Pan on the Danforth

We've been tempted to try the Summerlicious/Winterlicious at Pan on the Danforth for years, but the timing somehow never worked out - until now. The lunch menu looked great for $18. 

 

Trilogy of Spreads: Taramosalata, Humus, Tirokafteri with pita

All the spreads were really good! and they gave us a ton of pita to dip it with. 

Kolokithokeftedes: zucchini croquettes with feta, kefalograviera cheese and herbs

The croquettes were great! So tasty and the mixed greens on top added a nice flavour as well. 

Pan Chicken Souvlaki

The chicken was tender and seasoned well, the tzatziki was a little too thick though which made it harder to dip the chicken into the sauce since it didn't stick. Also, I have to admit, I love the Jimmy the Greek potatoes and these ones didn't cut it for me.  

Kota Kai Aginares (Artichoke with chicken)
It was okay - the chicken souvlaki was better.

Pork Souvlaki Dinner
The pork was nicely seasoned, but it just wasn't as good as the tender juicy chicken (everything is relative).

Havlas - sweet made with semolina and raisins
This dessert was really soaked in syrup - very sweet.

Ravani: cake with honey syrup
In contrast to the havlas, this cake was really dry.

Overall: Decent 3-course Greek meal at Pan on the Danforth. It was nice to finally try it and the service was pretty good. 

Silver Star Food Court

I started going to this food court on Silver Star Boulevard when it first opened years ago. Back then, it was a hidden gem with a lot of really cheap and delicious food (like huge freshly breaded and fried chicken fingers for $5 and this amazing Shanghainese stall with the best beef and onion rolls). However, the lack of traffic those first few years caused my favourite shops to close and I haven't really been back until now.  The only shop that's consistent is Canton Kitchen. 

Stir Fry Noodles (from the Green shop)

Really good! and super cheap for less than $5

Ma Po Tofu on rice (not pictured above - but to the right of where I was sitting)

A little bland - but there was a lot of tofu and a lot of rice for $6 including the soup. 

Cafe California

Jan 29, 2016

Some of my coworkers wanted to do a Winterlicious lunch for $18, so we came to Cafe California. (*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

Winter Bruschetta (vegetarian)

With goat cheese, cranberries and apples

Santa Barbara Salad (vegetarian)

Mixed greens with pine nuts, raisins, mushrooms, onions and a sun-dried tomato pesto vinaigrette

Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip (vegetarian)

Topped with roasted red peppers and served with warm naan bread

Lamb Souvlaki

Skewers of tender lamb, served with greek salad, basmati rice, and tzatziki sauce

My coworker said the lamb was really tasty and tender

6oz Striploin Steak

In a mushroom brandy sauce, and served with roast potatoes and market vegetable
The steak was rather tough even though I got it medium rare - it was a tougher and older cut of meat. 

Cajun Tilapia

Herb and spice crusted filet of tilapia, in a white wine dill cream sauce, served with basmati rice and market vegetables

Warm Chocolate Brownie (vegetarian)

With Crème Brulee Crème Fraiche

Tia Maria Cheesecake
The cheesecake was kind of interesting - definitely didn't taste like a typical cheesecake and the crust was kind of like the Japanese cheesecake.

February 10, 2015

Ever since the Winterlicious menus came out, I've been looking forward to the $25 dinner menu at Cafe California. (*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

Calamari Diablo with chili aioli
It was a nice filling portion for an appetizer. The calamari was breaded and fried and worked well with the aioli.

Lobster Mac & Cheese
I was really looking forward to this when I first saw the menu. Lobster mac & cheese is usually served as a main rather than an appetizer (and you get filet mignon for $25 too? that's a ridiculously good deal). The mac & cheese was super creamy with the three cheese sauce and there were 2-3 pieces of lobster on top. The breadcrumbs on top were nice, but I would have liked it even more if they baked the appetizer until there was a nice crust on top of the mac and cheese.


