REVIEW: Sake Sushi

Monday, December 19, 2011 5 comments

Sake Sushi
1571 Seacliff Drive
Kingsville Ontario Canada
Phone: +1 (519) 326 1688
Website: N/A






TYPE OF RESTAURANT: Japanese
ATTIRE:  Casual
PRICES: All You Can Eat (Lunch: $14 Dinner $21; +$2 for weekends and holidays)
Kids pay their age.
$ CHEAP

PAYMENT OPTIONS: Mastercard, Visa, Debit/EftPOS

HOURS: Monday - Thursday 11am-10pm
                 Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11am-10:30pm

RESERVATIONS? Walk-ins Welcome
HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE? Yes.
VEGETARIAN? Yes.
VEGAN? Yes.
GLUTEN FREE? Yes.









 RATING:

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        Quality of Food: 4/
Service: 2/5
   Originality: 4/5
        Atmosphere: 4/5





















The long anticipated opening of Sake Sushi in Kingsville has finally arrived. Sushi has really taken over Windsor with all sorts of sushi restaurants including several all you can eat locations. Essex County however has been poorly served in this regard. Asides from Koi Sushi in Kingsville, there isn't much out this way-- UNTIL NOW! Sake Sushi is the county's first all you can eat Japanese restaurant. Located on the edge of the Ruthven / Kingsville boundary.

The restaurant has been totally renovated from its previous tenant and looks amazing. Clean, sleek, and quite modern.


Sake Sushi is not just a sushi restaurant. They offer a wide variety of Japanese cuisine including Udon Soup, Pan Fried Udons, and Teryiaki Chicken. While the take away menu has pricing, pricing in the restaurant works a little differently. It is a flat-rate all you can eat with no evident time limit, as some other all you can eat sushi places have tried in the past. The fish is all incredibly fresh, and the selection is quite impressive. Sushi includes hard to find seafood including red surf calm, tobiko (flying fish roe), and even Red Snapper. A good selection of vegetarian maki is available as well. Oh, yes dessert is included in the all you can eat price (Try the Green Tea Ice cream, its delicious).


The one downside of this place I would have to say is service. When you order, there is a bit of a language barrier. For example, I ordered a Udon Soup, and ended up getting pan-fried udon. We also ordered gyoza (dumplings) near the end of our meal, reconfirmed they were coming, and they never turned up. Perhaps these are just growing pains, having not been open longer than a week. The other downside is the amount of time it takes for your food to come out. All the food gets brought out together, so the more you order the longer you can expect to wait. My recommendations is order just a few items at a time and reorder as required.


Overall, glad to see Sake Sushi offer something Essex County has long been craving. Quality Japanese at an incredibly affordable price. Fingers crossed they will stick around for a while.



REVIEW: Frenchy's Poutinery

Sunday, December 18, 2011 1 comments


FRENCHY'S POUTINERY
361 Ouellette Avenue
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Phone: +1 (519) 915-6720



Type of Restaurant: Canadian Poutinery


Attire: Casual
Prices: $5-$10
$- CHEAP

Payment Options:
Debit/Eftpos
Hours: Monday-Thursday 11am to 10pm
              Friday 11am to 4am
              Saturday 2pm to 4am
Reservations? Walk-ins
Handicap Accessible? Yes. 
Vegetarian Friendly? Yes. (They have vegetarian gravy available on request)
Vegan Friendly? Maybe. (Not sure whether their oil is 100% Vegetable)
Gluten-Free? Not sure.

RATING:

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Quality of Food: 3/5
Service: 2/5
Originality: 3/5
Atmosphere: 2/5

Ever since returning back from Australia, all my friends in Windsor have been ranting and raving about one of the newest places to open on Ouellette Ave. Frenchy's is a Canadian-inspired poutinery. Poutine, is a French-Canadian inspired dish. Typically fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. A delicious and gooey combo that is loved and enjoyed throughout this great country. 

Was looking for a place to dine for a quick lunch, and thought I'd give this place a shot. Upon walking in, I felt like I was back in university. The place was so poorly lit, with awful looking furniture, chipped paint on the walls, essentially it is a hole-in-the wall student establishment. Clearly judging by their hours of operation, they cater to the late night partying crowds drawn in by the numerous clubs and bars on this strip and the 19 years to drink Ontario law that draws in young Americans from across the Detroit River (who have to be 21 to drink at home). The place did not even have a menu board. Their menu consists of an 8x10 piece of computer paper with their menu printed on it (similar to their website above).
The Gooey, Filling Frenchy's Poutine

The choices are simple. In terms of poutine, you get a small ($5) or large ($7), and the price includes all the non-meat toppings of your choosing. If you are feeling extra carnivorous you can add meat (an extra $3-$5). I went for the vegetarian option, which included a vegetarian gravy (you need to ask for).

I waited at the counter, and after a while decided to sit down. Once it was ready the young guy at the counter who took my order, and prepared my poutine waved for me to grab my poutine. If any part of me was hesitating on classifying this place as a student-haven, the poutines get served in a styrofoam take out container even if you are eating in.

Service was not all that friendly, I was the only one in the place and the manager (perhaps owner) walked past me 3 or 4 times and never once asked how I was enjoying my meal.

