Edoko

A quest for something to eat last weekend in Ottawa, landed us in Edoko Japanese Steakhouse. They have Teppanyaki and a regular menu. We opted for the regular menu because we weren’t sure if we had a lot of time to spend there.

I had the Terriyaki Steak cooked medium rare served with noodles, hibachi shrimp and vegetales. The steak was so tender and flavourful. There was also a lot of it.

It also came with a Chicken Soup and classic green salad.

I also had a glass of plum wine.

The restaurant was very hospitable and the owner came to greet us and make sure everything was to our liking. We had a very nice evening at Edoko!

 

Edoko Japanese Steak House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The Scone Witch

I was in Ottawa for JUNO weekend and I couldn’t resist opening Zomato and looking up places to eat nearby. One of the highest rated places was The Scone Witch, which specializes in sandwiches out of scones.

It was breakfast time when we went so I had The Eggwitch and a cup of Witch’s Brew (coffee). The Eggwitch was a scone stuffed with eggs, ham and old cheddar cheese from St. Albert. We were allowed to choose what type of scone it was made out of and I picked feta. It was delicious. The pastry was light and fluffy with a nice touch of feta. The eggs had a nice creamy texture when combined with the cheese.

The whole thing was eaten quickly. This is definitely a must try if you’re in Ottawa and interestingly not a trendy thing yet in Toronto, the city of weird food things.

The Scone Witch Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Brunch @ Laylow

A few weekends ago, we ended up at Laylow, kind of by accident. We were trying to get into somewhere else that ended up packed, so we strolled a few doors down to the former location of Me & Mine.

I had the Porchetta Eggs Benedict which was herb-roasted pulled porchetta on potato latkes, with two poached eggs, topped with gremolata and hollandaise. Served with salad. I liked the crunchy latkes as a replacement for toast.

Nash had the Breakfast Poutine: House-cured bacon, hand cut fries, two poached eggs, house-made marinated cheese curds, topped with gravy & hollandaise. The gravy had a strange acidity to it, but otherwise the rest of the dish was cooked perfectly.

Laylow is also a mini brewery that also serves other cool brews! Blanche de Chambly Witbier and Black River Orange Juice.

I welcome all the craft breweries and I hope to be back to try some of their own brews and dinner foods.

Laylow Beer Bar & Eatery Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Little Pig Hot Pot

My friends and I made the trip uptown to Little Pig Hot Pot. Hot Pot if you’ve never done it outside of your house before comes with a price tag. There’s a per person charge (around $25) as well as additional charges per soup. For our party of four people we had one bowl with two broths: pork and mushroom. They had a lot of spicy soups but we kept it safe.

The cool thing about this place is you can order with an iPad, just like at AYCE Sushi. That way, every time you want more of something, you don’t have to feel guilty flagging the waiter down each time. It was super easy with the click of a button.

The sauces were also part of the iPad ordering system, so we got a little carried away (pictured). There was a huge selection of meats, noodles, vegetables, seafood and also some fried things (not for hot potting). Everything was good quality and came in relatively small portions so we couldn’t order too much by accident the first round.

There were really big chopsticks for cooking the food in. I guess so there was less chance of burning yourself.

I quenched my thirst with some delicious Winter Melon iced tea.

Dessert was a sweet jelly thing that cleansed the palate.

They also had these hilarious fun props you could use to take photos for Instagram. Genius idea!

And of course some pig themed things.

We enjoyed our meal here and this encouraged us to make more trips uptown to have authentic hot pot.

Little Pig Hot Pot Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Miss Fresh Recipe 4: Kimchi Braised Chicken

My last Miss Fresh recipe was Kimchi Braised Chicken. This one was super easy and the kimchi provided had just the right amount of texture. It gave the chicken a lot of flavour and wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be.

I blanched my Chinese Broccoli instead of steaming it because I don’t have a steamer. It all turned out delicious!

I’m sad my box is over but I may return when I have more time to do it consistently! It was fun and made making dinner super efficient.

Miss Fresh Recipe 3: Ash Reshteh

Today for lunch, I made a super simple recipe for Ash Reshteh, a Persian noodle soup.

Mine looked different from the photo because the delivery used Chinese egg noodles and the photo looks like vermicelli. Otherwise, it was a tasty, easy healthy lunch.

Miss Fresh Recipe 2: Asian Pork & Miso Eggplant

Tonight, I made the Asian Pork & Miso Eggplant Recipe from my Miss Fresh subscription.

Besides the broccoli (which wasn’t packaged), the ingredients were organized in baggies with sauces portioned out.

One thing I’ll have to say about these instructions were they were slightly vague. I had to look up the meaning of “deglaze” and it didn’t say what temperature (low, medium, high) I needed to pan cook the meat. I turned it up too high in the beginning and burned it a tiny bit.  I ended up boiling the broccoli instead of steaming because I don’t have the proper pot for it.

Here’s my result! It doesn’t look pretty but it tasted great. I loved the eggplant marinated in miso, mirin, honey and soy sauce.

Groceries

When you move out, it’s fun to do groceries because you can buy whatever you want! 

I love thinking up new recipe ideas and picking up snacks. This week I will be doing things a bit differently and trying a grocery/meal delivery thing. Stay tuned! 

The Skyline Restaurant

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It was Valentine’s Day weekend and my friends and I made the mistake of trying to go out to eat and drink without previously making a reservation. We walked along Queen for a little bit and ended up in Skyline.

I think it re-opened in the classic spot last year or so by Maggie Ruhl (Dakota Tavern, The Ace) and Jud Ruhl (Wallflower, Three Speed). It’s a place that doesn’t look as trendy as the crazy places near it (Parts & Labour, Shameful Tiki), but I found the menu (which changes often) and cocktail selection impressive.

I had one of the specials of the night which was duck breast, rapini, squash and sausage. The vegetables melted in my mouth and the duck was cooked to perfection.

I also had my share of delicious cocktails from their take on an Old Fashion to an Apple Bl’awesome. I can’t remember them off the top of my head because I was a bit tipsy to take notes. The are definitely worth the cost in alcohol!

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Seriously though, Skyline might be one of my favourite new discoveries that we went in by chance!

Brunch @ Takht-e Tavoos

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I recently went for a Persian brunch at Tavoos, owned by the same people as The Pomegranate. Persian Chai was served to us in a beautiful pot.

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To start, we had Zeitoon Parvardeh: green olives marinated in a sauce of walnuts, pomegranate molasses, garlic and mint. This was served with a light Persian flat bread. This is a must for olive fans and was super addictive.

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My friend Karol had the Serious Lunch (pictured). It was a Dizi Sangi: a stew with lamb shank, lamb rib, chickpeas, white beans, potato, onion and tomato cooked for four hours. The soup part is served separately and there is a stick to pound the meat and beans into a purée.

For some reason, I forgot to take a picture of my food but I had the weekend special called Bandari which was spicy halal sausages sautéed in a tomato garlic purée, mixed with potatoes. Atop sat two sunnyside up eggs with creamy feta cheese and marinated olives on the side. It was definitely classic brunch with a twist!

We loved every part of our meal as it was flavourful and the portions were generous. I think Persian food is becoming some of my favourite cuisines!

Tavoos Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato