food – Page 26 – Tiana Feng

Come and Get Poutine

April 9, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Come and Get It is a pop-up restaurant located in a little space on Spadina (close to Queen) where Ackee Tree used to be. The restaurant is very temporary because soon it will disappear to condo developments. This could be a few months or years, so who knows.

The place itself has a very 90s-punk atmosphere with graffiti style bathroom stores. They also love vintage 90s stuff like lunch boxes, N64 and New Kids on the Block.

The menu has four options that can be prepared as either a sandwich, salad or poutine. Besides the herbed-crusted green beans, it was really hard to choose.
I opted for the Hawaiian Pork Belly poutine. I really liked the BBQ sauce and the pork belly. There was even crispy pork crackling that reminded me of the skin on Chinese roast pig, the ones you see hanging in the windows in China Town. That was one of my favourite things growing up as a child.

Nash really wanted the jerk chicken, but they ran out so he tried the Chipotle Short Rib as a poutine. There were crispy onions on top. The meat was melt in your mouth, but I didn’t really find it spicey which I would imply in something labeled Chipotle.

The serving size was very large (maybe twice the size of Poutini’s regular), and quite worth what you paid for. I hope this place remains at the spot for a little while. It is great pre-concert food and I would love to try all the options!

Our Quest to The Burgernator

April 1, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Nested in the boutiques of Kensington Market is recently owned burgery The Burgernator. The eatery had black walls that were decorated with a Terminator / RPG quest theme.

The washroom played along with a sign that says “Duty Calls” and a Burger Manifesto took up one wall.

The menu was also inscribed on the wall with action packed burger names.

I ordered the Atomic Burger which had a deep fried herb crusted cheese, tomato, lettuce and sun dried tomato aiole on top of a patty of freshly ground beef. This was the first time I had a burger with a slice of fried cheese and the herbs added to the batter was definitely a lovely touch. The sun dried tomato aiole balanced the heaviness with something light. There was a bit of greasiness created by the fried cheese so this burger can get quite messy.

Nash had the Asta La Vista, Birdie which had guacamole, jalapenos and jack cheese on a chicken breast. The peppers gave it a nice kick.

We’ll definitely destroy one of the other burgers when we find ourselves in the area again.

Ryoji Ramen and Izakaya

March 25, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

Last week, I had a craving for ramen so I turned to my trusty Yelp app and searched for places close to where we were. It led me to Ryoji Ramen and Izakaya.

Located in Little Italy/Portugal, the place is relatively new. The decorations were modern, warm and colourful. When we went in, we were greeted by the people in the kitchen but not to the crazy extent as other izakayas in the city.

The menu consisted of mostly tapas and ramen. Of course we came for the ramen and we both were craving the Tonkotsu ramen. They asked us if we wanted it soft, regular or hard and we had no idea what that meant until later.

The ramen broth was probably one of my favourites in the city. However, I found for $12 the bowl itself was lacking in something. It was just two pieces of pork belly and ramen with a bit of mushroom and scallions. There wasn’t even like an egg or those swirly fish ball thing in the bowl like the ones you get at Kenzo Ramen for a fraction of the price.

Ethiopian Food and Coffee @ Pero Restaurant and Lounge

February 23, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

For my 25th birthday me and a few friends celebrated by venturing into some Ethiopian dining. I had walked passed Pero hundreds of times but had yet to venture in. They had pretty rave reviews on Blogto and Yelp, so it was worth a venture in.

A few of us shared the signature Pero Platter which had lamb, chicken in red sauce, three vegetarian dishes and a green salad in the middle. In Ethiopian culture food is not eaten with forks and knives. Instead, Injera a spongey type of flat bread is used to pick up food. It was really interesting because it soaked up the aromatic sauces of all the food. Everything was pretty delicious. The Timitimo Tsebhi, a yellow lentil stew thing had a nice creamy texture, the chickpeas were eaten up right away and the chicken and lamb were delectable. Plus, who wouldn’t like a plate or utensil that could be eaten?

The other thing I tried was the Special Kitfo which was a minced beef with a spice called mimita. Mimita is a blend of bird’s eye red pepper, cardamom seeds, cloves and salt. They had a little thing of it at the side that we could spice to our own liking. The dish itself was already a tiny bit spicy and very flavorful.

