Thar she blows matey....

On one cold fall weekend I decided to venture outside of my comfort zone and travel to the east side of Toronto with my trusty side kick. The majority of my time is usually spent on the west side or central part of Toronto. East of Yonge street always seemed like such a mysterious place to me. I rarely go further then Church, mostly  due to laziness. My partner in crime was always telling me that I'm missing a lot of the Toronto food scene because there a lot new places and great institutions in the area.

I'm really glad I put on my big boy pants early in the morning and made the trip to find a great brunch place, "Eastside Social". "Eastside Social" is a seafood restaurant with Caribbean influences in Lesliville.  The restaurant is quite spacious and looks like a very nice country club space where I should be sipping scotch. There is also some nautical touches and warm inviting touches like the large book case filled with a random assortment of books (law books and twilight??), that makes the space feel comfortable. It almost felt like I was dining in the captain's quarters on an old ship.

On this initial visit to this eatery, I decided to have to have my usual brunch meal, eggs benedict.

Calling "Eastside social's" version of an eggs benedict hearty and filling would be an understatement. The perfectly poached orbs are nestled on top of a delicious peameal bacon cut into strips which hide an english muffin underneath all that meat and golden sauce we call hollandaise. There was a lot of peameal bacon on the plate and dare I say...... may be a bit too much.... I'm a huge carnivore but eating so much peameal bacon at one sitting was a bit too much salty goodness even for me. The hollandaise and the eggs did pair quite well with the peameal bacon. There was a nice contrast of salty, savoury and a little acid to tie it all together.  

My partner ordered salted cod on bake.

Bake, for those that don't know, is a Caribbean style fried bread. The bread surrounding the precious filling was light, airy and crispy on the outside. The filling was seasoned salted cod, slaw and picked onions. The fish was prepared beautifully which harmoniously paired with the slaw and pickles. This was definitely the dish that stole the show for our brunch.

The brunch definitely had some room for improvements but just from sampling some of their menu items is more then enough to entice me to come back again try the specialty(seafood).

For More Information:

Eastside Social

Vancouver Ramen

What would you do for a good bowl of ramen? How far would you go to find that perfect bowl of noodles and soup? My epicure  quest for a great bowl of ramen has lead me all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia. I crossed the country and ended up at "Ramen Santouka" where I found the best tasting bowl of ramen I've ever had. 

"Ramen Santouka" is a pretty well known chain of ramen restaurants with locations around Asia and the west coast of the United States but there is only two locations in Canada, Vancouver and Toronto. The ramen "Shop" was bustling even in the late afternoon with people still ordering piping hot orders of ramen at 2 pm in the afternoon, which is a great indication that this place is going to serve a great bowl of ramen. 

The space is pretty small with a very simple black theme through out the restaurant. The restaurant was very clean but it is not a place where people would hang out for a long extended period of time. I got the feeling that its more of a place trying turn over as many tables as possible, like your typical ramen shop.

When I first sat down I was starving and dying to eat anything they would put in front of me. The servers quickly brought over the menu and I scanned through the menu and immediately spotted the perfect combo like an eagle ready dive and catch its prey.

Kara Miso Ramen + Ikura Gohan

To be more specific I ordered a spicy miso ramen and a salmon roe rice. I was a little worried that the ramen might be too heavy handed with the spices but those worries soon went out the window when my order arrived at the table. The ramen had nice clean tasting broth that wasn't oily and had nice punch of spice. The ramen was topped with tender slices of pork and a variety of vegetables that complimented the spices and the broth. The noodles were cooked perfectly and had a nice texture that a lot of ramen places can't seem to get right. 

The salmon roe rice was a dish I've never had before and wanted to try since it looked so interesting. When I think of salmon roe I conjure up the image of small pin sized spheres that crack and pop in my mouth. The Ikura gohan quickly changed the way of how I looked at salmon roe. The salmon roe that was served to me were soft and the size of pearls from a necklace. When I bit into the salmon row the liquid would explode in my mouth, filling up my mouth with a salty smooth salmon flavour.  The lightly seasoned rice paired really well with salmon roe by helping offset the saltiness and adding another texture in my mouth.

The food was really tasty and very filling. I walked in dying of starvation but ended up walking out one happy (full) camper. I enjoyed my experience at this Vancouver location so much that it has me thinking about tracking down and visiting its Toronto location. If you are in Vancouver I highly recommend visiting "Ramen Santouka."

