food – Page 24 – Tiana Feng

Rabbit and Other Meats at Big Crow

September 9, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Situated behind Rose & Sons is what looks like someone’s fancy backyard picnic. We probably wouldn’t have stumbled on Big Crow if we weren’t specifically looking for it.

Rose & Sons is pretty new and they’ve already added this cool looking BBQ cook-out to its backyard. You can see the cooks grilling everything on the make-shift fire pit situated in the back.
The atmosphere was very laid back. We were seated in between two other sets of customers. Plates are meant to be shared so we chose 2 selections from the “little crow” menu and one from the “big crow”.

The crow sizzling bacon (“little crow”) had a sweet ancho chili BBQ sauce. It was served with thuet bread and a little slaw, which we realized later were the only veggies we ate that night.

Also from the little crow menu was the miami ribs served with a creamy tzatziki sauce. This was a meal where using your hands and getting messy was necessary.

Our “big crow” and larger of the selections was this 1/2 rabbit. I’ve never had rabbit before and it reminded me a lot of pheasant. They were coated in a sweet and spicy hot sauce.

To wash down all the meat, me and Nash both had sweet teas.

We realized after we ordered that all we ordered was meat, but it was delicious. Like Homer in Simpsons said, “You can’t make friends with salad!” I’m not sure what will happen when the weather gets to cold to eat outside, so get your meat on while you can.

Lays Flavours Review

September 2, 2013Food, SnacksLeave a Comment

Lays sponsored a contest where people around Canada created new chip flavours. The winner gets $50,000 and 1% royalty from future sales.

Right now they’re down to four finalists, each of which have received $5000. I missed out on the Perogy Platter (because they were not available at the time) but I purchased the Caesar Salad, Maple Moose and Grilled Cheese and Ketchup flavoured chips.

The Grilled Cheese and Ketchup greatly resembled BBQ chips, but a little blander. The “cheese” could be tasted when I licked the chips. The Creamy Ceasar Salad chips tasted a lot like a tamer version of sour cream and onion chips with a hint of cheese and a bit of garlic. By far the most original flavour was the Maple Moose flavour. They reminded me of firewood and camping. It was kind of atrocious on the first bite, but they got strangely addictive after a while.

My bet on the winner is probably Maple Moose as it is the most unique. The US contest had a Sriracha flavour which I wish I could get my hands on!

So.. I Tried the McLobster

Pour Boy Pub

August 30, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Pour Boy was listed in The Grid’s Guide to Being Broke and Living Large. Doing cool things on a budget is certainly in our interests at the moment. It’s close to Nash’s but we never thought to look around the corner of Bloor and Manning. The decor is unique and isn’t really asian nor white, but the menu is a mix of both.

I ordered the Gnocchi with shrimp ($7). The waiter recommended the white sauce so I obliged. I wasn’t expecting much out of pub food, but this was actually flavourful and there was a generous amount of shrimp. To drink I had a Long Island Iced Tea ($6.50).

Nash ordered the Pour Boy burger which was pretty much a regular banquet burger. It was a bit on the oily side but he enjoyed it. They came with a choice of regular or sweet potato fries or a salad.

I don’t know why I never visited this place when I was in university. It’s such a cheap watering hole. A pitcher of Sangria is $17, so we couldn’t resist. Plus, cheers to the rest of summer right?

Anniversary In the Dark at O.Noir

August 15, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

Nash and I love adventure and for our anniversary we decided to dine in the dark at O.Noir. The restaurant, located at the corner of Church and Charles has two dinner services 5:45pm and 8:30pm. Dinner is a prix fixe with 2 courses at $32 and 3 courses at $39.

After placing our orders in a small lit bar area, we were led by our server into the pitch-black dining room. All the servers are legally blind. Our server guided us to the table with a hands-on-shoulder method. It was scary at first to rely only on another person’s voice, but I learnt to put my trust in our guide and found my way to the table. We were seated at the end of a row of tables beside a wall.

We began with some Long Island iced teas, which I made a conscious effort not to knock over. We were also brought bread which I failed to butter. It’s hard to judge how much butter I scooped on my knife in the dark, so there were blobs of it everywhere! I ordered the Surprises for three of my courses. Nash ordered from the menu for his appetizer and main dish. I think my appetizer was a salad with avocado, feta cheese, tomatoes and cranberries, at least I think they were cranberries. Nash had a grilled octopus salad. The octopus was very tender and not chewy.

