Food, Glorious Food

Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to visit as many of my local eateries as I was hoping. I am a creature of habit and I tend to go to the same places over and over again. I was, however, able to visit a few new places and it was very exciting. Here is a couple for now. I swear I will try to be more adventurous about where I eat.

The Honest Lawyer

Hooooo boooy. This place is LOUD! I love the chuckie cheese for adults vibe that is happening but unless you are out to party harty this is not the place to go grab a bite. The staff was really friendly and the service was quick but to be honest I ended up switching my meal with my boyfriend because their buffalo chicken wrap burned my soul. I will be the first to admit that I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to spice, BUT I've usually had no problem with buffalo chicken. The Honest Lawyer's buffalo chicken is a whole other story. Was it my fault? Sure, but it still kind of skewed my vision about this place.

Verdict: Great for the early 20 somethings to go and pretend they're still in their teens...but with legal booze.  Also great if you like it hot. You know what I mean ;p

What it felt like to eat a buffalo chicken wrap from The Honest Lawyer.

 

 

 

Barangas On The Beach

Now this place was BEAUTIFUL. Inspired in both decoration and menu by Greece. The patio was truly magical. A view of the lake, fire pits along the patio and twinkle lights hung above our heads. It was so pretty. I just wish the rest of the visit had been so pretty. I was immediately taken aback by the somewhat snobbish attitudes of some of the employees. The hostess was barely tolerating us and her face and demeanor definitely showed it. Our server was only as nice as he had to be and that's saying a lot. 

The food was so, so. I had fish and chips. It was a very large piece of fish but I'd say overall the food was very pub like and rather over priced. The saving grace was the drink menu. Liquor for days. We all ordered fancy drinks and we were all happy with them. I had one called a panda bear. It was delicious. Like an adult milkshake. It was made with amaretto, creme de cacao, chocolate syrup and ice cream. YUM! We were there for an evening dinner and before we were done eating our beautiful atmosphere was interrupted by a dance party that was happening at Barangas. Apparently it becomes a club after hours, which is great for club goers...less so for people looking for a quiet evening. Also got to watch one of the party girls throw up in the parking lot, so that was awesome.

Verdict: Go because it's beautiful. Have a fancy drink, take in the scenery. Leave early. Probably just go eat at hutches instead. 

Our view during dinner. Looks like we're not even in Hamilton.

The patio during day time hours. It's changed a bit now.    photo from: Royal Lepage.

So that's it. That's as far as I've gotten. I also ate at the works but it wasn't my first time so I don't know if I should include it. Probably not. There's nothing bad I can say about it anyways. BURGERS. YUMMY. My sister and I go there on our sister dates sometimes. It's always good and I like the atmosphere. I'd definitely recommend it. 

Hope you're all (is there an all?) enjoying your summer. Still a couple months of patio season left so get out there and eat, maybe I'll see you there! 

Foodie?

Originally I thought this post would be about St. Patrick's Day in Hamilton and where you can go to get your Irish (or Irish for a day) on. And that's still true although it inspired me to go in a different direction. Just in case you were wondering though it appears that all of the bars on Augusta and the Corktown Pub are doing entire weekend celebrations. If by some awesome stroke of luck (like the luck 'O' the Irish) you don't have to work on Monday you can celebrate with a green beer just about anywhere. If you're off you should know that I'm green with envy. See what I did there?

Still want some?

Now onto my new project. Inspired by my new neighbourhood and my friend Amanda and her own 1001 project. One of her goals on her 1001 list is to eat at 29 new restaurants. We tend to frequent the same establishments and order the same dishes so branching out can be difficult. We are creatures of habit. While out on a walk through my new neighbourhood (Near St. Joseph's Hospital in downtown Hamilton) I realized there are probably at least that many bars and restaurants that I've never been to but would like to try. And they're all in walking distance which is great now that the weather is starting to take a turn for the not awful. Also if I'm going to be eating at all of these restaurants I should probably be doing some form of physical activity so walking to and from these places will make me feel better about my life choices. Right?

Exactly.