Since we had all eaten with our hands, we were given warm water with lotus flowers to wash them in when we were finished with our meal.

I had heard about the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony before and I thought since we were at a restaurant it would only be appropriate. The ceremony took couple of stages. First the beans were roasted and the host teased us (and the entire restaurant) with the fumes. While we waited for the beans to be crushed and turned into coffee, we had popcorn. I asked the host if he knew the origin of why Ethiopian’s use popcorn and he did not know. However he explained that when it is someone’s birthday they often put a type of bread on it. So, I pointed out that we were celebrating my birthday….

… and he lit the bar on fire and gave us free lemoncello shots, which was probably more awesome than bread on popcorn.

Then the coffee came and was served in little tiny cups. I drank it black and it wasn’t as bitter and strong as I expected it to be. Apparently it had quite a bit of caffeine because I drank two little cups and now I’m still up at 1:33am writing this post (after some alcohol and a long ride home). Anyways, for the price, the amazing service and exciting but tasty food, I am totally coming back.

Burgers and Tacos @ Tallboys

January 25, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Before yesterday’s installment of The Big Smoke Music Festival, we grabbed food inside the venue, Tallboys Craft Beer House.

I ordered the Pan Seared Fish Tacos ($12). The fish sat in a soft corn tortilla with guacamole salsa fresca, lettuce and sour cream. They were served with fries. They’re very similar in style to the fish tacos at Tacos El Asador with just the right amount of coriander. The fries made it a decent amount of food, and I swear they had a little bit of sour cream in them because of their interesting taste.

Nash had the Tallboys Signature Bacon Chili Burger ($13). The chili was mixed in with melted cheese and onions resulting in awesomness between two buns. They also have a burger with kimchi in it which we will definitely come back to try.

Since we were at Tallboys, it was only appropriate that we did get some tallboys. I had the Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner. It was a good amount of sweetness in a beer. Nash had some kind of cider, I forgot.

We’ll definitely come back again since the food is decently priced. Also, we learnt that the menu is half price on Sundays with a drink!

Sandwiches at Sky Blue Sky

January 23, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I first heard of Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company at last year’s All Caps Island Music Festival. They were catering the event and I ordered the Casino Queen Sandwich.
The sandwich had avocado, bacon, turkey and onions. They were running out of bread at the festival so it was served on a bagel. It was a delicious sandwich so I sought out their actual location at Bloor West.

I’ve been there multiple times already. One of the things I ordered was a sandwich called I’m the Man Who Loves You. All the sandwiches are $4.99 (or cheaper). This one had tons of slices of smoked chicken, lettuce, tomato, red pepper sauce of some sort and ricotta cheese. I loved that little bit of a kick. Appropriately named since it was a pretty sexy sandwich.

Another sandwich I have tried is the Dreamer In My Dreams ($4.99). Slices of roast beef were accompanied by onions cooked in red wine vinegar, tomato, banana peppers and cheddar cheese. The bread it was served on was interesting and somewhat spicy.

Besides sandwiches they also have some hearty salads.
This one is the Casino Queen Salad. It is like the salad version of the sandwich containing lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, onions and of course bacon.

I also tried the lighter Mandarin Orange Walnut Salad. It was a refreshing salad with lettuce, avocado, walnuts and mandarin oranges.

Besides the sandwiches being delicious the people who work there are pretty awesome, so do yourself a favour and pay them a visit!

Two Bite Saloon

January 14, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Last month, before the holiday me and Nash ventured into the newly opened Two Bite Saloon at Bloor and Shaw. We popped in right at opening hour at 5pm and the whole dinner we were the only people eating besides a few sketchy looking people having drinks at the bar. This was a bit strange considering it was just right before the holidays and Blogto and TheStar had written about the place the month prior.

As an appetizer, I had the Kale Salad ($5). I had previously not tried kale (I thought it was just a hype vegetable), but I enjoyed the “salad” which was very rich in flavours because of some smoke-ham and Parmesan cheese. I actually loved the addition of smokeyness to what people have been calling the new hype healthy veggie.

For my main dish I had the Ribs ($17). The ribs were smoked and drenched with a very tasty barbecue sauce. It was served with lightly seasoned fries and a buttermilk slaw. I didn’t care much for the slaw as I found it too creamy, but I happily ate the fries.

