I like Cheese and I like noodles

It has been a while since my last adventure but today's excursion is Joon's in Korea Town (around the area of Bathurst and Bloor). This is a little inconspicuous spot that I think a lot of people might miss when they walk by, which is a shame because they would be missing out on a great comfort food for this cold winter weather. This little gem is located down the stairs along Bloor street and is has a very basic decor which fine for me because i didn't come to eat the decor.

Joon's menu has a lot of your typical korean dishes found in most korean restaurants, pork bone soup, dumplings and Bibimbap but what they are known for is Dak galbi. I know a lot of you are probably wondering, what the heck is Dak galbi? well... according to my good friend wikipedia, "it's a popular South Korean dish generally made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in agochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate." After having Dak galbi once, you will definitely have cravings when you walk by this restaurant.

Joon's has a variety of Dak galbi that patrons can try; the non spicy teriyaki, joon's original spicy Dak galbi, and a suicide Dak galbi (popping the antacids just thinking about it.). I've had the teriyaki and the Joon's original spicy and I highly recommend getting the Joon's original spicy Dak galbi. Joon's original spicy is not an overwhelmingly spicy dish but actually packs a lot flavour from the sauce and spices used to prepare the dish.

Before Being cooked

On this visit to Joon's I ordered Joon's Original spicy, which does not disappoint. The dish is first brought to the table on a big flat pan with raw dark chicken meat, cabbage and a spicy chili paste. The dish is left to cook by itself for a few minutes with the server coming around every few minutes to stir the dish.

Food is cooking

As the dish is cooking, the aroma of the korean chili sauce and the chicken start to fill the air and continue to wet my apetite. Once the dish is almost cooked the server comes around with the extra options to add to the dish (they are not free but I highly recommend you get them). On this occasion I decided to add noodles, rice cakes, and mozzarella cheese. Adding mozzarella cheese sounds like a weird addition to the dish, but it actually adds a whole new dimension and texture to the dish that I didn't expect.

Dish completed

Once all the ingredients have a chance to stew and marry together, my dining partner and I dig in. The pieces of chicken are tender and moist and some pieces were even able to develop a nice caramelized  crust (drooling on to my key board). The rice cakes themselves provide a nice chewy element that has soaked up some of that delicious delicious chili sauce. The chili sauce is not an extremely spicy but a very flavourful sauce that has a bit of a bite of heat. The cheese helps bring everything together and adds another chewy salty element that just helps the dish stick to your ribs. 

This was definitely the perfect dish to have on a cold winter afternoon. It was served seconds off the stove top, piping hot and was quiet the hardy dish to eat. I thought this was a great comfort dish that warmed me up and made it easier for me to face the bitter cold. 

If you haven't had dak galbi before then i highly recommend coming to joon's to try this korean comfort food. Once you try it, you'll soon develop an addiction to the dish and probably have to adjust for your increasing waist size. 

For more information:

Joon's

Cross an asian restaurant with a bar

So I decided to have dinner one night around Queen West at one the more infamous restaurants/bars around the area, the Java House. I didn't know what to expect from this place because their menu was quite eclectic. There was your standard bar food and a lot of asian inspired dishes, which ranged from pad thai to chow mein.

The decor of the restaurant was very similar to the "Red Room" (if you've been), it was dark and had a lot beat up furniture around but it was all part of it's charm. The place was comfortable and felt like a place that I would definitely bring my friends to have a beer or a meal. Java House is one of those places that I'm sure all the hipsters in Toronto will be flocking to. Java House also boasts a really nice patio that makes me wish the weather would warms up quickly so I can grab a beer and sit outside. One weird thing that I did notice was that the bathroom was located in the back where you would have to walk through their kitchen, which was a little bit awkward.

One of the first things you noticed when you sit down is the unbelievably great prices on both beer and food. When you are eating out in downtown Toronto, you have certain expectations about how much you have to pay to have a beer or a decent meal (which is a lot). Java House on the other hand blows all those conceptions of an expensive downtown eatery out of the water. Java House offers beer below 5 dollars, 1/2 a liter of wine for 9 dollars and entree's for under 8 dollars. For the price of eating at Jack Astor's I could have 3 beers and an entree.

On this night I decided to try their curry chicken pad thai.

curry chicken pad thai

The chicken was moist and tasty and was very well seasoned. The dish also had a great kick of spice, which I really enjoyed. The curry also provided another depth of flavour that most people wouldn't expect from your typical pad thai dish.

