Toronto Archives - Page 2 of 3

In Canadian

Sassafraz: Lunch in Yorkville

September 10, 2014

Sassafraz is located right in Yorkville and the serve up French inspired Canadian cuisine. I came here for lunch with Flo when I was visiting Toronto for a few days. We thought it would be a great place to catch up as they have a patio area outside.

As we waited for our order, some bread and butter arrived. We took a few bites of the bread and it was good and simple.

Cucumberland Detox ($8) is a cold-pressed juice with cucumber, apple, kale, spinach, lime, and coconut water. It was good to see a variety of drinks on their menu. For a traveller, it’s always hard to get a good dose of fruits or vegetables.

Nova Scotia Digby scallops ($24) has a sweet soy glaze, citrus roasted cauliflower, forbidden rice, samphire, with a dashi broth. It was quite a small dish for $24. It barely had any rice in it. Also, the scallops looked super seared.

Ontario artisan flank steak salad ($19) is served medium with mixed greens, caramelized onion, pickled honey mushroom, and Dijon vinaigrette. This was a nice healthy lunch and it was good.

Overall, the lunch was quite pricey and the portions are a tad small.

We Rate Sassafraz:

Address:
100 Cumberland St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.sassafraz.ca/

In Cafe

Balzacs Coffee Roasters: Featured on Dragons Den

August 28, 2014

While in Toronto, Balzacs Coffee Roasters caught my eye when walking around Yorkville. They were on Dragons Den looking for funding to expand their shop into 2 Downtown Toronto. They got their deal with Bruce Croxon and Arlene Dickinson.

This location at the Reference Library in Yorkville was one of the two that needed funding to expand.

The coffee shop is European inspired and you have the signature framed posters on the walls and the chairs.

It is connected right beside the library, so you can go borrow some books and then come to Balzacs for coffee.

You can purchase an array of baked goods and get your usual coffee, tea or cold drinks.

Latte was what I ordered. They had some issues frothing the milk, so they couldn’t do much latte art on it, but if you look closely, it could resemble a woman with long hair? Either way, the latte tasted great and had a strong shot of espresso inside.

If you are in the area for good coffee, give Balzacs a try!

We Rate Balzacs Coffee Roasters:

Address:
789 Yonge St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.balzacs.com/

In Downtown/Ryerson University

Chipotle Mexican Grill: Toronto

August 25, 2014

No matter where I go in the world, there’s always time to stop at a Chipotle for a quick meal. There are currently only 4 locations in Toronto and the one I went to was just right near Eaton’s Centre. I’ve had Chipotle’s in New York, Seattle and in Vancouver…. and now Toronto.

They serve up Mexican fast food and you can find things like tacos, burritos, salad or a burrito bowl. All their ingredients are local and organic, so it is not 100% the same as the other Chipotle locations around the world.

You start by ordering from one end to the other creating your meal. The staff are always nice and friendly. They will try to go out of your way to make sure you have a great meal.

We ordered a variety of Soft Tacos and the Bowl. My favourite meats are the Barbacoa and the carnitas. I always ask half 2 kinds of meat instead of one. Then I add everything on top. Yummy!

If you want to get the most bang for your buck, definitely get the bowl as you can fit more ingredients inside.

We Rate Chipotle:

Address:
323 Yonge St
Toronto ON

Website:
http://www.chipotle.com/

In Chinese

Banh Mi Boys: Asian Fusion Sandwiches in Toronto

August 21, 2014

Banh Mi Boys is located on Younge Street close to Ryerson University and a few blocks away from Eaton Centre. They also have another location on Queen Street West. As this was right across from my hotel, I had to come to one of Toronto’s most talked about restaurants.

It’s been on my list forever and I finally made it here! They serve up Vietnamese subs – Banh Mi and a few other fusion items like tacos and steamed baos.

We came here during dinner time and this place was packed! There were barely any seats left and tons of people were taking their food to-go.

