1173 Dundas St. E (Dundas and Carlaw)
Toronto, Ontario

Toronto - Last week, me and some peeps had the chance to go grab a drink in the east end, something we don’t really do too often. Looking for a casual low key affair, we stumbled upon a hole in the wall(if that wall was an intersection kind of place) bar/lounge on the corner of Dundas and Carlaw called “Lolabar”. Seeing no other options in this industrial wasteland area, we decided to take our chances.

Beers- Two options available - Creemore and Steamwhistle. So basically, not the most diverse of drinking choices in terms of beers but really, theres a light beer and a dark beer, so it’s pretty decent. I mean, if they also had bud light, keiths, blue, 50 and stella on tap, I’d still choose between Creemore and Steamwhistle anyway. I think this place was definitely more of a mixed drinks bar, since the bar inside was just filled with hard liquor choices. However, to be consistent with the other reviews, I’ll stay with beer - so yea, there was only two choices.

Decor- This might be the only bar I’ll ever go to where the patio is bigger then space inside and clearly, the patio of Lolabar is it’s #1 selling point. It’s HUGE. However, it over looks the corner of Dundas and Carlaw, which is about as pleasant to the eye as a room with white paint and grey doors. Boring. However, if you just want to sit outside, there’s definitely space. Inside, Lolabar takes on the look of some posh richmond-spadina lounge, with a primarily red/black look focusing on sleek modernistic furniture. Quite a contrast to the neighborhood it is in. Patio gets an A though. A+ if it was in a better location.

Patrons - C’mon, this is the corner of Dundas and Carlaw - you can’t honestly be expecting people. Not a place to go to if you want to go meet random strangers.

Service - There was one person working there, and to be honest, it was a Tuesday night, so there was not a whole lot going on. We got served at decent times, the dude (probably owner) was nice enough and theres nothing much to it. It’s hard to not get service when you are one of two tables with people at the place.

Food- having played a soccer game prior, we were pretty damn hungry. Like the beer selection, the food selection at Lolabar was minimal - Pizza (pepperoni or one with everything on it) or Meat on sticks. We chose the Pepperoni pizza for 10 dollars and got an 8 inch mccains pepperoni pizza or something. I was hungry, so it tasted good, but I am pretty sure this was a straight out of the box pizza. I don’t imagine meat on the stick to be much better.

Conclusion- All was well until we got the bill. The guy charged us 22$ for pitchers. TWENTY TWO freakin dollars. That is inexcusable. Even crappy Firkin pubs only charge 18$. I honestly don’t know where they get off thinking they can charge 22$ for a pitcher of beer. Even better, they charged like 5.94$ for a pint, so ordering pints was actually cheaper then ordering a pitcher - can anyone tell me why this is? The place had a nice patio, but aside from that everything else was not great - low beer selection, low food selection, bad neighborhood - extremely high prices. I can understand that not a lot of business comes by on a Tuesday, but there is no need to punish patrons with high ass beer prices. If no one comes by on a day, just close the damn place that day and cut your losses.

To sum it up, if you like a nice patio overlooking an empty intersection and astronomical beer prices, then the Lolabar is for you.

1/5

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Toronto - In honor of the longest allstar game in Major League Baseball history, the Panic Manual decided to our longest podcast ever - a whopping 57 minutes!. Topics covered include Rogers Picnic, Steamwhistle Unsigned, upcoming shows, Sigur Ros, our favorite cds so far of the year, the 2 year rule and the Opera House. Have a go at ‘er and let us know what you think!

1. The Jealous Girlfriends - Roboxulla
2. Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Black Dominoes Remix)
3. Sigur Ros - Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur
4. Flosstradamus - Overnight Celebrity
5. Caribou - She’s The One
6. Nick Cave - Disco 2000
7. Kleerup - Until We Bleed (featuring Lykke Li)

podpress is down, so here’s the
direct link

167 Niagara Street,
Toronto, ON,
M5V1C9

Toronto - Being a season ticket holder for Toronto FC, I am always searching for a good place to grab grub before a game. Let me tell you - I have found a pretty good pub. Actually, credit goes to my friend Brent for doing that. The Old York is a little ole pub located on Niagara and Wellington, a block south of the crappy Foggy Dew and the awesome Canadian Corps Legion Hall. I have been there a few times now, and here’s my take.

Beers - They have some microbreweries on tap, such as Amsterdam, Wellingtons and Saint Andre, but no Creemore or Steamwhistle (on tap), two staples of my liquid diet. Beggars can’t be choosers. The prices are pretty normal, about 5ish for a pint. Any pub that serves micro’s are good in my book.

Decor: According to FoodTV, the Old York was a subject of a restaurant makeover sometime in the past. That would explain the sleek ikea-esque interior. Using mainly a black-silver palette, the interior of the Old York reminds you more of a lounge on Richmond street then a bar from the 1800s. However, that is all moot, as most people who go to this bar hang out on the decent size patio. Patios are patios. Theres wood, theres seats and theres tables and if it’s a nice day outside, theres nothing better. But yea, the inside is pretty sleek. There is one central bar and I guess the bar comfortably can handle maybe 100 people? I don’t know.

Patrons- Located just a stroll away from Liberty Village (whatever the hell that is), The Old York consists of mainly older-ish people, so it’s a pretty low key affair at this place. On TFC game days, the crowd is probably more rowdy, as it consists of mainly TFC supports wanting to get their drink on before descending upon BMO Field and their crappy ass 12$ Carlsberg beers.

