Lunch at a tiny but busy Japanese joint near Causeway Bay MTR. They are known for their fatty tuna sashimi.

Lunch at an apartment-turned-restaurant near Sham Shui Po, Western-style cuisine, prix-fixe menu that included appetizer and entree. The dessert (every single dessert on their menu) was compliments of the owner, who seemed to know my friend’s aunt.

Brunch at 霞飛點心拉麵 (Xia Fei Shanghainese Restaurant). Each dim sum item was better than the last!

Brunch at a traditional Cantonese dim sum place, 蓮香樓, Lin Heung Tea House. This was actually the most disappointing meal, I don’t know why this place has such great reviews (is considered the best Guangdong dim sum place in Hong Kong). It was extremely chaotic and dirty, the food was also terrible.

Dinner at a cafe/diner in Lan Kwai Fong. The food was average.

Breakfast at The Brunch Club.

1. Curry fish balls, lobster meatballs, sausages, roasted octupus, and deep-fried calamari. With a side of Hong Kong milk tea.
2. Deep-fried seafood platter, soooo good. Pumpkin risotto was also delicious.
3. I got two pictures from it, but the rest of the meal went unrecorded. I can’t remember what else we ordered, other than xiao long bao and shrimp dumplings, but I know there was an order we added at the end that was delicious.

Three and a half hours and $60 later, I walked out with only two good things to say about the place: the servers are courteous and the washrooms are clean.

We had a reservation for 7:00 pm but were cooling our heels in the lobby until 8:00 pm. Unacceptable.

It took another 40 minutes for our first course to come. Granted, we had a party of 12, but we were all ordering off the Summerlicious menu, so they could expect the volume ahead of time (and everyone knows its pre-made anyway), so how long does it take to arrange appetizers on 12 plates?

Grilled romaine lettuce heart tasted exactly like what you would expect romaine lettuce hearts to taste like. The portobello tasted bizarre, and not in a good way.

Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based vegetable soup. Given that it was a vegetable soup, I wasn’t ready for the chill. It tasted fine, nothing to write home about. The half-cherry tomato came with goat cheese, which was not on the menu. Kind of a big deal, I’m surprised they didn’t put that on there given how they like to put every single ingredient on the menu. Lobster medallions tasted like they’d been frozen and then thawed, but what did I expect? I don’t know, maybe something fresh from such a “fine-dining” establishment.

I love duck. When I order duck, it’s hard for me not to enjoy it. But last night, I left half my duck breast on the plate. Why? It was undercooked, the meat was hard, not tender at all, and the breast itself was barely marinaded. There was plenty of fat under the skin, if it had cooked longer, I’m sure the meat could have been juicier. After having made my own orange-infused duck breast in Paris, I now knew what to expect and this was definitely below-par.
The duck leg confit lasagna was very creative, and was quite good – the only thing I ended up finishing that night. The lasagna was made with duck meat, spinach, cream cheese, and Parmesan sprinkled on top.

The halibut filet tasted like nothing, perhaps a hint of salt, but really, nothing. Of the four people that ordered this entree, zero enjoyed it.

Well, it’s a bento box. I mean, it looks cute, but really? This is the “vegetarian option” on your Summerlicious menu? If I were vegetarian, I would be downright offended. Here, have a few string beans, beets, and asparagus. The wasabi mashed potato sounded promising, until we realized it tasted no different from regular mashed potato, but green. Yes, that is exactly what this meal needs to look more appetizing! Green mush!

“Lemon-lavender-blueberry dome with chocolate arts, lemon-grass vanilla sauce” sounds like a mouthful, but it was really a small cake with some decoration. We had a laugh over how specific the menu was, even to go so far as to name the three triangular white-chocolate pieces as “chocolate arts.” The lavendar in the cake made it taste rather strange, although not altogether horrible.

I like crepes. I like crepes flambe even more. This crepe, however, was soggy. And tasted strongly like marmalade. No thanks. The cherry jubilee tasted better with the vanilla ice cream, but wasn’t all that inspired.

