Elegant Chinese Cuisine

Elegant Chinese Cuisine is on Highway 7, a little east of Markville Mall. 

Monday to Friday, they have a dim sum promotion from 9am to 3:30pm where all sizes of dim sum (S, M, L) are all $2.60 (the regular price of small dim sum dishes is $2.60 while the medium and large sizes are more expensive).

It's a lot bigger than it appears on the outside....

Baby squid in curry sauce and Har Gow

The curry sauce was great: a nice blend of spiciness and tastiness. I wish they steamed the baby squid more to make it more tender - then it would be the perfect dim sum dish!

Har gow had a very sticky and thick skin which made it not that pleasant to eat and it was relatively bland.

1) Congee with pickled gai choi, pork and century egg. I thought that the congee either had some celery in it or it had a celery taste which threw me off since I'm used to just eating the normal pickled gai choi, pork and century egg congee. The celery added a crisp, sweet taste that contrasted with the pickled choi and pork.  

2) Fried Noodles with beansprouts. The noodles weren't too oily which was nice, but they were a little bland though. 

3) Taro Dumpling: it was a deep fried dish with meat and taro - the dish went bad, so we didn't eat anything beyond the first bite.

Zhaliang 

This was really good! The crispy youtiao inside with the rice noodle on top and soy sauce...mmmmm

Top: Lo mai gai and Bottom: Shumai

The lo mai gai was pretty filling with lots of rice and pork and there was even some egg yolk inside.

Shumai was delicious! Super meaty, fish eggs were good and it was fresh. 

Deep fried tofu in black bean sauce

I found the sauce was bland which didn't help the tofu since tofu usually needs the sauce to add flavour to it. 

Overall: Decent dim sum - the service was fast, prices were reasonable and food was okay. 

Doner Kebab House

I've been seriously craving Döner Kebab ever since my trip to Berlin last year.

So with a little research on Google, I found the Doner Kebab House next to Big Slice (and it came highly rated on Yelp - so I figured it was worth a chance). 

The menu is pretty simple: (1) chicken or veal, (2) plate or sandwich...

Doner Kebab (chicken) sandwich $6 (incl. tax)

As you can see, it was really poorly wrapped and kind of fell apart. I was pretty disappointed:

a) the pita was hard and too chewy (I really had to use my canine teeth to rip into it) 

b) I asked for more garlic sauce, but it turned out to be really watery and runny - leaking everywhere

c) the ingredients weren't particularly fresh either: the chicken was really dry, cold and hard and the lettuce was borderline wilty.  

It definitely wasn't my best döner experience.

Frangipane

Update: Bakery has closed. 

I was seriously craving tarts today: so I did my research, grabbed my Metropass and set off to satisfy my sweet tooth.

I got off at Dupont station a little disoriented, but luckily I remembered the directions on the website and I immediately started heading in the direction of the LCBO. 

Oooh la la!

White chocolate cheesecake tart with French caramel topping $5.50

Appearances are deceiving...I had to ask the lady at the counter to repeat the name of the tart because I was so sure it was a pumpkin tart or some other autumn inspired tart. 

When I actually tried it - OMG Yum! The french caramel topping was sweet, rich and super decadent. It overpowered the cheesecake, but I didn't care because I couldn't get enough of it! It wasn't overwhelmingly sweet: I thought it was similar to a dulce de leche cheesecake, but the caramel topping was tastier, more viscous and heavy than dulce de leche. 

I think I've been spoiled by Clafouti's pie crusts which are clean, neat, delicious and not crumbly. The pie crusts at Frangipane just couldn't compare. 

Apple almond tart $5.50

Caramelized apple slices fanned over a base of almond frangipane. 

Really delicious! A great apple almond tart! I love their frangipane - it's amazing! 

Overall: The tarts are really good! It's a little pricier than some of the other places, but it's also slightly larger. The selection isn't as great, but you can also pre-order the tart you want in advance.

