Blue Jay Way - where to eat?

[millygirl]

Help!!!! Going to see a play tomorrow night in that area and need a place for dinner. I'm not all the familar with the area.....any suggestions?

[fickle]

I'm guessing you're going to Diesel or Second City? If so, you'll be at Peter and King so I would second the rec for Tutti Matti on Adelaide east of Spadina
http://www.tuttimatti.com/

for simple italian family style: Marinela's on Widmer just north of King
http://www.marinelas.com/

for indian: Trimurti on Queen east of Duncan
http://www.trimurti.ca/menus.html

for pizza/pasta: Il Fornello on King across from Roy Thomson
http://www.ilfornello.com/

There's also Bymark on Wellington, just east of York.
http://www.bymark.ca/

I've been to Thai Princess for lunch and it did nothing for me, pretty mediocre thai imo. There's Milagro for mexican I keep meaning to try on John at Mercer. I've been to Fazooli's for drinks after work with my colleagues and their appetizers are pretty decent surprisingly. Be curious to know what their dinner entrees are like. Too bad King's Garden is gone, that was always a nice option for us close to work. The Red Tomato is just bad. Toshi is good for sushi on King, east of Portland. If you're in that hood, you can also check out Thuet or Lee.

[rsvp7777]

If theatre is the primary focus of the evening, then you want convenience., Pizza Rustica is right across the street from the Diesel and pretty good if things aren't too busy and they shouldn't be on a Tuesday night. Stick with the pizza. Better than the pastas.

[millygirl]

Yes Diesel it is and although Lee would be nice, I will save that for another night when we have more time. I like the idea of Tutti Matti, I did not realize it was so close. Did they move recently? I thought they were a lot further east? Anyways that is what I'm leaning towards unless the rest of the group put the pressure on for indian. Thanks everyone....you been a big help. Once again, love chowhound!!!

[millygirl]

Okay so we went to Tutti Matti last night before the show and it was just okay. Actually the pasta dishes we had were pretty good but the service was bad. We had decided to skip the appetizer and just go for mains and probably desert figuring the pasta's would be quite filling and besides I hate feeling stuffed sitting through a play. Well to our surprise, about 5 minutes after we ordered our food arrived. 2 of the 3 dishes (raviolli) were ice cold once you cut in to them. They should have known that they would be. So the waiter takes them back and I'm the only one left with my meal. He finally returns about 10 minutes later with a complimentary plate of bruschetta for them to munch on while the chef is making them new mains. After giving my friends a tasting of my dish, I pretty much spent the rest of the time moving things around on my plate while we waited for their food to arrive. Anyways it was pretty awkward and I suppose I should have asked him to take mine back as well but I kept thinking their's would arrive any moment. Portions were quite small too!! Deserts were the best part of the meal. Been there, done that, I would not return anytime soon.

[hazzelnuts]

would have to agree with Millygirl ... would only return for the desserts, these obviously were made in house .. the pasta as we were constantly told was fresh was so so ... how do you have cold tortellini if it is fresh ... go for dessert and a glass of wine only

[millygirl]

Hey hazzelnuts, welcome to Chowhound!!!!!!!! And next time I'll let you pick.

[Rabbit]

- Tutti Matti? www.tuttimatti.com

- I've also had some good luck at Urban

- I think Rain is quite good, although also quite price-y

- I have had a few good meals at Pizza Rustica, but my last visit was a disappoint

[cybergod]

It's a bit of a food wasteland/tourist trap around there, but here are a couple of options:

* Thai Princess on King just west of Peter is actually quite good.
* Dhabba on King near John is a very good Indian Restaurant.

What with the play, I'm guessing that dinner is not the focal point of the evening; but if you do want something better and slightly pricier is ok, then cross Spadina and check out either Rodney's Oyster Bar, or Toshi Sushi on King St. Both are within a couple of blocks of Spadina.

[NovoCuisine]

You're basically in the theatre/convention centre/tourist district; plenty of bad places in this area.

I don't dine in the area often, but have heard good things about Red Tomato:
http://www.redtomato.ca

People on the board will give me shit for this rec, but I have never had a bad meal at Urban:
http://www.urbanrestaurant.com/

Rodney's Oyster House is closeby as well, and one of my personal faves:
http://www.rodneysoysterhouse.com

[pescatarian]

I had heard pretty good things about Red Tomato on here also, but I went there once last year and couldn't finish the re-heated freezer burn tasting appetizers. The decor made me feel like I was stuck in a dirty 80's basement somewhere. Service was pretty bad too.

I've had decent food at Pizza Rustica but haven't been in awhile.

If you can go a bit West on King, you can go to Blowfish.