Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Catch Up #2: Burgers

Not sure if I should be naming this post burgers, or sandwiches, or meat between bread.  One place is actually a burger place.  The other place is an arepa place.  Same idea right?  Stuff between bread of some sort.

Liberty Burger & Wings
We decided to check this place out during the summer when Yelp had a promotion going on, I think it was $5 for a burger if you had the Yelp app on your phone, and you had to check in when you were at the burger joint.  With the friends that I went with, of course just a burger wouldn't be enough.  Aside from the burger, we ordered a side of fries and a pound of wings.  The burger itself was pretty good, very juicy and flavourful.  I wouldn't mind going back one of these days when I can eat 'real food' again.  The fries were, just regular fries, nothing special.  The wings were pretty good. Size of the wings were quite large.  Crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside.
Fries

Burger

Wings












144 Main St. N.,
Markham, ON
L3P 5T3
http://libertyburgers.ca

Arepa Cafe
Awesome place for a quick dinner thats not super heavy.  We went before going to the Michael Buble concert.  Favourite singer and after going to the concert, love that guy even more!  Also, that afternoon there was also a World Cup game going on.  Arepa cafe had a projector setup and was showing the game on one of their walls.  Made dinner more entertaining.  We ordered reina pepiada, la llanera, and tequenos.  The reina pepiada was an arepa filled with roast chicken, avocado, red onion and coriander which was served cold like a chicken salad.  Good choice for hot scorching hot days. Adding their hot sauces made it even better.
Reina Pepiada














The hubby's la llanera was a piece of flank steak topped with queso fresco, avocado and tomato.  Flavours were really good, just not so good on a hot day.  
la llanera














We didn't realize how large the arepas were, so we also got the taquenos.  They're like mozzarella sticks but much more awesome.  I think I ate one...the hubby finished off the rest.

Taquenos














Can't wait till I can eat tomatoes and corn again.....i'm drooling thinking of the food here.

490 Queen St. W.,
Toronto, ON,
M5V 2B3
http://www.arepacafe.ca/#!

Friday, December 19, 2014

Catch up #1: Bakeries, Coffee & Snacks

I feel like my regular life has been put on hold for the last few months because of school.  I expected the course to be hard, but I didn't expect that it would suck up every free moment I had because the material was really THAT difficult.  Now I need to play catch up with blogging.  I just looked and I have posts that I should have done back in June July....so I figure the best way to do this would just be to try and categorize many of the food visits into grouped posts.  I'll try my best to make it short and sweet.  Shouldn't be hard I think because to be honest I no longer remember the fine details.  This past term honestly has fried my brain.

Allans Pastry:
I used to love eating these Jamaican patties.  Not sure if it was for the flavour, or if it was just because they were affordable as a student.  Allan's makes the best pastry shell for the Jamaican patties.  But this last time I had it, the filling.....kinda lacking.
Jamaican Patty













3064 Don Mills Rd.
North York, ON
M2J 2T9
416-494-5438

Blackbird Baking Co.
On the days that I needed to go to class in the middle of the day, I would park at Kensington Market to save money.  UofT would have cost me $20, but Kensington Market was only $5.50.  10 minutes of walking each way is worth saving the $14.50.  Which in a way allowed me to buy some snack foods from Blackbird, for the super long drive home in rush hour traffic.  They have this chocolate cake/muffin so amazingly good. I don't even know how to describe it.  The closest thing that I think it resembles is a cross between a meringue and a mousse.  I don't think that even exists, but the texture of it just melts in your mouth.  I have some amazing willpower not to grab a snack from here every week!
Chocolate Cake













172 Baldwin St.,
Toronto, ON
M5T 1L8
416-546-2280
http://blackbirdbakingco.com

Baker & Scone
I never would have thought that a bakery could exist by pretty much only selling scones.  But I guess when they do such a good job with the scones, it will work!  Hubby had their brunch 'special' which was a chive and cheese scone with some smoked salmon and micro greens sandwiched in.  I had a current scone.  Sooo good that we bought 6 more scones as we left so we could try other flavours.  All of them were so delicious, crispy crunchy outside, with buttery inside.
Current Scone

Smoke Salmon Scone



















693 St. Clair Ave W.
Toronto, ON
M6C 1B2
416-657-2663
http://bakerandscone.com

Pain Perdu Bistro
I actually went to Pain Perdu right after eating at Baker & Scone.  And no, I didn't eat the croissant right after.  I saved it for later.  The scone was pretty darn filling.  The choice to visit Pain Perdu was because of its close proximity to Baker & Scone.  Its pretty much across the street from each other.   From reviews that I read online, I pretty much figured that the croissants were good, but the service is horrible.  And right they were!  The lady at the cash asked me what I wanted in a snotty tone, then immediately left before I could even answer.  To do what I don't know.  She didn't return until a good 5 minutes later.  Not sure how they can survive with such horrible service.  So I expected their croissants to be amazing for customers to want to come back.  When I tried the croissant later on that day, it was just meh.  Nothing that blew me away, not even sure how it made top 10.  So unless you are int he neighbourhood, don't bother.
Pain au Chocolat & Croissant










