For New Years Brunch Karol, Nash and I went out for brunch at Rose & Sons. Originally we had planned a return to Big Crow (the restaurant in the backyard) but it was closed for recovery from the night before. Understandably, it’s such a small space to hold any sort of big party. Luckily the main restaurant was open for brunch and we arrived early enough to grab the last table before it got too busy. Those unfamiliar with the place might accidentally pass it since outside it still sports the “Food” and “Hamburger” signs that were part of the former People’s Foods. The place is very small and snug so a reservation or wait may usually be required.
I had a cappuccino to wake me up ($3.50).
Somehow all three of us really wanted the Grilled Brie Cornbread with brisket, fried egg, maple syrup, and chili sauce and onions ($14). Everything went together in perfect harmony. The brie was generous and made its way into the cornbread. The caramelized onions and brisket were sweet and paired well with the perfectly cooked fried egg, bread and cheese for the perfect bite. It was a hefty meal, but the three of us cleared our plates. I wish we all had varied choices so that we could’ve tried other things but that would’ve meant sharing the delicious cornbread with others! It was just that delicious and definitely worth waking up before noon on New Years to make the journey. What a comforting meal for those of us needing a recovery from the previous night’s shenanigans.
Last night’s food adventure took us to Barrio Coreano, a fusion taco place in Koreatown by the owners of Playa Cabana. It was not difficult to find as you could see the flashy inside which stood out from the mom and pop Korean restaurants that surrounded it. The décor was in colourful and bright. Lights flashed. The music was loud but it wasn’t difficult to have a conversation. We were seated instantly. The place went a lot deeper than most places in the area.
The menus were written on large chalkboards on the wall. We had to stand up to read them, but it wasn’t that awkward. I liked the informal feel of the atmosphere. It was very inviting and everybody seemed to be enjoying their time. Our waiter took her time to welcome us and get us acquainted with the famous Playa Cabana hot sauces. Food was made fresh and to order so everything didn’t come together, but that was okay because it gave us breaks to recover.
Salmon Ceviche
As a starter, I ordered the Salmon Ceviche ($9). I thought it would come in a dinky little glass to be eaten with a spoon. That’s how much ceviche you usually get for that price at other place. I was surprised when we got a bowl of ceviche with tortilla chips. They are very generous with the portions. The ceviche was fresh, and it wasn’t fishy at all. Even Nash (who doesn’t normally like Salmon) was enjoying the dish.
I had a Soju Sangria ($9) to sip on. Soju is plum wine and it was mixed with unknown fruits. A starfruit sat on top as a decoration. It was sweet but just what I needed on a Friday night.
Chihuahua & Tofu Taco
Two of Nash’s tacos came first. One of them was the Chihuahua and Tofu Taco ($5). Before our waiter explained it as a cheese from the province of Chihuahua, I actually thought they might have put the scrawny dog on the menu. The cheese had an interesting taste. It was a sort of like blue cheese, strong at first, but without the after taste. I liked it.
Korean Beef Taco
The other taco was the Korean beef taco ($5). The beef was marinated in Kalbi sauce to give it the Korean twist.
Yuzu Tuna Taco
I was already getting full on the ceviche and bites of Nash’s tacos when my two tacos came. I always make a habit of trying fish tacos everywhere so I ordered the Yuzu Tuna ($5) and Chipotle Kambungki Chicken. The fish was nicely cooked and topped with a slaw that also had kimchi. I really enjoyed the Chipotle Chicken taco.
Chipotle Kabungki Chicken
The chicken was battered (but not heavily) and flavoured sweet chili sauce. There was also jalapenos, radish and onions which made a crunchy and delicious taco.
Grilled Octopus Taco
Nash’s third taco was a Grilled Octopus Taco ($5). It was served with wasabi salsa which I thought would be empowering but totally wasn’t. The octopus was nicely cooked and not chewey at all.
We ordered a lot of food, but next time we know that it is unnecessary. The food is very well-priced and worth every cent. With delicious places like this in Toronto, I don’t know why anybody would want to wait 2 hours to get into Grand Electric. The service at Barrio Coreano was friendly and pleasant, food was exquisite and we got our money’s worth in portions. I’m already planning my next visit back with friends!
