The Rosedale Diner / I Need to Research Better

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I woke up around 5 PM after a much needed nap. I haven't been sleeping right all week, the nap was needed but I felt groggy as hell waking up.

I don't know how the idea even came up but originally I wanted to go to a diner, you know a diner that looked like something out of Grease. Those places always had great food at reasonable prices and I always enjoyed the blast of the past theme.

This is the story of how I never got not even remotely close to that.

I guess I'll retrace back to Bloor-Yonge station..

Actually no. Lets go back even before Bloor-Yonge. So I won't lie to you this has been the least I researched a restaurant. On my phone I typed in "Best Toronto Diners", oddly enough I ignored BlogTo and went straight for Yelp, which introduced me to a place called the Coach House just off of Wellesley station. So I thought "sick, lets go."

NOW I got off originally at Bloor-Yonge because I figured I would walk, I enjoy walking quite a bit and the weather downtown was perfect. As I walk down Yonge street and I pass by a couple of restaurants with nice outdoor patios and people acting like badasses smoking shisha. I get more and more excited since I figured this Coach House place would be a 1960s 70s 80s whatever theme diner.

I was wrong.

It looked like a pub and mind you I didn't walk inside but still the outside of it didn't appeal to me at all. So, annoyed, I sat on the steps where the Scotiabank was on Wellesley and pulled out my phone, opened up Google Maps and typed in "Diner near Wellesley Station" After lots of debate and scrolling I found out about the Bloor Street Diner and walked towards Bay and Bloor where it's located. When I turned onto Bay there it was in all it's glory. I walked about halfway and then I froze.

"F*ck"

I completely had forgot to check the price research, since this is Broke and Picky I'd be screwed if it didn't fall in the price range. Honestly I did a pretty crappy search of the price range as well. I went on Google and saw the $$ so I said screw it and sat down again trying to search for another diner.

I ended up finding The Rosedale Diner which was near Summerhill station.

Now lets recap I walked from Bloor Yonge to Yonge Wellesley to Bay Bloor and back to Bloor Yonge to take the subway to Summerhill station. I was hungry and annoyed, but this was all my fault. I should of researched this better.

This was my first time getting off at Summerhill station and I was pretty baffled at how beautiful the area is. A lot of nice niche shops mixed with cool restaurants, the neighbourhood is just outside the city but has a nice quietness that's surprising by Toronto's standards.

I finally get to The Rosedale Diner and it has a nice charm to it. It's not big when it comes to width, but it's somewhat long interior + patio makes it spacious enough. I debate whether or not I want to walk in but the waitress locked eyes with the awkward guy sitting in front of the door (me) and I walk in.

She asks me where I want to sit inside or outside and the inside wasn't busy at all and lucky me I got a beautiful window seat. The view was lovely looking out to the midsized condos, LCBO and these lovely flowers in front. I sit down and she gives me the menu and it's definitely not Broke and Picky prices but forget it I'm already here, I'm enjoying the experience of even being here to begin with. I'll still review. Prices range from $10-17 for starters, $16+ for entrées, yup I realize the blog name is Broke and Picky. Yes, I see the irony of skipping Bloor Street Diner... Plus hey it's nice to treat yourself to a nice meal...right?

Anyway the kind waitress drops off a bottle of rye used as a water pitcher, I can't even lie I was completely fascinated by that bottle, it looked really cool as a water pitcher and I'm quite shocked more restaurants don't do this.

I end up ordering the fish & chips because fish & chips are one of my favourite meals to get. This is the part that really impressed me / freaked me out. The minute I made the order I sat back and looked out the window. I thought to myself that I should be taking pictures or something, you know be a proper blogger and before that train of thought continued going the food was brought to me. Just like that. Must of been 5-7 minutes tops.

Sorry about the blur, my phone camera is garbage.

The best part the fish was hearing it sizzle. It's been a long time since I had food made THAT fresh for me. I mean shit, I put my ear closer to hear to listen to it sizzle for a bit.

What did the fish and chips come with?
A HUGE fresh, SIZZLING (can you tell I loved that?) piece of haddock.
Crispy skinny fries
Coleslaw
Lemon wedges

The haddock was crispy, so crispy that you heard it crack as soon as you drove the knife through it. I'd be careful, I dug in too quick and forgot that same sizzling noise meant it was hot as hell. I loved how crunchy it was. You know how at other fish and chip places the fish might be a little on the thin side, this was not the case for Rosedale's haddock. It was thick, juicy and full of flavour to the point where I didn't bother squeezing the lemon wedges on it.

The fries were crispy as well. They weren't dry and unlike the other places I had reviewed the fries were actually hot. Maybe I'm over thinking this but like other food duos (I don't know; Hot dogs/KD, Coffee/Donuts, Beer/Wings etc. etc.), I think if the one half fails then the other half doesn't really look as impressive. Does that make sense? Rosedale's fries do the fish justice and they're both awesome together.

The coleslaw, I'm so happy they didn't overdo it with the dressing. Holy crap. Some restaurants drain the coleslaw in dressing, I despite it. Personally, I loved the coleslaw, I loved you can actually taste the cabbage and actually wished I had more. Then I think about the amount of fries that they give and I thought never mind.



Honestly,

This place is fantastic, it was a nice getaway in a part of Toronto I never really got to experience. They're clearly experts in their field, the food is fantastic, the service was fast and great. The waitress BTW I didn't get her name, she was a tall brunette was excellent as well! I have a hard time finding anything wrong about the Rosedale Diner other than the fact they didn't offer enough coleslaw. And that reason right there is bullshit.

I think you should go to The Rosedale Diner if you want to treat yourself to fantastic food or if you need a getaway from a noisy downtown core and relax with a drink in one of the most chill atmospheres I've experienced. A++ on the music selection, the vibes were unreal.

I ended up here on a whim and despite the fact we're a blog about cheap eats, not only do I see myself going back sometime in the future, I strongly recommend The Rosedale Diner to everyone that reads this.

9.5/10

If you're interested in The Rosedale Diner follow them on Instagram!

To my two hardcore fans, I'm sorry that this weekend wasn't cheap.

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Peace easy

Ian