The Copacabana Experience

On my sixth restaurant experience I ended up going to Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse located at 6671 Fallsview Boulevard in Niagara Falls. This is the original Copacabana location and my personal favourite. There are two other locations in Toronto, one at 150 Eglinton Avenue and the other at 230 Adelaide Street West.   

I absolutely love the Brazilian atmosphere and aroma of the barbecue throughout the restaurant. Copacabana is very unique and has a exciting concept that touches the Brazilian culture, which I find fascinating. They truly focus on superior food quality, exceptional service and an exciting dining experience for every guest. They offer over 20 different cuts of perfectly seasoned and grilled meats along with a full buffet. They really try to satisfy every appetite.   

The buffet includes a variety of fresh mouthwatering choices from a selection of salads, pastas, gourmet hot dishes, seafood, fresh oven baked breads, sautéed dishes and any other dishes the chefs have prepared.  

There is a vast variety of meats to choose from, which would include their skirt steak, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, parmesan filet mignon, garlic steak sirloin, top sirloin, beer & garlic chicken drumsticks, turkey breast wrapped in bacon, flank steak, lamb chops, beef ribs, rib-eye steak, chimichurri steak, BBQ pork ribs, parmesan chicken, moroccan chicken, pork sausage and my personal favourite the prime rib with cheddar cheese. All of these meats are on long metal skewers that come straight off the grill. The server then cuts them off for you, as you place them on your plate. The meats keep on coming until you have tapped out. They also come around to the tables with three of my favourites which would be the corn bread muffins, the deep fried bananas that are tossed with cinnamon and the roasted pineapple that has cinnamon and brown sugar on them.    

By time it came to a dessert option, there was absolutely no room left in my stomach. Unfortunately it was my birthday and the server was kind enough to bring over a birthday desert. Let’s just say I was not able to finish it. 

By the end of your dining experience you will most likely have meat sweats. Words of wisdom and trust me on this one, don’t fill up on the buffet! It is definitely worth going to and I strongly recommend at least trying it once!  You will definitely fall in love, but you won’t be able to go all the time. 

The Olive Garden Experience

On my fifth restaurant experience I ended up going to The Olive Garden. The Olive Garden is located at 2011 Walden Avenue in Buffalo. This hidden gem is one of my all time favourite restaurants. Unfortunately The Olive Garden was closed down throughout Canada but there still remains a few locations in Alberta, Winnipeg and British Columbia. There are hundreds of locations in the United States. I was in Buffalo for a little shopping trip so any chance that I get to The Olive Garden, I gladly take it. 

We went in around 4:00 - 4:30 p.m. and there was absolutely no wait, which is pretty well unheard of! Everytime, no matter what time it is, there is always either a short or very long wait-list at the door. So we were quite happy to be seated right away. Our server was very nice and brought over some wine to taste before she took our orders.  After our orders were taken, our server brought over their famous bread sticks and unlimited Garden-Fresh house salad. I don’t know what it is, but they are both absolutely to die for. I normally fill up on just the appetizers and take my entrée to go. 

For our appetizer we chose the Create a Sampler Italiano. You get to choose from two or three choices of either calamari, stuffed mushrooms, fried zucchini, chicken fingers, fried mozzarella or toasted beef or pork ravioli. We got two orders of the fried mozzarella and one order of fried zucchini. It is served with a warm marinara sauce. 

For my entrée I got the Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara. It is sautéed chicken and perfectly seasoned shrimp tossed with bucatini pasta in a parmesan cream sauce with savoury smoked bacon and roasted red peppers topped with freshly grated parmesan cream. It was extremely tasty, but I was too full to even finish half of it. 

I always feel at home at The Olive Garden. It’s like being at my extended Italian families house for dinner. The prices are great and no matter what you order it is always delicious. If you have never been, I strongly recommend the drive to one of their many locations. 

The Axia Experience

On my fourth restaurant experience I ended up going to Axia Restaurant. Axia is located at 5045 Plantation Place in Mississauga near Erin Mills. They offer four different menu selections that are unique and authentic. The items range of from Chinese to Korean to Japanese to South East Asian. They bring together a world of Asian cultures into one dining experience. 

For my appetizer I started off with a Japanese starter, the Edamame. They are fresh green soybeans that are lightly salted with sea-salt in their shells. For my main course I also got a Japanese main dish. I decided to get the Sushi and Tempura Bento Box. I did make some modifications to the dish to please my tastes, which were an additional cost which I was okay with. 

My Bento Box included four pieces of Spicy Salmon Sushi which is salmon mixed with a special spicy-mayo sauce and tempura crunch. It also came with five pieces of Shrimp Tempura Sushi which is shrimp tempura with avocado, cucumber, kani and tobiko with a spicy-mayo sauce. It also includes a few pieces of hand battered Shrimp and Sweet Potato Tempura served with a sweet tempura dipping sauce. It also included two Beef Gyoza dumplings, along with a garden salad and a cup of miso soup. 

For dessert I had the delicious deep fried bananas with a mango ice cream. It was drizzled with warm chocolate, sprinkled with icing sugar and topped with whipped cream. I would defiantly recommend going to Axia as it is well priced and the food is absolutely outstanding!