Celebrating in the Courtyard

For their 30th wedding anniversary, my parents opted to dine out instead of eating in, even though my sister and I were willing to cook another meal for them.  My sister, being a more connected foodie than I am, knew another food blogger who lives in Ottawa and had plenty of local connections and knowledge of good places to go to eat.  One of the places he suggested was Courtyard Restaurant, which is perchance celebrating its 30th anniversary as well.  Tucked away with its actual entrance from Clarendon Lane, I've seen that place a few times in the summer months when the courtyard, surrounded by stone buildings, was packed with diners enjoying their meals al fresco.  Until recently I was concerned that, being located in the tourist-heavy By Ward Market area, it was one of many tourist trap eateries in the area, but a suggestion from a foodie allayed my concern, and my sister and I agreed to give that place a try.

A Hot Bowl of Ramen to Warm a Cold Belly

Having to run an errand at the Eaton Centre, I decided to have a quick lunch in the area.  However, I wanted to avoid the shopping centre's food court as well as the tourist trap restaurants in and around Yonge-Dundas Square.  After a quick search on the internet the previous night, I discovered a ramen shop called Kenzo Japanese Noodle House.  Like izakayas as I mentioned in my previous blog entry, ramen shops are still in foothold stage in Toronto.  With that in mind, and with my penchant for noodles getting the best of me, I decided to try this place.

Dining Out with Character (And the Crowd Goes Guu!)

Yet again I must apologize for neglecting my blog for over two months, but my schedule had not allowed me enough time to do any further culinary exploration, especially with my involvement in community theatre productions of the musical "White Christmas", which just finished over a week ago, "Much Ado About Nothing", which is coming up in January, and "Twelve Angry Jurors" in February.  With the Christmas break upon me now, I'm able to spend it in Toronto and Ottawa for a few weeks, which fortunately means trying new places to eat.

The open kitchen at Guu was constantly alive with activity and enthusiasm.