Food – Page 15 – Tiana Feng

Kintori Yakitori Tasting

January 28, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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Recently I had the pleasure of being spoiled at a Kintori Yakitori tasting. The place specializes in chicken skewers (of essentially every part of the chicken). Ramen from it’s downstairs sister Kinton Ramen can also be ordered.

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Our meal began with a soothing Chicken Soup. It’s perfect for a cool day and not as salty as regular miso soup.

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My first drink was a Cassis Peach Oolong which was a nice palette cleanser between skewers.

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The Oshinko Moriawase is an assorted housemade japanese pickles. Each piece had a slightly different taste and salt.

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The Negima (chicken thigh & skallion) was tender. I added spicy flakes for flavour.

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Zuri (chicken gizzard) was a bit strange and chewy so not for the faint of heart.

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Nikumiso Kyabetsu was a cabbage salad with house made chicken miso dip.

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The Tebasaki (chicken wing) would be a hit with every fried chicken wing fan.

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One of my favourites was the Uzura Kushi Age, panko breaded deep-fried quail eggs.

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I never thought Sapporo and lemonade with be super delicious!

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Their skewered beef tongue was so good that I wouldn’t even have thought it was tongue if no one told me!

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For those afraid of crazy parts the regular chicken meatball (Tsukune) was super satisfying.

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Hatsu (chicken heart) was a bit chewy.

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Reba (chicken heart) was a flavourful hearty bite.

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Who can resist deep fried asparagus wrapped with bacon?

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This Negi Shio Gyu was a beef with delicious scallion sauce.

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The Dashi Maki was a fluffy omelette.

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I was getting super full but this Yaki Onigiri (char-grilled rice ball with plum filling and teriyaki) was an interesting blend of salty and sweet.

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Once again we were blessed with the green tea creme brûlée, which I could’ve eaten 10 of!

If you like skewers, Kintori Yakitori is definitely the place for you to try every part of the chicken (and much more). Or if you’re a frequent Kinton Ramen (in Korea Town) visitor, you can order from both menus on both floors.

This meal was complimentary but views are my own.

Morals Village Hot Pot

January 24, 2016Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

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Near opening week, my friends and I hit up the newly opened Morals Village for All You Can Eat hot pot. The place is small and despite a reservation we still had to wait. I thought it was kind of weird they had a “waiting room” instead of transforming the space to seat more diners. We were a party of 5, but we didn’t feel like waiting for a gigantic table so we settled on a 4-person table that only had one burner for a large pot. While it would’ve been fun to try multiple broths, one pot worked for our group. We had a mushroom broth on one side (one of my friends was vegetarian) and a pork broth on the other.

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One thing that drew us here was the sauce bar. There truly was a wide selection of sauces you could mix and match. Also at the sauce bar were unlimited amount of spring rolls and eggs you could crack in the hot pot.

There’s a 3 hour limit for AYCE and we used most of it up. We spent a lot of time waiting for orders of items that never came and eating beef that we totally didn’t order (we noticed after the 5th time someone brought us a plate exclaiming “beef”). I brought up to the waiter that we suspected that our orders were going to this other table because we’d see things they didn’t want being sent back to the kitchen. There were definitely service issues that needed to be figured out.

There was a wide selection of things to eat and things that I haven’t seen on hot-pot menus before like cheese filled meatballs (yum!). We were happy with the things we did receive but I felt bad for my vegetarian friend who never received the broccoli we tried to order 3 times. There were plenty of vegetarian options on the menu but they never quite made it to the table. The rest of us filled up on a lot of beef.

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Dessert was complimentary soft-serve ice cream! It was a lovely palette cleanser.

Our experience with Morals was very mixed and if it wants to survive needs to tighten up its service.

Homemade Tonkatsu

January 21, 2016Food, Recipes1 Comment

In our exploration of new recipes, we recently learned how to make our own Tonkatsu! We found a Korean grocery store nearby that actually sells the meet already tenderized so that the spices can fit into the crevices.

The recipe we use is a super simple baked one. We learned that it’s best to cook panko bread crumbs until they are a golden brown. We then flavour the pork with simple salt and pepper. You can experiment with other spices if you want to go beyond the traditional style. The pork is then dipped in flour, egg and the golden panko and put in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

It comes out super crunchy, juicy and delicious!

Overnight Oats

January 20, 2016FoodLeave a Comment

Since I was young, I never had a habit of eating breakfast. I hated eating when I first woke up. Heavy things would make me feel awful in the morning. However, I discovered after a year of working in an office that I would be so hungry and lack energy by noon.

