I had yummy Vietnamese dinner last night. I'll be honest. Vietnamese is not my favourite but this was not pho style food. It was more Asian fusion than any vietnamese restaurant than I have ever been to.
I went with an old friend and her friend to Cafe 668 on Dundas west of Bathurst last night. We got there late and stayed until close. The food was excellent although service was a bit slow. The owner, Han, is the waiter and bus boy and cashier and sommelier. His wife cooks. But the food was every bit worth the wait.
We split three appetizers and three entrees.
Appetizers: Summer Rolls, "Veggie Duck" and pan fried dumplings.
The summer rolls were fresh and tasty. If you enjoy vietnamese cold rolls, try these. They won't disappoint. I'm not usually one for veggie duck but I do enjoy bean curd sheets and these pan fried treats were very similar to the texture of duck. The pan fried dumplings were just good. I mean, how can pan fried dumplings not be good?
Entrees: Spicy pad thai, spicy fried tofu and stir fried broccoli and mushrooms.
The pad thai was quite spicy so go easy on that if you're not tolerant of mild spices. The faux meat was not convincing because it lacked taste but the rest of the dish was good. The tofu was good and stir fried broccoli and mushrooms were excellent. I can't remember the last time I saw such green broccoli. It was crunchy and very flavourful. There was a good variety of mushrooms which were fun to eat. We almost ordered an extra side of rice but we ended up with leftovers so it was a good thing we decided to hold off. Apparently the black bean eggplant is good too but we held off because my friend is allergic to eggplant.
I would like to go back and try one of the specialty drinks. My friend and I each had a glass of wine and her friend had oolong tea. The wine list is small but adequate. And last, but not least, dessert was divine. "Mango Heaven" is a deep fried mango pastry served with creamy coconut.
Don't let the name of the place get you lost. They're located at 885 Dundas at Euclid but they used be located at number 668. Lots of metered street parking. The ambiance is nice and, if you can swing it, ask for the table at the top near the aquarium. It's a saltwater aquarium and the starfish dances for you if you watch him long enough.
This place was definitely a big hit with this non-vegetarian. Total with tax and generous tip was $100 for three (with two drinks and one shared dessert). Cash and debit only.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Fresh - Good old standby, visit number 5 (I think)
I have been to Fresh a number of times before. They have three locations in Toronto, of which I have been to the ones on Bloor and on Spadina. Although the place started as a juice bar, I have never been disappointed with the food. I have tried the yam fries, the Baby Buddha, the Baby Warrior and the black bean burrito.
It's all vegetarian and they are really great about accommodating food allergies. None of the staff give you attitude if you have questions about ingredients and you can substitute out dairy and soy and gluten. One of the things that I love is the 1 L carafe of water with lemon slices which automatically appears when you sit down at every table.
Last weekend, I went for lunch with a vegetarian friend and we both enjoyed our meal. To be honest, I don't remember what she ordered. I had the egg-free banana pancakes. I haven't eaten pancakes for years and I was so very happy to be able to eat them at Fresh. I ordered the kids portion (2 pancakes) but my order arrived with three. I didn't say anything to the waitress but she realized her error and corrected the bill. She didn't bat an eyelid when I said I wanted to take them home. (I don't have maple syrup at home so I ate them the next day with Nutella and oh they were so good fresh out of the toaster oven). And their take out containers are biodegradable! I also ordered the decaf latte with soy milk and it was excellent. The entire meal made me feel very happy.
I always leave feeling full and wishing I could sample more of the menu in one sitting. In fact, I know what I'm having next time I go back.
Caveats: the place is always busy and it's not where you want to go if you want a quiet, romantic ambiance. Also, I always spend the afternoon feeling a bit gassy, which is only to be expected if you substitute meat protein for beans! Lunch for two was less than $40 after taxes. Don't linger, there is always a line up of hungry people waiting for your spot.
It's all vegetarian and they are really great about accommodating food allergies. None of the staff give you attitude if you have questions about ingredients and you can substitute out dairy and soy and gluten. One of the things that I love is the 1 L carafe of water with lemon slices which automatically appears when you sit down at every table.
