Another souvenir from Tokyo from a friend
Panda snacks made of some kind of cake thing with banana cream
Sunday 29 July 2018
Saturday 28 July 2018
Panini & Ice Cream - Hamilton
Simple name and simple food (We found them on Yelp since we were in the area)
Two panini
Ranch Chicken Supreme
Decent panini with grilled chicken, tomatoes and spring mix
Classic Grilled Cheese
Reeses Pieces Sundae
Chocolate peanut butter ice cream with chocolate sauce and reeses pieces - it was a perfect reeses pieces sundae.
Rasta Pasta
Rasta pasta
They ran out of gnocchi, so I got penne pasta with marinara sauce and ackee and saltfish. It's definitely different than other Italian places - where else would you find a combination of ackee and saltfish with pasta. I thought it was okay, but I wasn't really a fan of this fusion.
Website: http://eatrastapasta.ca/
Sunday 22 July 2018
Nenrinya (Baumkuchen) - Tokyo
July 22, 2018
Original glazed and orange baumkuchen
I love the Mount Baums - something about the bumps and the glaze just make the baumkuchen taste so much better. The orange baumkuchen was pretty good too with orange crystals on top and soft cake on the bottom.
July 19, 2018
Orange fondant baumkuchen
I liked the subtle orange flavour in the baumkuchen more than the orange glaze on top, but it was delicious regardless. Not too sweet and light and fluffy.
March 26, 2015
It's been a while since I've updated this post, but I have been eating some baumkuchen in between. However, the flavours haven't really changed, so I haven't been updating the post.
Green tea and Cherry Blossom
I love the seasonal flavours and I couldn't resist doing another Cherry Blossom post.
The cherry blossom flavour is really light, airy and delicate and I'm happy to say that Nenrinya does an amazing job infusing the flavour beautifully into the baumkuchen.
I've been eating more of the ring baumkuchens (mostly because they're better value for money) than the Mount Baum baumkuchens, but I still think my preference is for the Mount Baums - that extra coating of glazed sugar just makes it so much better.
This was a good compromise for me! The ring shape and the Mount Baum with the glazed icing on the outside. The only downside? The matcha green tea flavour - which was light, but it still tasted like matcha (which I'm not really a fan of).
February 11, 2013
The Original Baumkuchen flavour from Nenrinya
OMG is it ever good! WOW - I've really missed original Baumkuchen: I totally forgot how delicious it was just by itself. The different flavours are nice and all - but at the end of the day, this is my favourite souvenir from Japan. The outside of the round ring doesn't have sugar like the other flavours; instead, it has this moist crust-like layer of the cake that's just SOOO GOOD.
March 30, 2012
Here we go again, this time we decided to try another Baumkuchen place and then compare Nenrinya's baumkuchen to a different place to see if it really is the best we've ever had.
The Baumkuchen store next to Nenrinya's Tokyo station store was Tokyo Banana, so we tried their signature Banana Baumkuchen:
It's great to have a different company's baumkuchen ring so we can have a basis for comparison.
Tokyo Banana: The baumkuchen was soft and moist, but in comparison to Nenrinya - it was a little more crumbly and it just wasn't as delicate in taste and texture. There was a heavy glaze on the surface of the banana baumkuchen and I felt it detracted from the layers of cake of baumkuchen. The banana flavour was great and very distinctive. It was really good but after eating it, I thought for sure that Nenrinya is definitely the better baumkuchen maker.
The Cherry Blossom Baumkuchen! Eating the full baumkuchen allows you to fully taste the cherry blossom flavour baked into it. Absolutely delicious - soft moist cake, great texture with the sugar crystals and the taste is light, sweet and fragrant with a tiny hint of coconut. It's really yummy!
In addition, the packaging and appearance of the Nenrinya baumkuchen totally trumps Tokyo Banana - so clearly they're the winners here!
Satsuma (Tangerine) Baumkuchen Ring on the left and a Straight Green Tea Baumkuchen
Green Tea and a slice of the Cherry Blossom Baumkuchen
I'm usually not a fan of green tea flavoured stuff - but this was good! There was definitely a matcha taste, but it wasn't overwhelming. If I had to choose between the Green Tea and the Cherry Blossom - I would definitely choose the Cherry Blossom, there wasn't really a cherry blossom taste since the flavour is so light. On the other hand, you could really taste the normal baumkuchen cake which is AMAZING. It's soft and yummy and if anything, I thought the Cherry Blossom theme was more obvious in the pink colouring than the taste.
Side note: So after our second attempt at requesting baumkuchen from my mom's coworker who visits Japan more frequently than we do, we realized that the Nenrinya Baumkuchen makes SEASONAL baumkuchen! (Shocker right?). Since it's Spring and getting closer to Cherry Blossom season, they made a Cherry Blossom Baumkuchen (logic!). Now the Sweet Potato Baumkuchen in November (which is Harvest season) makes sense!
Inside the Baumkuchen ring (and the Satsuma sugar)
Delicious! I can't praise the Baumkuchen from Nenrinya enough - this is probably my favourite food request from Japan (If you could bring back fresh sushi from Tsukiji fish market that'd probably be a favourite too).
November 29, 2011
My mom's co-worker went on a Japan trip a few weeks ago and before she left, my mom asked her to bring back some baumkuchen from Japan. Especially after the trying the Baumkuchen in Berlin (which turned out to be a disaster), I really wanted some AMAZING fresh Baumkuchen from Tokyo.
What is Baumkuchen? Baumkuchen is a traditional dessert in Europe and popular in Japan; in German, it translates to "Tree Cake" or "log cake" because of the rings in the dessert. According to the Juchheim website, in the history of Baumkuchen, a confectioner cannot earn the title of Meister (pastry chef) before mastering the baumkuchen process since the baumkuchen is the "Der Konig der Kuchen" or King of cakes.
