Super Sized Dinners at a Hardware???

Naoki and I ventured to a new corner of our neighbourhood on Sunday with two friends.  We had heard about a restaurant called the Oakwood Hardware which was housed in  — what else — what used to be a hardware store (thus the name). Evidently, according to Leslie, it had also been a bakery and who knows what else over the years. But the owners of this big, homey, family-run restaurant, went back to its roots as a hardware store.  There was a red brick wall running the length which was hung with old tools in memory of its hardware store days. The fellow serving us — very friendly and knowledgeable — told us the owners looked all around for these little bits so they could bring back the old history of the building to the new restaurant. This included putting miniature bathtubs as trough-like sinks in the washrooms.

The restaurant had to have two grand openings since after the first, there had been a kitchen fire so the restaurant was closed right after opening for renovations. It had just reopened this past summer — which was a lucky thing for us.

So, without further delay, here is…

Naoki’s Food Review

The menu at Oakwood Hardware had oodles of really good sounding dishes, like Tacos with Seoul named for its kimchi addition, calamari and many more. We started off ordering a meze with naan with za’atar and cheese served with gherkins, olives, fried cauliflower, labneh, baba ghanoush and tahini.  Leslie said she would come back just for the meze because it was so good. Ann agreed with her 100%. I liked it because it was very appealing to my taste buds. I liked all the tastes especially the yogurt and the mushrooms because I’m a freak for both of them.

 

 

 

 

For the main course, Leslie and Ann both got the Cavaletti Spaghetti which had  shredded Brussels sprouts, caramelized onion, smoked bacon, chilies, fresh lemon, and olive oil. It tasted boozy to me but there wasn’t any alcohol in it (as far as I know). Leslie said she liked it a lot especially because they didn’t put a lot of salt so she could add the little bit of salt she wanted. She also said that the pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. She, and, Ann both, said yes to a little shaving of Parmesan cheese on top. Ann thought the spaghetti was great except the portion was a bit big (but she ate it anyway). She said she’d probably just have the meza next time. Leslie said she liked the dish and would give it an 8/10.  Ann, also, thought it deserved a 8/10.

Judy ordered the Ontario Lake Fish which we all laughed about because she said she wouldn’t be wanting to eat fish from Lake Ontario. But it turned out it was trout that was from lakes in Ontario. She said she liked the trout and the rice that it was on was excellent. Judy also liked the fact that it was a family-run business (the chef was the owner and her son worked with her in the kitchen.). Judy gave it a 8/10.

I got the KFC — not the kind in a bucket — this was Korean Fried Chicken. It usually comes with kimchi rice but I didn’t feel like burning my tongue off so I got fries instead which have practically become a normal thing of this blog. Everyone at the table had to try my fries. The chicken was battered and deep fried which is how every fried chicken should be. It came with a nice medium spicy sauce on top that went amazingly with the crunchy outside of the chicken. I would give it a 8-1/2/10.

At the end of the meal, we all shared a delicious Sticky Toffee Pudding with ice cream and, Ann’s favourite, caramel sauce on top. The cake itself was so soft and moist inside. The ice cream and caramel sauce was amazing on top and complemented it perfectly. I think it was the best of all the Toffee Puddings I’ve had in my life which would be about 10. I would give it a 11/10. Oh, Ann forgot to take a picture and by the time she remembered it was almost all gone.

Overall, Oakwood Hardware is a great restaurant and we really enjoyed it a lot and would all go back again.

 

 

Eating Our Way Down St. Clair: Episode 5

 

Well, here we are again! Well fed, as always, and ready to write about it. This week we had the pleasure of eating with my niece, Kate, and her partner, Dereks. Kate was in town to deliver a paper at a conference of Medievalists at the University of Toronto. They arrived in Toronto while I was down in Washington, DC for a little reacquainting myself with my history there and visiting my other Ph.D family member, Joe.   So I was feeling pretty happy that I got to see two of my family in one week.

When Dereks and Kate arrived at my apartment, Naoki gave them four choices of cuisines in the neighbourhood to choose from: Japanese, Korean, Italian or just plain Canadian pub fare. They thought about it and Kate made the decision that we should try out the Italian place. We had many to choose from but since we were all starving,  we chose Ferro which is the one closest to our houses. Ferro is sort of a classic looking Italian restaurant: lots of wrought iron, plants everywhere, tables too close together but cozy, and friendly chatter happening at the other tables. The only thing missing was candles in Chianti bottles. We all immediately felt right at home.

Now I’ll pass this on to Naoki so he can tell you about our eating experience!

Naoki’s Food Review

We sat at a round table with a semi-booth at the front of the restaurant so we could watch what was happening out on the street and in the restaurant. We thought the table was a little small but we didn’t want to sit on high stools because Ann was feeling tired which is what Ann is feeling right now while we’re writing this. Once we were settled, a waiter came and gave us our menus. It’s a decently-sized menu filled with Italian classics like pasta and salads and pizza. Lots to choose from. (By the way, Ann had whispered to me before we left her apartment that we were eating on a budget tonight and not to choose something expensive!) The four of us decided to go with pizzas. When they came, our little table was getting a bit too over-populated with food so we had to move the bread bowl behind Ann. In the end, we had a round table covered with round pizza pans and round bowls and round plates so much so that I thought we’d become round people too (which we might if we eat too much pizza). 

Dereks and Kate decided to share the Maria Pizza which was loaded with yummy stuff like smoked chicken, roasted red peppers, cremini mushrooms, goat cheese, tomato sauce and, of course, mozzarella.  “This is something new and different for us,” they both said. They also said they loved the taste of the goat cheese on the pizza. But they said that they were “cheese freaks” because Dereks works at a place where they have tons of cheese and when it’s at its best-before date he gets to take it home. He said it’s hard to mess up pizza but really good pizza comes down to who makes it and who you are eating it with — like me and Ann — that’s what makes it good.

Ann and I had the Originale Pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and lots of cheese. It usually comes with green peppers but me and Ann weren’t feeling it that day so we just told them to hold the peppers. Ann said she loved the sauce and it was really cheesy and good. For me I personally loved it. I love pepperoni and mushrooms. Ann cut the pieces for me since I’m such a baby when it comes to cutting things. She even let me have the last slice. We also all shared a Caesar salad with lettuce and croutons and thinly sliced pieces of Parmesian cheese. Dereks and Ann thought it needed more, or some, anchovies. But me and Kate didn’t miss them. 

Dereks said he would definitely come back there to eat and he rated his meal a 8-1/4/10; Kate didn’t say whether she would come back and since she lives in Rhode Island it doesn’t really matter but she gave it an 8/10; Ann gave it a 7/10 because when the server came to ask for drinks she asked Dereks and Kate but not her. I gave our meal and 8-1/2/10. Overall, Ferro is good neighbourhood Italian restaurant and I would definitely go back for pizza and I would say I’d also like to try the pasta. 

 

PS Ann forgot to take any pictures of our meal and I didn’t remind her until the end when we had eaten everything on the table. So sorry about that. We do have this cartoon drawn by Moo of Kate and Dereks.