736 St. Clair Ave W.,
Toronto, ON
M6B 1C7
416-656-7246

JTown Summer Festival
It was one of those weekends where I said that we need to go do something fun.  Majority of the summer was spent at my parents place because I needed help taking care of the dog.  So there was no time to relax. So we decided to check out the JTown Summer Festival.  I knew it would be small, but at least it was something to do.  We got there early, and they were still setting up.  But I saw a lineup. It was a line up for takoyaki balls.  Since visiting Japan a few years back, I still haven't found anything like the takoyaki balls I ate in Japan here! The ones here are like the equivalent of chicken balls served at the Mandarin, but with a piece of octopus instead of chicken.  So happy to have lined up.  Tasted just the way they did in Japan!  I can't remember which restaurant was selling them though.
Takoyaki Balls










3160 Steeles Ave E.
Markham, ON
L3R 4G9

Kekou Gelato House
Gelato, Italian.  But that’s not the type of gelato Kekou makes.  Kekou’s gelato has an Asian twist.  The flavours that they offered off the top of my head are Vietnamese coffee, durian, taro, green tea, something with sago and a few other flavours that I can’t seem to remember.
 I chose Vietnamese coffee and durian.  The Vietnamese coffee was very good, tastes just like a Vietnamese coffee except in a creamy frozen form.  The durian, I cannot say enough good things about it.  Here is where I would declare my love for durian.  Stinky goodness with a creamy custardy pulp.  That’s exactly how the durian gelato was.  It even had chunks of durian in it!

Kekou Gelato













13 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON
M5T 1L1
416-792-8858
http://kekou.ca

Sense Appeal Coffee Roasters
I have a friend that tells me his co-workers love the coffee from here, but since he's not a coffee drinker himself, he can't vouch for it.  Paypal had a promo running where you get $5 off your purchase if you use the Paypal app to pay.  Perfect chance to give this coffee a try.  I ordered a flat white and it was delicious! I want to go have another one....but not convenient for me to get to at all.
Flat White










96 Spadina Ave., 
Toronto, ON
M5V 2J6
416-907-8524
http://senseappeal.ca

The Bakery
I still believe the best butter tart is not available in Toronto, it's in Gravenhurst.  When I get the chance to pass by, I make sure to stop off and grab a few butter tarts to eat.  The filling is sweet, but not overly sweet.  I love the fact that it's runny and not gelatinous like most other butter tarts.  Just thinking about it makes me want one now.....Unfortunately I did't take pictures of the butter tarts.  But I did take one of the chicken pot pie and the sausage roll.  This stuff I didn't like as much because I found it to be too salty.  
Chicken Pot Pie

Sausage Roll













141 Brock St.,
Gravenhurst, ON
P1P 1X2
705-687-2579
http://www.thebakeryingravenhurst.com/our-story.html


Friday, October 17, 2014

Randoms and Almond Milk

Just a few random thoughts have been floating in my mind lately and thought I would share.

1.  I have started listening to podcasts on the drive home from work.  This is because my 1-1.5 hour commute time would result in probably listening to the same song (whatever is popular at the moment), at least 3 times.  My friend recommended a few popular ones that she likes to listen to, but I have found 2 that I have become obsessed with.  I literally can't wait to the drive home the next day so I can listen to more!  First is The Alton Browncast.  I have been a huge fan of his Good Eats days, have a few of his cookbooks and an avid Cutthroat Kitchen watcher.  I love his humour and nerdiness in explaining the science behind food.  Each episode Alton interviews a 'celebrity' chef, has a food of the day, and a recipe relating to the food of the day.  The second is My Life As a Foodie.  Each episode focuses on a different food, and there's usually a recipe that is linked to it.  I'm still in the very early episodes (circa 2007).

2. A pickle is a mature cucumber.  This one cracked me up.  I couldn't stop laughing at work.  Yes I was listening to the Alton Browncast (And the Winner Is...).  Some of my coworkers found it funny.....others looked at me like what are you talking about.

3. Some people (they label themselves "Foodies") wonder WHY I blog about the restaurants that I blog about.  The restaurants I blog about usually are not necessarily high end fancy restaurants and are not listed on the top of any restaurant list.  I don't think that theres anything wrong with going to and blogging about restaurants that are hole in the walls, or in general affordable good food.  In fact, most of the restaurants that serve really delicious food ARE hole in the walls.  It is also not that I cannot afford to eat at the pricier restaurants.  I have eaten at 3 and 1 Michelin starred restaurants.  And to be honest, I'm not sure I would go back to those restaurants.  For me, expensive restaurants do not necessarily give me feeling of satisfaction or comfort that I am looking for in a meal.  In one of the podcast I listened to, the best feeling that a chef/cook can give someone is the feeling of bringing back that person to the past where they first ate that item, in general feeling of comfort.  That is something that I totally agree with.
I am a simple person who appreciates the simplest of foods.  My favourite "meal" (breakfast is my favourite meal), is a slice of freshly baked crusty bread (non toasted since it's fresh) with butter, with a farm fresh soft boiled egg and a good cup of coffee.  In my opinion, it's easier to make a complicated meal (flavour wise, you can always do some hiding), than to keep things simple and bring out the clean and natural flavours of food.
The restaurants, bakeries etc that I blog about are mostly the every day places that people can choose to go to on a whim.  You don't need a special occasion or a special reason to visit.  No food snobs required.

