Come and Get It is a pop-up restaurant located in a little space on Spadina (close to Queen) where Ackee Tree used to be. The restaurant is very temporary because soon it will disappear to condo developments. This could be a few months or years, so who knows.
The place itself has a very 90s-punk atmosphere with graffiti style bathroom stores. They also love vintage 90s stuff like lunch boxes, N64 and New Kids on the Block.
The menu has four options that can be prepared as either a sandwich, salad or poutine. Besides the herbed-crusted green beans, it was really hard to choose. I opted for the Hawaiian Pork Belly poutine. I really liked the BBQ sauce and the pork belly. There was even crispy pork crackling that reminded me of the skin on Chinese roast pig, the ones you see hanging in the windows in China Town. That was one of my favourite things growing up as a child.
Nash really wanted the jerk chicken, but they ran out so he tried the Chipotle Short Rib as a poutine. There were crispy onions on top. The meat was melt in your mouth, but I didn’t really find it spicey which I would imply in something labeled Chipotle.
The serving size was very large (maybe twice the size of Poutini’s regular), and quite worth what you paid for. I hope this place remains at the spot for a little while. It is great pre-concert food and I would love to try all the options!
Last week, I had a craving for ramen so I turned to my trusty Yelp app and searched for places close to where we were. It led me to Ryoji Ramen and Izakaya.
Located in Little Italy/Portugal, the place is relatively new. The decorations were modern, warm and colourful. When we went in, we were greeted by the people in the kitchen but not to the crazy extent as other izakayas in the city.
The menu consisted of mostly tapas and ramen. Of course we came for the ramen and we both were craving the Tonkotsu ramen. They asked us if we wanted it soft, regular or hard and we had no idea what that meant until later.
The ramen broth was probably one of my favourites in the city. However, I found for $12 the bowl itself was lacking in something. It was just two pieces of pork belly and ramen with a bit of mushroom and scallions. There wasn’t even like an egg or those swirly fish ball thing in the bowl like the ones you get at Kenzo Ramen for a fraction of the price.
For my 25th birthday me and a few friends celebrated by venturing into some Ethiopian dining. I had walked passed Pero hundreds of times but had yet to venture in. They had pretty rave reviews on Blogto and Yelp, so it was worth a venture in.
A few of us shared the signature Pero Platter which had lamb, chicken in red sauce, three vegetarian dishes and a green salad in the middle. In Ethiopian culture food is not eaten with forks and knives. Instead, Injera a spongey type of flat bread is used to pick up food. It was really interesting because it soaked up the aromatic sauces of all the food. Everything was pretty delicious. The Timitimo Tsebhi, a yellow lentil stew thing had a nice creamy texture, the chickpeas were eaten up right away and the chicken and lamb were delectable. Plus, who wouldn’t like a plate or utensil that could be eaten?
The other thing I tried was the Special Kitfo which was a minced beef with a spice called mimita. Mimita is a blend of bird’s eye red pepper, cardamom seeds, cloves and salt. They had a little thing of it at the side that we could spice to our own liking. The dish itself was already a tiny bit spicy and very flavorful.
Since we had all eaten with our hands, we were given warm water with lotus flowers to wash them in when we were finished with our meal.
I had heard about the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony before and I thought since we were at a restaurant it would only be appropriate. The ceremony took couple of stages. First the beans were roasted and the host teased us (and the entire restaurant) with the fumes. While we waited for the beans to be crushed and turned into coffee, we had popcorn. I asked the host if he knew the origin of why Ethiopian’s use popcorn and he did not know. However he explained that when it is someone’s birthday they often put a type of bread on it. So, I pointed out that we were celebrating my birthday….
… and he lit the bar on fire and gave us free lemoncello shots, which was probably more awesome than bread on popcorn.
Then the coffee came and was served in little tiny cups. I drank it black and it wasn’t as bitter and strong as I expected it to be. Apparently it had quite a bit of caffeine because I drank two little cups and now I’m still up at 1:33am writing this post (after some alcohol and a long ride home). Anyways, for the price, the amazing service and exciting but tasty food, I am totally coming back.
I ordered the Pan Seared Fish Tacos ($12). The fish sat in a soft corn tortilla with guacamole salsa fresca, lettuce and sour cream. They were served with fries. They’re very similar in style to the fish tacos at Tacos El Asador with just the right amount of coriander. The fries made it a decent amount of food, and I swear they had a little bit of sour cream in them because of their interesting taste.
