My Amazing Food Blog

Manic Mondays @ Koryo

2010-07-12T22:03:00.012-04:00

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food

Not sure how long this will last for but every monday from 12-2pm Koryo has a deal they're calling "Manic Mondays" which is like their take on KFC's toonie tuesdays...except on a monday...and replace fried chicken with korean fast food. It's located in the Toronto Life Square food court at Yonge/Dundas, which was a little bit of a walk from work but I figured for a $2 lunch how could I go wrong?

So for $2.25 ($1.99 + tax? that's not right is it?) you get a box of food with 2 scoops of rice, your choice of 2 sides and BBQ chicken and beef. I got there at around 1:15 and they were out of chicken so I only got beef. For the sides, you get a few choices, there was pasta salad, kimchi, glass noodles, broccoli, green beans, and potatoes. I got the noodles which were ehh and the potatoes which I would highly recommend. Probably the best thing in that box, crispy outside and light and fluffy inside, I was actually pretty impressed for food court potatoes and next time I'll just get double potatoes. The beef wasn't bad either, though they don't give you that much it was just enough to go with the rice they gave.

It was just enough food for me though I felt a bit snackish in the afternoon but I guess I can't really complain for $2. Overall, you're not going to find a cheaper complete lunch downtown...provided it's a monday and between 12-2pm.

UPDATE: Looks like alot more people have caught wind of this deal and the lineup was like 50 people deep (up from like 5 the first week) so it's up to you if it's worth standing in line for your entire lunch break

Koryo Korean Barbeque
Unit 340, 10 Dundas Street E (Toronto Life Square food court)
Toronto, ON

Caplansky's

2010-03-17T01:33:00.014-04:00

smoked meat sandwich / BBQ brisket on a bun

So turns out I'm not dead, just terribly lazy. It's been pretty warm out lately so I made the long walk over to Caplansky's on college between bathurst and spadina. The big seller here is the smoked meat which they do in house and practically the only place in Toronto to do so. Probably the closest thing Toronto has to a real deli in the likes of Montreal and New York.

I actually didn't order the smoked meat sandwich (7oz, $7.00 + tax/tip) but my friend did. It just comes plain on rye with a pickle, though they have a selection of fancy mustards on the table if you want anything on it. Instead I got the BBQ brisket ($8.00 + tax/tip) which comes on an onion bun with crispy onions and glazed in BBQ sauce...a bit reminiscent of a pulled pork sandwich. The flavour of BBQ sauce isn't that strong but with a bit of mustard to fill in the gaps it's one tasty sandwich. With my sandwich I of course had to get a smoked meat poutine ($6.00 + tax/tip). The fries were very good, nice and crisp, and the gravy also comes with chunks of smoked meat in it. My only criticism would be that it could have used a bit more of that gravy to melt more of the cheese curds but still a good poutine.

I wouldn't recommend getting both a sandwich and full order of poutine though, just get it as a side with the sandwich, as I couldn't even finish mine (but so close!). It's a good thing for my friend Jason who helped me finish mine...in addition to his own full order of poutine...and was still considering a piece of pie somehow. Sadly not the first time I've been defeated by poutine but all in all a good lunch.

smoked meat poutine

Caplansky's Delicatessen
356 College St.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Manpuku

2010-01-29T14:43:00.010-05:00

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curry udon / 2nd noodle refill

Manpuku Japanese Eatery...I'll just say right now that this is my favourite place in Toronto for udon. Hidden away in the Village by the Grange food court (st. patrick/dundas), it's a pretty small place with a limited menu but what they do they seem to do well. So in addition to the udon they also have a few rice dishes, takoyaki, onigiri, and even some desserts with everything here being really affordable. A big reason why I like this place so much is that for an extra $1.10 you can ask for a refill of noodles. So instead of me complaining how I wish they gave a bit more, I can happily walk out of here full for only a dollar more.

Curry udon ($5.99 + tax/tip) is my usual pick and comes in beef or vegetable. Carrots, potatoes, onions, shredded beef, and noodles...nothing too fancy and very tasty. The broth also has a good curry flavour but the biggest selling point are the noodles which just seem to be of a higher quality and have a great texture. They don't seem to give you any extra soup when you get the noodle refill so it's best to save some for round 2...or in this case round 3 lol. Actually I was full after the first refill but I had to prove a point to a friend who thought I couldn't though I don't think I'll be doing that again.

Manpuku Japanese Eatery
29-105 McCaul St
Toronto, ON
RATING:

The Bowl Fine Asian Cuisine

2010-01-29T01:22:00.016-05:00

hu tieu bo kho / uhh pho

Close to Ryerson and has pho bo kho? This was another place I had to try. Located on yonge, south of dundas, right across from the eaton centre is the Fine Asian Bowl and one of their three locations in Toronto. First impressions stepping inside went something like this...hmm pretty clean...and looks nice in here...and served by a white person...wait...what? I guess I'm just used to eating pho on dirty tables, with a pot of tea, and surly asian waiters/tresses but something wasn't sitting right. Fearing I walked into some sort of Spring Rolls-watered down-fusion-trap, I was thiiis close to getting up and leaving but decided to stick it out and try it.

So onto the bo kho, or as they nicely put it on the menu, hu tieu bo kho (S $7.50/ L $8.75 + tax/tip). Way too expensive for a bowl of pho so I played it safe went with the small not knowing how it would turn out. I was honestly expecting it to be terrible, like a tomato in a bowl of regular pho, but actually turned out being pleasantly surprised with a pretty decent bowl of pho bo kho. Carrots, beef brisket, delicious delicious broth. Maybe just slightly less flavourful than what I'm used to but otherwise still very close. My only gripe would be the noodles which were more like the chinese flat thick rice noodles. Also pictured is some sort of pho lunch combo ($9.00? + tax/tip) which is a L sized bowl of pho and came with a drink. This was actually decent as well...not terrible but not great...and according to my friend could use more MSG? lol Also the size of this large is probably comparable to a medium at most other pho places so there's not much value going on here.

So I guess you get what you pay for, location, service, decor...but if it's up to me, I'll be walking over to chinatown for my pho.

The Bowl Fine Asian Cuisine
271 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Smokin' Bones

2010-01-28T23:59:00.012-05:00

meatloaf sandwich / sloppy chili sandwich

Trying out some of the new places around Ryerson and one of them is Smokin' Bones Southern Comfort Food. Now alot of these southern bbq type places in Toronto are pretty sub standard but I figured this one had daily specials and a student discount so it was at least worth trying. But anyway, Smokin' Bones is on Dundas just east of Church. Inside is pretty dark and empty with just a long counter and some chairs.

Seeing as how this was a thursday, I went for the daily special, meatloaf sandwich ($6.00 + tax). Pretty simple, piece of meatloaf covered in BBQ sauce (normal or spicy) served on a bun. Long story short, it wasn't very good. The meatloaf itself didn't have much flavour and all I could taste was a bit of the BBQ sauce...but mostly like nothing...a big meaty piece of blandess...on a bun. My friend had a similar experience with his sloppy chili sandwich ($6.00 + tax). The beef was in huge chunks and poor quality, and the beans were undercooked. Needless to say, I doubt I'll be returning though people on the internet seem to like the pulled pork here so...we'll see.

Smokin' Bones
117 Dundas St. E
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Update to Cafe Green Tea

2010-01-28T23:53:00.008-05:00

http://myamazingfoodblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/cafe-green-tea.html

Ippai Japanese Fusion Cuisine

2010-01-22T16:14:00.009-05:00

curry pork katsu

Quick review....mostly because this is like from a month ago and I don't remember anything lol. A fairly new place, Ippai Japanese Fusion Cuisine, is located in Markham in a plaza off Woodbine just north of Highway 7. Curry pork katsu lunch combo ($7.99? + tax/tip) comes with miso soup and salad. Curry tasted ok, like slightly better version of the packaged stuff. Not terrible, not particularly good...and uhh yea that's about it.

Ippai Japanese Fusion Cuisine
8865 Woodbine Ave
Markham, ON
RATING:

Smoke's Poutinerie

2010-01-04T17:48:00.012-05:00

Smoke's Poutinerie...the first of its kind in Toronto, opened with its original location on Adelaide right above burrito boys. Since then they've expanded with a newer location on Dundas just east of Jarvis. Seeing as how the new location was pretty close to Ryerson and they've added some new things on the menu since I last went, I figured it was a good time to revisit the Poutinerie. One thing to note about the Dundas location is that it's alot smaller than the one on Adelaide and there's actually no place to sit, just a small counter to stand at.

On the menu there are pork, beef, chicken, or veggie based poutines, and of course just the regular ol fries, gravy, and cheese. So of course I order a pork poutine...the Double Pork Peppercorn (L $9.95/S $7.45 + tax)...you only live once right? Green peppercorn gravy, chipotle pulled pork, and double smoked bacon. The first bite, amazing....the subsequent bites after that...much less so. The pulled pork adds some sweetness to balance out the saltiness of everything else but it just ended up being way to salty. I don't know if it was the gravy, or the bacon, or maybe just this location but something was too salty...so salty I didn't even finish it. The large is also a pretty heavy box of poutine and I'd recommend against it unless you feel like passing out for the next few hours. Also pictured is the Veggie Deluxe Poutine (L $7.95/S $6.45 + tax) which is sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and green peas.

If you're looking for some variety with your poutine then Smoke's Poutinerie is the place to go...though it kind of wins by default on that one. It's also a little expensive for what it is, so if all you're looking for is fries + cheese + gravy, then you can go to the food trucks by city hall for an even bigger box that's half the price but still the Poutinerie is worth visiting at least once even if just for the novelty of it all.

double pulled pork peppercorn / veggie deluxe

Smoke's Poutinerie
203 Dundas St. E
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Xe Lua (aka train)

2009-12-29T02:00:00.021-05:00

Xe Lua, or what I just call train, has a few locations around the GTA but the quality isn't very consistent and some locations are particularly bad like the markham and richmond hill ones. The chinatown one on spadina I think is an exception and is actually my favourite place for pho in chinatown...though I know some people might disagree with me (LEO!). Dirty tables and bad service kind of come with the territory so I can't really comment on that...but it's south of dundas, on top of a thai restaurant and beside another vietnamese restaurant, so it can be easy to miss.

A big part of the reason why I like train is that I think this is one of the few places that make a good bowl pho bo kho ($6.00 + tax/tip). Pho in beef stew of a rich tomato broth, beef brisket, carrots...so good. The beef can be kind of fatty sometimes but the real star is the soup anyway. I'm sure drinking all that broth can't be healthy and you'll end up being real thirsty for the rest of the day but boy does it taste good. For something more ordinary, also pictured above is a bowl of flank and rare beef pho (L, $6.00 + tax/tip), which I think they do a pretty decent job of. Good sized bowl, good amount of beef, no complaints on the broth or noodles...just a solid bowl of pho.

Xe Lua
254 Spadina Ave
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Cora Pizza

2009-12-23T23:42:00.005-05:00

Hawaiian/ Meatlovers / Brio

The ever-lasting pizza rivalry on Spadina and Harbord, Cora Pizza has been competing for the champion of pizza for UofT students (the other being Slice King). This independent pizza parlour has an assortment of New York-style pizza slices, all at a low price (either $3.50 or $4.00 for a slice) and large quantity (the picture above depicts ONE slice and I traded half of mine for my girlfriend’s meatlovers). However, do note that the drinks here are more expensive than usual, with pop at $1.25 and up. Otherwise, Cora Pizza is a definite visit for every UofT student, whether it is for lunch, dinner or late night snack (Cora opens until 4-5am).

The Hawaiian ($4.00 flat) that I got was an usual for me, mainly because I think there isn’t a better Hawaiian out there, especially in the franchises you see (Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, etc). Its always filled with plenty of pineapples and large pieces of ham, pineapples being my favourite fruit (is it a fruit?). The slices are also never so oily that you’ll have an breakout after eating a bite, which is always good. The Meatlovers (also $4.00 flat), on the other hand, was pretty average. The amount of ingredients was only a bit more than other places and it didn’t really stand out. BUT! For the price you pay, this is an excellent deal for the stingy, hungry market also known as university students.

Cora Pizza
648 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

NOTE: I've been told that Cora has been closed down recently due to hygienic reasons. So, do go at your own risk! More on the story here.

Cora’s Breakfast and Lunch

2009-12-23T12:38:00.004-05:00

The Construction Plate/ Crepe Omelette (Spinach Cheddar)

Another day, another visit to a brunch place for a nice meal early in the morning. Cora’s Breakfast and Lunch is considered to be the ultimatum in breakfast places, according to several sources. Anyways, Cora’s is a franchise and there are several locations all over Ontario. Unlike other breakfast places, Cora’s offers a colourful environment and encourages healthy eating (they offer “mountains” of fruit with the majority of their dishes). It’s a more expensive place comparing with the other franchises (Eggsmart, Sunset Grill, etc), but you will find that it is worth the extra money.

Feeling hungry, I got The Construction Plate ($8.45 + tax) and Hot Chocolate ($2.25 + tax) while my girlfriend got the Spinach Cheddar Crepe Omelette ($10.95 + tax) and Orange Juice ($3.45 + tax). Both dishes come with toast (mine came with three slices while hers came with two) and they were soft and warm (my preference). The sausages on the construction plate were soft and chewy, but a little bit oily for my taste. The eggs were your usual eggs, but they weren’t cooked so much as to having burnt edges that you usually see, which is good. The home fries were quite good comparing with other breakfast joints, as they were soft and moist. The crepe omelette felt like I was eating a taco because of the crepe similar to a soft shell. It was good though, filled with spinach and cheddar cheese inside and covering the crepe. The fruit you see in the picture is only a “cup” of fruit (I came again another time and believe me, the “mountain” of fruits is A LOT of fruit).

I must say, this is an enjoyable experience. The environment was good and so was the service. However, I have yet to try the Eggs Benedict, so for all you Benedict enthusiasts out there, do give it a try for yourself (but I doubt it could be bad). This is probably my go-to breakfast place from now on and hope it will be for all of you as well.

Hot Chocolate

Cora’s Breakfast and Lunch
27 Carlton Street
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Cafe Green Tea

2009-12-23T11:53:00.007-05:00

Breaded Chicken with Curry Rice

Hidden in the back of J-Town at Woodbine and Steeles, Cafe Green Tea does not even have its own sign but rather a name on a directory board. This place is actually part of the Japanese supermarket that is at J-Town, and because of this, the ingredients are guaranteed fresh. The menu also has a variety of udon and ramen ranging from $4.98, $5.98 and $7.98 as well as full meals costing $9 only (comes with a salad and drink if I remember correctly).