4. Almond Milk
I usually buy my almond milk from Costco.  And no, I am not drinking it because I am lactose intolerant.  I am simply just looking at milk alternatives.  My favourite brand is Aureeva.  They come in 4L bags.  I try not to buy any of the cartoned soy/almond/coconut milks because of the sodium and preservatives, but I do have a carton in the basement as back up.  And as of late, I cannot find it at Costco.  I have seen it at T&T, but never actually bought from there.
The reason why I like Aureeva compared to So Good, or Silk is because of the texture.  Aureeva has a thinner texture (similar to Asian soy milk), and is unsweetened.  It just seems more natural.  So Good or Silk has this weird thick texture and is super white in colour, which leads me to believe that there must be some additional ingredients that have been added to make it that texture and colour.  To prove my point (mostly to myself), I decide to make my own almond milk.  I found a recipe online and it's super simple to make.

Take 1 cup almonds and soak them in water overnight.  The next day, rinse the soaked almonds and put them in a blender.  Add in 2 cups of fresh water, and blend for 2 minutes.  Strain the mixture through a cheese cloth (or in my case I used a handkerchief).  Simple as that.  The ground almond mixture I dried out in the oven, and mixed half of it into my granola I was making and the other half went into bran flax muffins.  Just a note tho, in the fridge, the almond milk may separate, just give it a good shake and it's good to go.
Almond Milk














Now back to studying.....

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Thobors Boulangerie Patisserie Cafe

This is a little piece of Paris heaven for me.  Which makes me happy and sad at the same time.  I love Paris so much, and the last time I was there was when I went backpacking in 2005.  Even though I saw Paris through the eyes of a poor student, I still fell in love with it.  To this day I long to go back.  Each and every time I hear that a friend is going to Paris, it makes me cry a little inside.  Thats how much I want to go back.  I think for now, Thobors is the closest I can get to Paris.

Thobors is a cute little French bakery/patisserie.  It's not only that they make French pastries, but everyone that works there speaks fluent French (speaks English with a thick French accent), and they typically converse in French.  The regulars that walk in the door all speak French too!

When I walked in the door, even though the space was quite small, I was overwhelmed with the selection of cakes, pastries, and breads.  We went for breakfast, so I ordered an omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms & cheese, and the hubby ordered a ham and cheese thing in a puff pastry.  After I paid for my order, I saw this older couple already sitting down and eating just a baguette with butter and jam.  I HAVE FOUND MY PLACE!  I've been looking all over for a place that would serve just that.  I have been on the hunt since Paris.  Something so simple, but yet so hard to find!  Back to my breakfast.  My omelette was made very well.  Eggs were cooked just right.  I find typically when I order omelettes, they always come overcooked.
Omelette











The puff pastry was TO DIE FOR.  Super buttery, flakey mixed with cheesy goodness.  It was so good that we decided to get a loaf of bread, and a bunch of croissants to try at home!
Puff Pastry

Sourdough and Croissants/Pain au Chocolat




















While doing some research on Thobors, they say they use Belgian butter, which is supposed to have a different percentage of fat vs water.  Whatever it is, when the croissants are reheated in my little toaster oven, it has a delicious buttery flakey texture.  I would say it's my fave so far!  I'm glad Thobors is so far away from home, otherwise I would get so fat....

Thobors Boulangerie Patisserie Cafe
627 Mt. Pleasant Rd.
Toronto, ON
M4S 2M9

Phone: 416-544-1733

Hours: Wednesday to Saturday 7:30am - 6:30pm
            Sunday 7:30am - 5:30pm

http://www.thobors.ca/index.htm

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Yiu's Chinese Cuisine

I had a non-Asian friend comment on one of my previous posts regarding the HK style cafe restaurants, and telling me that they're not worth going to, because you can make the same dishes at home.  TECHNICALLY, you can make most of the dishes you eat out, just takes time.  I agree that HK style cafes don't necessarily offer the best quality food, or the most innovative dishes, but they are cheap, and food is decent.  It's also for convenience.  I always thought that you couldn't screw up this kind of simple food.  That is until I went to Yiu's Chinese Cuisine.