Last weekend, I went for lunch with a vegetarian friend and we both enjoyed our meal. To be honest, I don't remember what she ordered. I had the egg-free banana pancakes. I haven't eaten pancakes for years and I was so very happy to be able to eat them at Fresh. I ordered the kids portion (2 pancakes) but my order arrived with three. I didn't say anything to the waitress but she realized her error and corrected the bill. She didn't bat an eyelid when I said I wanted to take them home. (I don't have maple syrup at home so I ate them the next day with Nutella and oh they were so good fresh out of the toaster oven). And their take out containers are biodegradable! I also ordered the decaf latte with soy milk and it was excellent. The entire meal made me feel very happy.
I always leave feeling full and wishing I could sample more of the menu in one sitting. In fact, I know what I'm having next time I go back.
Caveats: the place is always busy and it's not where you want to go if you want a quiet, romantic ambiance. Also, I always spend the afternoon feeling a bit gassy, which is only to be expected if you substitute meat protein for beans! Lunch for two was less than $40 after taxes. Don't linger, there is always a line up of hungry people waiting for your spot.
Niche, 626 Queen Street West, Toronto
On Saturday afternoon, I had lunch with a high school friend who recommended Niche on Queen West. Other than very high bucket-style bar stools which were impossible to navigate in a lady-like fashion, the place did not disappoint.
We both ordered the 16 0z masala chai lattes and they were gooood. My friend had the Niche Benedict (eggs benedict on cornbread with peameal) and I had the smoked salmon on a bagel. My meal came with a salad which was yummy, if a bit overdressed. The salmon was fresh and the cream cheese wasn't overdone, as it is in so many places. My friend at her entire portion of eggs so it must have been good because she rarely does that. The place is small but we weren't rushed. And the waitress was new which, combined with the busyness, meant things took a bit longer than they should have. But we weren't in a hurry and she was very helpful with our questions.
All of their coffees are available in decaf and they have a good selection. They also offer skim milk and soy milk. Finally, I brought home a cranberry chocolate scone which was to die for. I ate it plain, that's how good it was.
The total bill was less than $40 for both of us, with my scone to go. Single bathroom but it was clean. I will be going back, hopefully soon.
We both ordered the 16 0z masala chai lattes and they were gooood. My friend had the Niche Benedict (eggs benedict on cornbread with peameal) and I had the smoked salmon on a bagel. My meal came with a salad which was yummy, if a bit overdressed. The salmon was fresh and the cream cheese wasn't overdone, as it is in so many places. My friend at her entire portion of eggs so it must have been good because she rarely does that. The place is small but we weren't rushed. And the waitress was new which, combined with the busyness, meant things took a bit longer than they should have. But we weren't in a hurry and she was very helpful with our questions.
All of their coffees are available in decaf and they have a good selection. They also offer skim milk and soy milk. Finally, I brought home a cranberry chocolate scone which was to die for. I ate it plain, that's how good it was.
The total bill was less than $40 for both of us, with my scone to go. Single bathroom but it was clean. I will be going back, hopefully soon.
The Sweet Gallery, Bloor West Village, 2312 Bloor Street West
I had a very bad tea experience today at the Sweet Gallery in Bloor West Village. It's unfortunate because I should be happy when I get together with my friends but I was hungry and cold and angry. The service was not just bad, it was terrible. I was a little bit late arriving but my friends were already seated and had ordered so maybe the woman thought I was rude and wanted me to know that she disapproved of my timing. I suppose I could have skipped yoga class, or left early (the teacher was late this morning) or taken a cab or driven instead of taking the subway. The woman was downright bitchy.
Anyway, when I sat down and she asked me what tea I wanted, she didn't even offer to bring me a menu. They didn't have darlingjee so I accepted orange pekoe. When it arrived, the tea bag was from McCullagh Coffee. That was my first indication that things were not going to go well. If you were a coffee snob, would you accept coffee that was packaged and distributed by tea wholesalers? No, I didn't think so.
Then, our tiny tray of desserts and "scones" arrived. The total after taxes was just under $40 but I don't feel that I ate $10 worth of food. Part of the problem, of course, was that I am no longer eating desserts and pastries that might contain eggs. As a general rule of thumb, I will eat up to an eigth of egg but that only works when I am at someone's home and they can tell me the ingredients they used in recipe. So I didn't eat anything on the top tray and obviously didn't eat the egg sandwiches. I ate all three of the cucumber sandwiches but they weren't very good. They consisted of a thin slice of cucumber on a slice of baguette with cream cheese and smothered with pepper. Unimpressive. The scones weren't real scones. They were basically raisin buns. We didn't get enough cream and were only given individual packages of raspberry jam. I was starving from the gym and had planned to have a sandwich (smoked salmon on a bagel is my standard egg-free brunch food) but the waitress didn't come by to check on us so I decided that I didn't need an additional reason to tip her more.
The place was busy and, if I had felt that complaining would have improved our experience, I would have done that. We did complain about getting green tea instead of mint and the waitress brought the correct tea and apologized but she totally passed the buck. She said "oh she gave you green tea?" No woman, you took the order and you brought the tea pots. Therefore, you brought the wrong tea.
I can't stress enough that I will not be returning there. Fortunately I didn't pay for lunch because my tip would have been virtually non-existent. I suppose the place was pretty but I couldn't appreciate it. The entire experience was very upsetting. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago how much it has affected my whole day. basically haven't eaten anything since then and have been cranky and exhausted all afternoon. I hope the next tea will make up for today.
Anyway, when I sat down and she asked me what tea I wanted, she didn't even offer to bring me a menu. They didn't have darlingjee so I accepted orange pekoe. When it arrived, the tea bag was from McCullagh Coffee. That was my first indication that things were not going to go well. If you were a coffee snob, would you accept coffee that was packaged and distributed by tea wholesalers? No, I didn't think so.
Then, our tiny tray of desserts and "scones" arrived. The total after taxes was just under $40 but I don't feel that I ate $10 worth of food. Part of the problem, of course, was that I am no longer eating desserts and pastries that might contain eggs. As a general rule of thumb, I will eat up to an eigth of egg but that only works when I am at someone's home and they can tell me the ingredients they used in recipe. So I didn't eat anything on the top tray and obviously didn't eat the egg sandwiches. I ate all three of the cucumber sandwiches but they weren't very good. They consisted of a thin slice of cucumber on a slice of baguette with cream cheese and smothered with pepper. Unimpressive. The scones weren't real scones. They were basically raisin buns. We didn't get enough cream and were only given individual packages of raspberry jam. I was starving from the gym and had planned to have a sandwich (smoked salmon on a bagel is my standard egg-free brunch food) but the waitress didn't come by to check on us so I decided that I didn't need an additional reason to tip her more.
The place was busy and, if I had felt that complaining would have improved our experience, I would have done that. We did complain about getting green tea instead of mint and the waitress brought the correct tea and apologized but she totally passed the buck. She said "oh she gave you green tea?" No woman, you took the order and you brought the tea pots. Therefore, you brought the wrong tea.
I can't stress enough that I will not be returning there. Fortunately I didn't pay for lunch because my tip would have been virtually non-existent. I suppose the place was pretty but I couldn't appreciate it. The entire experience was very upsetting. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago how much it has affected my whole day. basically haven't eaten anything since then and have been cranky and exhausted all afternoon. I hope the next tea will make up for today.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Walima Cafe
http://www.eyeweekly.com/food/review/article/52464
This review is overly critical, in my opinion. Especially for a brand new, understaffed restaurant. Go and try it out yourself. It is on Danforth west of Coxwell on the north side. There is lots of street parking and Green P lots nearby. A short walk from the subway as well.
Just be patient with the service and don't make any plans for after dinner. Also, it helps to arrive before you're starving and ready to drop from low blood sugar. Order the hummus and Moroccan salad to tide you over until the entrees arrive and be sure to try the fruity non-alcoholic beer. Raspberry is best.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Chomp!
I just had a very cold shower. A very fast, cold shower. I turned on the hot water heater in the bathroom around 8 am thinking that I would have enough hot water by 9 am to wash my hair. I was wrong. First, I couldn't figure out how to get the hot water out of the tap. Did you know that, in India, hot is to the right? In all my years of travelling here, how did I not know that? Maybe because our old house had separate hot and cold taps instead of a single faucet? Maybe because of the old school bucket baths? I don't know. Anyway, the hot water ran out before I even finished rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. I turned off the water while I soaped thinking that maybe it would come back. Nope, no hot water. I may not have completely rinsed the conditioner out of my hair. Fortunately I have a heater in my bedroom. I sat in front of it for a few minutes to warm up. Ahhh India!
