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. 

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/

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/ 

Bubble Tea & Me

Dec 8, 2020

Trying out a new bubble tea shop near Yonge and Steeles since they have the Ubereats BOGO promotion.

Original Milk Tea $3.99 (x2)

Good strong black milk tea, that was evenly mixed with a good milk and tea ratio that balanced well. I would definitely get their milk tea again! (Unfortunately though, the BOGO was one time use, but this was an amazing cheap deal for two drinks!)

Website: https://www.bubbleteaandme.com/

Chocolada

 Since I was in the Yonge and Steeles area to pick up lunch at Song Cook's, I did a quick search to see if there were any dessert places nearby to satisfy my sweet tooth and found Chocolada (which had quite a selection of European sweets and treats)

Apricot Marizpan Tart ($5), Mango Mousse Cake ($4) and Pistachio Eclair ($4)

Pretty cheap prices! 

The apricot marizpan tart had sweet almond paste with fruits baked into the tart filling (and on the top to make it look prettier). The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the glaze on top of the tart which made it really sweet. 

The mango mousse cake had a good ataulfo mango flavour that was strong and sweet and it was pretty reasonably priced. 

The pistachio eclair had good pistachio flavour in the cream and on top of the eclair, but I found the eclair rather doughy. 

I might be back to try some of their other desserts later, another good bang for the buck dessert place! 

Website: https://chocolada.com/

Tavazo

Assorted Baklava

It's a store that sells mostly nuts and fruits, but I found their baklava pretty interesting, so I bought a few. The pastry wasn't as good as some of the other places I've tried, but the nuts were really tasty.

Website: https://www.tavazo.com/

Ladan Pastry & Nuts

Assortment of Persian cookies

I really liked the swirly chickpea cookies! The saffron one (yellow) was really nice. We also got some baklava. 

Nino D'Aversa Bakery

Aug 5, 2019 - 7287 Yonge Street Thornhill

Pasta of the day

The tomato sauce was pretty good and we got a lot of parmesan cheese.

Porchetta sandwich with crackling

The porchetta sandwich had a lot of meat, but I felt like it needed sauce or something because it was a tad try.

Amaretti cookies

I really liked the lemon cookie (top left). The cookies were hard outside and soft inside - really yummy!

Cannoli and tiramisu

October 8, 2016 - 230 Wellington St. E Aurora

The search for dessert continues...

Strawberry, pistachio and vanilla macarons

I couldn't believe the size of these macarons! And the prices were really reasonable too! The macarons were okay - not really that fluffy, but I was astonished by how big they were. 

Website: http://ninodaversa.com/

Levetto

Beef Ragu $17

The ragu sauce was good and the pasta was really nice. 

Funghi pizza

The mushroom had a few varieties of mushrooms and it was pretty tasty.

Verdolini - pesto spaghetti

The pesto was okay, the ricotta crema was interesting. 

Website: https://www.levetto.com/

Kobi Korean BBQ

I've wanted to try chicken and cheese for a long time now and I finally got the numbers to share a large plate of chicken and cheese!

Chicken, rice cakes, squid and cheese

Unfortunately, we didn't have any Korean friends to help us figure out how to actually eat this - so we tried to rely on the waiters. They tried to explain it to us a few times, but we really couldn't understand why you would wait for the cheese to melt and then dip it. Shouldn't you be mixing it all together so it all tastes delicious? We were rather impatient to get to our chicken and cheese experience, so we eventually moved all the cheese into the main center dish. (I think the waiters got frustrated with us at that point haha) It was still good!

Acorn jelly! I haven't seen this as a side dish before (it's cold and I'm not really a fan)

Steamed egg and noodles

Website: http://www.kobikoreanbbq.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. 

Ten Ren's Tea

October 28, 2017

I wasn't feeling very well, but my friends wanted to go for bubbletea, so I got this instead:

Ginseng Chicken Soup

It wasn't quite like the Korean version with chicken stuffed with ginseng and rice. However, it was very tasty and it's nice that they serve it here at Ten Ren's. 

June 4, 2017

 Taro Coconut Slush $7.29

Taro and coconut milk tea with grass jelly and soft-serve green tea ice cream. It was really good! I usually don't like green tea ice cream or grass jelly and I loved this! The taro coconut slush was really good, but the jelly texture and ice cream made it really interesting. 

Website: http://www.tenren.com

Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp

Endless Shrimp is on! I've heard about the Red Lobster promotion for a few years, but I didn't get a chance to go until now. All you can eat shrimp for around $22.

Grilled Shrimp and Walt's Shrimp with a baked potato
The grilled shrimp were coated in this delicious garlicky sauce on a bed of rice and the fried shrimp had a nice tangy shrimp cocktail sauce to accompany them.

Grilled Shrimp skewer

Parmesan Shrimp
Fried shrimp with parmesan on top.

Garlic Shrimp
Fat succulent shrimp in a bowl with garlic butter sauce - yummy! (and a heart attack waiting to happen).

All the shrimp tails...I ended up eating 75 shrimp - pretty awesome if I do say so myself.


Shrimp Linguine
I love this garlicky, creamy pasta dish - but I knew I had to save it for the end when I was fully done with all the other shrimp (one dish of this and you'll be ready to pass out). It's so good - but really rich and really heavy.

Website: https://www.redlobster.ca/

Myungdong Kalkuksu Noodles & Shabu Shabu

Despite being a restaurant that advertises Noodles & Shabu Shabu in their name, interestingly enough, it's their dumplings that keep me coming back for more.

The myeongdong dumplings

The dumplings are gigantic and really yummy! They have the perfect combination of thin wrapper, lots of tasty meat and veggies and they've trapped all this flavourful soup inside when they're steamed.

Shabu Shabu for 2 people with kimchi, a citrusy dressing salad, and some sauces (soy sauce with lemon, peanut sauce and hot sauce)

The non-spicy soup base

It also had some sweet potatoes inside.

 

Leafy greens including napa cabbage and bok choy, rice cakes, mushrooms and beef

All very fresh and yummy after being cooked in the broth.  The rice cakes were pretty interesting - they had stuff inside (sweet potato in the yellow one and yam in the purple one) and it was like a surprise with each bite. The beef was pretty good. 

Overall: Good shabu shabu experience, but I would still say that the number one draw to the restaurant is those delicious and huge dumplings. It can also get super busy, so be prepared to wait in line (even though the service is usually pretty fast).