Yiu's has been on my radar since I've been going to B&B Cafe for breakfasts.  But I never got a chance to go because Yiu's claims to open at 10am, but they never are.  This time, we decided to go out for a mid afternoon snack, and Yiu's was open so we decided to pop in.  Located almost right next to B&B Cafe, Yiu's is definitely a lot busier, which I thought would be a good sign.  However, I was wrong.  I ordered sesame french toast, and the hubby ordered satay beef noodle which came with a ham sandwich.  My french toast was super greasy, and heavy.  The difference between 'normal' french toast and Chinese french toast is pan fry vs deep fry.  The Chinese deep fry theirs, which I expected, but I didn't expect it to be so oily.  I felt pretty gross after.  The sesame part is a filling in between the slices of bread, so it's not visible in the picture.
Sesame French Toast














The satay beef noodle is a very simple dish, satay sauce, beef slices and put over soup noodles.  Can't be hard to make right?  Yet they still screwed it up.  There was no satay flavour at all.  The ham sandwich, was just half a slice of ham, and 1 slice of bread.
Satay Beef Noodle & Ham Sandwich














These meals usually come with a drink.  I got a red bean grass jelly drink and the hubby got a milk tea.  Our drinks didn't come while we were eating, which we thought could be because they normally bring it over near the end of the meal.  We finished our food, and still nothing.  We asked a total of 3 times.  The third time I asked if i could just get a take out cup, so I didn't have to sit there anymore.  Even though they kept forgetting my drink, they had the audacity to tell me I would have to pay extra for a take out cup.

I would say, forget Yiu's, price point is good, but not only is their food bad, their service is even worse.  The waitresses are not very attentive at all.  And I know that at a Chinese restaurant, you shouldn't expect much in terms of service.  Walk a few doors over and visit B&B Cafe instead, where I've always been able to get the server's attention, and they always great us with a friendly smile.

Yiu's Chinese Cuisine
50 Bur Oak Ave,
Markham, ON

905-887-1988

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Big Boys Burgers

I think I need to cringe when I hear the words "best" of anything.  I'm not sure if I end up with higher expectations for a meal at a restaurant when I hear the words "best" to describe it, or I just have weirdly different tastebuds than other people.  On my Facebook feed, someone said Big Boys Burgers makes the best burger.  I was hoping that they were right because it would be nice to have an alternative to Fresh burger, even though I still love the burgers there.  Just a change of scenery is nice every once in a while.

The website says home made burger, I don't remember it tasting home made.  I honestly can't remember about the burger.  Nothing about the burger stood out.  It was just another burger.  I have to say that the fries were fresh cut and pretty good.  But that was the only thing good about the place.  Not worth the drive up north for a burger.  You might as well stop off at any of the fast food chains.

Giant Fry

Burger













Big Boys Burgers
10626 Bayview Ave,
Richmond Hill, ON

905-737-2441

Hours: Monday - Saturday 11a - 9p
            Sunday 12p - 8p

http://bigboysburgers.com/HOME.html

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Thompson Diner

After each of my annual half marathon races (not really sure why I call it a race, since there no way that I can compete with anyone else that runs because i'm too slow), I give myself a cheat meal.  This year it was at the Thompson Diner.  Any place that has the word diner in the restaurant name, would typically indicate some not so healthy choices, which is perfect for a post run meal.  And crazy ordering we did do.  The four of us ordered a full table of food!  We had an omelette with turkey sausage and mushrooms, the grilled cheeseburger, breakfast poutine, fat american and all day breakfast.

What I like most here is the sausage, so good.  I'm not a huge fan of pork, but I will eat it sometimes.  The sausage they serve here is turkey sausage.  So for once, I ordered sausage with my all day breakfast. The all day breakfast consisted of  3 eggs any way you like (looked like large eggs), choice of meats, potatoes and bread.  Nothing super special, but good diner food.
All Day Breakfast











The omelette was apparently cooked well, not overcooked.  I didn't get a chance to taste it, so I'll have to take my friend's word for it.
Omelette











We were surprised at the size of the grilled cheese burger.  It's essentially a very large burger patty sandwiched between 2 grilled cheese sandwiches.  It was huge!  Everyone that sat around us kind of stared when the burger arrived.  I had a small bite of the burger patty to try, it was juicy and flavourful.  I would never order this on my own just because of the sheer size of the burger because I could never finish it.
Grilled Cheese Burger











The hubby ordered the Fat American, 3 very large pancakes.  One of the pancakes was a plain buttermilk pancake, one was filled with turkey sausage, and the last was filled with bacon.  The pancake itself was light and fluffy.  But I wasn't a fan of this dish because I don't like the salty sweet combination.  The hubby enjoyed it though because it was an all in one dish.
Fat American











We also ordered a breakfast poutine to share.  Its basically a regular poutine with some breakfast toppings, turkey sausage, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.  Overall it was good, but I think that they messed up with the egg poaching.  The yolk was cooked all the way through.  I was expecting a runny yolk, which would have been a nice texture with the fries.
Breakfast Poutine











The Thompson Diner's food is definitely heavy, which would make for a great late night drunken meal, or hangover breakfast since they're open 24 hours.