Service - Not exceptionally good, not exceptionally bad. It’s service, the dude who served us was good at taking our order, delivering our food and catering to whatever needs we asked for, but by no means was he overly friendly and definitely did not make any more effort beyond what was necessary. Also, I like cute waitresses, not some dude who thinks he’s a rocker or something.

Food - The most important component. The food here is exceptional. They stick to a rather simple menu, but here is the key - ask anyone who goes to the Old York and they will tell you about the sauce. Oh yes. The sauce. Along with the usual mustard/ketchup/relish combo, the Old York provides this nice little yellow jerk sauce in an unassuming Heinze ketchup bottle. While it might not look like much, one simple sample of this sauce will cause an explosion of awesomeness that your tongue might not be able to handle. It’s the right amount of spice and the right amount of everything. It’s the only real reason why I go to this bar. It’s that damn good. You know a sauce is good when everytime you go to the place, you think of ways to steal the sauce.

Sauce aside, they serve a lot of sandwiches, salads, burritos and typical pub fare. I go for the Cuban myself, which is a nice blend of pork, spices and veggies. The fries here are good as well, not that cookie cutter mccains frozen bag shit you get at some of the lazier pubs. My herbivore friends swear by their 3 cheese sandwich as well. I noticed the club sandwich uses havarti cheese instead of the usual, which is a nice touch. I’ve been here for brunch, and that’s excellent as well. The food here is just a vehicle for you to eat that sauce anyway.

Conclusion: What can you say? The Old York is excellent for the summer, with it’s comfortable patio and low key environment, it’s a great place for you to get your patio on whilst drowning yourself in some tasty jerk sauce. Highly recommended if you are in the area, specially when the other option is the cookie cutter firkin style of the Foggy Dew.

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Toronto - For a burnt down restaurant, Sassafraz is boiling hot. We decided only recently to try out Summerlicoius - not because we are poor - but that we are relatively poor. If one can pay $35+ for dinner one could hardly go to the street-people and honestly pat him/her on the shoulder in camaraderie. In any case, the place doesn’t need an effort to be snobbish, and I’m sure no one is immune - this was definitely not your mom-n-pop bistro. No matter how rich you are, the whole point of being there is to gently stroke the ego and whisper that you’ve “made it”, whatever the hell that means. » Read the rest of the entry..

725 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M4M 1H1
(416) 463-8868

Toronto - Given the amount of meals I eat away from L’hotel Harbord, it’s only fitting I start reviewing places that I eat. The Blue Moon is in the Queen Street east district .. across the street from everyone’s favorite ghetto strip joint - Jilly’s as well as Dangerous Dans. It is often a meeting point for people going to the Opera House for a concert. Me and some peeps went there after our soccer game on Tuesday.

Beers: They have 12 beers on tap. Including a few Mill Street and Amsterdam brews. Any bar that serves Ontario beer earns quite a few points. The pitchers are 16 bucks a pop and fits 3 regular size pint glasses. I am assuming Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue or any of those crappy beers are probably cheaper. But unless you are wearing a wife beater, live in a trailer or work in a coal mine, you don’t drink those beers.

Decor: The Blue Moon has a quite unique layout. In the front 3rd of the place, the bar resides in the middle with stools and tv’s all around, there are few couches and most people sit at the bar and watch games. In the middle 3rd of the place, there is two pool tables as well tables for larger groups along the way. In the final 3rd, there is a stage and tables that are set up for a small concert I guess. It’s a decently large place. The walls aren’t blue, and theres no references to the moon either.

Patrons: Queen and Broadview is not the poshest of corners. It is a corner dominated by Jillys, the strip club and well let’s be frank - this area of town is frickin ghetto. The people at the bar are the same, I think. Most of them are locals and I don’t know, seem sketchy. There was a guy at the bar that was a cross between Jabba the Hutt and Jerry Garcia at the place, and all these tattooed chicks dressed like ‘tutes kept on coming up to talk to him. It was weird. Obviously, this is a one nite sample, so don’t take my word for it.

Service: The Blue Moon is probably owned by Chinese people, since every time we’ve gone, theres been chinks there running the show. The service is pretty good, they were friendly and somewhat efficient and well, thats all you really want for service.

Food: It’s pub food man. Average at best, there was a wing special - 1 pound for $5.00. The wings that came didn’t feel like a pound, but they were breaded shake n bake style and the hot sauce came on the side. It was alright. The fries were average. The burger that my friend ordered was average as well. So basically - average.

Conclusion: Queen Street east is such a mixed bag in terms of good place to drink, the new place that opened - Prohibition is way too pricey and the surrounding ones all have issues, while the Blue Moon isn’t the greatest place, its definitely an option if you are going for pre-drinking before the Opera House and I think thats the highest recommendation I can give it.

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Vancouver - Food is good. Eating it at a restaurant is even better…or at least we thought. Vancouver Coast Health Authority just released their list of restaurant closures in the Greater Vancouver Area and some of the reasons given are real doozies. Pest and Rodent infestations in Richmond is the most disturbing:

So next time you’re out eating your chow mein, make sure that crunching noise is the noodles.

I haven’t eaten at any of these places. HAVE YOU?