Either way, the curry here is excellent. I got the Breaded Chicken with Curry Rice ($6.98 + tax), which is inexpensive compared with the other curry places that I have tried. The breaded chicken was plentiful and I think it’s the best I have ever tried. It’s quite thick and is dark meat, tender and soft unlike its white counterpart. The curry seems and tastes store-bought, as it is quite thick yet has less flavour than the homemade curry from other places. On another note, most of the drinks here are a dollar each, and that includes the V8 above, which usually costs more (good source of vitamins and fibre!). I was quite full in the end and recommends everyone to give it a try. Its authenticity and quantity for the price deserves a visit just to be compared with the other places.

Cafe Green Tea
3160 Steeles Ave. E
Markham, ON
RATING:

UPDATE 28/01/10 (Jon):
I ended up here one day and decided to try something else so I chose this dish called father's meal ($8.99 + tax) which offers a bit of everything. Miso soup, rice, 2 fried shrimps, japanese hamburger patty with ketchup, potato salad, coleslaw, and oranges. Actually I don't even know if I should be calling that coleslaw since it was really just a pile of raw shredded cabbage...not very tasty. The potato salad on the other hand...best potato salad ever. Very creamy and smooth, I just wish they gave more than that small scoop. The shrimp were pretty standard but the hamburger was good and really juicy.

Ritz Caribbean Food

2009-12-20T16:30:00.008-05:00

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lunch special

There are a few Ritz locations around downtown but the one I went to was the one on yonge st. across from the Eaton Centre. I assume they all have the same menu since they all advertise their $3.99 lunch special which is why I went there. Even though the sign says daily lunch specials I think they actually just have the same one everyday. So the lunch special ($3.99 + tax) is a quarter leg of jerk chicken OR a piece of fried chicken, rice and peas, and coleslaw. The jerk chicken was moist and overall pretty tasty while the rice and peas and coleslaw were just ok...maybe a little dry but for under $5 I'm not complaining too much.

Ritz Caribbean Food
219 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

The Stockyards

2009-12-16T00:44:00.024-05:00

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homemade iced tea / coke classic

Done exams so that means time to be a big fatass. Previous years have brought me to The Tulip and Utopia but this year...The Stockyards. Mostly a BBQ type place...kind of. Ribs and BBQ chicken are only available on certain days and the rest of the menu is mostly sandwiches (pulled pork, pastrami), burgers, and fried chicken. It also seems like they have constantly changing daily specials which keeps things fresh. The place itself is really small, no tables and probably like 15 seats all bar/counter style so most people opt for takeout.

First off drinks, homemade iced tea ($2.00 + tax) and glass bottle coke ($1.50 + tax). They also have a homemade limeade that sounded good. I got the fried chicken ($12.00 + tax) which was 5 pieces of chicken, 2 breasts, 1 back, 1 wing, 1 drumstick, a shitload of fries, and coleslaw. The chicken is fried to order so it comes out hot and the skin is incredibly crunchy. Fries were great. You know how when you get fries the best ones are the small slightly crunchy ones, well that's pretty much how all of them were like. Not enough places do shoestring style fries and you really do get a ton of them...they're kind of hidden by chicken in the picture but they're there. The coleslaw was also good, not too vinegary, not too creamy, tasty stuff.

fried chicken combo / classic burger

They also have a variety of different sides but I settled on the tower of onion rings ($5.00 + tax). These aren't no frozen onion rings...maybe a little greasy but nice thick cut onions and I don't know what spices they put in the batter but they were some damn good rings. The classic burger ($7.00 + tax) which I didn't try any of was also supposedly good.

The Stockyards is a little out of the way at st. claire and christie but I'd say was well worth the journey. Also the portion of the fried chicken is huge...I don't how I finished it but somehow I did so unless you're really hungry, a big fatass, or 2 people, I wouldn't recommend trying to finish it yourself. Good thing for me I'm one of those...uhh really hungry of course, what else would I be.

tower of onion rings

The Stockyards
699 Saint Clair Ave W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Pizzaiolo

2009-12-04T01:06:00.013-05:00

meat lover

Pizzaiolo is a local pizza chain in the GTA with most of them being downtown. Now usually chains = bad but I think Pizzaiolo makes a pretty decent pizza and it's definitely a step above the usual crap like Pizza Pizza. Not just the quality is better but they also have some interesting choices if you're looking for something a bit more exciting.

Slices are $4.00 + tax. So far I've tried the Meat Lover (pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, ground beef) and also the Bianca (artichoke hearts, zucchini, garlic, feat) both of which were tasty. Also pictured is the Capone (chicken breast, roasted red peppers, mushrooms) which I have yet to try but looked pretty good and was full of toppings. One problem we all had though was that we were still hungry after...so either we're all fatasses or...well probably that's it but still I could used a liiitle bit more pizza. Another thing to beware of is to avoid the combo. You might see their signs on the street advertising a slice and a drink for $5.30 + tax or $5.99 tax included but when a slice alone is $4.00 + tax so they're really ripping you off on a can of pop.

Study Notes:
- tasty
- still hungry
- avoid the combo

bianca / half eaten capone

Pizzaiolo
uhhh...look at their website
Toronto, ON
Rating: /

Yummis

2009-11-25T22:47:00.022-05:00

chicken shawarma...so full of chicken it spills out

Two streets north of wellesley on yonge is Yummis. It might look like just another shawarma place on yonge st. but inside is where magic happens...well maybe not quite but they do make a pretty damn good shawarma and burger. So good in fact I've been ignoring my food blogging duties lately and just going back here. Great value and friendly service too. I think for cheap quick lunch downtown, Yummis is hard to beat.

The chicken shawarma ($4.99 + tax), I'd rank as one of the best downtown and the fact that it comes with a drink is just icing on the pie. Unlike most places that roll up their shawarmas, Yummis just stuffs the pita full of delicious chicken. They also put tzatziki sauce, mixed with I think dill, in the shawarma which gives it a unique taste compared to other places...but in a good way. So to sum up, reasons for trying the chicken shawarma at Yummis? Cheap, tasty, big, and comes with drink. Reasons not to? None.

Another one of their offerings is the Yummis burger ($4.99 + tax, cheese extra $0.50) though this one doesn't come with a drink. It's just a simple massive 10oz unpretentious burger for $5...what's not to like? I don't think I've seen hamburger buns that big before and the pictures really don't do it justice, it's alot bigger than it looks in the pictures. Even though the patty is so big, the meat wasn't dry at all and much like the shawarma, gets the thumbs up.

Cheap and tasty...now if they just had a bunch of busty asian waitresses I'd I've died and gone to heaven but even still, Yummis is probably one of my favourite lunch spots downtown.

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Yummis burger with cheese

Yummis
646 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

CJ Lunch Box

2009-11-25T00:01:00.012-05:00

shrimp tempura roll / dumplings

Just off of Spadina on Richmond St. is CJ Lunch Box and it's exactly like how the name sounds...well I guess except for that CJ part. First, LUNCH, this place mainly caters to the lunch crowd, their hours are really limited like from 11am - 3pm. Second, BOX, all the food comes in plastic boxes...sushi, sashimi, edamame, dumplings, and any other japanese food that can fit neatly into them. That just leaves CJ which...??? but who knows or cares when the sushi is this cheap and I mean like dirt cheap. None of their rolls cost over $4 for at least 8 decent sized pieces (and not just the crappy ones like cucumber roll). Also inside is not so much like a restaurant or even a takeout counter but more like a mini supermarket where you pick out your boxes of cheap food and then bring them to the cashier to pay.

I randomly picked out a box of tempura shrimp roll ($?.??) and a box of 10 dumplings ($?.??). Don't really remember what they cost individually but together the total was $8.50 with tax so I'd guess the roll was around $3.75? and the dumplings $4. This obviously isn't the highest quality stuff here but for that price I'm not complaining and I was satisfied with my $4 sushi. The dumplings were decent too and they also heat up them for you which is a nice touch. So overall, cheap? and sushi? I like it.

CJ Lunch Box
403 Richmond St.
Toronto, ON
Rating: /

Green Thai Viet Thai Fusion

2009-11-15T23:47:00.040-05:00

thai red curry with beef brisket, roti / vietnamese assorted plate

Yep, that's no typo, for some reason they felt the need to include the word thai twice. Green Thai Viet Thai Fusion is on bayview just north of highway 7 in richmond hill. When I heard about their free curry crab promotion (when you spend $45) I was all over that like an asian family on free samples at costco. So I rounded up some friends and off we went. I like curry crab and I like free, so together it must be amazing right? right? ...well let's just say life doesn't always work like that and if it didn't work for twinkies on pizza, it might not work here.

We had to order enough to get to $45 so we started with an appetizer, vietnamese assorted plate ($12.99 + tax) which came with 2 satay sticks of beef, chicken, and shrimp, 2 tiny ass spring rolls, and some shrimp paste on sugarcane. The meat was kind of greasy and while it didn't taste bad there was absolutely no way that was worth the $13...a trend we quickly discovered.

deep fried chicken in pandang leaves, thai royal pineapple fried rice / curry pad thai

Thai red curry with beef brisket ($6.99 + tax) with roti (3.25 + tax) lacked meat and was mostly just alot of filler like celery. Deep fried chicken in pandang leaves ($9.99 + tax) were pieces of chicken that were like half fried and half boiled which wasn't too bad but any sort of fried chicken is automatically good by default. The main complaint with that dish was that it was annoying peeling off the leaves to get to the chicken. Thai royal pineapple fried rice ($8.99 + tax), the rice was mushy and I realize they had to make it fit in the pineapple but they still could have given a bit more. The last dish to get the total up to $45 was the curry pad thai ($8.99 + tax) which just wasn't anything special at all and again on the small side.

Finally the curry crab ($free). The one thing that could have saved this dinner...sadly didn't. The crab was old/dead/frozen/whatever but it certainly wasn't fresh and the meat was sticking to the inside of the shell. The curry itself wasn't too bad...but sauce alone couldn't save this dinner and I'd much rather to go Saigon Star for curry crab even if this one was free.

free curry crab

At first we were worried we wouldn't be able to eat $45 worth of food and a free crab but by the end of it we actually were still a little hungry (well at least me anyway haha). Overall just not worth the price. I don't mind paying more if it tastes good but the dishes here were just mediocre and combined with the small portion sizes, Green Thai Viet Thai Fusion gets a thumbs down. So just goes to show that the old saying holds true...if it sounds too good to be true, make lemonade.

Green Thai Viet Thai Fusion
8750 Bayview Ave
Richmond Hill, ON
RATING:

Ho Ga Oriental Cuisine

2009-11-14T16:04:00.025-05:00

bulgogi and tempura / chicken katsu

Another lunch in the PATH, this time to Ho Ga in the Standard Life building...not to be confused with the similar sounding Ho-Shim in First Canadian Place. Their menu of takeout japanese and korean food also practically identical to Ho-Shim's but with some key differences...actually just one, Ho Ga has chicken katsu! (and fish)

I wanted to do a comparison with Ho-Shim so I got the bulgogi and tempura ($5.97 + tax). Portions were smaller than Ho-Shim's but the coleslaw and noodles were slightly better. The bulgogi didn't have alot of flavour but at least they gave me more than two pieces lol. The tempura however was much better, the shrimp was decent enough for food court standards and the potato tempura was actually cooked all the way through. My friend justin got the chicken katsu ($5.53 + tax) which came with the same rice, noodles, coleslaw and also two fried dumplings. The dumplings were just ok and so was the chicken. It's certainly no FMP food court katsu though...

In my opinion better than Ho Shim but still nothing special.

Ho Ga Oriental Cuisine (in the standard life building)
121 King St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Le Cafe Michi

2009-11-12T16:54:00.026-05:00

beef curry rice / trifle

Another authentic japanese restaurant...Le Cafe Michi is by Sheppard/Pharmacy in scarborough (same plaza as Lin Garden). It's a small place with a few tables at the front and then a few more in the back with the sushi bar. The sushi here is supposed to be good but I wasn't really feeling it and decided to just go with one of their lunch combos. The interesting thing about the lunch combos here is that they come dessert....and just not some crappy orange slices, I mean real dessert...I guess with being a cafe and all they have quite the selection with stuff like green tea cake among many others.

Me being me, I of course got the beef curry rice combo ($13.50 + tax/tip) which came with salad, this appetizer trio thing, the curry, dessert, and tea (tea is otherwise extra). Some of the combos come with miso soup too but mine wasn't one of them. Unfortunately no pictures of the appetizer which was a trio of some tofu skin, some sort of spinach, and a small fried fish...all of which were ok. No katsu curry here so I had to settle for beef curry which also had some carrots and potatoes in it. Portion size was kind of small, the quality of the beef wasn't the best, and the flavour of the curry was lacking...needless to say I wasn't very impressed with the curry here.

For dessert you get to pick so I got a trifle. Layers of fruit, whipped cream, custard, and sponge cake...I'm not too big on desserts but this was pretty good. I was still kind of hungry after the curry but after polishing off that trifle I was definitely full.

Even though the curry was disappointing, this is probably another case of me not picking one of their better dishes. They seem to get alot of good reviews so I'll have to go back again and probably give their sushi a try...but at least that trifle was tasty.

Le Cafe Michi
1802 Pharmacy Ave
Scarborough, ON
RATING:

Joe's Hamburgers

2009-11-10T22:49:00.030-05:00

big joe's burger combo with fries

Joe's Hamburgers is located just north of Yonge/Elgin Mills in the plaza beside the Leon's. Despite the name, they don't just serve burgers and are actually probably more well known for their shawarmas. Another one of those unassuming places that don't look like much on the outside but on the inside....well the inside isn't that great either but the food...amazing!

I knew exactly what I wanted which was the shawarma combo ($9.70 + tax, $6.70 + tax for the shawarma alone). Shawarma in a wrap/pita, fries (I opted for onion rings), and a drink. Even though it's just a shawarma and you could go somewhere else and get one for like half the price, trust me it's worth every cent here. First thing to note is, it's huge, in fact it puts all other shawarma places to shame. To shame! Second, great selection of toppings, with all the regulars including pickled turnips (Y) but also some other stuff like cooked onions and coleslaw which as strange as it sounds goes really well with it. Third...the chicken! Tastes great and they really don't cheap out on it, even down to the last bite it's still packed with chicken.

The Big Joe's Burger combo ($7.95 + tax, $4.85 + tax for the Big Joe's Burger alone) comes with a 1/2lb burger, drink, and fries. Even though I only tried a bite, I was really surprised with the quality of the burger which despite being a big 1/2lb patty was still very juicy and flavourful. The fries are also homemade and highly recommended. Actually they're so good I think I have to repeat that...get the fries! The onion rings though weren't anything too special but I still thought they were good...but I love onion rings so I always think they're good lol.

