Blackbird Baking Co.

I heard Blackbird Baking Co. had some really good pies, but when I went to the Kensington market area to check them out - they didn't have any pies I wanted. I didn't want to leave empty handed, so I bought a scone:

Cheddar and jalapeno scone
The scone was okay - it was definitely a savoury scone that should be eaten with butter, but I just had it by itself. I liked the cheddar and jalapeno flavour combination.

Website: https://blackbirdbakingco.com/

Inspire Restaurant

 My friend highly recommended this Asian Fusion restaurant in Markham.

Duck Confit Frites

Duck confit with fries, mayo and Thai Chilis

The fries were delicious, the duck confit was really tasty and the mayo and slight hint of spice from the Thai chilis tied it together perfectly. I loved how all the components of the dish came together! It was also beautifully presented. 

Korean Steak Bennies $18 and pulled pork fries (+$2)

Strip steak, eggs, garlic toast, tumeric fries and aioli

I was so glad I decided to upgrade my fries to the pulled pork fries after also getting the duck confit fries. The pulled pork fries were really good too, but the duck confit fries were slightly better. The Korean steak bennies were really good - the steak had the flavour of Korean BBQ marinade and the eggs were poached nicely. I also really liked the garlic toast on the bottom - that was a nice touch. 

INSP Loco-Moco

Beef, Coconut rice, shittake, crispy onions and two sunny side eggs

The loco moco was pretty good! It was my first time trying a loco-moco. I wasn't too sure if the pile of crispy onions is usually part of it though - it added great texture to the dish. 

Chicken & Waffle

Crispy chicken, waffles, maple butter and berries

This was probably the least Asian fusion dish of the brunch dishes we got. It was tasty, but I didn't think it was anything really special. 

Overall: Great place for brunch! It's totally changed my mind about Asian fusion - I'm really impressed by Inspire Restaurant!

Website: https://www.insprestaurant.com/

Loaded Pierogi

On my way to the Christmas Market at the Distillery District, we stopped by the Loaded Pierogi for dinner. 

Wild Mushroom and Truffle $13.50 and The Catch $14
The mushroom pierogi's truffle oil was pretty strong and it gave the dish a really good earthy taste. It was nice that this one was classic, so that we could compare it with the fried Catch which had lobster and crab and was pretty tasty.

Overall: The Loaded Pierogi has an interesting concept serving onion and potato dumplings with lots of yummy toppings on top.

Website: http://loadedpierogi.com/

Galleria Supermarket @ Thornhill

I'm a huge fan of the Galleria Supermarket chain. When I saw the flyer advertising a pork bone soup, fried pork and jajangmyun special at the Thornhill location, I went to go check it out. 

The Galleria is set up differently from the York Mills location - they have a proper food court with food stalls: 

We had no idea where the specials were until we looked at all the menus for all the stalls (because the flyer didn't mention which stall). 

Jajangmyun and the fried pork special

I was really confused by the large container of sauce (is this for dipping? this seems like it's too much to pour over the pork?) and it wasn't very good. The pork was really stringy too and it was mostly batter rather than pork. The jajangmyun was mediocre - not as good as the other store. 

  

Pork Bone Soup

They have more side dishes and they have purple rice! Other than that, I found that this pork bone soup was super watery and they over-seasoned it with the powder spices rather than building it into the soup. There was a lot of pork bone and meat, but it just didn't taste as yummy. The pickled radishes were also not very good. 

Overall: I'm disappointed by the Korean food at the Thornhill location - I'll stick to the York Mills location. 

Olive Garden - Buffalo

All of the Olive Gardens in Ontario have closed, but I used to hear about their cheap pasta lunch specials and all you can eat breadsticks and salad. I finally got to try it in Buffalo!

The breadsticks weren't very good and the salad was okay. (The salad was an extra $1.50)

I don't really like olives, so by the end of the shared bowl, we had a lot of olives remaining. 

Chicken gnocchi soup

It was really thick and chunky with gloops of soup. I think my first bowl was the last dregs of their soup, the next soup bowl was a little better, but it was still super thick and kind of flavourless. 

Grilled Chicken plate (Quesadilla) and Meatball Sandwich $6.99

The grilled chicken plate was really disappointing - I thought we'd get more food than just four tiny quesadilla. At least it was tasty? I couldn't believe they used the breadstick to make the meatball sandwich. 

Overall: I was super disappointed with the Olive Garden, the food was not really satisfying or particularly tasty. However, there were so many people eating here? I'm confused - did I get the wrong menu or something? How is it so popular? I think East Side Mario's is so much better (which makes sense that Olive Garden moved out of Canada).

