Restaurant Reviews – Page 6

Brunch @ Me & Mine

June 26, 2016June 26, 2016Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

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Yesterday, Nash and I went for brunch at Me & Mine. I think we were super lucky because we did not have a reservation but were seated right away.

Everything on the menu looked delicious but I chose the Fried Chicken Benny. Two poached eggs sat on a bed of braised collars and buttermilk fried chicken on a buttered biscuit drizzled in chilli sauce and served with potatoes and an arugula salad. The whole plate was heavenly.

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Nash had the Croque Madame Bread Pudding. It was a gruyere and ham bread pudding, poached eggs, bechamel, roasted rutabaga and apple slaw. I didn’t actually get to try any because by the time I looked over again he had licked the plate. So I guess it was good!

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He washed his food down with a glass of fresh grapefruit juice.

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And I had a mimosa made with fresh pulpy orange juice.

This was an awesome tiny place in the neighbourhood to enjoy a relaxing weekend brunch.

Street Shak Caribbean Kitchen

June 23, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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My friends and I recently went to Street Shak for lunch. It’s a cute little joint where you can take-out or eat in.

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I had some Boyland soda as I awaited my food.

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The beef roti was filled with an aromatic curry stew.

DSCF0940 The Jerk Chicken Salad was juicy and flavourful with fresh greens and other vegetables. It was the perfect thing to have for lunch without needing a nap afterward.

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The Bajan Macaroni pie was their version of a Mac and Cheese and was creamy and delicious.

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The Fish & Bakes were Bajan style codfish fritters with a soft fried dough, tamarind glaze, zesty cucumber & lime cream dressing. Can’t say no to fried dough!

This is definitely a cool place to stop by for a quick lunch or snack!

Modern Indian Cuisine @ Pukka

June 6, 2016June 13, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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After Dutch Dreams the other day, Nash and I thought we’d grab a (light) dinner in the area. There are so many cool places in the area and I’ve wanted to try Pukka’s modern Indian cuisine for a while.

The items are all portioned for two people to share. Our first was a Stuffed Paneer: Indian style cheese, spinach & mushroom filling and mild cashew korma. I loved the cheese and the sauce that it was drenched in was lovely.

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Obviously we had to get some delicious garlic naan to make the most out of the sauce on the plate!

DSCF0331 We also had the Chicken 65, an Indian-style fried chicken with chilli, tamarind curry leaves and caramelized onion.

DSCF0330 To drink I had the Pom Fizz which was prosecco with pama liquer and pom syrup.

DSCF0328 Nash had a classic Dark n’ Stormy.

I wish we weren’t so full of ice cream because everything we tried at Pukka was delicious that we licked every last drop of food from our plates. We’ll definitely be back to try more off the menu soon.

Dutch Dreams Making Wishes Come True

June 4, 2016June 13, 2016Food, Restaurant Reviews, SnacksLeave a Comment

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One of my goals of yesterday was to finally visit Dutch Dreams, which I’ve always passed by and looks like a child’s dream castle. There are giant ice cream cones and cows outside as decor.

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Inside is just as magical from top to bottom.

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There are funny things hanging from the sitting and placed all over the place. Besides ice cream Dutch Dreams also has imported drinks and candy. Look at those giant pixie sticks!

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I was there for the ice cream of course and was presented with a wide selection of waffle cones.

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I went with a half scoop of Birthday Cake (which had pieces of cake in it), and half scoop Caramel Turtle ice cream inside an Oreo waffle cone. Each one comes with toppings consisting of whipped cream, fruit and cotton candy. It’s kind of insane that both of these are only consider half scoops.

I’m so happy Dutch dreams exists to make my ice cream dreams come true. This totally beats out Sweet Jesus for both Instagram worthiness and their huge selection of ice cream flavours.

Sushi Couture

May 27, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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My friend and I went on a Tuesday night to Sushi Couture in the Annex. I had dined at all the surrounding Japanese restaurants but had not come in here because I heard the prices were a little high in comparison. While this is true, the quality of the sushi here is much higher. For instance, you can’t order a fish carpaccio in a citrus glaze at New Generation. This was a delicately prepared item.

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The sashimi here is what shows the restaurants quality. Everything is fresh. Look at that red tuna belly! It did not taste frozen. The octopus and the salmon were also delicious. Just eating sashimi can be quiet heavy on the wallet though.

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The tempura was batter well and came with a variety of vegetables: okra (personally not a fan), green beans, cucumbers, sweet potato, broccoli.

While the food was awesome (albeit a bit pricey), I found the shortfall here was the service. It took us over 30 minutes to receive the first dish, with no real explanation as to why it was taking so long. It wasn’t a particularly busy night. I’ll admit that I had somewhere to be but we went to the restaurant an hour and a half before we needed to be anywhere else!