Their menu items are quite cheap and perfect for students on a budget. Plus, the food is good.

Once you put in your order, you wait on the side for you order to be called. When they call your name, they also ask you if you want any spice on your items. To be on the safe side, I chose everything I ordered not to be very spicy.

Five Spice Pork Belly Steamed Bao ($3.49) looked amazing and I couldn’t resist anything that has pork belly in it. The steamed bao also has cucumber, pickled carrots, picked radish, and cilantro.

I really liked the pork belly, but then again, who doesn’t?

Braised Beef Steamed Bao ($3.49) is what my aunt ordered. She thought this was ok, but it seemed strange to her as she’s never tried anything like this in Asia.

Kalbi Beef Taco ($3.99) has purple cabbage slaw, kimchi, pickled carrots, cilantro and the kalbi beef on top of the taco.

Kimchi Fries ($5.99) has pulled pork, mayo, kimchi, and green onion on top of the fries. My Korean relatives thought this dish was disgusting and weird. It was hard for them to grasp the concept that kimchi and fries go together. I thought this was a delicious dish! The hot and sour taste from the kimchi blend beautifully with the pulled pork.

Overall, Banh Mi Boys is a fun place for fusion food if you taste buds are up to the challenge.

We Rate Banh Mi Boys:

Address:
392 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.banhmiboys.com/

In Brunch

Cora: Early Morning Breakfast in Toronto

August 20, 2014

When travelling, sometimes its hard to get your daily fill of veggies or fruit because all the places I want to go have lots of meat and carbs. We were heading off to a Niagara Falls tour and we needed a restaurant that was open early in the morning and that served good breakfast.

Cora was 2 blocks away from our hotel, so I decided to take my relatives here. I thought it would be a good place to go since we could get lots and lots of fruit. Cora first opened in Montreal, but has since expanded across Canada with over 130 locations.

Coffee is what we got to go with our meal. Since it was 6am, it was definitely needed.

Buckwheat Blessing has 3 sausages and cheese wrapped in buckwheat crepes with a large amount of fruit. I thought the sausages wrapped in the crepes were really good! Yummm meat! There was plenty of fruit! It’s a good touch that they have a few unique fruits like star fruit and gooseberries.

This is probably my favourite item to order as it has the savoury crepes with the sweet fruit.

1990′s Harvest with scrambled egg has a large cinnamon-raisin brioche dipped in french toast batter with an egg and bacon strips on one side and a mountain of fresh fruit on the other. The brioche seemed a bit burnt, but it was still enjoyable.

Samara Wake Up is a plate of freshly cut fruit. There was pineapples, strawberries, grapes, kiwis, green apple, red apple, orange, cantaloupe, star fruit, banana, grapefruit, honey dew, watermelon, and mango.

This dish was a hit! We actually came back here twice just to have this dish. It’s a great place to take tourists! For my relatives, where they come from, fruit isn’t cheap and you would never see this abundance in a meal. They were very impressed by the amount of fruit.

Sunshine Panini comes with a side of fruit, but it’s not as large as the other dishes. Inside the panini is cheese, ham and egg.

You can also tell these fruits are not as fresh as the other plates too.

There’s also toast too. You barely touched the toast since our dishes were so big.

A good morning breakfast! If you love fruit, definitely take a visit to Cora’s.

We Rate Cora:

Address:
27 Carlton Street
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.chezcora.com/home

In American

Holy Chuck: Best Burger in Toronto

August 17, 2014

During my visit to Toronto, there was one place I was dying to try out – Holy Chuck Burgers. I tried going on my trip to Toronto earlier in the year but it was closed due to the long weekend.

This time, I made it a mission to come here and I am glad I did. They opened in 2011 and have been serving quality burgers ever since. They hand roll their patties every hour, which are made of aged high quality steak. Their most popular burger – Holy Chuck burger was named the best burger in Toronto by a few celebrity chefs. Plus, have been rated one of the Top 100 restaurants in Toronto for 2014.