We loved the Nenrinya brand because (1) it was close to our hotel in Ginza when we were there and (2) because we could see it freshly made in the store windows. We tried a few other brands when we were in Tokyo, but nothing measured up (maybe next time we'll try the Juchheim brand since it was the original baumkuchen place in Japan).
So my mom's co-worker found a Nenrinya store in Tokyo station and she tried it and LOVED it (so much so that she bought a ton to take back home to Canada) and we got our baumkuchen!!! You can't quite see the layers here, but this is what it looks like when you're about to bite into it. I think the Tokyo Station Baumkuchen was different than the Ginza Store Baumkuchen, according to my mom's co-worker, it's because they were made in different Prefectures. Chiba vs. Ginza? All I know is that this one was slightly more coffee flavoured than the one in Ginza...curious.
Update: My mom's coworker read the ingredients list...and apparently they make the cake with SWEET POTATO! (Yay! another use of one of my favourite vegetables!)
This is the actual ring box - or the "Straight Baumkuchen". It had an orange flavour to it and crystals of sugar on the outside. It was soft and yummy and absolutely delicious - my family ate it all in one sitting.
The inside of the box! Japanese companies put so much effort into the packaging...
The actual orange-flavoured baumkuchen ring! So soft and moist and delicious...
Lovely pictures from the Brochure from Nenrinya (of course I can't read the Japanese)
Apparently they have a green tea one (I'm not a fan of Japanese Green tea - so I stayed away).
Overall: Super YUMMY even though it was 2 day old Baumkuchen (why can't someone invent faster airplanes so that the Baumkuchen doesn't have to lose a day in freshness when it's making the trip from Tokyo to Toronto???)
Website: http://www.nenrinya.jp/
Wildfire Steakhouse & Wine Bar
Update: Restaurant has closed.
July 22, 2018
*Items I would order again for Summerlicious
Escargot Provencale
Roasted garlic butter and escargots together make the tastiest combination - but it's really heavy.
Grilled Calamari
I love this appetizer! The calamari is perfectly grilled and the warm salsa is delicious with it.
Handmade Whisky Striploin Burger
An excellent burger
Caesar salad
I can't say I'm a fan of wedge salads in general - I'd skip this as an appetizer.
Crusted basa
Bavette steak
This was a really sad portion. I'm kinda disappointed by it.
Carrot cake
This was pretty good
Tartufo
I liked that they poured chocolate over it to make a coating as opposed to just chocolate powder.
April 3, 2016
Last time we were here, we saw some promotional signs advertising their Social Meet.
This was a great deal since most of their entrees are $20+ and their steaks are great!
Grilled Calamari
Their grilled calamari is probably the best I've eaten. The sweet tomato sauce, salty capers and grilled calamari (with lots of spices and flavour) combination works really well.
8 oz. New York Striploin
Not as nice as it was at our last meal, but it's also a promotional event going on - so I guess I can kind of understand.
Full Rack of Back Ribs
This was great! The sauce was sweet and savoury (which I prefer over smoky sauces) and it was such a huge rack that it spilled over the plate a bit! I'd definitely come back for their ribs.
March 29, 2016
I came back for my birthday steak (in the month of March)!
New York Striploin
This time I read the menu and noticed that you could add toppings to your steak like sauteed onions and garlic butter - so I took advantage of that. The steaks were much better this visit than they were two weeks before (maybe it was the March break rush).
New York Striploin
Huge and so yummy with the garlic butter and sauteed onions!
March 13, 2016
Shrimp and Steak combination with shrimp skewers and a 6 oz. sirloin
The quality of the meat wasn't very good - it was stringy and tough. The shrimp were nicely seasoned and the mashed potatoes were delicious as usual.
New York Striploin
The meat of the striploin was better than the steak served above. I like they way they season their meat and the grill marks look great on the striploins.
March 29, 2015
It felt a little darker inside Wildfire than previous years.
12 oz. Striploin
I really find that they do Striploins the best here at Wildfire. The meat is juicy and packed with flavour. This year they added a dollop of aioli onto the steak.
The plate looks a little sad with the small baked potato and the grilled veggies seemed particularly oily this year.
16 oz. Striploin with mashed potatoes and veggies
The side dishes here were also a little sad looking - with the tiny bit of mashed potatoes on the huge plate and the oily vegetables (these didn't even seem grilled).
The experience this time didn't live up to the last time we went to Wildfire.
March 12, 2012
Love their bread and it usually comes accompanied by the most amazing garlic hummus ever! I credit this restaurant for starting my current obsession with hummus - mmmm delicious. The bread is always soft and warm and with the hummus, you can't go wrong.
They also have some amazing appetizers - the grilled calamari is probably the best I've ever had (we keep coming back for that and the steak) and the escargot Provencal with the garlic butter is delicious! (For an extra treat, try the bread + hummus + garlic butter, it's heavenly)
The Classic New York Striploin (12 oz)
The Porterhouse (20 oz)
I love the way they do their steak - it's always cooked well and I can trust them to do a good medium rare that is tender and full of flavour. It's a lot of meat and I think well worth it for $44 (excl. tax). The vegetables are always nicely cooked too - and they're seasonal which keeps it interesting (I love their grilled red peppers, yum!)
To celebrate my birthday, they gave us a free dessert! Mini chocolate covered ice cream - what a nice way to end the meal! Another dessert I love eating here is the Creme Brulee (They have an amazing dessert chef here)
Conclusion: This is one of my favourite steakhouses in Toronto. Slightly on the pricey side, but they serve consistently great food.
Website: http://www.wildfiresteakhouse.com/
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