Anyway, onto more important things. Food. I had rasmalai and very milky tea for pre-breakfast. I plan to have rasmalai for breakfast every day that I'm in Delhi. Because it's my favourite and I can do that. Go ahead, call me a princess. I'm going to have yoghurt (with my doctor-prescribed wheat bran) and a samosa for breakfast. It might be closer to elevenses though. Yesterday when we arrived, we went to the local plaza to top up the minutes on my dad's Delhi SIM card and picked up a loaf of bread and yoghurt and a bag of milk from Mother Dairy. The yoghurt and milk were about the equivalent of C$1 and the loaf of bread was around 30 cents. I forgot how much the mishti (Bengali for desserts or sweets) and samosas were. We picked those up on the way "home" from the airport. I think it was around Rs 110 which is around C$4. How can you beat that?
We have a cook here and he's pretty good. His name is Ram Krishna. So far we've had chapati (or roti), dal, fish, mutton (only Indians call goat "mutton", apparently), cauliflower, some other random veggies and rice, of course. I'm happy to eat this way for the rest of the trip. I'm sure we will go out for dinner tonight. Some friends are picking us up in about an hour. I don't know what we're doing yet. Probably some shopping and stuff. My facebook horrrrrorrrrscope says that today will be filled with my favourite things. I'm excited to see how true that is. I already had my favourite dessert for breakfast and a cup of tea. All I need now is a newspaper, some friends, some conversation and some laughs. I'm fairly sure I'll get all of that. And maybe play with a puppy :)
You know what else was good? The food on Cathay Pacific. My dad got the omelette. The sausage and hash brown I stole from him were good... by plane food standards, obviously. I chose the vegetarian option which was idly sambar (see Indian food post below) and it was good. It was actually as good as anything I have tasted in India. I was very impressed. Cathay's service was good too. They accommodated every single one of my dad's grunted requests for water or newspapers or whatever. The fruit was a little soft but that's inevitable on aircraft. And there was a small cup of plain yoghurt. I should probably start carrying around one serving of wheat bran at all times in case I randomly run into yoghurt in my travels.
One last note on food. I was a buffet for a mosquito last night. It figures that the only mosquito in Delhi in December would find me. I got bitten three times: twice on the chin and once on my right arm. Now I'm all puffy and itchy and swollen and irritable. I have been sensitive to mosquito bites my entire life. When I was little, I used to get them around my eyes and it looked like someone had given me a shiner. My parents used to send me to school looking like that. I remember when I switched schools half way through Grade 5, the nurse called my parents looking like I was the victim of some horrible kind of child abuse or something. My dad told her it was fine and to send me back to class. Hazards of being a doctor's daughter. Anyway, fortunately I only have a triple chin today and not a black eye. I hope that little bugger died trapped in my room.
Anyway, it's time for breakfast. Stay tuned for today's food summary either late tonight or early tomorrow morning (my time, naturally).
Anyway, onto more important things. Food. I had rasmalai and very milky tea for pre-breakfast. I plan to have rasmalai for breakfast every day that I'm in Delhi. Because it's my favourite and I can do that. Go ahead, call me a princess. I'm going to have yoghurt (with my doctor-prescribed wheat bran) and a samosa for breakfast. It might be closer to elevenses though. Yesterday when we arrived, we went to the local plaza to top up the minutes on my dad's Delhi SIM card and picked up a loaf of bread and yoghurt and a bag of milk from Mother Dairy. The yoghurt and milk were about the equivalent of C$1 and the loaf of bread was around 30 cents. I forgot how much the mishti (Bengali for desserts or sweets) and samosas were. We picked those up on the way "home" from the airport. I think it was around Rs 110 which is around C$4. How can you beat that?
