Valentine's Day!

It was that time of year again, Valentine's day! which means a big romantic dinner with my lady. For this lovely commercially produced day I decided to travel to "Soos" (still trying to figure out the pronunciation). "Soos" is a Malaysian restaurant that kicks it up a notch in terms of style and sophistication.

Usually when I think of asian style restaurants such as Chinese restaurants, Hong Kong cafes and various other asian establishments I think of places with cheap furniture and no frills in terms of food presentation. "Soos" breaks the mould of what most people think of an asian restaurant and presents themselves as a modern eatery with Malaysian style dishes with a twist (won't find Chinese take out boxes here). "Soos'" decor is very modern with lots of vintage touches in their various private dinning rooms. There is even a very large and well stocked bar, which they make delicious cocktails from their expert mixologists.

One of the first things I need to mention about "Soos" was the amazing service. The staff was friendly, helpful and always ready with fresh cutlery and plates when we needed them. My water glass was never half empty for longer then two minutes, which is a great indication of how attentive the staff was through out the night.

To start off the meal we decided to order cocktails.

my lovely date ordered their "Nagasari" which was amalgamation of Tanqueray gin, muddled dragon eyes, kaffir lime leaf, sparkling wine. The "Nagasari" wasn't too boozy and was refreshing and light tasting.

I, on the other hand went the other direction and ordered something that contained booze, booze and more booze, "The Lochness Mobster." This elixir contained blended scotch, martini bianco vermouth, lillet blanc. Even though "The lochness Mobster" is a strong drink, there are many different flavours to be enjoyed with its mixture of different liquors. Be forewarned "The Lochness Mobster" definitely packs a huge punch and is a drink you should slowly sip. 

Our appetizers were very quick to arrive to help us enjoy our wonderful cocktails.

Keropok

Our first appetizer were house made shrimp crackers with a house made peanut sauce (Keropok). The shrimp chips were light, airy and crispy like the perfect potato chip. The shrimp crackers almost packed a lot of shrimp flavour, almost as if you were being slapped in the mouth with a piece of shrimp. The peanut sauce a savoury and had bit of spice which complimented the shrimp crackers beautifully.

Red Chili Wings

For our second appetizer we ordered the "Red chili wings." Even though this dish is meant to be eaten with your hands like a cavemen, the dish was beautifully presented on a perfectly cut piece of banana leaf. With a name like "Red chili wings" most people would imagine flames coming out of their ears because of the spice but in reality the wings were more of a mild spice with loads of flavour. Each Drumstick/Flat was big and juicy and covered with their secret blend of spices that went off like fireworks in my mouth, tickling all my taste bugs (if only they served these wings at bars). 

For her main dish my lovely lady friend had what was labeled as "Sea shell",  scallops, squid and other pieces of seafood in a curry bouillabaisse. There was a nice variety of sea creatures on the dish in a flavour packed curry bouillabaisse. The bouillabaisse contained a lot of different spices and packed a bit of heat. It was a little odd for me to eat this dish with slices of baguette because usually Malaysian curries are served with a side of rice or on top of rice. The spices were a little overwhelming and I think a serving of rice would've been a better choice.

For my main I ordered off their specialty menu, a surf and turf. The surf part was a nicely grilled jumbo shrimp. The turf part of this dish was a medium cooked sliced piece of steak with a spicy sauce on top. This was a little bit of a disappointment: the steak was overcooked for my liking because I believe steaks should always be cooked rare to medium rare. The sauce on top of the steak overpowered the steak and left the taste of spices in your mouth. This was an "OK" take on the surf and turf but I've definitely had much better around the city.

The food at "Soos" had its ups and downs. The appetizers were fantastic and I still drool when I think of them but specials of the day were not so impressive. However, there were still a couple of dishes on their regular menu that I do want to try. This was still an impressive first visit and I would definitely come back again to try their delicacies.

For more information:

Soos

Winterlicious!!!! part deux!

In this never ending winter I went to my second Winterlicious event of the season, Momofuku. Momofuku quite widely known in the culinary world for its ramen, various other asian inspired dishes and its celebrity chef David Chang. This well known ramen establishment is located in one of Toronto's luxury hotels, Shangri-La.

Momofuku seems to have built itself quite the following in the states and in the media, which really surprised me when I walked into the restaurant and everything was quite unassuming. Inside looked like your typical Ramen place in Toronto. The decor was simplistic, clean, and really didn't have anything that made it stand out. There wasn't a lot of private tables for patrons because it was more communal tables to help feed the massive crowds that seemed to never really stop streaming into the restaurant. The communal tables can be off putting to some but I was perfectly fine with it because I've been to other ramen restaurants and other places which had the same kind of setup.

To start my meal at Momofuku I had their Kimchi in a jar and my dining companion I had their steamed pork bun.

Kimchi is exactly like it sounds: Kimchi stuffed into a large glass jar. The kimchi was actually quite tasty and was better then the kimchi I would get at korean restaurants. To be fair to the korean restaurants, the kimchi I get at restaurants is free and the jar I got here is something I paid for, which hopefully means Momofuku did something special with their kimchi. The Kimchi I had exploded with flavour and was spicy and sour.

When the pork bun arrived, I was a little surprised because it wasn't what I imagined.  I thought the bun would be your traditional steamed pork bun. The "bun" was good but it didn't really stand out too much.