I had more food this night but I forgot to take pictures but I will let you know now that everything was great. 

I really enjoy this place and I plan to slowly make my way through their menu. I highly recommend everyone to check this place out because this should be on everyones best cheap eats list.

For More Information:

Java House

Time Gorge Myself with Sushi

So I was wandering around Scarborough looking for a quick bite to eat before I headed out to a movie when my fellow cinephile suggested a sushi restaurant called Ni Ji. This place was quite hard to spot because it was in a small plaza and the sign for the restaurant was a little hard to spot. Parking was not that ample but the restaurant and the surrounding establishments were not that big either.

Once you walk into the restaurant you are greeted with a familiar environment. The decor is prototypical of your standard japanese restaurant and is small and clean. I was little surprise about how crowded this restaurant became while we were dining (I would soon find out the reason for the crowd.)

Our meal at this eatery came with a lot of freebies (YAY FREE); glass noodles, congee, and seaweed salad. These side dishes were really good and were a nice start for our meal. For some odd reason I decided to order a monster sized bento.

Special Bento

This ginormous bento had so much food packed into it that I'm fairly certain that it could have fed a family of four or apparently just me (a very rollie-polly me). This bento had 6 maki rolls, a mound of tempura vegetables, tempura shrimp, 6 pieces of nigiri, 12-16 pieces of sashimi, and finally a seafood salad. Oh, I forgot to mention that all bentos come with an additional salad, miso soup, and green tea ice cream (yes i did consume all this). 

Tempura was neither great nor bad but was satisfactory, it was crispy and crunchy but it just left me wanting more. The seafood salad was really tasty and had a lot different texture. There was the shrimp, the seaweed, and daikon which provided soft, chewy and crunchy textures to the palette. The greatest part of this bento was the sashimi and nigiri. The fish was fresh and full of flavour and made want to keep cramming more fish into my mouth. The fish was soft as silk and almost felt like it was melting in my mouth as I chewed. The rice from the nigiri complimented the fish very well and just made this bento very complete.

This was a great meal and I was very happy with the service and the food at Ni Ji. The sushi was fantastic, which explained why there was such a crowd. Whenever I'm back in Scarborough and I'm itching for some sushi I'll definitely remember to keep this place in mind, because they still have a very expansive that I would like to explore.

For More Information:

Ni Ji 

Fine Dining Nightmares

I've always considered myself a very polite person and very forgiving when a restaurant has a few missteps but Centro restaurant and lounge took missteps to whole different level. Centro has been a well known staple in the Yonge and Eglinton part of Toronto, which is surprising given the experience I had at the restaurant. I decided to have a meal there because my trusty side kick had a groupon for Centro that was given to them as a birthday gift.

The building itself is very nice and screams "elegance" from the outside. The inside of the restaurant is decorated with modern touches that makes the whole restaurant feel sophisticated. I thought the restaurant would be more suited for business meetings or fine dining with upper echelon of society. It may just be my personal tastes but the whole environment didn't feel very comfortable to me and came off as pretentious.

The first thing that was brought to my attention within the first ten minutes of sitting down was the service. The groupon stated that I needed  to notify the waiter before ordering my meal, so i tried to politely interrupt our waiter to let him know we had groupon and he promptly told me that I need to let him finish explaining the specials before I could tell him anything. I was a little dumbfounded by this because this was a nice establishment and I expected a higher level service then a TV sitcom snotty waiter.

I tried to put the bad first experience behind me and just enjoy meal. 

Beef Carpaccio

The first dish that came out was a beef carpaccio, which was fresh and looked very vibrant. The meat was tender and silky smooth. The deep fried shredded potatoes used to garnish the dish also provided a nice texture to the dish. The seasoning, texture and sauces in combination made this a very satisfying appetizer.

(Strip Loin)

I always enjoy a good steak and I had high expectation about this steak since the description looked really good and it was listed as a fifty five dollar steak too. This was quite the let down the moment I plunged my knife into the slab of bovine. I usually have my steak cooked medium rare, but this was cooked well done. I was willing to give this steak another chance and hoped that it was only the edges that were overcooked, so I cut into the middle of the steak and was met with a mostly grey colourless meat. This was disappointing because they took a nice piece of meat and turned it to a slab of beef jerky. The steak was so dry that I actually had to return it to get a new one ( This is the first time I have ever sent food back to a kitchen). The second one that came out was marginally better, it came out medium.....

