food – Page 22 – Tiana Feng

Skewers Galore @ Yakitori Kintori

March 10, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

When we visited Kinton Ramen last time, we were left with a mystery. What was behind the chicken door? At the time, it was locked but through Kinton’s social media, found out it was a sister restaurant Yakitori Kintori that celebrated a soft-open last week.

The menu diagrammed skewers you could order from different parts of the chicken. There were also beef, pork and vegetarian options as well as various other cold and hot dishes. Skewers were $2-4, so it was reasonably priced and nothing else was over $9. Since it was our first time here we decided to sample a variety of things.

To wash things down, I ordered a Lemon Shoju, Japanese Lemon vodka. I was surprised to find out that we had to squeeze the lemon ourselves! It was a funny way to pass the time as we waited for our food to arrive.

My first skewer was the Buta Bara ($2). Most skewers you could choose a simple salted option or in bbq’d with Teriyaki sauce. I chose the salt option for the pork belly. It was fatty and delicious.

The Toro Sobori Poutine ($7) was the most Asian poutine I have ever tasted (moreso than the Kimchi Fries poutine from Bahn Mi Boys). It had soy-sauce, ginger, ground chicken with the curds and fries. We gobbled it all up because it wasn’t heavy like poutine can be sometimes.

My favourite of all the skewers was the Cheese Tsukune ($2), a meatball that exploded with cheese in the middle. A close second was the Jalapeno Nikuzume ($3.5), a jalapno stuffed with ground chicken.

Another hot dish we ordered was the Tako Ajillo, octopus sizzling in garlic olive oil. For only $7, we got a big portion of octopus that was the most tender I have ever eaten. It was served with bread.

The Tebasaki($2) was ordered with Teriyaki sauce. This was our final item in our initial order, but everything was so good and we weren’t entirely stuffed yet so we opted for more.

Nash loves mushroom and I love bacon so this Enoki Bacon ($3.5) felt like a match made in heaven and it was.

We also ordered the Shiitake Nikuzume ($3.5) which were adorable and reminded me of boys with bowl cuts.

I have no idea how I had room for dessert, but I couldn’t resist when I saw a Green Tea Creme Brulee ($5) on the menu! It was nice and creamy, but the top wasn’t as hard as normal creme brulee. The sweetness reminded me a lot of green tea iced cream.

I went to the washroom out of curiosity to see if they had a matching one to Kinton and indeed they did!

We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and pleasant staff at Yakitori. They welcomed us with the same enthusiasm as their downstairs neighbours. We will be back soon!

Gluten Free Pizza @ Strada 241

March 4, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

A lunch date with my boss landed us at Strada 241, a fancy looking place close to China Town. The menu was very Italian and I had to Google a few things to make sure I knew what it was. We ordered the Gianpolo Pizza which was supposed to have a wild boar, but the person I was with didn’t eat pork so we asked if they could leave it off. Substitutions were not allowed but we were allowed to leave ingredients off. The result of our order was a gluten free pizza with spinach and mushroom. I’m not a health conscious person, but I actually enjoyed the gluten free pizza. It did not break apart or taste weird.

We also shared this cured salmon salad with fennel, onions, peppers and more. It was very fresh tasting and I think I may have enjoyed this more than the pizza.

I think I may come back later with Nash so we can order the more meaty (and less healthy) looking items on the menu! I’ll be back with an update later.

Birthday Dinner @ Union Social Eatery

March 3, 2014March 3, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

For my birthday, I hit up Union Social Eatery at their Mississauga location with my family and Nash. We ordered a little bit of everything from the menu.

As a starter Nash had the Killer Soup ($4.95). The type of soup varies every day and his was a Potato Bacon. He said it was okay, but it had corn which was unexpected and less creamy than he thought it would be.

These Parmesan Truffle Fries ($7.84) were very flavourful and addictive. The truffle flavour was only from the oil but that didn’t stop me from eating them all.

The Korean Short Rib Tacos ($9.96) melted in my mouth.

The House Braised Short Rib Firecracker was crunchy and served with a sweet chilli sauce.

Since it was my birthday I thought I’d try the Social Punch which was made with Amaretto, Southern Comfort, orange, cranberry and pineapple juice. It was so delicious I drank it before our food came.

My sister’s main was the Thai Red Curry Bowl ($13.96).

A few people ordered the Steak and Sushi which was a cute take on surf and turf. The steak was cooked in a Korean beef sauce and sliced and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The shrimp in the sushi was fried and it had a nice crunch.

Nash had the Korean Swordfish Steak ($18.98) served with veggies. I’ve never had swordfish before and I enjoyed that it wasn’t fishy tasting.

I ordered the Steak Frites ($19.73) but since I ordered truffle fries as an appetizer, I replaced it with a Candy House Salad. The steak was very juicy and flavourful. The Candy House salad was sweet and there were mini surprises of figs, mango, walnuts and more in every bite.