Dan Dan Mein

The Robin to my culinary experience at Momofuku ordered the dan dan mein, a dry spicy pork noodle dish. The noodles used in the dish were the same noodles used in the ramen, the pork was seasoned well and was not as spicy as advertised. The noodles were tasty and went well with the pork but again this dish didn't really stand out from similar dishes I've had in the past.

Smoked Chicken Ramen

I had their smoked chicken ramen, also on their regular menu, which had a nice broth with tons of toppings. There was crispy chicken skins, a barely poached egg, mushrooms and all sorts of goodies. There was a lot of flavours going on, the broth was nice and there was an earthiness from the mushrooms. There was also a variety of textures to be enjoyed: the crispy chicken skin, the silky poached egg and of course the ramen noodles. This was a great ramen dish and I really enjoyed this as part of my 3 course meal.

 Chocolate Pudding

For the finale I had the chocolate pudding. The chocolate pudding was the highlight of the meal for me. The pudding was smooth and creamy like how great puddings should be. Floating on top of the pudding were chunks of the "compost cookie" and what I think were were chocolate covered malt balls. This wasn't a very heavy desert and was the perfect way for me to end my meal.

Compost Cookie

My dining companion ordered the compost cookie as recommended by the wait staff. The name might not sound appealing but I can guarantee you that it is one of the best cookies you'll ever have. There were chocolate chips, what I think was granola and oatmeal. The cookie was chewy on the inside and had a really nice crispy caramelized outside.

Here was the full Winterlicious menu form Momofuku:

This was a very filling meal and a great value for 15 dollars for 3 courses. Normally I would never go to Momofuku because the regular menu is quite steep but I'm glad that Winterlicious provided me the opportunity to have a Momofuku experience. I can't say I will be back anytime soon, but I will jump at another opporunity to come back for Summerlicious or Winterlicious.

For more information.

Momofuku

Winterlicious!!!! (Cibo)

To those that have no idea what Winterlicious is all about; It is a glorious time of year, much like Christmas,  when restaurants all over Toronto offer a price fixe menu to gluttonous people (like myself) at very affordable prices. For my very first foray into this wintery culinary adventure I braved the cold and traveled all the way to Cibo wine bar for some fine Italian fare.

Cibo wine bar, (pronounced Chee-Bo) is one of Toronto's latest addition to the wine bar scene. The wine bar is separated into two sections: one dining area and a one cocktail/bar area. The full menu is still available in both areas; the only difference between the two sections is the atmosphere. The dining area is just as it sounds, quieter then its counter part and well suited for a romantic night out with your significant other. The cocktail/bar area has more of club atmosphere with load music and a younger vibe.

Winterlicious restaurants usually offer two different price fixe menus: one for lunch and one for dinner. The lunch menu is often the better deal of two, which is why I went to Cibo for lunch. For 15 dollars at Cibo I was able to order a 3 course meal for lunch, pretty good deal considering its about the cost of 2 value meals at McDonalds.

Fresh bread with Olives

One of the best things at Cibo is their fresh baked bread, the bread is chewy, fresh tasting, and is topped off with some toasted herbs and salt (just drooling when I think about it). The olives were fresh tasting and looked like they were marinated in a chilli oil, too bad I hate the taste of olives.

For my first course I decided to see how they would handle the Caesar salad. The lettuce was fresh, the dressing was nice and the salad was not over dressed. The salad wasn't the greatest salad in the world but it was a light and a nice way to begin my meal.

My compatriot for this meal ordered the baked Eggplant. According to Cibo's menu the roasted eggplant had melted bocconici, parmigiano, with a light tomato sauce. When the dish first arrived to the table we both thought this dish was going to be heavy like a lasagna; we were very surprised that the dish was very light when got our grubby little mitts on it. The combination of the tomato sauce, egg plant and bocconici wasn't heavy but tasted fresh. Personally, for me the dish was a little bland a could have used a touch of salt and pepper.

Now for the main event of my meal, Quattro Stagioni (according to the menu). The delicious disk of food was topped with red peppers, mushrooms, olives, zuccini, and eggplants. The pizza was a thin crust neapolitan style pizza. Each slice of pizza packed a ton of flavour and loads of tasty veggies. Topping the slice of pizza with a little bit of their chilli oil creates a little bit of heaven in the palm of your hands.

The other main dish that arrived at the table was tagliatelle with shrimp, pesto, pine nuts, mascarpone in a touch of tomato sauce (again according to their menu). This was a little misleading because as you can see, it is actually tomato sauce with a touch of pesto instead of the other way around. The tomato sauce was creamy with a little bit of tartness and the shrimp was cooked perfectly and fresh like it was just fished out of the ocean. The tagliatelle was house made fresh pasta; cooked perfectly al dente. It was hard to stop myself from leaping across the table to consume this dish because it tasted so good.

To help me finish off my food coma, I ended my meal with a tiramisu martini. This was a very pretty dessert, which made it hard for me to want to plunge a spoon into it (for about 10 seconds). This was not an overly sweet desert but more of mature desert because you could really taste the espresso to compliment the nice cake beneath the whip cream instead of tasting tons of sugar and chocolate.

The vanilla bean panna cotta with candied blood orange and tangerine arrived next. This was a fantastic dessert, which wasn't overly sweet and had an amazing texture. The vanilla bean really stood out and combined with the candied blood orange sauce created a flavour explosion in my mouth. 

The meal here was quite amazing and the price here for Winterlicious is tough to beat. Cibo has extremely friendly staff and amazing food, which makes me want to come back soon and try something on their regular menu.

For more information:

Cibo Wine Bar