Looking at the menu, there are a lot of choices and everything looks pretty good. You’ll be staring at this board for a while trying to figure out what to get.

Holy Chuck Burger ($9.99) is a double cheese burger with bacon and caramelized onions. Everyone at the table ordered this and you can get it cooked to any wellness level. Fabo got her burger patty done to Medium.

Everyone loved this burger and you can tell the patties were so juicy and full of flavour!

Mmmm everyone was so addicted to this burger. Yum! I would highly recommend this. It’s quite a simple burger with a few ingredients, but it all works together really well.

Grind n’ Shine Burger ($10.99) with hand cut crispy fries ($3.49).

The Grind n’ Shine Burger is a double cheeseburger with bacon, caramelized onions, topped with crispy potato chips and a fried egg. Oh boy, was this delicious!

The fries were ok, but it wasn’t all the crispy. Some were limp and some were crispy.

Just take a look, it look amazzzzing! The differing textures works well, especially the egg, potato ships and the onions.

Overall, this place does have delicious burgers and oh man, the patties are juicy and dripping with flavour! I’ll definitely be back for more.

We Rate Holy Chuck Burgers:

Address:
1450 Yonge St,
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://holychuckburgers.com/

In Brunch

The Drake Hotel: Amazing Scones in Toronto

May 31, 2014

I was meeting up with BaguetteGirl and her other half in Toronto and they took me to The Drake Hotel to eat some brunch.

The brunch menu is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am till 4pm. Whether you are an early riser or wake up past 12, you will make it on time for brunch.

Coffee ($2.95) is a must in the morning.

Warm Scone Plate ($9.50) has the scones, fresh berries, preserves, and cream. These were some awesome scones! It was crispy on the outside and a bit warm and fluffy on the inside. Probably the best scones I’ve ever had.

Southern Fried Chicken + Waffle ($15.95) has an herb waffle, Niagara cherry jam, crème fraîche and maple syrup. I found the cherry jam to be quit sour so it didn’t compliment the chicken or the waffles. The waffle was soggy but the chicken was really delicious and moist.

Caleb Eggs Benny ($15.95) has house smoked salmon, 2 poached eggs, hollandaise sauce on arugula and a poppy-seed bagel. It is also served with home fries.

Drake Rancheros ($13.95) has 2 poached eggs under the tomato braised beans, arugula and feta. It’s served with crispy tostada, salsa and sour cream.

Overall, it’s a pretty cool place to just hang out for brunch. The hotel has a young vibe and the food is pretty good especially their scones.

We Rate The Drake Hotel:

Address:
1150 Queen St W
Toronto ON

Website:
http://www.thedrakehotel.ca/

In Chinese

Lee: Restaurant of Internationally Acclaimed Super-Chef Susur Lee

May 30, 2014

Lee was created by Susur Lee. He has appeared on a few Food Network shows such as – Chopped Canada, Top Chef Canada, Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America, and Restaurant Makeover to name a few.

The dishes served here have modern Asian & French influences. I came here to dine with Flo, Fabo, and M. I tried coming here a few years ago, but it wasn’t open on Sundays, so we went elsewhere. This time, I was determined to dine here.

When asking for hot water, it comes in such a cute tea pot with some lemon slices on the side.

Flo wanted a non-alcoholic fruity drink, so she asked the server for a nice suggestion. He basically just surprised here with this beautiful creation.

Singaporean-style Slaw ($20) states that it serves two, but its pretty big. We shared it with a group of 4 and it was no problem. It has green onions, taro root, rice vermicelli, cucumber, carrots, jicama, daikon, tomatoes, sesame seeds, ginger, peanuts, edible flowers, purple, basil, coriander, daikon sprouts, shallots, pickled red onion, with their salted plum dressing and onion oil. It was like a garden! The dish actually looked more impressive when it arrived at the table, but the server helped us mix it, so I missed getting the shot. If you are dining here, this is a must have dish. It’s refreshing and has a ton of flavour.

