The United States Of Eating - US (and Toronto) Aug/Sep 2016

[NoName]

San Francisco – One Day Only – Continued…….

I had noticed that right near the hire shop was a bar that I had wanted to visit, so after dropping off my overpriced bike I walked a block down the hill and walked into The Buena Vista on the corner of Beach & Hyde.It’s basically an unassuming bar which is famous as being the place which first introduced Irish Coffee’s to America. I’d seen it on a TV food show several years ago and despite not liking whiskey (other than bourbon) I wanted to try one.





The place was packed so had to try to wedge my way into a gap at the bar. Ordered my Irish Coffee and away we went. The process of making the drink is interesting with a bit of show for the crowd added in. The bartender will typically make several of them at once, pouring in all the ingredients one by one along the line of glasses before handing them out to the customers once complete. Coffee, irish whiskey & a thick layer of cream on top. Pretty simple stuff.





I found the Irish Coffee itself to be thoroughly disgusting but I expected it and this is a reflection of my tastes and the fact that I don’t enjoy whiskey and that the flavour of the spirit was very strong. I’m sure if you enjoy whiskey then you would also enjoy the coffee.

I managed to get down about a third of the glass before calling it a day. A pretty weak effort on my part but hey, I was there because it was a tourist attraction in its own right and not because I expected to consume something that I would actually love. Out the door and into a cab to meet Mrs NoName’s cousin at Union Square for dinner.

Union Square

 

[NoName]

San Francisco – One Day Only – Continued…….


Met up with MrsNoName’s cousin and took off in an Uber for dinner in Chinatown. A very quick trip later (US$3) and we were outside R&G Lounge (631 Kearny St). There were a few stickers on the front window with recommendations from Michelin (not stars as such just recommendations) so signs were pointing towards this being an enjoyable dinner.



In we went and downstairs to what is a fairly basic restaurant layout. Pretty much what you see in many Chinatown restaurants anywhere in the western world. They also have an upstairs area for more formal event type dining. I eat pretty much anything when it comes to Cantonese cuisine (within reason) so left the order up to him. We ended up with roast pigeon, Peking pork spare ribs, some kind of vegetarian abalone on top of Chinese greens and some steamed rice. All were great although there was so much of the food that we struggled to get through it all. The pork ribs in particular were excellent with a beautiful flavour and tender meat. I could have had more had I had the benefit of an additional stomach. I would definitely recommend this place for anyone looking for a place to eat in San Francisco Chinatown.





By now it was time to bid farewell to San Francisco. It was a very short visit but unfortunately that’s just how it worked out. I will definitely be back as both myself and MrsNoname love it here. Hopefully soon! Her cousin was nice enough to give me a lift back to the airport thus negating the need for another train ride. I got back to the international terminal to pick up my bags just after 9:30pm, took the airport train around to terminal 2, checked in, through security and was relaxing at the gate with about 90min to go before my flight.

 

[NoName]

SFO-ORD AA1522 Seat: 6A

This was a jam packed flight, so much so that they were asking over the PA for people to volunteer to go on the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] flights the next morning. US$500 travel voucher for anyone willing to take the offer. Not sure if they would pay for a hotel as well. In any event, with a tight schedule and no desire to hang around the airport for any longer than necessary I wasn’t interested. Was one of the first to board and quickly took up my window seat in the last row of F. It’s a bit of a stretch calling these offerings F IMO. More like a domestic J at best. Seat was very similar to what you see there – a decent sized recliner with adequate leg room. Not the best for a red-eye but certainly better than what was being offered behind me. Can’t recall the aircraft type but think it was an A321.

Uneventful flight. I was offered a juice or water prior to takeoff. Had the juice served in a one of those plastic cups you buy for parties. Other than that I was offered nothing else (may have been because I fell asleep about 30min after takeoff). Managed to get an uncomfortable sleep most of the way before waking up with about 20min before landing. All in all just your run of the mill flight with nothing remotely special about it. In future I probably wouldn’t bother using the extra points for F on a domestic US flight unless it was on one of the flagship routes with a product more closely matching what you’d see on a long haul flight.

Landed in ORD on time, hoped off and made my way to the gate about 5 min away for the connecting flight.


