Cafe Bora

Nov 13, 2020 @ Upper East Food Club (Closed)

I had a 50% off Ubereats Code and I wanted to try out Cafe Bora again for their purple sweet potato desserts. 

Bora Latte $5.95, Bora Bora Mille Crepe Cake $15.50 and Bora Tiramisu $9.95

The tiramisu was weird: the cheese part was kind of salty and sour as opposed to sweet and interestingly enough as pretty as it looked with layers of purple and white, there wasn't a lot of sweet potato flavour. It did come with a powdery sweet potato topping, but I definitely don't think it was worth the regular price (I also wonder if this one went bad or something - I wouldn't get this ever again)

The crepe cake was expensive, but it was REALLY GOOD with lots of sweet potato flavour and nice flaky delicious crepe layers. It was nicely executed with many layers, not too much cream and lots of sweet potato flavour. 

Sweet Potato latte

The drink was awful: mostly milk with tiny grains of sweet potato powder for colour, but barely any sweet potato flavour. I would also skip this here. 

Oct 4, 2018

I've been dying to try Cafe Bora since the BlogTo article came out. I love purple sweet potato because it's my favourite colour and also because it tastes really good. 

 

 

Bora Ice cream $5.95 

It's gorgeous, sweet and Instagram worthy, but I don't think it's worth the hefty price tag.

Website: http://www.cafebora.ca/

Woofles and Cream

 Egg Waffles and ice cream! Yum! I came a few weeks ago and there was a crazy line, so when I saw that there was no line today - I quickly put in my order.

Towering Earl Grey Milk Tea Soft Serve $5 and Earl Grey Woofle (total $10.74)

The earl grey milk tea soft serve had good earl grey flavour, but the flavour wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be, but it was sweet and yummy. 

The earl grey woofle was crispy on outside and in-between the egg waffles and the egg waffle batter was pretty tasty with a light earl grey flavour.

Website: https://woofflesandcream.ca/

Other Summer 2020 Ice Cream: Earl Grey Lavender London Fog, Ruby Red Cacao, Ontario Peach, Ben & Jerry's

October 2, 2020

Peanut Butter Fudge Core (part 2 from Loblaw's)

It was chocolate and peanut butter ice cream with mini peanut butter cuts and peanut butter fudge throughout the ice cream. It was sweet and salty at the same time from the salty peanut butter. I loved the peanut butter chocolate cups - those were great and my favourite part of the ice cream. The fudge was also pretty interesting and added a chewy thick texture with a heavy peanut butter flavour, but after a while it got more salty rather than sweet and tasted more like peanut butter than chocolate. It's a good ice cream for peanut butter lovers. 

September 27, 2020

Loblaws had a sale on Ben & Jerry's Ice cream for $2.99 (if you were a PC member), so I grabbed two tubs.

I was attracted to the chocolate milk and cookies ice cream since it was 150 calories (probably a good thing so I don't gain too much Covid weight). However, the flavours were also super muted. 

 

The chocolate flavour was really mild and the vanilla flavour was barely there (I guess it makes sense that it's "chocolate milk"). The ice cream texture was okay, but it was on the harder side. The cookie dough was also only okay and didn't have a particularly strong or sweet flavour either. Overall, the ice cream was only okay - I probably wouldn't get this flavour again though since I like strong flavours. 

Aug 26, 2020 

Food Basics and Metro were selling Ontario Peach ice cream on sale for $3.99. The first week of the sale, it was sold out Food Basics and Metro near me, but I finally found it this week at Food Basics. 

Peach Ice cream

It was delicious and tasted exactly like what I expected from peach ice cream - sweet and peachy with chunks of peach as nice little surprises throughout the ice cream. The ice cream was also kind of soft which was nice (as opposed to those really frozen ice creams like Haagen-Dazs). No wonder it was sold out everywhere! This is definitely THE ice cream of the summer. 

Aug 23, 2020

Haagen Dazs Ruby Cacao Ice Cream bars 3 x 72ml

Strawberry ice cream dipped in a sweet and kinda tart/sour/bitter (?) chocolate (ruby cacao) coating. I found it really sweet and the cacao was kind of strangely sour/bitter.

August 21, 2020

After my fill of ube ice cream, I started noticing all the different kinds of ice cream available in Toronto. Like the Righteous Gelato on sale at Longo's for $5.99 - so I got a tub of Earl Grey Lavender London Fog.

