Yamamoto Sushi

Date: Thursday, July 31, 2014

Location: 7131 Kennedy Rd #E1, Box 61 (in the Market Village Shopping Centre at Kennedy & Steeles), Markham

Website: N/A

Cuisine: Japanese

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

Had dinner with the fam because my mom's going on vacation tomorrow. This is an AYCE restaurant with food that is what you'd expect from such a restaurant. Prices are also typical of an AYCE place: $23.99 a head for adults, so in other words, expensive, especially considering the quality.

Most of what we ordered was nothing special. Here's some of the dishes we had:

Lobster tails: Free if you make reservations. These were topped with mayo and baked. These were not bad but overcooked and by no fault of the restaurant, had a lot of the creamy green stuff (their organs?). So if you decide to come here and like lobsters, make sure to call.

Coconut pudding: This was too sweet for my liking. Taste-wise, it reminded me of tapioca/sago pudding.

Pretty much the only things that I liked:

Kalbi ribs: We ordered about 10 orders of this. Some were pretty charred, but generally speaking, they got juicier and more tender as the night progressed.

Mango yogurt: This was really good. Creamy plain yogurt with some mango puree. I had about 5 of these. Yum. 

Fried banana: The batter tasted more like bread crumbs than tempura batter. This was alright.

So in sum, as good as the mango yogurt cups were, they don't justify shelling out so much money when the majority of the food is sub-par. And it's pretty hard to mess up Kalbi ribs, especially when they're as fatty as the ones here are. This just reaffirmed my distaste with AYCE places in general. I won't be back.

Buddha Pie

Date: Friday, July 18, 2014
Location: 514 B Annette St (near Runnymede & Bloor W), Toronto
Website: http://www.buddhapie.ca/
Cuisine: Italian (pizzeria)
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I have made two previous attempts to try this restaurant (this one being my third) and wouldn't have been a very happy camper if this were closed again. Thankfully, luck was on our side, and the place was open.

I came with my Triple D friends and we ordered three pizzas. The crust was delicious - super thin, crispy and charred. The pizzas were a decent size: 12 inches across. The toppings were extremely greasy though, with large pools of grease everywhere. This is what we had:

Presto Pesto ($13.99): Nut-free pesto sauce, red onions, red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and choice of goat cheese or fleur di latte. I ordered this one, and we all agreed this was our least favourite of the evening. To me, it tasted like there was vinegar or lemon in the pesto, and I generally don't like sour things. Also, the pizza had very little cheese on it and essentially tasted like a white (i.e. cheeseless) pizza. If you've read my previous posts, you'd know I'm a HUGE cheese-lover. Strangely enough, even without much cheese, this was very greasy. A fail.

Bada Bing ($13.99): Spicy Italian sausage, marina sauce, red onions, red peppers, fresh garlic (optional) and mozzarella cheese. This was much an improvement from the first pizza largely because it was much cheesier. Still a fail though because of how greasy it was.

Buddha Bomb ($14.99): Spicy sauce (made with seven fresh vegetables), red onions, spicy hand-made sausage, hot calabrese sausage and pepperoni. This was the only pizza I would consider to be a 'pass.' It was cheesy enough for my liking and had some heat to it, which gave it a nice kick. This tasted very much like the Bada Bing but with some much-needed pepperoni, which gave it a boost in flavour. 

In a nutshell, this was a huge disappointment. The staff were very friendly and hospitable and the crusts were one of the best I've had. But the toppings were a humongous letdown. It's also a bit of a walk from the nearest subway station (Runnymede). Won't be back.

Clafouti

Date: Friday, July 18, 2014
Location: 915 Queen St W (east of Ossington), Toronto
Website: http://clafouti.ca/
Cuisine: French
Meal: snack

My thoughts:
This was actually my second trip here. The first time I was here, they were sold out of their crookies, which is what they're famous for. What are crookies you ask? They're a cross between a croissant and Oreo cookie, and apparently incredibly popular.

