Sugar Marmalade

 Sugar Marmalade was participating in the Ubereats BOGO promotion, so I took the chance to try out their promo items: 

Mango coconut sago drink $8.04 and Pork Chop with cheese and black pepper sauce $15.94

The mango coconut sago drink tasted like mostly coconut and came with a lot of coconut jelly and sago. The mango part was more the colouring since the flavour was so light and I was sad it didn't have more mango chunks like the photos on Ubereats - instead it had way more coconut milk. 

The pork chop with cheese and black pepper sauce could be put on spaghetti or rice (so we got one of each) and while cheese on top sounds like a good idea, it can congeal quickly if you're not immediately eating it. It was on the salty side for both the pork chop and the pasta - it also didn't have too much sauce, but it was seasoned with black pepper. 

Nino D'Aversa Bakery

I had Italian cookies at a wedding (and they were delicious!), so I thought I'd try out some pistachio varieties at Nino D'Aversa bakery. 

Clockwise from top left: Almond swirl cookie, pistachio almond, lemon swirl, almond cookie, chocolate and lemon drop

These cookies are sold by weight ($37.99/kg and worked out to about $5.93 for 6 here.

Almond swirl cookie was soft inside and hard outside and had a decent almond flavour but wasn't super strong. It reminded me of a macaroon without coconut and it was similar for the lemon swirl cookie too. It had a nice light lemon flavour and was soft inside (maybe made with limoncello?). 

The other lemon drop cookie had a ton of powdered sugar on top and had the same distinct soft inside and hard outside and was quite tasty with an almost buttery flavour. 

The pistachio almond cookie was more almond than pistachio (except for the colour). 

The chocolate cookie was not very chocolatey, but tasted more almond meringue-like. 

The almond cookie was probably the best of the bunch of flat cookies (with lots of almond flavour)

Website: http://ninodaversa.com/locations/

Cafe Login

 As a huge buttercream lover, I'm surprisingly not a big fan of Korean macarons with the huge buttercream layer in the middle (I like more balanced or even proportions in my sweets - but I could eat a tub of pistachio buttercream and I have done that). I thought I'd give Korean macarons another shot at Cafe Login since I was in the area. 

Pistachio Raspberry Dacquoise, raspberry yogurt macaron, earl grey macaron and roasted bean macaron (total about $13)

The pistachio raspberry dacquoise meringue didn't have a strong pistachio flavour and I wasn't sure where the raspberry part would come in until I tasted the raspberry jam surprise in the middle. It was really sweet, and I probably wouldn't get it again. 

Raspberry yogurt macaron had more of a yogurt flavour than raspberry flavour and was similar to those fruit bottom yogurts and didn't have a lot of raspberry flavour. 

Earl Grey macaron was my favourite out of the three with lots of the earl grey tea flavour. 

The roasted bean macaron was rather different and it was pretty good with a hint of nutty flavour from the almond and a strong mung bean flavour. The macaron wasn't too sweet or too savoury. 

Royaltea

Dec 29, 2020

 I've seen pictures of the Fresh Dragon Fruit with Mousse at Royaltea, so when they ran the BOGO promotion in stores - I decided to give it a try! 

Dragon Fruit with Mousse ($7.50) and Osmanthus Oolong Tea (large size was an extra $0.6)

The dragon fruit with mousse was a slushy dragon fruit drink with a cheese mousse (and a dash of matcha powder on top). It had a super thick layer of cheese which made the drink saltier and added a strange new flavour profile. I thought it was pretty good all mixed together since the dragonfruit slush was sweet, tasty and refreshing and it had a nice balance with the creamy salty cheese. The tea also had a bit of a floral taste perhaps from using a jasmine green tea base. 

Th osmanthus oolong tea, with my recent obsession with osmanthus flavour, I was expecting quite a bit even thought osmanthus is a pretty light flavour. Unfortunately, in this drink, I didn't taste the osmantus flavour at all. The oolong flavour was there, but the cheese mousse with matcha sprinkled on top was really overpowering in the first few initial sips and the oolong flavour came out stronger later once the cheese mixed in. I thought in this case, the cheese mousse overpowered the actual tea and I would've preferred the drink without it. 

