I can't believe it's been a year since I last posted. I mean to post more, and I have posts that are saved as drafts, but I just never got around to actually posting them. Last year I didn't get to check out many places locally, but I did get to visit some pretty awesome places in Australia. Since it was a while ago, I'm not sure what the best way of posting would actually be.
Anyways, locally, yesterday I took a friend out to lunch for a super belated birthday. Due to her strict one hour lunch break, we had to stay super close to work. The restaurant that we had both wanted to go to and was craving turned out to be closed Tuesday and Wednesdays. So we went next door to Arirang. Arirang is a well known Korean BBQ restaurant in Mississauga (from what I hear at least). Since it was lunch time, we didn't go for the Korean BBQ option and ordered just a bulgogi bibimbap, and a soontofu with pork. The first thing that arrived was a small, almost teacup sized cup of congee. Tasted ok. The banchans came next. There were only 5 items, there was fried fish paste, kimchi, seaweed, bean sprouts, and potato. Mostly ok, nothing special. I would have preferred the kimchi to have been fermented a bit longer as it was still a bit too 'raw' for my liking. Friend devoured her bibimbap, which came steaming hot in the stone bowl. My soontofu came second. The tofu that came in my stew seemed way firmer than what i'm used to seeing in the stew. Then as i stirred i noticed there was seafood in my stew, which was one of the options of soontofu you can choose from. I waved the waitress over and told her I didn't order seafood soontofu, and that I ordered pork. She looked at me funny and said "You can't eat seafood?". No lady, the problem isn't that I can't eat seafood, I don't want to eat seafood. I did't order seafood because I don't want it. She took it back without any apologies and later on brought what I had ordered. No real complaints taste wise, just really not that special either.
We were too rushed to eat for me to remember to take any pictures, sorry!
Arirang
1177 Central Parkway W,
Unit 72
Mississauga, ON
L5C4P3
Phone: (905) 804-1880
Hours: Monday - Sunday 1100a - 1100p
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Konjiki Ramen & Saryo Cafe
This has to be THE place to go to now. Everyone's been talking about it for the last month or two. Whats the big deal you ask? Konjiki Ramen has been on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list for the last few years. What does that mean? Usually when you hear of Michelin, its number of stars. In Toronto, there's no restaurants with any stars. Why? I'm not sure why Toronto doesn't use the Michelin system. There's only a few cities in the world that have the Michelin star rating. Back to the Bib Gourmand (after doing some Googling), means a list of restaurants that are deemed as having good food with moderate prices.
I finally got the chance to check out Konjiki Ramen. I thought I planned it well too, going for a weekday early dinner. Well life happens, and my early diner (planned to arrive for 5pm as people say there is usually no lineup then), ended up with us arriving at 6pm, with a line pretty much out the door. So for the first half of the lineup, we waited in line just inside the door. It was freezing cold each and every time the door opened while more ramen hungry people squeezed in. After about half an hour lining up, I decided to stay warmer and sit and wait. So we had dessert at Saryo Cafe (they share a space with Konjiki Ramen in the front), before dinner. I don't know why people don't think of doing that as well. So if theres a line, get dessert first!
We ordered the Saryo signature parfait with matcha soft serve. The parfait started off with a layer of green tea and water jelly at the bottom, then topped with hojicha cream, red bean, granola, matcha soft serve, mochi, and matcha brownie. Lots of ingredients! The granola I personally wasn't a fan of. I felt that it didn't add much to the parfait. The match soft serve, I will say is the best matcha soft serve I've had in Toronto. Great amount of matcha flavour, and not grainy. All the other places in Toronto that serve matcha soft serve has great flavour, but you're left with a grainy powdery aftertaste in your mouth. The hojicha cream, I don't know how to describe, was a tad more bitter that matcha, more of a roasted but mild tea flavour? Matcha brownie was a bit too dense for me, but again good matcha flavour. If you're at Konjiki, you must grab at least some dessert.