It mostly started with a trip to the Corktown which is literally right around the corner from me. I had been there once when I was in college and I remembered it being kind of a dive. Crackhead central if you will. So when my friend Keri said she was having her birthday party there I was skeptical. Upon arrival I saw that many renovations had been done and the place is actually super nice. Seemed like a decent crowd as well. I really liked it. Then I was lucky enough to be introduced to the yummiest shawarma in town, from Lulu's. It was SO, so, so, so, SO good! What's next you might ask? I have a small list. I think I will write about them as I go. I am by no means a food critic. I just really enjoy food and atmosphere and all the things that go into making a great establishment. Here's the short list:

• Two Black Sheep
• La Cantina
• Bistro Parisien
• La Piazza Allegra
• Bronzies Place
• Jack & Lois
• Ventura's Signature Restaurant (I mean there's a cool boat on the sign, c'mon!)
• Rapscallion Restaurant
• Black Forest Inn
• Wass Ethiopian Restaurant
• Saigon Soul Food
• Boo's Bistro
• The Jet Cafe

So as you can see most of these are either fairly high end, fancy shmancy or...Italian. There isn't much diversity on this list. I'm also a big fan of mom and pop places. I need your help! Please leave some suggestions for your favourite restaurants in the downtown core (what your fave menu item is, why you love this place) and I'll try to visit them and write about them. It can be for more than just the food. If you know of somewhere that has a lot of character and is just a fun, hip atmosphere I want to know that too!

Thanks and Bon Appetit!

You Made The List

Dear Anchor Bar,

You made my list. How disappointing for you.

I heard nothing but hype and excitement about this new restaurant in Hamilton. Originally a staple in Buffalo, New York the franchise has now expanded into Canada, knocking local independently owned restaurants like Walt's Grill and Bar by the wayside.

My sister and I were frequent diners at Walt's and were very upset when we heard we would have to find a new place to go on our sister dates. The location was just so convenient. We could easily go for a lovely dinner and then head to the movies in Jackson Square.

When Anchor Bar opened we decided to go try it out in the hopes that we would have a new favourite restaurant in the same location as our old one. Unfortunately all of those dreams were dashed after our very first visit.

At first glance we were very impressed. The decor is fun and there was a big crowd of people in there at 3 pm. We were seated and given menus. They have a really big menu with lots of different choices. Unfortunately Anchor Bar is known for their wings but upon inspection they don't really have anything special about their wings. They were really expensive and only came in normal flavours, except for the suicide and drop anchor flavours which are so hot you have to sign something to order them. We decided we could get cheaper wings another time from somewhere else.

The second thing I noticed was their pops are $2.25 and they don't do refills for anyone over 16. Seriously? That's just ridiculous. Walt's had refills AND free nachos while you waited for your food. We both ordered water. We had decided on  the 6 cheese anchor dip for an appetizer and we both ordered the chicken wing crunch melt for our entrees.

Our waitress and the man who brought our food to the table gushed about how delicious our choices were and how they're the best thing on the menu. It was around that time that we noticed they had brought out our entrees but not our appetizer. Five minutes later our appetizer came out. The waitress seemed confused at our unhappiness. We had to explain to her that an appetizer should come before all the other food and that by the time we would get to it now it would be cold. The lightbulb seemed to go on then and she said that she would take it off our bill and away from the table apparently removing a plate from the table take ten minutes.

By that point neither of us were super impressed with the place but we tried to have an open mind. I turned to my entree which did look interesting. The less interesting thing was that there was hair on my sandwich. UGH. I decided that since it took her 10 minutes to clear our unwanted appetizer it would likely take an hour to get a new sandwich so I decided to eat the side that didn't have hair on it. Luckily for me after 5 bites I decided that it was too disgusting to finish.

My sister (who is 8 months pregnant and eats EVERYTHING) ate less than half of hers. It was not at all what was in the menu. It said it was  boneless wings basted in their FAMOUS mild wing sauce, topped with buffalo mozzarella on a roasted garlic hoagie bun topped with hickory smoked chips.

What we got was rotisserie chicken with lettuce and tomato topped with hickory sticks covered in Frank's red hot sauce all piled onto a foot long hotdog bun. Since when is Frank's mild by any stretch of the imagination? Is it their FAMOUS sauce? Also it made the chips soggy and the chicken tasted disgusting. Their only saving grace was their french fries which were actually decent.

I put that sh*t on everything...so does Anchor Bar apparently.

Our fabulous (note sarcasm) meal was all rounded off by a waitress who didn't bring us a bill but handed me a debit machine...um..."Can I see my bill? Also I'm paying cash..."

When we left the waitress apologized for her bad service and for the possibly poor food quality too. REALLY? What else do you offer? If your service and food is not good what am I paying for? The decor?

To say the least I would not recommend Anchor Bar to anybody. I doubt I will ever return there. If for some reason you are still interested in trying them out you can check out their website here.