Because one of my Triple D friends is having a house-warming tonight, I figured that a foodie would appreciate something tasty and edible over a conventional house-warming gift however functional it may be, and so I called ahead and reserved half a dozen of these. (I learned my lesson last time!)

I got here just after 4 in the afternoon, and it was pretty empty. While I was here, several people came in and got things to go, which is not surprising, seeing as how the Trinity-Bellwoods park is just across the street. Anyway, since I'm not usually in this neck of the woods, I decided to try some of their other offerings and also to quiet my rumbling tummy.

I first ordered a blueberry tart ($3.15) because it looked so fresh. And fresh it was, but the tart was surprisingly and overly eggy for a fruit-based dessert. I did like that it was very lightly sweetened and that fresh blueberries were used.

I was still pretty hungry after the tart, and so I ordered a spinach goat cheese quiche ($4.50) - I know, I'm working backwards with my meal. Anyway, though it was warmed up for me on a grill, the center of the quiche was cold, but I was too hungry to wait another 3-4 minutes for it to be warmed up to the core - so I ate it anyway lol :o)  I didn't care too much for the filling. The problem was there was too much moisture (perhaps a result of the spinach being cooked/baked right in the quiche as opposed to being wilted first?) The crust was very flavourful though, even more so than the filling. It did stave off my hunger, but I'm not sure I'd order this again.

I am now relaxing on a bench at the Trin-Bell park across the street with my box of crookies as I impatiently watch the minutes tick until I meet my friends. The crookies are packaged in a box and sealed with a sticker, so I am unable to sneak a taste of one (just kidding!) and will have to share my take on it later.

Also worth noting is that the staff are incredibly personable and friendly. But good service doesn't necessarily warrant return visits. I'm not sold on the food yet, but maybe the best is yet to come with the crookies. I'll give my two cents on them when I try one later tonight.

Update: I just had the crookie. First at room temperature and later warmed up. Let me tell you that heating it up makes a big difference. At room temperature, it literally tasted like I grabbed an Oreo with one hand and a croissant with the other and stuffed both into my mouth at the same time. Heated, however, the flavours melted together and created a unique contrast in texture that was both gooey (from the Oreo) and flaky (from the croissant). Even so, the crookie wasn't as amazing as I'd imagine it to be. And at $2.90 a pop, it was expensive for what it was; I don't think anything other than an Oreo was inside the croissant.

I'm still glad I tried it for the novelty of it. But it wasn't anything special. I may be back for the almond croissants but won't be going out of my way for them.

Wafflian

Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Location: McCaul St. Unit 28B inside The Grange (near University and Dundas), Toronto
Website: http://wafflian.ca
Cuisine: N/A
Meal: dessert

My thoughts:
My dad and I came here as our final stop of our impromptu foodie adventure. When we went in, there was one lone staff member working, and either she had a language barrier or she just didn't like her job. 

Anyway, they offer waffles, a variety of cupcakes and drinks (coffees and the like). They have two types of waffles: one is what they call the 'original' waffle, which is less sweet and fluffier, and the other is the Liege waffle, which is sweeter and denser. It is mostly a build-in-own-waffle kind of place. A plain waffle is $4 and you add toppings, which are generally $1 each.

We had a plain original waffle with whipped cream, and added a coffee for 50 cents more to make it a combo. Paper plate and plastic utensils aside, you would probably agree that presentation is very basic. But what they lack on that front they make up for in the waffle. True to the menu's claim, the waffle was very light and fluffy, with a crispy exterior. Yum. 

Not that cheap given that it is situated within a food court and its vicinity to a number of schools, but also not the most expensive either. The cost of toppings quickly add up at $1 a pop. Still worth checking out though! Will be back.

Thai Bright

Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Location: 109 McCaul St in The Grange (University and Dundas), Toronto
Website: N/A
Cuisine: though the name says Thai, it's Chinese
Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
My dad happened to be in the downtown core and we spontaneously made lunch plans. This was the first of three stops for lunch.