Top Chef Green Curry Chicken ($28) has crispy multi-grain rice cake, pine nuts, spiced tomato jam, oven dried pineapple, and chili mint. This was the Top Chef Award Winning Dish. The dish was ok, it was definitely creative but it lacked depth in the sauce.

Korean Style Marinated Beef Striploin ($35) has garlic mushrooms, roasted pear, blue cheese & dill sauce, topped with arugula. The beef is 8oz, so it a good size. The striploin was tender and flavourful. It didn’t taste very Korean at all.

Spice Crusted Diver Scallop ($28) has crispy bacon, squash purée, pomelo, and spiced Chinese sweet bean pesto. The scallops were seared perfectly, but we didn’t like the combination of squash and pomelo.

Assam Thai Satay ($25) comes with 2 skewers of chicken, shrimp, and beef. The sauces that comes with it are chili mint, peanut sauce, and spicy mango salsa. It was pricey for those 6 skewers.

Black Pepper Charred Tuna Sashimi & Spicy Tartare ($28) has soya bean, tonnato sauce, and lotus root crisps.

It was a delicious dish! The quality of the tuna can really be tasted. Good mix of ingredients.

Peking & Char Sui Duck ($29) has Beijing duck garnish, steamed pancake, and foie gras pâté. This was one of the last dishes to come and we thought it could have come earlier in the meal. By this point, we were already stuffed.

It is a fun dish to put together as you have everything to make the wraps. Just mix a little bit of everything in the steamed pancake and you are set. It was a nice twist on the original duck wraps. I really loved the fried bean curd because it adds a nice crunch.

Overall, the one dish that blew our minds was the Singaporean-style slaw. Every dish that came out after that wasn’t as exciting. They tasted good, but not as much excitement.

We Rate Lee:

Address:
603 King St W
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.susur.com/lee/

In Brunch

Lola’s Kitchen: Brunch in Toronto

May 24, 2014

I came to Lola’s Kitchen about two years ago during my last visit to Toronto. I remember it being good and super busy during the weekends. Fabo, M and I came here on the Easter Long Weekend and they were closed on the Friday and Monday. But, it was good they were open on the Saturday and Sunday. I needed a brunch-fix.

Blackberry-Cherry Ginger Lime Soda (Small $3) they suggested we can top it off with some soda to make it a large. We didn’t mind and she highly recommended it.

Cranberry- Raspberry Limeade (Small $3) I did the same for this drink too. It didn’t dilute any of the drinks at all.

It was good and there are a few other daily juices on their special menu. The other one was orange juice.

Eggs Benny ($13) includes english muffin, grilled peameal bacon, two poached organic eggs, house made hollandaise and your choice of salad, frites or Lola’s home fries. Fabo chose the frites. She enjoyed this dish but she did enjoy the Mushroom benny more than the regular benny.

Brunch Burger ($16) has Ontario all beef burger, grilled peameal bacon, caramelized onions, Lola’s cheese blend, sweet pickles, housemade ketchup, garlic aioli, challah bun and a sunny organic egg with your choice of salad, frites or Lola’s home fries. M chose the homefries.

The burger looked so much better than the one I had last time. M really enjoyed the burger.

When you put the top of the bun on top, it looks huge! The patty is monstrous and all the extra meat was delicious.

Brunch Bowl ($13.50) is gluten-free. It has Lola’s home fries, baby spinach, caramelized onions, mushrooms, chorizo sausage, cheese curds and two organic eggs any style. I got my egg sunny side up.

It was good. A good size for brunch and I was very happy with it.

Overall, the brunch was pretty good and always get sunny side up eggs because the gooey yolk is so good! The downside of going to Lola’s is that the wait for your meal can be quite long. We waited for a long time before getting our food.
We Rate Lola’s Kitchen:

Address:
634 Church Street,
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.lolaskitchen.ca/

In Cafe

Aroma Espresso Bar: Coffee Time

May 23, 2014

M, Fabo and I were taking a very long stroll to the movie theatres near Eglinton. It took us a while to figure out its a long walk from Bloor and Younge. We took a break half way and went to Aroma Espresso Bar to have a drink.

