Food – Page 35 – Tiana Feng

Klout Perk: The Red Bull Editions

April 18, 2013April 18, 2013Design, Drinks, Food, PhotographyLeave a Comment

Klout sent me an e-mail a few days ago saying my Red Bull Editions perk was finally on its way. I didn’t expect it to show up expedited at my door yesterday. Who knew free samples would be so damn efficient. They even came in a cute little box with a tag.

I have too much expendable energy to drink them right now but I thought they came in nice bright colours. I like this design much better than the regular Red Bull. It’s streamlined and simple. I played around with some manual focus photography with my f1.8 lens.

Maybe I’ll save these for when music festival season comes along.

Come and Get Poutine

April 9, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Come and Get It is a pop-up restaurant located in a little space on Spadina (close to Queen) where Ackee Tree used to be. The restaurant is very temporary because soon it will disappear to condo developments. This could be a few months or years, so who knows.

The place itself has a very 90s-punk atmosphere with graffiti style bathroom stores. They also love vintage 90s stuff like lunch boxes, N64 and New Kids on the Block.

The menu has four options that can be prepared as either a sandwich, salad or poutine. Besides the herbed-crusted green beans, it was really hard to choose.
I opted for the Hawaiian Pork Belly poutine. I really liked the BBQ sauce and the pork belly. There was even crispy pork crackling that reminded me of the skin on Chinese roast pig, the ones you see hanging in the windows in China Town. That was one of my favourite things growing up as a child.

Nash really wanted the jerk chicken, but they ran out so he tried the Chipotle Short Rib as a poutine. There were crispy onions on top. The meat was melt in your mouth, but I didn’t really find it spicey which I would imply in something labeled Chipotle.

The serving size was very large (maybe twice the size of Poutini’s regular), and quite worth what you paid for. I hope this place remains at the spot for a little while. It is great pre-concert food and I would love to try all the options!

Tickling Our Tastebuds at Banjara

April 3, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Indian cuisine is probably my favourite, but I rarely have people that are adventurous enough to eat it with me. I’ve walked past Banjara‘s Bloor West location regularly and the aromas are always so enticing so finally I stopped by with my friend Karol for lunch.
We really wanted to try as much as we could so we had three main dishes. The waiter was very helpful in recommending new things to try so that we wouldn’t just order Tandoori or butter chicken. His personal favourite was the Shahi Shrimp ($13.99). The shrimp was cooked in coconut milk, cream and green spices. It reminded me of Thai green curry, except with more complicated flavour notes.

I chose the Goat Rogan Josh ($11.95), mostly because of the weird sounding name and the mention of Kashmiri-style curry which I have never tried. Kashmiri style usually contains combine paprika, fennel, ginger, salt, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. It was very fragrant and the goat was tender.

Lastly, Karol wanted to try a paneer so we got the Paneer Makhani ($9.99) which is a sort of cottage cheese cooked in tomato sauce with herbs.

Accompanying all the curry we had saffron rice which was cooked just perfect (not too hard).

Oh, and you can’t forget the Naan, so we got garlic naan that tasted like fancy garlic bread.

To drink I had a Mango Lassi, a kind of mango shake made out of yogurt. It was great for cleansing the palette and cutting the heat in between the different dishes.
We couldn’t leave without also trying dessert so we shared an order of Rasmalai, described as curdled Milk balls cooked in sweet milk with saffron and pistachio flavor. Curdled milk might sound gross, but it was very light and a sweet way to end a meal. Plus, I am alive so curdled milk did not kill me.

If you’re ever looking to try out Indian cuisine for the first time, I highly recommend going to Banjara first. They have a great selection and you definitely won’t be disappointed! Don’t go to a buffet because often the spice level may not be to your tastes. When you order at Banjara, you can choose those levels. Go tickle your tastebuds now!

Our Quest to The Burgernator

April 1, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Nested in the boutiques of Kensington Market is recently owned burgery The Burgernator. The eatery had black walls that were decorated with a Terminator / RPG quest theme.

