All You Can Eat Extravaganza

Sushi Hut


Address: 3636 Steeles Avenue East - Markham, ON
Phone: (905) 513-9889
Cuisine: Japanese

This is the place our group was trying to go to a few weeks ago. It's a little hole in the wall, only 14 tables, but what it lacks in décor it makes up for in value. It's a great place to take a group of 6 or under, any more than that and it might be hard to fit into the place, especially without a reservation. Sushi Hut is not an open buffet style 'all you can eat' joint, you have a paper menu with all your options and you fill it out for the table, with the amount of how many of what items you wish. Then they will serve the items to your table in what seems a random order, it makes for an interesting experience to have constant waves of plates to taste. They have a very impressive list of items to choose from: sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, noodles, tempura, stir-fry, teppanyaki, hand rolls, salads and deserts. The sashimi/sushi list is a little small compared to the average sushi bar selection, and tuna is noticeable absent, but it's still a better selection and freshness than open buffet 'all you can eat' restaurants.

Food:
We started off with some green tea and miso soup, but quickly moved on to some salmon sashimi, california rolls and cucumber maki. The salmon was cut exactly as I prefer and was melt in your mouth. Next we moved onto some stir-fry vegetables, shrimp tempura and was quickly followed by a couple of speciality rolls. The 'Red Dragon' was my particular favourite, salmon wrapped rice, cucumber and avocado, wrapped around a shrimp tempura. It was simple marvellous, the mix of tastes in addition to the warm crunchiness of the tempura is something I'm going to have to have again soon. We also had some chicken teriyaki, which was quite excellent and ordered another plate quickly. I also really like a beef rib dish they had, it was cut into thin slices perpendicular to the bone, and it would make an enjoyable appitizer. There were only a couple of selections for desert, ice-cream (green-tea, mango and another) deep fried banana and ice-cream pancake, which seems like a poor translation of a dessert crêpe. Everybody ordered an 'ice-cream pancake' and Wanda and Chris split a 'deep fried banana', they looked and smelled good but I was unable to sample them.

My only complaint is there isn’t a better description of what you can order from, it would certainly save us from pestering the waiter for descriptions of many items. Not to mention the language barrier you might encounter, hampering an accurate explanation, such was our case in ordering desert, we couldn't quite make out one of the choices of ice-cream (Chris ordered it anyway, but were still unsure what flavour it actually was...).

Service:
Our server was pretty decent, he was patient with us and tried he best to explain any questions we had. Food and drinks came at regular intervals so you were rarely left waiting.

Value:
The cost per adult is $19.99 including drinks, and it may seem steep, but it's really an uncommonly good bargain; the variety, quality and creativity of the food is exceptional. Do keep in mind the restrictions: you can order as much as you want, but eat what you order (or be charged full price for all leftovers), a 90 minute seating limit and 10% for gratuity is automatically charged. I have no complaints with any of these restrictions, they are all reasonable, balanced and in no way put off your dining experience. If you were alone or just with just one other person, only then i would worry about ordering some of the more obscure items on the menu and not be able to finish it. 
¶    Friday, April 22, 2005    1 comments

  Nine Inch Nails ~ With Teeth

Release Date: May 3, 2005
Official Web: nin.com
Track List:

1. All the Love in the World 5:14
2. You Know What You Are 3:41
3. The Collector 3:07
4. The Hand That Feeds 3:31
5. Love is Not Enough 3:41
6. Every Day is Exactly the Same 4:54
7. With Teeth 5:37
8. Only 4:22
9. Getting Smaller 3:35
10. Sunspots 4:02
11. The Line Begins to Blur 3:44
12. Beside You in Time 5:24
13. Right Where it Belongs 5:04

Total Playing Time: 55:56

Trent Reznor in all his angst is back on the scene again with his 4th full release "With Teeth". I always look forward to his work, his music is an intelligent mix industrial guitars, raw emotion and voice that you can't ignore. I tend to need a long time to digest his new offerings, they tend to be so complex most times, it takes days and weeks of play time in different moods to fish out all the subtleties he includes. His last album, the double disc opus "The Fragile" was so much music, it took me months and seeing them in concert to truly get the flavour of that album. I'm hoping I have listened to it enough to give you a real impression, it has had to fight for play time with all the other good music that has been released in the last few weeks.