Nash had a craving for chicken wings, so we Googled around until we found a place we haven’t been with good old American-style wings. We ended up at Game Day in Little Italy. It was a little dark in there so my phone photos aren’t very good but you can watch our adventure in this Vlog.
We ordered Jalapeno poppers (not pictured) to start and gobbled them up right away. For wings we opted for one dry, one sauced. Nash chose the grilled buffalo chicken wings and I chose the jerk wings. The wings themselves were big and far from dinky ones (like you’d get at Kelsey’s). They were also very flavourful and the jerk rub was generous.
The atmosphere of the place was very sporty. There were jerseys on the walls and tons of big screens to watch whatever sport you wish. They actually asked what we were there to watch, but we were really there just to eat food. The name of the place must also come from the fact they have a board game at each table. We had a faux Connect 4 but I looked over and saw Operation on another table, and a bunch of Jenga sets. It’s definitely a cool place to chill, watch the game and eat some comfort food.
Last year, for Nash’s birthday, I started the tradition of taking him to a ridiculous burger joint. We do burgers all year, when they’re in the vicinity of where we happen to be but on birthdays we’ll actually travel for the next wacky thing. Anyway, this year we ended up at Holy Chuck at St. Clair Station.
Their menu has a variety of interesting creations. Nash ordered The Village Cow ($12.99), which had two patties and seared, melted kefalotiri cheese, red onions and greek olive oil. We’ve never heard of that cheese before, but it was deliciously fried and creamy. He also had a side of fries which came in a generous portion.
I went for the Le Croissant Du Paysan ($12.99), which was egg, pancetta, fries and burger on flakey croissants. The croissants were soft and sweet. Altogether the burger was like a very complete breakfast.
Ok time for the star of the show! Since it was his birthday, I totally splurged on the Black Truffle Fries. Real truffles were always a thing I dreamt about after watching too much Food Network but Holy Cow had actual shavings on their fries (and one of their burgers that we didn’t order)! There was also a nice aged cheese on the fries but we were more intrigued by the unique wood-like taste of truffle. It was really addictive. To top it off, it was also served with a truffle mayo. So much truffle, but so much delicious. These are fries I’m still thinking of a few days later.
Koreatown is full of restaurants that look like they serve the exact same thing. Usually for soup the destination is Owl Minerva, but since there’s a whole couple blocks of similar things, we ventured into another for fun. We ended up at Lim Ga Ne. It had a nice homey feel, like someone’s Korean mother was going to cook us dinner.
When we placed our order we were soon presented with these chive pancakes. At first I was slightly confused and thought the waiter heard our order wrong. Apparently this is one of the freebies you get and it was delicious.
Then we were presented with even more of the traditional sides.
I ordered the Yukgaejang, which was shredded beef brisket in a hot broth. The portion was very hearty. I enjoyed it for the most part, except these weird veggies that looked like coffee stir sticks, but they were easy to pick out.
Nash had the Kimchi soup with pork. Despite both our soups being red, they were actually different in taste. His was more sweet and sour and mine was more meaty and spicy.
What we didn’t realize until we got our bill is that taxes are included on the menu so everything is conveniently round numbers. This is definitely a place worth checking out, even for the freebies!
Excuse the shitty photos, I was hungry and ate the soup right after I vlogged it, so they are screen captures.
I’m always up for trying burger places I haven’t been. I spotted W Burger Bar outside College station so me and Nash hit it up while we were in the area. The interior design was pretty fancy and I was actually surprised to find that the burgers were quite affordable. The menu contained bison, kobe beef, lamb, chicken and more. Both of us got bison burgers but added our own toppings. My burger had chipotle ketchup, bacon and sauteed onions. Nash added a portobello mushroom and monterey jack. I enjoyed my bison burger, it was nice and meaty and the ketchup was a nice pairing.
As a side, we shared an order of 1/2 sweet, 1/2 regular fries. I love that they had that as an option! It’s a great compromise for those that can’t decide and they gave us a decent amount for $3.50.