(Lobster)

My trusty side kick had the lobster and it came out looking lovely on its pristine white plate. Too bad the lobster was only eye candy. This turned out to be the same scenario as the steak, disappointment as soon as you plunge the knife into the dish. The lobster tail was beyond overcooked and extremely difficult to cut and chew. This is a staple dish for most fine dining restaurants and you would think that a professional chef would be able to cook a lobster.

After we finished our entrees we waited for 15-20 minutes for someone to come collect our plates and offer us a dessert menu, no one came. Getting a little tired of waiting I decided to wave down our waiter and ask for the desert menu. As soon as I finished my sentence the waiter abruptly told me, "sir you don't need to ask, of course I'll come and bring you the desert menu." again i'm quite taken back by his response. We waited for the menus and the hostess appears and hands us the desert menu, where was our waiter? These were not isolated transgressions by our server; through out the night the waiter kept stepping on my foot while pouring water (no apology either), told a fellow dinner there were no nuts on a dish when the menu clearly stated there were nuts, was rude to another diner because she didn't quite speak english properly, and didn't even apologize for the over cooked steak.

The whole environment and people at this restaurant made the meal not very enjoyable at all. I didn't even want to eat desert because it would mean I would have to continue to suffer longer at this establishment ( don't really want to call this a restaurant, it would be insulting other restaurants). I just paid the bill and left a terrible tip and ran out of this place like my life depended on it. I don't think I will ever go back to this place and I plan to tell as many people as possible to save them a bad experience or tell people I don't like to go dine here. 

For More Information (so you know which building not to go in):

Centro

Home made Creations: Pho

I've decided that I want to try crafting my own creations and wanted to keep a record of my success and failures. I've eaten around the city so much that I decided that I wanted to see how capable I am at making my own cuisine.

The recipe I decided to try was a Pho recipe that I found from a cook book by one of my favourite chefs, Gordon Ramsay. The recipe looked to be fairly straight forward and had a lot easy to follow instructions. The most difficult part of the recipe was finding some of the exotic spices needed for the recipe. The spices are not that difficult to find but they just weren't something I would normally use in my day to day cooking.

When I started making the broth for my pho, I noticed that some of the exotic spices such as star anise and cloves were quite potent. I was very careful not to over spice my broth because it could've easily turned into a big hot mess. I did have to make one substitution to the recipe, I used beef broth instead of beef stock. I made the substitution because it was quite late at night when I started cooking and I didn't have the time to make my own stock from scratch. By making the switch to beef broth the soup for my pho was darker and a little saltier then what I would normally see at restaurants.

One thing I've never tried before was using ginger root to marinate my beef. The ginger root used to marinate the beef broke down a lot of the muscle tissue which really made the beef nice and tender when it was cooked. I had to be very careful not marinate the beef too long in the ginger because if you marinate the beef for too long the texture of the beef could turn into mush.

The Final Results

My attempt at the dish turned out fairly well, the soup had a lot of flavour and paired very well with the noodles and the marinated beef. I still feel my soup could've been better if I made my own stock. I think the next time I decide to make this recipe I will take the time to roast the beef bones and make a delicious base for my soup. If I make my own beef stock next time I think I could even impress a vietnamese mother.

Recipe Information:
Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite.

Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer

On my weekend away from work I decided to visit one of Toronto's newest bars, Bar Hop.  Some might look down on bar food but I often find that you can find a lot hidden gems if you just gave them a chance and I think Bar Hop is a prime example. Bar Hop has a massive selection of craft beers on draft (24 to be exact) and a rotating cask so everyone is bound to find something they will like.

The bar is decorated very simply and has a lot vintage touches around the bar. The space is actually much larger when you walk into the bar then most people would expect it to be. The tables are spaced out and even on days when the bar is completely full you will still feel comfortable and be able to have a conversation with the person sitting across from you.

The food Selection at Bar Hop is about one fifth of the size of the beer menu, which is a good thing for me :P.

Portobello Mushroom Risotto Balls

To start my dining experience I decided to grab myself an order of portobello mushroom risotto balls. These tasty morsels came to my table piping hot and I couldn't wait to dig in. Unfortunately this was a little disappointing, I found the rice inside tasty but the outside was over fried. This is may be my personal preference but the sauce that came with the dish had too much cheese and didn't really taste like a tomato sauce any more.