I was very interested to see how this album would differ since Trent has had a fairly public recovery of alcohol and substance abuse. I hate to say it but, fresh, raw emotion makes the best music. Surprisingly not all of his songs are as dark and lonely as the bulk of his previous work, some songs I would almost say he sounds happy, like in "All the Love in the World", it starts slow and asks "Why do you get all the love in the world?", but then builds into an acceptance, without changing the question. The first single "The Hand That Feeds" is exactly what you would expect from nin, it's become a quick favorite of mine, it has a strong tempo and direct lyrics, I expect lots or airplay and clubplay. Trent is a master producer and mixer, he knows how to expand songs from good to great, like the piano accompaniment he added to "Right Where It Belongs", he pushes things further by addings some cheering crowds later in the song to really bring the point of the song home, it just makes the song so haunting and memorable.

Trent has also decided to do something very cool and different with "The Hand that Feeds", he exported the raw file into Garageband format, you can download and remix as you would like (System Requirements: G4 or better, 512 ram 1GB+ recommended, GarageBand 2.0 or better). I've already spent a few hours playing around with it and I love seeing how the song is built. As much as I love music, I really don't know much about how to make it, and seeing a song like this it really makes me wish I did. I hope more artists follow his lead and open some of their songs up a little and allow the common folk to play around with it a little, I think it will really inspire many people to create their own works.

** If you'll notice I have made 3 songs in each of my reviews avilable for streaming. Enjoy! **

Best Tracks (in no particular order):

• The Hand That Feeds
• Only
• Every Day is Exactly the Same
• Right Where it Belongs
• Sunspots
  

Worst Track:

• With Teeth
  

Rating (out of 5 stars):  
¶    Wednesday, April 20, 2005    1 comments

  Excellent Italian Food At A Snobby Mall

Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill

Address: Bayview Village Shopping Centre ~ 2901 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Phone: (416) 590-130
Web: www.oliverbonacini.com
Type: Italian

I've only seen this restaurant in passing, it is located in Bayview Village Mall, which is mainly upscale stores, so I may have wrote it off as a little too snooty and expensive for most of our outings. It's a very busy and popular spot, and I do not recommend this place as a quiet place to eat, the kitchen is wide open and there is a lot of tables.

Food:
Tonight we started our evening with a shared "Prosciutto Plate with summer pear, toasted walnuts and argula ($9.95)". I'm not a huge fan of prosciutto, but I tried a little of it all combined and it was delectable.

I ordered the "Smoked Chicken with fusilli, mixed mushrooms, garden peas and extra virgin olive oil ($14.95)" for my main dish. I loved this dish, it was the right mix of flavours and not too oily. I really hoped it had more mushrooms, they were few and far between.

I finished my meal off with a Blood Orange and Raspberry Sorbet with shortbread stick ($5.50). The blood orange flavour was the special sorbet of the evening and was delightful mixed with the raspberry. I wish I could have had the shortbread, it looked very tasty as well. They also had a good selection of other cakes, tarts, ice cream and pies to choose from.

Service:
Our service tonight was excellent, our server Stephen, was friendly, efficient and helpful. He got a very decent tip from us. I hope the rest of the staff is even close to his proficiency.

Value:
The cost of the meal was actually a little better than I expected, there is a good range of items to choose from so even if you don't want to spend a bundle you can get some quality food. Most of the main dishes are in the $11.95 to $23.95 area. The portion size of our meals were okay, but don't expect an overflowing plate of food. For me my dish was perfectly sized for how much I should eat.

I should note, on the menu there is an added surcharge for shared appetizers and entrées, but I don't recall if we were charged extra for our shared “Prosciutto Plate”. I really find that kind of a “nickel and dime” kind of way to inflate a bill.

 
¶    Friday, April 15, 2005    0 comments

  Olive ~ Trickle

Release Date: May 30, 2000
Offical Web: Olive
Fan Web: OliveMusic.net
Track List:

1. Love Affair 3:57
2. Trickle 4:55
3. I'm Not In Love 4:40
4. Smile 4:22
5. All You Ever Needed 4:25
6. Indulge Me 4:09
7. Speak To Me 4:06
8. Liberty 4:16
9. Push 4:44
10. Trust You 3:48
11. Creature of Comfort 4:05
12. Beyond the Fray 4:19
13. Take My Hand 4:11

Total Playing Time: 55:57

I know this seems a little past it's prime, but it's such an influential album, it encompasses many elements I keep looking for in music: a stunning female voice, a multi layered "full" sound with electronic components with a masterful use of strings and complimentary instruments.

