Yesterday, I took part in the Women’s March in Toronto. I felt empowered to be in the crowd. It also warmed my heart to see all the little kids who took part, providing hope for our future generations.
Here are some photos:
Tag: toronto
Brunch @ Fat Pasha
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!
Momofuku Shoto
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.
Those were just the snacks! Here are the mains:
Striped bass – kale, pink peppercorn, habanero
Drink pairing – Chardonnay, Domaine Baud: Blank de Blancs
The bass was super fresh and I would not think to ever pair it with kale, but it worked and provided a compliment of texture.
Dry aged sirloin- tokyo turnip, mustard green
Drink pairing – Junmai Miyasaka Brewing Co.: Okuden Kanzukuri
I loved the crunchy texture of the flakes of rice in the beef.
Lobster- sea urchin, diver scallop
Drink pairing – 2013 Chardonnay, Pearl Morisette: Cuvee Metis
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.
Noodle- lamb, sichuan, celery
Drink pairing – 2014 Pinos Gris, J.M. Sohler: Grand Cru Winzenberg
The lamb was so tender, and noodles perfectly cooked.
Cod – wild rice, ginger, chive
Drink pairing – 2011 Marsanne + Friends, Chateau Lascaux
This cod melted in my mouth and I loved the broth so much I sipped it straight from the bowl when (I thought) no one was looking.
There was a palette cleanser after the cod of sourdough bread and sweet sorghum butter.
Muscovy duck – cabbage, kabocha, sorghum
Drink pairing – 2014 Syrah, Frederic Brouca, Faugeres
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 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 Went to Ripley’s Aquarium!
I went to Ripley’s Aquarium for the first time on Thursday. I won tickets from a contest that I didn’t actually enter (I used a hashtag for a music festival and unknowingly won stuff).
Anyways, here are some photos of exotic fish and the inner world of Ripley’s.
My First Poké at Big Tuna
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!
Ubering Love Chix
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
Fabbrica
Last week, I went to Fabbrica in North York with my team at work. It is one of Mark McEwan’s restaurants and located right across the McEwan grocery store in North York.
We started with some appetizers including some fries with truffle and grana padano cheese. They were so addictive! We also had some warm olives (which were some of the best I’ve had) and their signature meatballs. I forgot to take a photo of these because we ate them too fast.
To drink, I tried their Old Fashion. As you know, I like to try this on every menu. Theirs was made out of Bullet Bourbon, house made Heavnly Cream syrup and tiki bitters. They did this classic well.
As my main I ordered a strip steak salad with goat cheese, beats, and an apple pecan dressing. I loved the combination of flavours and textures and my steak was cooked to a beautiful medium rare (just how I like it).
For dessert, I had a Chocolate Torta, a mix between a sponge and a mousse cake that was so good I didn’t even offer a bite to anybody.
I highly recommend this place if you’re looking for a quality place to wine and dine!
Brunch @ Chadwick’s
Last weekend, Nash and I had brunch at Chadwick’s where they have you can Build-A-Benny, so we both did. I picked the strangest ingredients on mine: Queso frito (fried cheese), jamon chino (chinese sausage) and instead of bread I had tortilla chips. I also had half salad and half potatos on the side.
Weirdly, it all worked together. I loved the fried cheese and their beer hollandaise sauce was creamy and delicious. The egg was perfectly poached.
Nash went the more traditional route with peameal bacon and sautéed mixed mushrooms.
He also had a house caesar made with fresh tomato juice and pickled vegetables.
I had a mimosa made with grapefruit juice.
We loved our Benny’s and hope to try more of the brunch menu soon!
Wilbur Mexicana
I went to Wilbur Mexicana recently, home of a hot sauce and salsa bar. Apparently, it is temporarily closed at the moment to prepare for kitchen repairs, but I went before that happened.
I was unwinding for the evening so I had a Paloma with Tromba, Aperol, grapefruit and soda.
My choice of tacos were: Carne asada with pico de gallo, crispy onions and queso fundido; and the Baja Fish taco with beer battered mahi mahi, cabbage, pico de gallo, chipotle crema. Both were very flavourful and delicious but I loved the crunchy texture of the onions in the Carne Asada (steak) taco.
I can never resist grilled corn so I had to order the Mexican street corn which had chipotle crema, cotija cheese and guajillo chilli powder. It had just the right balance of spice and cream.
I found the price of everything very reasonable and the portions just right. The place always looks like there is a line-up but in reality it doesn’t take very long to get a seat. Plus people will eat these things fast!
Flaming Bull
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!
Tiana Feng 