We have seen several Aroma Espresso Bars around town. Aroma Espresso Bar actually first opened in Jerusalem in 1994, but it wasn’t until 2007 when the first Canadian store opened in Toronto in the Annex area.

It was a Sunday afternoon and this place was busy. They serve coffee, sandwiches, pastries, salads, and even breakfast.

Brewed coffee ($1.70) is made with their own house-blend of beans. It comes with a piece of milk chocolate.

Cappuccino ($3.95) is made with a short shot of espresso, blended with steamed milk, and topped with froth. It also comes with a piece of chocolate.

Mango Smoothie ($4.85) is apparently made with 100% real fruit. M thought it was ok, pretty average. But it was nice that it came with a piece of chocolate too.

Overall, it a nice place to stop by for a drink. We saw some people study and some other people catching up over drinks.

We Rate Aroma Espresso Bar:

Address:
1407 Yonge St
Toronto ON

Website:
http://www.aroma.ca/

In Downtown/Ryerson University

Scaddabush: Italian Kitchen and Bar in Toronto

May 20, 2014

An Easter Long Weekend in Toronto means a lot of people leave town, but M and I came to visit some friends, but realized a lot of restaurants were closed or fully booked with reservations. Looking at Open Table to see what was available, we got curious about Scaddabush on Younge Street. They also have a another location in Mississauga.

The are an Italian restaurant serving up meatballs, pasta, fresh mozzarella, and pizza.

The interior looked pretty cool. It’s also great for large groups because we saw a huge group come here for a birthday party. Maybe about 25 people.

They make all their Mozzarella in-house from 5pm – 11pm. They even tell you exactly who made it. It’s a nice personal touch. There is also a window where you can watch them make it.

Buratta ($11.98) is infused with honey and truffle cream, comes with focaccia crostini.

Straight Up Meatball comes shareable on focaccia crostini, cheese sauce, garlic chips, and fresh basil.It is about half a pound.

You have two choices to choose from:

Straight-Up Meatball (Classic) $12.28
Straight-Up Meatball (Stuffed) $12.68

Straight-Up Stuffed Meatball ($12.68) it is stuffed with pepperoni and mozzarella. Theres a good amount of pepperoni inside.

Italian Burger ($14.92) has certified Angus Beef, bruschetta, baby arugula, fried fresh mozzarella, balsamic reduction, pesto aïoli, and served on artisanal bread. You get your choice of side and Fabo chose fries.

Bolognese (Small: $11.97) has fresh fettuccine, classic Northern Italian meat sauce, and lemon herbed ricotta. There are two more additional sizes – Large ($14.97) and Social ($26.20).

The bolognese was ok, a decent amount of meat, but it’s not overflowing with sauce. The server warned me about this dish because a few people have complained saying there wasn’t enough sauce. I found there was a perfect amount of sauce.

Veal Parmesan ($18.92) is panko breadcrumb crusted, melted fresh mozzarella, special spices, served with spaghetti with tomato basil sauce. You can also get chicken parmesan for $18.24.

This dish was quite expensive for what you get and the quality was ok.

Pesto Pollo (Small – $13.97) has fresh fettuccine, sautéed chicken, baby spinach, semi sun-dried tomatoes, and basil pesto cream sauce. There are also two sizes available too – Large ($17.77) and Social ($31.10).

Overall, fun atmosphere with friends, but food and service was average.

We Rate Scaddabush:

Address:
382 Yonge St Unit #7
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.scaddabush.com/

In Downtown/University of Toronto

Sansotei: Japanese Ramen in Toronto

May 19, 2014

The Globe and Mail rated Sansotei Ramen one of the top 5 spots for ramen in Toronto. As a Vancouverite, we have some top notch ramen places and it’s pretty hard to beat. Of the top 5 list, I skipped Hokkaido Ramen Santouka as we have it in Vancouver too.

