The Gabardine

photo: www.hipurbangirl.com

I have now had the chance to visit the Gabardine a few times...mostly because it is the best option outside of Mercado and Blowfish for a lunch with colleagues that is less that 2 minutes from the entrance of our office tower.

The last time I stopped in to grab a quick take-away coffee en route back to the office from a meeting. The second to last time I was there a few weeks ago for lunch.

• Relish: A few things to note. During the lunch I had here, I had massive food envy over my lunch-partners pulled pork sandwich. I will have that if I go back. I had a great pressed cuban pork sandwich, not quite spicy enough, but still very satisfying, and it came with salad and potato salad that was just scrumptious. When I stopped by for coffee, I was convinced (to put it lightly) to try the cinnamon rolls - apparently they are the best baked good they do. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are: cinnamon deliciousness, without the goo and fake sugar taste of most buns, with just the right combination of cinnamon-y crust to dunk in the coffee, and soft, warm cinnamon bun center. It now requires a fair amount of restraint to not go in every morning en route to work and pick one of these up.   
• Quaff: Coffee was excellent. A tad bit on the bitter side, but my latte was scrumptious. They have a decent wine selection at lunch, and apparently are also a great place for a cocktail after work, although we were warned to try and avoid the 5pm rush!
• Feel: 'A light and airy pub' would probably be the way I would best describe it, given the light paint, natural wood tables and chairs, but old-school English pub features. The clientele is bay street, but I think mostly the bay street-ers who would rather not be on bay street and are trying to escape.

Overall, a great and convenient place for a business lunch and morning coffee break. I think it's still a little bit undiscovered as the front of the building is covered in scaffolding - I'm worried that it will be near impossible to get in for lunch (it already is as they don't do reservations...) when the scaffolding is gone. Enjoy!

The Queen and Beaver

A sweltering summer evening deserves a great patio. This week I discovered The Queen and Beaver, a little gastro-pub nestled away on Elm street for late evening drinks with a few good friends. We sat on the upstairs patio, which has a lovely secluded feel as you’re just about at the leafy part of the trees from the street below. It’s a super cute, very ‘old english’ pub. Although it was a great patio, I’m putting this place on my list to try in the winter, when the cosy-comfy pub style would make for some nice evenings away from the cold.     

• Relish: The food looked fantastic, very gastro-pub-esque – something I’ve missed since London! Staples like mussels and frites, fish and chips, pot pie, and a smattering of salads and lighter options as well – I’m absolutely coming back here for dinner or lunch.
• Quaff: I had a lovely glass of Pinot Grigio, and they have about 5 whites and 5 reds by the glass. A nice mix of old and new world options, some of the usual with the whites (the Cave Springs seems to be the only Reisling option at restaurants in this city), but the reds were a bit more out of the ordinary. The cider or multiple draught options also looked delicious. 
• Feel: Even just walking through the pub to get to the patio, this place made you want to pull up a chair and sit down and have a pint. They had a big screen playing what else – soccer (oops – football), but it was positioned so tastefully over the fireplace, that it didn’t seem to detract from the warm and friendly feel. As I left, for a split second was able to pretend that I was coming out of a gastro pub in South Kensington...then jumped into the diamond cab and realized, nope – I’m still in Toronto.

It might be worth mentioning that this place was one of the ‘best new restaurants 2010’ by Toronto Life.

w: The Queen and Beaver Public House