Wendy’s – VANILLA Frosty Dairy Dessert

Wendy’s has introduced a new flavour of their Frosty.   I was sure if I should be excited or roll my eyes.   I have always liked the Frosty’s but they weren’t anything special except that I liked that I got good value for my dollars.   I was hoping the Vanilla Frosty would be Wendy’s way of raising the stakes and making their products better but at the same time I was worried that it was just going to be… well PLAIN.   While it did taste like it had a FRENCH vanilla taste to it, the Vanilla Frosty was quite plain and a little bit of a disappointment.   I have yet to return to Wendy’s to try another one (one reason why is because the Wendy’s in Thornhill has closed down) but I will give it another chance, because once again, while it isn’t anything special, it does provide good bang for my buck.

Philthy McNasty’s – Keele and Steeles Location

I eat at this restaurant with my baseball team after games.   Last night one guy who I have known for 20 years, took a bite into his burger and found some metal sticking out.   Usually the food is pretty good there and they give sports teams deals.   The guy complained and we got 15% off of our whole bill.   So the food is good there, just check under the bun before you bite into it. 

Jack Astors

The buttermillk chicken fried chicken is one of the finest things a man can put in his mouth. The chicken meat is juicy and tender, the breading is crunchy and the whole thing is smothered in some wonderful gravy.

It was a shame though, that the meal was hampered by a subpar mashed potato side. There was just an odd taste in the mashed potatoes. One that wasn’t supposed to be there. I don’t know if the restaurant has changed the way it prepares mashed potatos or if something simply went wrong.

Baton Rouge

There was a special on the chicken tenders and fries for 6.98. That was a deal that was too good to pass up. The portion was smaller than the usual portion, but still, enough for a good meal as the usual portion might simply be too much food. The chicken was of its usual high quality. The french fries were shoestring though.

Moxies

Another chain restaurant with all the same food other chain restaurants have, except that Moxies charges a little bit more and tries to be a little bit cooler. Everything in the restaurant is black or just plain dark. Even the steakknife looked like some sort of crysknife.

I ordered the 8oz sirloin and it only took them two tries to cook the poor thing. Once cooked, it was fine. The mashed potatoes were great. Garlic and bacon bits were in the potatoes, the texture was constistent and they were very buttery.

My dining partner had the calamari, which was a bit too deep fried.

The service was pretty good, but a little bit slow.

The dessert menu offers Mighty Leaf brand teas. A bit expensive for tea, but a good quality tea.

McDonalds

I had a Bacon & Egg McMuffin combo and an order of Hotcakes for breakfast. The cheese of the sandwich was off centre by at least 1 centimetre. Normally, this kind of thing doesn’t bother me, but with slightly melted cheese, being off centre creates whole bites with too much cheese and others with not enough cheese. Cheese needs to be balanced.

Otherwise the meal was very acceptable. Quite good actually. The hash brown may have a bit a tad over greasy, it probably wasn’t drained enough.

For years McDonalds has been getting slagged for its coffee. I don’t understand what the problem is. I have always liked the coffee at McDonalds. It’s superior to the coffee at many donut chains and better than the standard cup of coffee at any of those hoidy-toidy five-dollar coffee bars.

The Hotcakes were fine, as they always are. Soft, fluffy and oh so yummy.

Phoenix & Firkin

Just another Firkin pub. They’re all pretty much the same.

Although I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to be the only person not eating, so I ordered a plate of french fries. Cut medium to thick, not seasoned or battered. They were just right. A perfectly simple french fry.

I tried a chicken finger as well. The meat to filler ratio was pretty good and the breading had a nice taste and consistency to it.

I recommend both the french fries and the chicken fingers at this establishment.

Popeyes

I ordered the 3 chicken strips combo, spicy with fries. The chicken at Popeyes is great. Especially the with spicy batter. The french fries, altough shoestring in cut, are augmented with a spicy batter as well. The one biscuit that comes as part of the combo is insufficient for the meal. I ordered another half dozen of the biscuits. (It doesn’t make financial sense to order 4 more biscuits when a half dozen is a better price than 4.)

I washed the meal down with a Dr. Pepper. Popeyes is one of the few places with Dr. Pepper on fountain.

I didn’t eat all the biscuits as a total of seven is too many. But they keep well enough in the refridgerator for another day or two. Microwave one biscuit for 25 to 35 seconds (depending on your microwave) and they’re good to go.

Popeyes never disappoints. As long as I’m willing to forsake my diet and eat what I want when I want, I will keep going back.

Sunset Grill

Upon a first visit to any all-day breakfast establishment, I must try either the french toast or pancakes. I ordered the pancakes and one of my dining partners had the french toast. I quickly traded one of my five pancakes for a slice of the french toast.

The french toast was very soft and eggy. Not much if any cinnamon or nutmeg.

The pancakes were fluffy on the inside but a bit too crunchy on the outside. They also had a flavour of something which I could not quite figure out. They tasted fine, but maybe a little too Bisquick/Aunt Jemima-esque.

My other dining partner had the greek omelette and homefries. It must have been a decent meal because the plate was nearly licked clean by the end of the meal. I did manage to try some of the homefries. They weren’t seasoned but were cooked just right. Brown on the outside and not cold on the inside.

The service was not very good. We had to ask twice for the whole wheat toast and they were out of decaf coffee. The waitress also had this look on her face. She did not want to be there that day and it showed in her effort, or lack there of.

Casey’s Bar & Grill

The lighting in the room was rather dim, especially for the lunch hour.

The restaurant was not busy, but service was slowed by an unusually large take-out order.

When the food did arrive, it was very good. I had the bacon cheeseburger with fries. The cheese on the burger was just the right amount. No excess cheese drippage off the side of the patty. I hate that. The meat was thick and cooked just right. Black on the outside, brown on the inside.

The french fries were of a medium cut, pre-seasoned with salt but were helped out by my sprinkling of pepper atop.

My dining partner had the moroccan chicken with rice. As told to me by my partner, it was very good.