Overall: The dragon fruit slush was really good! I'd definitely come back for this since there aren't that many good dragon fruit drinks or treats (and this one had a lot of dragon fruit flavour). 

Song Cook's Authentic Korean Restaurant

Dec 29, 2020

Champong, Bulgolgi and Jajangmyun

Champong is a spicy seafood soup and the Song Cook version had a good hearty broth with small shrimps, cuttlefish and some tiny mussels. It had a good flavour and wasn't too spicy which was nice. 

The Bulgolgi was a decent sized portion and pretty tasty, but once you get used to spicier Korean flavours especially gojuchang sauce, it's hard to go back to simplier flavours like sweet soy sauce marinated beef. 

The jajangmyun had an excellent onion sauce and good crispy cucumbers (definitely one of the better jajangmyuns in Toronto) and there was a ton of extra sauce too - so you could make another portion with extra noodles. 

These dishes also came with side dishes, but the kimchi went bad and the pickled radish wasn't good. However, Song Cook is usually a pretty good go-to for consistent, yummy and reasonably priced Korean food. 

Nov 21, 2020

I got another Ubereats code with 50% off pickup, so I went to a tried, tested and favourite Korean restaurant to make the most out of the deal. 

2 Spicy Kamjatangs (Pork Bone Soup) $9.99 each (one portion pictured here)

The kamjatang was really spicy - you could see all the seasonings and spices that went into this soup since they were so grainy. It was really good though with lots of flavour and it was a substantial portion with two containers per soup - the additional smaller styrofoam container is pictured above. We couldn't even finish one portion of the soup (especially with all the other food). 

L.A. Kalbi $25.99

The short ribs were okay. One of the short ribs of the 3 went bad, so we couldn't finish it and threw it out. Rather disappointing and I probably won't be getting the ribs here again. 

Jajang & Khanpoongki $19.99

Jajangmyun (sweet bean noodles) and khanpoongki (fried chicken with spicy sauce) combination. The jajangmyun here is one of the best Korean style sweet bean noodles I've had - even though they don't really use black bean and just use a sweetened sauteed onion sauce. The chicken was also quite yummy with nice breading and a tasty sweet and sour sauce with generous amounts of sauce (not spicy at all). 

Aug 29, 2019

Ddukbokki (Tteobokki) $9.99

The spicy rice cakes were pretty good (and on the spicy side). The portion seemed a little small though for the price we paid.

Pork Bone Soup $9.99

Very hearty with huge pieces of pork bone and the soup was pretty flavourful.

Champong Bap $13.99

The seafood soup with rice had lots of seafood hidden in the bowl. It was a really nice warming dish and not too spicy despite it's bright red colour.

Nov 27, 2011

(Photos courtesy of M.C.)

My foodie friends discovered this little gem north of Steeles and Yonge a while ago and to celebrate a friend's super belated by a month birthday - we decided to grab the BDay dinner here. The restaurant is actually pretty hard to find unless you know where it is since it's not visible on the street. It is located at the back of an easily overlooked plaza and I think the place primarily trades on word of mouth which works really well for them since the food is amazing and the layout is very traditional and authentic.

The best part about the layout? The floors are heated! So even if you have to sit cross-legged or kneeling - you'll be warm and toasty (Perfect for the Winter!)

In case the words are totally foreign to you, there's pictures with the food above the kitchen area which helps give you an idea about what it is you're ordering. 

Pork Bone Soup (KamJa Tang)

Pork Bone soup is a staple of most authentic Korean restaurants - it's everywhere! It usually doesn't come with a lot of meat on the pork bones because the meat is usually used for other cooking and the pork bone remains just add flavour to the soup, but in this case, there was a LOT of meat on the pork bones and the soup was loaded with other stuff (as you can see from the tower of veggies). This pork bone soup wasn't very spicy (i.e. perfect for me) and it was DELICIOUS - lots of flavour and a very hearty meal with the rice. 