I did not get a picture of the third dessert option, “warm peach tart and peach ice cream”, which turned out to be the best one. The peach tart was good, it tasted like a fruit tart with less sugar.

After tax and tip, the meal came out to $60 (not including drinks). Considering there wasn’t a single course I was completely happy with, I was utterly disappointed. I’ve always been told Summerlicious meals are sub-par, but this was just a disgrace.

Rating:

As soon as I pulled open the massive wooden door to its entrance, I was greeted with a loud and energetic chorus of irashaimase! from all over the restaurant. I was temporarily shell-shocked and froze in the entrance way, literally too dazed to take another step. Was this a restaurant? Was I still in Toronto? The warm, lively, chaotic scene before me seemed a world away from the wet, cold, windy, and empty street I had just left. I spotted my friends at the bar and quickly joined them.

The restaurant was not very large, but they seemed to have somehow fit a hundred people inside. The commotion of the Japanese chefs behind the bar, along with everyone else in the place, made it so loud I found it difficult to hear myself speak. Every few seconds, the entire staff would shout a chorus of Japanese together, and I would again be shocked into a daze. It took us a long time to order as the shouting made it hard to focus on the menus in front of us. Time here also seemed to go at a faster pace than the outside world. Our server came by four times before we were ready to order – it seemed like we were taking a long time when in reality, we took no more than twenty minutes. When we finished our meal (in a rather timely fashion I would say), we realized we had maxed out our two-hour time limit, but it felt like no time at all.

The food arrived very quickly and in no discernible order. This was a pub after all, whatever was made first was immediately served. The serving sizes are rather small (like tapas) and all menu items are under $10. For the four of us, we ordered six items to share, thinking it would be more than enough. We later ordered a second round and a third round, totaling 11 items.

Tonkatsu, a special that’s not on the menu, arrived first. Deep fried pork tenderloin drizzled with wasabi mayo sauce. As far as tonkatsu goes, this was decent, but tonkatsu is a pretty unexciting dish.

Salmon natto yukke was a dish I had been dying to try. Yukke is actually borrowed from Korean cuisine, which basically means raw seafood with seasoning and a raw egg, meant to be mixed together before eating. The salmon natto yukke was mixed with natto (fermented soybeans), shibazuke (pickled eggplant and cucumber in plum vinegar seasoned with ginger), takuan (pickled daikon), wonton chips, diced garlic “chips”, chopped scallions, and raw egg. Wrapped in crisp nori sheets, the mixture was a delicious juxtaposition of sweet and savoury, soft and crispy. The marinade was very aromatic, reminded me of cooking wine. The salmon chunks were fresh, and every ingredient was authentically Japanese. What a treat!

I find it interesting that this was called “hotate carpaccio” when there was a Japanese word readily available: hotate sashimi. Scallop sashimi swam in a creamy wasabi mayo dressing. The scallops were the freshest I had ever tasted. The localvore in me cringed at the thought of shipping these scallops from across the Pacific, but damn, it really was like no scallop I’d ever tasted on this side of the ocean.

The fried Japanese pancakes were not nearly as good as I imagined. The batter of okonomiyaki is supposed to be made of flour, grated yam, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese². What I tasted was mostly flour and eggs, although I visually identified the green onions. I didn’t taste any seafood, although my companion claims she found a piece of shrimp. For something that is supposed to be the soul food of Osaka, it was rather bland.

Thinly sliced salmon arrived, drizzled in wasabi mayo and ponzu sauce. It was very lightly grilled, so it still tasted raw. The wasabi mayo was a bit overpowering for the pieces on top, but otherwise, delicious.

Kakuni came in a small clay pot with two pieces of braised pork belly and a boiled egg. The braised pork belly was cooked until it was falling apart and extremely tender, practically melting in my mouth, and its savoury juices had dissolved into the sweet miso soup. This dish left me begging for more.