Then I discovered overnight oats. You basically mix oats with liquid (milk, yogurt, almond milk etc) and fruit or other goodies. I’ve tried things like nutella, nuts and berries. It’s a deliciously light way to eat breakfast that is full of nutrients. There are so many cool combinations. Now I feel much more energized and awake!

Snacks @ Kanpai

January 18, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Before a concert at The Phoenix, my friends and I hit up Kanpai snack bar. The menu is full of music and pop culture puns. For example these deliciously crunchy chicken skins were named Player Hater.

Deep Fried Goldmember was calamari with a sweet house sauce.

To drink I had an Ooh Long Island Iced Tea containing a well-balanced mixture of absolut vodka, havana anejo blanco rum, tromba blanco tequila, beefeater, house-steeped oolong tea, fresh lemon juice, basil syrup.

I also had the Silky Johnson which was a peach-filled concoction of wyborowa wodka, muddled fruit, peche de vin, peach jelly sake, lemon juice, honey.

We came mostly for desserts and ordered all of them.

The Round the Way Girl was a delicious molten cake with a nori seaweed dust that provided an interesting saltiness.

The Wao Bao was a deep fried donut thing served with spicy nutella and a pop-rock sauce.

These Ping Pong Beignets were made of sweet potato and sprinkled with sesame seed.

The Let Your Backbone Slide were sesame mochi with fruit compote and peanuts. It was delicious.

If you want a place to have snacks before a concert this is the perfect place to go, but I recommend scheduling it in advance as the food takes a bit of time if the restaurant is full.

Collapsible Salad Bowl

January 11, 2016Food, ShoppingLeave a Comment

This year I’ve been making more of an effort to eat healthy by cooking more and buying less processed foods. Last year a lot of my work lunches have been canned soups or those pastas and pizza pockets you can microwave. I wanted to make eating lunch exciting again by finding fun ideas on Pinterest and creating them myself.

I found this perfect salad bowl at Home Sense by Smart Planet that has a separate layer for dry ingredients. The bowl also collapses when you are done so that it doesn’t take up space when you carry it home! How cool is that?

Hot Star Fried Chicken

December 30, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

One hangover morning Nash and I hit up Hot Star fried chicken. Originally from Taiwan, it recently set up a Canadian location in downtown Toronto.

There weren’t many choices on the menu yet. A BBQ option was coming and so were plum taro fries, but upon my visit they were still listed as “coming soon”. I opted for the regular fried chicken in medium spicey and a strawberry soda. The chicken was fried to a nice crunch but still super juicy on the inside. It was just as advertised: Surprisingly extra large and delicious. There’s no way one person could’ve eaten an entire portion!

Eagerly awaiting more options.

More than Sausages @ WVRST

December 23, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Recently we had a surprise birthday party for my friend at WVRST, the sausage hall.
Reservations are recommended for big parties as seating is at shared tables. You also have to go up and order your food and drinks. You aren’t really served per table.

I had the pheasant sausage. The meat was blended with sun dried tomato and apple. On top I added sweet onion and sauerkraut. I found the sausage super light and flavourful.

I chose duck fat fries as my side with a chili tomato jam as the dipping sauce.

Nash had the Bratwvrst and sweet peppers which he really enjoyed.

WVRST is also known for their wide selection of alcoholic beverages. Our first drink was a sweet West Avenue cider.

Then we opted to be a bit more adventurous and try Troy Wild Apple cider from Sanoma County California. It looked like a mini bottle of wine. It was super tart but you could definitely taste the real apples that were used in the making. The bottom also contained pulp which added an interesting texture (and colour) to our drinks.

Wvrst is more than just a sausage place. It’s a cool place to hang out and have a drink with friends!

Holiday Potlucks

December 17, 2015Food3 Comments

Holidays are full of delicious food including potlucks! We recently had one at work on our floors. Everybody brought delicious goodies, most being homemade (besides the obvious bucket of KFC). ]

I love potlucks because it allows me to taste food of different kinds and the histories and backgrounds of different people. It also allows me to experiment with recipes which aren’t always as fun when you’re cooking for two. This time around I brought bacon-loaded devilled eggs. What is your secret potluck recipe?

Deep Tea Diver

December 15, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

I have a new member of the Fred and Friends family! I won this little guy at Yankee Swap with my blogger brunch crew over the weekend.

This tea infuser has an oxygen tank and a little plate to sit it on. How adorable. One day I will have the entire line of Fred & Friends in my kitchen.