Maybe a little expensive for what it is but I think the price is definitely worth it considering the quality and amount of food you get. I'd rank it as one of my favourite shawarma places in the GTA and can't wait to go back to try one of their burgers for myself...which is hopefully soon...hopefully very soon.

shawarma combo with onion rings

Joe's Hamburgers
10825 Yonge St.
Richmond Hill, ON
RATING:

Konichiwa Japanese Restaurant

2009-11-09T01:40:00.010-05:00

katsu curry rice

Konichiwa Japanese Restaurant is in that group of restaurants on Baldwin St. (east of spadina, between college and dundas) and one of the few places in Toronto for authentic japanese food. It's a small place so there aren't that many tables and they really cram them together...so if you're planning to rob that bank, probably not the best place to talk about it here. I first went here a few years ago and had a pretty decent bowl of ramen but haven't been back since then.

As part of the ongoing search for the best japanese curry in Toronto I had some high hopes for this place...maybe a bit too high. Though not the cheapest place to have lunch the katsu curry rice here is ($12.95 + tax/tip) which I thought was pretty expensive for a plate of curry (well for my cheapass standards anyway). With the usual pork cutlet, rice curry, comes some steamed vegetables and the red pickled...something. Points for the red stuff which I personally like and not every place gives. The pork was alright, maybe a bit thick for my liking, but other than that no complaints. The curry however was disappointing and I found lacked alot of flavour especially compared to some other places. Overall just not worth the price.

Konichiwa gets alot of positive reviews from people so maybe the curry just isn't one of their star dishes...and that bowl of ramen I had years ago was pretty good so I can't say stay away entirely but I definitely wouldn't recommend the curry here.

Konichiwa Japanese Restaurant
31 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON
RATING: for the curry but maybe a given everything else

Green Fusion

2009-11-07T01:05:00.025-05:00

pork banh mi / pork and spring roll vermicelli

Fuuuuuusion haa...well I'm sure some of you got that. Green Fusion, formerly known as Ginger 2, is at Yonge/Gerrard and serves decently priced decently tasting vietnamese food. Half takeout half restaurant style, you order at the front, they give you a cardboard number, you go sit down, and then you get to watch them try and find where the hell you're sitting. Maybe not the best system but at least you don't have to leave any tip. Forks, spoons, knife, chopsticks, napkins are at another counter on the side...and not to mention the freee tap water!

Just looking to grab a quick bite I got Green Fusion's take on the banh mi, the "Specialty Vietnamese Jumbo Sub" ($2.85 + tax). No comment on the name lol but it's much different from the chinatown ones. The meat is grilled and you have your choice of pork/beef/chicken...and of course I got the pork. This was like back in september so...but from what I can remember, too much bun, not enough filling, not that good.

What I usually come here to get is the pork and spring roll vermicelli ($5.95 + tax) which is always good. It's no different from other places...pork, spring roll, vermicelli...and of course the obligatory lettuce and cucumber hidden at the bottom to make the bowl look full. The pork was tasty and so was the spring roll...and then the rest is kind of hard to screw up so if it can pass those two tests it's good enough for me.

Green Fusion
403 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
RATING: ...though some dishes are better than others

Tokyo Kitchen

2009-11-03T01:05:00.004-05:00

beef curry with breaded chicken/ beef curry with omelette

Hidden on a side street close to the Bloor/Yonge intersection, Tokyo Kitchen opened up again after going through renovation a while ago. This place is most popular with its curry rice along with other authentic Japanese dishes. One important note is that this place does not exactly have an exact operating hours, but what I know for sure is that they close quite early, probably around 7:30pm – 8:00pm (is it a Japanese custom to close early? Seems like they all close before 8 or 9, which is too early for my liking). It was fortunate that I had an early dinner that day or else I would have missed this place AGAIN.

I ordered the special of the day, which was beef curry with breaded chicken($8.95 + tax), and my girlfriend ordered the beef curry with omelette ($7.95 + tax). Both dishes also come with a side salad. Portion-wise, it falls in the average category, as every authentic Japanese restaurant seems to serve in smaller portions than one would expect. However, quality over quantity and Tokyo Kitchen is no stranger to this. The breaded chicken was to my liking, not very crispy and greasy with a decent thickness. The curry was quite thick and flavourful, with pieces of beef brisket within to give you added beef flavour on top. The rice is just right in my opinion, not too dry, moist and sticky. As for my girlfriend, she describes her beef curry with omelette as scrumptious, but it was just a layer of egg on top of the rice and the only difference between our dishes.

Tokyo Kitchen offers very good curry among the various authentic Japanese restaurants downtown. In fact, I believe that it is one of the best Japanese curry downtown aside from Tokyo Grill (need to revisit). My suggestion for you guys? Give both places a try. Some like Tokyo Grill, others like Tokyo Kitchen. Quite similar to Coke and Pepsi, don’t you think?

Tokyo Kitchen
20 Charles St. E
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Le Petit Dejeuner

2009-11-02T23:35:00.006-05:00

Eggs Florentine with Sautéed Spinach / Toast/ Eggs AAA Sterling

A little brunch joint located west of Jarvis on King Street, Le Petit Dejeuner offers by far the best eggs benedict in Toronto. I actually found this place online as I was looking for eggs benedict so it is not only me who agrees with this. The restaurant itself is quite small in size (as it is an independently owned store), so seating is limited. As a matter of fact, when I went on a weekend, I had to wait for about 20-30 minutes just to get a seat. Also, they stop serving the breakfast menu after 3:00 pm so be prepared to go earlier or else you might miss out on the bennys. If you are unfortunate enough to miss the brunch, they also offer a dinner menu which includes pasta, sandwiches and steak along with a few fancy entrees such as duck confit.

I ordered the eggs florentine with sauteed spinach ($12.95 + tax) while my girlfriend ordered the eggs AAA sterling ($16 + tax). Having overheard that their french toast ($1.50 + tax) was supposedly very good, we tried that as well. Not being particular biased, the eggs florentine remained my second favourite below the AAA sterling, and it remained consistently good. The english muffins on the bottom were soft and warm while the poached egg was cooked just right, with the yolk still runny. Then, they are topped off with a very thick Hollandaise sauce. The eggs benedicts come with an apple coleslaw on the side too, which I think just adds a bit more variety of flavours to the dish. The eggs AAA sterling has a 6 oz rib eye steak between the english muffins and I definitely recommend everyone to give it a try. The steak was very tender and marinated well. Combined with the Hollandaise sauce and poached eggs equals to my favourite eggs benedict so far. My only negative comments about the eggs benedicts is probably the fact that they don’t come with a lot of Hollandaise sauce and their hash brown always seems to be cold and hard. Unfortunately, the toast was a disappointment. It tasted average and similar to any other restaurants (shouldn’t have eavesdropped on other people’s opinions).

So, for everyone who decides to have brunch downtown, a trip to Le Petit Dejeuner is a must. Don’t believe me? Check out their website, they have been reviewed by numerous other food critics and the results are the same. Le Petit Dejeuner is a place for all Eggs Benedict enthusiasts or just a nice decent place for brunch. Bon Appetit!

Le Petit Dejeuner
191 King St. E
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Over Easy

2009-10-30T01:01:00.006-04:00

the big breakfast

Brunch has always been a favourite of mine (assuming that I actually wake up for it), and Over Easy is a popular location located on Bloor between St.George and Avenue. Being close to the UofT campus and Yorkville, I noticed a lot of students and business people upon walking in. Also, realizing that it IS located on Bloor and close to Yorkville, I did expect the prices to be higher (which I was correct). The menu includes your typical breakfast/brunch dishes along with a few different ones, which you will read in a moment.

I ordered the big breakfast ($10.99 + tax), which consists of 3 eggs (any style), 3 sausages, homes fries, baked beans, pancake and 2 slices of bread. This may sound a lot but I must say, I wasn’t stuffed when I finished my meal. Taste-wise, it was only average in my opinion, having the same quality as any other brunch places around town. One thing I thought was different, though, was the baked beans, an odd addition to a brunch meal. My girlfriend ordered the skillet ($9.99 + tax) and this was something different that you don’t really see in other places. This dish contains green peppers, onions, sausages, mushrooms, potatoes and cheese mixed together into a plate topped off with 2 sunny side up eggs. Somewhat out of the ordinary, this dish tasted… funny… is what I would describe it. To me, it tasted like an oriental dish with its green peppers and onions and mushrooms, but yet, there are sunny side up eggs and cheese. However, overall, my girlfriend thought that it tasted weird but for those who are willing to try, this might be good.

Over Easy is a decent brunch place if you are ever in the area. Actually, there isn’t a lot of restaurants along that strip of Bloor to begin with, making Over Easy the ONLY brunch place in the area, unless you include the uber-expensive Yorkville restaurants. With your choices being limited, Over Easy does become a nice place to have brunch with your friends and family.

the skillet

Over Easy
208 Bloor St. W.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Update: I realized that I'm quite unfamiliar with the brunch scene as numerous other places also serve baked beans and the skillet. Oh well, mistake learned.

Ali Baba's

2009-10-29T14:47:00.015-04:00

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Buy 1 get 1 free falafels on tuesdays

Ali Baba's has a few locations around Toronto but I usually go to the one at Church/Dundas close to the south side of Ryerson. They have a different special for every day of the week that you can see here with Tuesdays being the best in my opinion. Buy 1 get 1 free falafel wraps/sandwiches for $3.99 + tax...hard to beat that value and they taste decent too. Nothing too special though and this is more of a value pick more than anything. Individually they're kind of small and wouldn't be worth it if you were only getting one but with 2 of them you'll be full for under $5.

Overall Ali Baba's isn't bad but really only worth it if you get the daily special....so if you don't like the special that day then I say go somewhere else.

Ali Baba's
229 Church St.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Ho-Shim

2009-10-27T02:17:00.013-04:00

chicken teriyaki

In the PATH by First Canadian Place is Ho-Shim right beside/connected to Acko Lounge. Offering a small menu of takeout japanese and korean food, everything there pretty much follows the formula of meat + rice + sides in a box.

I ordered the chicken teriyaki and tempura combo ($5.99 + tax) which was a heavy box of food but after opening it up and moving all the tempura to one side I found they only gave me 2 pieces of chicken! The quality of the chicken was actually pretty good thought and so was the shrimp tempura but the vegetable tempura were cut too thick and wasn't quite cooked all the way through. For the sides I got the standard noodles and coleslaw which were alright but could have used a bit more flavour...and of course the rice tasted like rice. Justin/facebook group manager/important businessman opted for the regular chicken teriyaki ($4.99 + tax) with some broccoli as his side but at least he got a proper amount of chicken.

(and no theories on why you might have gotten more...jerk lol)

2 PIECES OF CHICKEN???

Ho-Shim (in the PATH)
100 King St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Stix n Stones Bar and Grill

2009-10-26T23:13:00.010-04:00

buffalo chicken fingers

Been a little while but anyway....an important business meeting to conduct some big business led me to Stix n Stones Bar and Grill by King & Spadina. It's pretty much like an upscale looking sports bar...so I guess it's like what you'd expect a sports bar to look like in King West. The food isn't any different though and it's more or less the same old stuff. Service was also kind of slow and a little unorganized...just a hunch here but I'm guessing some of these waitresses were probably hired for reasons other than their amazing waitressesing abilities.

I got the buffalo chicken fingers ($11.99 + tax/tip) which were pretty much in line with my expectations...5 farily big chicken fingers and fries but nothing too special. Everyone else also played it safe and ordered the classic burger with bacon ($?.?? + tax/tip) - ok, classic cheesebuger (just imagine the same picture with cheese instead of bacon), and chicken fingers ($10.99 + tax/tip). I'd actually prefer the regular chicken fingers as the hot sauce on mine caused them to lose their crispiness and it was just generic hot sauce anyway. The lattice/waffle fries were an extra $1.20...but everyone else was doing it so yea, somehow we all ended up getting them...good ol peer pressure though they were pretty decent.

(Wey says: those waitresses were hired for 2 very big reasons)

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classic burger with bacon / chicken fingers

Stix n Stones Bar and Grill
401 King St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Tai Ping Hsiang

2009-10-21T01:02:00.004-04:00

Fried pork chop rice w/ “four seasons” beans, marinated pork and fried tofu

Aside from the conquest of finding the best beef noodle soup, you might remember that at MyAmazingFoodBlog, there is also a search for the best fried pork chop rice. I dethroned Chin Yuan Pai Ku awhile ago, so the next contender is Tai Ping Hsiang which coincidentally, it’s right beside Chin Yuan Pai Ku. Several times (three to be exact) I drove past this place looking to give it a shot, but it was closed every time. When I finally got the chance to go when it was opened I understood why. The place is extremely small, with only 4 tables and works mainly on takeouts. They also have limited daily ingredients and will close early if everything is sold out before closing (they usually close at 9 but I went at 8:00-8:30 before and they were closed).

Onto the fried pork chop rice ($6.25 + tax), which spoiling it for you guys, is the current champion of fried pork chop rice. The best part is that it comes with 3 side dishes of your choosing (there’s about 9 different side dishes ranging from boiled vegetables to marinated meat). The fried pork chop itself was not greasy nor dry, a true achievement comparing with other restaurants. It wasn’t thin as well so I would consider it a decent quality for fried pork chops. On the other hand, the rice portions is rather low so expect to finish the rice before the meat (especially for you, Gabe). Other than that, I have nothing to complain about this place.

All in all, Tai Ping Hsiang is definitely worth going and I encourage everyone to give it a try. Other than the fried pork chop rice there are also numerous other Taiwanese dishes (popcorn chicken for one) which seems to be pretty good. Be prepare to go early though or else you might not be able to enjoy it.

another closer look

Tai Ping Hsiang
3636 Steeles Ave E
Markham, ON
RATING:

Chicken & Noodles Chinese Restaurant

2009-10-19T20:28:00.004-04:00

Noodle in spicy peanut butter soup/ Fried slice glutinous cake/ Taiwanese A Choy

The search for the best beef noodle soup in Toronto continues as I ventured into this place Jon’s dad recommended before. Located at the intersection of Glen Watford and Sheppard, Chicken & Noodles Chinese Restaurant first surprised me by its name. Considering that it’s called “chicken & noodles”, how would the beef noodle taste good? I would say that from the name, the chicken would be better tasting.

Still, I sat down and ordered a variety of dishes. One thing to note about this place is that the dishes were quite inexpensive, cheaper than your average Chinese restaurant. The noodle in spicy peanut butter soup ($3.50 + tax) is what I ordered aside from the beef noodle soup while my girlfriend ordered the fried slice glutinous cake ($5.95 + tax) and Taiwanese A Choy ($6.95 + tax). The peanut butter soup was decent, but I would prefer if the soup was thicker. On the other hand, the glutinous cake was quite chewy and to my liking. The Taiwanese A Choy was the least favourite, mainly due to the fact that the A Choy wasn’t authentic Taiwanese A Choy to begin with (according to my girlfriend) and it was overcooked.

At last, beef noodle soup

Finally, the beef noodle soup ($4.95 + tax). To be honest, the beef noodle soup was not good. The only decent thing about this dish is the beef, which was very tender (possibly because it was beef shank). The noodles, however, tasted like udon and the texture is below average comparing with other noodles. To top it off, there weren’t a lot of pieces of beef, disproportioning the ratio.