Recently, this place has been offering a large combo with 1 vegetable and 1 meat dish with choice of rice or noodles for $5 tax IN. Ever since discovering this amazing deal, I've been coming here once a week. I hope this deal be sticking around. I've got my coworkers hooked on this place, too. Food's great, prices are now great. Just to put things into context, their small combo, which is about a quarter of their large, is $4 PLUS tax, which comes to about $4.50.

Get in on this deal while its still around. I doubt it'll be around forever. It's probably just a scheme to attract new customers. I don't imagine a business can subsist on such a great deal for long.

Abruzzo Pizza

Date: July 12, 2014
Location: 9010 Yonge St (just south of 16th Ave), Richmond Hill
Website: http://abruzzopizza.com/
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I came here tonight with my coworkers. Being the event organizer for this outing, I wanted to choose something that would satisfy even those hardest to please that is situated someplace central for all of us.

After extensive research, I decided on this place. Judging from the very simple and unpretentious-looking storefront and menu (I saw pictures on their website), I was expecting a very no frills type of mom and pop shop with decent, affordable food.

Well, affordable it was. Decent it was not - it was amazing! I had to fight hard not to gloat as to how good of a recommendation it was I made. Everyone was thoroughly impressed.

Here's a rundown of what we had:

FRIED CALAMARI ($13): Fresh calamari rings coated in a light and crispy batter and deep-fried. This came with a sauce that resembled bruschetta. Whatever it was, it was good and complemented the calamari very well.

SMALL THIN-CRUST PIZZA ($9 + $1.20 for each additional topping): For toppings, we got extra cheese, mushrooms, eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes, so our pizza came to $13.80. In a nutshell, it was love at first bite. It was the perfect amount of cheese (and I'm a cheese lover), the crust was thin and crispy, and the pizza well-seasoned. The vegetable toppings were a perfect marriage atop the pizza (of course, they were our choosing). This was my favourite of the evening. A real winner.

LARGE THICK-CRUST PIZZA ($14 + $1.75 for each additional topping): We got pineapple and Italian sausage, the latter which counted as two toppings, so our pizza came to $19.25. We unanimously agreed that the thin crust was better. Even those who generally prefer thick crust agreed. We found the thick crust to be rather dry. This was probably the only complaint that night. Still a winner.

PANZEROTTO ($8 + $1 for each additional topping): The "basic" panzerotto comes with pizza/tomato sauce and cheese. We added broccoli and chicken strips, the latter which counted as two toppings, so ours came to $11. I'm glad we didn't ask for extra cheese on this. I'm a cheese lover and I found it plenty cheesy as is. We decided to be health conscious and had this baked rather than friend, and it was still plenty tasty. A winner!

TIRAMISU ($3): I wasn't sure what to expect for a $3 piece of dessert, but as it turned out, this was not only a real steal but also really tasty! This was about 4 inches in diameter and enough to share amongst 6 ladies. The crust was also partially frozen, something I'd never had before, and it served as a nice contrast to the creamy topping.

Also, apparently this business's website needs some updating. The place shown on the website has now become a takeout establishment (same business but strictly does takeout). The restaurant (where we ate) is two doors down. It is renovated very nicely. Still unpretentious, but nice enough for a casual date and very family friendly. Even more points because the service was awesome - prompt, friendly and efficient (which seems to be a rarity these days, or is it just me?)

I'm so, soooo glad we came here. We all had a great time and were very impressed with the food. It has definitely reignited my love for Italian fare. I will be coming back, and soon!

Butter Chicken Factory

Date: Thursday, July 3, 2014
Location: 556 Parliament St (south of Wellesley), Toronto
Website: http://www.butterchickenfactory.ca/
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I am not joking when I say that I've been wanting to come here for years, since university in fact! This is just so out of my way. But my dad and I so happened to both be free this evening, and I was having the worst craving for rice, so I suggested we come here.