It tasted like milky/creamy earl grey tea and lavender flavour, so I could see why they would market it with all the descriptions since it had a subtle milky and diluted flavour, but it was definitely more strongly lavender and earl grey. I'm not too sure I'd get it again, but it was fun and interesting. 

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! 

Nam Dae Moon

After watching a ton of Chinese dramas, I've really wanted to eat their flower cakes and bean cakes. When I saw that Nam Dae Moon had osmanthus rice cakes, I really wanted to try it and I ordered it from Doordash. 

Osmanthus Rice cake $9.90, purple sweet potato and red bean daifuku $4.99 and mango daifuku $5.49

The osmanthus rice cake had really good osmanthus jelly, but unfortunately, it was just the drop that you see on top of the rice cake in the picture. Otherwise, the rice cake was bland and tasted like a huge block of cooked, mashed up and packed rice. 

Mango and purple sweet potato and red bean daifuku

The mango daifuku was really big, but it was frozen solid, so I had to let it sit out to defrost for a while before I could eat it. The mango filling was good and there was some ice cream in there too. The mochi was sticky and glutinous. The purple sweet potato and red bean daifuku was much smaller than the mango, but it had a lot more filling inside and it was quite tasty. 

Prairie West Honeydew Melon Ice Cream @ No Frills

I've been on a bit of a search for good ice cream lately considering how hot it's been in Toronto. I picked up a container of Prairie West Honeydew Melon Ice cream at No Frills since they were on sale for $4.14 for 1L. 

The ice cream smells great the second you open the container!

It's really fragrant and the taste and texture is pretty smooth. The ice cream is really sweet and has a heavier cream flavour than honeydew and it is slightly artificial tasting (which is understandable since it's so hard to get a proper honeydew flavour). 

Hollywood Gelato

June 10, 2020

With the super hot heatwave we've been having, Gelato is the perfect treat for the summer! Hollywood Gelato is one of my favourite gelato places in Toronto because they make a really amazing pistachio gelato (my all time favourite). They're open for take-out and Ubereats (and I've debated it for a while but the 30% mark-up really doesn't seem fair to businesses). If you go into the store, they take cash or debit only. 

500mL Gelato tub with two flavours $11.95

2/3 Pistachio gelato and 1/3 Rocky Rocher

I love their candied pistachio flavour (Sicilian pistachio). It's creamy, smooth, super saturated with pistachio flavour and just so delicious! This was my first time trying the rocky rocher flavour which was supposed to be similar to ferrero rocher and it did taste somewhat similar. While it was good, I think I'd try another flavour next time.

November 23, 2018

This is my favourite gelato place in Toronto! Unfortunately, it's a little hard to get to unless you have a car since it's on Bayview south of Eglinton. 

They used to have two pistachio flavours - one real pistachio flavour and one candied pistachio flavour. (My favourite was the candied pistachio)

Pistachio and Hazelnut gelato $5.95

It's been a while, but I got my old favourites to see if they stood up to the test of time (and my ever changing tastes). The pistachio is still AMAZING with tons of pistachio flavour in a rich and creamy gelato! For the hazelnut gelato though, I think I've been spoiled by the hazelnut gelato I had at Eataly because this one couldn't compare to that hazelnut. 

Still my favourite gelato place in Toronto though! 

Website: http://www.hollywoodgelato.com/

Dessert Lady

June 5, 2020

Dessert Lady has opened up their two locations! Just in time for me to satisfy my craving for a proper hazelnut cake - I've been dying to eat a proper buttercream cake and Dessert Lady really does make the best hazelnut buttercream cake I've ever had. I pre-ordered my hazelnut cake online and asked them if they also had cake slices, pistachio cupcakes and pistachio mousse cups (and they were able to accommodate my order!)

Hazelnut Cake $38

This was SO GOOD! I think they use Piedmont hazelnuts which are these super fragrant Italian hazelnuts to add flavour to their delicious buttercream. The cake was filled with the delicious nutty flavour and there were even whole hazelnuts on top - AMAZING! The cake was actually also really good when frozen, but they do tell you to leave it at room temperature for about 1-2 hours for the buttercream to melt and it becomes even more delicious. I could eat this cake all the time (and I happily savoured it over a few days).

Pistachio mousse cup $6

I've also really missed their pistachio mousse. The dessert cup was fluffy and light with lots of pistachio flavour. Unfortunately, there seemed like there was more milk chocolate mousse than pistachio, but it was also really good with a perfectly fluffy texture.