One was eaten before I could take a picture!

Nash had five of the sliders ($14 I think). He had two pulled pork, two pemeal bacon and I forgot what the last was. They were a bit bigger than the food truck sliders we had tried previously and 5 was pretty filling.

It was a bit pricey but we enjoyed our meal. We’ll probably return one day to splurge on some of their interesting cocktails!

Tacos at La Tortilleria

January 10, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

When you walk in La Tortilleria at Bloor and Dufferin, it looks like a mini Mexican supermarket. People who just happen to wander by the market might even miss the fact they serve food in a little corner. We were on an adventure to try a new taco place and found this place on Yelp by searching “tacos”. In terms of atmosphere, it couldn’t get more Mexican. We were surrounded by a market of authentic Mexican treats, food and spices. There were only 3 small tables for people to eat in. Mexican music played in the background.
I ordered 3 tacos for $6.99. One beef, one pulled pork and one chicken. They each had a black bean sauce at the bottom. I totally forgot to put salsa on mine so it was a tiny bit dry, but still flavourful and delicious. Plus at $6.99 I was sufficiently full after eating them.
Nash ordered two “big quesadillas” for $8. They were like a cheese-steak sandwich in a pita. It was packed full of meat and creamy mozzarella and honestly one of the best quesadillas I have ever tasted.

To wash things down, we both bought some Jarrito, a Mexican soda made with natural granulated sugar. I had lime and Nash had orange. They were sweet but not too much.

For what we paid for, the food was a lot better than we thought and we will definitely be back.

Brunch @ Hogtown Vegan

January 2, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

If you are a regular reader of this blog, than you know that I am a huge meat eater, and don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon. However I’m always up to trying new things. We passed by Hogtown Vegan a bunch of times and in my research I learnt that they did southern comfort food vegan style so we decided to hit it up for New Years brunch. Normally, brunch is only served Saturdays and Sundays but I guess they wanted to serve those hung over from the night before.
I ordered the Unchicken and Waffles ($13) with a side of Chefs Salad. The “chicken” was nicely fried and actually tasted like chicken fingers! Also the waffle was so fluffy and delicious that I didn’t realize vegan waffles can’t have eggs and milk until my friend Karol asked me about them. Hey, if I can make waffles without eggs and milk I’d love the recipe!

I washed my food down with a refreshing homemade iced tea ($3).

My friend Karol ordered the Tortilla Salad ($10), which was gluten and nut free. Romaine lettuce was topped with tortilla chips, beans, salsa, guacomole, scallions and sour cream made from sunflower!

She also had a vegan ceasar, which I assume doesn’t have any clams.

Nash ordered the Tofu Rancheros($12) which was kind of like a non-salad version of Karol’s dish with an added “egg”. The tofu egg looked like an omelette, but didn’t really taste like egg. It was delicious regardless of the fact, and well seasoned.

For dessert, Karol and I split Chocolate Mousse ($6.50) made with almond milk. It was very rich for something without any cream.

As non-vegans we were quite impressed with our selections and very excited to come back and try their intriguing dinner menu.

Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu

December 8, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

The place may sound like a caucasian’s attempt to speak Chinese but it is a pretty decent Korean restaurant at the heart of Koreatown in Toronto. The restaurant is known for its tofu soup and there are only 9 items on the menu with most of them just being variations of the soup. None of the items are over $9.

I ordered the Seafood Soon Tofu + Dolsotbab in medium heat. It had chunks of oyster, mussels, shrimp and of course tofu. There was a raw egg for me to crack into the soup while it was hot. The tofu was pretty melt in your mouth and even my tofu-hating boyfriend liked it. It was served with purple rice which was scooped out of a stone pot for me. The stone pot was then filled with water. I originally thought this was a way for the restaurant to keep the pots clean but I discovered its actually Koreans call Noo roong ji, where dried rice is purposely mixed with water to become some kind of “burnt rice snack”. I guess I’ll have to try that next time.

Nash dug into it before I took a picture

Nash ordered Stone Pot Bibimbop which was the standard beef stone pot with veggies and an egg on top.

We had four sides on the table to go along with the dishes. Kimchi, pickled vegetables, beans and beans sprouts. For meals under $10 a person this was flavourful and definitely filling!