Nash had the Tallboys Signature Bacon Chili Burger ($13). The chili was mixed in with melted cheese and onions resulting in awesomness between two buns. They also have a burger with kimchi in it which we will definitely come back to try.
Since we were at Tallboys, it was only appropriate that we did get some tallboys. I had the Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner. It was a good amount of sweetness in a beer. Nash had some kind of cider, I forgot.
We’ll definitely come back again since the food is decently priced. Also, we learnt that the menu is half price on Sundays with a drink!
I first heard of Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company at last year’s All Caps Island Music Festival. They were catering the event and I ordered the Casino Queen Sandwich. The sandwich had avocado, bacon, turkey and onions. They were running out of bread at the festival so it was served on a bagel. It was a delicious sandwich so I sought out their actual location at Bloor West.
I’ve been there multiple times already. One of the things I ordered was a sandwich called I’m the Man Who Loves You. All the sandwiches are $4.99 (or cheaper). This one had tons of slices of smoked chicken, lettuce, tomato, red pepper sauce of some sort and ricotta cheese. I loved that little bit of a kick. Appropriately named since it was a pretty sexy sandwich.
Another sandwich I have tried is the Dreamer In My Dreams ($4.99). Slices of roast beef were accompanied by onions cooked in red wine vinegar, tomato, banana peppers and cheddar cheese. The bread it was served on was interesting and somewhat spicy.
Besides sandwiches they also have some hearty salads. This one is the Casino Queen Salad. It is like the salad version of the sandwich containing lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, onions and of course bacon.
I also tried the lighter Mandarin Orange Walnut Salad. It was a refreshing salad with lettuce, avocado, walnuts and mandarin oranges.
Besides the sandwiches being delicious the people who work there are pretty awesome, so do yourself a favour and pay them a visit!
Last month, before the holiday me and Nash ventured into the newly opened Two Bite Saloon at Bloor and Shaw. We popped in right at opening hour at 5pm and the whole dinner we were the only people eating besides a few sketchy looking people having drinks at the bar. This was a bit strange considering it was just right before the holidays and Blogto and TheStar had written about the place the month prior.
Kale Salad
As an appetizer, I had the Kale Salad ($5). I had previously not tried kale (I thought it was just a hype vegetable), but I enjoyed the “salad” which was very rich in flavours because of some smoke-ham and Parmesan cheese. I actually loved the addition of smokeyness to what people have been calling the new hype healthy veggie.
For my main dish I had the Ribs ($17). The ribs were smoked and drenched with a very tasty barbecue sauce. It was served with lightly seasoned fries and a buttermilk slaw. I didn’t care much for the slaw as I found it too creamy, but I happily ate the fries.
One was eaten before I could take a picture!
Nash had five of the sliders ($14 I think). He had two pulled pork, two pemeal bacon and I forgot what the last was. They were a bit bigger than the food truck sliders we had tried previously and 5 was pretty filling.
It was a bit pricey but we enjoyed our meal. We’ll probably return one day to splurge on some of their interesting cocktails!
The place may sound like a caucasian’s attempt to speak Chinese but it is a pretty decent Korean restaurant at the heart of Koreatown in Toronto. The restaurant is known for its tofu soup and there are only 9 items on the menu with most of them just being variations of the soup. None of the items are over $9.
I ordered the Seafood Soon Tofu + Dolsotbab in medium heat. It had chunks of oyster, mussels, shrimp and of course tofu. There was a raw egg for me to crack into the soup while it was hot. The tofu was pretty melt in your mouth and even my tofu-hating boyfriend liked it. It was served with purple rice which was scooped out of a stone pot for me. The stone pot was then filled with water. I originally thought this was a way for the restaurant to keep the pots clean but I discovered its actually Koreans call Noo roong ji, where dried rice is purposely mixed with water to become some kind of “burnt rice snack”. I guess I’ll have to try that next time.
Nash dug into it before I took a picture
Nash ordered Stone Pot Bibimbop which was the standard beef stone pot with veggies and an egg on top.
We had four sides on the table to go along with the dishes. Kimchi, pickled vegetables, beans and beans sprouts. For meals under $10 a person this was flavourful and definitely filling!
Banh Mi Boys have been quite the hype around Toronto for the past little while. We were in the area for a concert recently and finally decided to try it. The menu was pretty extensive for Banh Mi sandwiches. I didn’t know you could put more than just ham in them! I ordered the Five Spice Pork Belly Bahn Mi.
The sandwich was was way bigger than I thought for a price of $5.99. Delicious sweet pork belly was sandwiched into the traditional Vietnamese sandwich ingredients of pickled carrots, radishm cilantro and cucumber.
