Food – Page 30 – Tiana Feng

Truffle Mac & Cheese @ The Crest

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Before going to The Crest, I accidentally Googled the menu for the Crest Gastropub in Columbus Ohio and did not notice until we actually got to restaurant. Luckily, the Crest on St. Clair West was a pleasant surprise and one of my new favourite discoveries. The 6-cheese Truffle Mac ($8) heavenly. It was so simple, yet complex and I would return for this item alone. It’s definitely the best Mac & Cheese I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve had some with bacon).

I also had an order of Sweet Potato Chips ($6) that was served with Maple Aioli. They were thin and lovely. Definitely better than chips with normal potatoes.

To sip on, I had the Crest Lemonade ($9) which consisted of vodka, cucumber, basil and lemonade. It was very refreshing and I liked the addition of basil.

Nash ordered one of the day’s special, a Steak Sandwich with a side of fries. It was very flavourful and the portion was generous.

I’m definitely glad we went here, even if it was sort of by accident! This menu turned out to be way better than the accidental restaurant we looked up. Don’t be intimidated by the fancy sign outside. It’s definitely worth walking in.

iPad Ordering @ Heart Sushi

March 31, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Mississauga’s sushi landscape is quite competitive. In fact, I’ve noticed that on Urbanspoon, competitors even leave negative comments on each others pages. Heart Sushi only opened a few months ago in Heartland and has already gained buzz and popularity. We decided to try the buffet dinner recently for Dad’s birthday.

The restaurant was big and spacious. Compared to 168 Sushi’s iPad ordering system this one was quick and efficient. We didn’t need to call someone over to confirm the order on the iPad. In fact, at Heart Sushi the system worked so fast that in minutes after hitting send we would see new food on the table.

The sashimi was very fresh and served beautifully on ice. There was a wide selection of items on the menu that had Korean and Thai items in addition to Japanese. The portions were a bit smaller than other places but this allowed us to try more menu items, so I was happy with that! Here are photos of some of the food:

Heart Sushi is definitely one of the best AYCE sushi places I’ve tried so far in Mississauga.

Burgers & Fries @ This End Up

March 29, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

We were in the Dundas West area for a party so we stopped by This End Up for dinner. A reservation is recommended. We didn’t have one and walked in randomly but luckily there was space at the bar. The space is relatively small and everywhere else was already reserved (Note: It was a Saturday).

I ordered the Chutney Burger ($14 pictured above) which had pork belly, cheddar, tomato and apple chutney, umami mayo and arugala. It was definitely one of the messier burgers I’ve eaten but it was totally worth the sticky hands. The chutney was flavourful and the burger cooked to a tender medium. The fries were so addictive that I finished them regardless of feeling full after the burger.

Nash went for the simpler Better Mac ($14) which was 2 ground patties, lettuce, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions and a special sauce. He ate it in minutes so I assume it was delicious.

We will definitely be back again when we’re in less of a rush to try some of their cocktails and other menu items.

Lunch @ Duke’s Refresher + Bar

March 28, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

Lunch with Nash’s parents landed us randomly in Duke’s Refresher + Bar, across from the Eaton Chelsea hotel where they were staying. It’s a sports bar that looks like it would have been perfect (and probably was) for the big olympic hockey game. It had a very homey vibe. There was even a thing on the menu where you could have your own personalized beer mug up on the shelf to be used every time you returned. What an adorable idea!

I had The Woody Burger ($12.95 pictured above) which was a BBQ brushed patty with American Cheese, “really special sauce”, carmelized onion on a bacon-infused foccacia. I loved the sweetness of the sauce and bread, which was not only bacon infused, but had a visible piece of bacon in it.The sandwich was also not heavy, a great choice for lunch.

Nash had the Hopped Up Fish & Chips ($14.50), craft beer-battered fish with a slaw, fries and of course tartar sauce. He also said it wasn’t heavy and light considering it was fried.

The bar also has it’s own house-made hot sauce which to me wasn’t that spicy but more of a nice flavour combination. We loved it on our fries.

There are also over 40 beers on tap and I had a lovely Coffee porter. If you’re looking for a casual pub to hang out in near Eaton’s Centre, this is a good one with decent food too!

Miniature Burger Kit by Happy Kitchen

March 24, 2014Candy, Food1 Comment

I couldn’t resist when I saw this miniature burger kit by Kracie’s Happy Kitchen when I was at Pacific Mall.

As always, the instructions were entirely in Japanese so I colour matched all the packages.

