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Sansotei Ramen

October 17, 20122 Comments

179 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON
http://www.sansotei.com/

It seems like ramen places started popping up everywhere recently, starting with Kenzo & Guu’s Kinton. Sansotei and Momofuku Noodle Bar are one of the more recent additions to the the reman scene.
Kevin, Joyce and I visited Sansotei late one Thursday, no line ups. We got some appetizers to share before digging into our ramen.

We started off with the Gyoza, $4.50, they weren’t anything special.

We also got the Seaweed Salad, $5.00, also this was kind of typical.

I wanted to order the Zawgi (Deep fried chicken), $4.50, the chicken was super flavourful and most with hints of sweetness, savouriness & garlic-iness. It was served with a lemon wedge which brightened up the chicken and kept it less oily & and heavy, I really liked this.

Joyce, Kevin and I all got the Tonkotsu Ramen ($9.25), Both Kevin and Joyce got extra noodles. While Kevin got extra eggs, Joyce added corn to her ramen (pictured below). They were really hungry and finished everything in their bowls.

I on the other hand just stuck with the regular portions without adding anything, mine looks so empty compared to theirs! But I was stuffed by the time I finished it.

Everything about this bowl of noodles was fantastic, the soft boiled eggs with the runny yolk is super flavourful and just plain delicious. The pork was tender but I felt it was a little too fatty for my liking. The noodles were different from other ramen places, they stayed chewy and I feel like they were thinner than most places. But I think the highlight of the meal was the soup base, creamy, rich and packed full of flavour.

Highly recommend going to Sansotei! I heard that there were long line ups at Sansotei so I would recommend going early to ensure you can satisfy your hungry stomach.
I still have many other ramen restaurants to try.

DR. AUGUSTA’S SAMITORIUM

October 12, 2012September 16, 2019Leave a comment

602 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON

https://www.facebook.com/DrAugustas-Samitorium

I first read about Dr. Augusta’s Samitorium on Twitter when blogTO wrote an article about them. They’ve been open for business for almost a month now right near Kensington Market.

I was in the neighbour hood and decided I would give their sandwiches a try, super glad I did.

The little 9 seater restaurant with black & white floor tiles and hints of red accents everywhere can be easily overlooked but the food speaks for it’s self.

They have a chalk board menu and some daily specials on another menu.

What caught my eye was the Po Boy Sandwich, $8.85, cornmeal crusted shrimp, rose sauce, fennel & orange salad on a pain au lait bun. How does that not sound good?

Just look at how good that looks!

I had to kind of destroy if for you guys to see the inside. The shrimp were perfectly fried and still piping hot and the fennel & orange salad kept the whole sandwich super refreshing and light, made me feel less guilty for eating a deep-fried shrimp po boy. The pain au lait bun is much more flavourful compared to a kaiser, it’s rich and milky? Not sure how to describe it. But it was a little too much bread for me.

Dr. Augusta is making old school homemade sodas, I got a Cream Soda, $2.75. You can see the little bits of vanilla bean through out my drink.

Some of the other flavours on the menu are: apple, lemon, root beer, gingerale and something called the New York creamer.

That you you guys for making such a delicious sandwich and welcome to the neighbour hood.

FIVE GUYS BURGERS

October 3, 2012September 19, 2019Leave a comment

865 York Mills Road | Toronto, ON
http://fiveguys.ca/

I never really like writing bad things about a restaurant but I’m so sorry to say that Five Guys is too overrated, not sure why everyone was raving about it. Darren and I continued our burger adventure to Five Guys one Sunday night, we decided to go to the new York Mills location which is a little closer to home.
We walked into white and red interior, no offence it looks kind of stark and cold.

If you’re allergic to peanuts, this place is a death trap! They have boxes of peanuts for you to enjoy while you wait for your burgers, no complaints there, they were salty and delicious. But the wait. I sat there popping peanuts n my mouth while I watched the lady ever-so-slowly put all the condiments on my burger. It was kind of painful.

I got the cheese burger and Darren got the bacon burger. There wasn’t any beefy burger flavour or any flavour at all to be honest and the bun was soft and somewhat mushy. We both unanimously decided we should have gotten two patties. But my problem is don’t offer the single patty if you were meant to eat a double, just serve the double patty. The only upside to this meal were bountiful array of free toppings like grilled mushrooms & onions which you wouldn’t normally see.

Darren got the Cajun Fries which literally filled up and covered his burger. The fries were good but nothing special, just regular Cajun fries you could probably get anywhere.

