Takes "Five Guys" to make fries?

Burgers are one of those foods that everybody has had at one point and opinions have always varied about which is the best place to have one. I'm still traveling around and stuffing my face with burgers and trying to find that perfect burger. So I finally decided to check out a fast food restaurant that has received a lot hype "Five guys and fries" (around Yonge and Dundas).

The new fast food restaurant is bigger then what I would have expected and has quite a few tables spread out. The space is decorated in a checkered red and white theme that reminded me of a diner from the 50's or 60's era. The restaurant walls are also covered with praises from different publications from both the States and north of the border. There is also a big open kitchen where you can see your burgers being grilled on the flat top and assembled, which is kind of neat thing to see.

The menu is not too big, which consisted a few different kinds of burgers, sandwiches and hot dogs. On this trip I decided to grab a cheese burger and their famous fries.

The regular burger at "Five Guys and Fries" is a double patty and a single patty burger is considered their small burger. On this day, my favourite dining companion and I decided to each get a burger (1 regular and 1 small) and share a large order of fries. The one thing that was a bit of shocker to me was the price of the meal, which was over 20 dollars. 20 dollars for 2 burgers and an order of fries is a lot of money, especially for a fast food restaurant. For the price of the meal I was expecting the greatest burger ever made! The one good thing I can say though is that they were really generous with the frech fries. They would fill up a cup of fries and place it in a paper bag then fill up a metal tray and just dump the fries straight into the bag.

The burger's themselves were good but I didn't think they were anything special. They were better then burgers you would get at a grocery store or at McDonalds but I could think of a lot of other places where I've had a better burger. The meat was fresh and they did a really nice job of caramelizing the the beef patty on the flat top, which gave it a nice crunch. The toppings were fresh and bun was soft and chewy which made the burger really enjoyable to eat.

The giant mound of french fries were good too, they were fresh cut and fresh fried to order. I personally prefer my fries double fried to get a soft inside and crispy outside which I think these fries could have benefitted from. The fries were good but they were too much of a good thing, 2 people eating one large order of french fries could barely finish them.

Overall the meal was good but I couldn't help but feel ripped off for what I paid. The burgers weren't topped with any gourmet ingredients or sauces like at dangerous dan's diner or big smoke's burgers and the fries were good but not great (when I compare them to other places I've been too). The burgers were above average but they don't make me crave them like I do for other burger places. I would've enjoyed my meal more if the price point was lower. I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon (at least not until they lower their prices)

For More Information:
Five Guys and Fries

I love tacos

Mexican food has always been a personal favourite for mine, I just love the spices and fresh vegetables placed on top. I do occasionally venture to a taco bell from time to time but that really isn't mexican food, when I really want mexican food I head to kensington market where there are lots of little mexican joints around the area. Kengsinton market is where I recently found what I believe to be the greatest taco shop in Toronto, "Seven Lives".

Seven Lives is located in what only can be described as the tinniest food court i have ever seen. The little taco shop is located in a building along side other little food shops within an area that I can only estimate as maybe 1000 sq feet. There are only 2 tables in the back next to restaurant equipment, where people can go and enjoy their meal. This is not exactly a place I would go for a romantic meal but is definitely a place I would goto to get some awesome food.

The little taco stand has only a few tacos on their fridge menu but each one packs huge mexican flavour.

Fish taco and a spicy shrimp taco

For some reason I decided to go all seafood with my taco selection (and what a great decision that was.) The fish taco was fried perfectly and had a crispy batter and very moist flaky inside and really complimented the mounds of fresh guacamole and pico de gallo. The fish inside of the fish taco could've been eaten by itself with an order of fries but being stuffed in taco shell makes this dish a stroke of genius. Next up in my taco tray is the spicy shrimp taco, which packs huge flavour. The heat from the marinade  for the shrimp wasn't scorching like a fire in my mouth but flavourful and had a lot of depth. The shrimp was piled high with more guacamole and pico de gallo on top. The picture may not do these tacos justice because they are quite large (packs a lot of value for your money.) I had a lot of trouble folding one taco and trying to eat it without half of it falling out the other side. Half way through the taco I finally had the good sense to get a fork, which further increased my enjoyment of gorging on seafood. Lesson learned for next time? get a fork.

The tacos were delicious and I still salivate over the prospect of eating them again and again and again..... anyways, for those that are looking for authentic mexican food with out the bells and whistles should definitely head over to the seven lives taco stand. Seven lives taco stand may be hard to find but it is well worth the scavenger hunt through kensington.

For more information:
Seven Lives

Risottos and Chicken

So I decided to finally try two new recipes from my Gordon Ramsay cook book; a roasted zucchini mushroom risotto and a prosciutto wrapped chicken breast stuffed with sage and ricotta cheese.

 Prosciutto wrapped chicken breast stuffed with sage. This was a bit of a scary dish for me because I've never used sage before and I didn't know if i liked sage or what kind of flavour was to be expected.

The first thing i did was to make the filling; I chopped up a few sage leaves, mixed the sage with ricotta and seasoned it all with a bit of salt and pepper. I did notice the chopped sage leafs gave off almost of floral kind of scent with made me unsure if this would turn out to be a dish that i would like.

Next I butterflied chicken breasts and carefully stuffed them so that filling would not overflow from the sides or the ends. After stuffing the chicken breasts, I wrapped them up in prosciutto and cellophane and placed them in the fridge to set for one to two hours. Wrapping the chicken breasts and refrigerating them helped the breast and prosciutto maintain their shape and didn't fall apart when they were handled further.

The pieces of chicken were then pan fried for two minutes on each side to make the prosciutto crispy and baked in the oven with some thyme. When the chicken was ready I had to remove them from the oven and let them rest for a bit so the delicious juices wouldn't escape.

To go with my chicken I decided to make a roasted zucchini and mushroom risotto.

The first thing I did was halve the zucchini, score them and place them on a baking tray. Once on the tray I added olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice and a laid a few basil leaves on top. I roasted the zucchini in the oven and gave them a very rough chop and then started work on the risotto rice.

Risotto was little bit of tricky thing to do. I had to toast the rice in a little bit of olive oil and then slowly added one ladle of chicken stock at a time to my rice once my pan of dry. Cooking risotto was kind of a slow process because I couldn't just dump all the chicken stock onto the rice because I would just end up with mushy rice.

As my risotto was cooking, I started to sauté some mushrooms off in another pan to soften them up and remove some of the moisture. When the rice achieved the desired texture I combined it with mushrooms, zucchini and a bit of parmesan cheese,

 My Creation

The chicken was a bit dry because I baked them for a little too long but overall the results were quite good. The ricotta was very mild and helped the sage from being too overwhelming. This might be a personal preference but I think the next time I try making this dish I will use a different herb other then sage. Its not that I didn't like the dish, I just feel like maybe something like basil would've worked a little better.

The zucchini mushroom risotto turned out really well. The risotto rice was cooked to a nice texture and was al dente. The sautéed mushrooms added a very nice earthy taste to the risotto which really complimented the roasted zucchini. The lemon that was added to the zucchini provided a bit of acid to brighten it up.

Recipe Information:
Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite.

The holidays always make me feel "Sociale"

Over the holidays I had to loosen my belt and gorge myself on quite a few family dinners. With so many family dinners I find it very difficult to choose my favourite one but there is one meal in particular that stands out in my mind and it was my dinner at Eno-Teca Sociale (College and Dovercourt).

Eno-Teca Sociale was one of the most hyped restaurants to open in Toronto and is still one of the most busiest restaurants in Toronto. Eno-Teca Sociale serves rustic italian dishes in a small intimate environment. The restaurant is dimly lit and has small pieces of art work hanging along one side of the restaurant and a beautiful bar and white brick wall along the other. Even though the restaurant is small it is still quite loud from the hustle and bustle from the many restaurant-goers but at the same time it is still audible enough that you can maintain a conversation with your dining companion.

The wait staff at the restaurant were very quick and courteous and was more then happy to explain what ingredients each dish contained or what kind of wine you should have to accompany your meal. The friendly staff really made the experience that much more enjoyable, almost as if I was dinning at a friend's home.

On this night in question my dining companion and I started our evening with a beef capriccio and a grilled radicchio salad.

Beef Carpaccio

Eno-teca Sociale called their beef carpaccio "The Crown Beef Carpaccio", which I can honest say That it is quite the accurate statement. This is probably the best beef carpaccio I've ever had (the king of kings of beef carpaccio). The pieces of beef were soft as a cloud and almost melted in your mouth. The marrow was subtle and added a bit of creaminess to the dish. The sun choke chips were a very welcome addition to the dish that added a nice crunchy texture to keep the dish from getting boring and finally the greens on top added some freshness to the dish that kept it very light. Once you combine all the flavours in a single bite you will definitely experience a kaleidoscope of flavours and textures.

 Grilled radicchio

The grilled radicchio salad is not your ordinary salad and could probably stand on its own as an entree. According Eno-teca's menu the salad was described to contain : grilled radicchio, Treviso, pumpkin seeds, apples and burrata. The grilled pieces of radicchio were well seasoned and delicious and could've easily been mistaken as a mushroom because it almost had protein like texture. The pumpkin seeds were candied and added a sweet and crunchy taste that just complemented all the different flavours. The burrata was creamy and was mild flavoured and helped as a vehicle to deliver the flavours on the plate.

Pappadelle with a lamb ragu

For my Entree i ordered the Pappadelle with a lamb ragu. The in house made pasta was cooked to perfection and absorbed all that delicious delicious ragu. According to our server the lamb was braised for a really long in red wine, which really shows because it just shredded apart on my fork and was not dry at all. The ragu tasted fresh and had vibrant tomato flavour that made this dish that much more enjoyable.

Toasted Pasta

My date for the evening order the toasted pasta, which was predictably delicious. The pasta dish was toasted spaghetti with bottarga (was poor man's caviar according to our waitress), chili and garlic. One the pasta first arrived to the table, we could really smell a nice seafood flavour emanating from the plate.  The toasted pasta was a little crispy but not hard, which made for a unique texture. The chili and garlic sounded like very strong and pungent flavours but were actually very balanced to provide the right amount of heat and flavour. The bottarga was just like caviar, which was salty (but not overwhelming) and crunchy. The dish as a whole was very luxurious and something i'm going to have to try the next time I visit the restaurant again.

The whole dining experience was very enjoyable and relaxing. The servers were never pushy and tried to rush you off to flip the table but were always warm and inviting. Even after our meal, my side kick and I just decided to sit around a little bit with a glass of wine to enjoy the ambiance. This is a fantastic restaurant that I think everyone should at least visit once.

For more information
Eno-Teca Sociale