Website: https://www.olivegarden.ca/home

Pistachio Ice Cream in USA

Nov 12, 2017 - Buffalo: Häagen-Dazs 

I love pistachio desserts! (I have a ton of blog entries to back it up too). 

Randomly, before my trip, I decided to look into Halo Top ice cream and I found that they had pistachio ice cream in the US! So, when we made a trip to Walmart, I went down their ice cream aisle to take a look.

I was so surprised the US had so many varieties of pistachio ice cream!!! Then I got upset, because all these pistachio ice creams were literally a 2 hour drive away from Toronto, but we don't get them because we're in Canada.  

I ended up buying the Häagen-Dazs pistachio because I was most surprised by it on the shelf in the US.

I had pretty high expectations for a Häagen-Dazs pistachio since they're known for high-end tasty and creamy ice cream. I tried it, and I was disappointed - it tasted like it was more vanilla ice cream with tiny bits of pistachio in it than actual pistachio flavoured ice cream. The pistachio flavour was super light (it tasted mostly of vanilla) and the pistachio chunks were rather few. I understand that pistachios are one of the most expensive nuts in the world, but this tub of ice cream was unsatisfying for my pistachio dessert craving. 

Griffon Gastropub - Buffalo

We finished a full day of shopping at the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA and dropped off our stuff at the hotel before heading back out for dinner.

When I was researching places to eat, I saw pictures of Griffin Gastropub's gnocchi poutine and I was pretty excited to try it!
Unfortunately, they took it off their menu when we asked about it. Instead, we got some other food. 

Griffin's pub platter with chicken tenders, onion rings, fries, mozzarella sticks and pizza logs $14
Everything was really tasty on the platter and the three assorted dips were really fun! The fries were really good with the spice rub on top. It was a pretty hefty portion for an appetizer. 

Surf and Turf burger $14
Lobster and crab cake on top of a burger on a delicious egg bun with crispy onions on top and served with their yummy fries! It was really good!

Chicken Gruyere $16
Two pieces of chicken breast served with caramelized onions, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, shell pasta and gruyere cheese all baked in the oven was a delicious meal! It was cheesy, seasoned perfectly and oh so good! 

Overall: The food was really good and the portion sizes were great! The service was also decent (except when we were trying to settle the bill). I'm a little sad I didn't get to eat the gnocchi poutine, but they still have a great menu of yummy food.

Website: http://thegriffonpub.com/

The Cheesecake Factory - Buffalo

My trips to the US aren't complete without at least one stop at the Cheesecake Factory! Here was my obligatory stop at the Walden Galleria Cheesecake Factory. 

Where I got cheesecake to go: 

Adam's Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake $7.95

This was the perfect way to save a slightly disappointing lunch from Charlie the Butcher's. It had lots of peanut butter flavour and it was a heavy and decadent cheesecake - which was exactly what I wanted. 

Website: https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com

Charlie the Butcher - Buffalo

A lot of Torontoians come down to Buffalo, NY for outlet shopping since outlets are so much cheaper in the US than in Canada - so we went on a 3 hour road trip to Buffalo!

Once we crossed the border, we headed straight to Charlie the Butcher for their famous Beef on Weck.

 The Original Location

Very cute diner style place

Beef on Weck $6.99 and Pulled Pork Sandwich $6.49

The buns were really interesting with the kosher salt and some sprinkled caraway seeds on top - it was also really salty. The beef was rare and there was some horseradish already in it (which surprised my taste buds since I didn't expect it). I think it was an interesting roast beef sandwich, but nowhere near the best roast beef sandwich I've had and it wouldn't be something I'd come back to Buffalo for. The pulled pork was slightly better (mostly because it wasn't as salty), but it was still kind of boring. 

Website: https://www.charliethebutcher.com

Keung's Restaurant

November 4, 2017

In my quest to find a replacement "HK style ketchup spaghetti", I went with some friends to Keung's restaurant for dinner. 

Yummy HK milk tea

Baked Shredded Chicken spaghetti with tomato sauce

The tomato sauce was really sweet and it just tasted weird. I didn't like it at all, but I finished it because I was starving after Pursuit OCR. 

September 28, 2013

Whenever I have stomach problems or get sick, I eat Congee. Therefore, when I think of congee I just associate that state of being sick (and recovering faster) with it.

Keung's Restaurant is known for their congee.
They have a special Salted Bone Congee on weekends and it's delicious! It has a chili oil and huge chunks of pork bone.