Chicken Teriyaki

I love Chicken dishes and this Chicken Teriyaki dish is no exception. I feel like you can never really go wrong with chicken dishes. The chicken was perfectly cooked - moist on the inside and the crazy pile of veggies underneath made me feel like I was eating healthier than I actually was. Yum!

Beef Shortribs (JimKalBi)

Korean Kalbi is one of my favourite ways to eat ribs - the sauce is amazing! The ribs were very good and the waiters at the restaurant had the foresight to leave us a pair of scissors so we could cut up the ribs into smaller manageable pieces to eat. 

Deep Fried Dumplings (Gun Mandu)

These were delicious! I thought they might resemble Chinese Pot-stickers or Japanese Gyoza, but surprisingly they didn't quite taste like either one - the outside layer was crispier and thinner than what I usually eat in pot-stickers or gyoza and they offered us Ketchup to dip it in (with the pot-stickers and gyoza, you usually get vinegar aka "cho" or soy sauce). 

We also got the JaJangMyun and a few other things. The JaJangMyun is a black bean sauce with veggies (usually cucumber slices) and some meat. I've had it a few times at a few Korean places, but they've usually turned out terribly since I'm slightly biased in that I love the Shanghai version of JaJangMyun (because it's the one I've grown up with and most Shanghai places in Toronto do a great job making it well). So my expectations for this Korean version were pretty low, however, I was really pleasantly surprised! They made  a good version of the JaJangMyun! And Song Cook's is probably the only Korean place I've tried so far that can make a good one. So I would definitely recommend getting it here! 

Website: http://songcooks.com/

Phipps Desserts Bakery

Dec 23, 2020

 

Chocolate Strawberry Cake $18 

A super reasonable price for a last minute 5 inch cake right before Christmas! I was lucky they had some extra cakes and they were able to accommodate my request for a chocolate cake with either strawberry or raspberry frosting. I got the strawberry cake and it was quite nice! Once the buttercream melted, it was very soft with a fragrant strawberry floral flavour. The cake was a bit on the dry side, but it was still pretty rich in flavour and tasty. 

Carrot Pan Cake $12

I love the cream cheese icing Phipps makes with their carrot cake! It's probably one of the best cream cheese icings I've tried since it's not too sweet and not too heavy. It also pairs amazingly well with the moist carrot cake (that doesn't have raisins!). The pan cake today didn't have as much icing, but it still tasted delicious with the roasted walnuts on top too. 

Mar 17, 2020

Mardi Gras Cake! $29

Layers of chocolate cake sandwiched with walnut meringue and fudge frosting, iced in a caramel butter cream, caramel and ganache.

The Mardi Gras cake can only be ordered in the medium size (8 inches)

The chocolate cake was delicious and I really liked the caramel buttercream and fudge frosting. The cake was on the sweet side especially since it had lots of chocolate and caramel throughout. I was a little disappointed by the walnut meringue in the cake since it was really crumbly, but it could also be that the cake needed a bit more time to freeze before I started eating it. Overall though, it was a great cake, but it's a lot of cake to finish if you have two people. 

Mar 4, 2020

Peach Divine Cake $12.30

Phipps' divine cake is similar to a coffee cake, but it's more substantial and not as dry. The cake was pretty good with a nice glaze on top and lots of peaches. I liked the outer crust which was harder like a coffee cake, but the inside was soft like a really moist pound cake. 

Jan 13, 2020

Orange Nut Carrot Cake $18 (small)

I absolutely love their carrot cake! It does have raisins (which I don't like), but you barely notice them in the cake because it's so delicious. The cream cheese icing is AMAZING and the crispy nuts and crumble on top add a fun texture to the icing and the cake. The cake itself is moist and soft and has some really good spices to give it a fragrant aroma. Delish!

Oct 15, 2019

Marble Cheesecake Brownie $10

I've had their marble cheesecake brownie before when it was fresher. This tray wasn't as fresh (which you could kinda tell from the edges), but it was still good. 