Total wait time to get a table for us, was just under 1 hour. According to Google wait time was only supposed to be less than 15 minutes. So NEVER trust Google for wait time estimates. But to speed things up, they hand you the menu while you are in line so you can order right away when you are seated. From ordering to getting the food, it was SUPER fast. The hubby took off his jacket, and went to the washroom, and our ramen arrived at the table before he even came back! We ordered their signature clam broth shio ramen, original shoyu tonkotsu ramen, and a side of braised pork belly. Starting off with the broths. Both the clam broth, and the tonkotsu broths are VERY different from any of the other ramen houses in Toronto. The clam broth, very light and clear, strong truffle and clam flavours. Nothing like I've ever tasted in a ramen broth before. Delicious. The tonkotsu broth, exact opposite of the clam broth, beautiful creamy pork broth that coats your mouth and doesn't seem to go away. While being creamy, it didn't feel heavy. I know it's a sign of respect and that you enjoyed your meal by finishing your broth. Usually I don't. But this time, I drank it all down!
Noodles, also different than the ramen houses in Toronto. The only other time I've had ramen noodles like this was in North America was in New York City at Mr. Taka Ramen (sister restaurant to Bigiya in Tokyo which is also on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list). The noodles are thinner, more al dente, and I would say more similar to a pasta than the ramen noodles that i'm used to eating.
All of their meats are done sous vide. While the meat was tender, it felt a bit dry. I assume because the chashu was made with a leaner cut of pork. There was a thin strip of fat, but other than that, the chashu was very lean. The pork belly, had some strips of fat running through it, and it was definitely a bit more juicy than the chashu, but there was a bit of gristle so some bites were a bit chewier. I guess I'm just not a fan of the sous vide method. The braised pork belly also came with an egg. Presentation of the egg was flat out horrible looking. I can't figure out how they cut it to look the way it did. And it was also missing chunks of white too. Usually when you can't peel the shell away from a boiled egg properly, either they did it too hot, or the egg wasn't fresh.
Interior wise, half the restaurant has normal table/booth seating that is friendly for everyone. In the middle of the restaurant, there is counter height seating with bar stools, not so family friendly.
Was this ramen good? Yes, it was delicious. Would I wait an hour for this again? Definitely not. Having said that, when we were paying, there owner or manager there, told us that they are planning on starting a regular line, and a priority line. Anyone with a child under the age of 2, or a senior over the age of 70 will be placed in the priority line. It doesn't mean that you will be placed in front of everyone thats waiting, but they will try and seat the priority line quicker than needing to wait the regular wait.
Konjiki Ramen & Saryo Cafe
5051 Yonge St.,
North York, ON
M2N 5P2
Konjiki Ramen Phone: (647) 350-7766
Saryo Cafe Phone: (647) 350-6611
Hours: Monday 1130a - 1000p
Tuesday CLOSED
Wednesday - Sunday 1130a - 1000p
http://konjikiramen.com
http://www.saryocafe.com
I finally got the chance to check out Konjiki Ramen. I thought I planned it well too, going for a weekday early dinner. Well life happens, and my early diner (planned to arrive for 5pm as people say there is usually no lineup then), ended up with us arriving at 6pm, with a line pretty much out the door. So for the first half of the lineup, we waited in line just inside the door. It was freezing cold each and every time the door opened while more ramen hungry people squeezed in. After about half an hour lining up, I decided to stay warmer and sit and wait. So we had dessert at Saryo Cafe (they share a space with Konjiki Ramen in the front), before dinner. I don't know why people don't think of doing that as well. So if theres a line, get dessert first!
We ordered the Saryo signature parfait with matcha soft serve. The parfait started off with a layer of green tea and water jelly at the bottom, then topped with hojicha cream, red bean, granola, matcha soft serve, mochi, and matcha brownie. Lots of ingredients! The granola I personally wasn't a fan of. I felt that it didn't add much to the parfait. The match soft serve, I will say is the best matcha soft serve I've had in Toronto. Great amount of matcha flavour, and not grainy. All the other places in Toronto that serve matcha soft serve has great flavour, but you're left with a grainy powdery aftertaste in your mouth. The hojicha cream, I don't know how to describe, was a tad more bitter that matcha, more of a roasted but mild tea flavour? Matcha brownie was a bit too dense for me, but again good matcha flavour. If you're at Konjiki, you must grab at least some dessert.
