Planet Bakery

Date: August 8, 2012

Location: 1416 Centre Street (east of Dufferin), Thornhill

Website: N/A

Meal: on-the-go snack

My thoughts:

I was in a pinch for time and was in dire need of some food in my system. Not wanting Tim Horton's food (I try as much as possible to avoid places that are ubiquitous/chains), I decided to give this little bakery with somewhat tacky signage a try.

I had a cheese pastry, which was basically a feta cheese filling wrapped in phyllo pastry. At $1.25, it wasn't bad, but it was the service that was somewhat lacking. When I entered the bakery, there were two female workers seated at a table, both looking bored. Neither of greeted me or seemed to fancy the idea of getting up and serving a customer. In fact, they pretty well ignored me, and for a few moments, I actually thought that they were customers. For a place that was completely deserted and where you could practically hear the sound of crickets, you would think they would jump at the opportunity to actually do some work. When I was ready to order, one worker finally got up to help me; she was pleasant, but it wasn't enough to make up for my initial thoughts of the lack of servicing. For a bakery, I suppose poor service isn't a deal breaker. I mean, at least they weren't rude. I won't be going out of my way to come here.

Here is a picture I took in my car. (As I said, I was pinched for time!)

Smmmoked Stack

Date: July 27, 2012
Location: 3265 Yonge Street (south of York Mills Road), Toronto
Website: http://stackrestaurant.ca
Meal: drinks and snacks

My thoughts:
Upon repeated recommendations by my coworker friend for this restaurant's 'amazing' rum milkshakes, we both finally coordinated our schdules and made the trek here.

The restaurant was well-lit and spacious (it has two floors), and had a simple and modern decor, all of which gave me a very inviting feel. I had

We shared the Sweet Potato Fries ($6.99), which were probably some of the most crispiest and hottest (temperature-wise) fries I've had in a very long time. The fries came with a chipotle ranch dipping sauce, which was not bad but nothing spectacular. 

We also each had a milkshake. I had the Apple Crumble, which had big chunks of apple crumble in it, and my friend the Moose Tracks. The milkshakes are $5.99 without alcohol and $8.99 with; we both had alcohol in ours - yum. And they did live up to my friend's raving reviews - every sip was full of sugary and rich (i.e. fatty) deliciousness. Indeed amazing. As an aside, I am sad to inform you that I just called the restaurant and was told that the Apple Crumble was recently taken off the menu due to insufficient demand. What a shame :(

I had a great time that night. A fantastic casual place for friends and family alike with great food offerings.

Spring Rolls

Date: July 8, 2012
Location: 1800 Sheppard Ave E (inside Fairview Mall, east of Don Mills Road), Toronto
Website: http://www.springrolls.ca
Meal: drinks and snacks

My thoughts:
I came here with a coworker friend of mine to unwind after work. Neither of us were terribly hungry, so we each ordered a drink and a sushi roll.

I had the Tropical Martini ($6.50) and my friend the Blue Cosmotini ($6.50). Both were very good.

For food, I had the Firecracker Dream Roll ($5.99), with raw scallop, tempura flakes and spicy mayonnaise. I have never been a big fan of raw scallop, and I honestly don't know why I ordered this knowing there was some in the roll. I guess I wanted to try something different. This wasn't too bad, but rather bland. I definitely had to use a generous dab of wasabi to give it a good kick. My friend had the Dynamite Roll ($5.99) with shrimp tempura, avocado and mayonnaise. I've had this roll many times in the past; this was nothing special.

So no big dining discoveries made today as far as good eats go. This was more of a catch up and hang out session, and this was certainly a good place for that. (I have been to Spring Rolls at Yonge and Sheppard a number of times recently with my department. Because my boss was there, I didn't want to bust out my camera, but I have definitely discovered some good dishes on those visits!)

Fuzion 99 Restaurant Lounge

Date: July 7, 2012
Location: 810 St. Clair Avenue West (east of Oakwood Avenue), Toronto
Website: http://www.fuzion99.com
Meal: snacks

My thoughts:
A friend and I went to the Salsa on St. Clair festival this weekend prepared to have a feast but were disappointed at the scant offerings, especially at a large street festival.

Anyway, I had a fried plantain ($3) and some pulled pork on a cornbread tortilla ($8). Yes, street food at festivals is very pricey, but I think physically seeing food being prepared before my very own eyes is a fun and visually-stimulating experience and I find myself more experimentative in my food choices, which in turn at times leads to some really great food discoveries!