July 2, 2019

Chocolate pecan tart and butter tart

The pecan tart was really tasty, but I think I would have preferred it with the regular crust as opposed to the chocolate crust. The butter tart was good, but not as good as Carla's. 

Website: http://phippsdesserts.ca/

Souv Like

Dec 23, 2020

Chicken Gyro ($7.08 + tax) and Pork Gyro ($6.64 + tax)

Sadly, the tzatziki sauce wasn't as strong as it used to be and the garlic flavour wasn't as prominent. The chicken gyro was still really tender and juicy with tomatos and onions to add a bit of crisp sharpness (but no cucumbers anymore) and the pork was pretty juicy as well (but not as flavourful as the Kontos version). The sandwiches are still pretty good and filling, but the recipe does seem a little different. 

May 8, 2020

Another Greek food pickup! When you call ahead, they're really good at preparing your food in advance for pick-up. The fries were still relatively crispy and I didn't have to wait in line.

Pork Kontosouvli wrap 

Their pork kontosouvli is so tender and juicy and it pairs really well with their delicious tzatziki sauce

Delicious Chicken Gyro

There's a huge reason why we constantly come back here - the food is amazing and it's relatively cheap which makes it fantastic value for money.

April 21, 2020

Souv Like is open for take-out during the COVID-19 pandemic! (which is great news since I live outside their app delivery zones)

Chicken gyros

Tons of chicken, delicious tzatziki sauce and tasty fries all wrapped in a pita - Yum!

May 11, 2019

Pork Kontosouvli wrap

The pork kontosouvli is a really large pork souvlaki slow roasted on a spit and it's amazing at Souv Like! The outside of the pork is crispy with lots of seasoning and the inside is super tender. I don't think I'll ever look at pork souvlaki the same way. 

Chicken Kontosouvli

It was good, but I prefer the chicken shawarma since you get smaller pieces of well seasoned and cooked chicken. 

Nov 24, 2018

Chicken Gyros

The chicken is tender and juicy and the tzatziki is amazing. I love the fries in the gyro too - it adds a nice crispy texture to the gyro (as do the onions). It seems like a pretty simple wrap, but Souv Like does it really well. 

Oct 12, 2018

Souv Like has gotten some really good reviews on Yelp. 

Chicken Gyro

The prices were pretty reasonable and the portion size was quite large. Their tzatziki sauce is REALLY good and their fries are really crispy - it was REALLY good. 

Website: https://www.souv-like.com/

Palgong Tea

 Dec 22, 2020 @ 330 Steeles Ave W

Strawberry Earl Grey Milk Tea (cold $3.99)

I usually get my drinks warm or hot with no sugar; but since this came cold, I got it with no sugar and no ice and it was still really sweet (perhaps from the strawberry syrup/flavouring) and I didn't realize they gave me tapioca and charged me $0.50 extra until I got the drink. Flavour wise, it tasted a little strange since the Earl Grey and strawberry flavours were both strong distinct flavours that unfortunately did not compliment each other well. The cold version had a strong strawberry and slight chocolate flavour without a lot of tea flavour, and the reheated hot version had more earl grey flavour but was still overpowered by the strawberry (jam?). The tapioca were pretty hard too - would give that a skip. 

 

Korean Style Macarons (with lots of cream) $2.95 each: Thai Milk Tea, Mango and Candy Cane (Clockwise from top left)

The mango macaron had a buttercream that tasted like mango mousse. It had an okay mango flavour, not too sweet and a little tart. The buttercream took a while for it to melt since it was frozen. 

The candy cane had lots of crunchy candy cane pieces and was very festive and sweet but not sickeningly sweet. 

The thai milk tea macaron was pretty good with a nice sweet and creamy strong thai milk tea buttercream. 

Website: https://palgongtea.ca/ 

Bobooya

Update 2022: Restaurant has closed and reopend as Katsuya

Dec 21, 2020

Bobooya is running a 50% off selected menu items this week! We picked up quite a bit of food for a total of $49 (and tax) and most of it was sealed which helped keep it fresher for a while. 

