Big Update

Its been far to long since I've last posted so I have a lot to report. I have done a lot of eating in the last month or so and and picked up a few dollar bin gems along the way.

Went to The Skyline with Aurora for lunch about a month ago. This place is proud to offer "Affordable Family Dining in Parkdale" or somethig like that which was printed on their menus. The sign outfront is one of the highlights here - an old style neon/light bulb outlined combo in blue and red which is all a big arrow pointing down at the restaurant. Inside the decor is just as classic - a lunch counter at the front with low, round stools topped in red faux-leather red and the same faux-leather covers the bench seating at the booths in the middle of the restaurant.
I had toasted western on brown deluxe. The sandwhich itself was a little below par, the eggs were rather dry, a result of being over cooked i guess. Also, by the time I got to the second half of my sandwhich the bottom piece of toast had become quite soggy, but I suppose that is no fault of this specific sandwhich but more a consequence of any toasted sandwhich with egg on it. A possible solution could be to eat the entire sandwhich first while its still fresh before moving on to whatever else is on your plate, but this is just not my style. I like to alternate fries and sandwhich as I move through a meal. The fries were pretty good, but nothing special. The coleslaw was quite good, suprisingly good actually. Its rare to get good slaw at a diner. I also got a pickle, which was a nice touch. The only other strike against them was that they charged us for a coffee refill. WTF? For some reason after I finished I was filled with regret and wished that I had've gotten a grilled cheese instead. Perhaps next time.

A few weekends later the breakfast tour moved to Mimi's. Mimi's is a tiny little place on Bathurst north of Queen which you've probably walked by dozens of times and never even noticed. Its occupies part of the first floor of the notoriously myseterious 24hr Oak Leaf Steam Baths but has nothing to do with late night male encounters. Mimi's has three small booths, a short counter and a open kithcen. Everything is litteraly packed into that little room. The walls are covered with all kinds of interesting memorabilia - everything from old hockey players, to Fred Eaglesmith posters to old Woody Allen vodka ads. The food here is different that your average greasy spoon - things are much more on the home cooking tip. I had the El Vez omlette which is a filled with chili and topped with melted maple cheddar cheese. The eggs came with a pile of mulitgrain toast and a side of excellent homefries. They also have 10 out of 10 fresh squeezed grapefruit juice which is enough alone to make me a happy man. Eat your heart out Java House. Lots of free coffee refils too.

Been to the Stem twice in the last little while - once with Greenwood and once with Aurora. With Greenwood he had a cheeseburger and I had a BLT. The BLT was ok, but nothing amazing. The bacon was way overcooked, which I'm not a fan of, I like by bacon chewy. Chris said his burger was top notch, which I don't doubt for a second. We spent a good portion of the afternoon shooting the shit and getting hepped up the bottomless coffee cup. A few weeks later Aurora and I hit the Stem for lunch and I had tuna salad on brown toast which also had tomato and lettuce on it. This sandwhich was excellent. Understated and modest tuna salad with a bit of minced celery in there, fresh crispy lettuce and juicy tomato. The Stem's fries were top notch as usual.

Last week we went for lunch at Maggie's and it was a disaster. Other than us there was only one other table of people there and our order took almost 45 minutes. I don't know what the hell they were doing in there but it took way too long. I've been there on a saturday morning when its completely packed and the service is usually pretty fast so this had me quite confused. The english muffin on my eggs florentine was so soggy it seemed it had been sitting under a heat lamp for a while. Looks like the gourmet college street breakfast award has been returned to Aunties and Uncles, I used to like Maggies just as well but now I'm not so sure. Even the decent grapefruit juice wasn't enough to sweeten my sour mood which stuck with me for the rest of the day.

Last week Jon and I went down to Mars for some evening eats and solice. I had a cheeseburger and fries. He just had a coffee and sketched. The atmosphere at Mars is that of a classic 50s diner but apparently it was all installed in the 80s with an attempt to make it look classic. Their lack of honesty here lowers my trust of the place. The cheeseburger was a little unsettling - too much mayonaise combined with the melted processed cheese made for a slimy mess that was all over the place by the time I neared finishing it.

Last weekend an attempt was made to go to People's Foods up on Dupont but it was closed so we settled for the Veata Lunch which was ok, nothing too exciting though and nothing new to report there.