3-course meal, all made tableside @ Hy’s Steakhouse

Now, back in the good old days, when you went to a restaurant, you got dinner and a show, with food made right at your table. Me, I’ve been to places where they’ve done dessert at your table (Baked Alaska), they’ve made guacamole or set some cheese on fire (saganaki) as the first course, but I’ve never been to a place where you could get an appetizer, main course and dessert all prepared right in front of you…not since the last time I went for teppanyaki, anyways.

So, we’re hanging out at Hy’s Steakhouse, this fancy cross-Canada chain that’s been around since 1955. They just moved into a new space at Bay and Richmond a couple years back, and the place is all old-school, two floors of wood panels and leather booths with a piano bar downstairs and an actual working fireplace. This is as classic as it gets. And that also applies to the menu, where they’re serving up steakhouse classics at your table, like Caesar Salad, Steak Diane and even Bananas Foster for dessert!

We’re starting with the salad. I don’t normally eat salad, but if I do, I make it a Caesar. And they’re making the dressing from scratch, and tossing it right in front of you…I gotta say, it’s a pretty big salad, too!

But you know the party’s just getting started, son! Here’s a little ditty called Steak Diane, cooked at your table in a pan with onions and mushrooms, flambéed with brandy and finished with a cream sauce!

OK, so that’s a pretty small portion in Flavourtown, but the steak was cooked perfectly, and hey, when was the last time you had someone cook a steak at your table, son??? (OK, so it was probably some Korean BBQ, but this was a LOT fancier than that.)

But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert bro! And they’re bringing back the skillet for some flaming bananas, coated in caramelized sugar, with a hit of rum, some OJ and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The bananas guy was also the Caesar salad guy, so I think I might owe him extra money…

Dude, that’s bananas…and bananas are good!!!!