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.

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

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/

Faley Restaurant

A small restaurant located in a small strip plaza, that if you weren't specifically looking for it, you would never know they existed.  The reason why we chose this place for lunch was because it was near my friend's home, and because I'm always on the hunt for good Hakka food.  When I go to Hakka places, I always order chilli chicken.  I made the mistake or ordering chilli chicken wet (with gravy) once before at another restaurant, dislike.  So I made sure to order it dry this time.  So good!  Had good garlic, onion, and of course green chilli flavour.  Perfect when eaten with plain white rice.

Chilli Chicken

Friend ordered Manchurian chicken.  She didn't like it so much.  She ordered it wet (with gravy).  We were trying to figure out what the difference between chilli chicken and Manchurian chicken was, because both dishes tasted so similar.  In the end we couldn't' figure it out.

Manchurian Chicken

Since we went for lunch on a weekday, these were lunch specials.  I can't remember for sure, but I think it was around $7 each.  For the amount of food, thats a great price.  Too bad I live so far away.

Faley Restaurant
62 Overlea Blvd.,
Toronto, ON
M4H 1C4

Phone:  (416) 423-3222, (416) 423-4420

Hours:  Monday - Thursday 1130a - 1100p
             Friday 1130a - 1130p
             Saturday 1200p - 1130p
             Sunday 100p - 1100p

Double D's

Get your mind out of the gutter people!  This is about pizza, Chicago deep dish style pizza!  We attempted to do dine in for this pizza, but holy moly it was way too busy.  So that day we ditched the idea altogether, and ate something else.  But this time we planned ahead and decided to order takeout.  I know that it's not the same as dining in when it's fresh.  But there's no way I'm waiting 2 hours for a table and then another 30+ minutes for a pizza.  We called ahead and ordered a small Chicago Classic which has pepperoni, sausage and tons of cheese.  The small size could easily feed 3 hungry adults I think, it's so heavy.  We had this for dinner, and reheated it in the oven.  The crust is nothing like the ones from Chicago.  This is more bready/cracker like, whereas I remember the ones from Chicago being a bit more buttery/cookie/tart like.  Filling wise, there was tons of it.  Lots of meats and cheese.  In my opinion, too much.  Surprisingly it wasn't overly salty as something so meat heavy usually is salty to me.

Small Chicago Classic

Slice of Chicago Classic

Overall, I'm not sure I would go back.  I think it was more of a one time novelty thing.  I personally much prefer lighter, simpler margherita pizzas.

Double D's Pizza
1020 Gerrard St. E.,
Toronto, ON
M4M 1Z5

Phone:  (416) 727-5411

Hours:  Monday - Tuesday CLOSED
             Wednesday - Thursday 1100a - 1200a
             Friday - Saturday 1100a - 200a

http://doubledspizzas.com