All the food was beautiful and delightful and I would definitely recommend it for a nice night out.

Kinton Ramen

March 1, 2014March 2, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews5 Comments

Hey guys, I’ve been so busy the past week that I didn’t have time to post but I have a bunch of post-worthy content (especially food posts). Recently, I visited the new Kinton Ramen in Korean town.

When we arrived, there were two black doors. One had a chicken and the other a pig decal. We picked the pig door, which led to the restaurant. We tried the chicken door on the way out, but it was locked. Perhaps, that side will have a venue of some sort in the future. The restaurant was open-kitchen style and we were greeted by the entire staff upon entering. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen with Pork belly ($9.80). A gigantic slice of pork belly sat on a bed of noodles, scallions, beansprout, a sheet of nori and an egg. The pork was comforting and the broth was very flavourful. The portion size was very generous compared to places like Ryoji.

Nash had the Spicy Ramen with Chicken ($10.80). The broth had jalapeno paste, aosa-nori, onions and scallions. It definitely had a bit of a kick but he finished everything to the last drop.

To drink, we both had Japanese Lemonade. It was a sangria-like drink.

Our bill came in this cute little steamer. Nash was also surprised to find out that since he finished his ramen to the last drop, he got a card with a stamp for a free bowl after a certain number. We also had our picture taken for their Instagram. The idea is such genius and encourages people to not waste their food and also return.

View this post on Instagram

Nash Bussieres

A post shared by KINTON BOWLER (@kintonbowler) on Feb 16, 2014 at 4:32pm PST

Regretfully, I did not gulp down all my soup because I was full and did not know about this promotion beforehand. I had a great time at Kinton. The food was delicious, generous. The atmosphere was welcoming and the restaurant was beautiful decorated. This may be one of the cutest one-person-bathrooms I have ever seen:

We’ll definitely be back to complete the 10 bowl challenge!

Gourmet Hot Dogs @ Fancy Franks

February 22, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

After waiting for streetcars a couple of times in front of Fancy Franks, we finally decided to go in and try their hot dogs. They have donuts and poutines too, but we thought it would be weird if we didn’t at least order a hot dog. I had the Franko Fancy-Aano (pictured above). The sausage was wrapped in prosciutto and topped with Reggiano cheese, arugula and and balsamic dijon mustard. There were various other toppings you could choose to add with it but I opted not to tamper too much with their creations and only added olives. There was a tiny bit too much mustard on my dog so it overpowered everything else but I still enjoyed it.

Nash had The Frankophone, which was covered with cheeses: smoked gruyere, horseradish cheddar, curds and honey dijon mayo. This was definitely a cheese-lovers hot dog.

He also had a side of fries which were crispy and golden and came in a generous portion.

I guess Nash was having a feast because he also had a Vanilla milkshake.

If you’re craving street meat but afraid of how sanitized it is, Fancy Frank’s is a great alternative.

Beef Tongue Tacos @ Rebozos

January 27, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

The CMT show Taco Wars did an episode in Toronto putting Playa Cabana Hacienda, Rebozos and Milagro against each other. Personally, I think there are many more great taco places in Toronto and trying only three to crown the best is a little bit dumb. Anyways – upcoming spoiler alert – Rebozos ended up winning with their beef tongue taco. Naturally, I was curious and was eager to try it when I happened to be in the area.

All the tacos came in threes (for $10). I ordered the Lengua (beef tongue of course). It was presented with a side of two different hot sauces. The red was too spicy, so I put just a dab and the green one was a mild green tomato salsa, which I used up completely. The beef tongue was very tender and flavourful. I was surprised. I had ox tongue before at Korean BBQ, but I always found it stiff. This was meaty and tender.

Nash ordered the beef enchiladas which came with refried beans. He cleaned the plate. I took a bite and I actually think I preferred the tenderness of the beef tongue to the regular beef!

To drink, we both had Sindral Mundet soda in apple flavour. I thought it was funny that the bottle purposely advertised that there was less than 1% Apple Juice and artifically flavoured. Do people prefer those qualities? It was a refreshing soda.

We were happy with our meal but whether or not it is the “best taco in Toronto”, I cannot say. We still have many places to go and we’ve enjoyed a lot of the places we have visited so far. All are very different in style and taste. What I can probably say is that Rebozos probably does have the “best beef tongue taco”.

Carrot Ginger Soup

January 21, 2014Food, RecipesLeave a Comment

In one of my vlogs, I was making this Carrot & Ginger Soup and I got some requests for the recipe. I used Elise Bauer’s from Simply Recipes version as a guideline but modified a few things.

Ingredients
3 Tbsp Butter/Margarine
2 lbs carrots – peeled & sliced
2 large onions
1 Tbsp of minced ginger
2 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of water
1 chive – diced (optional for taste)
Salt

1. Melt the butter on medium heat and cook the onions and carrots for about 5 minutes. Get the onions soft, but not brown. Sprinkle some salt over the carrots.

