I’ve been too busy to blog lately but here are a few random photos I took last weekend at the Toronto Islands.
Tag: toronto
Tacos & Beer @ O&B Canteen
I stopped by O&B Canteen one day after a Jays game for their $5 Mill Street happy hour. I was a bit hungry so I ordered the Calamari Tacos ($12). After all, I was at a restaurant owned by Oliver & Bonacini! The tacos were nice and light and had a delicious mango sauce with buttermilk cream.
Disgraceland
A few weeks ago we hit up Disgraceland for the first time in Bloor Court. The place is a little bit divey but they are known for their bar food and wide variety of vegetarian/vegan options. I’m not a vegan by any means but I like to try the occasional vegan cuisine for fun. The first thing I ordered was the Cinco de Fryo ($9 pictured above)- fries topped with cheese, black bean corn salsa, guacamole and cilantro mayo. The ingredients worked really nicely together and I enjoyed the flavour of mayo.
Not entirely sure why, but I also had the Vegan Rib Dinner. Since I really enjoyed Hogtown Vegan’s take on meat goodies, I thought I’d give them a shot here. However, the ribs turned out to be dry and after a few bites, I didn’t find them appetizing at all. I kind of lost my appetite for the beans and the coleslaw after trying the ribs.
Nash ordered the Lord of the Rings burger, which is really what I should have got.
I’m not sure if meat-eater bias came into play here, but I really didn’t enjoy the vegan dish I ordered. The fries on the other hand were very good and I heard no complaints about Nash’s burger!
Electric Mud BBQ
Located on Brock Ave in Parkdale, Electric Mud BBQ serves up unique BBQ eats. It’s by the owned by the same people as buzzy Mexican restaurant Grand Electric (which we still haven’t been there because we aren’t really committed to lining up for a meal). The first item we ordered was the day’s special, a grilled chicken. It came with a dipping sauce, but we couldn’t tell if it tasted better with or without. The white sauce, chives and marinade were already perfect.
Also our meat list were these rib ends. They were crispy and had a tangy bbq sauce spiced with jalapenos.
Since we were eating meat, we thought we’d get some vegetables as a side. Well, sort of. These buffalo cauliflower (compete with a blue cheese salad) resembled classic buffalo wings. What a lovely twist.
To wash it down I had a lovely Porch Crawler (watermelon lemonade, thai basil gin and simple syrup).
Nash had a Bourbonade (which is exactly what it sounds like).
Somehow, we had room for dessert, but I am glad because this Sweet Potato Pudding was to die for.
Our overall experience was lovely and we just learned the place delivers! Now we can get our BBQ on even if we’re lazy.
Clara’s Gourmet Burgers
We stumbled upon Clara’s Gourmet Burgers while on a walk in the area, and naturally we had to try it. They had a creative burger menu with very affordable prices.
I had the Bruschetta Burger with diced tomato, feta, oregano. The flavours worked quite nicely together with the beef. I ordered them with a side of sweet potato fries which were also very good. Not to mention GIANT:
Imagine the sweet potato that made that!
Nash had the Nacho Burger with jalapenos, onions, tomatos, lettuce, and nacho chips!
The tables at the restaurant are all chalkboard so we amused ourselves while we waited for our food.
They aren’t the most complex burgers in the world, but they didn’t need to be and it was definitely worth the price! They do run out of ingredients for some of their burgers throughout the day so if you want to try something like the seafood or mahi mahi, go earlier! They were unavailable in the evening when we visited.
The Porch – A Rooftop Patio
On top of Adelaide Hall and Rock n’ Horse Saloon is a relatively new rooftop patio called The Porch. The place has a lovely unobstructed view of the CN Tower. I was there for a friend’s birthday and ordered a margarita which came in a bucket the size of my head. Considering it was around $10, it was a great value.
The menu features finger foods as well as pub food like burgers and ribs. I ordered the guacamole with corn chips to start ($14).
I also had the Korean Short Ribs ($15) which were served with market greens in a balsamic vinaigrette.
While I think it is a great place for drinks, I think the food is overpriced for what you get as they weren’t anything special. Also worth noting is that if you make a reservation, it doesn’t guarantee a table or your party’s spot in line. The few times I’ve been there, there was no cover, but I could also see this changing if it hasn’t already.
Interesting Food Combinations @ Lisa Marie
Named after Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie the Toronto restaurant is owned by the same people behind the Fidel Gastro food truck. The decor includes an Elvis print. We were delighted by the experimental sounding menu. There’s always some sort of weird sounding twist almost as if you were playing the game “which one of these doesn’t belong?”. For example we started with the Pork Belly Chow Mein Pizza ($10 pictured above). The combination of crispy pork belly, king oyster mushrooms, chow mein, sweet and sour sauce on top of a deep fried pizza dough was playful but it actually worked surprisingly well together.