The oden udon came with a boiled egg, daikon radish, and konnyaku. The oden soup was light, and the udon was very chewy, of the highest quality.

Ikapiri was an eatable bowl of deep fried calamari in a spicy red sauce which reminded us a lot of BBQ wings sauce. There was very little batter on the calamari, so it was basically squid with BBQ sauce.

Takoyaki is a favourite of izakayas in Japan. The deep fried octopus balls were a little heavy on the flour, not as crispy as I’d imagined.

For dessert, we opted for banana tempura and almond tofu. The banana tempura was fried to perfection and drizzled in mango and chocolate sauce – unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of banana tempura. I much more enjoyed the coconut ice cream that came with it. But that was nothing compared to the almond tofu. The light, refreshing tofu dessert made me want to burst out in song (which wouldn’t have been so out of place in Guu). The almond tofu alone was worth coming back for.

Guu also serves a wide variety of Japanese drinks, from Asahi to sake to Japanese soju. And even some house specials, like Guu’s own Ramune, and a variety of unique cocktails.

It was hard to be infected by the boisterous energy of the staff, particularly when sitting at the bar. Halfway through our meal, the entire staff burst into a Happy Birthday song for one of the customers, and soon the entire restaurant joined in. It was adorable to see the chefs and sous chefs raise their hands, clapping and singing.

The total came to about $20 per person, not including drinks and tip. Very reasonable considering the variety and freshness of the food, and the fun atmosphere.
By the time the meal was over, I felt like I was high (a Guuuuud high, as their menu would claim) and as I waved goodbye to the smiling and waving faces of the chefs and servers shouting sayonara!, I couldn’t wait to return.

Rating:

Author’s Note: Many of my photos from the dinner were rather bad quality due to the low lighting. So, some photos have been supplemented from elsewhere: Sifu Renka, tebpp, and snowpea&bokchoi.

1. It seems that weekends are not as busy as weekdays. Guu is open daily from 5 pm to midnight; if you go before 6pm, there usually isn’t a line-up. After 6 pm, on a weekday, the wait can be up to two hours.
2. Source: Wikipedia.

They boast the best burgers in town but at $12 a burger, they’d better be good. We settled on chicken fingers, poutine, salad, and a cod sandwich.

The chicken fingers were made from fresh chicken breast, and were tossed in a thin breaded coat with light seasoning. They were piping hot and absolutely delicious. Not oily or soggy in the least.
The poutine was made with what seemed to be beef gravy, on a bed of thick-cut fries. The fries were delicious, but the dish would have been even better if they hadn’t used cheddar cheese strands.

The side salad was your average garden salad, but the homemade sauce, in my case honey dill, was surprisingly good. The Guinness-battered cod was tender but bland, although the tartar sauce was one of the best I’ve had. The burger/sandwich was too large to eat together, so I had to eat each half separately.

For dessert, apple crisp was the featured special. The apple was heavily doused in syrup and cinnamon, with a generous serving of vanilla ice cream on top. Presentation was a bit shabby, but the taste made up for it.

Rocky road mud pie was nothing more than chocolate ice cream cake, with loads of almonds and a very yummy chocolate crust¹.

Service was attentive, and the food arrived quickly, although that may have been because the place was practically empty at noon.

Rating:

1. The crust tasted like an Oreo crust even though the menu said “wafer crust”.

I settled on the Thai Peanut Power Bowl while my friend chose the Pate Sandwich. The sauce in my Thai Peanut Power Bowl was more like a red curry sauce than a peanut sauce. In fact, I don’t think I tasted or saw any hint of peanuts in the bowl. The chickpeas and sweat potatoes gave a nice texture to the sloppy mess, which rested on a bed of quinoa. The dish certainly could have used more kick, the sauce was bland and most of the flavour was from the sweet potatoes. I was disappointed to realize that this restaurant perpetuated the vegan reputation: blandness². Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I thought that perhaps they did not want to put in too much sodium – you know, being health-conscious and all.