Thompson Diner
550 Wellington St. W
Toronto, ON
M5V 2V5

416-601-3533

Hours:  24 Hours

http://www.thompsondiner.com

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Gourmet Gringos

There's something I find fun about food trucks.  I'm not sure what it is.  But whenever I get a chance to eat from a food truck, I make sure to go and give it a try.  When I was in Vancouver last year, I made sure to check out the food truck festival there.  I was in heaven!  And because it's a summer long event (it's on every weekend), there wasn't much of a lineup at each of the trucks.  In Toronto, it's quite unfortunate, but food trucks aren't nearly as accessible as in other cities mostly due to laws and bylaws in Toronto.  I'm happy to say though, that Toronto is slowly getting there.  There have been quite a few pilot projects, and now we have Food Truck Alley 1 and 2 for select days during the week with a few rotating food trucks that will park there during the lunch hours.

Because where I work, I don't have much of an opportunity to try out food trucks.  So when I heard that Gourmet Gringos opened a location in Aurora, I decided to pop in.  The other reason was my dog's groomer is close by, so I had an hour to kill.

I asked the server what she would suggest.  She said her favourite were the fish tacos.  I don't eat fish normally, so I chose the next most similar, shrimp tacos.  The hubby ordered the chimichanga.  Each of the mains come with 2 sides.  From what I remember, there were refried beans, salad, sopa de frijol, rice and beans, and some other stuff to choose from.  The food didn't take too long to arrive, which I expected since there weren't many in restaurant diners.  But there were many people who came in for take out.

Shrimp tacos, 3 in an order.  Looked good, tasted blah.  To be honest, I was expecting the shrimp to be grilled, not deep fried like popcorn shrimp.  Not only that, the shrimp were just very slightly warm, also overcooked.   The upside, they used corn tortillas.
Shrimp Tacos














The chimichanga was massive (I think it was almost a foot long) and super greasy looking.  I can't remember if an authentic chimichanga is deep fried and then broiled with cheese, if its just broiled with cheese.  In any case, this was a deep-fried cheesy mess.  Inside there was beef, lots of beans and rice, and more cheese.  Flavour was not bad, nothing to write home about.  I'm not sure how the hubby finished this dish and not feel sick.....
Chimichanga














From what we ordered, the best thing was the pineapple chilli sauce.  Super flavourful.  I wouldn't make a trip up to Aurora just to try Gourmet Gringos. But if you happen to pass by the food truck, then by all means give them a try.  Remember to ask for the chilli sauce!

Gourmet Gringos
15380 Bayview Ave.
Aurora, ON
L4G 0K7

905-713-9993

Hours:  Sunday - Thursday 11:00a - 9:00p
             Friday - Saturday 11:00a - 11:00p

http://gourmetgringos.com

Saturday, July 26, 2014

HoHoMi Rice and Noodle House - CLOSED

Just from the name of this restaurant, you wouldn't be able to figure out what kind of cuisine it could possibly be.  HoHoMi does Vietnamese food.  Usually when I saw I want to eat Vietnamese food, I'm craving pho.  As I usually do with any new restaurant, I do some research in terms of what they're good at, and what they're not so good at.  Turns out they don't do pho very well.  What other people recommended was their lemongrass chicken, so we made sure to order that.  The portion of chicken that was brought to the table surprised me.  It was massive!  From what I remember, the chicken was deboned mostly, and had amazing lemongrass flavour.  I haven't eaten dinner yet and i'm getting hungrier and hungrier thinking about this chicken.
Lemon Grass Chicken











The other dish we ordered was the tomato vermicelli soup noodle.  I've never had this dish before, ever.  It's so good!  Very light, refreshing, and most importantly, FLAVOURFUL.  The broth consists of tomato, pork, egg, and some shrimp paste from the tastes of it.  I think this dish is a must order.  I'm actually thinking that I should try and recreate this dish at home.
Tomato Vermicelli Noodle Soup











HoHoMi, is kind of located in the middle of nowhere, so it's not the kind of restaurant where you will pass by and think, hey lets go and try it.  You will have to plan to make the trip here.  But it's well worth the trip!

HoHoMi
50 Buroak Ave,  Unit 7
Markham, ON
L6C 0A2

905-888-8558

Hours:  Monday - Sunday 10:00am - 9:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/Hohomiriceandnoodlehouse

Friday, July 25, 2014

John Andersons Charbroil Burger

I have several coworkers who have told me that John Andersons has the best burger.  I was pretty skeptical about the best burger comment, because right now, my pick for best burger is Fresh Burger in Richmond Hill.  Not to hijack the post about John Andersons Buger, but I went to Fresh Burger this past Wednesday and tried to order their signature prime burger.  The owner told me, that he only has the fresh burger.  My husband told me that he tried the fresh burger and it wasn't as good as the prime burger, so I told the owner I came (and brought my friend who has never been to Fresh Burger before) for their prime burger.  The owner then told me, that he did in fact have prime burger patties made, but he's not happy with the meat, so he is refusing to serve them.  So awesome that they care that much about what is being sold to the customers!  We need more of these places!