The washroom played along with a sign that says “Duty Calls” and a Burger Manifesto took up one wall.

The menu was also inscribed on the wall with action packed burger names.

I ordered the Atomic Burger which had a deep fried herb crusted cheese, tomato, lettuce and sun dried tomato aiole on top of a patty of freshly ground beef. This was the first time I had a burger with a slice of fried cheese and the herbs added to the batter was definitely a lovely touch. The sun dried tomato aiole balanced the heaviness with something light. There was a bit of greasiness created by the fried cheese so this burger can get quite messy.

Nash had the Asta La Vista, Birdie which had guacamole, jalapenos and jack cheese on a chicken breast. The peppers gave it a nice kick.

We’ll definitely destroy one of the other burgers when we find ourselves in the area again.

Hey Meatball

March 28, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Located across from the Mod Club, Hey Meatball is known for their meatball dishes of all kinds. Guy Fieri even visited the joint recently.Most of their dishes are around $12 and vary from sandwiches, pasta to polenta.

We started things off with some homemade soda. I originally ordered lime and Nash had orange. We ended up switching because we preferred each others’. You could tell by the pulp in the drinks that they were made fresh.

I tried the meatball, rib and sausage polenta, which was pretty much exactly as described. I loved the sausage and there was a good portion of it hidden beneath the potato mash!

Nash had the Rodfather sandwich which had three pork and beef balls with a veal bolognese sauce. There was a salad on the side. While delicious, it was a bit expensive for the portion size.

Hey Meatball I love your juicy balls, but I wish there was more of it!

Ryoji Ramen and Izakaya

March 25, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

Last week, I had a craving for ramen so I turned to my trusty Yelp app and searched for places close to where we were. It led me to Ryoji Ramen and Izakaya.

Located in Little Italy/Portugal, the place is relatively new. The decorations were modern, warm and colourful. When we went in, we were greeted by the people in the kitchen but not to the crazy extent as other izakayas in the city.

The menu consisted of mostly tapas and ramen. Of course we came for the ramen and we both were craving the Tonkotsu ramen. They asked us if we wanted it soft, regular or hard and we had no idea what that meant until later.

The ramen broth was probably one of my favourites in the city. However, I found for $12 the bowl itself was lacking in something. It was just two pieces of pork belly and ramen with a bit of mushroom and scallions. There wasn’t even like an egg or those swirly fish ball thing in the bowl like the ones you get at Kenzo Ramen for a fraction of the price.

Ethiopian Food and Coffee @ Pero Restaurant and Lounge

February 23, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

For my 25th birthday me and a few friends celebrated by venturing into some Ethiopian dining. I had walked passed Pero hundreds of times but had yet to venture in. They had pretty rave reviews on Blogto and Yelp, so it was worth a venture in.

A few of us shared the signature Pero Platter which had lamb, chicken in red sauce, three vegetarian dishes and a green salad in the middle. In Ethiopian culture food is not eaten with forks and knives. Instead, Injera a spongey type of flat bread is used to pick up food. It was really interesting because it soaked up the aromatic sauces of all the food. Everything was pretty delicious. The Timitimo Tsebhi, a yellow lentil stew thing had a nice creamy texture, the chickpeas were eaten up right away and the chicken and lamb were delectable. Plus, who wouldn’t like a plate or utensil that could be eaten?

The other thing I tried was the Special Kitfo which was a minced beef with a spice called mimita. Mimita is a blend of bird’s eye red pepper, cardamom seeds, cloves and salt. They had a little thing of it at the side that we could spice to our own liking. The dish itself was already a tiny bit spicy and very flavorful.

Since we had all eaten with our hands, we were given warm water with lotus flowers to wash them in when we were finished with our meal.

I had heard about the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony before and I thought since we were at a restaurant it would only be appropriate. The ceremony took couple of stages. First the beans were roasted and the host teased us (and the entire restaurant) with the fumes. While we waited for the beans to be crushed and turned into coffee, we had popcorn. I asked the host if he knew the origin of why Ethiopian’s use popcorn and he did not know. However he explained that when it is someone’s birthday they often put a type of bread on it. So, I pointed out that we were celebrating my birthday….