Unfortunately, there was no such 'great food discovery' here. The fried plaintain was so dry that I had a hard time swallowing it; it definitely needed a sauce or dip. The pulled pork was even worse; the meat was very fatty, yet it was dry and tasted like pork jerky. The cornbread were also dry and nothing short of gross!

I know that a restaurant's street offerings might not be a true reflection of restaurant's true quality and calibre. I mean, I understand that street food is prepared en masse, but to say that the food I had today was a disappointment would be a gross understatement.

Sorry, Fuzion 99, two thumbs down.

Cafe en Passant

Date: June 29, 2012

Location: 10133 Yonge Street  Richmond Hill, ON L4C 1T7

Website: http://www.cafeenpassant.ca/

Cuisine: French

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

I brought my family here as a going away dinner for my sister, who was leaving for China for two months for school. Of course, if you've read my previous blogs, you would know that I've been here a number of times, but because most of my family had never been, I thought this was a good time to take everyone here for a try.

We came on a Wednesday night, the night before my sister was set to leave, and I decided to make reservations to ensure we would get a table off to the side, since my mom is very sensitive to noise and commotion. This proved to be unnecessary, as the restaurant was quite empty, but I always like to plan ahead and avoid any chance of waiting.

So to start, we shared a Fried coconut shrimp ($11.95), which was served with a sweet corn, cranberry and mint chutney on baby arugula. This was delicious! I was really glad to have finally tried this. My previous visits here were mostly with my ex, who is not a big fan of coconut shrimp, and I never want to eat all those fried morsels in one sitting (I'd have to be at the gym for hours to burn them off!) This time, not only does everyone love fried shrimp, there are five of us and exactly five shrimp - so we  all get to have a taste. We all loved the chutney; it was a very unique (in a good way) pairing with the shrimp.

My mom also had a Butternut squash soup ($5.95), which was one of the daily specials. My mom is able to take liquid-based foods a lot better, so the pureed texture was perfect for her. This was flavourful, although a tad salty.

For our mains, my middle sister ordered the Penne with grilled portobello mushrooms ($17.95), which consisted of penne noodles with sautéed portobello mushrooms, fresh spinach and goat cheese in a rosé sauce. Definitely very palatable, but very rich and thick - I would only recommend this if you can stand to gain a few pounds!

My youngest sister ordered the Penne Arrabiata ($18.95), which came with ten (or so the menu claimed - questionable if there were actually ten) black tiger shrimp sautéed in garlic and cayenne spiced tomato sauce. This was a tad spicy, but nonetheless very, very bland and overpriced for what tasted like something that came straight out of a jar of tomato paste (not even spaghetti sauce, so it really lacked flavour of any kind.) The shrimp was also very small. Needless to say, none of us was a fan of this.

And I had the Crêpe St. Tropez ($19.95), with large shrimp, sautéed baby spinach, in a rosé mushroom sauce. I am not normally a fan of savoury crepes, but this was delicious! Twenty dollars is pricey for a crepe, yes, and the portion size doesn't really justify the price, but the taste and quality are really top-notch. The sauce was creamy but still maintained the perfect consistency - not too thick or runny. The seafood was fresh and bursting with flavour. I already know what I'll be ordering at my next visit to this restaurant and look forward to trying their other crepes!

Yogurty's

Date: August 31, 2012
Location: 3285 Yonge Street (north of Lawrence Ave), mid-town Toronto
Website: http://www.yogurtys.com/
Meal: snacks

My thoughts:
In short, this isn't Menchies. (I'll always be a Menchies girl.) But it's not bad for what it's worth!

Burger Priest

Date: August 31, 2012
Location: 3397 Yonge Street (north of Lawrence Ave), mid-town Toronto
Website: http://theburgerspriest.com/
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I came here with an old college classmate of mine. She 'highly recommended' this place upon finding out that I hadn't had my own burger in over a decade. (When I went to Bier Markt this past May, my dad was the one who ordered the burger. I just had a taste.) She recommended the following: 

Cheeseburger ($5.29) - wowza! This was so good. The patty was so soft and juicy (yes, I know, in other words, fatty) and there was the perfect amount of toppings. I think the reason why I didn't eat burgers before was that in my mind, I pictured there being a lot of bread and the patty to be very fatty yet dry. This defied that preconceived notion I had. Now, I wouldn't say burgers going to be a regular in my diet now, but I definitely wouldn't mind have one of these things from time to time! 

Chili cheese fries ($5.79) - I realized as I was writing this blog that the fries were more expensive than the burger. (What??) Anyway, this was pretty good, but the fries were pretty soggy and the chili beef was very salty. It was cheesy, yes, which I love, but it wasn't the oozy, stringy kind of cheese that I like. In hindsight, I would rather have gotten another burger.