Back to John Andersons.  The inside of John Andersons is definitely cute/retro.  It probably looks the way it did back in the 70's.  This is definitely a family run business, owned by an Asian family.  Looks like mom runs the cash, and dad is the cook.  Your burger is cooked when you order it, so it's fresh.  But I was very disappointed to see that the burger meat was frozen, looked bought, and VERY thin.  Topping wise, you put on yourself at what appears to be a converted salad bar.  You have the typical ketchup, mustard, relish, lettuce and tomatoes.  They also have bbq sauce, which I actually mistakened for ketchup, and sautéed onions.  The burger tasted like what any frozen burger patty would taste like.  It is cheaper than McD's....but not sure if I would come back, even though it's close to work.  Also burger bun ratio is off.  The bun is massive, the burger patty is not.

Also in your combo order, you can choose from onion rings or fries.  Another coworker said that they have the best onion rings.  Even though I usually prefer fries over onion rings, I decided to give the onion rings a try.  Nothing to write home about, just like the burger patty, the onion rings were from frozen.

Burger Fries and Drink











John Andersons Charbroil Burger
1069 Dundas St W.
Mississauga, ON
L5C 1C3

905-276-8752

Bakery Hopping

This was a bad idea.....a very bad idea.  And yet my friend was trying to convince me to fit in MORE places.  We essentially went to 3 bakeries downtown before dinner because we had 1.5 hours to kill.  My tastebuds loved me that night, but my stomach tells me that if I continue to do this, I will have to buy new pants.

Our first stop was Le Gourmand.  This was my suggestion since another one of my evil friends decided to take a picture of their gorgeous spread of cakes and cookies and post it on FB.  I bought 3 cookies, 3 very delicious cookies, 2 chocolate chunk and 1 walnut chocolate chunk.  They had to be the greasiest cookies i've ever eaten, but so melty chocolately, buttery, chewy and oozing.  Definitely need to limit the trips I make to Le Gourmand, but i'm sure that if and when I decide to go back, I will be purchasing more of these cookies!  Price wise, they are quite expensive I think, but who knows this could be the normal price that cookies cost.  I normally don't buy cookies because I make my own.  But I have to say, the cookies were quite large, and based on taste, worth every penny.
Walnut Chocolate Chunk & Chocolate Chunk Cookies











Second Stop was Nadege.  I've read many mixed reviews of this place since they have opened up, so thats why I haven't been earlier.  I bought their signature dessert, the Marie Antoinette which is what I would describe as a vanilla custard tart topped with mini macarons, mini croissants, and some macarons.  The macarons on top of the tart weren't particularly good, quite dry as a matter of fact.  But it was cute.  The 'normal' macarons were very good, crisp exterior and slightly chewy inside, just the way I like them.  The mini croissants I didn't get a chance to try until the next morning, and i'm not sure if thats why, but I found them to be a little dry.
Marie Antoinette
Green Tea & Coffee Macarons


Mini Croissants























Last stop was Forno Cultura since it was right by where we were having dinner.  Walking into this bakery, I was in what I would consider heaven for me.  So much fresh baked bread......all different shapes, colours and flavours.  I love bread.  I could eat bread and butter every meal.  I'm sure again if I attempted that, I would need to buy new pants, so I try not to eat as much bread as I would like.  I wish I remembered to take pictures, but I bought a lemon shortbread, and a bread that was very similar to what I would call a foccacia.  But I don't think it was a foccacia because it was much thicker, it was like a round loaf topped with tomatoes, onions and herbs.  I could easily eat that without any butter.

Le Gourmand
152 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON
M5V 3S6

416-866-2127

Hours:  Monday -Friday 7:00a - 8:00p
             Saturday 9:00a - 6:00p
             Sunday 9:00a - 5:00p

http://legourmand.ca

Nadege Patisserie
780 Queen St W
Toronto, ON
M6J 1G2

416-368-2009

Hours: Monday - Wednesday 8:00a - 8:00p
            Thursday - Saturday 8:00a - 9:00p
            Sunday 8:00a - 7:00p

http://www.nadege-patisserie.com

Forno Cultura
609 King St. W
Toronto, ON
M5V 1M5

416-603-8305

Hours:   Monday Closed
              Tuesday - Saturday 7:30a - 9:30p
              Sunday 8:00a - 6:00p

http://fornocultura.com

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Little Nicky's Coffee

I have a good friend who likes to drop off treats every so often because he knows I like trying new places.  The goods are usually pastries or donuts.  Thats how I heard about Little Nicky's.  Little Nicky's donuts are not the gourmet style donuts that most of the newer donut shops produce.    Little Nicky's donuts are more like carnival style donuts.  Small, two bite like.  But when compared to the typical carnival donuts, they are a little bit more dense, a little more bready like than cake like.  I actually prefer these ones more than the ones from the carnivals.
Little Nicky's Donut











Little Nicky's Coffee
375 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON

416-260-0500

Hours:  Monday - Friday 7:30am - 6:00pm
             Saturday 9:30am - 6:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Nickys-Coffee/135570936459654

Maple Bakery

Cronuts were the big food fad of last year, up until the CNE rolled around and a bunch of people got sick from eating the cronut burger.  I think the hype has died down significantly, not sure if its because it was just a fad that bakeries didn't really catch on to, not allowing the general public to be able to really try them, or if the cronut burger scare scared people off from it.  From what I remember, there were only about 2 or 3 bakeries offering the cronut in downtown Toronto.  I actually forgot about the cronut until I did a random Italian coffee shop search in Vaughan, and cronuts popped up.