First up, the Boodaejigae (Army Stew)

 

Two containers of soup, instructions and a full package of everything needed to make this:

A ton of different ingredients, but no tofu or rice cakes (as pictured on the menu). There was a lot of processed meat with spam, bacon, sausage and canned ham that was all mixed together with gojuchang sauce to form the base of the soup. While it was rather spicy with just one container of soup, it got less spicy with the extra container of soup. Overall, it was a really hearty winter meal and very yummy! The noodles were an excellent addition as well. 

 

Rice Ball

I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw rice ball on the menu (regular price was $9), but we thought we would give it a try. It turns out it comes with seaweed, lettuce, and some mashed pickled vegetables. It was pretty tasty overall, but I think there were better items on the menu.

 

Spicy Buckwheat Noodles (cold) $15

Very colourful dish with a good amount of spiciness without being too spicy. It had a tasty refreshing mix of cabbage, carrots, onions, green onions and chilled buckwheat noodles topped with a hard boiled egg and sesame seeds - it also had a slightly minty flavour? (Not sure how that happened)

Garlic Bossam

Super yummy (a tried and true favourite at Bobooya!)

Dec 12, 2020

Stir Fry Pork Belly and BBQ Bossam Bento Box

The stir fry pork belly was actually really spicy (but it was a tasty spicy) and it came with rice cake. 

Nov 28, 2020

We called in advance to place our orders for the $9.99 bento boxes

Jokbal bento and BBQ bossam

The BBQ bossam bento had so much sauce this time, we were able to eat some of the jokbal with sauce too. 

Large Bossam meal

Once we opened the container, it seemed like there was a lot less meat than the jokbal (but the bossam didn't have any bones to push the meat to the top of the container). It was still a big portion and very yummy, but the container was definitely too big. 

Nov 13, 2020

With my 50% off Ubereats Code, we decided to try the large jockbal dinner

$39.60 for the large jockbal and two sealed containers with side dishes

The large container of jokbal came with leaf lettuce, onions, green onions, gojuchang (really yummy). Most of the good meat was on top and the bottom was mostly bone and the really fatty parts of the pig's foot (which wasn't that easy to wrap with a lettuce leaf). Flavourwise, it was pretty good and I would order their large meals again with all the sides.

Lots of Korean side dishes (banchan): the napa and radish kimchi was savoury, delicious and not too spicy 

BBQ Bossam Lunch Bento $17.90

Good bossam, but it would have been even better if the meat was more tender, but the bbq sauce was sweet and yummy and each piece was flavoured with it. The side dishes were different this time with radish instead of the dried fish, but it still really good and it came with a small budae jjigae (army stew) soup.

Nov 7, 2020

On one of the advertising papers for Katsuya, we noticed that they opened a sister restaurant for Korean BBQ called Bobooya and they were selling lunch bento boxes for $9.99 from 12pm - 5pm and also offering 30% off their regular menu with cash payment. 

$9.99 Bento boxes with Spicy Jokbal, BBQ Bossam and regular Jokbal (not part of 30% off)

We haven't tried any of these before, but I've watched enough Korean dramas and random foodie shows to know what they were: jokbal is braised pig hocks/trotters and bossam is braised (or boiled) pork belly. 

The jokbal could only be ordered after 3pm - so we waited until then to order both spicy and non-spicy versions. 

The spicy jokbal was really spicy with lots of sauce and really yummy pork trotter meat (which was a little fatty and gummy with more of the fatty skin than lean meat) and the bento box also came with spicy rice cakes, dried fish, dried squid, kimchi radish and kimchi cabbage and rice. Lots of food with these bento boxes! 

The non-spicy jokbal had lots of fatty meat by itself but didn't have a lot of flavour (especially after eating the spicy version), but it did taste better with the gojuchang sauce on the side and I think it would have been even better with lettuce, but there were only a few leaves under the meat. 

The BBQ Bossam was REALLY good with a delicious bbq sauce that was sweet and tasty. The bossam was a good combination of fatty and lean pork shoulder with more lean meat, but the meat was pretty tender overall and very yummy! 

Website: https://bobooya.ca/