We called 20 minutes ahead requesting for a window table and were told one was available. But when we got there, we told no window tables were available and given another table. (I wanted a window table so that my food pics would turn out better.) Anyway, that was a very minor issue, if even that.

We ordered the ALOO PAPRI CHAAT ($4.95), which is a combination of chickpeas, potatoes & flour chips served with chutney & yogurt. This wasn't bad albeit nothing special. I've had better.

We also shared the DAAL MAKHANI ($9.95) with an order of STEAMED RICE ($2.99). Looking back, it was pretty foolish of me to order something other than their namesake dish, given that we were only ordering one dish. Call it what you want, but I was just really craving daal, and my dad loves lentils. It seemed like a pretty safe bet. This again was nothing special, though the serving dish (pot) was unique.

All in all, this was a huge letdown. We don't have any real complaints, but this is hardly something worth making such a trek for. What we had today wasn't good enough to warrant a return visit, even to try their butter chicken.

Loui's Kouzina

Date: Monday, June 30, 2014
Location: 9255 Woodbine Ave (at 16th Ave), Markham
Website: N/A
Cuisine: Greek
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
I try to take my mom out for dinner about once a month. We usually go for Japanese, but I wanted to my mom to try something different tonight. This place immediately came to mind. We called ahead and made reservations for 6pm, though it wasn't necessary as the restaurant was pretty empty (it did get very busy around 7 though). 

We were given a loaf of complimentary toasted garlic bread, but I didn't eat much of it because it didn't have enough butter. I didn't want to fill up on bread so I didn't bother asking for more butter. Butter's not healthy anyway.

For our mains, I had the moussaka plate with a side of Caesar salad ($13.95). This was my first moussaka experience so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but it certainly was very good. For those unfamiliar with this dish, I see it as a Greek version of a lasagna, but with potatoes instead of pasta noodles and with different vegetables and seasonings. This particular one had onions and eggplant, and the potatoes resembled mashed potatoes but were less granular in texture.

My mom ordered the double lamb shank dinner with a choice of two sides ($18.95). The single shank was $14.95 I believe. My mom loved this. The meat was literally fall-of-the-bone and seasoned well. The veggies were very fresh, and the rice fluffy and infused with flavour.

We ordered a grilled calamari ($9.95) to share, but this didn't come until the tail end of our meal. We still enjoyed it all the same, but it gave us the feeling that the staff needs better organization. Also, presentation wasn't too great. (Both minor issues for us.) Otherwise, the calamari itself was incredibly juicy and very generously seasoned. Definitely one of the best grilled calamaris I've had.

Overall, this was a great dining experience. My mom, who was never really exposed to Greek cuisine, said she prefers this over French and Italian food. Service was attentive and quick. We'll be back.

Millie Creperie

Date: Monday, June 30, 2014
Location: 161 Baldwin Street (near Spadina/Dundas W), Toronto
Website: http://milliecreperie.com/
Cuisine: Japanese desserts
Meal: snack

My thoughts:
It was a typical sweltering summer day, and I needed a way to beat the heat. After work, I trekked over to Kensington Market and was relieved to see that this place was open.

I already knew what I wanted. I'd visited the business's website numerous times and drooled over their pictures. And so without hesitation, I asked for the Japanese special crepe with green tea gelato ($6.95). 

First, here's the deal with Japanese - well, Asian for that matter - desserts. Asians in general tend not to like sweets that are very rich and heavily-laden with sugar, and so their desserts tend to be light, fluffy and lightly sweetened. 

True to their claim on their website, the crepe was indeed very light and not sweet. The crepe was served like a maki, with it rolled up into a cone, and was filled with a heaping scoop of green tea gelato, light foamy whipped cream on the side, fresh strawberries for garnish and a thin black sesame drizzled on top. The presentation definitely earned top marks. 

