AKA TEPPAN

3235 Highway 7 | Markham, ON

The concept behind Aka Teppan is from the infamous Pepper Lunch franchise in East Asia. Meals which consist of either rice or pasta with a protein are served on a sizzling hot plate. Aka Teppan opened up not too long ago in the First Markham restaurant strip and it’s already getting a lot of buzz. I read that people are willing to wait over an hour to get their sizzling plate meals! The restaurant is somewhat small, seating around 30 people. Service is fast but the plates don’t all come out at once, I watched tables where one diner would finish their entire meal before the other people even got theirs.

Jess and I got the original Steak on Rice, $8.99, it comes with corn, green onions and their special soy sauce mixture.

It was good but not as good as Pepper Lunch, if I had a craving, I suppose this would do.  You can also had extra corn, cheese, egg, etc. but for an extra charge.

Cherry got Pasta with Chicken with a tomato sauce, no complaints from her.  I had some of her pasta and I didn’t think it was anything special.

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LA CARINTA

501 College St | Toronto, ON
http://lacarnita.com

La Carnita is one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto, I’m never disappointed when I visit.

Mexican Street Corn (2pc) Mexican crema, queso anejo, arbol & ancho chili powder. The corn is a must order, corn is on my top 5 favourite vegetable and La Carnita takes it to another level.


Tortilla Chips w/ ancho chili powder & Guacamole

I love how the tortilla chips are seasoned, they even taste good by themselves.


Beef Cheek Ancho braised cheek, lime avocado, green cabbage, pickled jalapeño & crispy shallots


In Cod We Trust: voltron sauce, lime crema, pickled red cabbage, green apple & cilantro


Crispy Avocado & Frijoles Beans: crispy avocado, chipotle sauce, queso fresco & cilantro

Chorizo: Chorizo, mango salsa, pickled onion, queso cotija &cilantro

My favourite taco of the night was the Cod taco, perfectly fried cod with an extremely crispy batter. The pickled cabbage and apple cut through the richness of the crema and the fried batter, SO perfect.

For dessert we got two orders of Churros with house made cajeta (caramel) 

Tres Leche Cake Served with Ontario fruit which was strawberries that night.

I’ve been to both La Carnita and Grand Electric and I must say La Carnita is my go to taco joint!
From the atmosphere, service, lighting, seating and food, La Carnita wins by a land slide.

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