Chipotle Mussels in Coconut Broth

The mussels at Bar Hop are really interesting because they come in a variety of flavours other then just white wine sauce or a tomato sauce. The mussels came in such flavours as lager & jerk mussels, green curry and thai sauce. My weapon of choice this time was chipotle mussels in coconut broth. The mussels were not very big but had big time flavour. They were spicy, tangy and the broth was a wonder to dip my bread in. I also added a basket of tasty tasty shoe string fries. The fries were very crispy and some of the best fries i've had in Toronto.

I had a great time at Bar Hop on my first visit, which warranted a consecutive visit over the weekend.  Bar Hop has a great selection of beer and a nice atmosphere, which makes this a great place for me to want to come back to. Even better there are beer specials and food specials during the week.

For More Information:
Bar Hop

Sandwich Love

I usually don't like going to chain restaurants or cafe's but there are always exceptions and Artisano Bakery and Cafe on King st is one those exceptions. Artisano is the new kid to the area but they sure know sure to make really tasty sandwich.

Artisano is not your typical bakery or cafe but is combination of a restaurant, bakery and cafe all in one handy dandy location. The space that Artisano occupies is massive and you would definitely be very surprised once you walk into the place. The space is actually cleverly divided into separate areas by decorating each place differently and using different decor elements. Sitting down in one area definitely feels different then if I were to sit an another corner of a restaurant. Someone could feel like they were sitting down in a nice restaurant and having dinner while someone else sitting 10 feet away could feel like they were in a cafe and just sip coffee and read their book.

Artisano has a wide variety of freshly baked breads and pastries readily available for consumption as soon as you walk into the place. Artisano even offers different varieties of coffees and teas to help you wash down your baked treats. if you are not in the mood for baked treats you can also find a variety of sandwiches, pastas, pizza or something else on their big menu.

(Roast Beef on Sourdough)

The sandwich I had on my visit to Artisano was the Roast beef on Sour dough. This bread was toasted nice and crusty and the grilled vegetables with the roast beef worked very well together. The pasta salad on the side was different then what most people think it would be and consisted of vegetables, olive oil and seasoning instead of being mayonnaise based. The new approach to the pasta salad was light and made a perfect compliment to the sandwich.

(Chicken Basil Pesto)

The Chicken basil pesto was the other sandwich that was ordered and like the roast beef, it was nice and crusty. The chicken breast was moist and contained roasted vegetables and a basil pesto which added a delicious italian flavour to the sandwich.

This is a really great place for people to come in and have a nice dinner or for would-be bloggers to sit and sip their coffee while they write. After one visit to this place, it quickly became one of my goto places for a quick coffee or just to work on my projects with a group of friends. If you've never been here before and you are reading this, I highly recommend that you head over.

For More Information:
Artisano Bakery and Cafe 

Garage's should all serve Italian food

I've always wondered why car garages don't serve Italian food, well not really, but after having dinner at Gusto 101, I really considered starting a new business venture. I finally was able to make my way to one of the most hyped up restaurants in Toronto and I have to say that it did not disappoint.

Gusto 101 is an Italian restaurant that serves its fine foods in a converted mechanics garage close to the corner of King and Portland (on Portland). The restaurant itself has a modern and industrial feel because they kept a lot of the original architecture and added modern day conversational pieces around the restaurant. During the day the restaurant is vibrantly lit from the natural sun light from the front of the restaurant since the entire front wall can roll up like a garage door. At night the restaurant does a 180 and becomes a romantically soft lighted environment where one can easily fall head over heels for the person in front of them (This is the romantic in me speaking).

I have to warn you that this restaurant does have a unisex bathroom, which completely confused me when I was searching for the washroom (oh the shock on my face when I walked into the washroom to find a woman washing her hands).  The individual stalls are actually individual rooms themselves and offer complete privacy from the opposite sex. For those shy people, it does take some getting used to but it really isn't that big of a deal.

Once again, my companion and I decided to each choose an appetizer and entree each: Calamari and Rigatoni Lucani for myself, Wild mushroom arancini and Spaghetti Chitarra all’Amatriciana for my companion.