I'd come here again, for sure! I'd try another burger, but would pass on the fries, thank you very much.

Smash Kitchen and Bar

Date: August 25, 2012
Location: 4261 Highway 7 East (west of Kennedy Rd), Unionville
Website: http://www.smashkitchen.com/
Meal: dinner

My thoughts: 
My parents and I had heard it had just changed ownership about two months ago, and we were eager to check this place out. We shared the following dishes:

Calamari ($11) - cornmeal dusted, pico de gallo, horseradish aioli. Fresh, lightly chewy and crispy. Very good, and the aioli was the perfect pairing.

Grilled salmon salad ($17) - baby spinach salad topped with asparagus cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, candied pecans and honey dijon vinaigrette. Fresh and very loaded salad! Expensive, but we all loved this. My favourite was the pecans.

Neptune pizza ($17) - herb garlic butter, ricotta, tiger shrimp smoked salmon, red onions, capers, arugula, balsamic vinegar. This was also very good. If you have read my previous posts, you should be aware that I am a big cheese lover. Although this wasn't very cheesy, I surprisingly didn't miss cheese at all here. This was good the way it was.

Very good food, but considering the fact that we came on a Saturday night at the regular dinner hour, we were surprised this place wasn't packed! There is a patio overlooking green space and a brick fireplace, which gave the restaurant a nice cozy touch.

Wabora

Date: August 17, 2012

Location: 550 Wellington Street West (east of Bathurst), Toronto

Website: http://www.waborasushi.com/

Meal: dinner and drinks

My thoughts:

Another girls' night! I'd been here before and was very impressed with the food and experience and suggested this place as our dinner stop that night. My friend, who is impartial to sushi, was very impressed with everything.

To start, we each ordered a martini ($14 each). My friend ordered the white chocolate and I some fruity martini - I forget the name unfortunately. Anyway, we both loved the white chocolate martini. It was very strong and it was clear the bartender didn't cheap out on the alcohol! A must-try!

 

Next, we had the Chilean Sea Bass ($14). Sooo good. If you've never had this type of fish, it has a very unique taste. It is a very fatty fish, which makes it very tender and soft. Highly recommended!

We ordered a few rolls, also to share. Our favourite was the Crabmeat Dynamite ($15), which consisted of snow crabmeat, mushrooms and chopped onion in a spicy creamy sauce on a bed of California roll. This was absolutely to die for!

Next, we had the Crispy Valentine's Roll ($13), which was a California roll topped with spicy salmon and shredded crunch potatoes along with their house sauce. Loved the crunchy topping. Delish.

And finally, the Titan Roll ($12) - shrimp tempura and crab meat, topped with spicy tuna and dynamite sauce. Not bad, but this really paled in comparison to the other outstanding rolls.
 

For dessert, we shared the Cheesecake with some fried chocolate spring roll of some sort ($15). Gosh, I really wish I hadn't waited so long to blog about this. So sorry, folks! We were told that the cheesecake is not made in-house, but at some local bakery (we were not told which one). The cheesecake was alright. Right now, I don't really remember much of the fried stick. But if it was good, I'm sure I would have remembered!

 

This place is located in the Thompson Hotel on King West, so as you can imagine, it is quite upscale and expensive. The restaurant has a lounge-y atmosphere and is a great place to celebrate a special occasion or if you just want to live the life of the rich for one night!

Second Cup

Date: August 10, 2012 
Location: 287 King Street West (west of John Street), Downtown Toronto
Website: http://www.secondcup.com/
Meal: pre-drinks ;)

My thoughts:
And this was Part II of our girls' night! We initially came here for a caffeine jolt because we planned to hit up a bar later, but we were swayed by the comforting taste of chocolate and ended up getting a cold hot chocolate!

The coffee barista, a very friendly and kind young gentleman with his hair tied up in a pony-tail, told us that a few days earlier, a woman came in claiming to be on a city-wide hunt for the best frozen hot chocolate and that she'd found it at that particular Second Cup! While we can't deny that it was pretty good, we both agreed that the woman's claim was very bold and she probably hadn't tried very many drinks yet! I'd definitely suggest asking for chocolate shavings/chunks to be added to your drink. Yum.

Pizzaiolo

Date: June 6 & 7, 2012

Location: 104 Yonge St.