Chef style Chicken Congee
Congee with chicken, peanuts, chopped ginger, green onions and shallots
There wasn't a lot of balance in the congee because the actual congee was watery and there were too many toppings making the congee obviously chunky in certain places. Also, I don't like when the congee is made with bone-in chicken because the chicken bone pieces shatter and mess up the texture of the congee. Otherwise, the flavour was there - it just wasn't as pleasant to eat. I miss the Chicken & Noodles Chinese Restaurant that used to be at 1 Glen Watford Drive in Scarborough (that was my go-to congee place and I haven't been able to find a place that can recreate it since).

Pan Fried Dried Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll
I think the rice noodle roll was supposed to be a little crispy, but instead it was like 10 seconds on the pan and then plated. The rolls all stuck together and they were pretty bland and tasteless. The sauces on the side were really good though and helped mask some of the blandness.

Overall: Food was mediocre, but I'd come back for the Salted Pork Bone Congee though (we got that as take-out and it came in a huge 4L Ice-cream tub container and it was delicious). Service was relatively fast, but they missed subtle things like refilling tea and letting us know that you have to go up to pay rather than bringing us the bill.

Website: http://www.keungsrestaurant.com

The Drake Hotel

November 4, 2017

We came to the Drake Hotel for a big hearty breakfast before testing out our athletic abilities at Pursuit OCR. 

Drake Benny with house smoked salmon and two homestead eggs, arugula, English muffin, hollandaise sauce and potatoes. 

This was a nice hearty breakfast and it was so yummy! 

Drake breakfast with two eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, potato hash and rye bread

It's so pretty and so filling - definitely on the pricier side though. 

Breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, potato, cheese, beans, corn and potatoes and greens. 

The burrito was okay - it seemed like a small portion, but it was pretty filling. 

August 19, 2015

It's been a while since I've been back to the Drake, but for my friend's birthday she wanted to try out the Trivia night at the Drake Hotel.  I love trivia! I like to think that I have a good memory for random things (which usually makes me pretty good at Cranium and pop culture trivia). 

However, in this case, the trivia was so hard that we could barely get 10% of the questions right.  The facts were way too obscure.  I definitely won't be come back to this Trivia night. 

Drake Dry aged burger with milk bun, bacon, cheddar, russian dressing, pickle and fries

Even if my trivia experience was awful - the food here is always pretty good.  The burger was great! I liked the milk bun and the russian dressing - it just worked so well! 

January 28, 2013

I was pretty excited when I saw that The Drake Hotel was offering a Winterlicious menu this year. 

The last time I was at The Drake Hotel, I had one of the best pork chops ever. 

I heard they also had the best blueberry scones in Toronto as well, so we ordered some scones to start:

Warm scone share plate with cream and preserves $7.75

The scones were really good: flaky, tasty and fresh from the oven. We also got mascarpone cheese, a homemade strawberry preserve and some butter accompanying the scones. Yum!

It was definitely pricier ordering the plate to share and eat in the restaurant (considering you can buy the scones for $2.25 each and they're at least twice the size of these ones), but at least these are fresh and with the mascarpone - they're heavenly. 

On to the Winterlicious menu...(lunch for $20):

(*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

 

Potato soup with escargot and parsley

Thick and creamy soup with some chunks of salty escargot. 

 

Hoisin glazed perth pork tacos with brussels sprouts & bacon slaw, hazelnuts and chili apple sauce

The tacos had some slightly charred fatty bacon strips and the tortilla shell was a little hard; it wasn't exactly what I was expecting for pork tacos). I did like the slaw though and I would probably recommend the pork tacos over the soup as an appetizer. 

 

*Grilled Pacific Salmon with fingerling potatoes, red cabbage & fennel slaw

The salmon was done very well. The downside of the dish was that the slaw was the same as the one served with the pork tacos (same cabbage, chopped fennel and bland sauce). 

 

Ontario Flank Steak with roast baby red potatoes, green peppercorn, roasted cauliflower and mushrooms

The vegetables were slightly charred again as was the flank steak. It was tender and the au jus was nice, but it was really quite salty. 

 

*The Drake Black Forest - chocolate and Ontario Cherries

It was rich made with dark chocolate and not too sweet. 

 

*Pear Upside Down Cake with parsnip ice cream and candied ginger

The cake was really nice, moist and tasty. The parsnip ice cream wasn't very appetizing on it's own, but when paired with the candied ginger (YUM!) and the pear cake - it was really good. 

Overall: The highlights of the meal were the desserts, but we weren't particularly impressed by the rest of the meal. We were blindsided by the automatic 18% tip (because it didn't say anywhere that we would automatically get charged this) and after a disappointing meal, we weren't very happy. 

Website: http://www.thedrakehotel.ca/