Cheap Eats Toronto restaurant guide blog

Giveaway: Fielding Wine & Private Tour for 6

Earlier this year our post about Quaffing Locally included Fielding Estate Winery, so when they asked  if I would be interested in giving away a private tour & tasting for 6 at their vineyard AND 2 bottles of wine I said “Hell yes!” 

Fielding Estate Winery is located on the Beamsville Bench which, while a relatively small appellation, has a unique set of growing conditions which provide a natural complexity to the regions wines. It’s well worth a trip to Fielding, especially if you win a tour & tasting for 6!  Besides it’s a beautiful season for a roadtrip!

Since the Fielding Wines are great paired with food:

To enter: just tell me your favourite place to enjoy a glass of Ontario wine with dinner in the comments below.  I’d love to hear what you order too, that’ll get you a second entry in the draw!

Draw: will be held Wednesday Nov 2nd after 5pm.  The winner will be announced and contacted to arrange pickup of their prize pack.

BTW, you must be 19+ years old to win this contest.

Some more information about the prize:

Almost Famous CheapEats Chefs Contest

As part of the January Round Up I wanted to ask you, yes YOU:  who are your favourite Chefs in the city?

As a bonus, the kind folks running the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Blogging Contest have offered us a prize of dinner for two at Fabbrica, Mark McEwan's new restaurant (in the form of a $150 gift certificate).

S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef's Competition Canadian Regionals bring together 8 culinary students from schools across Canada to compete by creating their signature dish for judging at the Calphalon Culinary Centre on February 7th, 2011.  Winners will participate in the finals in Napa.

But I’ll bet you want to know how YOU can win the
Almost Famous CheapEats Chefs Contest 
(aka the small print)

Last Week’s Winners

Wow what a great response we had to last week’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo giveaway!

Here is the list of winners and the suggestions that won them the tickets:

Monday’s Winners suggesting Fish & Chips spots

Jennifer B said... British Style Fish & Chips are my favourite. Good size portions, fresh fish, thick-cut chips (which are not too crunchy, exactly as I prefer) + they are authentic, inexpensive, served in proper newsprint, delicious, and the place is totally unpretentious. More of a take-out place than a restaurant, it always fills our craving for fish & chips.

Mousearoo said… Duckworth's at Main & Danforth.  It's very no-frills and old school, complete with fish mounted on the wall.

We always order the halibut although they offer a few other varieties of fish as well as shrimp and scallops.

We always love the thick slices of bread and butter and coleslaw to go with the meal, and they have a dine-in special that comes with both.

Tuesday’s Winners suggesting Burgers

Terencelo said... Maybe a bit simple, but I love Craft Burger... especially the spicy burger.

TheDashBored said... For me, my favourite burger is the Craft Blue Burger at Craft Burger. I'm all about the Gorgonzola! even if I get the Craft Red, I'll get the Gorgonzola added to it.

Last Day To Win Tickets To Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

Only 1 day left, but 3 more chances, so get your comments (aka entries) in now! 

As with the other daily draws, 2 pairs of tickets will be given away from today’s entries.  One pair is for Thursday night’s VIP preview, and one pair is for entrance on Friday.   PLUS, every entries made in this contest since Monday will be included in a draw for 1 pair for the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo on Saturday November 20th.

So here is today’s contest question which is wide open!

Hyojeong is leaving Toronto in 1 month, and wants to maximize her exposure to new and interesting things she might not be able to find in Korea.

Tell us something you make all your guests try, something quintessentially Toronto, something that reflects the interesting culinary range available in Toronto, or simply something you love:

What one thing should Hyojeong try before she leaves Toronto - restaurant, food or dish?

Leave a relevant comment below before 3am on Friday morning and you will be entered to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo being held in Toronto Nov 18-21st. Specific contest details can be found here

Today’s Buffets to Win Tickets to Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

I have a lot of opinions about buffets, most of them aren’t positive. Though I have had some very good meals from buffets in my life, generally they are collections of very average food, served a little too warm or a little too cool, and left out longer than it really should be.

Recently Hyojeong and I got into a deep conversation about the differences in buffets between Canada and Korea.

We agreed that they can be great ways to learn about a new cuisine in a non-challenging setting. You can try a little bit of something new, without committing to a whole dish. You can try a wide range of dishes on one plate. Dishes prepared for a buffet are generally prepared for the average diner, which means you rarely find anything heavily spiced, or strongly flavoured. Great if it’s a new set of flavours, not so great if you are looking for find something exceptional.   Of course since most buffet places are All You Can Eat (AYCE), they do get bonus point for sheer volume.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, and to enter to win the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo tickets, tell us:

Where is the best Buffet in Toronto? And why?

Leave a relevant comment below before 3am on Friday morning and you will be entered to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo being held in Toronto Nov 18-21st. Specific contest details can be found here

Vegetarian For The Win–Food & Wine Expo Tickets

Hyojeong has been asking me about Vegetarian Restaurants, she said “I’ve had a lot of food without meat, but I’ve never been to a ‘Vegetarian Restaurant.’ I’ve always wondered what it would be like.”