Website: http://www.pizzaiolo.ca

Meal: lunch

My thoughts:

Okay, I've since been to Pizzaiolo two additional times since my last post. The first time (Wed) I went back, I got the Spinotta pizza to get my dear readers a visual depiction of the Spinotta pizza (okay, okay, and because I'd been craving it, too). I will post the picture once my coworker sends it to me (yes, I still need a camera. Sigh.)

So as you know, for my own personal enjoyment and for your entertainment, I try to venture to different restaurants (or fast food joint in this case). So although I was bad for going to the same place three times in a row in one week, at least I ordered something different on Thurs! I had their Thai Pie - peanut satay sauce, mozzarella, red onions, chicken, mushrooms and 'spicy' BBQ sauce. 

I didn't taste the peanut nor the spiciness in the BBQ sauce (and I'm not even one who can handle much spice), but I did taste a whole lot of sweetness - too much, in fact, for my liking. I just wasn't a fan. And it wasn't very cheesy - big thumbs down. A far cry from the Spinotta, that's for sure. I'd rate this about the same as those lower end/non-gourmet pizzas.

My verdict: I still love you, Pizzaiolo, but never again will I be ordering the Thai Pie!

Wow Sushi

Date: April 30, 2012 (backdated, as most of my posts are, but I know this really takes the cake!)

Location: 11 Charles St. W. (near Bay/Bloor), Toronto

Website: http://thewowsushi.blogspot.ca/

Meal: lunch

My thoughts:

My sister and I stumbled upon this place because Okonomi House was closed again - we'd made three attempts to go and they were closed for renovations every time. Frustrated? Were we ever, but I later realized this was a blessing in disguise because I otherwise wouldn't have discovered Wow Sushi. 

Am I the only one a little bit turned off by the name? I found out the name after our meal, when I was given the receipt. Had I known it was called 'Wow Sushi,' I'll be honest, I don't think I would've gone in. It's like calling your restaurant "Yummy in my Tummy" or something to that effect, you know? My sister, on the other hand, thought nothing of it. Maybe I'm just picky with words. Or a difficult customer to please, haha. Moving along...!

Since we were in the Yorkville area, the prices were a bit steeper than your typical sushi joint. The quality and presentation, however, were well worth it (although the pictures don't really illustrate that. I apologize in advance for their terrible quality.) We were given some fried tofu as complimentary starters, which was nice. The tofu was soft and the batter light and crispy.

For our meal, my sister had the Nabe Yaki Udon lunch special ($10), which was udon noodles in soup with some vegetable tempura on the side. My sister liked this, but I am not particularly fond of tempura nor udon noodles. I prefer thinner noodles so that you get a greater soup-to-noodle ratio and hence, more flavour. 

I had an order of the salmon sashimi ($8 for 4 pieces) and butter fish sashimi ($8 for 4 pieces). The sashimi was slightly seared and sliced and arranged in such a way as to resemble an armadillo. The salmon was soooo amazing!!! It literally melted in my mouth!! I consider myself to be a sushi connoiseur, and I'm telling you, this is the best salmon sashimi I have ever had. Ever. The butter fish wasn't nearly as good; it was a bit overcooked, thereby defeating the purpose of it being a raw dish.  

I also had an unagi maki ($8). It wasn't bad, but the salmon definitely stole the show that day, making everything else really paled in comparison.

My verdict: I'm sure they have other great items, but you really have to try their salmon sashimi. It really is something else! It really does live up to its name. A must try!

Pizzaiolo

Date: June 5, 2012

Location: 104 Yonge St. (just north of King St.), Toronto

Website: http://www.pizzaiolo.ca/

Meal: lunch

My thoughts:

Ever since my work started ordering from here, I'd been officially addicted to gourmet pizzas. It's been about a week since my work last ordered from here, so I was really craving some good pizza. 

I ordered their Spinotta today. Spinach, ricotta, parmigiana, mozzarella, tomato chunks, oregano.. wowza! The crust was really light and fluffy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. And, as if things couldn't get any better, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has given this particular pizza a seal of approval based on its nutritional profile. (Thumbs up from me, the nutrition major!) This really hit the spot. Sorry, no photo - I need to get a new camera :(

My verdict: Love!!! Pizzaiolo had already won me over weeks ago, but after today, they've really set the bar to new standards! Also, I noticed their Fredo pizza, a vegan pizza so no cheese (gasp!) but I was intrigued nonetheless by the elaborate display of thinly-sliced Yukon gold potatoes laying neatly in an annular pattern. Believe me. It looked as delicious as it sounds. My co-worker, who claims to be a 'pizza fanatic,' told me Mamma Mia's pizzas are even better, a statement that I found hard to believe, seeing as how heart-stoppingly good everything has been. But my curiosity has been aroused, and I will definitely be checking out MM in the near future and report to you my findings ;)

Willie Stouts Pub & Grill

Date: June 4, 2012

Location: 2175 Sheppard Ave. E. (east of Hwy 404), Toronto

Website: http://williestouts.ca/

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

I'm usually in bed by this time and I am actually quite tired, but something is weighing on my mind tonight and I felt I needed to write to feel better. I promise that what ensues in this post will remain strictly focussed on food, though!