So how did it actually taste? Quite simply... It was freakin' amazing! Gosh, I can eat this every day for the rest of my life and not be sick of it. It was so good that as I was eating it, I couldn't help but shut my eyes as I relished the feeling of being in food heaven. So good that as passersby stared at my crepe, I wanted to shield it from their view so as to keep this place of a gem a secret. (Yet here I am sharing it with you guys. Because I love you guys<3 Haha)

Seriously, just go.

Grand Electric

Date: Friday, June 27, 2014
Location: 1330 Queen Street West, 
Website: http://www.grandelectricbar.com
Cuisine: Mexican
Meal: drinks/dinner

My thoughts:
I've heard amazing things about this place and I've wanted to come here for god knows how long. Needless to say, I was super excited to finally be coming here.

But unfortunately, this place fell short of my expectations on so many levels. For starters, it is extremely loud. I generally find a lot of places to be loud, but this really took it to a whole new level. Food was all mediocre - with the exception of the fish taco, which was phenomenal (and it was only $3 each!), and the tuna ceviche, which was an assault on my taste buds. Blech is all I can say.

This is what we had:

GUAC AND CHIPS ($9): Not bad, but I've had better. The chips were very crispy but were very salty and tasted like they were fried several times over. Very little guac for the amount of chips and the price.

JESUS JUICE & BOURBONADE ($8 each): I had the former drink and my friend the latter. I think I chose my drink out of curiosity as to what "Jesus juice" would taste like. Apparently, like medicine. The bourbonade was sweeter and not too bad. Both drinks were strong.

TACOS ($3.60 each): We ordered a few tacos to share - two fish, one chicken, one cauliflower and one beef cheek. As I mentioned earlier, fish taco was spectacular. Even my friend, who is a mix of terrified and horrified by seafood, wanted a second one. The cauliflower was gross and in dire need of a sauce. Nothing else really to say abut the beef and chicken.

TUNA CEVICHE ($11): As you can see, portions are small, so I ordered this because I was still hungry. Big mistake. And unfortunately, this was the only thing where they were generous in serving size. The fish tasted very 'fishy' and desperately needed something to offset it. I almost gagged.

Out of everything, we only felt the fish tacos were worth our money. I would come back just for the fish tacos - IF I'm in the area.

Tikka Lahore

Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Location: 1365 Gerrard St E (Gerrard/Greenwood), Leslieville, Toronto

Website: http://lahoretikkahouse.com/

Cuisine: Pakistani/Indian

Meal: dinner

My thoughts:

This was a rather spontaneous decision to come here. I was feeling up for some hearty comfort food, and DQ suggested this place.

Upon entering this place, everything from the colours to the finishes to the tent sheltering communal tables made me feel like I'd been transported to another part of the world.

Having grown up on this food, DQ took the liberty to order the palak paneer, goat curry and butter chicken. My main issue with everything was that the food was so disgustingly greasy - to the point that there was a deep pool of grease sitting on top of all the dishes. Ewww. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of the food. We also had the chaat pri as an appetizer, which was the only decent thing that evening.

The place was very busy, surprisingly, so people must be okay with putting all that nasty grease into their body. But I won't be back.

Dumpling King

Date: June 20, 2014
Location: 15 Northtown Way (near Yonge and Finch), Toronto
Website: N/A
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
After a failed attempt to come here (apparently they're closed on Tuesdays), my dad and I were determined to try this place. We arrived 20 minutes prior to closing (I know, I hate to be one of those people, but we vowed to be quick).

We ordered the pork and leak pan-fried dumplings and egg and veggie steamed dumpling. Dumplings were in the range of $7-8 per order. 

While the dumplings weren't bad, given how out of the way this place is for us, difficulty/cost of parking and their relatively early closing time for a Friday night, they don't justify the hassle of another visit.

