A personal blog detailing dining and eating experiences
A friend took me to this speakeasy in King West Toronto. He said they have the best espresso martini, and he was not wrong (I didn’t even ask for it without sweetener).
To get to it, you need to go to Cafe Renee, and go through the unmarked black door on the second floor.
Tried this place for after work drinks. I like the loungey type vibe, but will say I would try and get another drink than the one I ordered. I ordered an espresso martini without the sweetener (and it was not that good). There were other cocktails that seemed interesting for next time.
So this rooftop was on top of the hotel I was staying at (The Bisha Hotel). Got breakfast and dinner (plus drinks).
For breakfast (which $60 per day was covered by the hotel since I booked through Amex), got their breakfast special. I will say the scrambled eggs were a bit more runny than I wanted, so I would get it again, but tell them to make it less runny.
For dinner + drinks, got an expresso martini which was great (asked them to put no sweetener / simple syrup). Also got macallan 12 (actually got a bunch of them because at the time, the LCBO was on strike!). For dinner just got the bread plate and tacos (tried both the beef and chicken). Will say that I would probably try something else instead of the tacos next time.
Also, as you can see from below the rooftop view was great. So will be coming back.
We ate here for our last night at Edinburgh. Would come back here in a heart beat.
First started off with an espresso martini. Not the greatest but would still get it again (told them to remove their custom sugar syrup from the drink, which probably affected the taste). Then got a Cragganmore 12. Slightly peaty, but nit more than an Oban.
For appetizers, got the asparagus with crab meat, and the scallops. Hands down would get all of them again.
For the main, we got the see food platter (warm version). Would get it again as well (but you need a friends to be able to eat the oysters and mussels first you). It came with clams, mussels, crab, lobster, a baby lobster, razor blade clams (which are amazing).
Ended off with a cheesecake. Also really great.
For our second day at Edinburgh, we decided to try this Michelin star restaurant for lunch.
The menu is fairly simple, and they mentioned we should order 2 to 3 dishes per person.
We ended up getting the North Sea crab, the trout temaki, arbroath smoke croquettes, and the okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake).
I would say the first two items I would get again. For 3rd, it was too salty, and the 4th I didn’t like the ginger.
For drinks got an espresso martini. That was good. And for desert got the chocolate ice cream (hidden inside is a lava cake) and strawberry hibiscus meringue (hidden inside is the strawberry sauce you put on waffles). The deserts were amazing.
Overall I would come back, it probably replace the last two dishes with others.
First restaurant we ate at in Scotland! Was highly recommended at the west end of Glasgow (near University of Glasgow which is why there were a lot of students). I really liked it (the friend I was with wasn’t as impressed).
We mainly loaded on starters first. Tried the scallops (which was my favorite), then a salmon dish followed by haggis (that Scotland dish wish I was willing to try but probably wouldn’t be keen on getting it again).
For drinks got an espresso martini and a whisky drink.
For my main got the cod with lobster cake. I liked the cod, but would probably skip out on the lobster cake next time.
We grabbed brunch here, as it is the rooftop of our hotel. (And also later in the day grabbed drinks, which is definitely a good place to do that for after work drinks).
For drinks, got their version of espresso martini (they make it with cold brew coffee). It was really good. For appetizers, got the crab cake. Would definitely get it again. For my main, I went for the quesadilla. It was alright (would probably try something else next time).
Technically this is a bar, but we went here for a brunch.
I would come back, bout would definitely order some things over others.
For drinks, mimosas and Irish coffee were great. (Next time I would also try the espresso martini).
For food, I got scrambled eggs and Canadian bacon. The eggs were good, but would probably get regular bacon over Canadian bacon next time.
We also ordered the mac and cheese with bacon. Highly recommend.
Also, will say the owner was very easy to talk to, and there was a DJ playing great top 40 edm music.
In the Gion area of Kyoto, we went to this speak easy. We couldn’t easily find it at first because the front door said “Book Store”.
Got several drinks, and also tried some from friends). From the ones listed below, I will say my favorites are the chocolate espresso martini, the bees fashion (ie old fashioned but using honey and another type of bitters).
So this place has a really great vibe (almost Vegas like), good music, and really good food. We actually went back twice in one trip!
For drinks, has an espresso martini and mimosa.
For appetizers, has the fried calamari, the thinly sliced fish (what do you call that?), and the meatballs.
For the main (not sure why I don’t have a picture), got the lobster pasta and the beef brisket. Both were great, and would get them again).