(Calamari)

According to the menu description the calamari appetizer consisted of "jalapeño & cucumber giardiniera, roasted garlic aioli."  The pickled vegetables were interesting and tasty because they were not that tart but had a little bit of a sweet taste to them. The calamari were nice and tender and the accompanying garlic aioli complimented them nicely. The calamari was good but it definitely was not great, don't get my wrong, there was nothing wrong with the calamari it's just that I could recall many other places where i thought they were better. 

(Wild Mushroom Arancini)

Next up was the Arancini (rice balls for those scratching your head wondering what they are).  The arancini was presented very nicely on their tomato sauce and looked very appetizing. When you first break into the rice ball you are welcomed with some gooey fontina cheese. The risotto itself was tasty and had a very earthy taste from the wild mushrooms. Mixing every element on the plate will give you quite the tasty bite.

(Rigatoni Lucani)

The rigatoni lucani is described on their menu as rigatoni pasta with "shredded braised lamb shank, fresh herbs, shaved pecorino, peperoncino".You may not be able to tell from the picture but the rigatoni lucani was a massive dish of pasta. I was actually quite surprised by the portion size because I would have been satisfied with about half the amount. The pasta was cooked al dente (as it should) but i thought the ratio of sauce to lamb shank was a bit off. I never thought I would say this but it was too much lamb shank. 

(Spaghetti Chitarra all’Amatriciana)

The Spaghetti Chitarra all’Amatriciana was another mammoth dish of pasta that consisted of (according to their menu) "tomato, Pingue guanciale, thai chili, pecorino." The spaghetti was quite thick and was more a bucatini type pasta but it was also cooked perfectly al dente like the rigatoni. The sauce was good but it didn't taste like it was seasoned enough, it taste more like seasoned crushed tomatoes then sauce to me.  Maybe some people like that but for me it seemed a bit under seasoned.

The food overall was good, it just wasn't great. Maybe my expectation of this place were a bit too high because of the hype. Don't get me wrong this is still an awesome place to go and I still want to try the other items on their menu. Gusto 101 has a lot of positives like its comforting environment, friendly staff, and most importantly $1 per ounce house wine. I will definitely make my way back to this place, especially when they finish their construction on the heated roof top patio. 

For more information:

Gusto 101

Hello Ramen, my good old friend

Ramen, one of the greatest things ever created. I love noodles and soup, I grew up on this combination and still love it to this day. For those that don't know what ramen is I'll let my good friend wikipedia explain what it is: "ramen consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or (occasionally) fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweed, kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn." I like ramen so much that I'll even the instant stuff all day long if it wasn't so bad for my health, however there is still nothing better then a freshly made noodles in a home made broth.

For a good bowl of ambrosia, I ventured all the way to Steeles and Woodbine to eat at Niwatei in J-Town (a Japanese answer to China town). Niwatei is a small ramen shop set up in the area that serves a mean bowl of ramen and udon (after 5 pm). The shop is decorated with a lot of cute picture and Ikea furniture, which kind of made feel like i was walking into an Ikea catalogue.


I didn't come for the decor, I came to satisfy my appetite with some delicious noodles. I was with my favourite dining partner this day and we decided that we would order an appetizer and ramen each: karaage chicken and tonkatsu ramen for me, gyoza and miso ramen for my partner in crime.

Karaage chicken

Karaage chicken, Japanese style fried chicken, was presented to our table with a little bit of cabbage and a lemon wedge. The pieces of fried chicken (or what I like to call, golden nuggets) were lightly battered and seasoned with spices that I couldn't even guess what they were. The pieces of chicken were moist, tender and were a little bit spicy from seasoning, pure perfection once you've placed a freshly cooked piece in your mouth(as you can tell, I like fried chicken). 

Gyzoa, pan fried dumplings, came to our table next to keep our karaage chicken company. These were a little bit of a disappointment for me because I'm a bit of a dumpling connoisseur and these didn't really live up to some of the good ones that I've had before.  The feeling was nice but the problem was that they didn't have a crispy exterior and were kind of mushy.  This may have been an off day and maybe next time they will be better? maybe I'll find out later if I decide to order it again.

