toronto – Page 20 – Tiana Feng

Boo Radley’s

April 13, 2014April 14, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

Nash moved a couple blocks West of where he was so now we have a whole new area of food to explore. Our first stop was this very homey place called Boo Radley’s, named after the mysterious character from To Kill a Mocking Bird. The menu has a lot of familiar comfort foods such as the Pulled Pork Sandwich I ordered (pictured above). I also had a side of Cream of Asparagus Soup.

Nash’s pick the special of the day: a jerk tilapia with blueberry salsa was the best thing ever. It’s interesting that they have familiar things on the menu but offered such an interesting special that night! The fish was tender, moist and delicious and I loved the seasoning. Even the salsa was very good.

We couldn’t resist the dessert of the day, a French toast bread pudding with ice cream. We shared one but we sort of wish we got two because we licked the bowl clean!

This place will definitely be our new regular hangout!

Truffle Mac & Cheese @ The Crest

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Before going to The Crest, I accidentally Googled the menu for the Crest Gastropub in Columbus Ohio and did not notice until we actually got to restaurant. Luckily, the Crest on St. Clair West was a pleasant surprise and one of my new favourite discoveries. The 6-cheese Truffle Mac ($8) heavenly. It was so simple, yet complex and I would return for this item alone. It’s definitely the best Mac & Cheese I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve had some with bacon).

I also had an order of Sweet Potato Chips ($6) that was served with Maple Aioli. They were thin and lovely. Definitely better than chips with normal potatoes.

To sip on, I had the Crest Lemonade ($9) which consisted of vodka, cucumber, basil and lemonade. It was very refreshing and I liked the addition of basil.

Nash ordered one of the day’s special, a Steak Sandwich with a side of fries. It was very flavourful and the portion was generous.

I’m definitely glad we went here, even if it was sort of by accident! This menu turned out to be way better than the accidental restaurant we looked up. Don’t be intimidated by the fancy sign outside. It’s definitely worth walking in.

Burgers & Fries @ This End Up

March 29, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

We were in the Dundas West area for a party so we stopped by This End Up for dinner. A reservation is recommended. We didn’t have one and walked in randomly but luckily there was space at the bar. The space is relatively small and everywhere else was already reserved (Note: It was a Saturday).

I ordered the Chutney Burger ($14 pictured above) which had pork belly, cheddar, tomato and apple chutney, umami mayo and arugala. It was definitely one of the messier burgers I’ve eaten but it was totally worth the sticky hands. The chutney was flavourful and the burger cooked to a tender medium. The fries were so addictive that I finished them regardless of feeling full after the burger.

Nash went for the simpler Better Mac ($14) which was 2 ground patties, lettuce, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions and a special sauce. He ate it in minutes so I assume it was delicious.

We will definitely be back again when we’re in less of a rush to try some of their cocktails and other menu items.

Lunch @ Duke’s Refresher + Bar

March 28, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

Lunch with Nash’s parents landed us randomly in Duke’s Refresher + Bar, across from the Eaton Chelsea hotel where they were staying. It’s a sports bar that looks like it would have been perfect (and probably was) for the big olympic hockey game. It had a very homey vibe. There was even a thing on the menu where you could have your own personalized beer mug up on the shelf to be used every time you returned. What an adorable idea!

I had The Woody Burger ($12.95 pictured above) which was a BBQ brushed patty with American Cheese, “really special sauce”, carmelized onion on a bacon-infused foccacia. I loved the sweetness of the sauce and bread, which was not only bacon infused, but had a visible piece of bacon in it.The sandwich was also not heavy, a great choice for lunch.

Nash had the Hopped Up Fish & Chips ($14.50), craft beer-battered fish with a slaw, fries and of course tartar sauce. He also said it wasn’t heavy and light considering it was fried.

The bar also has it’s own house-made hot sauce which to me wasn’t that spicy but more of a nice flavour combination. We loved it on our fries.

There are also over 40 beers on tap and I had a lovely Coffee porter. If you’re looking for a casual pub to hang out in near Eaton’s Centre, this is a good one with decent food too!

Skewers Galore @ Yakitori Kintori

March 10, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews4 Comments

When we visited Kinton Ramen last time, we were left with a mystery. What was behind the chicken door? At the time, it was locked but through Kinton’s social media, found out it was a sister restaurant Yakitori Kintori that celebrated a soft-open last week.