8 oz Filet Mignon with Madeira sauce and vegetables
The filet mignon was done really well! Lots of meat and cooked to perfection - tender and juicy.
I wasn't sure if I'd like the gorgonzola (blue cheese) on top, but I think it paired nicely with the meat and the sauce. A very yummy and filling portion!


Apple Crumble Tart
When we got the tart, it looked really nice, but as soon as I dug a fork in - it crumbled.
The apple crumble was a little too literal: the crust was not very good and the apple and crumble part were nice, but it's not that easy to enjoy it when the crust fails to hold it all together.

Amarula Liqueur Cheesecake
This cheesecake was really nicely done. It had great flavour from the amarula liqueur and it was moist with a good solid crust. I almost wish I had more - but I was pretty full from the other two courses.

Overall: Great value for money and very yummy food at Cafe California! The service was great and the food came out fast and very well done - and it's such a bargain for lobster mac & cheese and filet mignon.

Website: http://www.cafecalifornia.ca/

Morals Village

Chinese Hot Pot!

My coworker recommended Morals Village over Little Sheep - he said the food was fresher and the sauce bar was better.  After my previous experience with Little Sheep, I was all for trying Morals Village to forget my bad memories of Chinese hot pot.

You get a two hour limit at the tables and once you choose your soup base (of which there are MANY), you'll have enough time to run over to the sauce bar and play around with all their choices:

Hoisin sauce and scallions and regular soy sauce.

Then you can choose your veggies/meats, which they bring to your table in these dishes.




Hot pot time!


After hot pot, you get to have a refreshing ice cream dessert:


Overall: Food was really tasty at Morals Village; they had a wide variety of soup bases, and a lot of options for veggies and meat. It was much better than Little Sheep.

Sushi Gen

They have AYCE sushi, but we weren't that hungry, so we opted for a la carte. 

Miso soup and salad

Salmon Teriyaki Bento box

Reasonably priced dinner bento box with tempura, rolls, a huge piece of salmon, spring rolls, gyoza and rice. 

Maki combo B: California Rolls, BBQ eel rolls and spicy salmon rolls

It was okay - filling at least. 

Overall: Quick service and reasonable prices for sushi. 

31 Kitchen

Update: Restaurant has closed.

Jan 1, 2016

House Special Super Golden Sago mixed with Mango Ice Cream

Pretty epic dessert

Mango pudding and Taro Coconut Milk with Sago

Two of my favourite Chinese desserts! The pudding was pretty good with chunks of sweet mango and the taro coconut milk with sago was okay - a little on the watery side, but there was a lot of taro and sago. 

Taro toast

Apparently I don't really learn (see below)- but I was hungry and I haven't had taro toast in 5 years!

31 Kitchen Special Golden Toast (Strawberry version)

This was pretty crazy and intense for dessert with ice cream, strawberry whipped cream, chocolate & strawberry sauce and all that toast.  Although, we did learn that inside was this: 

Instead of actual pieces of toast, it was hollowed out and there were toasted pieces of bread inside...

November 11, 2011

I went to 31 Kitchen with a friend of mine and her friend from high school for Chinese Desserts. I have been really craving a Taiwanese dessert called Taro toast (Taro Butter on Brick Toast) for a while, so I was really hoping that 31 Kitchen (formerly The Sugar) would have some and luckily they did! However, the process of actually getting my toast took forever...we were there at 10pm and got our orders and our drinks, but I think I waited like 45 minutes to an hour for my Taro toast and it looked like the picture above (not particularly appetizing). So I was pretty disappointed, then when I actually had it - I wasn't a big fan of it either. 

I like REALLY sweet things and the last Taro toast I tried was in Waterloo at a teashop near the University of Waterloo campus called Sweet Dreams. The Taro toast at Sweet Dreams was bright purple (probably because they used the Taro bubble tea powder to make the butter) and the butter was totally drenched on the toast and it was absolutely yummy. So in comparison to that, I was quite disappointed with the Taro Toast. However, my friend said that the dumplings and waffles were really good there - so maybe I just ordered the wrong thing...Oh well, maybe next time.

Website: http://www.31kitchen.com/