Restaurant Reviews – Page 10

Sweet Jesus

September 19, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews, Snacks3 Comments

I finally made the trip down to the popular church of soft serve Sweet Jesus.

We waited half an hour in line causing the nearby TIFF goers to ask what movie we were lining up for. “Icecream,” I replied.

The space inside was relatively small with bags of sugar on display beside their giant menu.

They have other offerings such as popsicles, coffee and pie but of course were were their for the infamous soft serve. Funny enough we’ve actually already tried two of the flavours when we visited Home of the Brave, which has a partnership with them or something.

I had the Smores soft-serve which had graham cracker crumble, burnt marshmallows, chocolate sauce on top of a chocolate ice cream. It was a nice twist on a classic! Can’t ever go wrong with Smores.

My friend Steph ordered The Elvis which was peanut butter and bacon on top of a banana soft serve. I thought it was a little bit weird and wasn’t really a fan of their banana flavour. It wasn’t like a fruity banana flavour, more like the yellow antibiotics you have when you are sick. This was our least favourite of them.

Her sister order the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich which was a vanilla icecream, strawberry jam and toast. This one was our favourite. The little pieces of toast worked so well with the salted peanut butter and sweet jam.

It was totally worth the line, but just skip the banana.

#PieTunes at Fred’s Red Tomato

September 12, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

On Wednesday, I went to Pie Tunes, an event at The Red Tomato where we were invited to sample pizzas. We’ve been patrons here before for their set dinners but we’ve never tried the pizza. It’s a small space below Fred’s not here, with the same owners (yes, a guy named Fred does exist). We arrived a little later than the 5pm start time and by then, there were no more seats so we stood awkwardly at a standing table. The bloggers who happened to be seated at tables I found were served more than us and generally treated with more care and attention. For a little while we didn’t know what was going on or if we were just in the wrong place.

Finally we were offered a slice of the Spinach and Artichoke pizza with brûlée ricotta cheese and walnut pesto (pictured above). It was a deliciously light combination.

Next was the Hangover Cure which had soppresata, tomato, olives, double smoked bacon, mozzarella, grana padano, chillies and topped with a fried egg on each piece. It was truly a hangover cure!

There wasn’t a cocktail menu so I asked our server what was the recommendation and he said a sangria. You can’t go wrong with sangria right? This particular one was a tropical flavour with pineapple and banana.

Excuse the horrible photo but this was a slice of Smoked Chicken pizza before I got impatient and ate it before taking a photo! It was a delicious combination of chicken, chipotle bbq sauce, and peppers, some of which were a spicey!

I think my favourite of the pieces I tried was the Pork Belly. Fatty pork belly pieces (yum!) were lightened by white sauce, radicchio and onion.

We spent an hour there listening to the music and wondering if most of the pizzas would ever make it’s way to us. We watched the bloggers at tables get served twice as many as us or the others at standing tables and the bar. I don’t know if they were people more important or whatever, but we were invited (plus influencers too!) and I thought that all invited guests should’ve be treated with the same respect. We left after the fourth piece because we were stuffed and didn’t want to wait forever to try something else. The pizzas were really good but I felt that the event would’ve benefited from being split into multiple nights where everyone was equally served.

Gelato @ La Vizziata

September 6, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Hot days call for gelato so we hit up La Vizziata Gelateria & Dessert Bar for some dessert! They had a wide array of gelato flavours.

It was a difficult decision but I settled on a scoop of pistachio and one Stracciatella, which is a chocolate chip icecream. Their scoops are large and generous and gelato was smooth. We went for the gelato but next time we’ll try some of the other desserts too!

Playa Cabana Cantina

September 5, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

Today for lunch we randomly strolled the Junction area for something to eat. We ended up picking Cantina, part of the Playa Cabana family of restaurants.

I ordered the Chile Rellenos which were Poblano chiles, Oaxacan cheese, seared in a rice flour batter with salsa roja, queso, crema, rice and black beans. The fried chillies were crunchy and delicious, the heat offset by the light Oaxacan cheese. The black beans and salsa were super flavourful too.

Nash ordered the steak cantina style burritos with guacomole, salsa verde, queso, crema, rice, and beans.

To wash it down, I ordered a sangria because it’s appropriate for every meal!

Nash had the Dark and Handsome.

It does match him right?