ORD-YYZ AA3534 Seat: Somewhere towards the back on the A side of the plane

This flight was on either an Embraer ERJ140 or ERJ145. Can’t remember exactly and certainly have no idea of the shorthand for it. I do remember checking the seat map well before the trip and made sure to get a seat on the A side of the plane as the configuration is 1-2 with Y-only. After flying overnight the last thing I wanted was to potentially have to socialise at 8 o’clock in the morning. One thing I found when trying to allocate seats for this flight on the QF website was that I only had a choice of preference between aisle and window. When I made the selection of this preference the system then went and allocated me a seat. However, I was able to change the preference and then be allocated a new seat if I wasn’t happy. So the tip is if you want to be on the A side without a neighbour but the system allocates you a seat on the other side, simply put in your preference again until you get allocated to the preferred side.

This flight was again packed and again they were on the PA trying to get people to voluntarily be bumped for $500. Again, I wasn’t interested. Very little to say about this flight either. Short and uneventful. Up and away and very soon down again and landing at YYZ. No catering offered and none expected. Hopped off, made my way to immigration where I endured a barrage of questions about where my wife was and why she had arrived in Toronto the previous night. I guess the agent was eventually satisfied as they let me through to go collect my bag and find the rental cars.

 

[NoName]

Niagara Falls

Got to the Hertz rental car pick up easily enough. I found the directions at YYZ to be well signed so had no issues there. Got through the paperwork quickly and went over to the car – Toyota Corolla with GPS for CA$243.24 for two days. As with the previous car rental I was effectively being stung for an extra day given the plans were to drop off about 26hrs later and hence clicking over to a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] 24hr period. Oh well, maybe I will plan better next time.

The car itself was easy to drive and seemed to have plenty of power which was actually a surprise. The GPS however I found to be terrible. Not terrible in how it worked or its ability to find an address but in its actual display. When it brought up a route it would not zoom in closer and all the roads remained quite small. This was a particular problem when trying to navigate the maze of on/off ramps around the airport to Mrs NoName’s hotel and I ended up taking a few wrong turns because I couldn’t establish exactly which ramp to take until it was too late. Maybe there was some zoom function somewhere who knows. Eventually though I got to her hotel, picked her up and we were on the road to Fallsview about an hour away.

An easy drive down the highway and an hour later we were pulling into the car park of the Hilton Hotel & Suites Niagara Falls which was located in the heart of Fallsview a couple of blocks back from the falls. One night in a King Bed Room with City View for C$349. We didn’t book one of the rooms facing the actual falls as they were significantly more expensive and we tend to use hotel rooms for sleeping and not for staring out the window. The room was nice enough without being super – decent size, nice modern fittings. The hotel had everything you could want – connected to a few nice restaurants, a large casino over a walkway across the street and even a pool with waterslide which I had a great time acting like a 15 year old on. All in all the hotel was very good, it met our needs and we would stay here again without question.

Once we were checked in we headed straight down the hill to the falls. First stop was a ride on the Hornblower. This is basically a boat which they jam hundreds of people on sardine style and take on a 20 minute ride up the river around both American and Horseshoe Falls. It was great fun and gave an up close experience of the falls where the sheer power of the waterflow coming over the top was clearly evident. There is also a more or less identical boat ride going from the US side of the falls called the Maid Of The Mist. Choose either one and you’ll get exactly the same experience.









Rainbow Bridge:

 

[pagingjoan]

You saw the bridge! When I was there it was shrouded in fog which did not shift.

And...I went to Alcatraz and didn't know there were sea lions there...

The sea lions are actually lolling about quite close to the take-off point for the boat trip.
You could easily miss them if you were looking seawards.

 

[clazman]

Did you go behind the falls?

 

[NoName]

Did you go behind the falls?

More updates coming tonight.

 

[irv]

[. First stop was a ride on the Hornblower. This is basically a boat which they jam hundreds of people on sardine style and take on a 20 minute ride up the river around both American and Horseshoe Falls. It was great fun and gave an up close experience of the falls where the sheer power of the waterflow coming over the top was clearly evident. There is also a more or less identical boat ride going from the US side of the falls called the Maid Of The Mist. Choose either one and you’ll get exactly the same experience.

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Rainbow Bridge:
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The Maid of the Mist were the original boats, I understand the Hornblower was awarded the contract from the Canadian side. Yes they pack them on but the power of the falls are incredible. We stayed at the Hilton as well but had the Fallsview Suites, great for watching the falls when they were lit up at night. I like Canada, a great place to visit.

 

[NoName]

Niagara Falls – Continued……..


