I love Poke, so I’m definitely down to try new places. Poke Wrap is more known for their Sushi Burritos, but I find the concept of those a little weird. Isn’t it just a sushi roll that is uncut?
The good thing is here you can have all the ingredients in a burrito or a bowl. I had the Alaskan bowl which had: White Tuna, Soy Sesame, Creamy Wasabi, Onions, Sesame Seeds, Spring Onions, Corn, Masago, Avocado, White Cabbage, Carrots, Nori. It came together nicely and tasted fresh.
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!
I’ve always been intrigued by Flaming Bull in the Annex. It seemed different from the other restaurants on the block.
That’s because instead of sushi, like most of the other places in the area they serve modern Taiwanese food. The above instagram-worthy dish was the “Shangtang” abalone with radish, pepper and an inviting broth. I wanted to lick the bowl.
There was some “flaming bull” as the meat in Nash’s noodles was cooked in front of us with fire.
He had the Sichuan Style Beef Noodle which had veggies and a rich delicious broth full of spice.
I had the Stewed Beef Noodle which was AAA prime beef, vegetables, and a yummy beef stock with ginger and fresh basil. There was plenty of meat, but I didn’t find there were enough vegetables to balance the dish, only few slices of carrots and a broccoli. I loved the broth though. I think I loved the broth most in all the dishes!
I love what we had but I found that the dishes were unbalanced in terms of portions. It gets a little bit confusing whether it is a sharing restaurant or one where you order your own noodles!
Last weekend, I went for birthday brunch with my friend at Fonda Lola, a cozy Mexican Restaurant at Ossington Station. There were a lot of cute decorations like Mexican wrestlers everywhere.
I ordered the Hangover Chilaquiles: Salsa Mexicana soaked tortilla chips topped with jalapeños, crema, Oaxaca cheese and a fried egg, avocado with a side of refried beans. The chips were soaked in a delicious sauce and had flavour in every bite. Now looking at the photo, I realize I never received the side of refried beans!
Not entirely sure why, but they had a tendency to be out of stuff like ketchup or juice for a margarita. I made due and ordered a Basil Mojito: Fresh basil and mint purée, citrus and housed aged Bacardi with a splash of soda.
Since we did just all wake up there was also a lot of coffee to go around.
Overall, I was satisfied with the food (or what I received of it).
I went to Butcher Bar (by the same people who own Barque) for a friend’s birthday. We did the family style prix fixe menu of 6 courses. While I waited for everyone to arrive I sipped on the Chupacubra: tromba blanco, 1/2 oz campari, lime and grapefruit. I could definitely feel the alcohol but it was fruity and easy to flip.
Our first course was an arugula and tomato salad with feta. The vinaigrette was nice and light but paired very well.
This was followed by some smoked chicken wings that were super delicious. There was an element to the dry rub that reminded me of chocolate but I’m not sure if that’s what it was. They also came with a ketchup and mustard based dipping sauces, but I liked my wings without it.
Other sides included green beans
and crunchy potato wedges.
More meat came in the form of a platter with ribs, brisket and fried chicken wings. It was messy, but worth getting my fingers dirty.
My second drink of the night was a Sake Sour: sake, dillon’s gin, grapefruit, egg white and nutmeg. This one was less fruity than the first and was almost like drinking a latte.
We finished the night with a lovely caramel cheese cake.
Happy birthday Jess!
Hot days call for gelato so we hit up La Vizziata Gelateria & Dessert Bar for some dessert! They had a wide array of gelato flavours.
It was a difficult decision but I settled on a scoop of pistachio and one Stracciatella, which is a chocolate chip icecream. Their scoops are large and generous and gelato was smooth. We went for the gelato but next time we’ll try some of the other desserts too!
Today for lunch we randomly strolled the Junction area for something to eat. We ended up picking Cantina, part of the Playa Cabana family of restaurants.
I ordered the Chile Rellenos which were Poblano chiles, Oaxacan cheese, seared in a rice flour batter with salsa roja, queso, crema, rice and black beans. The fried chillies were crunchy and delicious, the heat offset by the light Oaxacan cheese. The black beans and salsa were super flavourful too.