So, if you’re in the area and looking for something cheap but average, give Chicken & Noodle Chinese Restaurant a try. You get what you paid for, and for sure I’ll be looking somewhere else to satisfy my taste buds.

Chicken & Noodle Chinese Restaurant
1 Glen Watford Drive
Scarborough, ON
RATING:

Kathy's Corner

2009-10-14T00:25:00.011-04:00

2 half eaten 1/4 chicken leg dinners...gonna have to use your imagination for this one

Hunger got the best of me this time so you're gonna have to use a little imagination for the pictures.....so uhh just imagine the chicken, rice, and potatoes from picture 1 with the salad from picture 2 all in one box... and yea that's what it should look like.

But anyway, Kathy's Corner, at Mutual/Dundas and close to the south end of campus for any Ryerson students. They don't offer alot here, it's pretty much chicken and....well actually it's just chicken. There aren't many seats either but the chicken is good and the food is cheap...good enough for me!

I got the 1/4 chicken leg dinner ($5.00 + tax) which is salad, rice, potatoes, and a chicken leg. The chicken is always moist, always tasty, I don't think I've had a bad piece of chicken here. Everything else, the rice, potatoes, and salad, are all pretty no frills (kind of like the restaurant) but they taste decent enough and for $5.65 it's a solid box of food.

damn trees...

Kathy's Corner
139 Dundas St. E
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Yummy BBQ

2009-10-07T00:19:00.017-04:00

Yummy BBQ Special / kalbi

Meat meat meat meat meat meat...Yummy BBQ is a korean restaurant just south of yonge / wellesley. There's only one reason why I come here and that's for their Yummy BBQ special which is pretty much everything off the menu all on one plate. Maybe not as intimidating as it sounds it's still quite a bit of food.

The Yummy BBQ Special (11.99 + tax/tip) is meat, and meat, with more meat. Actually it's short ribs, BBQ chicken, bulgogi, zucchini tempura, 2 fried dumplings, macaroni salad, and 2 bosoms of rice...and there's usually coleslaw too which missing that day. The meat was tender and flavourful...and well everything after that was kind of a meaty blur but it all tasted pretty good. Even if just the novelty of eating a few days worth of meat in one meal, I'd recommend it.

Friends got the kalbi (8.75 + tax/tip) - good, kimchi fried rice (6.00 + tax/tip) - ok, and the lunch special which was just some stir-fried meat and vegetables (4.?? + tax/tip) - bad. So overall as a restaurant it's a little all over the place and you have to pick wisely...but I guess that's why we're here.

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lunch special / kimchi fried rice

Yummy BBQ
522 Yonge St
Toronto, ON
RATING: some good, some bad, so overall a

Daybreak

2009-10-06T03:03:00.013-04:00

Eggs Benedict/Mushroom-Chicken Crepe

Jon recommended this place to me one day when I was feeling for brunch. Located in the southeast corner of Church and Carlton, this restaurant offers decent food at an above average portion for a breakfast joint. Just to note about this particular place is that it seems to be independently owned (not a franchise like Cora’s or Sunset Grill) and EVERY dish you order (aside from pancakes) comes with two complementary pancakes (thumbs up for that!).

Feeling hungry as I walked in, I decided to order the Eggs Benedict (recommended by Jon at $8.95 + tax) while my girlfriend ordered the Mushroom-Chicken Crepe ($9.95 + tax). The eggs benedict was average, as I have tried better ones elsewhere (more on that later). It came with fries as a side dish, but that was dry and I didn’t really like it. My girlfriend’s crepe was very creamy, with bits of mushrooms, chicken and vegetables. I personally liked the creamy taste of the crepe, but my girlfriend thinks that it’s too creamy and it was a bit cold. Otherwise, the taste was good for the crepe.

So, if you’re ever in the area, give this place a try. However, a Cora’s opened up closed to it recently on Carlton. The choice is yours.

Daybreak
399 Church St.
Toronto, ON
RATING: Breaking the rules for this one… between and

Pita Q

2009-10-06T02:43:00.019-04:00

beef shawarma

Pita Q at the corner of Bloor/Spadina is your pretty typical shawarma place, beef/chicken/falafel, reasonably priced, and close to the north west part campus if you go to UofT. Met up with my friend Gabe and split their 2 shawarma deal.

2 shawarmas for uhh well it works out to be $9.00 incl tax...so $4.50 each, not bad. I got the beef and he got the chicken. The beef was ok...well actually it was ok for a beef shawarma but that's not saying very much as most places do a pretty bad beef shawarma so I set the bar pretty low. Topping selection was decent but I found it to assembled kind of top heavy with all the meat at the top and all the toppings at the bottom. So overall...taste wise it was ok, portion size a little small, but it does cost less than $5 so at least that's a plus there.

Pita Q
750 Spadina Ave (at Bloor)
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Nguyen Huong

2009-10-06T01:46:00.020-04:00

Banh mi, Viet subs, ambiguous meat buns...whatever you want to call it, they're one of the best meals $1.75 can buy and Nguyen Huong is the best place to get them at. Located in chinatown just north of dundas/spadina, just look for the yellow sign. Better than Mcdonalds, better than street meet, better than alot of things...if you're on a budget or just plain cheap, this is the ultimate cheap lunch.

Banh mi ($1.75 no tax) comes in spicy or non spicy. I usually get the non spicy and it's what I got that day. Inside there's pickled radish, pickled carrots, pâté, cilantro, some sort of special butter and uhh the meat! But if you're wondering what kind of meat it is, I don't know...I'm not even 100% sure what animal it comes from (though I'm pretty sure it's all pig) but trust me it tastes delicious. They were a little skimpy on the meat though and it's usually packed with alot more.

Cheap, tasty, unidentifiable meat? If that's not a winning combination I don't know what is...side note, I practically lived off these for a week once and I'm still not sick of them, in fact that was one of the greatest weeks ever.

qq
banh mi

Nguyen Huong
322 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON
RATING: the very prestigious

Famous BBQ Express

2009-10-04T02:48:00.008-04:00

bulgogi / chicken on a bun

Famous BBQ Express (Queen/Peter)...where else can you get bulgogi, souvlaki, burgers, and chicken all in one place? Food might not be of the highest quality but you sure do get alot of it and the service is always friendly. Probably the best way to describe the food Famous BBQ Express is a pile of meat sitting on top of an even bigger pile of starch...kind of like a starchy mountain with meaty snowcap.

That day I got the bulgogi ($7.99 + tax). Salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, fries, rice, meat all on one plate. That's right, 3 kinds of starch...not quite sure what the logic there is but it does fill you up. The salad, coleslaw, and pasta salad are nothing special, the fries I'm pretty sure are from Costco, rice is rice, and the bulgogi was like a poor man's version of bulgogi at best...but still, it doesn't taste bad and at least you'll walk away full...that is assuming you can still walk after that.

Friends all opted for one of the specials, chicken on a bun ($5.99 + tax) which wasn't very good as the chicken was apparently very dry. I've had a similar experience with their steak on a bun so I'd recommend sticking with one of their starchy mountains.

Famous BBQ Express
385 Queen St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Pizza 2 Go

2009-10-01T21:31:00.004-04:00

terrible picture / pepperoni pizza

Pizza 2 Go is located inside Union Station (front/between bay and york) across from the LCBO and used to be the place 2 go (eh? ehh? come on) for a quick cheap slice of pizza....key phrase there being used to be. It used to work out to be a dollar a slice plus a drink but now it's 1 slice and a drink for $3.00 tax incl. or 2 slices and a drink for $4.00 tax incl. ...and like before you still can't get a slice without a drink.

The pizza is nothing special, it never was but the point was that it was cheap...now not so much anymore and you're probably better off just going to the mcdonalds right next door. Though if you have a friend to split with, their medium pizza for $5.00 tax incl. is still a decent deal and a pretty good snack during exam time for any Ryerson students with exams at the MTCC.

The difference a dollar can make...or maybe I'm just being cheap.

Pizza 2 Go (in Union Station)
65 Front St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING: overall but the medium for $5 gets a

RaviSoups

2009-09-28T02:20:00.017-04:00

curried lamb wrap

I had some extra time to kill before class so I decided to make my way over to RaviSoups on Adelaide between Peter and John. Despite their somewhat out of the way location, they seem to have a pretty big following and I can see why. The menu is pretty limited, 5 kinds of soups and 4 kinds of wraps...but what they do they do well.

I got the curried lamb wrap ($8.99 + tax) which also came with a small side salad. In the wrap there were roasted yams, baby spinach, mango pineapple salsa, mint cilantro chutney, and of course the curried lamb. Now I know that all sounds pretty pretentious and yuppie but it actually all worked together and tasted delicious. The lamb especially had a nice strong curry flavour that was balanced out by the sweetness of the yams.

I've also tried the roasted pork shoulder wrap on a previous visit which was also very good. Though I forgot to try one of their soups this time (which I've heard are also all delicious) I'll definitely be getting one next time and probably get a wrap and soup combo ($10.99 + tax).

RaviSoups
322 Adelaide St. West
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Toong Korean Restaurant

2009-09-27T17:46:00.006-04:00

Beef Ribs/ Spicy Rice Cake

First of all, I must apologize for my lack of updates. I’ve just been very busy with my own things for the past few weeks that I never had time to review (plus I broke my iphone and lost all my pictures). Basically, I couldn’t write anything for a while since I had nothing to write about.

Anyways, a dinner with my university friends brought us to Toong, located around the Yonge and Finch area. We ordered 2 combos that include a dish and either 5 beers or soju, which is korean vodka in my opinion). One was the table cooking beef ribs with 5 beers (32.99 + tax) and the other was the rice cake with a soju (25.99 + tax). I can honestly say, both of the dishes were mediocre at best. The meat wasn’t as thick and juicy as it should be and the rice cake was your average korean rice cake. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary. The portion wasn’t a lot as well and we had to order a bibimbap (korean rice mixed, 7.99 + tax), which I forgot to take a picture until after I finished it. However, the bimbimbap was decent and better than the two previous dishes.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this place, especially since Nak Won (not sure about the spelling but it is another korean restaurant that has exactly the same stuff and more) is just right beside it. Hopefully, I’ll go to Nak Won soon.

Toong Korean Restaurant
5588 Yonge St.
North York, ON

RATING: (the bibimbap saved it, and because it's not SO bad that it deserves worse)

Yueh Tung Restaurant

2009-09-27T02:10:00.012-04:00

manchurian chicken / chili chicken....or is it the other way around

Back to school and back to being downtown so this is hopefully the first of many posts covering the area....unless I of course get that swine flu. But anyway, Yueh Tung is located right behind city hall off of Dundas, upstairs above some japanese restaurants. Always busy with nearby office workers, Yueh Tung is the place to go for a quick...big greasy plate of meat and rice. Pretty well known for their chili chicken, it's what I always get whenever I go.

We ordered a plate of the usual, chili chicken and rice ($6.25 + tax/tip) and also a manchurian chicken and rice ($6.25 + tax/tip). Both look exactly the same don't they? That's because they pretty much are with the exception that the chili chicken has onions and the manchurian chicken doesn't (finally settling an argument between me and my friend). The chili chicken here is usually pretty consistent, always a generous portion of chicken, rice, and grease...maybe a bit too generous on the grease though. It's definitely not something you want to be eating that often or before class (or you're going to sleep through it or spend it in the washroom).

Yueh Tung Restaurant
126 Elizabeth St.
Toronto, ON
RATING: ...unless you love grease then it's

Tasty House

2009-09-23T23:29:00.015-04:00

grapefruit bubble tea / black milk tea...bubble tea

Bubble tea? First Markham food court? Again? I'm pretty sure I just did one of these...but anyway it was Tasty House's turn this time after my usual pork katsu dinner. In the corner right beside the other bubble tea shop - Fruitti Mix, Tasty House is the one with the bright green neon sign and the big red banner advertising their "10th" anniversary special, all bubble tea $2.50 + tax (I think it's been their 10th anniversary for like the past 3 years lol).

I just got the usual, black milk tea with tapioca while my friend Justin chose to try something different this time and got a grapefruit bubble tea. Black milk tea is usually all the same no matter where you go and it's no exception here, pretty good but the tapioca I thought was too chewy. The grapefruit on the other hand wasn't good. Even though it did taste like grapefruit like I guess it should have...maybe it tasted a bit too much like grapefruit and wasn't sweet enough.

I'd say Tasty House is just slightly better than the bubble tea at Fruitti Mix though Fruitti Mix is cheaper....and anything is better than Rainbow.

Tasty House (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON
RATING: for value / for taste

369 Shanghai Dim Sum

2009-09-22T01:12:00.012-04:00

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beef noodle soup

Another meal, another bowl of beef noodle soup...this time at 369 Shanghai Dim Sum in Markham at Peachtree Centre/New Kennedy Square. Like the name suggests, they serve all the usual Shanghainese(?) stuff like steamed pork soup dumplings and whatnot....but I just went for lunch so I just got the noodles.

But anyway, a bowl of beef noodle soup here costs $6.25 + tax/tip. Beef was decent, nice and soft though they use the beef shank which some people might prefer but I personally don't. Soup was ok and I thought would have been better if it were a bit spicier. The noodles I thought had a good texture...but still just a pretty average bowl of beef noodle soup.

369 Shanghai Dim Sum (at Peachtree Centre/New Kennedy Square)
8380 Kennedy Rd
Markham, ON
RATING:

Made In China Hot Pot Restaurant

2009-09-20T02:18:00.016-04:00

the sauce tray / MEAT

Hot pot this time...Made In China Hot Pot in Scarborough close to Midland/Finch right beside the korean bbq place. A bit nicer looking than some of the other hot pot places I've been to, dinner on a weekend cost us $17.99 + tax/tip a person with drinks included (all you can iced tea/pop/plum juice). Late night menu is also offered after 10pm for $15.99 + tax/tip.

Selection was good with too many things to comment on individually but I'd say they had all the hot pot bases covered and then some. There was MEAT (beef/pork/chicken/lamb), BALLS (beef, fish, a different kind of fish...and a different kind of beef), innards (tripe, intestine, spam?), noodles (yellow noodles, udon), and vegetables (uhh green ones). We also got a one time plate of seafood, with oysters and shrimp and salmon and such. Selection for the sauces was also good though if you ever want to refill or make adjustments you have to ask for the tray back...and for the eggs.

I'm starting to sound repetitive here but the service was also pretty good...maybe a bit too good according to my friend Wey when they kept taking away his garbage plate lol. But other than that, servers were constantly refilling our drinks and pots (though only with water, not soup) and taking away empty trays. Another thing to note is this place has dessert because what's better than ice cream after eating like 10 plates of beef and lamb?