Sansotei has their second location open on Younge Street and we don’t have Sansotei in Vancouver, so I really wanted to see how it faired amongst the other ones in Canada. Plus, a delicious bowl of noodles for a cold Toronto evening is much needed.

The interior walls were pretty cool with the textures. The restaurant was pretty small and can get quite busy during peak hours. Since it is still new, the word hasn’t spread too far yet.

Everything is under $10 and there are 6 different types of ramen to choose from:

Tonkotsu
Tonkotsu Black
Miso
Shio
Shoyu
Spicy TanTan

Cold Barley Tea ($2) was what M ordered. Fabo and I chose regular water. The cold tea was refreshing, but it was a bit pricey. It was a nice change from Green Tea.

Gyoza ($4.50) comes with 5 pieces and ponzu sauce. Slightly crisp on the outside and a yummy savoury filling.

Zangi ($4.50) is deep fried chicken. It was very good!

Tonkotsu Black ($9.85) has pork belly, black fungus, egg, green onion, and garlic oil. M and Fabo thought the broth was very rich. The egg was perfect and runny.

Spicy TanTan ($9.60) has limited quantities each day. It has pork belly, ground beef, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, green onion, and egg. It was good, but was lacking something. The pork belly was delicious and tender. The egg was oh so good too.

Overall, the ramen was good but Santouka is still better.

We Rate Sansotei Ramen:

Address:
650 Yonge St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.sansotei.com/

In Brunch

Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar: Brunch in a Bar

May 17, 2014

Finding good brunch places on the Friday on the long weekend was tough. The places we wanted to go to were closed, so we had to wander near Yorkville for some food. It was really tough, so we settled for Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar.

Hemingway’s has been around for over 30 years with a New Zealand inspired menu. Their 3rd floor patio is huge. Much better than sitting on the first or 2nd floor where it is much more dark .

Eggs Benedict ($9.99) has two soft poached eggs served on a toasted English muffin, layered with grilled peameal bacon
and topped with hollandaise sauce.

The egg was soft and yummy. The english muffins were quite thin and it worked well with the eggs benny since you can really taste the egg and bacon.

The only downside of this dish were the potatoes. Tasteless and bland.

The Down Under Burger ($13.99) has ground beef patty, fried egg, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, tomato, relish and a slice of beetroot. Garnished with a slice of tomato, onion, pickle and lettuce, served on a lightly toasted Kaiser bun. We wanted to add a slice of pineapple for $0.50, but they didn’t have any available.

M substituted with yam fries and man, those are some awesome yam fries.

Classic Cumberland Burger ($9.99) has ground beef and garnished with a slice of tomato, onion, pickle and lettuce, served on a lightly toasted egg bun. Fabo also substituted her fries for yam fries.

The food was decent, but what was the best were those yam fries for some reason. It was crispy on the outside and so smooth on the inside.

We Rate Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar:

Address:
142 Cumberland St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.hemingways.to/

In Cafe

Dark Horse Espresso Bar: Coffee in Toronto

May 16, 2014

When exploring Toronto, always ask the locals where to go. Dark Horse Espresso Bar popped up in that list and we were on our way! We like a good cup of coffee and Starbucks or Tim Hortons wasn’t going to cut it.

There are 4 locations of Dark House all around Downtown Toronto. We went to the location on Queen West. A lot of people have said this is the best coffee in Toronto. Huffington Post says its a great place to do some work. Also on BlogTO, best cafe on the West Side.

The interior was narrow and had seats along the wall and a bit more in the back.

They have a good variety of coffee. Even French Presses and Pour Overs if you have time to stick around. I find that it’s a nice place to hangout with friends.

Once you order at the counter, you wait for your beverage to be created by their amazing baristas. I love hearing the sound of milk being steamed.