What is a cronut?  A cronut is a cross between a croissant and a donut.  Interesting?  Yes.  Delicious? Also yes.  Maple bakery is an Italian bakery which offers fresh baked breads, Italian desserts and pastries, a hot food table (meats on a bun, or dinner plates), and of course cronuts.  The only flavours that they have are sugar, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate glazed.
Cronuts














My favourite ended up being the cinnamon sugar.  Out of the three, the chocolate glazed was the least liked for me because I found that chocolate was too baking chocolate like.  The inside of the cronut was very similar to a croissant, it had many layers in there.  The only part that I think resembles the donut part is the deep frying of the dough part.
Inside of Cronut











Location of Maple Bakery is kind of far, but would definitely come back for cronuts and maybe to try some more additional Italian treats.  Almost forgot to mention, their coffee was pretty good too.  We tried a latte and an espresso macchiato.  Coffee was very smooth.

Maple Bakery
10040 Keele St.,
Maple, ON
L6A 1G3

905-832-2987

Hours:  Monday - Friday 7am - 8pm
             Saturday - Sunday 7am - 7pm

http://www.maplebakery.ca

Friday, July 4, 2014

Nguyen Huong

Short and sweet this post will be.  A friend of mine said Nguyen Huong is the best bahn mi sandwich shop in the GTA.  When someone tells me that a place is the best, I'm compelled to visit.  What makes this place interesting is that rumour (I haven't confirmed what my friend told me) is that the owners of Nguyen Huong are the parents of the Bahn Mi Boys!  The sandwiches are are great!  Simple and delicious.  We ordered a chicken and a pork bahn mi.  The meat had great flavour, put in a crunchy on the outside and super soft on the inside bun and topped with pickled carrots, radish and cilantro.  It's no frills and at the price of these sandwiches, you can probably buy 3 of the ones from Nguyen Huong versus 1 from Bahn Mi Boys.

Bahn Mi











Nguyen Huong
5661 Steeles Ave,
Toronto, ON
M1V 5P6

416-292-8875

http://www.nguyenhuong.ca

The Ace

I love watching the Food Network, especially Diners Drive Ins and Dives.  Whenever I plan a trip, I always see where Guy Fieri has gone, and try to fit in a restaurant or two that was on the show.  So when a local restaurant makes it onto the show, makes me want to go that much more.  I recently watched an old re-run in which The Ace was being featured. The Ace has been on my go to list for a while now since they were also featured on BlogTO's top 50 brunch restaurants in TO.  We popped in for brunch after a run in High Park.

I was really looking forward to brunch, partly because I was really hungry and the other part being that it's on the top 50 list!  Must be pretty good right.  Sad to say, but I was very disappointed.  Our table ordered Huevos Rancheros, a Breakfast Hash Special and The Ace Breakfast.  The Ace Breakfast was nothing special.  Nothing stood out about this dish.  The bacon wasn't particularly good, neither was the sausage.  The eggs were ok I guess.
The Ace Breakfast











The Breakfast Hash Special, I can't remember the actual name of the dish, but it was named 'something' hash.  Friend said it was bland.  Not much flavour.  The hash had some sort of meat, a whole bunch of cooked cabbage, topped off with an over easy egg.  
Breakfast Hash Special

My huevos I think could be considered the worst I've eaten.  The eggs were undercooked.  I'm sure you can see the super runny whites in the picture.  There was very little guacamole and salsa.  More would have been better.  On the menu it's advertised as corn tortillas, but I don't think it was made fully with corn flour.  I think theres a mix of corn and regular flour.  The texture was off from the stuff I eat at Kensington Market.  The absolute worst part of the dish was the fact that they tried to reheat the tortillas on a gas grill where there was to much flame.  In the picture I don't think you can see, but when I flipped over the tortilla, you can see the black gas 'fumes'.  I hate to leave food on my plate, and I hate to send food back, so i ate the stuff on top and left most of the tortilla on the plate.
Huevos Rancheros
So don't always believe what you read, or watch on TV.  You can get disappointed this way.

The Ace
231A Roncesvalles Ave, 
Toronto, ON
M6R 2L6

416-792-9972

Hours: Dinner Every Night 5pm - 11pm
            Lunch Weekdays 12pm - 3pm
            Brunch Saturday Sunday 930am - 3pm

http://www.theacetoronto.com

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Tohenboku Ramen

The first place in which I ate a version of ramen that did not include pork or pork based broth of any sort was in Vancouver at Marutama Ramen.  I haven't gotten a chance to blog about my trip which happened last year, because of the sheer number of places I ate it, it would take a super long time time write up a single blog about it.  I promise it's coming.  It will be done before the summer ends.