Overall I was pretty surprised with Made In China Hot Pot and would definitely consider returning....though not for a while...or anywhere with beef or lamb for that matter...no more meat...

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seafood plate / no more meat

Made In China Hot Pot Restaurant
3280 Midland Ave
Scarborough, ON
RATING:

Free Burger King breakfast sandwich - Friday Sept 18

2009-09-16T22:39:00.003-04:00

Pixel 8 Lounge

2009-09-14T01:34:00.027-04:00

Pixel 8 in Markham is a japanese ramen type place that also serves bubble tea...I think. To be honest I really didn't get a good look at the menu because I went there for one reason only, $6.99 prime rib. I love prime rib and I love being cheap so when I heard of this special I was all over this like icing on a pie. After a few delays I finally ended up going last week and it was certainly worth the wait.

The prime rib lunch special ($6.99 + tax/tip) comes with your choice of rice or ramen, black or green tea, and of course the prime rib...well you can just look at the picture. This wasn't advertised on the menu and was only shown on one of those plastic standing things that they had hidden by the counter which we had to ask for....so yea, they're kind of sneaky like that.

Just to be clear, this is a restaurant that mostly serves ramen and it's $6.99 so obviously this wasn't going to be steakhouse quality meat. So was it good? Well maybe not when you compare it to other places but other places don't sell their prime rib for $6.99 either. So I guess a better question is was it $6.99 good? And I'd say it sure was.

It came covered in a peppercorn sauce and was cooked fine though I'd probably ask for it rare next time instead of medium rare. The ramen was just ok, nothing special about it at all, but I'd still recommend it over the rice just for sheer value (unless you just love your rice). And finally the black tea...it wasn't black milk tea like I was expecting but at least it was still something other than water or hot tea.

So prime rib for $6.99? How can you go wrong? ....I guess unless you get sick.

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prime rib lunch special - black tea, ramen, prime rib

Pixel 8 Lounge
50 Bur Oak Ave.
Markham, ON

Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks

2009-09-13T23:48:00.008-04:00

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green milk tea with tapioca

A while ago I wrote about Fruitti Mix in the First Markham food court being the cheapest bubble tea I knew of ($2.25/tax in). Recently a new place, Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks (also in the First Markham food court), matched that price so of course I had to try. Now even though Fruitti Mix doesn't have the best bubble tea, it's cheap and it's tasty while Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks...well it's just cheap.

I got a green milk tea with tapioca ($2.00/tax in) which was actually cheaper than what was advertised. I assume price this also applies for black milk tea and the extra 25 cents is only for powdered flavours giving this place the title of cheapest bubble tea...but too bad it's not any good. The tea itself wasn't sweet at all and the tapioca was way too firm and chewy. A friend got a taro milk tea with tapioca ($2.25/tax in) which was also pretty bad, saying it tasted really powdery and wasn't mixed well enough.

So unless you're really cheap and need to save that 25 cents, I'd recommend Fruitti Mix over this place as the bubble tea here...prettay prettay preettaaaaay bad.

Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Day & Night Firewood Steakhouse

2009-09-10T21:49:00.010-04:00

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lobster soup

A few of us ended up going to Day & Night a little while ago for lunch. For pure value Day & Night does pretty well in that department as all of their lunch combos come with lobster soup, bread, and unlimited access to their all-you-can-salad bar (which some of us seemed to enjoy more than others lol). The salad bar itself isn't too special...it has...salad and just some random fruits and vegetables but there's just something about a buffet that makes you want to try and fit as much food as you can on a plate like so. Also did I mention it's unlimited?

all you can salad

I ended up getting some sort of....well I don't remember what it was called on the menu but it was pieces of cut up steak with pasta in a tomato sauce ($8.99 + tax/tip) which I ate like a quarter of and mixed all up before I remembered to take a picture. The pasta wasn't bad and neither was the steak though the pieces of meat were cut up pretty small so I wasn't able to judge that well the quality of the meat...but it was good enough for lunch. The rest of the guys all got the lunch special which was a steak with noodles in a tomato broth ($9.99 + tax/tip). This apparently wasn't very good though...something about steak sitting in a bowl of soup which I'd imagine not going well together.

semi eaten steak with pasta in tomato sauce / steak with noodles in tomato broth

Day & Night Firewood Steakhouse
2 Fenton Road
Markham, ON

Macau/Portuguese Food

2009-09-05T15:53:00.003-04:00

Hainanese Chicken

One day the guys and I went to a place recommended by one of our friends in the Peachtree Foodcourt. Apparently, this place has one of the best pork chop rice and the chef used to work for a hotel back in Macau (how he ended up in the foodcourt of a mediocre chinese mall will remain a mystery). I was about to order the pork chop rice as well until I saw the sign “Famous Hainanese Chicken Rice”. Sticking with the pact, I ordered the Hainanese Chicken ($5.99 + tax) in the end.

I was in a bit of a dilemma of what I would expect from this place. On one hand, it’s in the foodcourt so I don’t expect a lot, but on the other hand, it’s made by a chef who previously worked in a famous hotel in Macau, which means that it must be good. Anyways, the food came and I was surprised by a few things. First off, they gave me the chicken separately in a box, which means more quantity because they actually had to fill the box. The quality of the chicken was also very good, as it was tender and flavourful. The rice, however, was a bit too dry and did not have the genuine Hainanese Chicken rice that I would expect. There wasn’t a soup that came with the meal too, but that didn’t change what I think of this meal much. Overall, a good meal for the price that I paid, although I hope their rice would improve overtime.

Pork Chop Rice

On a separate note, Jon ordered the pork chop rice ($5.50 + tax) along with the rest of the guys. He highly recommends the rice as it has good quality, sauce and quantity. He was pretty full at the end of the meal and from what I observe, it is also a good meal for the price considering there was so much pork chop and rice in the dish.

Macau/Portuguese Food (Peachtree Center Foodcourt)
8392 Kennedy Street
Markham, ON

Queen Slice Pizza & Pita

2009-09-04T13:13:00.011-04:00

lamb plate / chicken shawarma plate

Students with classes around the south-west side of campus at UofT probably already know all about Queen Slice but anyway...the menu at Queen Slice is a strange mix of pizza, panzerottis, burgers, and shawarma but most people seem to just go for the shawarma plate. A decent place for a quick tasty lunch or for people watching the "interesting" business going on upstairs. (it's a whore house lol)

I got the lamb plate ($7.99 + tax, but I got it for $6.99), while Leo got the classic, #3, the chicken shawarma plate ($6.99 + tax). Both plates came with salad, rice, half a potato, and the meat all covered in hot sauce and their "special shawarma sauce" (thousand island dressing lol). The lamb was surprisingly decent, it was a nice sized lamb shank and the meat was pretty tender. I didn't try any of the chicken, which just looked like a bunch of chopped up chicken, but it gets Leo's seal of approval though he does warn it can be really greasy sometimes.

Queen Slice Pizza & Pita
177 College Street
Toronto, ON

Oriental Cafe

2009-09-04T12:41:00.012-04:00

chef special chunked beef noodle soup

Sadly with the great Mr. Sun's now closed, I now need to find a new place for my beef noodle soup fix and a definite contender for that role is Oriental Cafe located in Richmond Hill just north of Leslie/16th. They used to run a stall in the First Markham food court and apparently moved here a while ago.

Walking past the restaurant the first thing I noticed was a big yellow poster advertising their chef special chunked beef noodle in soup so of course I had to try that. From 12pm-6pm, it costs $7.25 + tax/tip but otherwise it's $7.99. The beef was good. Soft, not too fatty, no bad pieces. The soup was also pretty good and very flavorful. The noodles though were just ok and just like any other noodle you'd get elsewhere. So while they weren't terrible, they weren't anything special like Mr. Sun's.

We all got the beef noodle soup except for Leo. And Leo being Leo, he of course got the hainanese chicken ($7.25 + tax/tip). The rice according to Leo was very good, "creamy yet had that essense and smell and taste of hainanese chicken". But the chicken was too rough and dry and disappointing compared to the rice.

Though a little expensive for what it is, the beef noodle soup here is very good and I'd definitely return.....but it's still no Mr. Sun's.

haianese chicken

Oriental Cafe
9425 Leslie Street
Richmond Hill, ON

HKS BBQ & Noodle House

2009-08-29T01:15:00.002-04:00

Roasted Duck & Soy Chicken Rice (w/ Sunflower Tea)

Another day, another dinner at First Markham Place foodcourt. I must say, this foodcourt is by far one of the best places to eat because of its prices and quantity. Speaking of which, HKS BBQ & Noodle House is most famous for its large amounts of food (not just rice) while maintaining a decent quality every time. This is my usual place for my chicken, duck, roasted pig and etc as it has never disappointed me for the past 9 or 10 years (and continuing). Also, if you order near closing time, SOMETIMES they give you a bit more stuff depending on what they have left.

The day that I went I got the roasted duck & soy chicken rice ($6.25 tax included), and it always comes with a complimentary drink (soy milk or sunflower tea) or soup. I went close to closing hours and they ran out of roasted pig or else I would’ve got that (their roasted pig is better than their duck). Usually, their roasted duck is too bony and skinny and I never get enough meat out of them, but surprisingly, the duck was pretty good this time, not skinny at all. The soy chicken has been consistently good throughout the years, so that was normal for me. Although the quality is not what you would expect from actual sit-in restaurants, it does its job for a fast-food place. It tastes different from the average place, but not worse, just slightly different. It doesn't bother me at all and I’m sure it won’t bother the rest of you guys.

So, if you ever wonder into the foodcourt feeling some BBQ pork or anything else, HKS BBQ & Noodle House is the place to go. There is another place two stores beside it, but DO NOT try that. I tried it once when it opened up and it was no match for HKS BBQ & Noodle House. The meat is dry and the quantity is less. HKS BBQ & Noodle House: GOOD. Other place: BAD. Bon appetit.

Rating: 8.5/10

HKS BBQ & Noodle House (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Mei Nung Beef Noodle House

2009-08-29T00:31:00.003-04:00

beef noodle soup (S $5.99/L $6.99)

NOT VERY GOOD. GO TO MR. SUN'S.

Mei Nung Beef Noodle House
3229 Highway 7 East, Unit 7
Markam, ON

Ho Garden

2009-08-25T12:26:00.007-04:00

toast, eggs, instant noodles with ham / I have no idea what that is

One day Leo had an appointment early in the morning and decided to wake our lazy asses up so we settled on going for some cheap chinese breakfast. Of course for us, the temporarily unemployed, early is like 11am so we ended up going the closest place possible, Ho Garden, just to make it there right before breakfast ended at 11:30. This was pretty early for me so details are a little hazy.

I got uhh some sort of breakfast combo, which came with toast, 2 fried eggs, and instant noodles with ham ($4.95 + tax). Most amazing breakfast ever? No, but for $5 I'm not complaining and it definitely hit the spot. Leo got a different breakfast combo which came with oatmeal and a scrambled egg sandwich ($3.95 + tax) which he thought was just ok and regretted not getting my combo. Our last friend Wey got....I have no idea what he got but it was some sort of noodles in soup with chicken and a whole bunch of other stuff ($4.95 + tax). Didn't look very appetizing to me but he seemed to enjoy it so who knows.

Overall not bad, I like breakfast...just not waking up for it.

oatmeal and scrambled egg sandwich

Ho Garden
9255 Woodbine Ave
Markham, ON

Food Challenge: Yanagi Sushi – Double Katsu Challenge

2009-08-23T23:16:00.007-04:00

Before the challenge began – TWO chicken katsus!

A while ago one of my friends tried to eat two pork katsus at Yanagi Sushi. Unfortunately, he did not finish. After hearing about this, I decided that one day I would step up and take the challenge myself. So, on August 18th 2009 (a day to be remembered), the challenge for two katsus was up again, only this time I was the contender.

Because I made up my mind to do it just two days before, I didn’t really prepare for this challenge besides drinking a lot of water the day before in an attempt to expand my stomach (which I think did nothing) and starved myself a bit the whole day. The time finally came when I arrived at the First Markham Place food court, and told the lady “TWO chicken katsus, please” (Fan of chicken, never pork). When I saw the two plates of katsu goodness in front of me, I was already hungry beyond my imagination, and began eating. I managed to finish the first katsu in about 5 minutes, probably because I was too hungry. After that, I slowed down my pace as the first katsu started filling up my stomach. In the end, I finished both katsus in 23 minutes. I did save a small bite as a grand finale to show my friend (the one who didn’t finish the challenge) and for the video below, but that wouldn’t have changed my time dramatically.

This challenge is now deemed a standard introduction challenge between all my friends, and a start to the world of competitive eating among us. If you’re going to start somewhere, you better start here. As for my friend who didn’t finish, he’ll back for a rematch soon. And for me? Gluttony is a sin, and I am now a sinner.

COMPLETION!

Yanagi Sushi (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Kenny’s Delight

2009-08-23T01:32:00.006-04:00

Pork Fried Rice with Vegetables and Dried Olives, Fish and King Oyster Mushroom on Fried Noodles

After a whole day of sports with the guys and not having a full meal all day, all I can think of is Kenny’s Delight, located in First Markham Place. This is because Kenny’s is well known for their large dishes at a reasonable price. So, before I begin my review, I challenge everyone to try and eat TWO plates of Kenny’s rice or fried noodles. It is possible (I’ve witnessed my previous roommate eat two before), but I believe only a handful of people can achieve this feat WITHOUT training or fasting.

Anyways, to satisfy my hunger, I ordered the pork fried rice with vegetables and dried olives ($7.99 + tax), an usual for me at Kenny’s while my friend ordered the fried noodles with fish and king oyster mushroom ($10.99 + tax). Now, I may be biased since I’ve been eating at Kenny’s for a long time, but the pork fried rice has never disappointed me. The rice is not too dry or too wet, just moist enough. There are plenty of dried olives in the rice and always enough meat and vegetables so that you will never be left with just rice in the end. The fried noodles, however, was a major disappointment. The noodles seem to be overcooked and burnt a bit and the taste was bland and plain, almost as if there were no flavour at all. The fish was decent and not overcooked , but still had no taste to it. Other than that, I don’t know what else I can say aside from a below average dish overall for Kenny’s.

If it weren’t for the fried noodles, it would have been a nice dinner at Kenny’s. So, for all you followers of this blog, DO NOT order the fried noodles (unless you’re feeling for some plain and flavourless food similar to congee). This does not change my mind about recommending and going back to Kenny’s though, but I think I’ll just stick to my pork fried rice and salty fish fried rice (also my favourite at Kenny’s) from now on.

Rating: 8.5/10 (-0.5 for the horrible fried noodles = 8/10)

P.S: I also ordered the Horlicks, which by the way, is the best Horlicks I’ve ever had. Highly Recommended!