If he did ask, I would have told him the poutine was very good. I especially enjoyed the way they poured on the gravy and the cheese was incredibly gooey as well.

Overall, Frenchy's has the opportunity to be a pretty cool dining establishment. It just requires a bit of $ investment to "classy" it up a bit. 
In the meantime, it will continue to cater to the drunk, young crowds who for the most part don't care what their service or dining environment is like.
 For anyone who has tried Lord of the Fries, a popular fry chain in Australia, this place will let you down in comparison. But if you are just after a cheap, filling food and nothing else... this place is your place. 

REVIEW: Walkermole

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 8 comments

WALKERMOLE
1840 Wyandotte East
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Phone: +1 (519) 253-8226
Website: http://www.walkermole.com/

NOTE: Restaurant has CLOSED and rumour says it has switched hands and will be reopened as "The Willistead"







Type of Restaurant: Modern Mexican
Attire: Casual
Prices: E- $8 M- $13 D- $5
$$ - Affordable

Payment Options:
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Debit/Eftpos
Hours: Limited Hours at time of review. Currently open for dinner starting at 4:30pm. Will update as hours expand.
Reservations? Walk-ins Welcome.
Handicap Accessible? Yes. 
Vegetarian Friendly? Yes.
Vegan Friendly? No. (But able to accommodate variations ie. no cheese, no yoghurt, etc.)
Gluten-Free? Yes. See comment below the review from co-owner Mark Boscariol

. Everything but the Steak Burrito and Tortas are Gluten-free. 

RATING:

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Quality of Food: 3.5/5
Service: 3/5
Originality: 5/5
Atmosphere: 5/5












Walkermole, probably one of the most anticipated restaurants in Windsor's recent history. Aside from places like Acalpuco Delight, Windsor is really lacking on the Mexican Cuisine front. Windsorites often having to travel to Leamington, Ontario or across the border to Detroit, Michigan for some authentic Mexican Town eats.

Walkermole, as the name alludes is located in the heart of the Walkerville area of Windsor. Kiddy-corner to the Gourmet Emporium, and across the street from the Yoga Loft, Shop Eco, and other trendy, modern storefronts. Hard to miss, with their lucha libra (mexican wrestling) inspired mask illuminating the Wyandotte East strip.

My friend Nicola joined me for this review and we both couldn't wait to see if it met up to all the hype and expectations. We were quickly greeted at the door, and offered up a table for two. The interior is beautiful-- bright orange, fairly long bar, all with a very "Ikea-modern" feel to it.

We were greeted by our waitress and she asked if we had dined here before. When we both replied we hadn't she welcomed us and explained that all the food is fresh and made on site asides from the tortillas which are sourced from Leamington. She then offered us up some margaritas to start off with. I prefer a good Mexican mojito, but my preference got turned down. They apparently "don't have those here". Margherita it was. Did find it odd that our server didn't mention the extensively large (60+) Tequila menu, or offer up a drinks menu for us. 

It wasn't long before the waitress returned with not only our margaritas but some complimentary nachos and salsa as well. For really wanting a mojito, the margarita was probably the best I've ever had. It tasted so fresh, with a slight sea salt taste to tame the tequila a bit.The salsa was delicious as well.

Veggie Sandwich (Background), Refried Beans & Rice (Mid)
Pescados (Forefront)
As for our meals, Nicola and I asked for our servers recommendations to help us out. She recommended the steak burrito to share amongst the two of us as the portion size is very large. Nicola was after something with seafood or vegetarian. On those criteria, our server recommended the Pescados (Crispy Mahi Mahi tacos). We chose to go with that selection, as well as the (Tortas) Vegetarian Mexican Sandwich. Both were accompanied with rice and refried beans. The food was fairly quick to come out. Unfortunately,  I wasn't as impressed with our meals as I was with the margherita. The portions were small and flavourless. The Mahi Mahi tacos were advertised on the menu as having a spicy coleslaw but had no spice or flavour aside from the accompanying yoghurt and cucumber. The Mexican Vegetarian Sandwich was better with a hint of spiciness, but had us wishing there was more stuffing as the bun was thick and the lack of filling made it taste slightly dry. Perhaps some mexican hot sauce on the tables so that diners can add spice to their preference level?

Despite the nachos, and the two dishes we were still hungry. We went for desserts which were just a verbal menu. On this particular day it was flan, bread pudding, and brown sugar shaved ice with mint. We went for the first two. The flan was a larger than expected slice, but had a lumpy texture we both did not enjoy but was okay flavour-wise if you could get over the texture. The bread pudding however was the winner of the night. Yes, the bread pudding was the winner at the Mexican restaurant. It had nice chucks of crispy bread, with walnuts, caramel, and a big scoop of vanilla all in a cocktail glass. Simply AMAZING!

The Verdict: This place will definitely be around for a while. The food is okay but a little pricey for the portions you receive. The dessert was what really impressed me more than the main meal. With the garage door that is attached to the dining room, I can see this being *THE* lunch destination to be this summer for drinks out in the sun and perhaps a small bite to eat. As for dinner, there isn't enough there to make it worthwhile to fill you up. However, if it is a social night with drinks and friends you are after Walkermole could definitely be the place you are looking for.