Port Perry is only about a 40 minute drive from Ajax. It's a pretty little town on Lake Scugog, with a Main Street that bustles with little shops, boutiques, and a few small restaurants and cafés.
Hubby and I took my grandmother up there today to do a little Holiday shopping; the perfect spot in my opinion, verified by Santa Claus with his bell in the corner Ho-Ho-Ho-ing all the shoppers as they scurried from store to store, their arms laden with packages and parcels.
After a few stores, it was determined that our intrepid little group needed to refuel, and chose a small restaurant called The Front Porch.
The Good Points
Service. Extremely friendly. Exactly what you would expect from a small town establishment. We were greeted by the owner who also took our orders and served our food. Big points in my book when the owner is so involved.
The seating. Quaint, comfortable, lots of room between tables.
The rice pudding! Pretty sure that was homemade, lovely flavour and texture, not too sweet, and served with the right amount of cinnamon.
The Not-So-Good Points
The food wasn't great. My grandmother and I had the cream of mushroom soup, and Hubby had the beef barley soup, all of which purported to be homemade. The beef with barley soup didn't taste bad, it just didn't taste like much. The cream of mushroom was better, but not terribly mushroom flavoured, and I am not certain whether the homemade claim was entirely truthful.
We also ordered a plate of garlic bread with cheese for the table. This was not as good as the soup. Nice idea use different kinds of brown bread, not ok to use leftover bread so stale that it had to be at least three days old. Also not ok to use thin bread from sandwiches. It really doesn't translate into garlic bread very well.
The decor. Big bright space with beautiful high ceilings, but tacky spring green paint on dingy white walls with trite sayings painted on them definitely left something to be desired.
The Bad Points
Part of the kitchen was visible to the restaurant; not necessarily a bad thing, but when it's the part of the kitchen where you can watch them microwave your food, it's always a bad thing.
The bathrooms were down a hall in between the microwave kitchen and the rest of the kitchen, and nothing looked like it was well taken care of.
The coffee was just bad. Watery, bitter, and left you with that horrible coffee-tummy feeling an hour later.
The plating. Again, our 11 year old could have done better. They were trying to be quaint by serving their soups in various soup bowls, but they were the ones you could have picked up at a garage sale four for a dollar. Not something I would serve soup in to guests in my home, so certainly not acceptable for a restaurant. Soup spilled down the sides, no effort to clean it up. Just no care or pride in what they were serving.
Are We Going Back?
Maybe. It wasn't awful; there was nothing really terrible, and my grandmother really enjoyed it which was the whole point to the day as Hubby and I were concerned. If she wants to go back there, we will be going. But if Hubby and I go back there by ourselves, we will be sampling the cuisine of a different establishment.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Umi Japanese Restaurant Ajax - Review
We have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Umi Japanese Restaurant here in Ajax, Ontario. Most of my family, kids included, love Japanese food, sushi in particular. We even make our own at home when we can get into Toronto to the St. Lawrence Market for fresh fish. So the opportunity to try a new restaurant serving one of our favourite cuisines is a big event.
My husband and I went for lunch there today with my mother and grandmother. We walked in the door and were greeted right away by the friendly staff and shown to our table. On the way to be seated, several diners told us that their meal had been excellent, and one went so far as to say it was far better than another popular Japanese restaurant in the area.
You can imagine how excited we were as we took our seats and began to peruse the menu!
The Good Points
The dining area was lovely. Very bright, spacious, and clean. Seating was well spaced and comfortable, however the chairs were quite a bit lower than the bench on the other side of the table.
The service was terrific. Attentive but not pushy, around when they needed to be, very polite and informative. The iPad ordering method was fast and easy, and the food came really quickly.
Some of their dishes were plated beautifully. Simple, but with elegant touches that we haven't seen very often at the other local Japanese restaurants.
The Not So Good Points
The plating was inconsistent. Some dishes were beautiful while others were hardly better than tossed on the plate. Our salmon sushi was gorgeous, precisely sliced fish, consistent amounts of rice, evenly placed on the plate. The tuna, red snapper, and butterfish, which all came on a separate dish, were poorly sliced, all different sizes, and had pretty much been tossed on the plate. Seriously, my 11 year old has been displaying better plating skills since he was about eight.
The Really Bad Points
The food itself! The salmon sushi was fine; no better or worse than anywhere else. The albacore tuna sushi was absolutely terrible; dry and stringy, more or less inedible. The rolls (and we tried several) were for the most part tasteless, even the spicy ones. The sushi pizzas were overcooked and tasted of nothing but oil. The only thing that anyone at the table enjoyed was the black pepper beef.
Umi has tried to differentiate itself by offering a salad and dessert bar, however some lettuce, tomatoes, and seaweed salad does not a salad bar make. And while the dessert bar offered several options, only the ice cream was palatable.
Are We Going Back?
A resounding "no" from all four of us. Disappointing, to say the least. Our recommendation? Don't bother. Our favourite sushi place is still Sushi T&T. Why? Because the food is amazing, it's that simple. I don't care if it's located next to an adult video store, I don't care if the seating is cramped. The food is heavenly, and if I'm going to spend my hard earned on a meal, I want the food to be the star, not the iPad ordering system.
But hey, that's just me.
My husband and I went for lunch there today with my mother and grandmother. We walked in the door and were greeted right away by the friendly staff and shown to our table. On the way to be seated, several diners told us that their meal had been excellent, and one went so far as to say it was far better than another popular Japanese restaurant in the area.
You can imagine how excited we were as we took our seats and began to peruse the menu!
The Good Points
The dining area was lovely. Very bright, spacious, and clean. Seating was well spaced and comfortable, however the chairs were quite a bit lower than the bench on the other side of the table.
The service was terrific. Attentive but not pushy, around when they needed to be, very polite and informative. The iPad ordering method was fast and easy, and the food came really quickly.
Some of their dishes were plated beautifully. Simple, but with elegant touches that we haven't seen very often at the other local Japanese restaurants.
The Not So Good Points
The plating was inconsistent. Some dishes were beautiful while others were hardly better than tossed on the plate. Our salmon sushi was gorgeous, precisely sliced fish, consistent amounts of rice, evenly placed on the plate. The tuna, red snapper, and butterfish, which all came on a separate dish, were poorly sliced, all different sizes, and had pretty much been tossed on the plate. Seriously, my 11 year old has been displaying better plating skills since he was about eight.
The Really Bad Points
The food itself! The salmon sushi was fine; no better or worse than anywhere else. The albacore tuna sushi was absolutely terrible; dry and stringy, more or less inedible. The rolls (and we tried several) were for the most part tasteless, even the spicy ones. The sushi pizzas were overcooked and tasted of nothing but oil. The only thing that anyone at the table enjoyed was the black pepper beef.
Umi has tried to differentiate itself by offering a salad and dessert bar, however some lettuce, tomatoes, and seaweed salad does not a salad bar make. And while the dessert bar offered several options, only the ice cream was palatable.
Are We Going Back?
A resounding "no" from all four of us. Disappointing, to say the least. Our recommendation? Don't bother. Our favourite sushi place is still Sushi T&T. Why? Because the food is amazing, it's that simple. I don't care if it's located next to an adult video store, I don't care if the seating is cramped. The food is heavenly, and if I'm going to spend my hard earned on a meal, I want the food to be the star, not the iPad ordering system.
But hey, that's just me.
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