Anyways, we super enjoyed all the food we ate and were super stuffed. Despite it being a Saturday, it wasn’t too hard to get a table around lunch time.

Zomato Meetup at Bairrada Churrasqueira

August 27, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Yesterday, Zomato invited me to a meetup at Bairrada Churrasqueira near College & Dufferin.

I had passed by it many times but did’t realize that there was a huge beautiful patio out back.

There was even a nice waterfall area for photos.

As we waited for everyone to arrive, we were treated to sangria and roast suckling pig that you could see spinning out back. The crispy skin was the best part. Little did we know, there was plenty to eat throughout the night.

I gorged on this delicious Queijo Fresco, which is a light and fluffy Portugese cheese. It is very mild which is why it pairs well with olives, red peppers or the addictive hot sauce (which I ate with almost all the dishes).

Lula Grelhadas (grilled Calimari) was fresh and had a beautiful touch of olive oil.

The Chouriço à Bombeiro (flaming sausage) were served in adorable pig bowls. The flames made the outside of the sausage nice and crispy.

To balance out the meat we had Tomate e Pepino (tomato and cucumber salad).

and a side of rice!

Now back to the meat. From this point on in the meal, we were given individual plates. It started with two Gambas à la Plancha, tiger shrimp grilled in Heineken with a lemon and butter sauce underneath.

The strangest dish of the night was probably the Sardinhas, grilled sea-salted sardines. Our server Jerry showed me how to fillet them. I did a really terrible job but I managed to not eat too many bones and found the fish to be quite delicious! Sardines aren’t always everyone’s favourite but Bairrada did a good job infusing flavour and cutting away the fishiness.

At this point in the meal, I was so full but out came their famous Frango no Churrasco, the BBQ chicken! It was moist and tender. The potatoes were perfectly salted and I enjoyed the pieces of pickled cauliflower I found on my plate.

That was followed by Bife à Casa, an aged house steak with a fried egg and chip fries. Apparently this was 1/4 of the portion you get normally! What the hell! It was like a meal in itself. The gravy was to die for and the chips I just couldn’t stop eating (until they were gone).

Before dessert, the owners came out and treated us to some Rainha Santa port wine. It had a lovely sweetness that reminded me of Japanese plum wine.

The best part of the meal was saved for last. For dessert we were served Nata Do Ceu. It was a heavenly mix of whipped vanilla cream, cookie crumble, egg, cinnamon and magic. It was like eating a cloud. I would come back for this dessert alone!

We were also given a parting gift of a custard tart.

I had a lovely time last night at Bairrada with the other bloggers and the Zomato team! The restaurant is a walking distance away from my apartment so I will definitely be back soon.

This meal was courtesy of Bairrada.

Anniversary Dinner at R&D

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

For our anniversary dinner, we visited R&D, a restaurant opened by Masterchef winner Eric Chong and judge Alvin Leung. It took over the location of the former pizza joint, Strada 241. The restaurant does a twist of traditional Asian mixed with Canadian dishes in a tapas style.

The Chili Crab Bibimbap ($18) was delicious and spiced by the kimchi. Our waiter mixed all the ingredients together for us (after I took this photo).

This Red Star Punch ($12) was sweet and refreshing. It contained oolong infused gin, hawthorn, mandarin, lemon and Shanghai rhubarb bitters.

These spicey sichuan lamb Little Dragon Buns ($6) were perfectly cooked with flavourful soup inside each dumpling.
The sichuan hollandaise on these scallops and chinese greens ($23) was to die for. This was probably my favourite out of all the dishes. We wanted to lick the plate.

Shrimp Toast ($12) was a flavourful bite of prawn, black truffle, cauliflower, preserved duck egg and english mustard.

Lastly, the Octopus ($14) was deliciously chargrilled and served with octopus crisps, a vegetable chimichuri and pureed eggplant that tasted exactly like the traditional eggplant and beef hot bowls you can order at Chinese restaurants. It was interesting that it was used as a sauce in this context.

Obviously we couldn’t resist dessert. Plus it’s a celebration. I ordered the Crispy smoked milk ($8), which came with marshmallows and a lemon ricotta icecream that was to die for. The fried milk was sweet with a surprise of smoke, a flavour which the ricotta and marshmallows nicely cleansed.