There were many packages of powders and I actually did it wrong at first because there were many orange ones. I ended up having to compare the text on the packaging with the instructions instead. The set needed the microwave to form the fries, bun and patties.

The result was a set that resembled a miniature McDonalds meal and strangely tasted like it too! The fries were salted, burgers meaty and soft drink fizzy. It was strange yet fascinating at the same time.

You can watch me make the burgers in my vlog.

Skewers Galore @ Yakitori Kintori

March 10, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

When we visited Kinton Ramen last time, we were left with a mystery. What was behind the chicken door? At the time, it was locked but through Kinton’s social media, found out it was a sister restaurant Yakitori Kintori that celebrated a soft-open last week.

The menu diagrammed skewers you could order from different parts of the chicken. There were also beef, pork and vegetarian options as well as various other cold and hot dishes. Skewers were $2-4, so it was reasonably priced and nothing else was over $9. Since it was our first time here we decided to sample a variety of things.

To wash things down, I ordered a Lemon Shoju, Japanese Lemon vodka. I was surprised to find out that we had to squeeze the lemon ourselves! It was a funny way to pass the time as we waited for our food to arrive.

My first skewer was the Buta Bara ($2). Most skewers you could choose a simple salted option or in bbq’d with Teriyaki sauce. I chose the salt option for the pork belly. It was fatty and delicious.

The Toro Sobori Poutine ($7) was the most Asian poutine I have ever tasted (moreso than the Kimchi Fries poutine from Bahn Mi Boys). It had soy-sauce, ginger, ground chicken with the curds and fries. We gobbled it all up because it wasn’t heavy like poutine can be sometimes.

My favourite of all the skewers was the Cheese Tsukune ($2), a meatball that exploded with cheese in the middle. A close second was the Jalapeno Nikuzume ($3.5), a jalapno stuffed with ground chicken.

Another hot dish we ordered was the Tako Ajillo, octopus sizzling in garlic olive oil. For only $7, we got a big portion of octopus that was the most tender I have ever eaten. It was served with bread.

The Tebasaki($2) was ordered with Teriyaki sauce. This was our final item in our initial order, but everything was so good and we weren’t entirely stuffed yet so we opted for more.

Nash loves mushroom and I love bacon so this Enoki Bacon ($3.5) felt like a match made in heaven and it was.

We also ordered the Shiitake Nikuzume ($3.5) which were adorable and reminded me of boys with bowl cuts.

I have no idea how I had room for dessert, but I couldn’t resist when I saw a Green Tea Creme Brulee ($5) on the menu! It was nice and creamy, but the top wasn’t as hard as normal creme brulee. The sweetness reminded me a lot of green tea iced cream.

I went to the washroom out of curiosity to see if they had a matching one to Kinton and indeed they did!

We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and pleasant staff at Yakitori. They welcomed us with the same enthusiasm as their downstairs neighbours. We will be back soon!

Gluten Free Pizza @ Strada 241

March 4, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

A lunch date with my boss landed us at Strada 241, a fancy looking place close to China Town. The menu was very Italian and I had to Google a few things to make sure I knew what it was. We ordered the Gianpolo Pizza which was supposed to have a wild boar, but the person I was with didn’t eat pork so we asked if they could leave it off. Substitutions were not allowed but we were allowed to leave ingredients off. The result of our order was a gluten free pizza with spinach and mushroom. I’m not a health conscious person, but I actually enjoyed the gluten free pizza. It did not break apart or taste weird.

We also shared this cured salmon salad with fennel, onions, peppers and more. It was very fresh tasting and I think I may have enjoyed this more than the pizza.

I think I may come back later with Nash so we can order the more meaty (and less healthy) looking items on the menu! I’ll be back with an update later.

Birthday Dinner @ Union Social Eatery

March 3, 2014March 3, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

For my birthday, I hit up Union Social Eatery at their Mississauga location with my family and Nash. We ordered a little bit of everything from the menu.

As a starter Nash had the Killer Soup ($4.95). The type of soup varies every day and his was a Potato Bacon. He said it was okay, but it had corn which was unexpected and less creamy than he thought it would be.

These Parmesan Truffle Fries ($7.84) were very flavourful and addictive. The truffle flavour was only from the oil but that didn’t stop me from eating them all.

The Korean Short Rib Tacos ($9.96) melted in my mouth.

The House Braised Short Rib Firecracker was crunchy and served with a sweet chilli sauce.

Since it was my birthday I thought I’d try the Social Punch which was made with Amaretto, Southern Comfort, orange, cranberry and pineapple juice. It was so delicious I drank it before our food came.