2. Add the chicken stock, water and ginger. Bring to boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until carrots are soft.

3. Put the soup into blender in small batches. I only blended it for a few seconds. I tend to like it a tiny bit chunky, but its up to your own preferences how smooth you want it.

4. Taste it and add a little bit of salt (or pepper-optional) if required. Garnish with leeks.

Burger Socks

January 15, 2014Fashion, Food, PhotographyLeave a Comment

For Christmas Nash’s little sister @immicaylaB got me these awesome burger socks by Sock It To Me.

I actually don’t own that many pattern socks and these are totally adorable so I decided to do a mini-shoot with them.

For these photos I used the Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens. It’s difficult to use for selfies because it has difficulty auto-focusing. So basically I estimated by manual focusing and using a remote. This is the only full-selfie photo that turned out.

The Whippoorwill

January 13, 2014May 19, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Looks like I’m already getting my foodventure on this new year. After a fantastic brunch at Rose & Sons, Nash and I were even more eager to venture into new places this year. On a whim we made a last minute reservation to The Whippoorwill. We usually don’t go down that West on Bloor because it seemed sketchy but I had heard great things about the restaurant and really wanted to try it. We came for just food but the cocktail menu was just so intriguing!

Nash ordered “This Little Piggy” with Napoleon brandy, Grand Marnier, Briottet chesnut, sage, lemon and Scrappy’s Celery bitters. Despite the hilariously girly glass, it was strong and full of flavour.

I had “The Skippy Welcher” with Havana Club Amejo Rum, Briottet Hazelnut, Briottet Chesnut, brown butter, lemon, concord grape juice and maldon. It was like grape juice for adults. I loved the nuttiness. There was enough alcohol in both drinks that made it well worth the price.

I ordered a Lobster Croquette which was one of the specials of the day and not on their regular menu. The presentation was very festive and the croquette itself had a nice crunch. The lobster was fresh and paired well with the creamy sauce.

Nash had the burger, which was recently voted one of the Best Burgers over $10 by Now Magazine. It was a messy juicy burger with a buttered bun, melted cheddar and russian dressing but whatever was in that dressing was worth the sticky fingers. As you know we eat a lot of burgers and this was definitely a great one.

So the croquette was a bit small, so I ordered their other deal of the day a “Deli Sandwich” that was only $6. I half expected a slider for that price but this was seriously a full on sandwich. A great deal, Nash almost ordered a second to take home. It was a mortadella with an egg, peppers and cheese. It was delicious. The meat was flavourful and it was so filling I couldn’t finish. However, Nash made sure there was no leftovers and ate the rest.

Our bill was attached to a paper bag filled with popcorn. It was a lovely surprise and great palate cleanser. I still can’t figure out what was on the popcorn. It was sweet and salty at the same time. I think it was rosemary among many other spices.

From beginning to end it was a lovely meal and we can’t wait to be back!
*Update from 05/19/2014*

We tried some more items that were worth talking about!

Dungeness Crab in spring radish, grilled butter and dijon icecream. This was a very interestingly presented dish!

Fried toast with duck egg, chorizo and vegetables.

Chicken fried rabbit with kale salad. It was better than fried chicken.

iPad Menus @ 168 Sushi Buffet

January 10, 2014Food, iOS, Restaurant Reviews, Technology1 Comment

Mom’s favourite thing is AYCE sushi so for her birthday we took her to 168 Sushi Buffet where they took on the new trend of iPad menus. We went for lunch and I don’t think they took reservations so we waited over 20 minutes for a table. It was one of those cold Polar Vortex days but people kept coming in and were all eager for a table at this relatively small restaurant.

Lunches at the restaurant are cheaper but do not have sashimi, so if you want the raw fish without all the rice than dinner would be preferred. They did have a large assortment of non-japanese items. There was Thai, Korean and Chinese dim sum dishes that were available in addition to the Sushi and included in the lunch price ($14.99 – I think).

This was my first experience ordering off an iPad menu. It had this large case screwed on it to prevent the user from pressing the home button and going outside the menu. I felt it accommodated the large food selection well and had lovely photos that made all the food look very appetizing. The annoying part was that sometimes we would order something and it wouldn’t come. I enjoyed this salmon salad a lot and ordered more but it didn’t appear. I tried an additional time and the screen told me it was coming, but never did.

In my opinion the iPad was a tool that enabled the workers to be lazy. They could blame complicated orders not coming on technology. Waitresses only came when you confirmed an order on the iPad or when they were delivering food. There was often many empty plates waiting on our table to be taken away. I eventually figured out how to call a person by confirming an empty order.I curiously wonder what it must be like to work in the kitchen that deals with the receiving end of these iPad orders. I feel like the whole idea is a bit of a marketing gimmick.

The food was decent and there was a large selection of it, but it was not particularly memorable. Soups were a bit cold for my liking. However, the fried pudding dessert is recommended.