 |
| Saryo Signature Parfai - Matcha |
Total wait time to get a table for us, was just under 1 hour. According to Google wait time was only supposed to be less than 15 minutes. So NEVER trust Google for wait time estimates. But to speed things up, they hand you the menu while you are in line so you can order right away when you are seated. From ordering to getting the food, it was SUPER fast. The hubby took off his jacket, and went to the washroom, and our ramen arrived at the table before he even came back! We ordered their signature clam broth shio ramen, original shoyu tonkotsu ramen, and a side of braised pork belly. Starting off with the broths. Both the clam broth, and the tonkotsu broths are VERY different from any of the other ramen houses in Toronto. The clam broth, very light and clear, strong truffle and clam flavours. Nothing like I've ever tasted in a ramen broth before. Delicious. The tonkotsu broth, exact opposite of the clam broth, beautiful creamy pork broth that coats your mouth and doesn't seem to go away. While being creamy, it didn't feel heavy. I know it's a sign of respect and that you enjoyed your meal by finishing your broth. Usually I don't. But this time, I drank it all down!
Noodles, also different than the ramen houses in Toronto. The only other time I've had ramen noodles like this was in North America was in New York City at Mr. Taka Ramen (sister restaurant to Bigiya in Tokyo which is also on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list). The noodles are thinner, more al dente, and I would say more similar to a pasta than the ramen noodles that i'm used to eating.
All of their meats are done sous vide. While the meat was tender, it felt a bit dry. I assume because the chashu was made with a leaner cut of pork. There was a thin strip of fat, but other than that, the chashu was very lean. The pork belly, had some strips of fat running through it, and it was definitely a bit more juicy than the chashu, but there was a bit of gristle so some bites were a bit chewier. I guess I'm just not a fan of the sous vide method. The braised pork belly also came with an egg. Presentation of the egg was flat out horrible looking. I can't figure out how they cut it to look the way it did. And it was also missing chunks of white too. Usually when you can't peel the shell away from a boiled egg properly, either they did it too hot, or the egg wasn't fresh.
 |
| How to Enjoy Your Clam Broth Ramen |
 |
| Original Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen |
 |
| Signature Clam Broth Shio Ramen |
 |
| Braised Pork Belly |
Interior wise, half the restaurant has normal table/booth seating that is friendly for everyone. In the middle of the restaurant, there is counter height seating with bar stools, not so family friendly.
Was this ramen good? Yes, it was delicious. Would I wait an hour for this again? Definitely not. Having said that, when we were paying, there owner or manager there, told us that they are planning on starting a regular line, and a priority line. Anyone with a child under the age of 2, or a senior over the age of 70 will be placed in the priority line. It doesn't mean that you will be placed in front of everyone thats waiting, but they will try and seat the priority line quicker than needing to wait the regular wait.
Konjiki Ramen & Saryo Cafe
5051 Yonge St.,
North York, ON
M2N 5P2
Konjiki Ramen Phone: (647) 350-7766
Saryo Cafe Phone: (647) 350-6611
Hours: Monday 1130a - 1000p
Tuesday CLOSED
Wednesday - Sunday 1130a - 1000p
http://konjikiramen.com
http://www.saryocafe.com
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Platform Espresso Bar
As I've mentioned before, York region is in desperate need of a good coffee shop. So imagine my surprise when I saw Platform Espresso Bar while driving along Highway 7. Since that day, I have been meaning to stop by. So last night, after doing some research on where to meet our friends for breakfast, I was pleasantly surprised that they not only serve coffee, but they also serve brunch! So our meet up location was determined.