The place started to get busy while we were half way through our burgers and suddenly 6 more employees came out to help and as soon as the rush was gone so were they. Both Darren and I were confused, what just happened? Oh well, they got the job done.

I might give Five Guys another try but highly unlikely, sorry.

THE WEDDING CAKE SHOPPE

October 2, 2012September 19, 201911 Comments

859 College Street | Toronto, ON
https://theweddingcakeshoppe.com/

As a baker, I’ve always wanted to visit The Wedding Cake Shoppe but I never had the chance because it’s so far from home. But this past Friday everything changed, I received a tweet from @weddingcakeshop telling me I won 6 cupcakes by just following them. Yup, every week they give out 6 cupcakes to one of their followers, how great is that?!

I love the mismatched tables and the cute frilly light fixture, somewhat simple in decor to show off all the products & cakes. When I arrived around 1pm there was about 8 – 10 flavours to choose from and the girl that served me was super nice and patient while i tried to figure out which ones i wanted.

In the end I ended up with these flavours, from top left going clockwise: red velvet, passion fruit, dulce de leche, raspberry rapture, baked raspberry cream cheese & carrot cake.

I have to saw these have been hands down the best cupcakes I’ve ever had, my favourite was the carrot cake. I’m normally a sucker for carrot cake but this one was super moist, light, fluffy and not too cinnamon-y. The cream cheese frosting was really good too, not too sweet.
But seriously. All the cupcakes were really good and I would recommend everyone to make a trip down to The Wedding Cake shoppe.

PORCHETTA & CO.

September 23, 2012September 16, 2019Leave a comment

825 Dundas Street West | Toronto, ON
http://www.porchettaco.com/

I’ve been dying to try out Porchetta & Co. ever since they opened up more than a year ago now but I never got the chance to. I’ve heard amazing things about their sandwiches and I just couldn’t pass up the chance when I was in the neighbourhood last week.

I just had to try the House Special which was the porchetta sandwich with truffle sauce, parmesan, mustard & hot sauce. One of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever had and everything about it was perfect, I kid you not.

The pork is roasted for several hours so the meat just melts in your mouth they also chop some of the incredibly crispy skin and scatter it throughout your sandwich, it’s a delicious surprise when you get a bite of everything together. I don’t know what they put in their truffle sauce but I could bathe in it.

I got there a little past 2pm and this was what was left!

They mainly serve take out customers but there are a few seats but you probably wouldn’t stay long because that sandwich will be gone in a flash! I love the mismatched stools and the white subway tiles, shabby chic.

It’s not even a question if I’ll be back or not, I’m already planning my next trip!
Thank you Porchetta & Co. for such an amazing sandwich. I advise everyone to try their sandwich at least once in their life time.

THE STOCKYARDS SMOKEHOUSE & LARDER

September 18, 2012September 19, 20191 Comment

699 St Clair Ave West | Toronto, ON
http://www.thestockyards.ca/

I’ve been dying to try Stockyards for quite some time now because I’m pretty sure they’re the only ones that serve chicken & waffles in Toronto. The downside is that they only serve chicken & waffles during their Sunday Brunch service which is between 9am – 3pm.

We got there around 10am and sat right at the front of the restaurant, there are only bar seatings so I wouldn’t advise coming with large groups. I really liked the country, laid back atmosphere here with extremely friendly servers.

Okay let’s get to the good stuff, the Chicken & Waffles, $13.00! I know, don’t judge me, fried chicken at 10am?! But boy did I come out happy.

The plate comes with three deliciously fried pieces of chicken which are crispy, juicy andnot greasy at all. The waffles were soft and the perfect vessel for the chicken and the chili maple molasses citrus glaze, which I think absolutely made the dish. It was the perfect combination of sweet which a tiny kick of heat and when eaten with the crisp savoury chicken, it was just perfect. I definitely couldn’t finish it so i took the rest home, the portions are quite big here.

Philip got the The whole 9 yards, $14, includes 2 deep-fried eggs, 2 fried green tomatoes, 2 sausage patties, 2 slices of bacon, a bowl of baked beans, potato hash and your choice of bread. Philip liked his meal but I felt everything was a bit too salty for me, I don’t think I would be able to finish the platter.

Look at that perfectly runny yolk!

A whole case full of giant biscuits! I would love to try one next time but I was so incredibly stuffed.