I finally visited Seven Lives in Kensington Market and tried their seafood tacos. The place has very little seating so we ordered a few to go.
I had the Pulpo On Mole Verde, an octopus taco with a pumpkin seed mole; and the Baja Fish, deep fried mahi mahi with cream sauce. They were both $5, but well worth the price considering I was stuffed from the two tacos. The fish was moist and reminded me of some of my favourite fish and chips (minus the chips). The octopus was not tough at all and I liked the texture of added pumpkin seeds and uh, CHEESE.
Nash ordered the Gobernador with shrimp, smoked marlin and cheese; and the Mushroom and Cactus with grilled cheese. I’ve never had cactus before this but I tried a bite and it reminded me a lot of this Chinese pan-fried bean dish.
Oh Seven Lives, I think I’ll definitely be back to eat everything else.
In the years we’ve dated so far, I have never actually eaten sushi with Nash. He had always said he wasn’t a fan or that he didn’t particularly enjoy salmon in general. Anyways, for some reason he changed his mind and we ended up at Rikishi around Ossington Station. We found the menu endearing in the fact that there were many spelling errors including “Riquer” instead of liqueurs. Instead of Bento meals, we took the pricier route and ordered a bunch of small things.
We sampled two sushi rolls, the spicey salmon and spicy scallop (pictured above). Nash said he couldn’t taste the salmon (which I guess is a good thing since he doesn’t normally like it). Even when you dipped them in soy-sauce the scallop and salmon were battered enough that it was still crunchy.
We also ordered the fried squid which was lightly battered and not heavy at all. There was also a generous portion for the price.
Out of curiosity I asked for the “Seafood-foil-yaki” (yes the actual name), which was literally a piece of buttered shrimp, scallop, salmon, onions wrapped in foil. It was my least favourite of the dishes but I was curious as to what it was and it was quite literal to its name.
I also got this raw octopus salad dish. It came in a sweet and sour dressing, much like the pickled carrots and radish that it included. Raw octopus is actually less fishy as you might expect.
I had a mini glass of plum wine. It was sweeter than the ones I have tried in the past.
For dessert, me and Nash had icecream. He had green tea and I opted for pumpkin out of curiosity as to what that would taste like. It was very sweet, a lot like custard but with a pumpkin-like texture. It actually be my new favourite flavour of icecream.
The bill was around $44. Considering we ordered from an A La Carte menu, with alcoholic drinks and dessert this was a fair price for a decent meal.
I’m stuck in Mississauga this week house-sitting. I was watching an episode of Burger Wars and ended up with a gourmet burger craving. I then researched to see if there were places besides chains where I have already been (Five Guys, Big Smoke) and stumbled on Union Burger. The place is on Living Arts Drive, right across from Square One Shopping Centre. The interior design of the place was modern and sleek.
I ordered the Peppercorn Goat Cheese Burger. It had cracked black pepper, caramelized onions, lettuce, BBQ sauce and of course goat cheese. I couldn’t really taste the pepper as the BBQ sauce was a little over powering.
I chose onion rings as my side. The breading texture reminded me of Burger King’s onion rings, but crunchier.
I finally had the opportunity to try one of the new Coca-Cola freestyle machines.
The machine allows you to mix and match your own soft drink flavour. I stuck with a classic vanilla coke. Maybe next time I’ll be more creative.
They’re not the best burgers in the world but Union Burger has some affordable and tastier alternatives to the fast food chains.
Yesterday I felt like wrapping something in bacon and I happened to have a bag of drumsticks in the freezer. They turned out moist and delicious so I thought I’d share the recipe.
Ingredients
Chicken drumsticks
Rosemary (you can use dry or fresh)
Bacon
Garlic Cloves
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mince the garlic and the rosemary and toss them in a bowl with the chicken to season the drumsticks.
Wrap the drumsticks in bacon! I started from the stick and made my way to the meaty part. Sprinkle any leftover garlic and rosemary on top of the wrapped drumsticks. When you’re done stick them in the oven for an hour or until bacon is nice and crispy.
And serve! I paired mine with home-made fries I made in the oven at the same time.
Tiana Feng 