Tonkatsu Ramen

Now on to the stars of the show, the ramen. My order of Tonkatsu ramen, ramen with a pork based broth, came to our table piping hot and was ready to be devoured. Once you dove in and sipped your first spoonful of broth you are going to need to restrain yourself from picking up the bowl and chugging the rest of the soup (my dinning mate stopped me). The tonkatsu ramen had a really deep flavour and you could really taste the pork from the broth which really complimented the toppings, especially the chashu (slices of pork).  The noodles were firm and had a great texture that i think all good ramen should have. You may not be able to tell from the picture but the bowl of ramen was large and contained quite a large amount of noodles and was definitely a filling dish.

Miso Ramen

The miso ramen also had perfectly prepared noodles and a different array of toppings. The miso broth was just as tasty as the tonkatsu ramen's broth and I thought the bean sprouts were a nice addition which gave it a crunchy texture. 

For the ramen enthusiasts, I would definitely recommend checking this place out. Niwatei tries to be as authentic as possible down to the wait staff (minus the ikea furniture and utensils) and they seem know seem to know what they are doing in the kitchen. Their ramen was so good that i'm thinking about how to plan an evening trip just so i can see how they tackle udon.

For more information
Niwatei

Who Likes Haggis?

Yesterday (September 27, 2012) was the day where I finally get to dine on Scotland's favourite dish, Haggis. For those that don't know what is haggis, "Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours" (According to Wikipedia). Well folks, doesn't that sound delicious? Don't let the description fool you, it is actually quite good.

The eatery that served me such fine delicacies was on the edge of little Italy (near College and Ossington) and was called "The Caledonian." The Caledonian is a Scottish pub and is one of the nicer pubs I've been to with a great patio and a nicely decorated interior. The night I was there, the lights were turned down low and the tables had one tea light lit, which really set the mood for a perfect date night with your significant other. The patio is also much bigger then you would expect it to be and is well lit and heated for their patron's comfort.

Being a Scottish pub, The Caledonian had a wide variety of scotch, whiskeys and scottish beers. Some of the wait staff are even scottish and speak with the heavy scottish accent that we all know and love. The Caledonian makes a serious effort with a lot of little touches that really makes your night of drinking or your meal that much more enjoyable.

The first dish of the night that me and my dining partner hard was the taste of Scotland. The taste of Scotland is appetizer meant for sharing that consisted of a sausage roll, haggis fritters, and a scotched egg.

The sausage roll was quite tasty, the pastry was flaky and the sausage was nicely seasoned and salty making it a great package. The haggis fritter was definitely weird, I wonder who thought of taking haggis and covering it in batter and then deep frying it because i would like to tell him "Good Job." The best way I could describe it would be a corn dog made out of seasoned ground beef. This however does not do it justice because it was definitely a much richer flavour then simple ground beef. Most people are a little perturbed at the thought of eating haggis but if you don't think about what you're eating and just eat you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Last but not least we end the dish with a scotched egg. The scotched egg was nothing special, it was pretty ordinary and in my opinion a little over fried.

Now on to the mains ... Apparently on this night it was pie night because me and my dining partner both decided to order pies, one steak pie and one fish pie.

(Steak Pie and Mashed Potatoes)

The steak pie came with an order of mashed potatoes and arrived to the table piping hot. The pie crust was not as flaky as I would have like it to be but it still complimented the filling. The pie also contained big chunks of tender steak and was cooked in what I guess was a red wine gravy. I wasn't too sure if I enjoyed the sauce with the meat but the more i kept eating the more I grew to love it. The mashed potatoes were really nice because they actually mashed the potatoes with the skin on which i think adds a subtle texture. Overall the dish was good but I think a little too much because this was quite a heavy dish.

(Fish Pie and Salad)

My dining partner decided she would have their daily special, which was the fish pie. The first thing that stuck out when the dish was served was the large amount of cheese on top of the pie. The pile of melted cheese really took away from the dish and should've just had a little drizzle of cheese. once you dig into the pie, an abundance of seafood awaits you. There was fish, shrimp and even lobster waiting for you beneath the mashed potatoes. This all sounds great but this pie also had the same problem as the first one. The seafood tasted great but the cream sauce and the dish was just way too heavy. My dining partner could barely eat half.

I know some of the food I've talked about didn't sound too flattering but I would still eat here again. The service was superb and the other items on the menu piqued my interest enough for me to come back. I might even bring my friends next time and try their fine selection of scotches. This is a fine establishment, which I will keep in the back of my mind when I'm in the area and I'm looking for a bit to eat or a good time.