I usually study the menu quite carefully before going to a restaurant so I basically knew what I wanted to order when I walked through the doors, unfortunately the restaurant menu and online menu are different. I guess they haven’t had time to change it and I was dying to try their Beignets, kind of like donuts but they took it off the menu along with some other very intriguing items. I’ll definitely be back to try their regular menu.

DON DON IZAKAYA

August 22, 2012September 16, 2019Leave a comment

130 Dundas Street West | Toronto, ON

I’ve read some not so great reviews on Don Don Izakaya so when my friends asked me if I wanted to join them I was a little hesitant; but none the less my natural foodie instincts told me I needed to try it out for myself.
Located upstairs in the building right beside Kenzo Ramen and the oh-so popular Chatime. The decor is comparable to Guu with the same open concept kitchen, dim but warm lighting and communal tables.

The difference here is that when you get seated instead of loud greetings from the staff, you are greeted with a loud don! don! from the taiko drum. (a slight picture of it on the right side near the man in blue)
Look at that flame!

How could I come to Don Don and not try their famous Don Don Special Black Croquette? It’s breaded potato cake with shrimp and cod roe with a touch of squid ink and salt. I was actually really excited to try this dish and didn’t know what to expect. I split the croquettes in half, the inside looked kind of pudding like. Popped it into my mouth, it was super creamy and the crust was really crisp. It lacked shrimp but the flavour was good with a hint of cheese flavour.

Hoppeta-Yaki, $8.50, I wasn’t a fan of this dish but Jess said it was her favourite of the night. It was basically Mashed potatoes as the base for mediocre chicken and topped with a pile of bonito flakes.

Cherry’s pick was the Japanese Style Veg Hamburg Steak, $6.20.

This is the Tuna Carpaccio, the tuna was fresh but paper thin. The only memorably thing about this dish was the fried onions. It wasn’t a bad dish but it wasn’t a fantastic one either.

I read great things about this Avocado Croquette which was service with that sauce you get when you order katsu. I broke into the crispy breaded crust and into mushy avocado with little corn pieces mixed through out. I can know say I don’t like warm avocado and the sauce didn’t really do much.

Our last dish was the Skewer Combo for $6.00, the beef was kind of chewy and the other skewers weren’t that impressive but maybe because by the time we got to it everything was cold. My favourite was probably the chicken.

We also got the Steamed Shabu Shabu, $7.20. We basically paid $7 for 4 thinly sliced pork belly and some bean sprouts.

Honestly I don’t think I will be coming back, if I were to pay that amount of money for Izakaya I would much rather go to Guu. Sure the wait time at Guu is ridiculous but I know I’m getting great service, food, atmosphere and my money’s worth.

Sorry Don Don but Guu will always be number 1 in my heart.

Street Food Friday

August 20, 20129 Comments

707 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario

Last Friday Philip and I headed to Street Food Friday! Basically Market 707 is in partnership with Food Truck Eats and are hosting monthly Street Food Friday events (every 3rd Friday to be exact).

They even have little chairs and tables along the sidewalk, how convenient and considerate!
Most of the vendors here share a storage container, there’s probably 5 containers, and such a wide variety of different cuisines.

Philip and I didn’t know where to begin so we scoped out all the different vendors and read all the items on the menu before deciding.

For my first choice I decided to try out some Latin cuisine from Ceviche 707, I got the Tostones with guacamole and pulled pork.

I’m pretty sure this is my first time having Latin food but I’m sure there’s better, it wasn’t anything special. But the shrimp ceviche looked really good so I might try that next time!

Not only were there the storage containers there were also food trucks! Philip got the Mole Braised Short Rib Taco from Gourmet Gringos. It took quite a long time for them to produce it and it wasn’t like they were swamped with order either.

But boy was it worth the wait! It was probably the best taco I’ve ever had! The beef was perfectly braised, so tender. I didn’t even mind the onions, I’m usually not a fan of raw onions but the crunch and freshness just enhanced the taco. Yum!

After that we headed to get some Filipino food, what drew me here was the Halo Halo. Look at all the different ingredients, from corn kernels to tapioca, dulce de leche flan, nata de coco and a bunch of other sweet treats all topped with evaporated milk. But after a while the concoction just got a little too sweet for both of us. Philip wanted to try Lechon Kawali which is basically pork belly that’s fried until crispy, honestly it just tasted like 烧肉 (siu yuk) but not as salty.