Website: http://frangipane.ca/

Guu Sakabar

After months of hearing rave reviews about the food and listening to stories about the crazy line ups to get in - I finally made it to the popular Izakaya on Bloor Street. 

It's very distinctive - the restaurant sign was a little hard to find...but they had this awesome menu by the door:

Inside Sakabar

The Cool Tables! No kneeling required.

The normal menu and the Daily Menu

 

Nama Grapefruit - half a grapefruit, vodka and soda $6

The best part is the squeezing/juicing of the grapefruit!

Salmon Tataki and Maguro Tataki

Salmon Tataki was seared B.C. salmon sashimi with ponzu, wasabi mayo and garlic chips, while the Maguro Tataki was seared B.C. tuna sashimi with ponzu and garlic chips. 

I didn't like the salmon tataki as much as the tuna tataki because of the wasabi mayo. I found that it made a huge difference because the sauce had such a strong and distinct taste that it overshadowed the actual flavour of the fish. 

Sashimi Platter

7 kinds of assorted sashimi for $30: salmon, sea urchin, tuna, yellowtail, sweet shrimp, lobster and scallop

It was all very fresh and yummy! This was my first time trying shrimp sashimi (I was super uncomfortable sucking out the head of the shrimp), lobster sashimi (which is really good) and sea urchin (I automatically thought of the uni sushi in the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi)

Takoyaki

Deep fried octopus balls with tonkatsu sauce and karashi mayo

The takoyaki was tasty but I didn't really taste the octopus inside the deep fried batter. Bonito flakes weren't too strong which was nice.

Tofu Steak

Fried tofu with mushroom sauce on sizzling plate

What a great vegetarian dish! I loved the meaty tofu steak and the mushroom sauce was delicious!

Karubi

Grilled miso marinated beef short ribs

The group enjoyed these short ribs better than the short ribs we had at Daisho - very flavourful and no fat!

Karaage

Deep fried soy sauce marinated chicken served with garlic mayo

Chunks of boneless white meat with a nice crispy finish. It's a relatively simple dish with simple flavours - I would rather eat fried chicken at Popeye's though.

Gindara 

Grilled miso marinated black cod with yuzu miso sauce

OMG - this was AMAZING! The meat was flaky, tender and just melted in your mouth with that delectable yuzu miso sauce. I would highly recommend ordering this dish! It's so good!

Kakimayo

Baked B.C. oyster with mushroom, spinach, and garlic mayo topped with cheese. 

This was an interesting appetizer to share...with all the mushrooms, spinach and cheese, it felt like a game of where's the oyster. 

Kinoko Bibimbap

rice, mushroom & cheese with seaweed sauce in sizzling stone bowl

 When they brought the bowl to the table, the waitress presented it to us and then proceeded to do some crazy quick mixing and served us this lovely bowl after. Yummy! The mushroom and seaweed sauce is a great combination and I love the stickiness of the cheese because it really held everything together.

Salmon Natto Yukke

chopped salmon sashimi with seven friends (natto, takuan, shibazuke, scallion, cucumber, garlic chips & raw egg yolk)

Originally, I wanted to stay very far away from this dish when I saw the word "Natto" in the name. For people that don't know, Natto is a popular breakfast dish in Japan of fermented soybeans. The soybeans have a really pungent smell and sticky stringy texture when stirred together. The first time I smelt natto in Japan, I found it extremely off-putting - so I've steered clear of it since. 

My friend said that the seven friends dish was good the last time she tried it here - so I decided to give it a shot (and hope that the garlic chips, takuan: daikon radish and shibazuke: purple pickles would cover up the smell and taste of the natto). Maybe it was me, or maybe it was the strong stinky smell of the natto - but I couldn't bring myself to enjoy this dish. 

Torikawa

deep fried chicken skin with ponzu sauce

Crispy and chewy at the same time...I guess that's fried chicken skin for you.

Hotacaru

seared Hokkaido scallop carpaccio with yuzu pepper dressing

Delicious! The scallops were done wonderfully and the dressing was a great pairing for the dish.