Kenny’s Delight
3255 Highway 7 East, Unit 18A
Markham, ON

Go For Tea… Part II

2009-08-20T19:28:00.005-04:00

Taro Slush with Popcorn Chicken Rice

Now, I know Jon already did a review of Go For Tea here, but since I ordered something different, I’ll do another one. I didn’t really eat anything the day that I went so I was feeling kind of hungry when I sat down. Go For Tea offers a fair amount of food dishes, even hot pot, which my friends got, but the prices seem to be fairly expensive. I got the popcorn chicken rice ($8.99 + tax), and it is actually a first time I ordered popcorn chicken for myself. Expecting it to be similar to Popeye’s or KFC, I think the popcorn chicken offers a similar taste, yet not as greasy, and that’s a good thing. The chicken wasn’t dry at all and I believe the meat is from the chicken leg, which is the best part. The plate also came with side dishes of wakame salad and ham, giving it a more luxurious feel . There was also a sauce on top of the rice that tasted a mixture of beans and potatoes, adding more flavour overall. Positive reviews were given by my friends about the hot pot as well, but I can’t seem to remember the price nor did I take a picture of it. Aside from the food, I got the taro slush ($5.99 + tax), but I got a large so it was a dollar more. As Jon mentioned before, the large was well worth it and I actually had to rush the drink in the end because there was so much left.

So, at first I thought I would just get something to simply satisfy my hunger, and it turned out to be a good meal in the end so I was happy. For food at a bubble tea place, it is actually decent and even above average considering the quality of food that I get at other places. However, for the price that you’re paying, you can bet that there are other places out there that are cheaper, but Go For Tea opens until 3am so what can you do. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and for once being desperate doesn’t turn out to be a bad thing after all.

Go For Tea
Unit 2-230 Commerce Valley Dr E
Richmond Hill, ON

Chako Barbeque

2009-08-18T19:05:00.028-04:00

MEAT !

Late night Korean BBQ...great for those days when suddenly it's 10 at night and you haven't eaten yet and you're really hungry. Most Korean BBQ (or KBBQ as the kids like to call it) places are pretty much the same and Chako doesn't do anything very different though the decor is probably nicer than most. Differences between the regular and late night menu (10.99 + tax) can be seen here but I just go for the beef and short ribs anyway so I just stick to going at night.

To start off you get a salad and a bunch of side dishes including kimchi, beansprouts, pickled radish, and fried tofu. I like the pickled radish and fried tofu but that's just me. In terms of the meat...fish sticks to the grill, chicken takes too long to cook, pork gets too dry, and squid I just don't like for KBBQ...so yea, I just stick to the beef and short ribs but even the short ribs are kind of fatty. And then the vegetables are...wait...what is this? vegetables? I don't come here to eat vegetables! But if you really wanted to, you could also get zucchini and green/red peppers...not that I have ever tried them of course. Pssh...vegetables...

All in all a great night, I just hope all that meat isn't still stuck in my colon. Also watch the video on the proper way to cook beef at korean BBQ as demonstrated by Leo.

Chako Barbeque
163 York Blvd
Richmond Hill, ON

Cuisine Of India

2009-08-18T15:50:00.024-04:00

Lesson #1 about indian buffets, don't eat too much. Let's just say me and indian buffets don't have a great history together when it comes to portion control and being able to walk after. A friend met me up at work for lunch and we decided to have indian so we flipped a coin and ended up at Cuisine of India (the other option being Bombay Bhel).

Like alot of indian places, lunch at Cuisine of India is buffet style (10.99 + tax). First impressions of the buffet compared to other places was that the selection was pretty limited. Off to one side was the tiny salad bar and dessert selection which only had fruit and rice pudding. The main part of the buffet had a nice selection of vegetarian dishes but only 3 dishes that had meat. There were 2 chicken, 1 beef, and one of them was tandoori chicken so yea...very limited (not even any lamb??). The tandoori chicken I found too salty and the other meat dishes also pretty mediocre. I actually found the vegetarian dishes a to be bit better. There were all the usual suspects for the vegetarian options, spinach and paneer, chickpeas (chana), lentils (daal), deep fried eggplant and cauliflower, and uhh another eggplant dish (haha yea...my indian food knowledge is kind of lacking). They all tasted ok but I think I can say that I've much had better elsewhere.

Overall just ok, and I'd like to see how Bombay Bhel (just a bit south) compares. Now back to that lesson....what was it again? Needless to say I almost fell asleep at my desk later after a slow walk back to work.

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round 2 / round 3...and defeat

Cuisine Of India
5222 Yonge St.
North York, ON

[CLOSED] Mr. Sun's Noodle House

2009-08-18T15:31:00.014-04:00

the best beef noodle soup in toronto

Mr. Sun's Noodle House at Midland/Finch in Scarborough is one of those places you'd walk past a million times and never expect to have food this good unless someone told you about it. The decor...and possibly hygiene...could definitely use some work but after trying some of their beef noodle soup suddenly none of that matters anymore. Sure the kitchen probably looks something like a shirtless bearded chinese guy wearing an apron and wellington boots, smoking a cigarette cooking over a bathtub...but even if that were true I'd still keep going back, it's just that good.

There's one reason I love Mr. Sun's (no homo) and that's for their beef noodle soup (6.99 + tax). Even on the menu it says "Best beef noodle soup in Toronto" and for once I'd actually agree with one of these outrageous claims because it really is the best here. Angelic trumpets, heavenly trombones...I don't know how else to describe it. The beef is incredibly soft and the perfect texture for a bowl of beef noodle soup. The noodles are also great, nice and thick and slightly chewy without being too gumy like alot of places. But for me the real star is the soup. Let's just say I drink the whole bowl and I don't need to explain any more on that.

So unless you want to deny yourself from trying the best beef noodle soup in Toronto, I recommend you go to Mr. Sun's Noodle house right now! ...just don't use the bathrooms.

Mr. Sun's Noodle House
4186 Finch Avenue East, Unit 25
Scarborough, ON

Special Category: Hainanese Chicken – YOGI Noodle

2009-08-18T03:56:00.002-04:00

Hainanese Chicken at YOGI Noodle

Personally, I am a BIG fan of chicken. More specifically, I am a BIG BIG fan of Hainanese Chicken (as to Jon and his pork cutlet fetish). Jon and I actually have an agreement that whenever we try a new place he must order the curry pork or pork cutlet and I must order the Hainanese Chicken if it is on the menu. So, in honour of this special dish, I will be making specific posts reviewing all the Hainanese Chicken in the GTA. There are three things that I believe rates whether the dish overall is good or not: authenticity, quantity and of course quality. The latter two are pretty easy to understand but for authenticity, what I mean is how the dish presents itself to what Hainanese Chicken should be. Basically this means that the rice should be the yellow and oily chicken rice and there should be a soup that comes with it.

For those of you new to this blog and don’t know about YOGI Noodle, please refer to this post. Now on to the Hainanese Chicken. At a price of 7.99 + tax, this is fairly a cheaper price for Hainanese Chicken compared to the others that I’ve tried before. When the dish came, however, I understood why. First of all, the chicken was only a leg. In fact, it was less than a leg as you can see in the picture, with only 5 pieces. The rice made an attempt to be authentic, but it was not yellow nor it tasted close to the actual chicken rice. It was better than plain rice though. The chicken itself was decent, as it did taste like Hainanese Chicken at least and was not rough or old. The soup that came with the meal was a Chinese soup, similar to the ones you get before any meal at Chinese restaurants. Although it was a bit inauthentic, but I do like how the soup was not bombarded with MSG and such as it actually tasted good.

So, as many would recommend YOGI Noodle as a place to eat, I would disagree on recommending their Hainanese Chicken. I’ve had better at other places and YOGI’s just falls under the stereotypical and average Hainanese Chicken that you can get anywhere else, possibly for a lower price and higher quantity too.

Rating: 6.5/10 (The quality of the chicken saved itself from getting a lower rating)

Yogi Noodle
325 Bamburgh Circle, Unit 109A
Scarborough, ON

Kenzo Ramen

2009-08-17T03:31:00.002-04:00

Tonkotsu (Pork Bone Soup Based Ramen)

Located south of Steeles on Yonge, this tiny little ramen shop can satisfy anyone’s hunger for authentic AND delicious ramen noodles. I’ve heard about this ramen place several times before, and I’ve been here once already so I have an idea how it good it is. However, rather than trying something new for my second visit, I decided to order the same things just to see if the quality is consistent. Besides, my friend wanted to the same things as my first visit, so it was coincidental.

We both got the Tonkotsu (Pork Bone Soup Based Ramen, $9.95 + tax) and shared a Takoyaki (Octopus Balls, $6.99 + tax i think). Just a note that both things that we ordered did not actually had a price tag on them and I forgot to take a picture of the bill to remind me the price. Guess I’ll have to go again to double check the price, which is not a bad thing actually. The Tokotsu comes with ramen (obviously), chasu (Japanese style BBQ pork) and a demi egg while the Takoyaki is topped with a bit of mayo and thin slices of onions. The ramen soup was thick and flavourful, but there is still room for improvement as it is not as thick as I wanted it. The noodles were thick and pretty good, not too chewy and not too soft. The chasu could’ve been better as they were also not as flavourful as I wanted, but were pretty tender to my liking (I like my soup and meat VERY thick so it may vary according to your own personal tastes). The takoyaki seems to have gotten better than last time, as they were more sticky and chewy. The flavour on them were also VERY thick, and I could taste the sauce all over the takoyaki and not just on the top part.

Takoyaki (Octopus balls)

My conclusion? This place is so far the best ramen noodle shop that I’ve tried so far. There is also another Kenzo Ramen located downtown by Dundas and Bay. I’ve been there once as well and I must say, this one is better. The Kenzo downtown is actually the original Kenzo with the original owners, but their noodles seem to be thinner and just isn’t as good as their Steeles & Yonge counterpart (Plus when I went they charged my friend $1.00 for green tea while it was free at Steeles & Yonge). So, for the Kenzo Ramen on Yonge, definitely worth another visit in the future.

Rating: 8/10

Kenzo Ramen
6180Yonge St.
North York, ON

Firefly Seafood & Steak House

2009-08-17T01:36:00.005-04:00

Puff Pastry Onion Soup

A reunion with my previous co-workers at Jipolis Amusement Center (R.I.P JIPS) brought me to Firefly Seafood & Steak House at First Markham Place. This was a week exact after my wisdom teeth removal (which was July 29th to show you how behind I am with this blog). After a look at the menu I was set to order pasta, which would go easy on my mouth. Soon after though, a quick glance at another menu revealed something more worthy for this occasion. There was a special going with the words and I quote “SUPER SHOCKING LOW PRICE – 17.99 + tax”. The original price of this “special” was 34.99 mind you. Two things I thought after seeing this: 1)I can’t believe people actually put something like that on a menu 2) 17.99 + tax is considered a low price meal? But, being the sucker that I am, I eventually got the SUPER SHOCKING SPECIAL (17.99 + tax) in the end. Basically, this is a 4 course meal with: house salad with ginger and vinegar sauce, puff pastry onion soup, prime rib with mashed potatoes and a dessert.

Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables

I forgot to take pictures of the salad and dessert (which was just a mango pudding, nothing special), but I did remember to take the soup and roast beef (see above). Anyways, the salad was average. Small and average to be exact. The soup looked decent and it tasted alright, at least the puff pastry part did. The soup itself was quite bland and watered down. The whole time it would try to make a comeback (No MJ jokes please) but failed to give me a real sense of flavour. The prime rib was better than I expected, but it was no Harbour Sixty or even Keg prime rib. It was more like Mandarin prime rib, which is actually roast beef in disguise. However, it was more tender and juicy than Mandarin which is at least a good thing.

Before the reunion, I think I haven’t been to Firefly for about 3-4 years already. After the meal, I remembered why I didn’t go and why I shouldn’t go there again. For the price of the food, I’m sure you can go to other places for the same price but better quality (Moxies, Milestones to name a few). I guess I don’t even have to say whether I’m going to go back to this place or not. You guys be the judge.

Rating: 6.5/10 (+0.5 more for the effort on the puff pastry only = 7/10)

Firefly Seafood & Steak House
3255 Highway 7 East, Unit 2-2A
Markham, ON

Pho 88 (Double Eight)

2009-08-16T05:39:00.014-04:00

Jackfruit Juice, Lychee Slush and Red Bean Slush

Nearing the end of my wisdom teeth recovery (which is actually 3 weeks ago), my parents took me to Pho 88 (or Double Eight as the sign says) at the Bamburgh Circle plaza. Located beside the infamous YOGI Noodle (self-proclaimed “best chinese food in town”), Pho 88 also boasts about its food, claiming that it has the “most famous beef noodle soup in town”. Now, I’ve tried a lot of Vietnamese places downtown, so my standard was set high for this place since downtown is probably the best place for Viet food in my opinion.

To start off, I ordered my usual Jackfruit Juice ($3.50 + tax) while my parents ordered the Lychee Slush and Red Bean Slush (both $3.00 + tax if i remember correctly). Nothing special about these drinks as they taste exactly the same as any other pho place in Toronto. The Jackfruit was plain and does not have enough flavour. Then again, I can hardly remember when was the last time I had a Jackfruit Juice that was actually good, so I wasn’t THAT disappointed.

The Pho I ordered was the Special Pho 88 Combination ($7.00 + tax), which I can’t remember if it’s actually called that. What I know for sure is that it’s number 101 on the menu and only comes in XL. The Pho comes with: Pho (of course), Raw Beef, Beef Tendon and Tripe. I also got the Spring Rolls ($3.50 + tax).

Special Pho 88 Combination (Anyone know what it’s called exactly?)

Being extra hungry that day from the congee that I’ve been eating at home, I felt that I could finish this XL with ease. Was I wrong about that! The quantity of the Pho was way larger than I expected, as downtown XL Pho simply meant a bit more pho and beef, with A LOT more soup to create the effect of more. Pho 88’s pho, on the other hand, had more of everything. A LOT more, to be exact (I’m repeating A LOT again and again to emphasis the quantity by the way). Anyways, I struggled to finish, and I was quite satisfied with this place. Not only was the quantity fulfilling, the QUALITY made it stood out above your average pho place. I don’t know how to put it, but there just seems to be more flavour in the Pho than other places. The beef was tender to my liking as well as the tendon and tripe. They weren’t old or rough like MANY other Viet places, so I was surprised and happy about it. The spring rolls were pretty good too. Not too crunchy and not too chewy. Maybe I’m just biased because it was easy on my mouth (wisdom teeth reminder). They did not hold back on the ingredients as well, with every spring roll stuffed, packed, condensed, and all the other words you could use to describe it.

So, would I go back to this place? Hell yea! (As a matter of fact, I just went there again today). Do I recommend it to others? For sure! If you want a hungry man/woman’s dinner at a fairly decent price, Pho 88 would be the place that you should go to… If you’re feeling pho of course.