They open at 900a, and we were the first ones to arrive. And good thing at that, while there is seating, it is quite minimal. There are 4 small booths that seats 2 comfortably (4 adults would be very squished), and a larger booth that would seat 6 adults comfortably. On the coffee front, there is quite a bit of selection. For espresso based drinks, you get a choice of two beans. If you want a pour over, there's a selection of 4 to 5 different kind of beans. If you just want a regular coffee, look elsewhere, there isn't that option. I ordered a latte made with an Ethiopian bean, the hubby ordered a pour over (which they suggest you drink black), also with an Ethiopian bean. Coffees were good, but as much as I love drinking coffee, I'm not good with distinguishing the flavours in coffee, so I didn't detect the hints of fruitiness in my latte. Overall I thought my latte could have been a bit stronger. Latte art was cute, something that is rare up in Markham. The pour over I initially though was weak, but a few seconds later, the flavour was quite nice.
Foodwise, we ordered the Sunrise waffle sandwich, one with scrambled eggs instead of sunny side up, a Platform waffle sandwich, and a brioche. The Sunrise waffle sandwich has eggs, mushrooms, spinach, bacon, and cheese on top of a savoury waffle with choice of crispy potato curls or salad. The Platform waffle sandwich has chicken, tomato, lettuce, and guacamole also on top of a savoury waffle. The waffle was pretty good, not really sure what herbs were in it, but I did see herbs. Crispy potato curls were crispy, but almost couldn't really tell that they were potatoes. They almost seemed like they were crispy thin onion rings. I, myself ordered the brioche (forgot to take a picture), because I saw on another blog that it was essentially a mini loaf of bread that came with butter and jam. I guess I didn't read the description properly, because I got a savoury dinner roll topped with sesame seeds and rosemary. I was quite disappointed.
With the lack of coffee options up here, I would definitely come back for more. Service was also great here. Barista was very friendly and very helpful in explaining anything that we were not sure of. And prior to us ordering, she let us know that recently there has been a warning about potential issues with romaine lettuce, not yet a recall, but to be on the safe side, they were replacing all romaine with iceberg lettuce.
Platform Espresso Bar
4450 Highway 7 E
Markham, ON L3R 1M2
Hours: Monday - Sunday 900a -600p
Phone: (905) 604-9110
https://www.facebook.com/platform.espresso.bar/
They open at 900a, and we were the first ones to arrive. And good thing at that, while there is seating, it is quite minimal. There are 4 small booths that seats 2 comfortably (4 adults would be very squished), and a larger booth that would seat 6 adults comfortably. On the coffee front, there is quite a bit of selection. For espresso based drinks, you get a choice of two beans. If you want a pour over, there's a selection of 4 to 5 different kind of beans. If you just want a regular coffee, look elsewhere, there isn't that option. I ordered a latte made with an Ethiopian bean, the hubby ordered a pour over (which they suggest you drink black), also with an Ethiopian bean. Coffees were good, but as much as I love drinking coffee, I'm not good with distinguishing the flavours in coffee, so I didn't detect the hints of fruitiness in my latte. Overall I thought my latte could have been a bit stronger. Latte art was cute, something that is rare up in Markham. The pour over I initially though was weak, but a few seconds later, the flavour was quite nice.
 |
| Pour Over & Latte |
Foodwise, we ordered the Sunrise waffle sandwich, one with scrambled eggs instead of sunny side up, a Platform waffle sandwich, and a brioche. The Sunrise waffle sandwich has eggs, mushrooms, spinach, bacon, and cheese on top of a savoury waffle with choice of crispy potato curls or salad. The Platform waffle sandwich has chicken, tomato, lettuce, and guacamole also on top of a savoury waffle. The waffle was pretty good, not really sure what herbs were in it, but I did see herbs. Crispy potato curls were crispy, but almost couldn't really tell that they were potatoes. They almost seemed like they were crispy thin onion rings. I, myself ordered the brioche (forgot to take a picture), because I saw on another blog that it was essentially a mini loaf of bread that came with butter and jam. I guess I didn't read the description properly, because I got a savoury dinner roll topped with sesame seeds and rosemary. I was quite disappointed.
 |
| Sunrise Waffle Sandwich |
 |
| Sunrise Waffle Sandwich (Scrambled Eggs) |
 |
| Platform Waffle Sandwich |
Platform Espresso Bar
4450 Highway 7 E
Markham, ON L3R 1M2
Hours: Monday - Sunday 900a -600p
Phone: (905) 604-9110
https://www.facebook.com/platform.espresso.bar/
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