, it is in that simplicity that elegance emanates. For not only does a great steak have to be cooked perfectly with that red juicy centre, ringed by a thin layer of pinkish gray, and mildly crusted with crispy, flavour-enhancing char, it must also be sufficiently marbled with the right distribution of succulent fat, and aged to perfection.
Going out for steak is as much about the steak as going out for coffee is about coffee. Of course the meat is key, but it's also about the whole experience of professional service by knowledgable staff, appetizers that presage the main attraction to come, and thoughtful desserts to cap off the meal. Exquisite wine is of course a fait accompli.
The staff at Jacobs is indeed knowledgable. Our server went through the various kinds of meat on the menu and explained to us the nuances of each. We learned that Canadian Prime is grass-fed whereas the American USDA offerings from Nebraska are corn-fed. Grass imparts more complex and subtle flavours, but corn tends to exude that creamier mouth feel that one expects from your archetypal slab of beef.
Canadian cows tend to be the Hereford variety while the American cows are Black Angus, and the Wagyu meat comes from Australia. Canadian Prime from Alberta tends to be found only in better steakhouses, at least here in Ontario, due to the lower volume, unlike their more prevalent American counterparts. Ontario Prime is even rarer.
The steaks are aged from 38-46 days on premises in a glass room at the back of the dining room. We were told that the we were looking at probably $100,000 worth of meat as we peered through the glass. The process of aging was also explained to us where an enzyme called protease which naturally occurs in the meat, breaks down the long-chain proteins giving that distinctive tenderness and texture associated with high-end steaks.
One of the main reasons we chose to go to Jacobs was oddly enough their famous tableside Caesar Salad. In an entertaining and educational display reminiscent of Mad Men, we got to watch as a Caesar Salad was made from scratch starting with anchovies, Worcestershire, and Tabasco. The longest and most important part of the process was emulsifying the extra virgin olive oil with an egg yolk and red wine vinegar. We found it interesting how important the order of when in the process the Parmigiano-Reggiano, the croutons, or the lemon juice was added. The salad was topped with large chunks of delicious smoked bacon. That was probably the best salad I've ever had.
Video: How they make a Caesar Salad tableside at Jacobs
For our main course we had the 16-ounce bone-in Wagyu Striploin. Our server mentioned that the size of the steak made it ideal for sharing, and that a bone-in cut had more flavour than a cut without the bone. Our 38 day aged Wagyu came to the table medium-rare, fabulously marbled, and pre-sliced à la Peter Luger. It was accompanied by 3 different sauces (blue cheese, chimichurri, and ponzu), and 3 different finishing salts (fleur de sel, smoked, and black volcanic).
That was easily one of the best tasting steaks in town. The Wagyu's marbling combined with the dry aging made in exquisitely tender and tasty. We liked it with the chimichurri sauce best, and the smoked salt was our favourite among the the finishing salts.
We had sautéed mixed mushrooms on the side, as well as the best spud I've had in a steakhouse, a baked potato stuffed with Wagyu brisket and Quebec cheese.
For dessert we had flourless chocolate cake with espresso ice cream and candied hazelnuts. I usually find flourless cakes a little on the bland side, but this cake was exceptional. The cool creaminess of the ice cream and sweet crunch of the awesome nuts balanced the textures quite nicely. We also had the house churned ice cream and sorbet. You can choose 3 flavours, and we picked pistachio, chocolate, and blueberry sorbet. The blueberry was fresh, sweet, and very concentrated. It lit up our mouthes like a Christmas tree. We even had to ask the waiter where it was from just incase it was available off premises. Sadly it was indeed made in-house and wasn't available retail.
That was a great dinner and definitely a must-visit for steak lovers. Although we could see ourselves coming back for the tableside Caesar salad and the delicious desserts, perhaps with a less decadent cut of meat. Now how many steak places can you say that about?
I think most of us would agree that there are few moments in life that are more exciting than becoming a homeowner for the first time.
Back in July, Mark and I had our counter-offer on a condo accepted and we took possession yesterday - Even though we don't officially move 'til August 14, naturally we wanted our first meal for our first evening at our condo to be special! Pizza and beer would be easier, yes, but we are saving that for our friends when they help us move. Cooking was also a great way to test that all our appliances were in working order.
We decided to tackle making homemade chimichurri sauce - which turned out amazing and which we are now addicted to (we have had it before, but only in restaurants - it was so simple to make!) We spooned it over a steak that we cooked in our cast iron skillet.
We also just cooked up some quick gnocchi (admittedly not from scratch - it was late and we were hungry!) with lots of parmigiano reggiano on top.
We also baked some simple zucchini slices on stoneware with a bit of salt and olive oil in the oven. They were delicious.
Then for dessert we made my mom's simple recipe for apple crisp, or apple crumble as some call it. So delicious! And we forgot oven mitts so umm we had to be creative :P But we made it work!
Memory #1 in our first home: MADE. And it was a delicious memory indeed!
If you want to learn about fun things to do in Toronto, see Toronto Smarts. Learn about places to visit in Toronto, get concert information and sports info like when the Blue Jays play the Red Sox.
On an imported slab of heat-retention stone from Australia, you cook your own meal. Looks like fun! However it might be more about the experience than anything else - we heard some not-so-good reviews from a friend recently. We'll try anything once though!
¤Kultura (King East - Furniture District) Heard a lot about Roger Mooking's restaurants - think we're more obsessed with going there because of the fact that he used to be in Bass is Base!
¤ Cafe Gilead (King East - Furniture District) Jamie Kennedy's stuff is usually pretty good so we want to try it. ¤ Guu (Church St - The Gaybourhood) This place is trendy, so some people go there for that reason alone, but we'd be heading there to see what "Japanese tapas" is all about.
Follow a couple of foodies around the city as they discover the best (and worst) of what Toronto's culinary scene has to offer.
You can visit this site for some more info on the bloggers: http://www.tastingtoronto.ca/2009/06/so-who-is-behind-tasting-toronto.html
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