Yorkville Lunch Date: Hemingway's + MoRoCo

My friend Andrea moved to Toronto 3 months ago and we never found time to see each other (boo!!!! READ MY BLOG lol) so it was totally awesome to see her today! We went for lunch in the super elite neighbourhood of Yorkville (Yonge & Bloor), stopping first at the patio section of:

 Hemingway's

142 Cumberland Street
Toronto, ON M5R 1A8
(416) 968-2828

OH. it's a new zealand joint??? that totally explains the kiwi pictures everywhere.... i am so slow.

ALSO this makes me happy that i chose their lamb burger (cause im totally getting into lamb now... slow to start but it's growing on me!) cause there are more sheep in NZ than people right! 

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH BRIE AND APPLE - $10.89

Tender chicken breast with slices of granny smith apple and brie cheese served on a fresh twelve grain bun with mango mayonnaise

Andrea got this, she said it was really good! and loved the fries

KIWI LAMB BURGER - $12.89

New Zealand ground spring lamb, grilled and served on a lightly toasted bun with goat cheese and mint 

sauce, garnished with a slice of onion, tomato and lettuce

To curb new new lamb fixation i got this lamb burger, it was SUPER juicy, in fact it juiced all over my fries the first bite.  I woulda been pissed that i sogged my crispy fries in the first 2 seconds, but then again we were willingly sitting under the plant mist to cool ourselves down from the INSANE INTENSE HEATED SUMMER WEATHER.

After lunch, we were super stuffed. and just wanted to get ourselves in an A/C environment ASAP.  Did a little, well window shopping around (couldnt find anything :( but with the intent to get some gelato or frozen yogurt after.  She brought me to Moroco Chocolate:

Moroco Chocolat

99 Yorkville Avenue

Toronto, ON M5R 1C1

(416) 961-2202

this place is sooo pretty! Intent: Frozen Yogurt...

You step into their chocolate boutique area, i swear if i didnt know better (which i dont) i would have thought this was some fancy jewelry store.  Everything is delicately displayed, with a touch of decorum and class, fancy schmancy.

Beyond the chocolate boutique is a dining area. Black white and purple. Crystal studded plush black couches, and crystal chandeliers, zebra printed pillows.... basically if Lisa Frank had a back room for grown up parties, this is what it would look like. 

Case and point (from the star)

Well, we couldnt get our frozen yogurt :( Apparently, too many people came into the dining room area to order the frozen yogurt that it crammed up the dining room space. They only let you order if you have a big party and somebody wants it, or if its a private party or something other reason where there's a lot of money involved and not some schmutz who wants a measly froyo when they could be serving big spenders. 

They actually serve food, (but we were full). We noticed they do a high tea service here too! Would be nice to check out one day.

Well. these were my dessert options. 

I REALLY wanted a frozen desert type, cause it was soooooo hot. 

The only option that carried anything frozen that we saw was The Melteaser - $18.00

If i would have paid attention to the menu instead of seeing FROZEN... GET THAT. i would have read:

"Watch the Chocolate Sauce melt the Cocoa Shell to unveil three sweep scopes of Frozen Yougurt and Fresh Seasonal Berries"

If i saw that i woulda had my camera preparred! instead of just gawking at the waiter as he brought me a plate of chocolate globe. and poured a stream of chocolate over it, melting the chocolate globe away revealing the OVERSTATED scopes of FroYo. more like melon ball scoops. and a pinch of berries.

But HELLS was it AWESOME!!!!! those little malteaser balls added an awesome crunch!  I gotta say, it was totally impressive to eat, and felt a lot healthier than using my 18 bucks to buy a DQ chocolate log. The chocolate sauce was not too sweet, so it wasnt overbearing to consume such a large amount of chocolate.  

I ordered a glass of milk..... um... apparently nobody has ever ordered a glass of milk.... um.... except for children..... she gave me a straw. 

