What do you do when you look in the fridge and the ingredients you thought were there aren’t? You improvise!
The other day I started searing a hamburger only to realize I didn’t have any buns so I made it open face on lettuce, avocado, caramel onion and more! Yum
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
On my way home one night alone, I went into Mr. Tonkatsu for dinner. I ordered the Pork loin katsu set with soba. The soba came first with some pickled vegetables.
There was also a bowl a sesame seeds to squish for my tonkatsu sauce. My other food didn’t arrive for about 25 minutes which kind of sucked since I wanted to eat it with my soba but instead it had turned cold by the time the rest of the food arrived. I felt a little bit ignored because I was eating alone. The restaurant seems to have a lot of waiters just hanging around giggling to each other but only one cook.
The tonkatsu itself was very delicious. They use housemade breadcrumbs. The pork was nice and moist. It’s a shame that the service wasn’t up to par because it was enough to stop me from going back.
On Wednesday, I was invited to a tasting at Kinton Ramen’s 5th location on Church Street. We were allowed to have a full bull of ramen with 2 additional toppings, an appetizer and a drink. I’ve been to Kinton many times but I’ve never actually tried the Miso broth so I did the Pork Miso with pork, thin noodles and added a seasoned egg and vegetables. The broth was rich and garlicy but not too salty and a nice variation from the original pork.
Nash had the Original Chicken broth with chicken breast. His already came with a seasoned egg so he added bean sprouts and…
.. a giant pile of swiss cheese. If you’ve never added cheese to ramen before it can seem weird but it adds a whole new layer of textures and tastes. We’ve done it a couple of times now at Kinton and if you’re feeling extra hungry I highly recommend it.
We split our sides and I chose the Tofu Furai, which were fried tofu nuggets which were as delicious as chicken nuggets.
The Hot Karaage was also tenderly fried and had a decent kick.
A calpico, a milky non-carbonated soft drink actually helped to tone down the spice between bites of karaage.
If you’re in the neighbourhood, Kinton Ramen 5 is well worth a visit and bound to become a regular spot!
This meal was complimentary but views are my own.
I found these delicious socks in the mess that is Winners! Sometimes unique pieces can come from mainstream places but nobody needs to know 😜
I don’t venture North of Bloor that often, but recently I had dinner with my friends at Rosedale Diner. I went for their Prix Fixe menu and started with the Duck Liver Paté served with pickled red onions, delicious fruit chutney that I spread on crostini. I think I could keep eating that chutney!
To pair with my meal I had the Paloma: grapefruit, tequila, soda, lime and salt.
My main was the Steak Frites: a flat iron steak, compound butter and asparagus. I loved the garlicy butter and the steak was very tender. The fries had just the right amount of salt.
My friend Karol had the Duck Poutine which was made with duck confit, Quebec cheese curds, duck gravy and crackling.
The prix fixe came with dessert and I opted for the creme brûlée, a classic finisher.
The Prix Fixe starts at $29, and with a large selection of flavourful entrees and mains, the Rosedale Diner is both a satisfying and value meal.
Yesterday, I was really in the mood for some cake to make me feel better about the horrible news. It was ice raining all day so I decided not to leave the house and try out UberEats.
I looked through regular take-out places like Just-Eat but they only had regular things you would order for take-out such as pizza, Thai or Chinese food. Uber Eats provided me with other options from higher end restaurants. I got super excited when I found a place with 3 desserts and ordered all three.
After I placed my order I could watch on a live timeline the status of the delivery. Once it was picked up, I was able to see where exactly my driver was. When he was close to my front door, I went out and grabbed my three desserts!
Man, now I’ll never need to leave the house ever again.
Last week, I attended a tasting party for Cresta located right beside St. Lawrence Market. Cresta is an Italian restaurant with an open kitchen and specialize in wine pairings with their cuisine. Enjoy some photos from the party below!
The Cresta Negroni: bombay sapphire gin, campari, dolin dry vermouth, sparkling brut, grapefruit
Amaro Express: amaro averna, frangelico, espresso, aztec chocolate bitters
Brussle sprouts: crispy in a balsamic glaze.
Beets: roasted, lemon thyme marinade, sautéed beet greens.
Black Tiger Shrimp: empty ravioli, red onion, tomato salsa
Scallop Crudo: coriander, garlic chips, citrus
Steak: Tenderloin, roasted potatoes, cherry tomatoes, roasted garlic, beef jus
Heirloom Tomato Pizza: tomato reduction, red onion, shaved parmasean, basil.
Octopus: grilled, fingerling potatoes, braised cipollini onions, harissa
Mushroom Risotto: truffle oil, shaved parmesan.
All the bite-sized foods packed punches of flavour. The most memorable for me was the beautiful jus in the steak.
When we left, we were given delicious muffins to take home. I ate my caramel one the next morning and it was delicious!
Tiana Feng 