On the side, I had ordered a sweet potato cornbread, which turned out to be dry and tough and tasted nothing like sweet potato. I took half of it home in a paper bag, and when I got home, the paper bag was soaked through with oil. So much for the health-conscious defense.

For dessert, we shared a velvet chocolate cake. It was slightly more dry and crumbly than I’d have preferred. It was not too sweet, like the cakes of the “good ol’ days.”

Service was hit and miss. Sometimes the server would check on us twice in ten minutes, other times she wouldn’t come by for a stretch of 30 to 40 minutes. The washroom was small and cramped, but not anymore cramped than the rest of the restaurant. It has a homey feel, and the staff are certainly very welcoming. Unfortunately, I suspect the chef of this restaurant is also a family cook.

Rating:

1. Jambalaya is now at 119 Dundas Street.
2. Blandness is not something that vegan restaurants have to suffer from. I have had plenty of vegan dishes that were just as flavourful, if not more so, as non-vegan dishes.

“The skylights really let the light in,” I comment to my friend as we are seated. The linens are neatly folded in front of us and feel thick to the touch. The tables are set far apart for privacy and easy navigation. So far so good.

A greasy-haired waiter shows up at our table promptly inquiring after our drink choices. We hadn’t had a chance to look at the menu yet, so he leaves and returns with water. When he returns a second time, we still weren’t ready, and he seemed to have decided we were never going to order. It takes much longer for him to return a third time.

My friend and I both made selections from the Summerlicious menu, and I added a pot of tea to my order, surprised that they had a tea menu at all¹.
The food came reasonably quickly.

We both had the charcuterie to start.

The salamis were forgettable, and the cured vegetables were far too sour. The pork rilettes on toasted ficelle turned out to be something like a meat pâté on a slice of demi-baguette bread. The pork rilettes were good, but considering it was the only eatable item on the plate, that wasn’t saying much.

My entree was the Lake Trout, while my friend opted for the mushroom risotto.

The Lake Trout was a horrendous disappointment. The skin was nice and crisp, but the trout itself was completely lacking in flavour. The green beans and potatoes were boring, the kind you might find at a large banquete dinner. The roasted almonds and shallots were an interesting mix, although far too buttery, which made the aromatic almond and lemon noisette less noticeable.

The mushroom risotto fared better with my friend’s palate, although tomato in risotto was a questionable choice. The risotto was creamy, but far too salty.

For dessert, we both chose the Niagara Angel Food Shortcake. We were hopeful that dessert would satisfy our taste buds – after all, dessert was virtually always agreeable to us.

The apricots in crème Anglaise were quite nice, but the angel food shortcake part was peculiarly foam-like – you can tell from the picture how spongey it was. It was also tough to break apart, I had to use a spoon and a fork together to pull the cake into smaller pieces.

The waiter came back only once to check on us during the meal, and another time, looked over while I had an empty plate in front of me but did not come to clear it.

“So… why did you insist we come to Pangaea?” My friend asked out of curiosity, assuming I had read a rave review somewhere. I admitted I had not, but had made my decision largely because the chef had followed me on Twitter. She rolled her eyes. I deserved it.

I felt a little guilty about making her accompany me to this disappointing experience when I went to the washroom and – to my horror – found myself in a tacky tiled bathroom that looked like it had been built 20 years before the rest of the restaurant. The metal stall doors were rusting, the tiles on the floor were uneven and dirty, and there was barely any water pressure coming from the cold water tap. Classy.

Not only was the service inconsistent, the food disappointing and overpriced (I would never, ever, ever come back for a regular-priced meal), but the washroom was dirty! There was toilet paper on the floor and pee on the seats. For goodness sakes, Moxie’s has nicer washrooms, and there are drunk people there on a weekly basis!

The washroom was the last straw. My friend and I grabbed our purses and vowed, with good reason, never to return.

Rating:

1. A very decent selection, I might add.

My friend celebrated her birthday by giving us all an excuse to pig out on pub food and chocolate cake.