For more information:
The Caledonian

Fine Grub @ Frank's Kitchen

Little Italy (the one around college and not the one on St. Clair) has a multitude of different restaurants, which range from expensive to your typical sandwich shop. Don't let the name of the area fool you either because you can find just about anything on this stretch of Toronto, you can go out and eat mexican, middle eastern or even sushi. Today I will be spinning the tale about my experience at one of these eateries, Frank's Kitchen.

The space at Frank's Kitchen is not the largest but is definitely comforting and inviting. The space is not very wide but is definitely much longer then what you would expect. The walls are exposed brick, which give's the eatery a rustic feel. The rest of the restaurant is fairly simple and had nicely finished wooden tables and chairs scattered around the restaurant. The environment itself gave off the vibe of attending a nice dinner party at a good friends home.... a friend named Frank apparently.

Frank's Kitchen is a place that is suitable for almost everyone. You could head over after work and relax and have a few cocktails or you could even have a nice meal with your family. On my dining adventure I was wined and dined by my lady friend and I was quickly swept off my feet from the dinning experience and the ambiance.

The food itself definitely well thought out and carefully crafted for the dinners. I have yet to sample their entire menu but from the courses I did have, I was quite tempted to go back and order their entire menu.

The very first thing that was brought out for my dining companion and I was a basket of tasty tasty bread.

The bread is made in house and was accompanied by scratch made butter, hummus and pureed Olives. I cannot recall the the type of bread I had but I do remember that it was moist and full of flavour. The bread also serves as a great vehicle to help carry the delicious flavours of the hummus, pureed Olives and even the butter. I was even tempted to make a meal of just the bread because it was just that good.

Following the bread was a complimentary amuse bush, which was a small risotto and a cucumber soup.

The risotto balls were soft and were complimented well with vegetables that it was resting on. The cucumber soup I did not really enjoy because I personally don't like cucumber that much but it did help cleanse my mouth and prepare for the next courses.

Next came the appetizers. For our appetizers we ordered the oysters rockefeller and the seafood cocktail.

The seafood cocktail was presented beautiful on block of ice with embedded seaweed. A really nice touch was to wrap the lemon around with cheese cloth to stop the seeds from dropping onto the seafood when you squeezed the lemon. The sea food cocktail consisted of shrimp, crab and pieces of lobster and it tasted fresh and was light, it was definitely a great choice for an appetizer.

The oysters rockefeller was definitely a stark contrast to the seafood cocktail. This appetizer was loaded with cheese, bacon and butter.....mmmmm.... yes, all the good stuff in life that we are not suppose to eat in large quantities (oh yes, I forgot that there was also spinach). This was the first time I had oysters rockefeller and it was definitely a great first impression. The oysters were a great one bite appetizer that was smooth and exploded with flavour in your mouth. Just remembering the cheese, bacon and oyster combination in my mouth still makes my mouth water.......

Free cheers for another complimentary course (the palette cleanser).

Frank's Kitchen provided us with a small citrus sorbet to prepare us for our entrees. This was a nice addition to the meal, the citrus taste was pleasant and very settle. This was delicately done to ready our taste buds.

For my entree I decided to have what I thought be the richest tasting dish on the menu, venison wrapped in foie gras and if this dish wasn't rich enough, they shaved a black truffle on top it!

Nothing says tasty like wrapping a fine cut of meat with some buttery tasting foie gras. The meat was cooked very nicely and was very tender. Eating a piece of venison and foie gras together is a whole different taste experience that I've never had. I had the buttery and savoury taste from the foie gras and the the gamey tender taste of the meat all coming to together in my mouth, which put me into state of taste euphoria .........

My dining companion had one of her favourite foods, lobster, a butter poached lobster to be precise.

This was actually a whole lobster de-shelled, poached in butter and served with greens and peas. This dish was definitely all about the lobster, the elements on the plate didn't muddle the flavours of the lobster but only enhanced the taste. Again Frank's Kitchen expertly cooks the lobster to taste fresh and light. Oh, forgot to mention that the lobster is also swimming in a shallow pool of butter and I'm sure everyone knows that "butter makes things taste better" (a little Paula Deen wisdom)

After all that, Frank's Kitchen still provides a special service to their diners by giving them a chocolate truffle to finish up you meal.

This was a nice ending to our meal because it showed how much they cared and thought about their diners.

