food – Page 29 – Tiana Feng

Novo Horizonte and the X-Everything Burger

June 23, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

I heard of Novo Horizonte because a friend posted this Spice City link on my wall. As a burger aficionado, I had to try the place Since I was heading to the Drake for a concert it was the perfect pre-concert meal.

Located at 1430 Dundas Street West (at Gladstone), it’s a tiny little place where you’ll see a bunch of Brazilian’s hanging out and drinking. We seemed like such foreigners walking in. At first glance, it simply looks like just a bar. The waitress politely asked us what we would like to drink and we had to specifically ask for the menu.

The menu consisted of only burgers, which were very decently priced. You could get a burger of under $4, if you weren’t picky. Of course we opted for the X-Everything Burger (not the X-Challenge because we still needed to live) and I also ordered this mango orange juice thing. It was a pretty sweet nectar like juice in a mini container I probably could have drank in 2 gulps.

The X-Everything Burger was a glorious combination of things. It consisted of hamburger, chicken, bacon, ham, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, corn and shoestring fries (which were hickory sticks). They all combined together really nicely with some interesting textures.

It was easily devoured and this is what was left of the burger less than 10 minutes later:

We had 2 X-Everything Burgers, the mango orange drink, and a Moosehead beer and our bill only came up to $24. I don’t get it.. that would mean the beer costs close to nothing here! We’ll definitely be back, for drinks and more burgers. Perhaps, we’ll take on the X-Challenge next time.

I Don’t Mind Eating Burgers Alone But…

June 3, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Life, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

I’m not ashamed to go eat a burger alone. It’s quite a normal occurrence during busy times. Burgers are bunned happiness. Who has conversations with someone while eating a burger?

Anyways, this week was Burger Week in Toronto so of course I would participate. I chose Burger Bar because it happened to be the closest joint to the Supermarket, where I was going to see a show afterward. I headed there after work and starving. I had actually been to Burger Bar once before with my best friend 2 years ago. It wasn’t the greatest experience because her patty was bloody and under-cooked. I figured if the place still existed than it must have improved, so I gave it another chance.

I wandered in and asked for a table for 1. Either the waitress was loud or being a jerk, but she made me ask like 10,000 times. I finally sat down at a table (with no menu) and 15 minutes later a waitress came up to me and asked, Are you just sitting here? I was starting to get irritated. WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE JUST SITTING HERE IF I DON’T WANT A BURGER? but I replied, “Um, no, give me a menu.”

I decided to just stick with the Burger Week special as it was only $5. It was a local beef burger infused with hops and chipotle aioli. I felt I needed to calm down so I also tried to order a drink off the placemat, but apparently you can’t order the drinks on the placemat….

Why put these on all the tables, when you can’t order them?

I watched as a group of 10 people tried to do the same. Even though one waitress already took my order, another kept asking me if I was waiting for someone. I told her NO 3 times. FML, I just wanted to enjoy a burger alone. Oh yeah, I waited almost 20 minutes for said burger and it looked like this:

I was so hungry, I took a bite out of it before I took a picture.

Wrinkly bun, small as hell. It was okay I guess since I ate it fast (or I was just fuckin’ hungry). I guess I can’t expect much for $5, but I WAITED 20 MINUTES. They were lucky I gave them another chance, but I don’t think I will come back to Burger Bar EVER again.

As for eating burgers alone, luckily there are plenty of other places to do that in Toronto. My favourite being Gourmet Burger, where people and environment is friendly and the burgers are delicious.

Fusion Hot Dogs and Manic Coffee

May 19, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I found Fusia Dog one day when I was wandering downtown. We decided to try it. Located in the Entertainment district, this mini joint puts an asian fusion twist on the hot dog.

I ordered the Fusia Dog which had kimchi, daikon carrot salad and coriander wrapped in a paratha. For a hot dog, it was very light and refreshing. There was a wasabi mayo that had quite the kick. For some reason I thought the hot dogs would be over $10, but it was only $6.95. I finished it in less than 5 minutes.

Nash ordered the Boston Dog. It had more American toppings with baked beans, cheese, crispy bacon and fried onions. I stole a bite and it was delicious and surprisingly not too heavy.

It was another concert night and since we finished our hot dogs way too fast, we decided to hit up another local coffee joint. We ended up at Manic Coffee at College and Bathurst. I ordered a mocha.

It’s amazing, how many coffee joints there are in Toronto that aren’t chains. I think I’m going to make an effort to support more little places. Not only are they cheaper than Starbucks, but can be more delicious too!

This is Not Cheesecake

May 8, 2012Candy, FoodLeave a Comment

I bought this package of Pocky yesterday. I had assumed they were cheesecake flavour based on the colour of the box.

However, I assure you they are not. They were much lighter and lemony tasting. It reminded me of Italian biscotti. That would explain the back of the box:

Why then was there a picture of a cheesecake on the front of the box? I’ll never know, as I cannot read in any Asian language. Maybe one of you know what this box says?

Brazilian Star Steaks and Nova Era Mocha

May 7, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Another concert trip led us to the unfamiliar territory of Dundas West. There were a bunch of bars and expensive looking restaurants around. I wanted to continue on with my personal goal this year of delving into something new. We opted for Brazilian Star Bar & Grill based on it’s price and quality rating on Yelp.

We ordered the Alcatra (I think that’s what the word was) for 2 for $27. Alcatra is a type of thin steak. It was full of flavour, but a bit difficult to cut because it was fibrous. However, if if you google the definition of Alcatra, that is actually part of the definition, so it wasn’t any fault on their part.

