Jamie's Italian

Just because you have a baby doesn't mean that you can't celebrate New Year's Eve! To be fair, I actually rang in the new year at home, watching the ball drop on TV (yes I saw Mariah's "performance") and sipping champagne quietly while my son was asleep in his crib. BUT I still wanted to have a good dinner to say goodbye to 2016, and we knew Jamie's Italian would be both delicious and baby friendly so we went back to one of our favourite spots.

Restaurant: Jamie's Italian
Location: Yorkdale
Meal: dinner
Day: Saturday
Son's Age: 9 months

Another perk about Jamie's Italian is that it is attached to Yorkdale, which has covered parking, which means I don't have to worry about running through an outdoor parking lot in the snow with my baby. Jamie's also had a special New Year's Eve prix fixe menu for the evening.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Obviously we have been here multiple times so you can refer to my other blog posts for details about accessibility, but this is pretty much as good as it gets. They also allowed us to park our stroller next to our table, even though they had brought a high chair for my son.

I love the little NYE message they had on the chalk board, and as you can see, my son was pretty excited too. 

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The servers are always prepared to work with families that have babies. They were extremely helpful and attentive, and they brought a bowl of hot water for me to heat my son's lunch up as well. 

The server was also smart enough to place the bowl of hot water on the exact opposite side of the table from where the baby was sitting. 

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The prix fixe menu actually came with a glass of prosecco, which is exactly what I wanted to kick off  our New Year's Eve dinner. 

For my appetizer, I had the egg raviolo with mushrooms and Parmesan. 

This was fantastic! When you cut into the raviolo, the egg yolk just oozes out like a delicious sauce. The pasta tasted fresh, as was to be expected given that they make the pasta in house. The mushrooms and cheese were just the perfect complement. Next I ordered the branzino.  

It doesn't look special in the photo but the fish was perfectly cooked and the flavours were not overwhelming. Finally, the dessert was served family style, and my husband and I ordered the panettone. 

This tasted like a cross between a fruit cake and a bread pudding, and I mean that in a good way. It was such a pleasant way to end a beautiful meal, although I do acknowledge that I would have preferred if we could order our own separate desserts.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There's a reason why I keep coming back here, and that's because, not only is the restaurant food amazing, but I always feel at ease bringing my baby here, so it's not like we are disturbing a romantic meal for anyone. 

The Good Fork

After a successful morning of Boxing Day shopping (yes I know, I'm still in December), my sister and I met up with my husband and son for brunch at the Good Fork.

Restaurant: The Good Fork
Location: Bloor West Village
Meal: Brunch
Day: Monday
Son's Age: 8 months

Yes, this is another repeat visit. I love coming here but I hate that they don't take reservations for brunch. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long, and there is a Timothy's down the street whose customer base I'm pretty sure includes a lot of people waiting for their table at the Good Fork.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Obviously the accessibility still hasn't changed - the entrance is wheelchair (and stroller!) accessible and there is an accessible washroom with a change table. This time, I didn't bring the stroller, so we were seated upstairs and given a high chair.

They provided my son with a kids' menu which I think he decided was a new toy. 

Service: ⭐⭐⭐
Our server was extremely friendly and very approachable, and she seemed to find my son adorable, which is always a plus for me. That said, she also seemed very forgetful. I asked her for milk with my coffee several times before finally getting it when I asked a different server - each time she would apologize profusely, then say she's going to get it right now...and then forget again. She was also very forgetful at bringing coffee refills (did I mention I spent the morning Boxing Day shopping? Mommy needs her coffee!), which also required me to flag down another server. I asked how big a portion was in the menu and she kept emphasizing that I shouldn't worry because my baby definitely wouldn't be hungry. He's a baby - he doesn't need a lot of food, but my questions were more about whether the food was baby appropriate and if it might be too much, which she didn't understand. The kids' meals also come with a cup of juice, which she kept saying was so great, and then forgot to bring it until I asked (not that I give my baby juice, but if it comes with juice my husband will drink that!). I do want to point out that this kind of service is not typically what I encounter here, but it does seem like this server in particular could use a notepad.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm starting to think I need to hire a food photographer because clearly I am not getting this job done. I ordered the Nova Scotia benny with smoked salmon and fresh dill with a side of salad, and my photo did not turn out but it was delicious. The eggs were perfectly runny and the hollaindaise was rich, while the salad was a refreshing complement (if you hate salad for brunch, there's an option of home fries, too). Of course, I had to get a side of my favourite red velvet pancakes!

For my son, we decided to order a grilled cheese on multigrain toast with a side of fruit.

This is definitely a kid portion and not a baby portion, in case you are wondering. My son loves to chew on proper food (he's totally over puréed food now), and he is obsessed with fruit, cheese, and bread, so I knew we couldn't go wrong. No, he did not eat the whole thing, although he did polish off the fruit. I wouldn't generally recommend ordering off the menu for a baby, but if you are so inclined, the fruit is fresh and the grilled cheese is very simple, so this probably isn't a bad meal to get for your child.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Even with the questionable service, this restaurant is a fantastic place to take your baby for brunch. The food is excellent and bringing your baby is so convenient. Plus, the atmosphere is casual enough that people won't really blink an eye if your baby decides to be fussy. 

Asian Legend

I mentioned in my last post that I was a bit behind in my blog, so I'm going to try to bang out a couple of entries today. And I'm so behind that I am currently about to write about Christmas. It is now February. Again, so sorry!

