I’ve always walked past Latin World and seen it packed full of people who’ve probably been going there for years. It’s like a secret local spot that hasn’t been taken over by hipsters. Inside it is like a grocery store that also serves food.
For $10, I got 4 fish tacos. They also have like a $1 taco special every day but I was in the mood for fish. But man, if I was feeling particularly hungry and poor one day $1 is a steal! There was a lot of flavour in every bite and enough to feel full.
They also gave us complimentary nachos with a variety of hot sauces that were quite addictive.
To drink, they had sodas from Mexico, which means they are sweetened with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. It tastes better than regular Fanta because it doesn’t leave you with a sharp aftertaste.
Latin World is so close to my place that I can’t believe I waited this long to go there. I’ll definitely take advantage of those $1 deals frequently!
Ramen is such a comforting winter dish, and with so many places in Toronto, I’m eager to find the best broth. I think my favourite so far is Hakkaido Ramen Santouka.
I went there for the first time yesterday because the line always looked too long, but we were lucky to be seated within five minutes. The line is mostly caused by the fact the restaurant is pretty small. It’s easier to go as two people (or less).
They specialize in Tonkotsu (pork) broths that are handmade in house. I had the Spicy Miso ramen which had chilli oil added to the broth for a spicy kick. I also added a perfectly soft boiled egg and a side of Tokusen Toroniku, their signature pork cheek that was super delicate and melted in my mouth.
Nash ordered the more traditional Shio Ramen, which was like a warm hug you could drink. I don’t think there was a drop left when he was done with it. He also had a side of gyozas which were nicely panfried.
To drink, I tried Ikezo’s sparkling yuzu sake drink with jelly in it. I was a tiny bit skeptical of shaking it (in fear of an explosion), but it was fine. The drink is almost like a dessert.
I love pork broths and Santouka really reminded me what an awesome one is like, when I don’t have my parents to make me soups anymore!
Last week, for Chinese New Year we cooked a turkey for some reason. Chinese people don’t traditionally eat turkey in general, but I think Mom really wanted to cook one.
Do you have food traditions that you usually follow and it would be weird to break?
This weekend I picked up some KW Craft Cider. I’ve never had it before but I was drawn to its minimalistic packaging.
It is named after the Kitchener-Waterloo region where the brewery is based. At 6.7%, I found the cider rather easy to drink, was only slightly tarty, but full of flavour. In fact, I drank all four no problem at a party.
I found this Java Works French Roast at Winners. It is a blend of premium selected high grown Arabica coffees from the Latin Americas and the Asia Pacific regions.
This coffee was full-bodied and flavourful. I didn’t find it too bitter and it had a light sweetness. There’s ton of coffees in the Java Works line so I’m excited to try some more.
Nash and I always go for brunch on New Years and we never make reservations. We actually walked into a few of our favourite spots but we woke up late and they were all full. I’ve never been to Fat Pasha but they had seats so that is where we ended up!
Their specialty is Middle Eastern food, which is probably why it wasn’t most people’s first pick for a post-hangover brunch, but I found something that was close enough: The verscht and eggs (which I ordered poach) came with a crunchy hash and charred toast. I loved the marmalade or whatever that came with it and smothered it over everything. The verscht, grilled pieces of kosher salami, were delicious.
Nash had a reuben sammie with browned crispy bread that provided all the right textures to this flavourful sandwich.
We also had an order of falafel as an appetizer. They were really good but we totally didn’t need that much food!
My sister gifted me a Bodum French Press set for Christmas that has a coffee bean grinder and hot water boiler. Now I’m excited to explore the world of coffee beans.
My first bag was San Diego Coffee’s “Dutch Chocolate” flavour, that I ordered on Amazon. It’s a Medium Roast of 100% Arabica beans. Though I’m still working out the perfect way to use the French Press, I found this coffee very smooth and light. The chocolate came through the most when the only thing added was cream. I found sugar competed with the flavours and this coffee didn’t need to be sweetened (a plus since I’m trying to cut adding sugar to coffee).
What’s your favourite coffee bean? I’m open to suggestions!
Nash and I always book an indulgent dinner when we’re celebrating something, so we decided on Momofuku Shoto for our Christmas date.
There’s no à la carte menu, only a tasting menu for $120, full of surprises if you’ve never been. We were seated with others around an open kitchen where we curiously watched as the chefs in front of us shuffled about. We also spoiled ourselves with the $85 drink pairing, meticulously curated drinks for many of the courses. I didn’t take a photos of most of the bottles because I was too busy listening to why each drink went so well with the dish! The world of drinks is still a mystery to me.
Our first snack was a Chawanmushi, an egg custard that was delicate and smooth.
Then we had a smoked mackerel fritter.
And an anchovy puff. All three of these snacks went with a white ale from Japan called Hitachino’s Nest.
There was an impressive emulsion of the lobster shell that made me want to learn food science. There was a delicate heat to this dish that paired so well with the chardonnay.
The roasted kabocha (a winter squash) was one of my favourite parts of this dish. The duck was also delectable.
Welsh Rarebit – 5 year old cheddar, comté, truffle
Real truffles are always a treat and this fried cheese was to die for.
I started eating this before I took a photo so… this is not what it looked likeRaisin– chocolate, orange
I have a secret: I hate raisins, but the fact that they transformed an ingredient I hated into a delicious ice cream with lovely flavour profile proves their mastery of tastes.
Cashew & Maple Leche flan
The desserts were all paired with: Barolo Chinato Cocchi from Italy.
We were very impressed with every part of our meal at Momofuku Shoto. It was fun and exquisite. We haven’t been to the other restaurants in the family yet, but we’re excited to try them too!
I tried Hawaiian Poké for the first time this week at Big Tune Poké Bar. I had the Big Katuna with Japanese rice. It had crunchy veggies and ponzu flavoured fresh tuna. I added avocado for $1 extra. It was all super fresh tasting!
The only thing I was slightly confused about was there seemed to be a plethora of veggies and toppings available on the board but I wasn’t really offered a choice on what I wanted.
Otherwise, I’m totally into poké and can’t wait to try more around the city!
This week, there has been some cold snowy weather. One of the nights was so bad that my commute lasted over two hours. When I got home, I didn’t want to cook so I opened up my Uber Eats app.
The road conditions were so terrible, there weren’t many choices that night. However, I learned from the app that Farmer’s Daughter in the area had closed and in it’s space was Love Chix and it was open for (delivery) business!
The full menu features a lot of chicken dishes and Uber Eats offered some of them. I had fried chicken with a delicious red sauce, dill chicken skin, tuna tartare, cauliflower popcorn with buttermilk dill dressing. It was all super tasty and came under 20 minutes! I’m glad to have a fun unique delivery option nearby.
Now I must head there for real and try out their full menu!
Get $15 your Uber Eats order with my code: eats-gtf8y
Nash and I always go for brunch on New Years and we never make reservations. We actually walked into a few of our favourite spots but we woke up late and they were all full. I’ve never been to 
Muscovy duck – cabbage, kabocha, sorghum
Cashew & Maple
Tiana Feng 