Yaki Udon

Pan fried udon noodles with beef, mushrooms and scallion

Saba Oshizushi

Blowtorch cured mackerel pressed sushi

WOW! This was so delicious - each morsel was packed with flavour and perfect. We didn't get a blowtorch show like at Fin Izakaya, but the sushi was so good that it more than made up for it.

Sashimi salad

Today's assorted sashimi on greens - octopus, salmon and a white fish...

A nice salad - beautifully presented

Carbonara udon

creamy udon noodles with bacon, onion, and half boiled egg

The carbonara sauce was really tasty - I was quite impressed. 

They also have a separate dessert menu and "Birthday menu" which we ordered this off of:

Seven Samurai

7 types of sake shooters!

Overall: I had a great experience at Guu Sakabar! It really gives the authentic Izakaya experience from beginning to end: you get the full bar experience with the random shouting and celebrations throughout the restaurant while you're eating and everything is share-able  Izakaya's are best to go in bigger groups since you get to try more items (and it also helps to keep the per person cost a little lower since it tends to be more expensive on a per plate basis). The food is delicious! I was pretty happy with everything I had.

Website: http://guu-izakaya.com/sakabar/

Daisho @ Momofuku

The new Momofuku "building" at Adelaide and University near the Shangri-La

The building has 3 floors, of which the first floor is the Noodle Bar:

The second floor is Nikai and the third floor is half Daisho and half Shoto.

The Menu

I also couldn't help doing my own research into the 3 advance reservation items at The Price Hike. 

So we decided to order the Beef Short-rib dinner (the Canadian specialty!) for 4-6 people when we made our reservation. 

I love the design - it was actually more well-lit than the picture and it was just so classy with a stunning view of downtown Toronto. 

Cucumber appetizer with some spiced chilies

Nice way to build up the appetite with some fresh crisp cucumber and a hint of heat.

The white kimchi

It was pretty bitter and gingery by itself - not too spicy though. It worked well with the short ribs when they came.

Puffed rice and beansprouts with chilies in fish sauce

Mmmm fish sauce...

Beef Short ribs $220 (excl. tax and tip)

"The 7-bone beef short rib is slow-cooked for 48 hours in apple juice with hatcho miso, gochugang, and pears. it's topped with puffed white rice and served with white kimchi, marinated bean sprouts, and white rice."

At first, we were concerned that we weren't going to be able to finish it all (considering most of the group are all petite Asian girls). However, we managed it because of this:

FAT

The short ribs were like 70% fat - which was great because in terms of the meat texture and flavour, they were amazing! Super tender from the slow cooking and marinating. The meat just melted in your mouth from the marbled fat. However, in terms of overall texture and taste, it was an expensive disaster for half the table who didn't like the greasy blubbery fat of the short ribs. So after cutting out the fat from most of the short ribs (as shown in the picture...and we put it all into the bowl that was supposed to be for bones - we called it the "fat bowl" after), we managed to clear the gigantic plate. In actuality, we probably ate 60% of the overall short ribs dish (the "fat bowl" had to be cleared away twice). 

Since half our table was still a hungry, we had to order something else. Unfortunately, they don't serve the famous Momofuku Pork Buns (and they don't bring them upstairs either). So we got:

Rice cakes with pork sausage, chinese broccoli and tofu

It was kind of interesting, the rice cakes were crispy on the outside and soft and gummy on the inside. I didn't really see the chinese broccoli in the dish (maybe I just didn't get any), but there was definitely a lot of ground pork in spicy sauce. It didn't really turn out the way I pictured it - but the Korean influences were definitely there. 

Overall: I wasn't impressed with Daisho: it was an expensive meal because (a) not only was it pricey, but (b) considering the actual portion of the short ribs that we actually ate, it was rather disappointing. A few of my friends suggested maybe trying the Fried Chicken next time, but I don't think I'll be joining them. 

Website: http://momofuku.com/toronto/daisho