Aside from an endless supply of baked goods, a cottage vacation usually means taking a break from buying food and preparing it ourselves. After being in the sun and relaxing, it’s nice to take time to cook and not abide by schedules. Nonetheless, one evening we gave the barbeque a rest and made our way into the quaint main street in Gravenhurst for dinner.  

When a menu proclaims something as the restaurant’s “famous” dish, I’m intrigued and will give it a try - an order of the deep fried chicken wings ($12.99 for 10 pieces) started us off while waiting for the mains. With thirteen sauces and seasonings to choose from, the Oar & Paddle has a decent selection. The sweet and spicy Thai lived up to its name in terms of flavour and the wings were good – juicy, crispy, freshly out of the fryer, and covered with an ample amount of sauce. Certainly not the best wings I’ve ever eaten, but would likely be a top 20 contender.

For a city by the water, I thought their bouillabaisse ($19.99) would be equally satisfying. To be fair, it had the beginnings of being a promising dish with a nice selection of seafood: perch, shrimp and mussels. Except for the shrimp, which were slightly overcooked, the others arrived flaky and plump.

My husband was smart and stuck with the steadfast fish and chips ($16.99), a popular choice amongst the diners. The haddock was encapsulated in a crispy beer batter - although it could stand to be harder in the centre, the crunchy edges I tried were wonderful. The fries were also hot, plentiful and satisfying. And thankfully, the restaurant made their own tartar sauce so had plenty of gherkins and flavour – I’m amazed at the number of places that ruin fish and chips by giving the packaged Heinz variety.

The Oar & Paddle is a Muskoka favourite and the place was full (both in the dining room and patio) during our Thursday evening visit… you’ll want to make a reservation. Laid back and homey, you don’t feel judged arriving in whatever you’ve been wearing at the cottage that afternoon (covered up of course). Just heed my advice and stick with the pub favourites, anything not grilled or deep fried may result in disappointment.

Originally a popular hangout in the St. Lawrence area, Dublin Calling has since moved to the Adelaide West corridor. Situated on the second floor, the roll-up windows promises to transform the bar into a cool open space when the warm weather returns. Who knows, with the bout of luck Toronto has experienced lately, those windows may be opened for St. Patrick’s Day.

Pints of green beer without a balance of food can be dangerous. At Dublin Calling’s grand opening party, I sampled my way through tons of nibbles and they certainly have enough fried delights to keep a drinker satisfied.

It wouldn’t be a pub without fish and chips with a crispy flaky batter and plenty of tartar sauce.

For something to share and snack on, the deep fried mac ‘n’ cheese or deep fried pickles lend themselves to easily eat at the bar.

However, if you can score a table and don’t mind a bit of a mess, their chicken wings are fantastic! Large sized batter wings slathered in tons of sauce and toppings. Pictured below is a party sized platter of the garlic and parm (substituted with feta during the opening party). Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture of the Kung Pow version, my favourite of the night – so innocent at first with the sweet and salty glaze, only to pack a POW of heat at the end.

Not everything was fried, they have a selection of wraps, sandwiches and burgers. The Irish burrito was an interesting combination of corned beef, potato, cheese and sauerkraut. The mustard drizzled on top, although making it messier to eat, made the wrap.

Drinking games can be brought up a level at one of the dart lanes (six in all) or through a game of pool.

For me, someone whose eye-hand coordination falters even without drinks, it’s best to just stay on the dance floor.  After all, it’s the time of the year when stamping along to anthems and doing the do-se-do is celebrated. Dublin Calling has you covered this St. Patty’s day. 

Union Social Eatery is a new casual dining restaurant in the Yonge and Sheppard area. Their comfort food heavy menu is reasonably priced with no dish over $20. The crispy buffalo chicken tacos are a steal at $9.98 for three; they’re also packed with flavour from cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, a gorgonzola ranch sauce and salsa.

After eating here at lunch and dinner, I found the atmosphere similar to the Jack Astor’s down the street and the food quality slightly higher. Perhaps they were experiencing issues in the kitchen during opening month, but my first lunch visit was a tad slow to meet a corporate crowd’s dining needs.

Since my husband and I had the day off, we weren’t in a rush; but three tables in our vicinity were asking about the status of their dishes. The meal took about one and half hours, which is not outrageous but could be improved for a table of two. My advice: develop a lunch menu incorporating easy to execute dishes to help speed up lunch service.

My husband had the grilled fish tacos ($11.98), which weren’t as substantial as the buffalo chicken version - the small fish pieces became lost in the napa slaw. But, the kick from the wasabi sauce was a nice change against the typical chipotle mayo.

The U.F.O. burger ($11.96) appeared to be a popular lunch choice. The freshly made beef patty could be cooked less to allow it to be juicier. Nonetheless, it was a decent size and there was an abundance of fixings topping the burger.

I chose to upgrade the Yukon fries to the truffle option ($3 supplement) and sadly found the truffle aroma and taste non-existent. If they were marketed as parmesan and rosemary infused fries, I would have been pleased as there was no shortage of any of these ingredients, but to have the truffle taste missing was a disappointment.

