Who
doesn’t love an ultra instagrammable dessert shop? I’ve been a long time creep
of Cafe Bora, having locations everywhere (LA, Korea, Thailand, etc.) but
Toronto until now. The newly opened cafe in Yorkville is a Korean dessert chain
has everything purple sweet potatoes.
‘Bora’
means purple in Korean which is why I had to order every purple item possible.
The space is small and cozy, simple and clean with wood and purple being the
major colours of the space.
The sweet
potato is not artificial-tasting at all, the natural sweet potato flavour
really shines through in each item – some more subtle than others.
My favourite items definitely were the bingsu and tiramisu. The bingsu is topped with sweetened evaporated milk and sweet potato purée with extra on the side for you to add more on, creating a stronger sweet potato flavour. The tiramisu consists of layer of vanilla sponge cake, sweet potato purée, a cheesy cream and then topped with yam powder.
Disclaimer: While the food and drinks are complimentary, opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Han Ba Tang is one of the new restaurants in the Yonge and Sheppard area, they opened up this past May serving up Korean fusion tapas. “Han Ba Tang” means “one full round”, weather it’s one full round of laughter, food or drinks.
The interior of the space has quite the industrial feel with the bare exposed bricks, scrap metal wall and reclaimed wood pieces. The mismatched chairs and lighting give the space somewhat of a warm, cozy atmosphere.My favourite part was the giant custom Han Ba Tang sign right as you walk in.
The cocktails range from $8-10 each.
Butter poached lobster with creamy tomato sauce.
Spicy Chicken with Fondue, grilled chicken in a sizzling plate with a mix of rice cakes, onions & carrots with a side of creamy cheese fondue.
Black Squid Ink Pasta, squid ink pasta, mussels with a house made gochujang cream sauce topped with a Korean beef cake.
Kalbi & Spicy Pork Tacos, grilled kalbi and spicy pork on a bed of shredded cabbage with red onions and a light house aioli.
Kimchi Fries with Bulgogi, extra crispy fries topped with kimchi, aioli, gravy, sizzling bulgogi & green onions.
Chilli Shrimp, lightly battered shrimp dipped in sweet chilli sauce.
Spoon Pizza, mashed sweet potato “crust” with vegetables, tomato sauce topped with cheese and bacon or kimchi.
Spicy Seafood Soup, a spicy seafood soup with shrimp, mussels & crab with Korean Ramyun.
My favourite dishes of the night included the black squid ink pasta, spicy pork taco, chilli shrimp and kimchi fries. The pasta was deliciously creamy, pasta was perfectly cooked and the sweetness of the beef patty was the perfect contrast to the savoury cream sauce.
Although the tacos were both good, the spiciness of the pork taco was on point! I couldn’t stop eating and actually wanted more, I’ll definitely be back for the tacos.
The chilli shrimp were ultra crispy and I loved the sweet and spicy sauce it was coated in.
The kimchi fries were hard to resist, ultra crispy fries that stayed crispy even at the bottom of the plate. I could honestly eat a whole bucket of just plain fries.
Not only does Han Ba Tang have great food, they have a great selection of drinks. HBT offers house infused soju called “soju flights”, for $15 you get a selection like apple cinnamon, strawberry, pineapple, citron, ginseng, etc.
*This was a complimentary meal. The opinions in the post, as always, are my own.*
I’m no Korean BBQ expert but I do know good food and Piggy’s Restaurant serves up some delicious mouth watering pork belly BBQ. Piggy’s is located in Thornhill just North of Yonge St. and Steeles Avenue.
My authentic Korea friend, Michele, said Piggy’s has the best Korean BBQ in town so I guess we had to visit. For the three of us we order 2 servings of the pork belly which comes with side dishes, lettuce (for wrapping your pork), sauce and a small tofu soup.
Look at all that food, my mouth is salivating as I type this!
You can also add on white rice, fried kimchi rice or stone bowl rice. We opted for the kimchi fried rice (Mook Eun Gi )for an extra $2.95.
Michele also mentioned that Piggy’s has the best Bi Bim Naeng Myeon (Sweet potato vermicelli noodles with spicy red pepper sauce, $9.95).
This was my first time trying Bi Bim Naeng Myeon, I usually get the Mul Naeung Myeon (Sweet potato vermicelli noodles in icy cold beef broth) but I got to admit it was super yummy, the sauce wasn’t too spicy and it was a fretting break from all that pork belly. The pork wasn’t too greasy or fatty, the fatty just melted away. I usually spit out or avoid the fatty parts of meat but I devoured the nuggets of pork.
I would highly recommend Piggy’s Restaurant for good authentic Korean BBQ, I haven’t tried their BBQ beef yet but I will make a trip soon. The three of us were incredibly stuffed but we definitely had room for some bubble tea!
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