After eating all that great food I definitely had to take a nap.

This place has become one of my favourite places to dine and all because of one meal. The service was fantastic, the ambiance was nice, and the food was great. I think Frank's Kitchen Mastered the trifecta.

My Food Bucket List: The First Entry

I've eaten a lot of things over the years there are so many restaurants and creations out there that I still haven't crammed into my food hole. So this will be the beginning of my bucket list of things and places I would like to eat.


Dr. Augusta's Samitorium

The invention of the sandwich is so simple, but the variations that so many different restaurants have has always astounded me. Dr. Augusta's Samitorium is the new kid on the block (Opened September 2012) that has just set up shop on the edge of the Kensington market. This shop assembles their sandwiches from fresh made bread from Blackbird Baking co.  and meats from the local meat shop,  Sanagan's Meat Locker. The one unique thing about this sandwich shop is that they serve freshly made Soda. Dr, Augusta's Samitorium actually makes your soda right in front of you using a 100 year old recipe. I'm kind of a sugar junkie who loved drinking soda growing up so when i heard that i could get freshly made root beer and ginger ale I nearly jumped into my car, left work, and drove over.


For more information:
Dr. Augusta's Samitorium Web site

Kangaroo any one?

Have you ever said to yourself that you wanted kangaroo or to eat a rabbit sausage? well, i don't know about everyone else but I have and my prayers have been answered. At WVRST anyone can sample the wide selection of cased meats that they offer. There is such an eclectic mix of sausages that there is also something for everyone. To the uninspired and non adventurous types there are different bratwursts filled with different kinds of farm animals and for the those seeking something they've never had before they can feast on such delicacies as the previously mention kangaroo or the beloved Guinea fowl or if you are in the fine dining mood you could always order foie gras sausage (pinky up everyone).

The great people at WVRST have also apparently mastered the craft of making a good french fry (or should I say Belgium fry). I dare the french fry connoisseurs out there to sample their decadent duck fat fries and tell me they are not life changing (well maybe not life changing but they are tasty). There is something about using another animals fat to cook my food that excites that primitive beast inside of me. The fries get even better because the fries also come with their in house sauces, which are either tomato based or mayonnaise based. My personal favourite is the WVRST sauce,  because it taste good and it has also been my theory that the sauce that tastes the best is the one that named after the restaurant.

I've never been to Germany but the best way that I can describe WVRST's atmosphere is what i imagine a Germany beer hall must feel like. There are nice long tables that run through the restaurant where people of all shapes, sizes and species gather for some good old fashioned communal dinning. Some people feel awkward when sitting down to communal dinning but if you loosen up you can meet the most interesting kinds of people and hear the funniest or most entertaining stories (just hope you don't run into the bad kind of interesting, ei. teenage movie axe murderer). During the day, a couple could enjoy the well lit spacious environment to themselves and make puppy dog eyes to each other but when the lights go out the space becomes loud and boisterous as if you were drinking beers in a friend's basement. The people start filling up the long tables and the music is turned up to many decibals higher to a level that is just below intolerable. It no longer becomes a date spot but a place where friends can gather together to drink a beer or catch the leaf game (apparently they show hockey too!).

New comers may be a little confused about how to order food but not to worry, I will inform you so you will not starve to death. I made the mistake of sitting down at a table and waited for a server to take my order and feeling helpless when it the servers were ignoring me. It would eventually dawn on me that I needed to line up at a register and place my order and take a number like at a deli counter or butcher shop. Once you have your number, you can sit down and a server, which I know now is actually not a server but runner, will bring out your food and libations. On a side note, you should still tip your runner because they bring out your food and clean up the mess you are bound to leave behind.

I'll make it known now, I love beer and WVRST has a really great selection of beer which elevates my feeling of like to love for WVRST. WVRST carries a wide selection of craft beers and an assortment of international beers. One thing that WVRST has that make my inner alcoholic happy is the fact that some of the beers come in one litre steins. They also want you to know the quality, and care they put into every glasses by letting you know when they clean the beer tap lines so that every pint is tasty and crisp.

WVRST also a variety events such as industry nights (YAY for cheap beer), live DJ's, beer tasting classes and brewery nights. The are some many events that could appeal to just about everyone that you should drop in and just find out what might be going on this week.

I thought i would finish this post up with a picture of my meal in all of its glory.