Nash I chose to share the Mac and Cheese, one of the day’s specials ($22). This was no regular Mac and Cheese. Inside the cheese itself was pulled pork and it was also topped with fresh Pico de Gallo (cilantro, tomato, avocado, green onions etc).There were probably a bunch of other ingredients I missed but the waitress did a great job of naming everything and making our jaw drop every time she explained a menu/special item. Despite the seemingly ridiculous sounding combination, this Mac & Cheese was delightful. Every spoonful was like a new adventure. It was also a generous portion that there was enough left over for the next day’s lunch.
The Lazy Sunday
Testa Dura
Another thing that can’t be ignored is their fabulously witty drink menu. Nash had The Lazy Sunday comprised of Hendricks gin, sunflower sprout lemonade and Jack Rudy Small Batch tonic. It had enough alcohol that if you had too many, you’d probably need to take an actual lazy Sunday. I had the Testa Dura (means “stubborn” in Italian). In it was Tromba tequila, Asperol, fresh lime and limonata. It was tart and refreshing at the same time. All the drinks will definitely give you your moneys worth in alcohol.
This photo looks a little funny, but it’s their play of Elvis in a Jar ($6). The jar consisted of maple/rum fried french toast, bacon, peanut butter marscapone, flambéed bananas topped with a big piece of crispy bacon. In a nutshell it was heaven and even though we were so stuffed from the rest of the meal this jar was definitely licked clean.
We were happy with the entire experience from the creative food to the friendly waitress who was very knowledgeable on all the dishes. At the end our bill came in a random cassette!
Bird’s Nests and Things @ Farmhouse Tavern
It’s rare that we have time to have brunch, so when we do we go all out. After a lovely meal at Farmer’s Daughter, we thought visiting the parent restaurant Farmhouse Tavern was a must.
Like their name would imply, the restaurant serves up farm fresh food. I ordered their take on a Bird’s Nest, which was a poached egg over squash than the traditional bread. It was served with fresh vegetables such as asparagus and greens. I can’t remember entirely but I can remember that it was the best brunch I had ever eaten.
Nash had the Eggs Benedict with Gravlax and kale. Gravlax sounds like it could be a gross laxative, but it’s actually a Nordic cured salmon. The hollandaise sauce was seriously to die for. It was the perfect texture and flavour.
To wash it all down we had their Farmhouse Smoked Caesar which was topped with an oyster and asparagus. It had a unique flavour from caper berries. Their glasses informed us of different Canadian cities and I almost considered taking the Fredericton mug for my best friend.
If you’re ever in the mood to go on an indulgent brunch, Farmhouse Tavern is seriously the place to be!
The Few Delicious Things at TIME Fest
TIME Festival took place yesterday and compared to the last few music festivals at Fort York, there was a severe lack of food choices. This led to long lines during meal times but I did manage to eat a few things.
The only literal food truck was Rancho Relaxo’s serving up tacos and Mexican food. I had the fish tacos. The fried fish was nice and crunchy and it wasn’t too heavy.
Small Town Food Co. ran a food stand with skewers for $6. The first of which I had was a watermelon and pork belly. I loved the sweetness of both the sauce and the watermelon together. Unfortunately, I only got one skewer at the time of my order but my friends ended up receiving two with theirs.
I returned to try the yakitori chicken and corn dog skewers later. The chicken was nicely seasoned and the corn dog had a lovely banana-like breading.
Next up was a corn dog with everything on it at Kungfu Dawg. It was messy but totally worth it.
Also from Kungfu Dawg were these home made ketchup chips. They were sweet, crunchy and very addictive.
Ice Lyte served up electrolyte freezies. They had a apple-pineapple flavour. The vendors explained that it was a special type of Ethiopian fruit.
TIME Festival banned water bottles (opened or not) and there was a lack of water-refilling station. Thankfully instead of buying the $4 water, people could also get free iced-tea from Nestea. They were testing out new flavours which included honey ginseng, mango and a half and half lemon tea.
There was only one other stand there that sold food but none of the options seemed intriguing enough. To future food festivals: make sure there are enough food choices for everyone’s needs!
Bar Neon
Bar Neon is a comfy tapas place on Bloor between Dufferin and Lansdowne. We walked in not knowing what to expect prior to the visit. I ordered a fruity drink (forgot what was in it) and Nash had an Old Fashioned.
The first item I ordered was the Fried Calamari ($8), which came in a generous portion and was nicely seasoned.
I also had the Lamb Chop. It was tender and delicious, I just wished there was more of it!
Nash had a classic burger and feta fries which were very addictive.
Bar Neon’s food was tasty, just keep in mind that it is a tapas restaurant so most of the dishes are small. The atmosphere is very laid-back and easygoing and they also have a big projector playing the World Cup games!
Tiana Feng 