Next up we went down the river a bit to the Rainbow Bridge and walked across to the US. It was quite a novelty being able to simply walk to another country. Got asked by US border control when was the last time I was in the US and got a bit of a raised eyebrow when I said 8hrs ago.

View from the Rainbow Bridge:



Went down to check out the Cave Of The Winds which is basically a series of wooden platforms joined by staircases located up close next to the Bridal Veil falls. Its basically a chance to get up close to the falls and well, get wet! It was a lot of fun with the wind and water blowing everywhere all over the place. Before heading down the cliff to the platforms you get given a raincoat and souvenir sandals to keep you at least partially dry. Again, a great way to get a sense of the power the falls have.


Cave of The Winds:

 

[NoName]

Niagara Falls – Continued……..


From there we jumped onto the shuttle bus which took us back around to the bridge where we quickly walked across back to Canada. Yes sir, the last time I was in Canada was 2hrs ago.

Back through the tackiness of Fallsview to the hotel for a brief rest for Mrs NoName and a few rides of the previously mentioned waterslide for me. Change of clothes and then we headed out to find somewhere to eat. There was a Brazilian BBQ place – Brasa Brazillian Steakhouse - joined to the hotel which had caught my eye when we first arrived and I was keen to try it out. Unfortunately when we got there we were told it would be at least 45 minutes before we would be able to get a table. That was a little disappointing but these things happen. What you don’t expect to happen is to receive a smug grin from the staff as if to say “you’re an idiot for even asking”. Oh well.

We thought we might have more luck across the road at the casino so took off over there for a look. There were plenty of dining options but we settled on Canyon Creek which was basically a modern American type restaurant. We decided to have the Canyon Prix Fixe which was C$36 each plus tax. Also had a cider for myself and a glass of red for Mrs NoName.

Garlic bread to start:


MrsNoName entrée – some type of soup which I can’t recall. She was quite pleased with it.


Caesar Salad entree – tasted good but just standard.


MrsNoName main – Chipotle Sirloin – I recall that this came out overcooked. She didn’t send it back but did let the waitress know.


Prime Rib main – This was the highlight. Tasted great and cooked perfectly.


For dessert we both Had the crème brulee which was pretty good. Unfortunately no photos of this. Total cost for the meal came to C$110 after tax and tip which was ok value but nothing special. Overall we enjoyed the restaurant and would be happy to eat there again although with so many dining options in the Niagara Falls area we would probably choose to try somewhere else first.

Walked back through the casino (nothing special), across the bridge and within about 10 minutes we were back in our room ready for sleep.

 

[NoName]

Niagara Falls – Toronto


Up at a reasonable time and went down to have another look at the Canadian side of the falls. We had been told that the Journey Behind The Falls was worth seeing. Well it probably wasn’t to be honest. Not when we had already done the Cave of The Winds the previous day. This attraction was a similar, not as good version more or less. A trip down an elevator to a tunnel inside the cliff which opened up to a few areas where you could look through and see the falls coming down and one where you could step out onto a platform reasonably close to the falls and get a little wet. As I said, not nearly as good at what we experienced the previous day. If you were only visiting the Canadian side of the falls then I would say you might as well do this activity but if you were going to both sides then I would strongly recommend giving this a miss and doing the Cave OF The Winds across the river.










With this done I was taken under duress for a thoroughly mind numbing half hour look through the souvenir shop next door. Never getting that time back again. Back up the hill to the hotel to check out and jump in the car to a couple of wineries.

 

[NoName]

Niagara Falls - Toronto - Continued.....


The wineries in the Niagara areas are famous for their ice wine which for anyone who doesn’t know is dessert wine using grapes that have been frozen in the winter. The freezing gives the wine a more intense flavour. While both wineries we went to also had the usual reds and whites they weren’t nearly as good as the ice wines. These were truly fantastic and if you’re a dessert wine lover you will definitely enjoy them. We ended up buying a few bottles to bring home.

Peller Estates – enjoyed some (paid) tasting and left with a 375ml bottle of ice wine.



Inniskillin – this was the standout. Their ice wines were amazing. We started off with a paid tasting which was refunded when we bought some bottles. It’s a shame we were restricted by driving and duty free allowance because we could have drank and bought a lot more. We also grabbed some cheese and fries for lunch and they had a lovely area outside for eating in the sun. A definite solid recommendation for this place.