My sister’s main was the Thai Red Curry Bowl ($13.96).

A few people ordered the Steak and Sushi which was a cute take on surf and turf. The steak was cooked in a Korean beef sauce and sliced and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The shrimp in the sushi was fried and it had a nice crunch.

Nash had the Korean Swordfish Steak ($18.98) served with veggies. I’ve never had swordfish before and I enjoyed that it wasn’t fishy tasting.

I ordered the Steak Frites ($19.73) but since I ordered truffle fries as an appetizer, I replaced it with a Candy House Salad. The steak was very juicy and flavourful. The Candy House salad was sweet and there were mini surprises of figs, mango, walnuts and more in every bite.

All the food was beautiful and delightful and I would definitely recommend it for a nice night out.

Toronto Grilled Cheese Festival

March 2, 2014March 2, 2014FoodLeave a Comment

On Friday, I attended Joylister’s Grilled Cheese Festival. The premise was that we paid $39.99 ($45 with tax) for an all-you-can-eat grilled cheese and soup experience that included 4 drink tickets. We did a similar non-Joylister event, Burger Day, during the summer and loved it so we thought Grilled Cheese Festival would be something like it. I didn’t take any photos of Grilled Cheese Festival because we were in a frantic mood to try everything. I did however, have this vlog of our first hour:

I didn’t capture the chaos that ensued afterwards. Joylister had totally oversold the event and by 7pm the Roy Thompson Hall lobby was so full of people you could hardly move. My friends arrived during this time and were stuck outside for half an hour before being let in. Me and Nash felt really bad for them so we lined up in separate lines to help our friends get their share of food and drinks. The two of us were lucky because we lined up before doors and were able to sample the majority of things within an hour. There were only 12 vendors and it was ultimately underwhelming, especially for $45. I was surprised when I found out that only half the lobby had vendors. My favourite picks from the night included the Tandoori Chicken sandwich from Market Fresh, that most people ignored. A stand-out soup included the Tomato Feta & Basil from Soup N’ Such.

Personally, the overselling of tickets didn’t affect me because I came early but I felt like what I got for $45 wasn’t worth that price point. Burger Day was $30 and I was completely satisfied with my experience. I don’t know what Joylister did with our money, especially since it was beyond sold out and there wasn’t enough food to feed all.

The vendors themselves were friendly, and worked as hard as they could, despite not expecting the chaos that would ensue. The guy running the bakery stand even offered those that stayed till the end some full-sized pretzels to take home. Cheesewerks is giving out free sandwiches this weekend for those with tickets. I felt bad for sponsors that had to tie themselves to a disastrous festival. Look at this adorable ketchup bottle I won from the Indie88 booth!

Anyways, I don’t think I’ll be attending another Joylister event until they get their stuff together and I hear some better reviews.

Kinton Ramen

March 1, 2014March 2, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews5 Comments

Hey guys, I’ve been so busy the past week that I didn’t have time to post but I have a bunch of post-worthy content (especially food posts). Recently, I visited the new Kinton Ramen in Korean town.

When we arrived, there were two black doors. One had a chicken and the other a pig decal. We picked the pig door, which led to the restaurant. We tried the chicken door on the way out, but it was locked. Perhaps, that side will have a venue of some sort in the future. The restaurant was open-kitchen style and we were greeted by the entire staff upon entering. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen with Pork belly ($9.80). A gigantic slice of pork belly sat on a bed of noodles, scallions, beansprout, a sheet of nori and an egg. The pork was comforting and the broth was very flavourful. The portion size was very generous compared to places like Ryoji.

Nash had the Spicy Ramen with Chicken ($10.80). The broth had jalapeno paste, aosa-nori, onions and scallions. It definitely had a bit of a kick but he finished everything to the last drop.

To drink, we both had Japanese Lemonade. It was a sangria-like drink.

Our bill came in this cute little steamer. Nash was also surprised to find out that since he finished his ramen to the last drop, he got a card with a stamp for a free bowl after a certain number. We also had our picture taken for their Instagram. The idea is such genius and encourages people to not waste their food and also return.

View this post on Instagram

Nash Bussieres

A post shared by KINTON BOWLER (@kintonbowler) on Feb 16, 2014 at 4:32pm PST

Regretfully, I did not gulp down all my soup because I was full and did not know about this promotion beforehand. I had a great time at Kinton. The food was delicious, generous. The atmosphere was welcoming and the restaurant was beautiful decorated. This may be one of the cutest one-person-bathrooms I have ever seen: