Toronto Karaoke Reviews: Fanny's Sports Lounge

** BEST KARAOKE BAR SONG SELECTION 2005 **

Fanny's Bar featuring Pip with C.A.T Entertainment
http://www.pips-entertainment.com

This venue was recommended by one of of the members of the Toronto/East York Karaoke Meetup group and I thank this individual for his recommendation. I had not been out to the east end of the GTA yet so it was overdue. (I live downtown, so please don't hate me for this). Was it worth the trip and sore legs at the end of the ride? Well, if nothing else it would be a good route to add to a bike "Tour de Toronto".

The good: C.A.T entertainment has one BIG thing going for it with this review: The selection! HUGE selection. I talking around 8000 songs and that's after filtering duplicates. Mostly old ones but a good selection of new artists as well and the best 90's collection I've ever seen. This is a new record for in karaoke bars I've reviewed and even challenges karaoke boxes. The variety of food was also excellent. There is a family restaurant next door which is under the same management so there is no lack for real dinner food here. Drinks are a given at any bar. The equipment was also in excellent shape but no wireless mikes. The sound was excellent. The transposition was real (which I checked after being at Hoops). Overall good equipment, GREAT selection in song and food.

The mixed: While the equipment and selection is good the location is a bit of a pain to get to without a car. There is one TTC bus that goes there but is is not the most frequent and no subways near by. If you live in the area then you'll probably have no complaints but I have to rate ability of everyone in the GTA to get there. The Facilities are a tad small. Maybe around 500 people in here. The Stage is a bit of a chore to see and get to, but this is common to most karaoke bars. The Host was pleasant and entertaining but I had to take points off because I've seen some with more energy and a few songs ran as long as 10 minutes. One good thing I must say about Jason Rolland is he knows when to cut songs short or fade out and this person had let the songs run "as is". Usually this is okay, but if a song runs over 4 minutes in a karaoke bar where large crowds are waiting. Any pros reading this review please note: Songs generally 4 minutes max. 5 is pushing it. Anything longer then that should be faded out. I had to take off points on the wait times because waiting for 10 minutes for someone to sing a song I don't feel is reasonable. That was the only real fault I'd give the MC. The food prices were average, sometimes a tad on the pricey side in comparison to other karaoke bar's I've seen. The quality of the food was quite good overall. I didn't sample everything as it had a full blown resturant which closed earlier than the bar for understandable reasons.

The Bad: There was nothing I could say was really bad here. (Except for people riding their bikes from downtown Toronto :-) )

Summary:
Fanny's Bar is an overall a fun place to go for Karaoke and there were plenty of Karaoke fans as a result. The best song seen to date which deserves a SPECIAL commendation. You'll have all the songs you need here. MC's is overall quite good (still looking for someone who beats Peter Styles however) and good food selection. Prices of food are a little high, but service was attentive. The facilities are average for a karaoke bar which is to say slight awkward but usable. For those looking for hugh selections in the East end of the GTA, this is one place I DEFINITELY recommend.

Summary Scores:
Facilities: 7 (Average for Karaoke Bars)
Equipment: 8 (Excellent sound good mikes)
Location: 7 (Easy if you have a car, great parking, but for those on TTC, an effort to reach)
Song Selection: 9.5 (NEW RECORD!!! WAY TO GO!!)
Wait Time: 6.5 (scaled for public venue, had to dock points some songs went as long as 10 minutes without fadeout)
Host: 7.5 (I was forced to deduct marks for songs that ran too long, excellent host otherwise, very attentive with the audience)
Food Prices: 7.5
Food Selection: 8.5
Food Quality: 8.0

Final Grade: B-

Special: I am creating special award categories. To C.A. T Entertainment I am awarding the BEST KARAOKE SONG SELECTION AWARD for 2005. Congratulations!

Venue Information:
Fanny's at Bo-Peeps Restaurant
Friday's 10 PM - Closing
2277 Kingston Road
Toronto, Ontario M3H 6A7
416-261-3621