Pho 88 – Most Famous Beef Noodle Soup in Town”

Rating: 8/10

Pho 88 (Double Eight)
325 Bamburgh Circle
Scarborough, ON

Memphis Smoke House

2009-08-10T14:54:00.026-04:00

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pulled pork sandwich

Near the City Centre in North York in the middle of all the korean, japanese, and chain restaurants is Memphis Smoke House, a southern BBQ type restaurant specializing in food like ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and such. With not many of these types of restaurants in Toronto, it seemed it was worth giving a try. First impressions were that the service was a bit disorganized but the lunch menu showed some promise with most dishes starting at $5.99.

I got a pulled pork sandwich with fries ($5.99 + tax). Fries could also be substitued for salad or onion rings (!!! wish I knew that before I got my food). Everything looked good but tasted....disappointing. The pulled pork was pretty dry and bland tasting. This could have been remedied with some extra BBQ sauce in the sandwich not only for taste but also for the dryness. End result was just a dry pork sandwich with a hint of BBQ sauce....pretty bad. The fries were ok and a nice thick cut but at the end of the day they're still just fries and not enough to save the sandwich.

So unless someone is someone is really desperate for any form of southern BBQ food, I can't say I would otherwise recommend this place....though looking for southern BBQ in Toronto is kind of like being stranded on a desert island with a really fat chick. It's there if you're really looking for it but it sure isn't very good.

Memphis Smoke House
4916 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Tasty Delights

2009-08-09T21:16:00.031-04:00

beef fried noodles

My god I've been lazy lately, this is probably from like a week ago but anyway....I was at the First Markham food court ready to get my usual pork katsu only to find they were closed for the long weekend but I guess even food court ladies need breaks too. Looking around at our other options we settled on Tasty Delights and decided to split a few noodle and rice dishes.

There were 3 of us so we each picked one. I wanted to get the fish and corn on rice but was told they didn't have any fish (no fish??) and randomly picked some sort of beef and egg on rice instead. Other than that we also got a beef fried noodle and tomato and beef on rice and it was almost like we were having a poor man's version of the dinner we had the day before at Congee Wong. Everything we ordered were each $5.00 + tax and came with a free drink (soy milk!).

Food was pretty much what you would expect from a food court stall....not very good. Sure it was cheap, and big...and corn starchy...but even for $5 I'm not going back. All of the dishes suffered from a noticeable lack of meat but I guess should have lowered my expectations for a $5 dish from the food court. One positive though was that it wasn't extremely greasy like most things from a chinese food court and surprisingly didn't find myself running to the bathroom at 4am the next morning like I thought I would...though I don't think a restaurant deserves any points for that.

...or maybe I was just mad they didn't have any fish.

tomato and beef on rice / beef and egg on rice....yes it tastes as bad as it looks

Tasty Delights (in the First Markham Food court)

3255 Highway 7 East

Markham, ON

Hello Wonton Noodle

2009-08-05T22:09:00.028-04:00

shrimp wonton noodle soup

A little north of the City Centre in North York is Hello Wonton Noodle, a place that specializes in....you guessed it, wonton noodle soup. When I heard it was owned by the same people as Jim Chai Kee in Richmond Hill I knew it would be pretty decent and cheap. A little bit nicer looking than its Richmond Hill brother, Hello Wonton Noodle is still pretty no frills where you pay at the front and have to make your own tea. The nice thing about this place compared to the other one is that the warm/hot water tap for tea is built right into the table so no more getting up!

I just got the basic, the shrimp wonton noodle soup which was $4.50 + tax. The noodles and the broth were pretty standard and the portion wasn't that big but it's all about the wontons anyway. Hidden under the noodles were 4 massive wontons packed full of shrimp which were great quality and most importantly (other than cheap haha) they were tasty.

Overall I'd say this is a nice place for a quick lunch and solid option if you're looking for something that's cheap and not in wrap form.

Hello Wonton Noodle
5313 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Congee Wong (天皇)

2009-08-05T04:47:00.008-04:00

(Left to Right): Minced Beef Congee, Salmon Congee, Singapore Turnip, Egg & Beef Noodle

Recently I took out all my wisdom teeth and have been restricted to soft foods (ie. Noodles, Congee, etc), which is why the next couple of blogs will be mainly those kinds of stuff. Anyways, we went to Congee Wong at First Markham Place so that I can actually eat out with them (Thanks Guys! Appreciate it). There was 5 of us and we were all very hungry, so we were prepared to order a lot of food. Surprisingly, the portions were actually quite large for a dish and we ended up ordering only 5 dishes (2 were congee btw and not even in the large bowl section).

To start off, the minced beef congee (3.95 + tax) was pretty good. The amount of beef was way more than I expected, which is always a plus. I never got to try the salmon congee (4.95 + tax) though, but my friends gave positive reviews for that as well. Now, the singapore style turnip (it actually said that on the bill… 5.25 + tax btw) was below average in my opinion. I’ve always been a fan of Congee Wong’s “turnips” but the quality has been decreasing over the years. It used to be more red with more sauce, but now it is more brownish and not as saucy. BUT! The taste is still decent. Not amazing like the blog, but decent. We also got the beef fried noodle (7.25 + tax… picture below) and the egg & beef noodle (also 7.25 + tax) and these were the main event of dinner. When we were ordering, my friend specifically wanted the beef fried noodle, and I just threw in the egg & beef as a filler. The beef fried noodle was your average noodle that is the same in EVERY restaurant, but the egg & beef one was something else. When it was served, everyone wanted a piece of it. It was saucy and eggy, and I am a big fan of sauce. The taste wasn’t plain or bland like something watered down, and that is already considered good in my books. There was a decent amount of beef in it as well. Best of all, it was the biggest dish on the table, meaning that you definitely get your money’s worth with this one. In the end, everyone had to fight for the egg & beef and it was rationed to the last piece of noodle left on the plate.

Beef Fried Noodle

So, would I go there again? Absolutely. For the price, portion and quality that you get, Congee Wong is definitely the place to go for dinner with large groups of people.

Rating: 8/10.

Congee Wong
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Bar Burrito

2009-08-03T20:17:00.016-04:00

kirkland brand bottled water...I mean large ground beef burrito

Having tried most of the burrito places in downtown Toronto, I was a little hesitant to try Bar Burrito given that most of them just aren't that great (yes including Burrito Boyz!). So how does Bar Burrito rank? Well it was ok, I've had worse and it was actually better than I was expecting but still not as good as Big Fat Burrito which I think is the best in Toronto.

I ordered a large steak burrito though upon closer inspection it appeared they gave me a ground beef burrito instead. But since I was already at my desk....and it was hot outside, I just ate it. Both the steak and the ground beef (and chicken) were the same price anyway (regular for $6.35 + tax or large for $7.60 + tax) Inside the burrito were all the usual fixings, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, rice, corn?, and beans. Portion wise it was a bit bigger than a water bottle (see comparison pic), which is pretty much in line with the other burrito places. Taste was ok, like I said I've had worse and better, though maybe I should have tried the chicken burrito instead as it seemed like the popular choice while waiting in line.

So would I go back? Only if I was in the area...and feeling for burritos...

Bar Burrito
4918 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Dandanah Shawarma

2009-08-01T11:59:00.008-04:00

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chicken shawarma sandwich

On my way to Sushi Bong I've walked past this place a few times and thought I'd come back another day to try it. Finally got around to trying it the other day and it was pretty disappointing. It also was empty around lunch time which couldn't have been a good sign. Compared to the other shawarma options in the area I've tried, I'd rank this place last. Lebanese Gourmet is cheap and close to where I work at the City Centre and Shawarma Max is the best tasting while Dandanah Shawarma has...well it has nothing.

I had the chicken shawarma sandwich which was $4.99 + tax making it the most expensive option of the 3 places. Size was around the same as the others too so it couldn't win in quantity either. Chicken was dry and there was also a big burnt piece in mine. Overall just not very tasty and combined with being the most expensive, I don't see myself going back...unless I feel like eating bad shawarma?

Dandanah Shawarma
5383 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Honey & Garlic Cuisine

2009-07-30T20:45:00.009-04:00

food

Ah afternoon dim sum, is there anything better in life? Well except for maybe millions of dollars, or 2 girls at the same time, or....well it's still up there. I always end up going in the afternoon because 1) none of my friends can wake up earlier than 12 on a weekend/day off and 2) we're all cheap. That day we decided to go to Honey & Garlic Cuisine by Kennedy/Denison where it's $2.20 after 2:00 on weekends or $.1.90 after 1:30 on weekdays.

I'm pretty lazy so I'll let the pictures to the talking. I'm sure I'm missing a few things though since I had to keep reminding myself to stop eating and take pictures. But anyway, we got around 20 dishes and it worked out to be around $10 a person for the 6 of us. Everything was pretty decent as usual though the quality got pretty bad near the end when they stopped going around with the carts and we ordered off the sheet. That usually doesn't happen though so I'll keep coming back as long as it's cheap.

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more food

Honey & Garlic Cuisine
1661 Denison St.
Markham, ON

Taipei Chin Yuan Pai Ku (台北金園排骨)

2009-07-29T22:24:00.014-04:00

fried pork chop rice (pai ku faan)

As you may all know, if there is one thing Jon likes, it's pork chops. So, a while ago I took Jon and the guys to Chin Yuan Pai Ku located in the food court of Metro Square (Steeles/Warden) for their fried pork chop rice ($6.00 + tax). Apparently, this is the best place for fried pork chop rice according to my Taiwanese friends, so you can't go wrong when even Taiwanese people like the place. After the meal was done, it was certified amazing by Jon and a good recommendation from me.

I myself tried it a couple of times before and I thought it was pretty good as well, seeing as how I personally am not a big fan of pork and pork chops. The chops just simply had something normal chinese or american pork chops don't have and I can't quite pinpoint what it is. But it was good, real good. The portion was big too, enough to fill me up at least. Also, aside from the piece of pork chop, you also get some pickled relishes and carrots, a tofu side dish, vegetables (it was brocolli when I took the pic but it changes) and an egg.

Recently, I went back to Chin Yuan again feeling for some nice fried pork chop rice. Boy was I disappointed. It had lost what brought me back to this place over and over again even if it was so damn far away (I live in Richmond Hill so the drive is at least 15-20mins). The pork chop was smaller, drier and too oily for my liking. Now, when you are famous for fried pork chop and you fail to match the standard you once had, then that's just sad. On the plus side, though, there was more rice! *thumps up*

So, it looks as though Chin Yuan has lost its title of best fried pork chop rice in my opinion. Hopefully, one of you guys curious enough to try it yourselves will find it as good as when I first had it a long time ago. And if you do, be sure to come back and tell me because as for now, I'm gonna go and explore other places, searching for the next champion of fried pork chop rice.

Rating: 6.5/10

Chin Yuan Pai Ku (台北金園排骨)
3636 Steeles Ave E Unit 105A (Metro Square food court)
Markham, ON

New Contributer: Leo

2009-07-29T00:33:00.001-04:00

So my friend Leo is going to start writing for this blog too. More content, more updates, more fun? Well that's the plan anyway...unless we both become really lazy...or eaten by bears...or something.

Pho Ling's

2009-07-28T23:51:00.012-04:00

pork and spring roll vermicelli / lemon grass pork chop and spring roll on rice

Probably my second favourite place in the First Markham Place food is Pho Ling's. I usually grab something from here when I'm not feeling for pork katsu. Coincidentally located right beside the pork katsu place, Pho Ling's serves the typical vietnamese fare but for slightly cheaper as it is in a food court afterall.

I got the lemon grass pork chop with spring roll on rice ($5.75 inc. tax). Including a drink (iced tea!), it's a decent meal for $5.75. The spring roll was tasty as always, the pork chop was good but maybe a little small and hard to cut with a plastic knife, and the lettuce was...well it's just lettuce.

Actually what I usually come here for is the pork and spring roll vermicelli ($5.75 inc. tax), which my friend got that day and probably gets that as much as I get the pork katsu (hint: alot). This also comes with a drink and not really any complaints about this one, it's all pretty good. Maybe it could be a little bigger but that's probably just the fatass in me talking...

Pho Ling's (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Lebanese Gourmet

2009-07-26T21:14:00.011-04:00

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falafel wrap

Working right above a food court has its advantages like when it's raining and I forget my umbrella or I'm just plain lazy. For days like those I sometimes go to Lebanese Gourmet at the food court in the City Centre.

That day I got the falafel wrap but I've also tried the beef and chicken shawarma from here as well, all of which are $3.99 + tax. Nothing too special, I've had better falafels elsewhere but it does the job for a quick lunch. I guess the main draw of this place for me is that it's cheap(under $5) and it's close. The beef and chicken shawarma also aren't anything special either and especially after discovering Shawarma Max I don't find myself coming here very often ...unless of course it's raining...like it has been all week.

Lebanese Gourmet (in the food court)
5150 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Sushi Bong

2009-07-23T22:12:00.005-04:00

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looks like your ordinary sushi restaurant right? bong!

Sushi Bong...despite what the name says, they only focus on sushi. Apparently the owner or chef's last name is Bong and only learned of the other meaning after already naming the restaurant. At the bottom of a condo complex south of Finch just off of Yonge, Sushi Bong is tiny. There are like 6 seats in the whole restaurant but most people just grab takeout from here anyway.

First thing to know about Sushi Bong is that the rolls here are big. They're like ordered those pills off the internet big and for just as cheap too. I got the dynamite roll ($5.98 + tax) and some salmon maki ($3.50 + tax). And it's not like they just give you a ton of rice, both rolls were packed with ingredients. The salmon maki was good and I was particularly impressed with the amount of salmon they give. The dynamite roll was decent, not anything amazing in terms of taste, but it was big and definitely filling - good value. After all that (and a bubble tea haha) I was very full...no ordinary feat mind you, so the portions get a thumbs up (Y) from me.

So go for the sushi or just for the name, Sushi Bong is worth a try....though it would be pretty good if you're......

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dynamite roll and salmon maki

Sushi Bong
5 Northtown Way
North York, ON

Pho Delight

2009-07-22T22:05:00.005-04:00

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large beef brisket pho / semi eaten BBQ pork and spring roll vermicelli

I was delighted (get it? get it?) to find a place for pho close to work that's not Pho88 (a bad one). I actually ended up going again since I first went and that's how slack I've been with this blog. But anyway, Pho Delight is your typical vietnamese restaurant serving up pho, vermicelli, spring rolls, lemongrass porkchop/chicken on rice....though the menu is a bit more limited than most (no pho bo kho!).

First time I went I got the large beef brisket pho ($5.95 + tax for small, $6.95 + tax for large). Broth was good, noodles were good, the meat I got a few bad pieces, size wasn't the largest but it was enough that I was full, and overall pretty decent.

The next time I went I got the BBQ pork and spring roll vermicelli which was $6.75 + tax (I think...). I thought the spring roll was a little small but otherwise tasted ok, the BBQ pork was really good, and the noodles were ehh maybe they just needed more of that fish sauce mixture....but man was that pork tasty and it more than made up for everything else so I'd actually probably get this again.

