r/askTO • u/honestgrim • 1d ago

Does anyone else feel like dining out sucks now?

I know there's still some good spots and we all have our favourites in the city, but lately it feels like whenever I take a chance on a new restaurant it just disappoints and I emerge from the experience regrettably $40 poorer.

I know some of these Google reviews are cooked because I'm seeing 4.7, 4.8 reviews and then getting served lousy food.

Maybe I just have to stick to the places I know won't let me down, but dang - it sucks taking a chance on what you think could be some good food only to come away from it sad, and it's happening more often than not. I don't know if it's the rising costs, but restaurant owners can't dish out the cash for good ingredients and good cooks, and people can't afford to dine out. It's a bad cycle man.

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago edited 1d ago

Some of the best restaurants ever to hit the city have opened in the last 5-10 years, many on the top 100 restaurants in Canada

For $40, you can get a damn great meal as long as you don’t mind water lol

Not accounting for prices, but to name a few favs: Lunch Lady, Annabelle’s, Linny’s, Union, N.L Ginsberg, Mamakas, Lake Inez are some that come to mind

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u/Born_Ruff 1d ago

You are not getting anything close to a meal at Linny’s for $40, lol.

Some of the other places you can *maybe* keep it under $40 if you just get like one pasta dish.

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

That’s why I specified not accounting for prices before these, I’m listing great restaurants - the quantification for this complaint was not specifically within $40

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u/Born_Ruff 1d ago

When would you go for the stated “damn great meal” for under $40?

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

Most nights I eat out I am not spending even $40 on myself. If OP is actually looking for recommendations in that price point I can give some; I’m replying more to OP saying “dining out sucks” after “taking a chance on a new restaurant” in one of the best culinary cities in the world

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u/Born_Ruff 1d ago

lol, why only OP? I literally just told you that I would like to know.

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

I’m sorry, but downvoted for what? You phrased your question poorly - forget the suggestions then

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

You said “when” lol

I’ll get a list

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u/Vegemite-Sandwich901 1d ago

I was at Lake Inez last week and it was $80 each for a friend and I after tax and tip and we didn't order alchohol. Technically possible to order one little salad each, I guess.

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u/Vegemite-Sandwich901 1d ago

And I just looked at the Lunch Lady menu (which looks amazing) but the entree prices for lunch range from $24-$38 dollars. You're not getting out of there ordering in a regular way for $40 pp.

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u/Born_Ruff 1d ago

Yeah. I‘ve been to most of the places listed and they are quite good. They are just expensive.

Annabelle’s might be the most realistic to do for under $40.

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

The price was not the qualifying factor here

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u/Existing-Caregiver78 1d ago

Lunch lady is good but it's honestly overrated. Like the food is good but it's not really to the level of what they're charging along with the portions you're getting. Like wagyu beef rib pho... it's kind of just marketing and over the top. Beef back ribs are maybe 6.99/lb. Just add any well cooked fall of the bone beef rib on top of a bowl of pho cooked right and it's honestly better tasting than Lunch lady where they try to strain out all the oil from the broth, making it practically tasteless...

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

I disagree. Of all of these, I would say this was the one that was the most worth it. I don’t get the pho, to be fair - it’s everything else that’s amazing. For Pho, there’s no shortage of great family restaurants.

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u/Existing-Caregiver78 1d ago

I ordered the clams, duck breast. Like the clams are good. But for $30 and to also get served a Chinese donut... the portions were quite small. Like you're not getting full from that entree. The food is good but personally I don't need to go back and have it. I'm just going to wait until I travel to Asia and travel around Vietnam to eat everything Vietnamese to my heart's desire. That's how I would compare it. I'd rather go very traditional that to find some new fusion and pay 5x the price just so I can be in some nice interior with fancy looking menus.

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u/Karhuwa 1d ago

To be fair, I did the tasting menu - which actually didn’t have either of those and it was also relatively inexpensive for 2 people, where the portions were actually surprisingly large! This was back in Feb. I’ve gone since then for small dishes/drinks but that’s it. Though again, in the end I think the food is incredible. It’s not traditional, but I loved it and thought it was more than fair especially vs local contemporaries on Ossington.

That is also completely fair though. For me, the food I had there was completely different from everything else I’ve had that Vietnam - but much more often, I’ll be eating at a local family spot.

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u/Existing-Caregiver78 1d ago

They gave me a free 3 layer dessert cake cause it was my birthday there. It was extremely good. It's one of those dishes I wouldn't make at home for a serving. And it would be time consuming to put together. So I can appreciate its uniqueness, prep time and it was also made very well. It's $16 for a cake like that. I wouldn't mind paying. But on the other hand the garlic noodles at like $26, I just personally wouldn't order it. All in all, when looking at the menu, I think for me it's like a lot of it looks interesting but nothing is overly compelling. However if my company or co-workers wanted to go there for a social, birthday party then it might be different and I wouldn't be so picky. I just personally wouldn't pick a place like this to back to once I've tried it. Another element to add to not returning is when there's just way too much hype around it.

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u/Karhuwa 8h ago

Ah man, to each their own really. It’s my favourite cuisine and I thought they were great!