food – Page 28 – Tiana Feng

10oz Burgers At the Purple Onion

September 6, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

The Purple Onion, located in the Junction neighborhood of Toronto is more known for it’s all-day breakfasts. However, I can’t seem to go to a new place and NOT try the burgers at least once. So I did and they were 10 oz.

I forgot the name of our burgers and their website doesn’t really name them but mine had onion rings, carmelized onions and mushrooms. Nash’s had bacon, carmelized onion and mushrooms. And did I mention the patty was 10oz? All for only $8.95. A great price for the amount of food.

The burger patty itself had pieces of onion in it that added moisture and flavour. It was a simple but decent burger. We’ll be frequenting the Junction a ton for the next little while, so we’ll be back to try their infamous breakfasts in the nearby future.

Board Games: Starcraft, Mille Bornes, Crocodile Dentist, Pop-Up Pirate, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

August 30, 2012March 10, 2013Board Games, Entertainment, Food1 Comment

On Tuesday we got really bored of the CNE after 2 hours so we decided to waste the rest of the day at Snakes & Lattes. Since we had an unlimited amount of time we started with a rather complicated board game.

Sitting high on a shelf was Starcraft: The Board Game. I asked one of the employees to lend me a hand and his words were: “You don’t want to play that game. I’ve never seen anybody finish that game. They’d take 1 hour to read instructions, and another to set it up.” I wasn’t going to give up though and part of me really just wanted to prove him wrong.

There are around 60 pages of instructions but we read and setup the thing at the same time. It took around 2 hours to get through one game. The game actually plays a lot like the video game. There’s resources, units, fights and areas to take over. It’s like a card game and a board game in one. I don’t think there’s an easier way they could have written the instructions but it did take a bit to figure out. Once you play it once though, the second time is easy peasy. The game allows up to 6 players and it would have been even better with more than 2 people but explaining the game is the challenge.

After the Starcraft game we needed something a bit more brainless. Nash taught me how to play Mille Bornes.

The goal of the game is simply to get up to 1000 mph. There are distractions such as flat tires, red lights and other things that you can hinder your opponent with.

Then for some reason we went completely brainless and opted to play some children’s game starting with Crocodile Dentist.

It’s one of those games I really wanted to try as a kid because of those enticing YTV ads. It’s actually not that fun when you’re a grown up though because there’s a way of pushing down on the teeth to ensure that he won’t ensnare you.

Pop-Up Pirate did not require any brain power either. However, the first time through it scared the hell out of me when Nash poked a sword through and sent him flying. It was unexpectedly loud as it popped up.

We finished the day off with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pizza Power Board Game. It was probably the most “board game” like thing we played the entire day with the exception of how you kill the bad guys. There was this dice bouncing seesaw thing where you had to bounce it into the right square. It was challenging.

I seriously wish I lived near at (or atleast near Snakes and Lattes). I don’t think you could ever get bored there with the HUGE selections of games they have for you to play. I’ll definitely be back, even if it’s to eat this prosciutto and brie sandwich again:

Bacon Nation at CNE

August 29, 2012March 10, 2013Fashion, Food, Restaurant Reviews, Street1 Comment

The food building was hilariously close to the farm.

One of the reasons I went to the CNE was to eat copious amounts of bacon. Of course we had to check out this so called Bacon Nation that was getting all the rage. We opted for the bacon wrapped hot dog with extra bacon as well as the Ba-conic Sandwich Explosion. To be honest, they were a little bit anti-climactic.

The bacon wrapped hot dog with bacon was literally a bacon wrapped hot dog with more bacon. It was good, but for almost $10, I half expected it to be huge.

The sandwich was bacon wrapped and stuffed sausage with lettuce, tomato and Jack Daniel’s sauce on a bun. The sausage bacon had a nice crunch to it that was nice. While it was delicious, it was nowhere near an explosion. I’ve eaten gourmet burgers bigger than it for the same (if not cheaper price). You can’t name something an explosion if it isn’t gigantic or at least super messy to eat!

We left the desert bacon things alone, mostly because we didn’t want to spend more money to be disappointed. I’m glad I tried them though, it was good but didn’t live up to my expectations.

Burgers at Buskerfest 2012

August 27, 2012October 13, 2012Food, Restaurant Reviews, Street1 Comment

Last weekend was Scotiabank BuskerFest in Toronto. While most people went there to see performers such as magic shows and silver Elvis, I visited for the food.

There was various vendors for food: ones that you normal find at fairs selling nuts and cotton candy and the fatty delicious foods. However on the first day me and Nash passed by the festival on the way to a concert we stopped by Yes to Fresh’s stand where they offered up Burgers with an Asian twist.

I accidentally ordered a portobello mushroom burger, not realizing the meat was the mushroom until Nash pointed it out. Luckily he ordered the pork tenderloin and we each had half of each other’s. They were both pretty delicious. The pork had some Thai corn that added a nice sweetness and the mushroom burger had crunchy onions of some sort. Both were served with a green salad.

Friday was my last day at work and we went to Buskerfest for lunch. We started with this Moroccan smoked meat sandwich from Berber.

The meat was really good but I wish there was more of it. There was an abundance of bun. The little pickles were a nice touch also. They were sweeter than usual.

Lastly we had a burger at Great Burger Kitchen. I wouldn’t say it’s the best one I’ve ever had but it wasn’t bad.

I’ll definitely stop by the actual restaurant to give their real burgers a try. Their menu has some drool inducing ones for sure.

We also found trucks giving out free slivers of pizza. The Mozzarellissima sponsored slice definitely highlighted the cheese.

I’m in love with the food at Toronto’s great festivals. However neat year, I am going to definitely make time to check out some of the performers at Buskerfest too!