We have a cook here and he's pretty good. His name is Ram Krishna. So far we've had chapati (or roti), dal, fish, mutton (only Indians call goat "mutton", apparently), cauliflower, some other random veggies and rice, of course. I'm happy to eat this way for the rest of the trip. I'm sure we will go out for dinner tonight. Some friends are picking us up in about an hour. I don't know what we're doing yet. Probably some shopping and stuff. My facebook horrrrrorrrrscope says that today will be filled with my favourite things. I'm excited to see how true that is. I already had my favourite dessert for breakfast and a cup of tea. All I need now is a newspaper, some friends, some conversation and some laughs. I'm fairly sure I'll get all of that. And maybe play with a puppy :)
You know what else was good? The food on Cathay Pacific. My dad got the omelette. The sausage and hash brown I stole from him were good... by plane food standards, obviously. I chose the vegetarian option which was idly sambar (see Indian food post below) and it was good. It was actually as good as anything I have tasted in India. I was very impressed. Cathay's service was good too. They accommodated every single one of my dad's grunted requests for water or newspapers or whatever. The fruit was a little soft but that's inevitable on aircraft. And there was a small cup of plain yoghurt. I should probably start carrying around one serving of wheat bran at all times in case I randomly run into yoghurt in my travels.
One last note on food. I was a buffet for a mosquito last night. It figures that the only mosquito in Delhi in December would find me. I got bitten three times: twice on the chin and once on my right arm. Now I'm all puffy and itchy and swollen and irritable. I have been sensitive to mosquito bites my entire life. When I was little, I used to get them around my eyes and it looked like someone had given me a shiner. My parents used to send me to school looking like that. I remember when I switched schools half way through Grade 5, the nurse called my parents looking like I was the victim of some horrible kind of child abuse or something. My dad told her it was fine and to send me back to class. Hazards of being a doctor's daughter. Anyway, fortunately I only have a triple chin today and not a black eye. I hope that little bugger died trapped in my room.
Anyway, it's time for breakfast. Stay tuned for today's food summary either late tonight or early tomorrow morning (my time, naturally).
Friday, December 26, 2008
Hong Kong Food Phase I
I have been in HK since Thursday afternoon and I haven't done that much eating out. However, two places are worth noting.
A couple of nights ago, some family friends took us to Tung Choi (Ladies Market).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Choi_Street
It was a lot of fun to see all of the stuff for sale to random tourists and locals alike. I didn't buy anything but I will probably go back for souvenirs.
Afterwards, we went for dinner at the Temple Street night market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Street,_Hong_Kong
We went to the Spicy Crab place on the corner and sat outside with the locals and ate what was basically glorified "street meat". It was fun, fast, tasty and cheap. We ate for around HKD$85 per person (less than CAD$15). Admittedly, this type of eating is not for the faint of heart or squeamish tourist. But if you like cheap Chinese food and authentic experiences, this is a hit.
This afternoon, a friend from high school took me to Isola at IFC mall. It was lovely.
http://www.isolabarandgrill.com/about.html
We just had coffee (I had hot chocolate) and sat and caught up on the last 15 years. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable, it was surprisingly quite considering how busy it was, the service was great and our foam came with pretty designs (hearts and spiderwebs). There is even an outside seating area but we decided not to bother with it because it was a little muggy and overcast today. I will definitely go back there again.
A couple of nights ago, some family friends took us to Tung Choi (Ladies Market).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Choi_Street
It was a lot of fun to see all of the stuff for sale to random tourists and locals alike. I didn't buy anything but I will probably go back for souvenirs.
Afterwards, we went for dinner at the Temple Street night market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Street,_Hong_Kong
We went to the Spicy Crab place on the corner and sat outside with the locals and ate what was basically glorified "street meat". It was fun, fast, tasty and cheap. We ate for around HKD$85 per person (less than CAD$15). Admittedly, this type of eating is not for the faint of heart or squeamish tourist. But if you like cheap Chinese food and authentic experiences, this is a hit.
This afternoon, a friend from high school took me to Isola at IFC mall. It was lovely.
http://www.isolabarandgrill.com/about.html
We just had coffee (I had hot chocolate) and sat and caught up on the last 15 years. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable, it was surprisingly quite considering how busy it was, the service was great and our foam came with pretty designs (hearts and spiderwebs). There is even an outside seating area but we decided not to bother with it because it was a little muggy and overcast today. I will definitely go back there again.
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