Restaurant: Asian Legend
Location: Scarborough
Meal: Lunch
Day: Sunday
Son's Age: 8 months

I was having lunch with my in-laws on Christmas day, and while many places are closed, Chinese restaurants are typically still open. Don't worry, we had a big Christmas dinner at my in-laws' house that evening also - I am not one of those miserable people that goes out for Chinese food on Christmas because I have no other options (that's a movie, right? I vaguely recall hearing about this on a Top Chef episode...). Anyway, my in-laws really like Asian Legend, so that's where we ended up.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐
You can find my previous blog post about Asian Legend to read about accessibility, but obviously this has not changed - there is still no space to change a baby. The new development, however, is that I discovered that they have high chairs available!

If you do come here, though,l please double check your high chair. They brought us one where the buckle was broken and we had to request a new one.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I found our server to be very attentive - he was quick to bring us a high chair, and upon discovering that it was not functional, he immediately brought out a new one. He also brought us a bowl of hot water to heat my son's food.

I admit the bowl is comically large considering I'm heating up a 2 oz baby cube, but it got the job done. The server checked in with us several times throughout the lunch to make sure we had everything we needed for the baby, as well as extra napkins, which I found to be very thoughtful.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
We ended up ordering several dishes, and probably way more than we needed. We started with some fried dumplings and green onion pancake.

You can't go wrong with either of these dishes, in my opinion, as they are both Shanghai classics. We also ordered the rice cakes with shrimp and pork again.

Still delicious, obviously, since we always order this one. This time, we also ordered a ja jeung mein, or as the menu calls it, minced pork with noodles in peking sauce.

In case you're wondering, yes, this is the original dish that inspired the Korean version of jja jang myun, but made with minced pork and shredded cucumber. It was very satisfying, but don't order it thinking of the Korean dish because it's not same. We also got some fried noodles with chicken.

I have to be honest - this one is not my favourite. It's quite bland, it pales in comparison to the other dishes, and given how much we ordered, it was highly unnecessary. I think we decided we needed to offset the saucy noodles, since we also got some dan dan noodles in peanut sauce.

It's funny - I always forget about dan dan noodles and then get very excited when it's put in front of me. It's delicious, and if you like peanuts, you definitely need to try this sometime. Of course, no visit to a Northern Chinese restaurant is complete without xiao long bao!

Classic pork dumplings with soup - always hits the spot!

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐½
It's definitely possible to bring your baby to this restaurant, since there are high chairs and the food is delicious and served family style. The setup and decor of Asian Legend is also more comfortable and less intimidating than other Chinese restaurants, if you are trying Shanghai food for the first time, but the food is still very good. That being said, if your baby needs a diaper change, it is probably more convenient to run out to your car than to use the washroom there.

Farmhouse Tavern

Full disclosure: I'm super behind on my blog posts for a really stupid reason. I thought I had a food photo that I had taken on my husband's phone and was waiting for him to send it back to me. Turns out, I had only taken a blurry photo of the side of the table, which is why he didn't know what I was talking about when I asked him for it. Apologies for the delay, but now, let's get to it!

Restaurant: Farmhouse Tavern
Location: The Junction
Meal: Brunch
Day: Saturday
Son's Age: 8 months

I was meeting a friend for brunch, and with a baby in tow, that means finding a good brunch place that takes reservations. We decided to stay in the neighbourhood and go to Farmhouse Tavern. This restaurant is a great local spot with an ever changing menu. The place has a bit of a rustic feel to it, including mismatched coffee mugs.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐
I came here a lot before I had a baby, and I swear I don't remember seeing so many high chairs here before. I actually brought my son in his car seat thinking that I would need to have it perched on a chair. Luckily, high chairs actually flip over to accommodate car seats.

There are steps to get in, so while people did bring in their stroller, it isn't an easy feat. Additionally, there are no change tables in the washroom.

The good news is that the toilet seat has a lid, so you can lower it and change your baby there. And yes, if you have been reading all my posts, I have been getting less picky about my definition of "accessible washrooms" when it comes to change tables, but it's one of the things I'm learning about as a first time mom.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The server was definitely prepared to have a baby at the restaurant, which is always helpful. They also brought a bowl of hot water for me to heat up my son's lunch.

I could have used some more frequent coffee refills, but otherwise, the server was happy to explain the menu to us and for the most part left us alone to enjoy good food and conversation.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I always rate the food based on the specific experience I have here, so based on this particular visit, I'd give the food four stars. As I explained earlier, I do not have a photo, but I ordered the mother and child reunion for brunch, which in this case, was a breaded duck egg over a duck rillette and a potato hash. Now, I have to emphasize that they are constantly changing their menu, and I hadn't been here in quite some time, so I knocked off a star partially because of expectation - the last time I had come for brunch, the mother and child reunion was two duck eggs and duck prosciutto served with salad. To be fair, this new creation was significantly more filling, and it was still tasty, but I was slightly disappointed because I had expected something different. The server did explain it properly, so I was aware that the description had changed when I ordered, but I suppose I was really hoping to be blown away. That being said, the duck egg is perfect - the yolk is nice and runny, and I think it has been poached first and then fried, which is just lovely and does pair quite nicely with the hash.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐½
The accessibility of this restaurant makes it slightly inconvenient to bring your baby, but the food and service are good, and the ability to make a reservation for brunch in Toronto is a big bonus. I'd recommend coming here if you want some good local food for brunch but want to avoid the crazy wait times.