Foodaholic!: Etobicoke

Milestones Grill and Bar is a restaurant chain under Recipe Unlimited (used to be Cara) serving up Canadian cuisine. There are over 40 locations across British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. The one I frequent the most is the Queensway location, as it's centrally located in the same plaza as Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas (my go-to theater).

Earlier last week, I was invited to check out their new "Cantina Menu Event", which is available until September 2, 2018. The new menu features several Mexican-inspired dishes that are perfectly shareable.

J started the evening off with an order of the Mayan Mule ($9.75) - Sauza Silver tequila mixed with blackberry purée and fresh citrus juices topped with ginger beer and served in a traditional copper mug. The Mayan Mule is a variation on the Moscow Mule, and has a nice balance since the tequila isn't too strong.

The Mexican Street Corn Dip ($12.75) - Fresh roasted corn blended with three cheeses, roasted poblano and serrano peppers, and a tomato tomatillo pico de gallo. Served with our classic tortilla chips was a great appetizer to start with. It was creamy, and a great combo of Mexican street corn and cheese. One of my personal favorites of the night.

Another appetizer on the menu is the Three Amigos Fish Tacos ($15.25) - Crisp fried basa on a soft grilled white flour tortilla. Each taco came with a nicely battered crisp fried basa and topped with melted Mozzarella cheese, napa cabbage jicama slaw, cilantro lime dressing, chili avocado aioli, pico de gallo, avocado and fresh cilantro. Good portion size too! You can also add an extra taco for another $5.50.

I love seafood, so my entrée option was the Honey Chipotle Shrimp ($26.50) - Jumbo shrimp covered with a honey chipotle glaze, alongside a cilantro crema for dipping. Served with fiesta rice and seasonal vegetables. The Chipotle flavored shrimp was topped off with crispy chips and had a nice blend of sweet & savory seasoning. I also appreciate that they didn't skimp out on the shrimp, as it came with 9 pieces of plump shrimp. However, the fiesta rice was a little soggy to me, but it was still an enjoyable dish.

If you're not into shrimp, then you can opt for the Chili Lime Chorizo Chicken ($22) - Grilled chili lime chicken breasts topped with chorizo sausage, roasted poblano cream and Monterey Jack cheese. Served with Mexican fiesta rice, seasonal vegetables and fried plantain.

One problem that I find with restaurant chains is location inconsistency, and you can't judge an entire brand if the service if off-putting at a specific location. However, I do go to the Queensway location as they're relatively consistent with their service. Our server for the night was attentive and friendly. I noticed that he was pretty much like that with other tables as well - so it was not just a media thing. The Cantina Menu Event at Milestones Grill and Bar is only here for a limited time, so hope you guys check it out soon!

Address: 1001 The Queensway, Etobicoke, ON, M8Z 6C7

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Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.

The Kingsway neighborhood is home to several restaurants that have operated for many years. Table 21 Kitchen & Wine Bar (formerly known as Stratosphere Gastrolounge & Winebar) is one of the newer additions to the area having been opened for less than a year. They opened in the summer of 2015, and recently re-branded themselves as a "gastrolounge". The restaurant offers global cuisine in a rather spacious family dining setting with a monochromatic interior. I was told that the menu was also recently revamped to center on offering familiar gastropub fare with a more elevated flair. Table 21 Kitchen & Wine Bar is open Monday to Sunday and is located in the Etobicoke area of West Toronto with plenty of street parking available. I had the pleasure of attending a menu tasting at Table 21 Kitchen & Wine Bar a couple of weeks back, where I got to try a few things from their menu.

The cocktail menu at Table 21 Kitchen & Wine Bar features a great selection of infused-cocktails, where they combine liquors with fresh, seasonal ingredients. They're the only place in the surrounding area serving infused-cocktails, so I thought that it was an interesting concept. We opted to try the Strawberry Infused Rum Daiquiri (1.5 oz) - lime juice, simple syrup, sugar rim.

We started off with the mussels ($12) - served in a garlic white wine sauce, and they were quickly devoured. The generous portion of mussels was marinated in a flavorful white wine sauce, which was rather fragrant. The mussels themselves were plump, and tasted great!

I love chicken wings, so the Stratosphere "Twice Cooked" Wings ($14 - 1 lbs) - your choice of jerk, cajun, lemon pepper, mild, medium, hot, BBQ, was a must-order for me. The chef was nice enough to allow me to try two different flavors; lemon pepper, and jerk. Personally, I enjoyed the jerk wings more as it contained a lot more flavors compared to the lemon pepper wings.

The STRATOSPHERE Beef Burger ($17) - 9 oz. AAA ground sirloin with all the trimmings, served with hand cut fries, is their house specialty. All of the burgers on the menu are made in-house featuring ingredients that are sourced locally. However, I do find the burger to be priced a little too high.

For my entree, I opted for the Spaghetti di Mare ($19) - prawns, mussels, calamari, in a spicy tomato sauce. The spaghetti dish was simply presented on a white plate giving it a clean presentation look. The flavorful seafood spaghetti contained a healthy helping of seafood; prawns, mussels, and calamari mixed with a spicy tomato sauce. Overall, the spaghetti was executed nicely as the noodles weren't overcooked and the sauce helped to enhance the flavor of the seafood.

To end off the meal, I got the crème brûlée as my dessert. The dessert consisted of a rich custard base topped off with caramelized sugar making it a satisfying end to the night!

Address: 2956 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M8X 1B7

Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stratosphereresto/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dineatstratos/
Website: http://www.stratosphereresto.com/

Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.

We often eat at some of surrounding chain restaurants after movie date nights at the Queensway Cineplex. Although, my SO lives downtown, he likes to drive us up to the Cineplex on Queensway as it's painfully difficult to get parking downtown especially on Fridays and Saturdays. We have dined at various Milestone's Grill & Bar on a few occasions, and I have to applaud them for consistency. At times, I find that chain restaurants can be a hit or a miss depending on the locations, but Milestone's Grill & Bar has been consistent with both their service and quality of food.

We were slightly disappointed that they were sold out of Prime Rib that night. I am assuming that it's one of the most popular cuts on the Milestone's Grill & Bar's menu. We decided to still get steaks - just different cuts.

I opted for the 8 oz Top Sirloin ($23) - signature seasoning, served with red wine jus and seasonal vegetables. My choice of side from the list was the red skin fries. I ordered my steak medium, and it turned out pretty tasty. The seasoning wasn't overwhelming salty and the meat itself was tender. However, I didn't really like the small salad portion that came with the dish. It barely had any green lettuces in the mix, but rather large chunks of peppers and onions.

My SO got the 12 oz Rib Eye ($32) - signature seasoning, served with red wine jus and seasonal vegetables with the choice of a baked potato with house-made sour cream, horseradish and chive sauce for a side.

Milestone's Grill & Bar offers casual fare at comparable prices as their competitors such as Joey's, Kelsey's, Jack Astor's Bar & Grill, Moxie's Grill & Bar, etc ... The overall atmosphere at this particular location was more low key with ample seating in the dining room. I have been to the Yorkdale location twice, and that location was louder compared to the one on Queensway. Overall, I thought that the service was good as our server was attentive despite waiting on four other tables in our allocated area in the dining room.

Address: 1001 The Queensway Toronto, ON, M8Z 6C7

Similarly to the Yorkdale location, the Mississauga one isn't very consistent either. The last time I was here, my steak wasn't that great. I wanted a medium 8 oz rib eye, and my dish arrived kind of burnt.