Nash ordered the Braised Beef Cheek Bahn Mi. The baguette was filled with meat! Even with just the sandwiches we would have been stuffed.
However, not knowing what the portions was like before we ordered (remember we’re big eaters), I also had the Kimchi Fries. Yes you heard right. Kimchi on fries. Oh, and pulled pork. These 3 ingredients don’t normally sound like things that go together, but it did. And it was pretty damn addictive. I gobbled most of it up. The fries and 2 sandwiches was way too much food for the both of us though.
For a fad restaurant, I expected the prices to be way higher than they were. I’m glad it isn’t because they offer a nice selection of sandwiches as well as tacos and steamed baos. My only concern about the place is that you have to prey like a hawk for seating in their small squishy location.
One day the Exclaim! office all ordered tacos, and they looked delicious so I asked them where they were from and immediately went right after. Tacos El Asador fit in perfectly for my continuous journey of eating all things adventurous and ethnic.
The atmosphere was friendly and the staff helped me interpret what some of the things on the menu were. An interesting thing to note about the Annex establishment is that it’s not entirely Mexican food, but a Salvadorian interpretation of Mexican food as the name of the place suggests. This is why there are all those silly reviews on yelp or urbanspoon complain about it being different! I first walked into this place a month ago, and I’ve already been back 4 or 5 times.
Jalapenos and Salsa
If you eat in, your table automatically gets a giant bowl of jalapeno, coriander, onion and yellow pepper mix as well as a spicy salsa. It’s really hard not to pick at the mix when waiting for food, even if the seeds can get you heated!
Burrito and Enchilada
Nash likes to get the $10 combo that includes a burrito and an enchillada or quesadilla and a drink. The burrito by itself, is already enough to fill a person!
Fish Tacos
My favourite are the fish tacos. The fish combined with avocado, salsa and carmelized onions have a lovely creamy texture that melts in the mouth.
Crunchy Taco
Tacos come in crunchy or soft and in a variety of meats including chicken, pork, beef and chorizo. I tried chorizo which is like a spicy pork sausage, but I wasn’t completely a fan. It was a little dry. They tasted better with chicken (or fish!). I love that they double wrap both kinds of tacos to prevent any sauce leakage or have back up for accidental breakage.
Enchilada
Their take on the enchiladas was interesting. They were done in a kind of Honduran style with the black bean almost like a spread on the tacos which were served open face, instead of wrapped in rolls with sauce on top. Pupusa
Pupusas were one thing I learned about for the first time when coming here. They are a truly Salvadorian dish and was almost like their take on a fried crepe of some sort! I had one filled with pork and it was served with sauce that reminded me of marinara.
Tamale
Lastly, I also tried the chicken tamales. They reminded me of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf that my grandmother used to make, except this was with corn and chicken. It may appear small, but one of these things definitely fills you up.
What I love most about this place is the price. All menu items are around $3, so you can mix it up and have multiple items. For the price, the food is fresh and delicious. When I have time (and the budget) I’ll hit up Grand Electric to compare, but I think I may end up favouring Tacos El Asador. I don’t care about pretension, only how things fare on the taste meter and if it doesn’t hurt the wallet, it’s a double win.
I always wanted to try Korean pork bone soup and there was probably no where better to try it than Korea Town’s Owl of Minerva which I have previously read about on BlogTO.
Pork bone soup known as “Gamjatang” was listed on the menu for only $6.20. Since the price was so low, I assumed it would be a small portion so I included the $3 add on of dumplings and noodles.
Not only was the portion pretty large and comparable to that of Pho, but it also came with a bowl of rice and a few sides. The soup was chocked full of pork. I expected a single pork bone, but there were many and the meat was fall off the bone tender. The red colour meant it was spicy, however it was a manageable heat. I totally did not need the add-ons though, there was plenty to eat for $6.20.
We never order the same thing (because that is silly), so Nash got the “Kalbitang” also known as Short-Rib Soup.
It came in a white broth that had a black pepper and garlic aroma. Ingredients included green onions, short ribs, onions, egg and glass noodles, which were very tricky to pick up! I have to admit I like my soup a bit better.
For under $20 the meal was filling and tasteful. We will definitely go back to try the non-soup dishes of which there are plenty!
I opted for the Hawaiian Pork Belly poutine. I really liked the BBQ sauce and the pork belly. There was even crispy pork crackling that reminded me of the skin on Chinese roast pig, the ones you see hanging in the windows in China Town. That was one of my favourite things growing up as a child.
Tiana Feng 