The menu diagrammed skewers you could order from different parts of the chicken. There were also beef, pork and vegetarian options as well as various other cold and hot dishes. Skewers were $2-4, so it was reasonably priced and nothing else was over $9. Since it was our first time here we decided to sample a variety of things.

To wash things down, I ordered a Lemon Shoju, Japanese Lemon vodka. I was surprised to find out that we had to squeeze the lemon ourselves! It was a funny way to pass the time as we waited for our food to arrive.

My first skewer was the Buta Bara ($2). Most skewers you could choose a simple salted option or in bbq’d with Teriyaki sauce. I chose the salt option for the pork belly. It was fatty and delicious.

The Toro Sobori Poutine ($7) was the most Asian poutine I have ever tasted (moreso than the Kimchi Fries poutine from Bahn Mi Boys). It had soy-sauce, ginger, ground chicken with the curds and fries. We gobbled it all up because it wasn’t heavy like poutine can be sometimes.

My favourite of all the skewers was the Cheese Tsukune ($2), a meatball that exploded with cheese in the middle. A close second was the Jalapeno Nikuzume ($3.5), a jalapno stuffed with ground chicken.

Another hot dish we ordered was the Tako Ajillo, octopus sizzling in garlic olive oil. For only $7, we got a big portion of octopus that was the most tender I have ever eaten. It was served with bread.

The Tebasaki($2) was ordered with Teriyaki sauce. This was our final item in our initial order, but everything was so good and we weren’t entirely stuffed yet so we opted for more.

Nash loves mushroom and I love bacon so this Enoki Bacon ($3.5) felt like a match made in heaven and it was.

We also ordered the Shiitake Nikuzume ($3.5) which were adorable and reminded me of boys with bowl cuts.

I have no idea how I had room for dessert, but I couldn’t resist when I saw a Green Tea Creme Brulee ($5) on the menu! It was nice and creamy, but the top wasn’t as hard as normal creme brulee. The sweetness reminded me a lot of green tea iced cream.

I went to the washroom out of curiosity to see if they had a matching one to Kinton and indeed they did!

We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and pleasant staff at Yakitori. They welcomed us with the same enthusiasm as their downstairs neighbours. We will be back soon!

Kinton Ramen

March 1, 2014March 2, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews5 Comments

Hey guys, I’ve been so busy the past week that I didn’t have time to post but I have a bunch of post-worthy content (especially food posts). Recently, I visited the new Kinton Ramen in Korean town.

When we arrived, there were two black doors. One had a chicken and the other a pig decal. We picked the pig door, which led to the restaurant. We tried the chicken door on the way out, but it was locked. Perhaps, that side will have a venue of some sort in the future. The restaurant was open-kitchen style and we were greeted by the entire staff upon entering. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen with Pork belly ($9.80). A gigantic slice of pork belly sat on a bed of noodles, scallions, beansprout, a sheet of nori and an egg. The pork was comforting and the broth was very flavourful. The portion size was very generous compared to places like Ryoji.

Nash had the Spicy Ramen with Chicken ($10.80). The broth had jalapeno paste, aosa-nori, onions and scallions. It definitely had a bit of a kick but he finished everything to the last drop.

To drink, we both had Japanese Lemonade. It was a sangria-like drink.

Our bill came in this cute little steamer. Nash was also surprised to find out that since he finished his ramen to the last drop, he got a card with a stamp for a free bowl after a certain number. We also had our picture taken for their Instagram. The idea is such genius and encourages people to not waste their food and also return.

View this post on Instagram

Nash Bussieres

A post shared by KINTON BOWLER (@kintonbowler) on Feb 16, 2014 at 4:32pm PST

Regretfully, I did not gulp down all my soup because I was full and did not know about this promotion beforehand. I had a great time at Kinton. The food was delicious, generous. The atmosphere was welcoming and the restaurant was beautiful decorated. This may be one of the cutest one-person-bathrooms I have ever seen:

We’ll definitely be back to complete the 10 bowl challenge!

Gourmet Hot Dogs @ Fancy Franks

February 22, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

After waiting for streetcars a couple of times in front of Fancy Franks, we finally decided to go in and try their hot dogs. They have donuts and poutines too, but we thought it would be weird if we didn’t at least order a hot dog. I had the Franko Fancy-Aano (pictured above). The sausage was wrapped in prosciutto and topped with Reggiano cheese, arugula and and balsamic dijon mustard. There were various other toppings you could choose to add with it but I opted not to tamper too much with their creations and only added olives. There was a tiny bit too much mustard on my dog so it overpowered everything else but I still enjoyed it.