I love La Rocca cakes, and the Nut Buster is one of my favourites, but I also had a chance to try their Strawberry Shortcake, which was amazing and inspired me to make my own.

More birthday celebrations at The Old Spaghetti Factory, followed by a late night preview of Star Trek.

Another birthday celebration, this time at my favourite upscale restaurant in Yorkville: Sassafraz.

Lunch in Korea town (North York) at the much-loved Owl of Minerva, followed by bowling to work off all those delicious panchan and entrees.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries halfway through the month, so I have no pictures from:
Lettieri Espresso + Bar – their almond biscotti was good, but definitely not made in-house
Panorama Restaurant and Lounge – a disappointing coffee creme brulee
Northern Dumpling Kitchen – review coming soon
Mengrai Gourmet Thai – decent pad thai (not very flavourful, although heaped with toppings), excellent service, and a very interesting green tea creme brulee

Despite my enthusiasm for candy-themed martinis in the colour of the rainbow, the skills in the kitchen were more than adequate to get my attention. With the first bite of sweet and tender spiced lamb kafta, I knew these chefs were not banking on our inebriated state to serve us less-than-delicious food.

Normally, I avoid lamb like the plague. From my Chinese background, I knew lamb to have a distinctive “aroma” that did not sit well with me. But this lamb did not have that aroma. Instead, it was unbelievably tender, cooked until the sinews had caramelized and the meat could easily be pulled apart, marinated with a sweet sauce and a spicy rub.

The next appetizer we tried was a bruschetta, which was not as memorable. But that is a good thing in my books, because the only memorable bruschettas I’ve had are bad ones.

The catch of the day was rainbow trout, with a buttery risotto and caramelized vegetables. The dish was perfection. The rainbow trout was well-cooked and subtly seasoned. The risotto had a creamy texture, juxtaposed against the more solid, caramelized potatoes and carrots.

The lamb entree was outstanding, although comparably less seasoned than the lamb appetizer. The sauce was flavourful and very complementing to a less-seasoned meat. The meat was soft and tender, and I could see that the chefs had taken care to cook it at the right temperature to leave a golden shell with pinkish flesh.

The entree I had been looking forward to the most was duck breast, which turned out to be flavourful with a crispy outer shell. The duck was not as tender as it could have been, especially considering all the fat sitting under the skin. Perhaps it was a little under-done, or perhaps it was the way my friend ordered it. The duck was sitting on a most delicious mound of mashed potato that was so smooth it could have passed for cream itself.

The beef-phyllo entree was most unique. The beef was subtly seasoned, and sat in a mushroom and escargot sauce that reminded me of a wine reduction. The escargot, mushroom, and herbs resulted in a very interesting taste.

Their classic martini (the “dirty cello”) came with three olives and a very smooth Bombay sapphire gin. There were several cream-based martinis to select from but real dessert came in the form of cassis ice cream on creme brulee, and a banana extravaganza I can no longer remember the name of. The creme brulee was far too sweet but the cassis ice cream made up for it. The banana extravaganza consisted of several banana-flavoured components (sorbet, cream, etc.) that all tasted heavenly.

On weekends, they have a DJ and the music can get quite loud, but weekday nights are more intimate. The dress code fares on the side of club-wear, especially later in the evenings, with girls in tights and men in blazers, but there are no bouncers so it is not like you would be turned away for being under-dressed. The servers are very attentive and accommodating, and give great martini recommendations.
Overall, this place has a great vibe, whether you’re with a date or a party of friends. With attentive service, top-notch food, the most extensive martini list in London, and gummy candies galore, what’s not to like?

Rating:

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What drew me to The Tasting Room initially was its large selection of appetizers, which came in large enough portions to constitute a small meal, or to share. Their Scallops Wrapped with Bacon are out of this world, but to be honest, so are most of their appetizers. Carribean Shrimp and Banana Curry is another unique appetizer that cannot be missed. The Calamari was a little on the bland side, but the Coconut Lobster Lollipops certainly made up for it. Prices for these appetizers are close to their entrees, but so are the sizes.