I was really looking forward to some chicken based broth ramen because it was very good at Marutama.  It can't be that hard right?  I make chicken broth at home all the time.  I do cheat out of convenience sometimes, but it never tastes as good as the homemade stuff.  I ordered the shio original Tohenboku ramen.  The husband ordered garlicky Tohenboku ramen.  They had a special at the time, not sure if it's offered now, that if you follow them on twitter, you can get a free topping on your ramen.  So the husband got an order of pork belly added to his ramen.  We also got an order of karaage to share.

My husband loves karaage, and tends to order it whenever given the opportunity to.  However, we were disappointed in this one.  The karaage was not crispy.  It wasn't soggy either, but the outside was just soft.
Karaage











Visually the ramen didn't look very appealing to me.  My soup had already partly congealed when it arrived, so I had to remove the 'skin'.  And the chicken, looked like headcheese.  It didn't have much taste to it, so it was not properly seasoned, even though you can clearly see pepper in the pictures.  The broth was weak in flavour.  Which makes me wonder what they actually use to make the broth.  Unless we went 'too late' at night and they added water to the broth.  Thats what it tasted like to me.  My husband's ramen was slightly better because the garlic seasoning added additional flavour which mine was lacking.  The noodles were cooked well, so no complaint there.  My egg was a little 'roughed' up, it was missing part of the white.  Which is a sign that the eggs are not particularly fresh. The pork belly tasted extra fatty because there was no charing of the pork.  I hate soggy pork fat.

Shio Original Tohenboku Ramen

Garlicky Tohenboku Ramen



















Not sure I would make the trip to Tohenboku again.  The flavours just weren't there, which I found shocking because there are so many ramen restaurants out there competition wise.

Tohenboku Ramen
261 Queen St. W,
Toronto, ON
416-596-8080

Hours:  Monday - Saturday 11am - 12am (midnight)
             Sunday 11am - 10:30pm

http://www.touhenboku.ca

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Acacia Fine Foods

I wish I had better pictures of the food here, but I was too rushed.  I promised my former coworker that I would meet up with her for an earlier lunch because she had to make sure that she would get home in time to let the baby sitter in the house.  But of course, with my luck, my meeting before lunch ran almost 45 minutes overtime.  So I quickly ordered food, and sat down to eat so we could catch up in the little time we had.

Acacia has lunch specials where for $5.99 you can get a drink, a chicken shwarma and fries.  The flavours of the shwarma were very good, and no fatty gristly pieces.  There were even crispy pieces of chicken, I guess from the vertical rotating grill!  The pita fillings were the typical hummus, tahini, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and radish/turnip pickles.  I believe they even make the pita on site.  Portion wise, it's not huge, but I thought it was a good size for me.  Seeing how busy this place gets, the shwarma is definitely fresh!

Chicken Shwarma











Acacia Fine Foods
1170 Burnhamthorpe Rd W.,
Unit 18
Mississauga, ON

905-232-8003




Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Sweet Note Desserts

I'm not sure why I waited until now to post about Sweet Note Desserts.  I have been there several times and each of those times I have said, this is really good.  The first time I went was because I had a dessert craving.  We had just left an Indian buffet in Brampton, I know, it was buffet and I wasn't full.  It was with the husband's coworkers.  They wanted to leave, so I left.  And yes, i'm sure a lot of you are surprised that I went to a buffet, because everyone knows I hate them.  But again, it wasn't my choice.  Anyways, we passed by Sweet Note Desserts and the sign was pretty cute, so we popped in.  We got a mango coconut milk custard (consistency similar to a panna cotta) to go.  The custard was so rich and smooth and flavourful.  The jar was small, and I kept eating, only to realize I didn't have my bites left to share with my husband.

The second time I went was after ramen.  A quick meal of ramen wasn't enough time to catch up with my friend that I hadn't seen in over one year.  I ordered their chestnut meringue.  For all you Asians out there, i'm sure you've had Maxim's overly hyped meringue desserts.  The ones that are overly airy and overly sweet and of course overly expensive?  Yup thats the one i'm talking about.  This one was so different.  The meringue was cooked perfectly, crisp, and sweet enough, with just a tiny bit of chew.  The chestnut filling reminded me of my childhood.  I used to hate the chestnut birthday cakes that my parents bought.  But I love them now for some strange reason.

This last time I went, I was told by a friend to try their soufflé. I ordered the vanilla soufflé with passion fruit sauce.  And my friend ordered the chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce.  Both were very good.  The soufflé were light and airy.  I don't remember the chocolate sauce, but my passion fruit sauce was so good I could keep drinking it!
Souffles











I have never made reservations, but I have seen tables with the reserved sign on them.  And later on in the night it does get busy (partly because it's a small space).  Most people, once they see how busy it is, grab the dessert as take out and leave.


Sweet Note Desserts
Unit 61-63, 505 Highway 7 East,
Markham, ON
L3T 7T1
905-877-9338 (905-UR-SWEET)

Hours:  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 2:00pm - 10:30pm
             Friday, Saturday, Sunday 2:00pm - 11:30pm
             Tuesday CLOSED

http://sweetnote.ca
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