It’s my our 9th wedding anniversary!
9 years ago today the Scottish Bastard and the Irish Wife Girlfriend hooked up ’til death do us part and all that stuff. Those 9 years, well actually more like 10 if you include the dating, etc, has FLOWN by. Not a day goes by where I think to myself ‘did I make the right choice?’. We still have lots of fun, joke around and generally enjoy each others company every day. Why? Well, I’d like to say that we do the relationship thing really well but that’s not it. We’re friends first, which makes the rest easy as pie.
Today was all about food. Breakfast at The Sunset Grill. Dinner at The Boiler House and dessert at The Pie Shack.
Here’s the run down…
The Sunset Grill (Port Credit location) was under staffed. We waited 20 minutes to get our table cleaned, another 5 for coffee and a menu and when the food arrived it was, well, OK. It’s hard to screw up breakfast, so I’ll give them that. With so many places to choose for a good breakfast we’re left wondering why a place like this is rammed to the doors with patrons. I guess most people just have low standards for breakfast fare? It’s not that I need a mind boggling gastronomic experience for breakfast. Eggs and bacon are just fine, but get me some fucking coffee within a few minutes of sitting down thank you very much.
Now I’ve heard that other locations aren’t so bad, so I won’t hold it against the chain. But I’d recommend somewhere else if you’re looking for breakfast in Port Credit. They do breakfast, but not very well.
Don’t ask why we decided to go there with so many options in our back yard. Lesson learned.
The Boiler House does architecture, design and decor well. The food is good, but not out of this world. The $35 strip loin I had was somewhat overdone, fatty and gristly. The Wife’s was underdone (almost blue in some spots) but otherwise OK. The frites were excellent, and the bread was to die for. What pissed me off was their by-the-glass wine selection. It was OK, but heavily biased to the Shiraz/Chardonnay drinking crowd as opposed to the Malbec/Sauvignon Blanc types. I call it simple wine. That’s not to say that the Scot doesn’t dig on Shiraz, but I’m a little sick of Australian wine everywhere I turn. The bottled selection was great, but being the CHEAP Scottish Bastard I’d rather come home and crack a bottle that cost me $25 as opposed to $50 for the same thing at the restaurant.
The service was very good but the room was the draw. If you live in Toronto and have never been to The Distillery it’s a must-visit. The old Gooderham and Worts distillery complex (construction started in 1859) is full of cool stores, shops and restaurants. Something for everyone. If you appreciate architecture and design you need to check it out.
However, when I go to a restaurant I go to eat not to look at pretty things and because of this The Boiler House barely gets a passing grade.
The Pie Shack. Ahh, here we go. They do one thing, PIE, and they do it very well. A quaint spot on Queen St. East (in the Beach) with a 14 year old dog out front in his ‘dog shack’, and cottage kitch inside. Order a slice of pie (I had Strawberry Rhubarb, the Wife had Peach — awesome), and some tea, grab a board game (they have a good selection) and saddle up to a bench table that could easily find a home in a 50 year old cottage in Muskoka. The pie arrived just in time to see the Wife sink my aircraft carrier. I haven’t played Battleship in probably 25 years. I lost. What more is there to say? If you like pie and live in Toronto check it out.
The Pie Shack is tops on the days food experience, and we’ll definitely be heading back there again soon. Now if only they’d open one closer to home… You listening Pie Shack? We’re in the west end…
Do one thing, and do it well. The rest will fall into place.
Happy anniversary baby. Love you.