So anyway, my sister and I came here and unfortunately, I've only got one pic for you (to come). We ordered the steak and mushroom pie, which came with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies ($10.99). We didn't really care for the pie, which tasted like the frozen variety that you can buy at your local supermarket. Veggies: nothing really to be said. The mashed potatoes were really good, though - creamy, buttery and oh-so-smooth.

We also had a pound of wings (with honey garlic sauce), which came with potato fries and some veggie sticks ($11.99). We substituted the fries for sweet potato fries for an extra $2.89, and were we ever glad we did, because they were divine - perfectly crispy and well-seasoned! I usually prefer my wings breaded, which these were not, but I was still quite satisfied with these. Medium-sized wings.

The food was piping hot, so this was a welcome surprise, as I find most restaurants' food is only 'quite hot.'

My verdict: I would recommend if you're in a pinch for time and don't have time to wait for a table, as there was lots of seating area. The staff was somewhat monotonous but helpful, lots of TVs, hot food, amazing sweet potato fries... Not bad overall!

Fushimi Authentic Japanese Cuisine

Date: June 1, 2012

Location: 7501 Woodbine Ave. (south of Hwy 407), Markham

Website: http://www.fushimi.ca/

Meal: lunch

My thoughts:

I came here today with a friend to celebrate our one month birthdays! (No, we don't actually celebrate our monthly birthdays. We're just embarrassed to admit that we were still celebrating our birthdays six weeks after the fact.)

My friend has been frequenting this place as of late (10 times in the past 6 weeks) and suggested we come here. I was excited to try this place and see if it measures up to A Taste of Japan, which was replaced with this restaurant and was in my family's regular rotation of restaurants. Anyway, my friend and I had the AYCE, and this was what we had:

Miso soup: I didn't have this, but this is pretty standard and pretty hard to mess up, in my opinion.

Avocado salad: lettuce salad with avocado slices and creamy ginger dressing. I was impressed by the fact that the avocado slices - albeit raw -  were so big!

 

Gyozas: pan-fried beef dumplings. A little greasy, but the filling was very good and the dough crispy. Yum.

Funky chicken: crispy chicken, asparagus, topped with avocado, black pepper steak and drizzled with house and eel sauce. I love the name! Interesting it is called funky chicken and not funky beef/steak when I couldn't taste the chicken. I'm normally not a fan of extremely rare beef, but it worked well here.

Salmon sushi: salmon sashimi with rice. Nothing special. Not much salmon though.

Red dragon: cucumber, avocado and tuna sashimi roll. (Far right in picture below.) Pretty good, but not as good as... 

Green dragon: eel, avocado, shrimp tempura and cucumber roll. (Middle roll in picture below.) Pretty good. I think this was my favourite today. Avocado makes everything taste great!

Spicy salmon roll: salmon sashimi with spicy sauce. (Far left in picture below.) Nothing special. 

Spicy scallop trim ramen: Because I had no idea what 'scallop trim' was and the waitress had such a hard time explaining what this was, my curiosity was piqued and I just had to order this! I found out it is the thin membrane surrounding scallop - you'll know what I'm talking about if you have ever prepared live scallops. Anyway, the texture was similar to onion skins to me, but slightly crunchier. And I'm well aware this isn't a noodle restaurant, but I was a bit disappointed that the ramen wasn't chewy (which, to people of my culture, is an indicator of freshness). The fried crab was amazing!

I noticed as I was writing this blog that there was a back page on the menu, which is unfortunate because everything on this page looked really good. I think I’ll come back just to try these things out so that I can fairly judge Fushimi against Maison du Japon across the street. We were short on time; otherwise, we would have ordered more. 

My verdict: For $13.99 (Fri-Sun, or $12.99 Mon-Thurs), this was not bad for an AYCE restaurant with typical AYCE-quality food. I definitely like A Taste of Japan better, but to be fair, it isn't AYCE, so I'm not comparing apples with apples here. Also, from what I had today, I also like Maison du Japon - I find their quality and offerings much better than Fushimi's, but I'd be willing to give this a second shot.