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• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Jump for lunch

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• MeNami Udon House & Sake Bar
• Aoyama

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Alleycatz Live Jazz Bar
• 120 Diner

Dining with a group with very different tastes? Assembly Chef's Hall combines a number of Toronto's restaurants into one area… sort of like Harrod’s food hall or Eataly. Laid out as two seating areas with the restaurants in the centre, make sure to specify the zone you’re sitting in when meeting friends, otherwise finding each other may be difficult. The dining rooms offer comfortable leather chairs and sturdy wooden tables; it feels like you’re eating in a restaurant, you’ll just need to get your own food. Each room also has a bar, where drinks are also grab and go.

• Sadly, many restaurants still used disposable containers. With a shared space like a food hall, I would have thought they’d invest in communal plates and cutlery – if Eaton Centre can do it, surely it is possible at Assembly! Mother Nature will thank us later.
• There’s no way of indicating a table is occupied, which means unless it’s the winter and you have coats, someone needs to stay behind to claim the space. Since looking around and waiting for your food to be prepared takes time, it generally means a full half hour passes before everyone is back at the table. A simple vacant/occupied sign at the table, like Marche, would help.
• Lastly, for an eatery connected to Google, I would have thought it’d be more technologically advanced. It was a bit annoying you pay at each station (including separately at the bar). They have launched an app, but judging by the reviews, it hasn’t been helping with the ordering and payment process. Tweeks are required.

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Cluck Clucks Chicken & Waffles
• The Stockyards

• November 11 & 12: the first 50 people at the downtown and Waterloo locations will receive a free original fried chicken
• November 11 to 17: 20% off all orders at all Hot Star four Ontario stores – perfect for those who want to try the cheese filled option.

After the success of their downtown location, Hot Star Large Fried Chicken has opened a North York outpost so patrons in North Toronto can also enjoy their larger-than-life chicken. Lucky for me, during their August soft launch period, the store was relatively quiet for weekday lunch – finally, I could try the item people wait painfully in line for.

Some describe the large chicken cutlet as Taiwanese schnitzel, but it’s an inaccurate description. Firstly, Hot Star’s is much thicker - about half an inch wide while traditional schnitzel should be as thin as cardboard. Moreover, the breast bone remains connected at the bottom of the piece (hard to decipher at first since it is battered), while schnitzel is boneless.

However, true to other descriptions, it is as large as your face and does arrive piping hot as they’re made-to-order…taking about seven minutes for me.

For my first taste, I tried the original large fried chicken with extra spicy seasoning ($9.99). In reality, the flavouring is just chili powder sprinkled on top and even with the extra spicy it’s a manageable amount of heat that slowly builds with subsequent bites. Aside from having it plain, customers can also flavour it with salt and pepper, seaweed, plum or curry. For an extra 50 cents, there’s a wet version drizzled with barbeque sauce - a good option for those who like katsu.

It’s really large: enough to share (just be careful splitting it in half given the bottom portion does have the aforementioned bone) or saved for another meal (mine re-heated nicely in the toaster oven becoming crispier and less oily). Despite the size, I had to try the fried king oyster mushrooms ($4.99), which were delicious - just try resist biting into them as soon as they arrive. They’re really hot and after patiently waiting several minutes for them to cool, you can pop the entire nugget into your mouth, so a flood of crunch and sweetness is released in all its glory.

Normally, a fried chicken and drink combo is an additional $3.50. During August 25-27, 2017, the North York location is giving customers who purchase a large chicken cutlet, a blue curacao or green apple yoghurt drink for free. Head over soon before the lines start forming… once someone sees you holding the massive chicken slice, they’ll want one too.

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Kanpai Snack Bar
• Cluck Clucks Chicken & Waffles

Maybe it’s the fried chicken or perhaps it’s the whimsical cartoons adorning the wall, but Cluck Clucks makes me happy. Located at the base of a building, the restaurant’s located on the intersecting small street (not directly on the Esplanade); the surrounding environment rather tranquil as you don’t get the rush of street traffic going by. I can finally relax for a second, while I tuck into the chicken.

The playful theme continues on their menu. Sure, you can call something a fried chicken sandwich, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, at the restaurant, it’s referred to as the Cluck Yeah! ($12.79 for the sandwich or $14.99 for a combo). Comprised of a juicy marinated chicken breast that’s lightly battered and fried, the crispy exterior is loaded with chipotle aioli, dill mayo and creamy coleslaw - there’s no shortage of sauce (I used my fair share of napkins). Yet, what makes it so good is the jalapeno and cheddar infused waffle that replaces a bun – it’s slightly sweet and when you get a bite with jalapeno everything just seems right in the world.