Mercatto

Date: Monday, May 26, 2014
Location: 330 Bay St (north of Adelaide), Financial District, Toronto
Website: http://www.mercatto.ca/
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: dinner

My thoughts:
Had dinner here with MT and blech. This is easily one of the worst restaurants I've been to in Toronto - and especially at this price point! While the service was good, the food does not merit such atrocious food. 

We ordered the risotto balls ($12) to share. We were a bit perplexed when our server brought us a huge plate with only 3 tiny risotto balls. The 'balls' themselves were very hot (good) but bland. We would find out as the evening progressed that this was the highlight of the meal.

LINGUINE - bay scallops, calamari, PEI mussels, filetto di pomodoro, peperoncini / $18. My friend ordered this, and I had a taste. Save for the meager supply of seafood bits, this dish was largely tasteless. But still, this was a far cry from how horrible my dish was.

RAVIOLI - ricotta and pea filling / $20. This is easily the worst pasta dish I have ever had. The filling was hard and grainy, and to make matters worse, it only had FIVE pieces of pasta (which considering how bad it tasted, I guess this might've actually been a good thing). I kid you not. 

All in all a horrendous food. Never. Coming. Back.

La Casita Chinese Eatery

Date: Friday, May 23, 2014
Location: 405 Dundas St W (east of Spadina), Toronto
Website: http://www.lacasitachineseeatery.ca/
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
Finally took DQ here for lunch for some cheap, tasty Chinese food. We each ordered a lunch combo, which was $5.95 + tax. 

DQ got the black bean beef on rice, chicken balls and a soup. 

I got the beef with vegetables on rice, spring rolls and a soup.

I've ordered the black bean in the past, and while the beef and mixed vegetable is solid, I prefer the black bean. A great spot to hit up for lunch if you're in the area!

Cafe en Passant

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Location: 10133 Yonge St, Richmond Hill
Website: http://www.cafeenpassant.ca/
Cuisine: French
Meal: lunch

My thoughts:
I had the day off and came here with my mom and aunt, who had a Groupon voucher that she needed to use because it was expiring soon. She paid $52 for two 3-course meals (two appetizers, two entrees, two desserts and a bottle of sparkling water). Our server agreed to allow us to use the voucher for a group of three.

For starters:

Mussels with toasted garlic bread ($11.99): Mussels were small. We were given a choice of creamy garlic or marinara sauce, and opted for the former. Cream was delish but heavy.

Warm goat cheese in a raspberry sauce & toasted almonds ($11.99): This was even heavier than the other appetizer, but I liked this one better. The creaminess of the cheese with the sweet raspberry sauce made an excellent pairing. An app that is best shared.

For mains:

Crêpe St. Jacques with sauteed bay scallops & baby shrimp ($19.99): I've had this before on a previous visit and remember really liking it. But today I found the sauce to be too heavy for a crepe. (I packed up what I couldn't finish to go and used the sauce in a pasta for my sisters, and they loved it.)

Triple A New York Steak ($25.99): This is another repeat order, and this was a good choice today for everything else that we had because it had some greens and wasn't full of cream. Also, steak was very tender. 

For dessert:

Crêpe framboise ($8.99): Crepe with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. This was another welcome break from all the cream in our dishes! Crepe was fresh.

Warm apple pie ($8.99): Pretty standard apple pie. Not warm enough for my liking, but we were too full anyway to finish the entire thing, so we didn't bother sending it back to the kitchen.

I used to think this place was good. I've been coming here for over 5 years and have tried most things on their menu. I can tell you first hand that they've got far more hits than misses. But their prices, which were steep to begin with and are continuously getting expensive, don't justify the food. I seem to not be alone on this on the basis that every time I've been here, the majority of patrons used a Groupon voucher. Now that prices are getting steeper, I'm seeing fewer people even though deals continue to be featured on Groupon. Also, their wait staff changed about a year or two ago. I have never seen the new staff (have only ever seen one server) crack a smile, and she's just generally not very friendly. Their website is also in dire need of a makeover. If the owners don't make some major changes, I'm not sure this place will be around for much longer.