For More Information:

Ramen Santouka

And the Eagle has Landed....

Spring is here! spring is finally here! its been weeks and months of sub ten degree temperatures and nothing but rain (sometimes snow!) and dark skies lately but finally in late May we get to have beautiful beautiful sunshine. Along with beautiful weather and warm temperatures comes patio season!

On this sunny weekend in May I decided to sit on a patio and have weekend brunch with my favourite dining companion at "Hunter's Landing" in City Place. "Hunter's Landing" is situated right in between the many condos in the area and has a massive unobstructed patio with lots of sunshine. Their patio offers a nice relaxing atmosphere where I was able to just sit back and soak up the rays with a cocktail in one hand.

If this is your first visit to "Hunter's Landing" for brunch I would highly recommend you to order their monstrosity of a caesar, "Landing's Cure".

This giant mug of all things great comes in a stein and pretty much has every animal from the animal kingdom on a stick! Theres assorted house pickled veggies, a lobster tail, thick cut bacon, sausage, and even a slice of pizza on a stick! The caesar was little light on vodka for me but I think it was because of the large of amount of Clamato that was poured into the stein. The caesar overall had a nice flavour and I really liked the touch of horse radish. It is difficult for me to call this a cocktail since this was more a meal in a glass.

For the non-liquid portion of my meal I decided the to have the pulled pork eggs Benedict.

This was a very filling dish especially when I accompanied it with their signature caesar. The pulled pork was moist and tender and paired up very nicely with the poached egg. The only complaint I have was that the pulled pork contained large amounts of fat that are usually discarded but somehow found its way to my plate.


My dining companion ordered the ahi-tuna Sandwich on a multigrain croissant.

The ahi Tuna was nicely prepared to a medium rare and had a nice little kick of spice from the chilli peppers. The choice of using a multigrain croissant was a little odd for me. the croissant was a little denser then your normal croissant and wasn't as flaky as its regular counter part. I think if they served the ahi-tuna again on a regular croissant it would definitely taste much better.

This was a very enjoyable weekend brunch on a nice patio which makes me want to come back again. There  are still a few items on their brunch menu that I would like to come back and try and I might even challenge that monster caesar once again.

For More Information:
Hunter's Landing

What a Bagel? (actual restaurant name)

There are countless places to eat around the city for brunch but on this particular mid-day brunching hour I decided to finally visit "What a Bagel?" on Spadina. As the name suggests, "What a Bagel?" specializes in bagels at this jewish eatery. On your visit to "What a Bagel?" you can expect quite a bit of wait for table because I had to wait twenty minutes before I was seated at a table, which is not an uncommon occurrence from what I heard from other diners.

The dining area was quite cramped and uncomfortable. I was quite difficult to listen to what my dining companion was saying because it was quite loud and we were seated about six inches away from another couple. This wouldn't have been a problem if the day was warner and they opened their spacious patio but it seemed liked they tried to cram as many people they could in what little space they had. 

The food menu was quite large and had a lot of jewish speciality items you would expect such as matzo ball soup, cream cheese and lox.  "What a Bagel?" also sold a variety of Bagels for take out if you were hoping to bring home next days breakfast or be an office hero.

Avocado Turkey Bacon Club. 

After scanning through their menu I decided to order their speciality of the day, Avocado turkey bacon club.  The fries appeared to be double fried and were crispy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside like how good fries should be. The club, was stacked quite high with fresh tasting ingredients  on their home made bread. The avocado was a nice touch to the club because it added a nice creamy texture to the sandwich.  I wasn't so sure about the turkey bacon because I personally love the salty swine counter part more. 

lox (smoked salmon), chive cream cheese, tomato, 

red onion, capers 

My lovely dining companion ordered the "Big shot" which was lox (smoked salmon), chive cream cheese, tomato, red onion, capers on their signature bagel. This was a massive serving of food, which this picture does not due the dish justice. The lox was packed full of the smokey flavour everyone loves and combined with the chive cream cheese made it a match maid in heaven.... or on Spadina. 

The one take away for me is the massive amount of cream cheese on the bagel. The amount of cream cheese on the bagel was almost more then the amount of lox placed on the other side.

This would be a nice sunday brunch spot if I was sitting outside on their patio but unfortunately cramped space on the inside was quite distracting, especially when they seated us next to the heating pipes which made our dining experience quite warm. I'm looking forward to coming back to try their food and have a better dining experience.

For more information:

What a Bagel?