On a return visit with friends, we ordered the appetizer version of the parmesan truffle fries ($7.94) and it was a touch better – this time I could at least get a whiff of the white truffle oil, albeit the taste was still covered from the strong grana padano cheese and herbs.

In my opinion, just go with the plain fries, in both experiences I found the truffle ones to be too oily and glutinous feeling. The plain variety that accompanied the Steam Whistle fish and chips ($15.44) were good enough for me. Even though Union Social isn’t an English pub, the fish was pretty good – a large piece of haddock with a crispy airy batter. A house made sweet gherkin tartare sauce and a buttermilk coleslaw rounded out the dish.

For those who like coconut shrimp, the banana coconut crusted chicken ($16.91) would be the perfect main. The chicken breast was relatively moist and had a distinct sweet coconut crust. I wasn’t fond of the tamarind, mango and brown butter sauce and found the poor quality rice lackluster. However, in fairness, this generally isn’t a dish I’d order; we did so on the recommendation of our server. One friend, who does like sweet coconut dishes, found the chicken enjoyable.

While the weather is still beautiful, visit Union Social to sit on their rooftop patio. It’s one of the best features of the restaurant and they have incorporated plenty of awnings and umbrellas so you’re not roasting.

Even their cocktails are reasonably priced; the original mojito ($6.81) was refreshing and incorporates generous amounts of muddled mint leaves. If you enjoy beer, their weekend specials should entice: $15 pitchers on Fridays and $5 Sleeman & Steam Whistle pints on Saturday and Sundays.

Overall, Union Social’s food is decent and it’s great, that their prices, will not break the bank.

Granola bars, cereal bars, breakfast bars … whatever you call them, they are generally: sickingly sweet, high in calories and keeps me full for about an hour. Or there’s the other end of the spectrum: where the bars are bland but chocked full of powders and additives that blending it with liquid will make a protein shake. Please, find me a recipe that makes sense!

Taste of Nature’s product is different and when two mini-sized ones arrived in the June Yummy Goody Box, it reminded me of why I like them. Firstly, it’s called a “food bar” and their bars contain just that: whole nuts, juice sweetened dried fruit and grains for texture/crunch without it being overwhelming. The well-balanced sweetness to the product allows it work as breakfast or a snack.

Secondly, the texture is appealing: a soft chewiness that has satisfied a cookie craving in a pinch. Taste of Nature says they make their bars in smaller quantities leading to quicker inventory turnover and a fresher product. I believe the claim, the bars do seem fresh – perhaps, it’s due to their manufacturing facility being just up the road from Toronto (located in Markham, Ontario).  

The bars are cold pressed, rather than baked, to help protect the ingredient’s nutrients. And the company strives to be environmentally friendly by partnering with green suppliers and recycling food waste for animal feed. All great practices that makes eating the food bar even more guilt-free.

My only complaint is that they’re difficult to find in a multi-pack box – they’re available at Whole Foods, but purchasing them as singles starts to become expensive. Plus, I’ve yet to find the mini-sized ones in stores - the perfect format for snacking on.

Regardless, I’m just happy to have discovered an alternative to the candy bars hiding beneath “great breakfast option” claims. Ah Taste of Nature … you taste good. 

NEXT: Prana's Machu Pichu Fruit & Nut Mix
MORE: Back to Simply Snacking

The first portion of the menu offers appetizers in "bite" or "starter" portions.  The bites are for £1 each while starters range from £3 - £5.  In reality, the pricing makes no difference as the starters are just a multiple of the bites - those £3 contain 3 pieces while £4 dishes contain 4 pieces. We ordered a few starters to share amongst our table of four.   

With this first impression, I had low expectations for the food to come.  Nonetheless, my friends and I decided to brave it and order a few items to try.  Urraca Resto Lounge’s menu consists of tapa dishes, combining Korean favourites (such as bulgogi and kimchi) with Western bar foods (mainly fries, nachos and tacos). 

Overall, it wasn’t that bad; dishes weren’t outstanding but they were edible and in line with most bar foods.  Unfortunately, most of the dishes used the same sauces and ingredients which caused them to taste alike, but there were two dishes that stood out:

The beef tacos ($7) and bulgolgi poutine ($7), on the other hand, were esthetically pleasing to look at but tasted like any other run of the mill version of the dish.  The problem may stem from the poor quality beef used to make both. Normally, when I have bulgogi, the beef is sliced paper thin, marinated and cooked quickly so that when it arrives the beef is juicy, flavourful and tender.  Urraca’s beef is hard, luke warm and tastes like large quantities of it is made ahead of time and just added to the dishes when necessary.  Additionally, both use the identical salsa and spicy mayo sauce (also used in the sliders) so after having one dish they all start tasting the same.     

Urraca, like most Korean restaurants, offer drinks that are soju based.  I often find them too diluted and sweet, so we opted to share a bottle of soju ($14) for the table and mixed a splash of Ginger Ale ($1.50 per can) in each to make it taste better.

The service we received from the waitress was helpful – she suggested menu items and aided in making dishes appropriate to serve four.  However, when my friend was feeling nauseous and dizzy, thus having to lie down for a moment, the manager was not sympathetic and made us feel like we had to leave.  In the end, this harsh attitude damaged any chance that either of us would ever return to the restaurant again.