I’m still trying to figure out what my surprise main was (I forgot to ask). There was green beans, mashed potatoes and what I think is steak in a mushroom sauce. Nash thinks it was pork. It was very flavourful. He ordered the shrimp and sun-dried tomato risotto. I had one of his shrimp and it was well seasoned and felt very large. We both had the surprise dessert which was a cheesecake, served on its side. Not sure what sort of cheesecake but I did taste coconut and pineapple. Maybe pina colada.

The whole experience was a lot of fun. Our appetizers and mains were served in plates that had edges like a bowl, so accidentally pushing the food off the plate wasn’t a concern. I did end up using my hands to help get food on my fork, and to feel if I was actually done each course. Technically I could have licked the plate and nobody would have noticed. It was interesting to have to rely on other senses to gauge our way in the dark. We could hear conversations around us and tried to figure out how close they were. I think there was one table separating us and the people beside us. There was a lot of accidental eye-poking to try to see how far away we were from each other.

During our entire meal, everybody kept up with the rules. Nobody pulled out a smartphone or let in any light. Conversations was plenty and it was definitely a memorable way to spend an anniversary!

So.. I Tried the McLobster

August 2, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

I was spoiled with lobster last week at Rock Lobster, so I thought I’d give the McLobster a try for fun. At $6.95 it wouldn’t be too bad of a price if it happened to be sub-par, right?

Except it was pretty un-lobstery. All I could taste was celery, chives and salt. I could see lobster (sort of) but it was covered in a thick salad dressing. It reminded me of a saltier version of a crab meat salad. I do question if it has imitation crab meat, but I failed to find the ingredients listed online. I thought legally they were required to do so, just in case someone has allergies.

Anyways, I also found myself quite thirsty after the roll. I ate that thing at 6. It’s now midnight and I still want to drink my sink.

I think I’ll redeem lobster again by going back to Rock Lobster and having their rolls.

Lobster Everything at Rock Lobster

July 29, 2013August 26, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Last week before the El Catrin launch party (I didn’t think there would be so much food) I had dinner with my blogger friend, Melody at Rock Lobster on Queen West where Shanghai Cowgirl used to be.

The Lobster Poutine ($13) had a lobster bisque gravy, fresh lobster and of course cheese curds and fries.

Melody had the Lobster Taco ($5). I assume it was delicious because she ordered a second serving.

We also shared these Bacon Wrapped Corn Dogs served with mustard and a sort of hot sauce. I can’t refuse bacon wrapped things. It wasn’t too heavy either.

By far my favourite thing was the Rock Lobster Ceasar ($12). I regularly hate ceasars but this one was perfectly seasoned and spiced. Oh and of course the fact there was a lobster tail in it, which I dipped in the drink for extra deliciousness.

I’m already thinking of going back just for the drink…

*Update*
Me and Nash went back to Rock Lobster and had these delicious scallops on the house! We originally ordered Devilled Eggs and I guess they ran out and forgot to tell us. So we were rewarded with these divine scallops instead. We didn’t even complain or anything. This is customer service at its finest.

View this post on Instagram

We got free scallops somehow

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Aug 24, 2013 at 5:46pm PDT

El Catrin Launch Party

July 24, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Thanks to The Mint Agency, I attended El Catrin‘s media launch party.The Mexican restaurant, which is located at the heart of the Distillery District (where Boiler House used to be), has one of the most beautiful patios I have ever seen. The new renovations also made it appear more welcoming to a wide variety of patrons. Inside it was colourful and inviting.

We were treated with an endless supply of margaritas. I usually think margaritas have way too much salt, but these were perfectly balanced!

Various hors d’oeuvres were served. There was enough that I wish I had not eaten dinner before hand. One of my favourites were the fried fish tacos with salsa roja. There was another taco with shaved pork, axiote, pineapple, cilantro and onion that was also quite good.

Other samplings included tamatillo and cilantro marinated shrimp; seafood ceviche; pastor pork quaesadillas with pineapple and gouda cheese; and more. Dessert included a mexican take on crème brûlée and a bacon topped fudge, which was like heaven in my mouth.

Everything I sampled was full of flavour. I looked into their menu just now and it looks reasonably priced. I will definitely come back to eat the full-sized versions!