Going Greek on King

One of the latest offerings on King street is a small little establishment called "The Greek." "The Greek" is not your sit down and order type of restaurant but a "fast food restaurant." The space they occupy is a small space with a few tables and a counter where you place your orders.

The counter is surrounded by chalkboards listing all the different options. The menu is small and quite affordable with options starting from 3 dollars. This is quite an oddity because food offerings around this part of Toronto don't start at 3 dollars.

The seating space is bright and warm and would be a nice place to sit down and enjoy a meal and if you ever forget where you are, there is a big sign over the seating area to remind you.

On my very first visit to "The Greek" with my usual partner in crime we decided to order 3 different items off their menu: Pork Souvlaki on a stick, keftedes, and their greek poutine.

For the low low price of of 3 dollars you get a pork souvlaki, pita, tzatziki and slice of lemon. The pork was moist and hot right off their grill and went wonderfully with their garlicky tzatziki. This was quite a bit food for 3 dollars when you think about what 3 dollars can buy you. you can't even get a slice pizza or a burger at most places.

The keftedes were la lamb meat ball and were 4 to an order with tzatziki. The meatballs were well seasoned and packed full of flavour. The keftedes also came with an order of pita, which help make this almost a full meal.

My side kick and I decided to both order their greek poutine, which consisted of a large box of perfectly fried french fries smothered in pulled pork, tzatziki and feta cheese. This was quite the interesting take on poutine, the saltiness of the feta and the creamy garlic taste of the tzatziki really created a nice greek spin on the great canadian classic. It may be hard to tell from this picture but the serving was quite big and could possibly feed 3 people.

This was a pleasant surprise for me to find a spot on King Street West that makes affordable and delicious greek food. On my first visit I ordered mostly off the snack menu and enjoyed it so much that it makes me want to go back try some of their larger items off their menu. Its hard for me to recommend the Greek just yet but I would definitely recommend this place to satisfy any cravings for greek food.

For More Information:
The Greek

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 

The Pulled Pork Paradox

I know it is a little bit late to be talking about christmas presents but over the holidays I received what I deem to be one of the greatest inventions of all time, the crock pot. I've never owned one or ever used one but I was quite excited to crack open my crock pot recipe book and get started. As I flipped through my crock pot cook book (quite the mouthful), "Slow Cooker Revolution", the beginners pulled pork recipe immediately appealed to me. 

I've tried making pulled pork before and was a little bit of a disaster. My first attempt was quite dry and didn't have much flavour. This was mostly due to my blind ambition because I just guessed and improvised my way through the recipe, much to the chagrin of my partner. This time however I was going to follow the carefully constructed recipe and conquer my nemesis known as pulled pork.

I bought 4 pound pork shoulder (pork butt) and all the spices (cumin and oregano) and the rest of the ingredients from my local grocery store. None of the ingredient were too difficult to find and could be reused for over recipes so I'm not going to have an ingredient making a long term home on shelf or in my fridge.

One of the first things that the recipe asked me to do was create a rub with brown sugar and my spices and apply it to my pork butt (I just like saying pork butt). I liberally applied the mixture and wrapped the hunk of meat in cellophane and placed it in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours (oh the anticipation).

In my new fancy toy, I created a nice shallow well of liquid with cider vinegar and covered my pork with some store bought BBQ sauce. I lowered my pork butt into the liquid and set the slow cooker to low and I let it cook in its own juices for 8 hours. As my meat cooked it slowly perfumed my home with the sweet sweet smell of BBQ.

When the pork butt was ready to be pulled out of the slow cooker, I needed to skim all the fat from the braising liquid (there was quite a lot of fat, definitely not a diet food). My lovely kitchen assistant at home selflessly volunteered to shred my pork butt, which created quite the lovely meat confetti. After the meat was shredded, I picked a nice pile of meat up and threw it in a hot pan with some of its braising liquid and some more BBQ sauce. 

As soon as the meat absorbed all the lovely juices and sauce from the hot pan I surgically placed the meat on some slider buns and topped it with a pickle.

Open

Closed

The end result was quite delicious. The meat was still moist, tangy from the cider vinegar and sweet from the BBQ sauce. Overall I was quite happy with results, which was a giant improvement from my first attempt. This was still a lot of work but I viewed this more of labour of love. I'm definitely going to keep this recipe in mind whenever I do have the hankering for some delicious BBQ, i might even make my own little tweaks next time.