Nash had The Frankophone, which was covered with cheeses: smoked gruyere, horseradish cheddar, curds and honey dijon mayo. This was definitely a cheese-lovers hot dog.

He also had a side of fries which were crispy and golden and came in a generous portion.

I guess Nash was having a feast because he also had a Vanilla milkshake.

If you’re craving street meat but afraid of how sanitized it is, Fancy Frank’s is a great alternative.

Morning at the Symphony

February 4, 2014Art, Entertainment, Music, PhotographyLeave a Comment

Yesterday morning, I photographed the Toronto Symphony Orchestra during their rehearsal for a Chinese New Year celebration concert. I wasn’t sure where I was going to post these as they do not really fit Ride the Tempo’s content so I decided to post a few of my favourites here. The full set is available on Flickr.

You can check out some rehearsal clips in my vlog.

Beef Tongue Tacos @ Rebozos

January 27, 2014Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

The CMT show Taco Wars did an episode in Toronto putting Playa Cabana Hacienda, Rebozos and Milagro against each other. Personally, I think there are many more great taco places in Toronto and trying only three to crown the best is a little bit dumb. Anyways – upcoming spoiler alert – Rebozos ended up winning with their beef tongue taco. Naturally, I was curious and was eager to try it when I happened to be in the area.

All the tacos came in threes (for $10). I ordered the Lengua (beef tongue of course). It was presented with a side of two different hot sauces. The red was too spicy, so I put just a dab and the green one was a mild green tomato salsa, which I used up completely. The beef tongue was very tender and flavourful. I was surprised. I had ox tongue before at Korean BBQ, but I always found it stiff. This was meaty and tender.

Nash ordered the beef enchiladas which came with refried beans. He cleaned the plate. I took a bite and I actually think I preferred the tenderness of the beef tongue to the regular beef!

To drink, we both had Sindral Mundet soda in apple flavour. I thought it was funny that the bottle purposely advertised that there was less than 1% Apple Juice and artifically flavoured. Do people prefer those qualities? It was a refreshing soda.

We were happy with our meal but whether or not it is the “best taco in Toronto”, I cannot say. We still have many places to go and we’ve enjoyed a lot of the places we have visited so far. All are very different in style and taste. What I can probably say is that Rebozos probably does have the “best beef tongue taco”.

The Whippoorwill

January 13, 2014May 19, 2014Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Looks like I’m already getting my foodventure on this new year. After a fantastic brunch at Rose & Sons, Nash and I were even more eager to venture into new places this year. On a whim we made a last minute reservation to The Whippoorwill. We usually don’t go down that West on Bloor because it seemed sketchy but I had heard great things about the restaurant and really wanted to try it. We came for just food but the cocktail menu was just so intriguing!

Nash ordered “This Little Piggy” with Napoleon brandy, Grand Marnier, Briottet chesnut, sage, lemon and Scrappy’s Celery bitters. Despite the hilariously girly glass, it was strong and full of flavour.

I had “The Skippy Welcher” with Havana Club Amejo Rum, Briottet Hazelnut, Briottet Chesnut, brown butter, lemon, concord grape juice and maldon. It was like grape juice for adults. I loved the nuttiness. There was enough alcohol in both drinks that made it well worth the price.

I ordered a Lobster Croquette which was one of the specials of the day and not on their regular menu. The presentation was very festive and the croquette itself had a nice crunch. The lobster was fresh and paired well with the creamy sauce.

Nash had the burger, which was recently voted one of the Best Burgers over $10 by Now Magazine. It was a messy juicy burger with a buttered bun, melted cheddar and russian dressing but whatever was in that dressing was worth the sticky fingers. As you know we eat a lot of burgers and this was definitely a great one.

So the croquette was a bit small, so I ordered their other deal of the day a “Deli Sandwich” that was only $6. I half expected a slider for that price but this was seriously a full on sandwich. A great deal, Nash almost ordered a second to take home. It was a mortadella with an egg, peppers and cheese. It was delicious. The meat was flavourful and it was so filling I couldn’t finish. However, Nash made sure there was no leftovers and ate the rest.

Our bill was attached to a paper bag filled with popcorn. It was a lovely surprise and great palate cleanser. I still can’t figure out what was on the popcorn. It was sweet and salty at the same time. I think it was rosemary among many other spices.

From beginning to end it was a lovely meal and we can’t wait to be back!
*Update from 05/19/2014*

We tried some more items that were worth talking about!