Nash ordered the steak cantina style burritos with guacomole, salsa verde, queso, crema, rice, and beans.
To wash it down, I ordered a sangria because it’s appropriate for every meal!
Nash had the Dark and Handsome.
It does match him right?
Anyways, we super enjoyed all the food we ate and were super stuffed. Despite it being a Saturday, it wasn’t too hard to get a table around lunch time.
For our anniversary dinner, we visited R&D, a restaurant opened by Masterchef winner Eric Chong and judge Alvin Leung. It took over the location of the former pizza joint, Strada 241. The restaurant does a twist of traditional Asian mixed with Canadian dishes in a tapas style.
The Chili Crab Bibimbap ($18) was delicious and spiced by the kimchi. Our waiter mixed all the ingredients together for us (after I took this photo).
This Red Star Punch ($12) was sweet and refreshing. It contained oolong infused gin, hawthorn, mandarin, lemon and Shanghai rhubarb bitters.
These spicey sichuan lamb Little Dragon Buns ($6) were perfectly cooked with flavourful soup inside each dumpling.
The sichuan hollandaise on these scallops and chinese greens ($23) was to die for. This was probably my favourite out of all the dishes. We wanted to lick the plate.
Shrimp Toast ($12) was a flavourful bite of prawn, black truffle, cauliflower, preserved duck egg and english mustard.
Lastly, the Octopus ($14) was deliciously chargrilled and served with octopus crisps, a vegetable chimichuri and pureed eggplant that tasted exactly like the traditional eggplant and beef hot bowls you can order at Chinese restaurants. It was interesting that it was used as a sauce in this context.
Obviously we couldn’t resist dessert. Plus it’s a celebration. I ordered the Crispy smoked milk ($8), which came with marshmallows and a lemon ricotta icecream that was to die for. The fried milk was sweet with a surprise of smoke, a flavour which the ricotta and marshmallows nicely cleansed.
Nash ordered the Banana Split ($8) which was no regular banana split. The fruit was fried and served with 3 delicious icecreams: raspberry, peanut butter and malt. I couldn’t decide which dessert was better.
We both enjoyed our dinner at R&D a lot and can’t wait until our next food adventure together.
Nash and I live very close to Pho Jade, which serves Vietnamese cuisine. We’ve gone a couple of times but I totally forgot to write about it. Last week we went again and I ordered the grilled pork and sausage vermicelli. Everything was very flavourful including their version of the fish sauce and the portion was just right.
We also had the mango and Coconut Shrimp Fresh Rolls. I’d never had any outside the traditional shrimp ones. This also contained avocado which was a fabulous contrast of texture with the mango and crunchy shrimp. They are a hefty little appetizer so I recommend sharing it if you’re ordering it in addition to a meal.
So far, Vietnamese restaurants in Toronto have been a hit and miss but I’m happy to say that this one nearby is a hit!
After a meetup, a couple friends and I hit up The People’s Eatery. It’s an interesting restaurant that has Jewish and Asian foods on the same menu. We opted to share a couple of dishes. In the picture above was the Indian Buffet Platter which had butter lamb, saag paneer, rice, pickled carrots, and more. I especially liked the lamb and paneer because they were very flavourful.
On the snack menu were these latkes with trout, sour cream and salmon roe. They were light and fresh.
Also from the snack menu were these sticky General Tso Fu which were a fun vegetarian take on General Tao Chicken.
The main star was the Peking Duck which was served “3 ways”. At first only what was in the above picture showed up so I was confused as to where the third duck preparation was. The lettuce wraps were lovely and I enjoyed their fried noodles. Their spin on traditional Peking Duck wraps were also interesting opting for pear instead of the traditional cucumber, carrot, onion mixture. Their “hoisin” sauce was also a little different, kind of like a black bean paste.
The miss on the “trio” was the consumé which was served separately. It reminded me of the soups my mom makes occasionally and tells me would heal my blood. This didn’t really float well with my non-Chinese friends because of it’s dark flavour.
Generally, I was quite pleased with the meal and it’s a perfect place to bring friends who are indecisive on what to eat. Here you can have a bit of different cultures!
Tiana Feng 