Cappuccino ($3.33) was delicious. It had a nice bold espresso flavour with the lovely heart on top.

The place was packed on a weekend, but some tables freed up quite quickly.

We Rate Dark Horse Espresso Bar:

Address:
684 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://darkhorseespresso.com/

In Dessert

Wanda’s Belgian Waffles: Dessert on Younge Street

May 15, 2014

Who likes waffles? I like waffles. When I was in Toronto for vacation, I was looking for some dessert after dinner. Something kinda walkable from Eaton’s Centre. There were lots of options but a lot of them closed early. Wanda’s Belgian Waffles popped up on my Urbanspoon app, as well as the Yelp app. Reviews were decent and how can you go wrong with waffles?

The pictures looked decent and we thought it would be a nice place to hang out.

When we arrived, we ordered from the window. The man was a bit rude and pushy when it came down to ordering. It wasn’t a very good first impression. We watched the man grab a ball of dough and stick it onto the waffle iron. It was pretty sad to watch the grumpy man make our waffles.

When we got our order, we didn’t know there was another counter inside to order. We would rather order from the inner counter rather from the window as we were dining in.

Ice cream special ($4.79) has the liege waffle topped with ice cream, caramel drizzle and powdered sugar. The liege waffle was very doughy and you could tell there was a lot of sugar in it. I kept biting small sugar crystals.

Strawberry Special ($7.49) has the liege waffle with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. This one was the better one out of the two waffles we got. Lot of strawberries and whipped cream covering the liege waffle. The liege waffle was also quite doughy and dense.

This place was ok, but nothing impressive here. After trying Nero Belgian Waffle Bar in Vancouver, nothing else can compare. Sometimes I hate being a tourist because I can never make good food decisions in a city I am not familiar with.

We Rate Wanda’s Belgian Waffles:

Address:
361 Yonge St Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.wandaswaffles.com

In American

KFC Select: First in Canada

May 14, 2014

KFC Select is a new concept restaurant to attract younger customers. This location close to Younge and Bloor is the first location to pop up in Canada. They are still sticking with what they do best … making chicken. Except, you won’t find any big buckets of chicken here.

The location opened last December and the exterior is mostly black to give it a modern look.

You can even find images of Colonel Sanders inside.

The interior reminds me of Chipotle. It’s very very similar.

They have 5 main items:

Chicken Burgers
Burritos
Bowls
Salads
Chicken Strips

Then you can choose to make it a combo or add any extra desserts. Interesting desserts – Kream Ball and Strawberry Cheesecake. I would have thought they would have chosen something more healthy.

You order like an assembly line, similarly to Chipotle.

Double Decker ($4.99) has two hand-breaded crispy chicken fillets with their special sauce and pickles between toasted sesame seed bun. Double crunchiness and M did enjoy it. Who can say no to fried chicken? I sure can’t.

Fresh Deluxe ($4.99) has one hand-breaded crispy chicken fillet with cilantro mayo, salsa roja, mild cheddar and crisp lettuce, freshly stacked on a toasted sesame seed bun. It is the same price as the double decker sandwich, but this one just has a single fillet.

To make it a combo, just add $3. You get a drink and a side. The sides you can choose from are:

Waffle Fries
Coleslaw
Side salad

Waffles fries was the side we got and it was pretty darn good. So addictive too. I like it crunchy.

California Chicken Bowl ($5.99) you get grilled chicken over cilantro rice topped with Guacamole, cilantro mayo, sour cream, and pico de gallo.

The bowl was ok, but it just contained so much sauce. It didn’t have a very healthy look to it.

They have a pretty awesome beverage fountain. I haven’t seen this in Vancouver yet, but it’s SO cool.

The pop dispenses through a touch pad. You will find all different Pepsi products like 7 Up, Brisk , Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper and Dole.

When you select pepsi, you can have regular, cherry, lime, vanilla, lime or strawberry. M really loved this machine!