… and he lit the bar on fire and gave us free lemoncello shots, which was probably more awesome than bread on popcorn.

Then the coffee came and was served in little tiny cups. I drank it black and it wasn’t as bitter and strong as I expected it to be. Apparently it had quite a bit of caffeine because I drank two little cups and now I’m still up at 1:33am writing this post (after some alcohol and a long ride home). Anyways, for the price, the amazing service and exciting but tasty food, I am totally coming back.

Valentine’s Day at The Stockyards

February 21, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Since we are still underemployed, we decided to have a low-key Valentine’s Day. We put aside fancy dinners to something that was both affordable and delicious. So I decided to search “pulled pork” in yelp and discovered The Stockyards: Smokehouse and Larder. We’re totally suckers for comfort food and when we sat down in front of this sign, we knew we were in the right place.

Their menu had burgers, fried chicken, and of course the slow-cooked ribs and pulled pork.

I ordered the Cider Braised Pork Sandwich ($11). The pork was braised in cider and served with sauteed kale, caramelized onion, apple, fried sage. There was a garlic mayo sauce as well as some cider juices. I added some shoestring fries.

The sandwich was delicious and a lot more filling than the portion size makes it look. It was chocked full of meat after all. There was a nice acidity from the cider and very different from the usual BBQ sauce soaked type of pulled pork sandwiches.

Nash ordered The Green Chili Pimento Cheese Burger $9 with fries. The burger had lettuce, cheddar, mayo, pimento and jalapeno. It was very juicy and had a nice kick to it.

Who says you need to drop $200 on Valentine’s Day on food that you might not entirely understand? All I need are things that are delicious.

Burgers and Tacos @ Tallboys

January 25, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Before yesterday’s installment of The Big Smoke Music Festival, we grabbed food inside the venue, Tallboys Craft Beer House.

I ordered the Pan Seared Fish Tacos ($12). The fish sat in a soft corn tortilla with guacamole salsa fresca, lettuce and sour cream. They were served with fries. They’re very similar in style to the fish tacos at Tacos El Asador with just the right amount of coriander. The fries made it a decent amount of food, and I swear they had a little bit of sour cream in them because of their interesting taste.

Nash had the Tallboys Signature Bacon Chili Burger ($13). The chili was mixed in with melted cheese and onions resulting in awesomness between two buns. They also have a burger with kimchi in it which we will definitely come back to try.

Since we were at Tallboys, it was only appropriate that we did get some tallboys. I had the Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner. It was a good amount of sweetness in a beer. Nash had some kind of cider, I forgot.

We’ll definitely come back again since the food is decently priced. Also, we learnt that the menu is half price on Sundays with a drink!

Sandwiches at Sky Blue Sky

January 23, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I first heard of Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company at last year’s All Caps Island Music Festival. They were catering the event and I ordered the Casino Queen Sandwich.
The sandwich had avocado, bacon, turkey and onions. They were running out of bread at the festival so it was served on a bagel. It was a delicious sandwich so I sought out their actual location at Bloor West.

I’ve been there multiple times already. One of the things I ordered was a sandwich called I’m the Man Who Loves You. All the sandwiches are $4.99 (or cheaper). This one had tons of slices of smoked chicken, lettuce, tomato, red pepper sauce of some sort and ricotta cheese. I loved that little bit of a kick. Appropriately named since it was a pretty sexy sandwich.

Another sandwich I have tried is the Dreamer In My Dreams ($4.99). Slices of roast beef were accompanied by onions cooked in red wine vinegar, tomato, banana peppers and cheddar cheese. The bread it was served on was interesting and somewhat spicy.

Besides sandwiches they also have some hearty salads.
This one is the Casino Queen Salad. It is like the salad version of the sandwich containing lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, onions and of course bacon.