Comfort Food @ 120 Diner

May 21, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Last week, I was invited to 120 Diner for some food and music. The restaurant is related to Club 120 which is also owned by Mandy Goodhandy and Todd Klinck. The restaurant used to be a Spring Rolls but now is a complimentary entertainment spot to their club.

The restaurant has live music every night, employing a pass the bucket for their performances, which can be slightly awkward if you just want to come here to eat. However everybody there when we went was definitely in it for the entertainment! We were treated to a performance by singer-songwriter Genevieve Marentette. My favourite part was when she improvised a song with written suggestions from the audience.

The menu is comfort food and even has a whole section for nachos and poutine. I ordered the 120 Grilled Cheese burger: 3 cheeses on a bun stuffed with a 6 oz. beef patty, with spicy chili mayo with some sweet potato fries. The burger was juicy and the cheese was a melty heaven. I really enjoyed the fries also. They were nice and crunchy and lightly salted.

Nash opted for the Meatloaf & Mac. I stole some bites and the meatloaf was flavourful and moist and the mac and cheese went strangely well with it!

To drink I had the Grey Goose Peach Mojito which was super refreshing and served with a fuzzy peach.

Nash had a Shiny Apple Cider, which they actually have on draft!

For dessert we shared Mason’s Banana Pudding that was homemade bourbon caramel sauce and whipped cream with bananas. We licked it all up!

We left 120 Diner with our tummies stuffed and full of satisfying food and livened by music!

This meal was complimentary of 120 Diner but views are my own.

Vermicelli @ Bac Ky Vietnamese Canteen

May 17, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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Before the Prism Prize on Saturday, I went to Bac Ky Vietnamese Canteen for dinner. It’s located on King West so I expected the price to be more expensive than traditional Viet restaurants. Their menu is relatively small, but everything is customizable with add-ons.

I ordered the Bun with pork slice because I was in a vermicelli mood. It came with pickled carrots/daikon, salad and of course fish sauce. It was well-balanced flavourwise and there was a decent portion size and right amount of everything. However, at $10.80 it is still in the higher end price-wise compared to similar restaurants in Toronto. You’re definitely paying for the trendiness here.

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I also tried the matcha mango shake which was refreshing and healthy!

Pizza Date @ Roma 1090

April 24, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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Last night, we stopped by an Italian restaurant I had not been in nearby called Roma 1090. One pizza was enough for both of us. We ordered the Calabrese pizza which was calabrese sausage, onion and hot peppers. The waitress also gave us a bottle of hot sauce which we happily dipped our pizza in. It was full of heat but the flavour was addictive.

The pizza was cooked in a wood fire oven and was relatively thin. The sausage had a distinct sweetness to it and went well with the hot peppers and onions.

The menu also has other Italian classics like pasta, mussels, risotto. It’s a little bit of the old world in a neighbourhood surrounded by hip new age places.

It was a warm sunny day and I was happy to spend it discovering the neighbourhood with this dude:

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Tacos @ Campechano

April 23, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Excuse my dark phone photos in this post

After an event, 5 of my friends and I headed over to relatively new Campechano. It’s tiny space, so we had to wait around 20 minutes for a seat, even at close to 9pm! I don’t recommend this place if you are a picky eater or vegetarian (some of my friends were) because they have a very tiny menu of 9 tacos, 1 guacamole and 1 dessert.

I began with an order of guacomole. It was fairly simple to the eye but there was definitely an unexpected heat.

The first taco I had was the Tinga de Pollo, a morita chili stewed chicken breast with a green salsa on top.

One of my favourites was the Prescano, a beautiful deep fried branzino taco with a hint of chipotle.

The Bistec, a sirloin cap taco with onion, grilled green pepper and crunchy flakes of some sort was my favourite taco texturally.

Lastly, I went for the Chorizo (pork sausage) with potato. I was completely stuffed at this point (I don’t recommend that one person actually eat four tacos).

Somehow I still had room for their delicious flan with caramel drizzle. I wanted to lick the plate.

Oh yeah all this I washed down with a Paloma which was tequila, bitters and Squirt. They were generous with the alcohol, so definitely felt a little funny half way through.

I enjoyed all my taco selections. I found the meat very tender and spice not for the faint of heart. Everything was super flavourful and is definitely wroth the visit if you’re in the mood for cozy tacos.

Brunch @ Orchard

April 20, 2016April 28, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

We recently hit up Orchard while we were looking for somewhere to brunch. Their selections are homely and simple.

I ordered the Orchard Classix, which as the name describes, classic staples like bacon, eggs, toast and fries. It wasn’t particularly exciting but I guess that’s my fault for ordering it! I wish the fries had a bit more spice or even salt though.

Nash had the Sweet Stuffed French Toast with strawberry and vanilla compote and vanilla cream. This was delicious but the portion could’ve been a bit bigger for the price.

We haven’t tried their other stuff yet but I think they are probably more known for their beverages and events.