Andrea got the Kiss Me Kate

Moist Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. - $14.00

I think the presentation was very nice.  Although i think Andrea (and myself) were a lil disappointed with the cake... it was less red velvet than super chocolate. I much rather have a nice traditional red velvet with lots of perfect cream cheese frosting! 

It was a gorgeous place.  I kept saying, I FEEL LIKE A PRINCESS!!! it's a really nice place for girls to get their brunch and desserts on, you can fondue too, and the service was really good.  I would go for special occasions.... I would also go there if i didnt have to pay.....  but next time i have a frozen yogurt craving.... i'm going to Yogen Fruz... um that's more my budget....(unless someone wants to pay for my food!)

sassafraz - the heart of yorkville. pretty pretty pretty!

sassafraz

100 Cumberland Street

Toronto, ON M5R 1A6

(416) 964-2222

http://www.sassafraz.ca/

Today is my friend Jessica's birthday! (Happy Birthday!), and she picked this gorgeous place for brunch, in the heart of Yorkville, as the tagline goes.  I was going to say "lil" but it's not little at all, there's a patio, and then a front room with bar, separated by glass doors, you see this room, with the grand piano, and a waterfall behind (that i should've taken a picture of!), and an upstairs area, i think for private parties, that's probably even more gorgeouser. 

First time ever i was probably the first to arrive.... monumental... 

And you know what else was awesome, the service.  i had arrived first and got an earl grey and everyone else got a coffee type that came with a biscotti... and in my hungry state i was like, awww man!!!! i shoulda got a capo!!! and the waiter came back and gave me 2 biscotti's! give me free food??!!!! i love you forever!!!!

The brunch menu isn't extensive but looked great, 4 out of 6 of us got the Bellair Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with lobster, 5 year aged cheddar, grilled andouille sausage & potato chive  croquettes.

Scrambled eggs with lobster, 5 year aged cheddar, grilled andouille sausage & potato chive  croquettes - $18.00

I still can't look at eggs right now... it was sooo much! and it was soo good!  the eggs were super light and fluffy, and there were actual lobster bites in there, oppose to lobster flakes. I would always prefer lobster chunks, but i probably need to take a trip over to nova scotia to get that (and it would be worth it.. just to have lobster every day)... The andouille sausage was great, everyone loved it, i kinda wanted a bun and slap that on with some mustard. and the potato croquette was crispy crunch, i love deep fried texture... haha. 

Two poached eggs on smoked back bacon, fresh baked English muffin with hollandaise & potato galette - $16.00

The birthday girl got the eggs benny, i know i said that i always get the eggs benny every time i go for brunch... but i decided to switch it up. so i'm not a liar OK? just switching it up. crappy hollandaise will ruin the whole thing for me, and this hollandaise was really nice,  i suppose the eggs could be more beautifully poached, like those i got at Sarabeth's in nyc,  but whatever, i'm chewing it up anyway.   And then there's this potato galette thing that i've never had before, an it was really good.  Wiki just told me that Galette is some french term that applies to a flat cake. so i guess its a potato cake with a million layers... which reminds me, anyone remember those things called Vienetta Ice Cream Cakes, and its a million layers of thin chocolate with ice cream in between? I LOVE THOSE. where can i get some???

well. as much as i hate to admit it. i could not eat another bite.  Birthday Girl Jess got the bright idea to ask for ketchup, and even with the flavour switch i couldnt... i told the waiter i was sad cause i couldnt finish my food :( what a shameful moment in my life ....

We were waiting for the bill, and wondering why it took so long, when after a good 5-10 minutes, the waiter came back out with this! Isn't that so sweet??? Dark chocolates with ganache or whatever i'm just talking out of my ass, some ... soft thing inside. truffle? But it was great, and a bite of shortbread cookie.

So pretty. Everything was so pretty today, it was a really really good experience, great food, great service, great friends! Happy Birthday Jess!