紫京盛宴

紫京盛宴 where Empire Legendary Oriental Cuisine (新世界皇宫) used to be. It is awesome from end-to-end. Address: 3600 Victoria Park Ave. Phone: 416-498-1818.

Hilton Niagara Falls Update

Hilton Niagara Falls has just gone through a big transformation.

• There is now a new hotel tower. That's the tallest Canadian hotel building featuring 500 all suite room types (family and presidential suites) with magnificent views of city and Niagara Falls.
• In addition to the famous Watermark fallsview Restaurant, there are 3 new restaurants: Brasa Brazilian steakhouse that offers authentic Brazilian food and live entertainment, Romano's Macarino Grill which is an Italian restaurant open to the street, and Grant Cafe Breakfast Buffet.
• There is a cut back in the Gold VIP in-hotel benefit. The complimentary breakfast used to be a full buffet breakfast at the Watermark fallsview restaurant on the top level of the hotel. From now on, Gold VIP will have their full buffet breakfast at the ground floor Grant Cafe restaurant.

With the 3 brand new restaurants, the Watermark Fallsview restaurant is dedicated for more upscale fine dining and is much more quiet now. The seafood pasta was above average. The crab claw was fresh but small. The Tiger shrimps were OK, somewhat better than Costco's shrimp ring. The scallops were tender and juicy. The sauce and the pasta were amazing. The lamb chops were tender and juicy. The portion was hugh! The creme brulee was crappy though and extremely overpriced at $14 each. The brulee didn't have enough cream and it was overcooked. The hotel wanted us to try out the new a-la-carte breakfast. The a-la-carte breakfast we had at the Watermark restaurant was very good. We had the Lobster Benedict. Finally, there's a Benedict out there comparable to Silks, although for the price of $25 each I expected a piece of lobster tail instead of small pieces from the claws. (LP didn't appreciate the uncooperative restaurant assistant manager who didn't honor the free a-la-crate breakfast upgrade that the hotel offered us and insisted us to visit the front desk to have the bill reversed instead. That could be our last time there.)

Moxies

Thanks Moxie's again. The grilled wild salmon on naan bread has become my favorite lunch item. Address: 159 York Boulevard, Richmond Hill. Tel: 905-764-9500. (LP, do you want to join me for some patio lunch?)

Wok on Yonge

Wok on Yonge 玲瓏閣, a boutique Chinese fusion restaurant. The is not exactly the best location, but the decor and services were outstanding. Food was definitely world class! We had the 12-course lobster dinner for $39.80 each only. Address: 7771 Yonge Street, Thornhill (Hwy 7 & Yonge). Phone: (905) 482-8788. Lobster Claw in Rice Paper, and Fresh Fruit and Sausage Salad. The lobster claw in the Vietnamese style rice roll was not exactly huge but it's bouncy fresh. The salad was topped with fried Chinese sausage instead of the traditional deep bread crumbs. I personally don't like Chinese sausage, but I finished them all! Chicken Wings with Orange Zest, and Mini Quiche. Soup with Sea Cucumber and Oolong. Don't be fooled by the Oolong and the tea pot. It's not quite tea. It's sea cucumber and Oolong in Chinese mushroom and ginseng based soup. Fantastic! Stuffed Lobster. That was creamy and rich. There's not lots of lobster meat, but it's still very good. This should be paired with pasta ;D Beef Rolled 2 Kinds. Steamed Lobster Roe with Egg White. The light smooth egg white contrasted with and further highlighted the rich taste of the lobster egg. Buck Wheat Noodles in Soup, and Steamed Vegetarian Dumpling. Pumpkin and Almond Sweet Soup, and Sesame and Almond Sweet Roll. (LP is already planning on having the Shark fin dinner next time!)