Last but not least we headed to Per se for their combo platter which included a Jerk Chicken Sandwich and two Shrimp Tacos.
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By this point I was pretty stuffed but still found a way to eat 1 of the tacos and half the sandwich. The shrimp taco was really fresh and light. The jerk chicken wasn’t spicy enough, it just tasted like grilled/blackened (not in a bad way) chicken, nothing special.

This is a nice change to the typical night markets where it’s so cramped with garbage all over the floor. I will definitely try to make my way down again.

PAULETTE’S ORIGINAL DONUTS AND CHICKEN

August 10, 2012September 19, 20193 Comments

913 Queen Street East | Toronto, ON
http://paulettesoriginal.com/

I finally made my way to Paulette’s, probably one of the most talked about new joints in town. A take on chicken and waffles but instead of waffles you’re getting gourmet donuts in a variety of exotic flavours.

You can’t miss this ultra cute & retro spot, from it’s bright robin egg’s blue exterior and interior walls to it’s white interior stools and accents. Even the staff are up to par with their super cute uniforms.

Philip and I got the Snack Chicken, which consists of 1/2 a piece of breast, 1 piece dark meat, dipping sauce or rub and one snack sized donut, for $8.00. I was a little skeptical on how crispy the skin was going to be as I watched him pull pre deep-fried chicken out of the warmer but the skin was incredibly crispy, light and not greasy at all. We got hot sauce as the dipping sauce but to be honest the chicken didn’t need anything, it was so good!
Did I mention how moist the meat was? Even the breast (my favourite part of the chicken) was moist and piping hot.

Probably the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. I’m really excited to try all the other sauces are rubs.

On to the donut portion of our meal, this was our snack sized Garam Masala Donut, I was so happy that it was still warm when I bit into it.

The donuts are rather dense, cake like and dredged in icing. I got the Maple Grapefruit and Philip got the Blueberry Balsamic, even though both were packed with the flavour promised in the description we felt that the donuts we’re a little too sweet. I really liked the Garam Marsala Sugar donut though but I think this is all just personal preference.

Left – Right: Maple Grapefruit & Blueberry Balsamic.

I would definitely make the trek down to Paulette’s for some deliciously deep-fried chicken! I guess I’ll say my farewell to the Colonel and Mr. Popeye’s now because I’ll never look at fried chicken the same way again. I’m super excited to try Paulette’s side dish and corn bread as well.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

August 10, 2012Leave a comment

Shop 315 & 401, The Landmark
Central, Hong Kong

“Awarded three Michelin stars by the MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong and Macau 2012; L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon opened its doors in Hong Kong in 2006, based on a new concept which Joël Robuchon created in Tokyo in 2003. The décor of the L’Atelier restaurant series is contemporary chic featuring lush red velvet seating complemented by dark wood furniture.“

When my sister told me we were going to have lunch at a 3 Michelin star restaurant I was ecstatic! This was going to be my first Michelin star dining experience ever and I was going to savour every last bit of it.

Walked into a super sleek restaurant with the main colours being deep reds and black, ultra modern if you ask me. Not a lot of table seating just some bar top tables and a bunch of seats around the bar which surrounds an open concept kitchen.

As soon as we were seated we got presented a giant bread basket full of different kinds of breads from your regular dinner rolls to small little croissants to bread sticks stuffed with ham & mustard. The best bread basket I’ve ever received and it was so hard to stop myself from trying each one, I resisted to only four kinds.

We started off the meal with an amuse bouche, I don’t really remember was was in the shot glass but I know it was delicious! In the little white bowl was lobster consommé with crab meat at the bottom.
For my appetizer I got Le Haricot Vert (green bean salad with foie gras rolls and parmesan cheese). I love the presentation of the plate, so refined and elegant. Out of all the appetizers I think I got the best one, really light and refreshing. It was also my first time tasting foie gras and I must say I really enjoyed it.

As for my main I got Le Black Cod (Black cod fillet with smooth daikon cream and virgin olive oil). This is the best cod I’ve ever had, I don’t think I can say that enough times. It was perfectly cooked, super flavourful and buttery (just looking at it is making my mouth water). The daikon cream was so smooth and light. If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be this plate right here.

I got the La Foret Noire (Black forest with vanilla ice cream and cherry sorbet). I never like anything cherry flavoured besides the actual fruit but this sorbet was so delicious, light and refreshing. So yummy!

One of the most delicious meals I’ve had, everything was perfect (besides the awkward waiter) from the atmosphere to the beautiful presentation and the well thought out combinations of flavours, taking old flavours that work well together and making them even better.