Nash ordered the Banana Split ($8) which was no regular banana split. The fruit was fried and served with 3 delicious icecreams: raspberry, peanut butter and malt. I couldn’t decide which dessert was better.

We both enjoyed our dinner at R&D a lot and can’t wait until our next food adventure together.

Home of the Brave

July 22, 2015July 22, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

My friend had heard of Home of the Brave because of their ridiculous soft-serve and so we decided to hit it up for dinner! We didn’t have a reservation so we had to wait around 30 minutes for a table on a Thursday night. The restaurant does a twist on classic American cuisine.

I ordered the Chicken and Waffles which had crispy sourdough waffles, a spiced maple syrup drizzle of sour cream. Before going here, someone told us that they thought there was too much syrup but I actually thought the amount of syrup was perfect! I dipped everything in it and the chicken still remained crunchy.

My friend ordered the Home of the Brave Burger with house ground ribeye, HOTB pickle mayo, house American cheese, tomato and lettuce.

Another had the 76er Philly Cheesesteak with shaved ribeye, caramelized onion, red chilli, melted cheddar, chives.

We ordered a few cocktails which were totally better than the ones at the Luckyrice event I attended.

And finally soft serve! I had the Presidential Pretzel with vanilla, caramel, granny apple, pretzel and Skor crumble. I also shared the Chocolate Peanut Butter EpiPen with my friend. It was so full of peanuts!

Here is us enjoying our soft serve:

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We came for the soft serve #selfie #toeats #food #yum

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Jul 16, 2015 at 6:03pm PDT

We enjoyed all our food (the chicken & waffles and soft serve especially) and we’ll definitely come again to eat more ice cream!

Burgers @ The Rude Boy

July 17, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Nash and I hadn’t had a gourmet burger in a while so we took a walk to Roncesvalles to The Rude Boy. The place has a casual vibe, a bar and cool posters like this one:

I ordered the Greek Spot (top photo of post) which had cucumber and tomato salad, oregano vinaigrette, feta cheese, pickled red onion and tzaziki. I added a piece of their home-cured double smoked bacon for fun. I thought it had a good combination of flavours and perfect amount of juiciness to the burger.

Nash had the signature Rude Boy burger containing home cured pemeal bacon, their double smoked bacon, smoked cheddar, fried egg, pickled red onion, garlic aioli, blanche de chambly mustard.

We shared some fries and of course we took the option to add feta! There was a hint of herb and the ketchup had a kick from jalapenos.

I also had a sour summery cocktail to accompany my meal (the name and ingredients currently elude me).

Despite the name of the restaurant, the service was friendly and we loved our burgers! We’ll definitely be back.

Intergalactic Travel Authority

July 4, 2015Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

There’s an adorable café in my area called the Intergalactic Travel Authority. Until recently, I thought it was legitimately a travel agency. Then I walked by one light and the portal and the back was glowing. I had wanted to visit ever since but it’s usually closed by the time I come home from work. This summer, I have half days on Friday so I went into the café yesterday to do some writing.

What I learnt was that this was no ordinary coffee shop. All the profits from the coffee sales go to a charity program called Story Planet. The program focuses on teaching children how to be creative and express themselves through literacy. They take place in the back of the café in a classroom behind the secret portal.

Some of the stories that were created during this program are for sale inside the shop. I love the idea of this program. All kids should be encouraged to write and what an awesome way to do so and make their imaginations come true! There are also random trinkets and art for sale.

There are even interplanetary spices for kitchens in need.

I ordered a mocha and they make a mighty fine one! I will definitely make galactic travels occasionally to splurge on a guilt-free mocha to support a wonderful cause. If you’re in the area, please consider buying a coffee here if you get the chance!

Pho Jade

June 22, 2015June 21, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Nash and I live very close to Pho Jade, which serves Vietnamese cuisine. We’ve gone a couple of times but I totally forgot to write about it. Last week we went again and I ordered the grilled pork and sausage vermicelli. Everything was very flavourful including their version of the fish sauce and the portion was just right.

We also had the mango and Coconut Shrimp Fresh Rolls. I’d never had any outside the traditional shrimp ones. This also contained avocado which was a fabulous contrast of texture with the mango and crunchy shrimp. They are a hefty little appetizer so I recommend sharing it if you’re ordering it in addition to a meal.

So far, Vietnamese restaurants in Toronto have been a hit and miss but I’m happy to say that this one nearby is a hit!