So today we’re going to help her have that experience!

Toronto has a great selection of vegetarian options, and the latest copy of CheapEats Toronto includes a handful that cross the city: Annapurna in the Annex, Buddhist Vegetarian in Scarborough, Café 668 in Chinatown, Le Commensal on Elm, Udupi Palace in Little India and Pulp Kitchen in Leslieville.

Let us know your favourite Vegetarian Restaurant in Toronto (it doesn’t have to be on the list above!) What makes it your favourite and even what you order when you go there.

Just add your comment below and you could win tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo.

 

What is your favourite Vegetarian Restaurant in Toronto?

Leave a relevant comment below before 3am on Thursday and you will be entered to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo being held in Toronto Nov 18-21st. Specific contest details can be found here

Tell Us Your Favourite Burger - Win Gourmet Food & Wine Expo Tickets

Entering our daily contest for tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is as simple as helping us introduce our intern Hyojeong to some of Toronto’s favourite treats.

We’ve asked who makes the best burger in TO before and we’re asking again!  This time you could win tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo just by adding a comment below.

In our weekly team lunch, Hyojeong has been sampling the burgers in and around the office.  So far she’s tried burgers at:

• BQM Burger – where she tried their portobello burger
• Oh Boy! Burger – where our server was kind enough to let Hyojeong sample each of the the cheeses that she didn’t know, so she could pick one for her burger (she picked the Spicy Jack)
• and last week she got the daily special burger at Canteen (with blue cheese)

So the search has already started, and we’re looking for your help.  We want her to experience the best burger, and the best burger experience, in Toronto so where would you send her and why?

Johnny’s Burgers for the real, old Toronto vibe, including sitting in the car in the parking lot to eat? Gourmet Burger Co. for the Aussie Burger with egg and pineapple? Dangerous Dan’s for a Quadruple C? The Tulip for a burger that is aged, ground and formed in house?  Or some other fantastic burger joint that is a Must-Try in your books.

Where do you go to have the best burger experience in the city?
(please don’t feel restricted to the list mentioned in this post!)

Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo being held in Toronto Nov 18-21st. Specific contest details can be found here

Win Food & Wine Expo Tickets With Fish & Chips

As I mentioned in our last post (Win Tickets to Gourmet Food & Wine Expo), entering our daily contest for tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is as simple as helping us introduce our intern Hyojeong to some of Toronto’s favourite treats.

One of the things Hyojeong has said she’d like to try is real Fish and Chips.  While we have a number of Fish & Chips spots we recommend in the most recent copy of CheapEats Toronto – Penrose Fish & Chips, Harbord Fish & Chips, McNies’ Lovely Grub, British Style Fish & Chips, Chippy’s, Buster’s Sea Cover – we want to make sure we are giving her the best Torontonian Fish & Chips experience possible.

Who do you think has the best traditional Fish and Chips in the city?

 

Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo being held in Toronto Nov 18-21st. Specific contest details can be found here

Win Tickets to Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

The kind folks at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo have given us a whack of tickets to share with CheapEaters, so we’ve decided to give away 2 pairs of tickets every day this week.  Except for Friday when we’ll give away 3 pairs!

The Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is being held November 18th-21st, 2010 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  Lots of great food, wine and other flavour adventures to be had with the Tutored Tastings, celebrity chefs, Fine Scotch Tasting Lounge, Savour the Flavours of Texas, and Connoisseur’s Corner.  And of course Friday night’s Gourmet Gala.

The contest is easy!  Every day we’re going to ask for your help introducing Hyojeong, our intern, to some of Toronto’s favourite treats. 

• Every comment on the blog, twitter or our facebook group gets an entry for one of the two pairs of tickets in that day’s draw. 
  
  • [to clarify after realizing my mistake- every relevant comment left in the daily contest post will be counted as an entry in the draw.]
  • Draws will be done in the morning, over our coffee, on all entries received the previous day before 3am (our arbitrary “end of day” time). 
  • The final draw will be done Saturday morning, possibly over dim sum.
• Every day we’ll be giving away:
  • 1 pair of tickets for the Thursday night VIP Evening (Nov 18th, 6pm-10pm)
  • 1 pair of tickets for Friday Nov 19th, 2pm-10pm.
• All entries received from Monday until “end of day” Friday will also be eligible for a draw for:
  • 1 pair of tickets for Saturday Nov 20, 12-10pm

So, those are the contest details.

• More info on the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo here
• And just in case you don’t win, you can download a $3 online or $2 at-the-door coupon for the show here

[Monday's contest question - great spots for fish & chips]

Contest on CheapEats Ottawa

Work has started on the second edition of CheapEats Ottawa and we're putting the call out for your recommendations.

Make a recommendation and You could win your choice of the upcoming CheapEats Ottawa 2007 or the current CheapEats Toronto.  Hey, you might even find your recommendation in the next edition of CheapEats Ottawa.

More details on both the CheapEats Ottawa website and the CheapEats Ottawa blog.

Just in case you are headed to Ottawa, here are a couple of recommendations we've recieved so far...