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| - Desperate for a quick and tasty meal after a long day and turned to Yelp for help finding an option in Markham while in town for a quick overnight. While there were numerous options, I recognized the Jack Astor name and remembered the friendly bar tendered from a past trip to Vancouver. So despite multiple options represented in Yelp, all with sold reviews, I went with the known entity.
The facility itself was especially inviting, especially with the beautiful weather and outside seating area. I did pass on outside seating as offered by the hostess as I wanted to sit at the bar. It's a table for one thing for me.
The bartender was on his game and after sitting down for no more than 2 minutes, the bar keep was in front of me to take my drink order. The bartender asked if I wanted the small pint or the large pint. Really? Isn't a pint a pint? I requested small pint and surprisingly, the beer was served in glass larger than the rest of the pints patrons were drinking.
When I had questions about menu selection, the bar keep was happy to provide advice. I selected the seared Tuna bowl which features rice, a few veggies and I was told Quinoa. I was also told the bowl was a big serving. I was starving. While it flavor was very good, I was disappointed with the portion size as a dinner portion and the rice didn't seem fresh.
I would have rated the experience four if the portion sizes were adequately described. Plus, never during the course of the meal did the bartender ask how things were. He did when he presented the bill at the end.
Jack Astor's is still ok in my book for a fast casual chain meal, but I couldn't recommend Astor's as a dining experience or capable of providing "memorable food". In hindsight, I should have gone with one of the many independently owned Asian restaurants in the area. The day after my dinner, my customer told me Markham has a large Asian population, which for me is a bonus. Next time I'll go with the local cuisine.
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