If you’re feeling particularly hungry, the Mother Clucker ($12.79 for the meal or $14.99 for a combo) will satisfy. Arriving with three pieces of deep fried bone-in chicken (two drumsticks and a thigh), it also sat on a jalapeno and cheddar waffle. In this dish, the chicken is king. Every piece oozed moisture encapsulated within a crispy coating. The batter itself was kept neutral; so, if you find fried chicken too salty, Cluck Clucks would be good for you. 

For those who want to enhance the flavours, Cluck Clucks offers five house-made sauces for you to dip into. Their signature ‘Cluck’ sauce fools the eyes as it looks creamy but after tasting you’d swear it’s a sweet and sour glaze with a light hit of spice. For something a little stronger, the chipotle aioli has that nice spicy kick that goes especially great with the fries, but I found a tad strong for dunking a drumstick into. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the dill mayo, much mellower compared to the other sauces, and had a refreshing quality against the hot chicken. 

Patience is key: Cluck Cluck’s chicken so good because everything is fresh and made-to-order – they’re not pre-cooking the chicken and then finishing it off with a quick fry after you order. Consequently, I had to wait 15 minutes sitting in a room filled with heavenly fried aromas … but it was worth it. While scouring the surroundings I realize they offer Ritual; next time I’ll just place my order at the office using the app before heading over. After all, don’t we all just need some time to relax and get greasy?

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

Gather a group of ten before heading to Szechuan Legend as their set meals, especially on weekdays when they are even cheaper, are an amazing deal. The $198 weeknight non-spicy menu had enough variety to satisfy.

Of course, you’ll get your seafood fix with a medium four pound lobster done “fishermen wharf” style (essentially deep fried and then stir fried with garlic and chilies). It’s a nice change from the traditional ginger and onion and adds a spicy salty kick to the lobster. Afterwards, the tomalley is used in the fried rice, giving it a sticky and rich (albeit slightly fishy) essence.

The crustacean parade continue with two Dungeness crabs simply done with ginger and onion. Both seafood dishes are decent – not overcooked and incorporates enough seasoning without overpowering the seafood.

Although it’s not really Szechuan, a large steamed golden tilapia, is also included to counteract all the fried dishes. Again, the cooking time is bang on so that the fish flakes away from the bone without the texture turning tough.

Other seafood dishes completing the meal includes a Peking style sea cucumber – a sea creature that despite its name is not actually vegetarian. Normally, I’m not a fan of its soft blubbery texture, but at Szechuan Legend it’s chopped into small pieces and quickly stir fried (rather than braised) keeping them crunchy. Lastly, a plate of vermicelli noodles containing a fair amount of seafood and vegetables; it could use more salt as it’s colourful but tepid.

A favourite for my family is Peking duck, so we were in luck when the set menu included one done three ways. Traditionally, the highlight is the slices of skin cocooned in flour wrappers. They’re fine at Szechuan legend – the skin crispy (to the point the duck may have been flash fried) and the wrappers impossibly thin. Yet, the duck needed more seasoning as without the hoisin sauce, it’d be pretty bland.

On the other hand, the lettuce wraps and duck bone soup arguably steals the show. Large chunks of duck meat is reserved for the stir-fried lettuce wrap mixture and the Styrofoam rice noodles are left out in favour of crunchy vegetables and water chestnuts. There’s little meat within the duck bone soup, but the restaurant adds soft cubes of tofu and quickly boiled napa cabbage to make it hearty. A hot boil of soup is a nice toasty way to end off the meal.

The sole vegetable dish included with the set meal is stir fried baby bok choy with shrimp… boring and rather unforgettable compared to everything else. For this reason, we added an order of the stir fried lotus root ($8.99), which has a great crunchy refreshing texture.

The execution on the crispy half chicken ($8.99) varies. Since we had a larger table, we ordered a full chicken and each half arrived separately. The first looked man-handled and was starting to border on dry, while the second better but the breast a tad undercooked. Even so, we all agreed the sweet and spicy sauce accompanying the chicken was fantastic and helped mask the flaws.

In need of more starches, the seafood fried rice cakes ($8.99) were a nice change from noodles. The chewiness of the rice cakes pairs nicely with the crunchy black fungus; pork slivers, shrimp and napa cabbage completes the dish.

On both visits, dessert consisted of red bean soup. The restaurant’s rendition incorporates what looks and smells like Baby’s Breath. Given a limited amount of sugar was used in the dessert, there was little flavour to hide the floral taste. Nonetheless, despite tasting strange, the red bean soup did have a digestive effect after a heavy meal.

Even without the lower pricing, I’d suggest visiting on a weeknight. The restaurant is generally understaffed so service tends to be slow even when the dining room isn’t full. All the same, Szechuan Legend is a respectable restaurant; for the most part, the food is tasty despite being affordable. You’ll leave full and satisfied … just with a floral aftertaste in your mouth.

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• WB Chinese Cooking
• Tsui Wah