Restaurant in Review: Union Social Eatery

After working up an appetite at Pursuit OCR we dragged/limped our battered and bruised bodies to meet our friends for dinner at Union Social Eatery (21 St Clair Ave W).  In terms of atmosphere, the restaurant was very busy which is likely the norm for a Saturday night and there also seemed to be many large parties there to celebrate different occasions. The restaurant was also equipped with large televisions above the bar so it was perfect for one of my friends who wanted to watch the hockey game. Below you will find pictures and a review of the things that we ordered:

Appetizer: House Braised Short Rib Firecrackers (no picture)

This appetizer had a rich and flavourful filling with pepperjack cheese, cream cheese, short ribs. It came with four pieces and since we shared this appetizer as a group I only had one but this is definitely something I would like to order again.

Appetizer: Smoky Baja Chicken Dip (no picture)

House fried corn tortillas accompanied with a creamy dip with chicken, sweet corn, black beans, roasted red peppers and salsa fresca.  It was good, but it didn’t wow me. However this was definitely an appetizer more appropriate for sharing.

Main: The Cease & Desist Burger

A burger topped with braised short rib, smoked cheddar and caramelized onions. I only had a couple bites but the short rib was flavourful and added an extra element of indulgence to the dish. The burger did its name justice.

Main: Special Short Ribs with Sweet Potato Mashed and Vegetables

Looking back there seemed to be a short rib theme as it made its appearance on multiple items on the menu and they know how to do short ribs right. This is the first time I’ve seen short ribs cut in this fashion but nonetheless they were tender, moist and full of flavour.

Dessert: Our table tried all of the desserts and with the exception of the Brulee the desserts were of a sharable size.

Dessert: Mars Bar Brownie

Dessert: NY Style Union Cheesecake (no picture)

I did not try this myself, but a friend of mine said that it was not her cup of tea and that it tasted more like cream cheese then a cheesecake dessert.

Drinks: Irie Mon Martini and Social Punch Cocktail (no pictures)

The Irie Mon featured Blue Hpnotiq, Parrot Bay rum (yum) and pineapple juice. The Social Punch was a mix of Southern Comfort, Amaretto, cranberry, orange and pineapple juice. Both of these were sweet (but not too sweet) drinks that did not taste like they had a hint of alcohol. I enjoyed both and would order each one again.

In summary, Union Social Eatery is a casual lively restaurant with great food that’s perfect for an outing any day of the week that is also able to accommodate larger groups.

Restaurant in Review: Queen Margherita Pizza

This past Friday, I went to Queen Margherita Pizza’s for the first time to celebrate one of the Bachata Fam’s birthday. (Bachata Fam – what started as the name of a Facebook group message has become what we’ve coined a group of friends that met through dance and share a love for dancing bachata). We went to the Dundas West location (772 Dundas St. West), at first glance I thought we had gone to the wrong location because at street level you could only see a handful of tables, none of which had any familiar faces.  It wasn’t until we strolled up to the front door that I noticed a staircase opening to another much larger floor downstairs.  The restaurant was packed and after eating their delicious food I understand why. Our party sat downstairs where we were able to (if we wanted) watch the chefs work as the restaurant had an open kitchen which featured their wood burning stove.

The restaurant has a Prix Fixe Menu which allows a choice of appetizer, any pizza and dessert for $29. In lieu of buying items a la carte, this menu essentially gives you the a free dessert… and of course I opted to go with the dessert! I had the Arancini, La Scala and Tiramisu and I also sampled what my loving boyfriend ordered: Calamari, The Dominator and a Chocolate Torte. Below you will find pictures and more details about each of the dishes.

Arancini
Classic Italian rice balls with a crispy exterior and a moist and flavourful interior of rice, mushrooms, Parmigiano and caramelized onion. I emphasize moist and flavourful because these were most scrumptious arancini balls I’ve ever eaten.

Calamari
I’ve had calamari many times, as it’s a go to for shared appetizers with groups. To me a good calamari is one that not only tastes good, but it isn’t rubbery nor soggy, and has a good non-oily breading to squid ratio. QMP’s breading was delectably light and overall the calamari was fresh and tasty.

La Scala
A white sauce based pizza that features, sweet pork belly, asiago, salmoriglio topped with fresh arugula. I don’t often have white sauce based pizzas but I figured this was the place to try it and the pork belly was calling my name. The pork belly was sweet, soft, and marinated to perfection and all of the condiments worked together to create a harmonious medley of flavours. La Scala was one mouth-watering lip-smacking pizza.

The Dominator
A red sauce based pizza with more familiar flavours but a gourmet version of traditional pizzas with ingredients such as fennel sausage, rapini smoked mozzarella, and fried chili oil. I would recommend this pizza to those who may be less adventurous/prefer to stick with traditional flavoured pizzas.

Tiramisu
Tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts, this one was presented in a mason jar and had bold espresso and liquor flavours.

Chocolate Torte
I believe I heard this was a flourless chocolate torte that was full in flavour but not overly sweet. It was accompanied with ice cream and what I think might’ve been chocolate malt flavoured pieces that provided a nice contrast in texture.

At the end of the meal, I was fully satiated with half a pizza to take home to enjoy the next day. In summary, all of the food was exquisite and flavourful – the meal was a steal for $29. I would definitely be a repeat customer and would happily recommend this restaurant for others to try for themselves.