Spoonful Buffet

July 23, 2013July 24, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

This year for my sister’s birthday dinner we celebrated at Brampton’s Spoonful, a buffet owned by Imperial Buffet.

There was a huge selection of food including a raw seafood bar, dessert tables, soft-serve ice cream, made to order pasta and kalbi ribs. The food was decent but occasionally I’d pick up something pretty and find there was too much wasabi in it.

The best part was definitely the dessert tables. There was a donut fryer, cakes, cupcakes, brownies, a chocolate fountain and more. If you’re looking for something slightly more up-scale than Mandarin, Spoonful is a good place to go.

Maroli Indian Kerala Cuisine

July 16, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Brightly coloured signage made Maroli restaurant standout from the other restaurants in Korea Town. I was drawn in by their promise of exotic spices.

The Malabar Chicken ($11.99) is their signature dish. It’s a deep fried chicken with 16 spices and might actually be my favourite fried chicken in Toronto. The chicken didn’t feel heavy, yet it was crunchy and flavourful.

The other thing we ordered was the Shrimp Malabari ($14.99). It was a lovely coconut curry much like the one I had at Banjara.

To accompany the curry, we had some Garlic Naan ($3.25) and Maroli Special Naan ($3.25). The latter had cheese, garlic and crushed chillies.

The service was very helpful in explaining what everything was. I was happy the place has free delivery (up to 5km) on their website. I’ll eventually make my way through their entire menu!

A Food Tour of Toronto Urban Roots Festival

July 11, 2013July 11, 2013Food, Street1 Comment

Last weekend was the inaugural Toronto Urban Roots Festival. If you’re interested in the music portion of the festival, you can check out my reviews here. This, however, is a look at some of the delicious food options that were available.

Collective Concerts did a great job organizing the event. They hired mom and pop restaurants instead of chains like Pizza Pizza. Environmental Defence was a sponsor providing free filtered water via Event Water. Nestea and Vitamin Water were also on-site giving people an unlimited amount of free drinks. I have to say this was one festival where I hardly saw any garbage on the ground. All the patrons were very courteous and thoughtful of the environment.

Per Se Mobile
I ordered their Short Rib Sandwich ($9). There was a generous portion of meat with cheese, arugula, pickled red onions on a fluffy bun. There a chipotle-esque flavour in the sauce. Kettle-chips were included with the sandwich.

Feng’s Dumplings
This place shares my last name, so it only seemed fitting to try them. I had 6 dumplings ($8) and told them to mix it up. Vinegar was sprinkled on them. I’m not sure what kinds I had, but they were all moist and delicious. Pricing wise, I thought it was a little expensive at more than $1 a dumpling.

Manual Labour Coffee
I had seen the adorable Manual Labour truck on the grounds on Thursday and Friday night. I was really excited to have them Saturday morning since the festival started bright and early that day. However, they were not set up until 3:30pm that day. What a missed out business opportunity! Anyways, they seemed to learn their mistake because on Sunday they came much earlier.

A popular option was the Coffee Pop. ($2.75) It was a carbonated expresso drink. I added some liquid honey in mine to taste. It was a bit weird. One sip would be bitter than the next sweet and tingly with carbonation. It was definitely something unique!

I also tried their Ice Break (not on the same day). They described it as a take on an Australian frappuchino. It was sweet so no additional sugar needed and cold enough for the hot day.

Capalansky’s
As per a security guard’s suggestion, I ordered their Smoked Meat Sandwich ($8). It came with a pickle and there was a variety of mustards to choose from at the truck. I went with a simple honey mustard. I thought I may have been lacking vegetables during the festival so I had a small order of potato salad ($1).

Bacon Nation
My favourite food item at TURF was probably Bacon Nation’s Porkfection ($8). It was a spectacular sandwich with pemeal bacon, pulled pork and crispy bacon strips that were actually crispy. It was worth the messy fingers.

Summertime Lemonade
To limit my amount of caffeinated and vitamin filled drinks, I decided to buy a classic lemonade.

Bonfire Catering
For $5 I had a slice of their Mexican pizza. It was just okay that day. It was a little dry from sitting out in the sun.

Kanga
On Sunday it started raining really hard during dinner time so I forgot to take photos of food. But I did have Kanga’s delicious meat pie and blueberry iced tea!

Overall, I thought there was a fantastic food selection at TURF. There was a very homey and family atmosphere to the entire festival and I quite miss it already!