Prices are maybe a little bit higher than what I'm used to paying for a bowl of pho but the food is good and definitely alot better than the Pho88 across the street.

Pho Delight
5252 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Yanagi Sushi

2009-07-21T21:01:00.002-04:00

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yanagi sushi / pork katsu

...and so that's what this place is called and not just the pork katsu place. Pretty much my go to meal, I've lost count of how many times I've eaten here and this exact meal. In the corner of the First Markham Place food court, this is in my opinion the greatest meal $5.50 (taxes in) can buy. Run by one of the nicest ladies ever, there's always a can of iced tea ready for me whenever I go.

For that $5.50 you get a drink, salad, rice and of course the delicious pork cutlet. The salad? Amazing. The rice? Amazing. The drink (iced tea!)? Amazing. The pork? Amazing. The little leftover crumbs of batter from the pork? You bet it's amazing. Cheap, close, delicious, the pork katsu here has never let me down and I don't know what I'd do without this place.

NOTE #1: If you ever see 2 guys fighting over which plate of has the bigger piece of pork, that's me and my friend....or if you see someone trying to eat 2 in one sitting that's also us.

NOTE #2: Leo says: Chicken katsu is also very good. The chicken!

sexy closeup of the pork

Yanagi Sushi (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Furama Cake & Dessert Garden

2009-07-19T23:40:00.001-04:00

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curry beef bun and ham and egg bun / box of ha gow

For days I'm feeling cheap...moreso, I like to go to Furama in the Sheppard Centre food court for some cheap chinese buns. In addition to the usual buns and desserts, they also sell patties and dim sum. The store itself is pretty small so the selection of buns is a bit more limited than most chinese bakeries and at $1.20/bun, the prices are higher than most too. I guess for chinese bakery standards that's pretty expensive but it's still alot cheaper than anything else in the area.

I got a curry beef bun and a ham and egg bun. Both were pretty good, they don't cheap out on the filling here and the bun itself was nice and fresh. I also decided to get a box of ha gow but at $3.20 + tax for 4 I was already regretting my decision turning my cheap lunch into a not so cheap one...I mean I guess I should have expected it coming from a food court but for science! I had to try it out. As expected they weren't that great, flavour was ok but the texture was kind of uhhh pasty? It felt like it was lacking some sort of...grease...and definitely not worth the $3.20. I'll just go to real dim sum for that and for much cheaper (and greasier!).

So overall not a bad place for a cheap lunch but I think I'll just stick to the buns.

Furama Cake & Dessert Garden
2 Sheppard Avenue East (In the Sheppard Centre food court)
North York, ON

Go For Tea

2009-07-16T20:21:00.002-04:00

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mango slush and very mango slush (yes...I know both pictures look the same)

Hmm I always forget to take a picture of the outside. Well another friday night, another of night bubble tea...actually this was more like last friday night but that's not the point. Fruitti Mix is cheap, A Place For Us is close, but Go For Tea has quantity. All I can say is if you're thirsty (or just feeling like a fatass) get the large you won't regret it. Unlike some places, the large here is definitely worth the extra $1, as the difference between a regular and a large is huge.

I got the mango slush which was $5.99 + tax, + $1 for large. It was alright, nothing amazing but not terrible either. It tasted like mango, it was cold, it was large, and pretty much what I expected. For $6.99 + tax you could instead choose to get the very mango slush which is the mango slush with pieces of mango and jelly.

So if size matters....

Go For Tea
Unit 2-230 Commerce Valley Dr E
Richmond Hill, ON

Canaan Cake Centre

2009-07-15T19:40:00.001-04:00

Right beside Ichiban on Spring Garden Ave is Canaan Cake Centre. Like all bakeries walking by it smelled awesome so of course I had to stop by after grabbing my takeout from Ichiban. Canaan Cake Centre is a Korean bakery that sells a variety of baked goods but are probably most known for their walnut cakes.

Shaped like a walnut they come with either custard or red bean filling. I got the custard ones which were $5.00 for a box of 20. I guess you could compare them to timbits but they're not as sweet like most asian baked goods. The dough is also fairly light and contains pieces of walnut in it. Good for sharing and to snack on during work as you won't be falling asleep after eating a few of these...unless you eat all 20....which of course I didn't do.

qq
the custard filling / nails too long

Canaan Cake Centre
11 Spring Garden Ave
North York, ON

Ichiban Fish House

2009-07-14T21:11:00.004-04:00

the outside and curry pork cutlet rice

One of the many Ichiban locations in the GTA, the one located on Spring Garden just north of Yonge & Sheppard is supposed to be one of the better ones. Known for their decent quality of fish, I planned to try some of their sushi or sashimi....until I saw they had curry pork cutlet rice on their menu so of course I had to try that instead.

One thing about this place, the takeout container they give sure is alot nicer than the usual styrofoam box haha. At $9.95 + tax this is one of the more expensive curry pork rice? rices? rice..s? Well whatever it is, one of the more expensive ones I've had. You get of course the curry pork and rice (in the picture it's in the box beside the soup) as well as miso soup, salad, some pickled turnip, vegetables cooked in terriyaki sauce, and some sort of seaweed. As you can see you get a bit more variety than most places which is nice and they all tasted fine but the important part is all about the curry.

The curry was....let's just say it was interesting. Not like any curry I've had before, this one reminded me more of a gravy than curry. It was thick like a gravy and tasted like a concentrated version of curry. Not really a bad thing, it still tasted pretty good but there was only enough to cover the pork and couldn't cover my rice with it like a normal curry would. One issue I did have though was with the meat. The piece of pork that they fried was the thinnest piece of pork I've ever seen! Couldn't have been more than like a centimetre thick.

the thinnest piece of pork ever!

So overall the curry pork was kind of disappointing and I'll probably be sticking to Ajisen for my curry pork rice lunchtime fix. But I will have to go back again though to try their sushi and sashimi after all it is what they're more known for.

Ichiban Fish House
15 Spring Garden Ave
North York, ON

Shawarma Max

2009-07-12T14:39:00.004-04:00

chicken shawarma sandwich

Shawarma Max is pretty much your typical shawarma joint serving chicken/beef/falafels in a wrap or on a plate. Fairly popular with the office lunch crowds, it's a great place to go for a quick lunch. Located on Yonge St., it's around midway between North York Centre and Sheppard.

I got the chicken shawarma sandwich for lunch which cost $4.69 + tax. Though not the biggest or the cheapest shawarma I've ever had, the chicken was moist, tahina and garlic sauce tasted good, and had a good selection of toppings (pickled turnip!). Overall pretty tasty and one of the better chicken shawarma's I've had. Definitely would go back perhaps to try the beef or the shawamra plate.

UPDATE 08/06/2009: Prices are now $4.99 + tax for the chicken shawarma sandwich, $5.18 for the beef shawarma sandwich.....and stick with the chicken, it's much better.

Shawarma Max

4969 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Stop & Seat

2009-07-11T19:55:00.001-04:00

the outside and taiwanese sausage fried rice

At first I had no idea what this place was called. I thought it was just called tea shop but I looked it up and apparently it's called Stop & Seat. Right beside Asian Legend on Yonge St. by North York Centre, Stop and Seat serves bubble tea and other taiwanese and chinese food.

Having walked past this time many times before what got my attention this time was a big sign that said "5th Anniversary Special $1.99" (takeout only). If you've read my earlier posts, you know there are a few things I love, japanese curry pork rice, ~~fat chicks~~, and cheap bubble tea. So when I saw bubble tea for $1.99, I was all over that like free samples at Costco.

Figuring this was a taiwanese place, I thought I'd get the popcorn chicken but after searching the menu for a few minutes and not finding it I gave up and got a taiwanese sausage fried rice off the lunch menu instead (see it here and here). On the lunch menu there are around 30 different choices all for $5.99 with a free black/green tea. With the lunch special I also got a taro milk green tea which cost an extra $1.50.

The taiwanese sausage fried rice was only ok. They give pretty good amount of fried rice but if the pieces of sausage weren't as good as they were I would have said it was pretty bad. Still nothing special though and I've certainly had better taiwanese sausage fried rice elsewhere. The bubble tea however was actually pretty good especially considering the price. Not poorer quality in any way (Fruitti Mix...), it tasted just as good as the Tea Shop 168 across the street except it's waay cheaper.

I went back later in the week just to get a black milk tea and learned that the $1.99 doesn't include tapioca and to get some costs an extra 50 cents. So actually it's $2.50 + tax bubble tea, not as cheap as I thought but still by far the cheapest bubble tea in the area. I don't know if this is a temporary promotion or not, just for their 5th anniversary, but know I'm going to be going here alot for the rest of the summer while I work at North York Centre.

qq
black milk tea and taro milk green tea

Stop & Seat
5184 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Yogi Noodle

2009-07-07T23:25:00.003-04:00

black pepper steak with rice and a semi eaten curry beef with rice

So after coming home from a long day at the beach what better food to relax with than chinese food...well actually I'm sure there are better foods but I live in Markham so what else am I going to eat. We all ended up going to Yogi Noodle in Scarborugh, in Bamburgh Circle, just south of Warden/Steeles.

The first thing I see from the outside is a big red banner that says "best chinese food in town". Now I don't know about you but I found that to be a pretty big claim so I'm thinking, the best? They're calling themselves the best? Any place that needs to call themselves the best can't really be that good....right?

"best chinese food in town"

At first glance of the menu the food seemed pretty standard for this type of chinese restaurant, curry/baked rice/black pepper dishes so I still had my doubts about this so called best chinese food in town.

I ordered the black pepper steak with rice ($7.99 + tax) but ended up switching with someone for their curry beef rice ($6.99 + tax) because they found it to be a bit too spicy. The steak was pretty good, decent pieces of meat and cooked how I asked (medium) but the black pepper sauce was maybe a bit peppery for my liking. The curry was spicier than what you would normally get from these types of restaurants but of course was no problem for me (pssh spice!). I actually liked the spice but I can see how some people might find it too spicy. Aside from the spice I thought the flavour of the curry was actually alot better than most places and no problems with the pieces of beef (though another friend got the same curry except with beef brisket and noticed quite a few bad pieces).

It also came with a free soup and hot drink. The soup was the usual borscht which I found kind of sweet, too peppery, and overall not very good. I chose to get a cold milk tea for 75 cents extra which was ok but I've had better.

So best chinese food in town? I don't know about that but I was definitely surprised with the quality of the black pepper steak and curry beef, both I'd say were above average than what you normally get from these kinds of places. I'd want to go again to try the fish and corn with cream sauce baked rice which some other people got and also looked pretty good.

Yogi Noodle
325 Bamburgh Circle, Unit 109A
Scarborough, ON

Ajisen Ramen

2009-07-06T21:06:00.003-04:00

curry pork cutlet rice

Ajisen Ramen is worldwide restaurant chain, with 2 locations in the GTA, specializing in ramen; a type of Japanese noodle soup which has dozens of variations with different meats and broths.

Having been to Ajisen Ramen a few times now, my Rule #1 when it comes to Ajisen Ramen: don't get the ramen. Overpriced, bland, small portions, I'd normally say stay away entirely but if there's only thing I can't resist is a good curry pork cutlet rice and Ajisen Ramen sure does make a decent one.

The Yonge St. location is located just a north of North York Centre and where I picked up my lunch. The curry pork cutlet rice cost 7.99 + tax and you get...curry, pork cutlet, and rice! As well as a miso soup and some sort of pickled cucumbers. In the curry there were some potatoes, carrots, and peas, which I thought overall had a pretty good flavour. Sure it probably comes from a package but it was pretty damn tasty and solid lunch.

Note: You get alot more soup than that, I drank like half of it before I remembered to take a picture

Ajisen Ramen
5229 Yonge St.
North York, ON

A Place For Us

2009-07-03T19:54:00.004-04:00

banana snowflake

A Place for Us, one too many nights have been spent there killing time. For a sit down bubble tea place I'd rate A Place for Us as average. Drinks and prices are well....average! Prices range from around $4-7 depending on size, tapioca/jelly, slush, and so on, you know the drill.

One drink they have that's a bit different from other places is the snowflake. What can I say about the snowflake....well it's cold and it's thick and it's crunchy. It's like a slush with pieces of crushed frozen corn flakes in it? I have no idea what it is but it sure is crunchy. But anyway, I tried the banana snowflake which cost $5.99 + tax and didn't have a strong fake banana taste to it which was nice but not sure if it's something I'd get again.

Overall the drinks are decent but nothing amazing and the seating is kind of squished and the service can be a bit surly but where it does win for us (hahaha get it? get it? you get it...) is proximity. It's pretty much the closest decent sit down bubble tea place for most people I know. So if you're in the area, why not, give it a try otherwise there are tons of other average bubble tea places all over the GTA.

Random lesson of the night: Corn pops are not a substitute for tapioca and do not fit through a bubble tea straw.

A Place For Us
3235 Hwy 7 East
Markham, ON

How not to use a melon baller

2009-06-28T13:04:00.002-04:00

honeydew and cantaloupe "balls"

Turns out melons aren't like ice cream at all and that's what happens when you try to scoop it like it's ice cream. Oh well, lesson learned. Just remember, press and twist, press and twist. But it's ok, everyone loves eating their fruit with a spoon right? ....well probably not but it still tastes ok!

Fruitti Mix

2009-06-27T13:54:00.001-04:00

black milk tea with tapioca/"original"

...and that was the best picture I took out of 3 attempts. Probably my own fault for not remembering to take a picture while sitting down so I had to do this while walking which proved rather difficult.

But anyway, Fruitti Mix is located in the First Markham Place food court and what I like to call value bubble tea. 1 for $2.50 or 2 for $4.50 ($2.25 each!), bubble tea doesn't get much cheaper than that. Pretty much the standard powdered stuff and average sizes. I mean sure maybe the tapioca is a bit small and kind of chewy and has a slight funny taste to it and it could be colder.....but hey, it's $2.25! I'm not complaining...ok maybe just a little bit but that still won't stop me from getting it.

So if you like your bubble tea with quality tapioca and real fruit juices stay away but if you're as cheap as I am and don't mind their tapioca tasting a bit off I say enjoy your $2.25 bubble tea!

Fruitti Mix (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Welcome to My Crappy Food Blog

2009-06-27T13:41:00.001-04:00

Covering the GTA and updated whenever I remember to take a picture before I start eating (which unfortunately doesn't happen very often and a picture of an empty plate isn't very helpful)

But anyway, what to expect:
1. Terrible pictures? Check
2. Terribly written? Check
3. Terrible opinions? Somehow yes
4. Updated infrequently? Check
5. Questionable hygiene? Oh boy you bet

Oh well I don't expect people to be interested in me eating at some random Chinese dive in Scarborough anyway, but at least I can look back on this in a few years and be like what the hell was I thinking back then.