Bacon Donuts and Pulled Pork Slider From Caplansky’s

August 5, 2012October 13, 2012Food, Restaurant Reviews, Street3 Comments

The last time I visited Caplansky’s I tried the bbq brisket slider and the smoked meat slider. I encountered the truck again at Hard Fest , so I decided to try the bacon donuts and the pulled pork slider.

The donuts were like timbits stuffed with bacon and glazed with maple. They were soft and warm and a strangely delicious mixture of savoury and sweet. It was like a mini bacon and maple pancake breakfast in one bite.

The pulled pork slider was mini but packed full of meat and coleslaw. It was a bit messy to eat but I ate any droppings with the stick that came with my donuts. It was yummy and if they didn’t cost like $4 each, I probably would have had 5 of them.

So far, I’ve been satisfied with everything I’ve eaten at the Caplansky’s Food Truck. Perhaps I should go check out the actual restaurant!

Unappetizing Food Photos

July 29, 2012July 29, 2012Food, PhotographyLeave a Comment

I don’t know what it is about Jack Astors, but every time I attempt to take a photo of my meal, it ends up looking like slop. I’m not saying that the food there is slop, just the food isn’t too photogenic. For instance here is a photo of my half eaten scrumptious red velvet cake:

It was delicious, there was nothing inherently wrong with it, but no matter how hard I tried the photo I took turned out horrible. It looked like the mud pies you make as a child. It wasn’t even something I could instagram prettier. I didn’t think that could happen.

On another occasion I tried the Lamb Skewers entree. It came with hummus bread and a mini salad. This was the photo:

You might say “well hummus always looks like slop” but I had blogged about the hummus at By the Way Cafe previously and it didn’t look a thing like that. Not to mention the skewers look a bit like penis on sticks. Again, it wasn’t that bad of a meal just not very photogenic.

Have you ever run into a situation where you couldn’t show your delicious meal to your friends on Facebook because the photos were just horrible? I’d love to know!

Healthy Eating at By the Way Cafe

Healthy Eating at By the Way Cafe

July 22, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

A few weeks ago, my stomach was a little iffy so I opted to find something healthier (that wasn’t burgers) to eat. From random window browsing, we made our way to the By The Way Cafe located in the Annex. I had walked past it a million times in the past but never wandered inside. The restaurant is really bright and has a homie feeling even though they do consider themselves a fine dining restaurant. I was actually quite surprised to find that it served middle-eastern cuisine. I always thought that it served sandwiches or generic coffee shop food because of it’s name.

We ordered light, mainly because we wanted an excuse to get froyo after. We opted for the combination platter which contained hummus, tabuleh, babaganough and Israeli salad. We also had the spicy and crunchy calamari which lived up to it’s name. Ok, I admit the calamari is not considered “healthy”, but whatever it was delicious.

The platter was basically like bread and dip but it was flavorful and we finished every drop of it. It’s a tiny bit pricey though ($12) for how much there is. There’s definitely a ton of choices on the menu for those who choose not to eat meat (never) including a vegetarian lasagna. At least I’ve finally eaten something besides sushi in the Annex!

Missed Connection at Edgefest

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012Drinks, Entertainment, Food3 Comments

On Saturday, I went to Edgefest at Downsview Park. The weather was 30 something degrees, but your touch hit the mark.

I met you next to a super delicious stand, that sold me this sandwich of pemeal bacon:

You were pale, yellow and cold. Your flavour was bold. We met 3 times that day. What the hell am I talking about? It was a $6 lemonade.

I blame the poem above on the 37 degrees weather Toronto’s experiencing today. It made me miss this delicious (but super over priced) lemonade. I don’t have any pictures of it. I also have no idea if the vendors have a store outside of Edgefest, but if anybody knows I’d love for you to help me solve this missed connection!

Interesting Burgers at the Yellow Griffin

July 9, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

I learned about the Yellow Griffin from their tempting ads mentioning their huge variety of burgers that they’ve had up occasionally in subway stations for the past couple of years. Last week, I finally decided to visit the joint. It’s a pub style joint, but there’s always a top floor where you can book parties. Their menu has an offering of over 35 styles of burgers which you can get with beef, chicken, lamb, bison, veggie, turkey or even salmon patties.

I ordered the New Mexican with a regular burger patty. On top of it sat guacamole, santa fe salsa, tobasco sauce, diced sweet potatoes, peanut butter, chopped coriander. I thought I’d try something other than the heart-attack inducing burgers I usually order. I chose sweet potato fries as my side.

The patty was pretty huge. The burger had a lot of flavour. The peanut butter blended really well with everything else, which was surprising because I thought it would be really strange. It was also texturely interesting with the sweet potatoes (that were almost like a mash) and the salsa. The fries were crunchy and addictive.

Nash ordered the Hold the Port, which had a giant portebello mushroom and blue cheese. These 2 ingredients both have strong flavour on their own but together they marry so well. I stole a bite and I tasted the mushroom first, but when my tongue finally touched the blue cheese it was awesome. His onion rings were also delicious, kind of wish there were more of them (it didn’t come with that many) that I could steal.

Service there was slightly awkward, but we both enjoyed our food and will definitely be back to try the other burgers!

Novo Horizonte and the X-Everything Burger

5 Ridiculous Was to Reduce Tears When Cutting An Onion

July 4, 2012Food, Life3 Comments

Are you one of those people who cry when cutting an onion? I am when the purple ones are involved. I decided to google up ways to lessen the tears when chopping onions and this is some of what I found.

1. Cut onion over an open flame.

2. Chill your onion in a freezer.

3. Wear gas tight goggles or a mask

4. Stick your tongue out

5. Whistle