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>
Inniskillin – this was the standout. Their ice wines were amazing. We started off with a paid tasting which was refunded when we bought some bottles. It’s a shame we were restricted by driving and duty free allowance because we could have drank and bought a lot more. We also grabbed some cheese and fries for lunch and they had a lovely area outside for eating in the sun. A definite solid recommendation for this place.

Hey! That's my favourite of the east coast ice wines, although the Quebecers do some good stuff as well. Not sure if you are still over there, but if you see Domaine Pinnacle ice cider from Quebec its worth a try, even if you (like me) aren't much of a cider drinker.

 

[NoName]

Hey! That's my favourite of the east coast ice wines, although the Quebecers do some good stuff as well. Not sure if you are still over there, but if you see Domaine Pinnacle ice cider from Quebec its worth a try, even if you (like me) aren't much of a cider drinker.

Sadly we are long gone. Would love to get back to try some more though. Your post invited me open one of he bottles we brought home with us. As with most dessert wine bottles it was far too small!

 

[NoName]

Toronto – Day 1

Sadly we had to leave after our lunch. As much as we would have loved to continue drinking ice wine in the sun all afternoon we had a hotel to get to and a rental car to return. Off we went down the highway and about an hour later we arrived in the CBD of Toronto. We decided to check into our hotel quickly before returning the car. It didn’t quite work out like that. We got to the Pantages Hotel and left the car out the front before going inside to what can only be describes as a circus. A long line of people at reception with many more sitting on the couches to the side. Evidently there was some kind of computer malfunction that was still in the process of being resolved. Mrs NoName doesn’t like to drive on the right hand side of the road so we decided that she would wait here for a room while I would return the car. Perfect!

Back out onto the streets of Toronto CBD and into a roadworks-induced traffic jam. With the traffic and all the one way streets it ended up taking me half an hour to get to the rental car return less than a mile away. All good, got there eventually and was then able to enjoy a nice walk back through the streets to the hotel. It was a good way to see a small part of the city and get my bearings.

By the time I got back to the hotel, into our room and had a rest and freshen up it was nearly time for our dinner. Mrs NoName had done a little research of her own and decided that a nice place for dinner in Toronto would be the revolving restaurant at the top of CN Tower – 360. Having been to a few revolving restaurants in our time (Top Of The World in Vegas for example) we knew the view alone would make it a worthwhile experience. We also knew that the price would be higher than normal as a result. Undeterred, we hopped a cab over to the tower and made our way up to take up our booking.

Photos were lacking unfortunately but here is in the distance on our drive in.


We were seated one table from the outside window which was good enough to give us beautiful views out over Toronto and Lake Ontario.

Blue Jays game going on down below:

 

[NoName]

Toronto Day 1 - Continued.........

The meal itself was also very good. Excellent actually. We went for the Prix Fix for C$79 each which we thought was a reasonable. We're not huge dessert fans and were pleasantly surprised when the waitress allowed us to have a 2nd entree instead.



We both began with the steak tartare. Beautiful.


Smoked Atlantic Salmon for my 2nd entree:


Mrs NoName's 2nd entree. Doesn't appear to be on the menu anymore but was seafood broth of some sort and good by all reports.


Prime Rib for main - perfect.


For some reason we dont appear to have a photo of Mrs NoName's main but she had the roast chicken which was also very good.

All up the meal was excellent and the venue made it a very pleasant experience. I'd say that we would recommend coming as part of your visit to CN Tower. Given the variety of restaurant in the city we would probably choose to try something else to add to our experience before returning though.

After we finished dinner we popped downstairs to the observation deck levels. The view was much the same as from the restaurant and fairly similar to other towers around the world. The main attractions were the lookout which is just your standard observation deck view and the glass floor which as you would expect is a thick glass floor where you can look straight down to the street below. Access to these levels of the tower were complimentary with purchase of the prix fix at 360 and I also believe are complimentary if you meet a minimum spend requirement (can’t remember exactly what the amount was but do remember thinking that it was quite high). Otherwise access to the observation deck isC$35 per adult (seniors C$30, children C$25). Other attractions are the Skypod (another observation deck higher up the tower) and Edgewalk (an outside walk around the tower observation decks) which are additional.

Once we were done we decided to call it a night and headed back down to street level and into a cab back to the hotel.

 

[chooms]

The main attractions were the lookout which is just your standard observation deck view and the glass floor which as you would expect is a thick glass floor where you can look straight down to the street below.

Oh god... that glass floor!

Did you notice the elevator had the glass floor too?