The order came with rice, fries, salad, beans and what I think are bread crumbs. It was like a home-style meal where you just scoop things on your plate and eat it. I wasn’t really sure what to do with the bread crumbs (tell me if you know), so I spread them on top of everything and it had a nice crunchy texture. For the price, it was a lot of food. I assume it’s the kind of things Brazilian people would eat at home with their families. We were probably the least Brazilian people in the restaurant, but it was a pleasant experience.

After dinner, we were still too early for our concert so we decided to try another random local coffee shop. This led us to Nova Era Bakery. I had a lovely little mocha. We were too full, but I definitely think I want to come back and try one of their pastries!

Honey Garlic Ribs

April 30, 2012Food, RecipesLeave a Comment

I found these beautiful racks of ribs one day for sale so I decided to figure out how to make Honey Garlic Ribs. By figure out, I basically just made it up with items I had in the house. We also had a bulk load of honey, so I thought I might as well use it.

Continue reading ➞ Honey Garlic Ribs

Rotis and Gelato Mochaccino

April 18, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Life, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

As I previously mentioned, I want to eat at least 25 new things this year. I wasn’t sure about how to go about it, but then I realized Toronto is full of culturally unique restaurants that are worth the visit. So instead of opting for burgers and poutine all the time, I will venture into the unknown.

Yesterday, I tried out Bacchus Roti Shop located in the Parkdale area downtown Toronto. A roti is a type of south-asian wrap but it also consumed in areas such as the Southern Caribbean and Guyana. I ordered the jerk chicken roti which also contained spinach and squash. At $12.50, it was deliciously filling with a fiery kick to it. Nash ordered the shrimp roti with spinach and cheese. It had a nice creamy texture to it.

After dinner, we had a ton of time to kill before door times for a concert. Instead of searching for the nearest Second Cup we decided to try one of the local coffee shops. We ended up in The Boreal Gelato Company. I ordered a mochaccino and they made it with a scoop of chocolate gelato! It was had a lovely aroma and chocolate taste. We also got a hazelnut gelato that was to die for. It was like Ferrero Rocher (my favourite chocolate by the way) in ice cream form!

So far my food adventuring has taught me to try new things, because you never know what delicious things you are missing!

Is Nestle C[RAVE] An Ice Cream or A Shake?

April 11, 2012April 11, 2012Food1 Comment

When I went grocery shopping last weekend, I found in the sale section, the Nestle C[RAVE]. They were discounted to 50 cents each and came in the shape of the mini ice creams you can buy at the convenient stores. I bought a chocolate one and a strawberry one.

I tried the chocolate one first. It was a soft and mousse-like ice cream. At 325 calories for the entire container, it was a pretty decent tasting. It tasted pretty much like regular chocolate ice cream. Then my sister opened my strawberry and it was completely watery and melted. However, there isn’t very much information on the containers or any of the Nestle websites that tell you it’s supposed to be ice cream. In fact, at the store and online they are labeled as Nestle C[RAVE] shakes. So, was that supposed to be melted?

I am rather confused.

We went back the next day (because they are still on sale), to buy more of them. We figured maybe we picked up one defected one. This time, we squeezed the containers and didn’t pick any that seemed way too soft to be ice cream. Many of them were “melted”. Part of me still wonders if they are supposed to be that way to live up to the shake aspect of the name. We chose to pretend they’re ice cream and went for the more frozen ones.

Does anybody out there know what they really are? If it is a shake, it makes a lousy one. If it’s ice cream, it makes a yummy dietary conscious one.

Why I Dislike Grocery Shopping on the Weekends

April 9, 2012Food, Life, Shopping4 Comments

Until I am full-time employed, I live in the suburbs at my parent’s house. This month they happened to be on a trip so I am here to fend for myself in terms of being fed. Throughout the week I collected flyers of the nearby supermarkets and circled items on sale. My parents had always gone grocery shopping on the weekend, so I thought it would be plausible to do the same. However, I discovered it is one of the worst things ever.

People forget how to drive shopping carts. It’s like all the people who drive in rush hour on a weekday some how congregated into the same supermarket. There is no order whatsoever. You just go whenever the path is clear. If ever. The only exception seems to be the organic food aisle. Have you seen the prices? It’s no wonder nobody goes down there. The worst offenders of shopping cart mayhem seem to be senile old people who seem to yell at you from every direction. I like to pretend that they probably drive like this too.

There’s more of a chance of running into somebody you know. I ran into the parent’s of one of the kids I used to teach. It was a pleasant encounter except for the fact I was trying to stock up on 5 packs of bacon. It makes things awkward when their cart consists of vegetables and organic cereals. Way to make me feel guilty. Not of my own eating habits of course, just that I’m the mockery of theirs.

It’s survival of the fittest. Why do you need 10 jugs of orange juice? I only wanted one for my sister. If you want to get any sales item, you must get there first. Run. And if you came to an empty rack, glare at the person who has a mountain on their cart.

The lines are like the ones at Disney World. Forget express lanes. People on weekends don’t know how to count. Hey dude in front of me you clearly have more than 10 items. I’m only trying to buy these two tomatoes. Again, you also get the senile old people and the people who pretend they don’t know English (and therefore the sign) who cut in front of you. This makes going to multiple stores for sales a pain in the ass.

If you’re a weekly weekend shopper, I tip my imaginary hat to you. You must be a trooper. As for me, I think I will avoid this trip for a more subdued time of week.

Improv Fried Rice

April 4, 2012Food, RecipesLeave a Comment

I was never really taught how to make fried rice. Being Asian, I have eaten many different variations of fried rice. My favourite by far has been my mom’s. She usually just improvised with whatever meat was on hand and added the following ingredients: