food – Page 14 – Tiana Feng

Thanksgiving Weekend

October 13, 2015Family, Food, Life, PhotographyLeave a Comment

Here are some photos of my Thanksgiving weekend! On Saturday I went to a wedding dinner.

This is my lovely sister.

Chocolate as wedding favours is always a win!

Matching gold cake!

Our first course for dinner was this roast pig with flashing disco eyes. I somehow was too busy eating (and talking to people) the rest of dinner that I forgot to take photos until dessert.

Here is dessert. Some cream puffs and other things I don’t know how to describe!

On Sunday, we celebrated Thanksgiving and I again cooked the family turkey! Here are some random photos of our dinner (and Teddy).

A Taste of Market 707

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015Drinks, Food, Restaurant Reviews, StreetLeave a Comment

Market 707 located at Dundas & Bathurst is full of pop-up shops in what used to be shipping containers. It’s a great place for local entrepreneurs to have a store front for an affordable price in the city. There are clothing shops, a barbershop, nail salon, jewellery and of course food. Besides my friend’s stand at Petit Nuage I hadn’t had any of the food until recently.

This indulgent dish is from Filipino stand Kanto, which specializes in a street take on tradition foods. I ordered the Sisig fries which was Offal meat that has been boiled, then grilled and chopped into fine pieces. It was marinated in lemon, vinegar and spices. The dish was topped with Lechon Kawali (pork belly) and garlic lemon aioli on a bed of crispy fries. I loved the crispy pork pieces and the fries were super crunchy.

My friend showed me her regular order at Cookie Martinez called the Patacon Pisao, a classic Latin American dish from the Colombian coast. Patacon starts by warming unripened green plantain to flatten, then fried until crispy. Hers had beef, avocado and a delicious sauce.

I also wanted to try the shrimp ceviche from Cookie Martinez. It was served with plantain chips was a bit of a weird (mostly inefficient) receptacle for ceviche. The ceviche itself was very fresh and flavourful.

To wash it down I had an iced matcha from Petit Nuage, the best in the city (Disclaimer: I know her personally but it really is the best in the city)!

La Carnita

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

For my friend’s birthday, we went to La Carnita‘s College Street location. It is tapas style so everything comes out together in shareable plates. For example, if you and a friend ordered tacos they would often come together in the same serving plate. This was slightly confusing since we were in a group of more than 15 people. I opted for 3 tacos. The first one (pictured above was the) was the Tostada de Ceviche: Albacore Tuna, guacamole, coconut milk, habanero, tomato, cucumber. It was very fresh and light tasting.

I had a bite of the In Code We Trust, a fish taco, with Cod, Voltron sauce, lime crema, pickled red cabbage, green apple & cilantro. What I totally forgot to take a photo of was my Crispy Cotija taco with crispy cotija cheese, cauliflower & pinto bean, pickled carrots, chipotle sauce, green onion & cilantro. I can’t resist fried cheese.

My third taco was the Pork Belly Al Pastor Taco, a daily special with roasted pork belly, guajillo BBQ sauce, pineapple salsa, coriander crema and mache lettuce.

All three tacos were flavourful and fresh and would’ve filled me up on their own but I felt like splurging a little so I got a few extras.

Funny story about the corn. I looked at the menu and was like “who the hell would pay $9 for corn?” and then I saw a little kid eating it at the table behind us and it looked amazing, so I ordered it. I have no regrets. It was the best grilled corn I have ever had with Mexican crema, queso anejo, arbol & ancho chili powder. Who thought corn could pack so much punch?

The table also shared nachos with guacomole and corn salsa. Both were fresh and delicious. The chips themselves were lightly salted and could totally be eaten on their own.

To was things down I ordered a few of their sangrias that were infused with peach, mango and raspberry. I could’ve drank a pitcher of these (which was available).

It was my friend’s birthday so the waiter bought over some birthday churros with a candle. The churros were crunchy and served in a cajeta, a silky nutty sauce. These are the same churros that can be ordered over at Sweet Jesus.

I was super stuffed from ordering too much but I highly enjoyed my meal at La Carnita. Everything is fresh, flavourful and relatively inexpensive (if you don’t go overboard).

Sunsets and Froyo

September 10, 2015FoodLeave a Comment

Over the weekend, I went for a walk with Teddy while the sun was setting.

The sky had a beautiful redness, like an arrow shooting down.

We stopped by Yogurtys where I ordered a bunch of fruity flavours and Teddy had his own too!

View this post on Instagram

Froyo times #dogsofinstragram #froyo #vscocam

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Sep 6, 2015 at 5:31pm PDT

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.

Last weekend I ate 10 popsicles

September 4, 2015Food, Snacks, StreetLeave a Comment

Last weekend at Camp Wavelength, I saw The Pop Stand, which was offering 10 flavours of popsicles. It started as a joke, but I started from the top and made my way down the list and ate all 10 popsicles over the course of 3 days.

Peach bourbon iced tea:

Campari, grapefruit and mint

Thai coffee

Raspberry hibiscus

Blueberry lavender lemonade

Strawberry Milkshake

Coconut + cinnamon

Raspberry and cream

Harvest Fudge

Orange Vanilla Bean

My favourite popsicles were the fresh fruity flavoured ones because they were more refreshing over cream ones on a hot day. Although, I do love chocolate so the harvest fudge was irresistible.

Pommies Farmhouse Cider

September 1, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

Pommies Farmhouse Cider comes from Calendon, Ontario. It’s a dry cider that has a light colour of white wine. It’s tart and slightly weird. I thought it was okay, but not my preferred cider taste. I prefer my ciders with a bit more punch.

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.