Spice is Rite

I got a deal on Ubereats for $10 off my order, so I decided to try out Spice is Rite

 Jerk Chicken with rice and peas and coleslaw $8.99

The jerk chicken was super spicy and sadly, I didn't know in advance and I ordered extra sauce and died from spiciness (nose running and tearing). The chicken was okay at first bite, but then got really spicy quickly. I thought the coleslaw would help, but it ended up being just fried cabbage. It was hot rather than cold and wasn't really creamy or anything to offset the spiciness.  

Oxtail with rice and peas and coleslaw $11.49 

Oxtail had a lot of bones, but the meat was super tender and it was really good. The sauce was excellent and so tasty! I would say it's comparable to Sansimian, but there wasn't a lot of meat with the box and it was a rather small portion. 

Chachi's Chai Bar

While waiting for my burger to be made at Burger Factory, I spotted Chachi's Chai Bar and stopped by to try out their chai tea. 

Chachi's Chai $3.25

The tea was quite good with the smooth silky taste that comes from pulled tea and it was heavy on the cardamon and strongly flavoured. It smelled like yummy chai spices (which can sometimes also include ginger, cinnamon, fennel seeds and cloves). 

Website: https://chachischai.com/

Burger Factory

 Burger Factory just opened a new location in Scarborough on Lebovic and they had a 50% off opening sale on their burger. When we got there, there was no lineup, so we quickly ordered and waited for our food. 

Cheeseburger ($8.99 regular price)

The burger was okay, the sesame seed buns were quite big relative to the patty. However, the patty was a little disappointing since it wasn't really seasoned well. There was a lot of sauce in the burger (since I got ketchup, mayo, factory sauce and they put a lot in) but nothing really stood out here for me. 

Website: https://burgerfactory.ca/index.php

Fragrant Bakery

Since we discovered Cakeview Bakery's egg tarts, we've been meaning to compare them to our other favourite egg tart places like Les Chateaux and Fragrant Bakery.

Fragrant Bakery's egg tart (no cookie pastry - only flaky pastry)

The egg tart had a lighter eggy taste and it was sweet but not overly sweet. It had a slightly watery soft custard compared to others. 

The darker yellow egg tart below is Cakeview's egg tart with the cookie crust. The egg tart from Cakeview had a stronger eggy flavour and custard and it was sweeter than Fragrant Bakery's egg tart. 

Snacks @ Hong Tai Supermarket

 Sept 2, 2020

While the packaging looks like The Alley's logo, this version was clearly a knock-off of the actual company. However, since it was on sale for $1.99, I figured I'd give it a try: 

There were a ton of parts in this bubble tea: a tapioca pack, a huge pack of brown sugar, a pack of powder and a tea bag and a straw. 

The tea flavour was okay, but it wasn't as close to the taste of The Alley from what I remember. It was also really sweet even though I used less of the syrup. 

Costco

Sept 2, 2020

I've heard horror stories about the lineups at Costco during the Covid pandemic in Toronto, so maybe picking a time during the middle of the day in the middle of the week would be better for lineups

Tuxedo Cake $16.99

The prices haven't gone up too much for these huge slabs of delicious cake! The tuxedo cake is also really good with lots of chocolate (white, dark and milk) and cake between layers of triple chocolate cream. 

Whole BBQ Chicken $7.99

I used to eat a lot of these BBQ chickens from Costco and other grocery stores and I have to say, Costco probably does their chickens the best and it's the always been the cheapest. 

November 3, 2012

Costco! I haven't been in years...so I was kind of excited.

You've got to love their super cheap food too:

$1.50 hotdog & drink and $4.29 for a huge box of poutine with huge cheese curds and tons of gravy

I knew they did cheap bulk items - but I didn't know it extended to cheap abundant food portions in the fast food take-out area. 

This definitely gives Ikea a run for its money - It's not the most gourmet meal or the best hot dog ever, but $1.50 for a hot dog and drink??? and unlimited toppings like relish, onions and hot peppers - I'm not complaining. And the poutine! Those cheese curds are HUGE and they're pretty good - I wish they melted it  in the microwave, but the fries were crispy and the gravy was hot - so I enjoyed it.

My other favourite thing at Costco: store made Tiramisu $14.99 for a huge block (1/4 of it was eaten when this picture was taken)

Layers of delicious tiramisu cake

A good, cheap and delicious tiramisu in case you can't afford Paese's tiramisu. I recommend this.

Website: http://www.costco.ca/

Ube and Ube Macapuno Ice Cream

Since I wasn't able to go to some of my favourite ice cream shops downtown this year for ube ice cream, I decided to try some brands sold in grocery stores. I originally wanted to try all the different brands including Magnolia and Fiesta (but they never went on sale at the right time and eating gigantic tubs of 1.5L of ice cream is no easy feat over a few weeks by myself - even though the weather has been REALLY hot in Toronto this year).

Sept 1, 2020

I waited until the next Sorbetero sale and got the pure Ube version for $4.99 again.

Such a pretty purple colour!

The ube version had a more bright and obvious ube flavour, and while it was more artificial, it sure packed a punch in the first bite. However, this time around, I found that it sort of loses flavour as you continue eating it. It wasn't as yummy or distinct as the first bite. Instead, the strong ube flavour seems to disappear after a while. It was also much meltier and softer than Best of Philippines ice cream. The Best of Philippines seemed like it was a harder ice cream. 

August 26, 2020

This week San Miguel Best of the Philippines Ice cream was on sale for $6.99 (regular price was $9.99)

Ube flavour

I got only the ube flavour this time (since I really just wanted ube). The Best of the Philippines ice cream had a slight grainy texture from ube and wasn't as creamy or smooth of an ice cream. Flavour wise, while it wasn't as strong as the Sorbetero, it had a more true ube flavour. The ice cream also wasn't too sweet and had a nice bright purple colour. 

While this ice cream was nice, I probably wouldn't get it again - I like the stronger flavour of the Sorbetero (even if it's a more artificial ube flavour). 

July 31, 2020

My first ube macapuno (or purple yam and young coconut ice cream)! Super excited to try this ice cream since I love ube flavour and coconut makes things much sweeter too! 

Hong Tai had a sale on 1.42L tubs of Sorbetero for $4.99

Unfortunately, my first try of my much anticipated ube macapuno ice cream was a little watery since the ice cream melted in the car due to the extreme heat wave. However, I found the taste was really good, if a little on the artificially strong flavour side, and the texture was smooth. 

It was really sweet from the coconut flavour and there were pieces of shredded coconut throughout the ice cream giving it a contrasting texture. The ube wasn't as strong or prominent in this ice cream, but you could see the purple ube in the ice cream and where it was purple, there was pretty good flavour. 

I really liked the Sorbetero Ube Macapuno ice cream and I would definitely get it again!