Their daily soup has also been consistently satisfactory. The daily soup is not on their menu, but I recall enjoying an excellent Black Bean Soup on two different occasions. I have not tried their entrees, as I am always full after the appetizers, but I have it on good authority that their seafood pasta is well-stocked for a $13 entree (lunch, $19 dinner).

They also have a very reasonable wine flight for anyone interested in a little wine tasting. Their servers are knowledgable, friendly, and always provide impeccable service. My only complaint is that their washroom facilities are far too small, but the rest of the restaurant is stylishly decorated.
Rating:

I started with their “Fresh from Ontario Garden Salad,” which was easily forgettable. In fact, I didn’t even take a picture of it because it was so unimpressive. It was a quarter of uncut iceberg lettuce, and some steamed rhubarb and scallion halves on the side. The miso carrot vinaigrette was the only redeeming quality of the dish, but I spent most of the appetizer portion of the meal brooding over the fact that I had to cut my own salad leaves. “Why aren’t you taking a picture of it?” My friends asked, knowing I’d be reviewing the restaurant later. “It’s a salad. It’s a boring salad at that. What can I say? The picture won’t be worth a thousand words. It won’t even be worth a hundred.”

My entree was Wild Alaskan Copper River Salmon Fillet with Maple Soy Glaze, Warm Field Cucumber and Wasabi Salad. What they didn’t mention on the menu was actually the part of the meal I enjoyed the most, a fried spelt cake. The spelt was crunchy, and the cake was crispy while expertly foregoing the taste of deep-fry batter. It was delicious. Possibly because I have an irrepressible desire for all things deep-fried, but this cake scored points even for originality. I mean, a hardy wheat in a deep-fried cake? Who would’ve thought?

The presentation of the salmon was slightly better than the salad, and I had high hopes for it after I had tasted the fried spelt cake. However, I nearly spit out my first forkful of salmon. Now, let me preface this by saying that I am not a seafood lover¹. It takes a lot of skill – and I mean a lot – for me to be able to enjoy a seafood dish. Steamed fish fillet with a salt and pepper rub and some lemon is not going to do it for me. In this case, it was salmon fillet with a soy glaze. Sorry, but yuck. I almost felt bad for being so utterly turned off by the salmon fillet, since the restaurant had a nice atmosphere, the service was attentive, and the wine was outstanding. But even after taking a gulp of the wine and tackling the salmon again, I simply could not swallow it. The slices had noticeable layers of fat in between and all I could really taste were salmon lipids. The fillet was slightly seasoned but no amount of seasoning could cover up the unmistakable smell of fish – the kind of smell that develops if the fish was dead before it was cooked. Yes, I know it’s salmon, and yes, I know Toronto isn’t exactly a fishing village, but I can’t compromise my taste buds, now can I? I find it nearly impossible to enjoy seafood that is not fresh. The times I have enjoyed eating fish have always been when the fish was alive right up to the point it was prepared for cooking².

Some of my friends ordered the steak, which they seemed to find more agreeable.

For dessert, I had originally ordered the Pudding Chômeur, but my friend and I switched after she had a taste of mine and loved it. The pudding chômeur was rather good, although a little sour.

I ended up having the rest of her Chantilly, which was decent. It tasted basically like chocolate mousse, not nearly as light and “whipped” as it should have been.

Overall, I was not impressed with the food or the presentation of Reds Bistro (still not over the fact that the salad was just a quarter slice of a head of lettuce). Perhaps I’ll come back on a day when all I want is a nice glass of wine (a day when their bar is actually open), but for all the other days of the year, I’ll take my money elsewhere.

Rating:

1. This does not apply to sushi. I love sushi.
2. In case you’re curious, yes, sometimes I do catch my own fish. Fresh perch tastes delicious. Am I a food snob or what?