Studio.89 Cafe

This is one of the coolest places I've been to.  And no it's not like Studio54.  First of all, i'm too young for that, and second of all....clubbing....bleh....  Studio.89 is a non profit organization that serves up fair trade, organic, bird-friendly and rain forest certified coffee and other ethical treats.  When you purchase their food items, the money goes back towards their community hub.  They offer free workshops and resources as well as empowerment and entrepreneurship opportunities.  You can also borrow their space for community events for free (as long as your event isn't charging any money for entry).  Business concept is cool no?

Studio.89 Wall

For lunch we ordered chicken sandwich, chickpea and spinach sandwich and almond milk latte.  The sandwiches all had the same kind of topping or fillers, such as kale, tomato and hummus (can leave them out if you like).  The chicken in the sandwich was shaved deli chicken.  My chickpea and spinach sandwich were essentially flattened falafel balls.  Pretty tasty.  The only complaint I had about my lunch was the hummus.  My sandwich was supposed to have cheese in it.  Because I asked for no cheese, they offered to do double hummus, which I agreed to.  What they forgot to tell me was that the hummus was spicy.  At this point I had stopped eating spicy foods for over 1.5 months.  The spice from the hummus made my stomach feel like it was on fire. I had suggested to them to maybe do a milder version of hummus, or offer a non spicy hummus.  I doubt any kids would have been able to eat that.

Studio.89 Lunch

Another cool thing they have is the take a book leave a book program.  Good place to drop off books that I no longer want to keep.  Fun and homey feeling space, with money going towards something good.  Makes you feel good!

Studio.89 Cafe
1065 Canadian Place, Unit 104
Mississauga, ON
L4W 0B8

Phone:  647-400-0455

Hours: Monday - Thursday 10am - 10pm
            Friday 10am - 11pm
            Saturday 12pm - 11pm
            Sunday 12pm - 9pm

http://www.studio89.org/#intro

Frederick Restaurant

I love me some Hakka food.  The only place that has me wanting more is Lin Garden in Scarborough.  But it's been quite a few years since I have gone back, just because I've moved far enough away where it's no longer convenient.  As I was walking my dog during the summer, another dog wanted to come and play with my dog.  The owner came up and we started talking.  I'm not sure how we got to the topic of Hakka food, but he claims that Frederick has the best Hakka food.  Again, I should have been wary about that.  I've heard too many "best of's", and it never goes well.  But we decided to give it a try anyways.

Frederick was very busy that night, all the tables were filled, and the lineup for takeout was to the door.  Food must be good right?  For the three of us, we ended up over ordering.  We ordered the beef pakoras, vegetable manchurian fried noodles, chilli chicken and mushroom with broccoli.  The beef pakoras flavour-wise was pretty good.  There was an appropriate level of spiciness. I was expecting chopped/ground beef in a flour mixture deep fried.  But it was a slice of beef in a flour mixture deep fried.  The flour mixture texture was unexpected as well.  It was kind of gummy, maybe it's heavy cornstarch based?

Beef Pakoras

Vegetable manchurian fried noodles didn't have any wok hay.  It just tasted like oily spicy noodles with red food colouring.  They honestly weren't that spicy either.  Very disappointing.

Vegetable Manchurian Fried Noodle

Chili chicken is a must order when you have hakka food.  I had high hopes for this dish.  How can you call yourself a Hakka restaurant when your chilli chicken sucks.  And to my disappointment, the chilli chicken sucked.  The flavour of the chicken was like soy sauce chicken.  There was no heat.

Chilli Chicken

Mushrooms over broccoli, just another veggie dish that has been overly salted or soy sauced, and overly thickened with cornstarch.  The sauce was of a glue like consistency.

Mushrooms with Broccoli

Not worth the drive, or my time to go.  Will most likely never go again.  Just go to Lin Garden.

Frederick Restaurant
160 New Delhi Dr.,
Markham, ON

Phone:  905-472-1682

http://www.federickrestaurant.com

Almond Butterfly Gluten Free Bakeshop & Espresso

There is this stigma around gluten free products.  And after trying a few, I think it's mostly true.  Gluten free breads taste like dry cardboard.  Gluten free muffins/cupcakes are hard as rocks.  And i'm not the only one that thinks this.  With so much negative feelings towards gluten free products, why try Almond Butterfly?  I was in the area and had time to kill before dinner.  I also needed something to make me feel better after writing a midterm.  Essentially any bakery would have done.  But I've tried most around school already, and I always love trying new places.

Almond Butterfly sells everything from cakes, cookies, muffins, sandwiches, and coffee.  All gluten free.  I didn't order much because I was worried that I wouldn't like it.  So I ordered just a brownie.  One bite, and I was super surprised.  It was moist!  Wasn't this crumbling mess that I was expecting.  Just sweet enough (which may mean for others it may not be sweet enough), and very chocolatey.  Definitely deserves another visit in my books.  Maybe not all gluten free products are horrible.

Gluten Free Brownie

Almond Butterfly Gluten Free Bakeshop & Espresso
100 Harbord St.,
Toronto, ON
M5S 2G6

Phone: 416-948-0225

Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm
            Saturday 11am - 6pm
            Sunday 12pm - 5pm

http://www.almondbutterfly.com