This British act formed in 1995 and was originally composed of vocalist Ruth-Ann, keyboard/instrumentalist Tim Kellett and programmer Robin Taylor-Firth. It has some moderate success with their first album "Extra Virgin" in the UK. But there was some turmoil within the trio and Robin departed the band in October 1997 before work on "Trickle" was underway. After the album was complete there we're even more problems after their label, RCA Records thought the album was far too different and dropped them. They got a lucky break when the song "I'm not in love", a cover of the hit from 10cc was included on the soundtrack for the movie "The Next Best thing" and Madonna picked them up on her label Maverick Records. For the most part all their success has been in the UK, so it's not surprising if you've never heard of them before.

The sound on “Trickle” is a mix of trip-hop, a little drum and bass and a hint of traditional electronica elements. I really dig this kind of mix, they compliment each other and it really makes the album pop out from others that are solely in a single category. Ruth-Ann’s voice combined with the lyrics, is the real star on this album, they keep me coming back over and over again. Ruth-Ann’s voice is a soft, warm and emotive influence that consumes me in an affectionate embrace. I find myself caught up in songs like “Liberty”, “Push” and “Creature of Comfort” they are brilliantly mixed and really capture what I would consider the “Olive” essence. There are so few weak spots in this album, I find it nearly consistent right through the journey it takes me on.

The band have stopped collaborating together at this time, Tim is focusing on songwriting for other artists so that he can spend more time with his family. Ruth-Ann completed work on her first solo album to be released sometime this year, when it comes out, a review of it will certainly show up here.

Best Tracks (in no particular order):

• Push
• Creature of comfort
• Smile
• I'm not in Love
• Liberty

Rating (out of 5 stars):  
¶    Wednesday, April 13, 2005    0 comments

  I Seafood. Do You Seafood?

Buffet City

Address: 3160 Steeles Avenue East, Markham, Ontario
Phone: (905) 474-9899
Type: Chinese/Japanese/Canadian Buffet

This was not the place we were trying going to go to tonight, we had a little mix up in communication when we were coordinating ourselves and it got confused with another "all you can eat" place down the road. We (Wanda, Chris and myself) hadn't really noticed this until after we were already seated and our drinks had arrived, then my other friend Rich called asking where the hell we're we. I do want to go to the other "all you can eat" place and I'm sure we'll get around to it shortly.

I've been to Buffet City before, but it looks like they have made some minor changes in the layout and the options on the buffet. It's a fairly typical oriental type buffet you see around here, it directly compares to the Mandarin but with a little less decor. When it comes down to it really, wants most important in a buffet is the selection of food.

Food:
Since it's Friday they have all the expensive stuff out and the full range of item to choose from, particularly they have a huge amount of seafood, they had 3 different shrimps, 2 dishes with mussels, 2 items of real crab, salt and pepper lobster tails and sushi bar with 3 types of sashimi, 4 types of sushi, and a half dozen different rolls to choose from. And then there is all the regular items you'd find on a buffet!

I had I good mix of all the Japanese items since that was what I was mostly looking forward to tonight. It was pretty average for an open buffet with Japanese food, okay but it makes you with for the real thing. I really wouldn't recommend going here just for the Japanese food because it's really just average stuff. I also had at least a half-dozen legs of real crab, they were okay and better than the fake stuff but I prefer my crab nice and hot. I also tried the salt and pepper crab as well but found it too messy to deal with. The taste of the food was very average, there was nothing I had that stood out. I really liked their dessert selection, fresh fruit, cakes, tarts chocolate dipped strawberries and just to name a few of the goodies. I was also happy to have 2 non ice cream choices to enjoy in addition to the dozen or so other flavours in the freezer.

My 1 major complaint of this place is they had nothing but plain napkins, no "moist towelette" were visible or offered. There is a lot of food that needs to be eaten by hand, it really kept me from enjoying more of the crab and shrimp.

Service:
The quality of service was about average for a buffet. I doubt you will ever see an impressive rating on this blog for an open buffet since you do the bulk of the service and because of this, you really need to be exceptional earn more than 10% tip. Our waitress was pretty typical for an oriental buffet, english was far from her second language. We had a funny little moment when Chris ordered his drink, he asked for a rye and ginger, she replied "why and ginger?". She also got a little lax as the evening went on checking our drink levels. I was a little annoyed when I was served the wrong tea, I mean I like Chinese tea but I prefer green tea. She also got a little lax at the end of the meal keeping up with drinks.

Value:
For $17 this place is just simply a great deal. None of the food will knock your socks off, but the variety and selection is just simply unparalleled. 
¶    Friday, April 08, 2005    0 comments