Overall, KFC Select is great because they know they need to evolve to suit their consumers tastes. Unfortunately, there were so many ways of making their food healthier, but I just didn’t see it. It seemed like a weird mishmash of KFC and Chipotle. I would have loved to see some grilled chicken in their burgers rather than the crispy fried ones.

We Rate KFC Select:

Address:
730 Yonge St
Toronto ON

Website:
http://www.kfcselect.ca/

In Japanese

Kinton Ramen: Ramen in Korea Town

May 9, 2014

Located in Toronto’s Korea Town (near Christie Station), Kinton Ramen is easy to spot. There are two floors at this location — ground floor is for dining and the above floor is an Izakaya (Japanese pub/bar).

The place was quite full when Huhu and I arrive but we got seats at the high table in less than 2 minutes. (If you’re willing to wait, I would try to get a lower table at the back because I had a hard time settling into the high chair).

I love eating out at Japanese places since I’ve found a liking towards draft Sapporo. Huhu and I cheered on a better week ahead (it was Sunday night). The pint of Sapporo ($5.80) tasted good as usual. I just wished there was a thin layer of foam at the top.

The menu was designed so you work from top to bottom.

pick broth base (pork or chicken)
pick flavour
pick noodle
pick meat
pick additional/optional toppings.

I had pork base shoyu ramen with thin noodles and pork belly. I found the meat more fattening than I would have liked (I preferred the meat from Santoukou near Younge x Dundas Square). Because of the fat from the meat, my broth had lots of pork fat floating around. If you discount the floating fat, the broth itself had clean taste to it. To be honest, there wasn’t anything special. Just a normal bowl of ramen. The portion was big — I couldn’t finish it all.

Huhu had pork base spicy garlic ramen with thin noodles and pork belly. As the name suggests, this bowl is very very garlic-y and spicy. If you’re on a date, try to get something else!

It was difficult to have a conversation with my friend there because the music was so loud. But at least I liked their playlist.

We Rate Kinton Ramen:

Address:
668 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON, Canada M6G 1L2

Website:
http://kintonramen.com/

In Korean

Miss Korea: Eat and Drink like a Korean

May 5, 2014

Miss Korea is a Korean bar/restaurant that sells lunch, dinner, and drinks. It is located near Yonge x Bloor Streets in Toronto, which is not too far from the 2 universities (U of T and Ryerson). The interior has a hybrid look of old and modern feel. It’s clean and good for a small group of friends to hang out (you can also host a bigger party upstairs). I’ve noticed university students and young professionals frequent this place often.

After window shopping and walking around the Yorkville area on a nice Sunday evening, Bunny-Bunny and I (Fabo) went to Miss Korea to grab a bite and a couple of drinks.

When we were there, it was only about 6-7pm so the place was quite empty. At one point we were the only customers there, which I liked. Miss Korea is usually more crowded around 9pm and onwards as it’s a good place to drink beer/soju/rice wine and eat snacks with your friends.

After looking through their menu, we decided to get something from their combo menu plus a main to satisfy our Korean food cravings. We ordered 4 bottles of beer and oden soup from their combo menu. Oden soup was tasty, but perhaps because of MSG. We depleted the soup before eating all the fish cakes.

Don’t have a picture, but we got 2 bottles of Coors Light and 2 bottles of Keith. There also were imported beers on the menu, but those weren’t part of the combo menu (I wanted Sapporo, but oh wells).

We also ordered bulgogi dolsot to share. It comes with a separate spicy sauce (gochoojang) to mix with.

It was my first time visiting Miss Korea during dinner time as I usually went for drinks. Going there during dinner time was actually not bad because you can enjoy a quiet conversation with your friends. If you are too lazy to travel all the way to Christie or North York for a Korean food, and if you want a casual place to meet up with friends, I would recommend you to give this place a try.

We Rate Miss Korea:

Address:
687 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON

Website:
www.misskorea.ca