Ube Coconut Cake slice $8.50

The ube coconut cake was so pretty with the marble buttercream icing. The cake was super moist and the ube buttercream was delicious and bright purple which made a nice contrast. The coconut flavour was also evident in the cake and there were even shreds of coconut in the cake which added an interesting texture (but I would have preferred more ube flavour).

Oct 4, 2019

Mini cupcakes!

Hazelnut, pistachio, passion fruit and carrot cake

The hazelnut and pistachio buttercream on the cupcakes is AMAZING! They managed to make the nutty flavours stand out and it tastes so good! I really liked their chocolate cupcakes too - they were super moist. The passion fruit and carrot cake cupcakes were really good too, but I was super impressed by the hazelnut and pistachio cupcakes - this might be my go-to spot for these two cupcakes.

Nov 6, 2018

Ube Coconut cake

The buttercream was really good. I really liked both flavours of the ube and coconut. There were lots of coconut pieces in the cake too. The cake was a tad drier with all the heavy buttercream, but it worked well when the buttercream melted a little. 

August 31, 2018

Raspberry Mousse cup and Key Lime tart

I didn't really like the crust on the key lime tart since it was so grainy. The key lime curd was okay, but it didn't really have a light airy feel. The mousse was on the tart side as opposed to sweet and tart. 

December 23, 2016

A mini pistachio mousse cake!

They did such an amazing job with the hazelnut mousse cake that I knew I had to come back and try the pistachio mousse cake. I pre-ordered the cake a few days before my friend's Christmas party and then brought it to the party. It went over pretty well! The mousse was tasty and not too sweet. 

July 13, 2016

Finally, I got my ice cream (after calling in advance)!

It was really interesting with avocado, coconut and lime flavours and toasted and chopped macadamia nuts. It was a pretty interesting balance with the texture of avocado (and hint of the flavour), coconut flavouring (which was subtle, but you could still taste it) and a tiny pinch of lime. I don't know if I was really a big fan of it - but it was refreshing and different. 

July 7, 2016

Attempt #2 at the Avocado Lime Macadamia Nut ice cream - which failed again since they didn't have the flavour I wanted.  The helpful staff told me that I could call to see if they had the flavour next time. While I was here, I saw the pistachio cupcake and knew I had to get it.

It looks like the most perfect pistachio cupcake ever. I have no words for how beautiful it is. 

There was an extreme heat alert in Toronto, so the cupcake melted on my journey back to work, but it was OH SO YUMMY! Fluffy, light and packed with pistachio flavour and a moist cupcake cake. It was heavenly. 

I also decided to get this Hazelnut Cake because it was adorable (and you never know when you might need an afternoon snack). 

Surprisingly - THIS HAZELNUT CAKE BLEW MY MIND - omg it was SO GOOD! It wasn't too sweet and had this delectable hazelnut buttercream icing between layers of fluffy chocolate cake. It was just so good and the perfect cake size for one. I'll definitely come back over and over again for their cakes because they're AMAZING!

July 5, 2016

While I was here yesterday, I saw some really interesting ice cream flavours and I recalled reading the Best scoops in the city in Toronto Life a while ago - and they named Dessert Lady's Avocado Lime Macadamia Nut as the top ice cream scoop in Toronto. I wanted to try the flavour, but they didn't have it today - so I settled for a guava lime sorbet:

Guava Lime Sorbet

This was a perfect scoop in the cup and it was so tasty and refreshing from the heat wave we've been having. It had a nice tartness from the guava and lime and some sweetness from the guava. Yum! 

July 4, 2016

I was a little early to meet up with some friends and I had a sufficiently bad day to merit some treats. Therefore, I went and splurged on some macarons and I was told that if I spent more than a certain amount, that I would get free fudge - so I bought an extra macaron and got my free fudge.

Macarons by colour: green = pistachio, pink = citrus champagne and blue = maple vanilla 

White chocolate fudge

The macarons were pretty good, but there wasn't anything that really stood out to me with the flavours (even though I love pistachio). The fudge was like eating a block of sugar - it kinda tasted gummy and flavourless. 

Milkbox Ice Creamery - Denver

 

Downtown Denver is so pretty!

Space Junkie (black raspberry and brownie) and mint chip

Yummy ice cream from a really cute ice cream shop in Union Terminal.

Website: https://www.milkboxicecream.com/