Also, if you want excellent coffee (quite literally the best coffee we found in North America), head to the White Squirrel. It is a nice tram ride down Queen St and opposite a park.

 

[sausagefingers]

Did the CN tower last month with my wife and kids, and I even paid the extra $14each to go the additional 101metres up into the sky pod... which was a mistake
I don't usually have a gripping fear of heights, but I was crippled by fear and had the white knuckle holding onto the doorway.
NEVER AGAIN....
The Glass floor didn't really bother me, but made me feel uneasy, but the skypod was just too much

 

[NoName]

Toronto – Day 2


We were and out the door around 8am for the walk down to St Lawrence Market for breakfast. It was just over 1km away so a pretty short stroll through the streets and we were ready to look around and see what took our fancy. The markets are basically a big warehouse type building full of everything you would expect to see at a farmers market type venue – many different stands selling meats, seafood, pastries, etc etc. We wandered around having a look and stopping to grab whatever took our fancy. First was a bacon and egg breakfast roll which was pretty good but really just standard breakfast fare. Next Mrs NoName had some kind of oriental style chicken soup. Quite good was her assessment. We then shared a pulled pork roll which was very good. Overall we had an enjoyable experience at the markets and would come back again if we are ever in Toronto. For people who like these kinds of places I would definitely recommend a visit.









Next venue was The Distillery District which is basically an old distillery (surprise surprise) which has been done up to house numerous shops and cafes. Wikipedia tells me its also the largest collection of Victorian era architecture on North America and this adds to the beauty and coolness of the area. We had a look throughout the area for maybe an hour, walked through shops, grabbed a coffee etc. Mrs NoName managed to find a few clothes shops which I wasn’t overly impressed at, however I did look through a sports memorabilia shop which contained quite an extensive collection of photos and items of historic sports people and events. Very interesting if you are into that.

 

[NoName]

Toronto Day 2 - Continued......


Although it seemed like we had just finished breakfast, it was now almost time for lunch. We jumped on the tram just up the road and made the 20 min trip to Chinatown. Walked up the main street (disappointing BTW) to Kensington Market for a quick look. Maybe its just me but I found this area to be kind of run down and dirty and not really my thing. Perhaps we just didn’t spend enough time there either as it was a pretty quick walk through since we were focused on getting to our dining destination. Info about the market can be found here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Market

Pretty quickly we made it up onto College St and soon enough we were at our destination. One of Mrs NoName’s friends had lived in Toronto several years ago and had quite strongly insisted that we should go to her favourite Wings restaurant for some Buffalo Wings. When Mrs NoName told me the name (Duff’s Famous Wings – www.duffswings.com) I googled it to find that it was a small chain of restaurants. I’m usually a bit sceptical of chains but it was Mrs NoName’s friend and we both love buffalo wings so hey, why not.

We ordered 2lbs of wings (1lb of “hot” buffalo flavour and 1lb of the BBQ flavour), a side of chips and some iced tea. The wings were fantastic, really good and flavoursome although I would probably go for a hotter flavour on their hotness scale next time but this is just a personal preference. I was put off a little bit by a sign in the restaurant which basically indicated that the wings are hotter than the scale would seem to indicate so I chose lower than I would have. As I said, not an issue, just a personal preference for hotter. Total cost for the meal was approx. C$50 after tax and tip. Would I go back to Duff’s? For sure if there was one in the area but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to go there. I’m not knocking the place as I truly loved the food but wings aren’t the type of cuisine that justify hunting around for. Of course this is also just personal opinion and YMMV.





Hands up ice hockey fans! Didn’t think there were any and either are we but Canadians love it so why not go to the Hockey Hall of Fame? We jumped in a cab and were there in about 10 minutes. Paid theC$18 entry per person and in we went. My knowledge of ice hockey is limited to a general understanding that the object is to get the puck in the net, a couple of well known former players like Wayne Gretzke and one or two interesting tales courtesy of ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries, while Mrs NoName’s is basically zero. However, it was quite interesting to look around at all the different players who had been inducted and what they had achieved, read about famous team dynasties, the history of the game and see many historical pieces of hockey memorabilia.







In the centre of the hall was an interactive display where visitors could have a go and test their skill against computerised players. One game was hitting the puck and trying to get it past the goal tender while the other required you to dress up as the goal tender and try to stop a puck that would be shot out of the screen infront at you. I had a go at both and was terrible which was no real surprise.