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/

Cheese Garden

Nov 3, 2020

We got to use our $10 coupons on our next order, so we got two of the matcha tiramisu (since they were so good last time) and tried a new yaki pudding.

$11.95 Matcha Tiramisu 

Super yummy!

Chocolate yaki pudding $5.95

Turns out this is super tiny for $6 - it was basically the size of a salad dressing container. 

The chocolate pudding cheesecake had a fluffy cheesecake top that was pretty tasty, not too cheesy or too chocolate-y. There was pudding on the bottom which was also pretty good and it was fun that they combined two interesting textures and desserts together in one item. I did find it rather expensive for what it was and considering the size, but it was pretty good overall. 

Oct 23, 2020

We came back to try some of their other menu items with the 50% off. 

Uji Matcha Tiramisu (reg price $11.95)

The tiramisu had good matcha flavour and the cream cheese flavour was a lot more subtle (although it was still there - the matcha did a good job being the stronger more dominant flavour). The sweet mascarpone cheese on top was also really good even though it was on the runnier side. This was really yummy especially since the matcha was not too overwhelming and it tasted more like a matcha cake than a tiramisu (no chocolate or liqueur). It was obvious when you hit a cake layer in the tiramisu since it was a little harder, but overall it worked really well with the cheese and matcha cream. 

 

Matcha Double Fromage cheesecake (reg price $19.95)

Great matcha flavour and you could really taste the cheese in the cake (heavier cream cheese flavour). The cake wsn't too firm, instead it was a bit oozy after being left out for 25 minutes at room temperature. I liked the cake better after it was chilled/frozen in the fridge since it was more solid and kept its shape better, but the heavy cheesy flavour was still there and it didn't have as much matcha flavour to offset it as the tiramisu. 

October 19, 2020 

Cheese Garden is celebrating their anniversary and doing a promotion for 50% off 1 item and $10 voucher until October 24, 2020. I've never had their cheesecakes or tarts before, but I heard good things (even though I'm not a fan of Pablo or Uncle Tetsu, I figured for 50% off, it'd be time to try it out - maybe I'll find a Japanese cheese dessert I'll like?). Turns out there was quite a lineup at the Midland location - but luckily most people were socially distanced by at least 5 steps away. 

Cheese Tart $8.85 (with discount)

We got one of the last few cheese tarts after everything else sold out around 2:30pm. The cheese tart was really oozy with the cheese and I made the mistake of not reading instructions and instead of cutting the tart, tearing a piece of the tart shell and dipping into filling or serving with a spoon- I just cut it and tried to eat it which was a messy disaster. The pie crust was really hard to cut and I eventually just had to use my hands to rip it and eat it the directed way. It was super cheesy and the strongest flavour was definitely the cream cheese (which is NOT a flavour I like). The cheese was also sweet and sour and super liquid-like. I found the cheese tart got better later when it wasn't as oozy, but I still didn't really like it. 

Website: https://www.cheesegarden.ca/

0109 Dessert & Chocolate

Pistachio Tiramisu $9.99

A huge block of tiramisu with tons of pistachios on top - I'm not sure I was ready for this. The pistachios were salted and crushed but I found it made a strange contrast to the sweet tiramisu underneath. The tiramisu was okay, but it was a little on the dry side with lots of the ladyfingers and cake with some coffee liqueur taste and cream. It wasn't as heavy with the mascarpone cheese. 

Website: https://www.0109dessertnchocolate.com/ 

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/

Serano Bakery

May 25, 2020

A small assortment of my favourite baklava at Serano! 

$11.48 total for all the baklava

Apr 21, 2020

I group my Serano baklava trips with Souv Like since they're both on Pape. So I get delicious gyros and dessert in one go!

Pistachio mini baklava, crushed walnut, 2 almond cream, bueno baklava, walnut squares, almond squares and spiral baklava $14.84 (by weight)

I love their pistachio baklava (because the pistachio buttercream is amazing!) and the bueno baklava with hazelnut and chocolate is really good too. My other favourites are the square walnut baklava and spirals - it's the perfect balance of sweetness from the honey/syrup, crunchy nuts and crispy pastry. 

Apr 2, 2020

I called ahead to see if Serano Bakery was still open during the COVID-19 Pandemic and they were! Excellent! I have cake and baklava options now! Hurray!

Clockwise from left: Melomakarono cheesecake, Nougatina large cake, Strawberry shortcake large cake, Tiramisu large cake, mango mousse small cake and black forest small cake

Large cake slices $2.60 each and small cake slices $1.50

Of the small and large cake slices, my favourite was the strawberry shortcake. The other cakes had too much cream in them for my liking and I felt like the flavours were a little off in the mango mousse and the tiramisu. 

Melomakarono Cheesecake $5.50

According to BlogTo, this is one of the best cheesecake slices in the city - so I had to try it out of course! Melomakarono is a Greek Christmas cookie made with honey. I've tried it at other places before and I wasn't a huge fan, but for some reason it works really well with this cheesecake! The cheesecake initially has a strong nutmeg flavour, but then as you keep eating it's not as strong with the cheesecake and the crust of the cheesecake really standing out. It's a really good cake and I would definitely recommend it. 

Assorted baklava: almond baklava triangles, walnut baklava squares, spiral baklava

These are some of my favourite baklavas at Serano - I find they do really AMAZING walnut baklava and I love their squares with crushed walnuts inside. I also really like the mini baklava circles (especially the pistachio cream baklava). The morning/early afternoon selection was okay, but the staff behind the counter said that they would have more baklava selection later in the day. Next time, I'll make a later trip. 

Aug 26, 2019

Black Forest Cake $2.60

It was super cheap to get a slice of cake here and the cake was pretty good too! The Black Forest Cake is pretty popular here. 

Assorted Baklava

I loved the pistachio baklava with the buttercream and they had a Bueno baklava today! I also tried the kataifi and realized I don't really like the stringy texture of the pastry. I like the spiral baklava and the ones with densely packed nuts. 

June 24, 2019

Yummy baklava! 

Assorted baklava

My favourites were the walnut baklava. Serano makes the best walnut baklava I've ever had. The almond and pistachio baklava circles are really good too. 

May 11, 2019

Pistachio cake and Hazelnut cake

The pistachio cake didn't have a lot of pistachio flavour. The hazelnut cake was slightly better. 

Pistachio, walnut, almond and apricot baklava

OMG! Their baklavas are REALLY GOOD! Everything was delicious! Super crisp and flaky pastry made with honey (so it wasn't super sweet) and packed with tons of nuts to get the perfect flavour. 

Website: http://www.seranobakery.com/

Kostas Greek Bakery

I'm back to Greek baklava! I think my favourite baklava so far has been from Serano Bakery, it'll be interesting to see how this one compares.

 

Assorted Baklava

There was a lot of syrup/honey with the baklava - almost too much since it made the baklava super sweet. The baklava were also really sticky. 

  

Tiramisu

The tiramisu had a lot of chocolate powder on top and the cake was kind of dry. 

Website: https://www.kostasgreekbakery.com/about

Trattoria Taverniti

Spaghetti con Polpette

Spaghetti and meatballs, a very traditional Italian dish, seems really simple, but it's a lot of work to make the perfect meatball and these were pretty good. 

Penne rosina with rose sauce and spicy sausage $19 

It was a really good rose sauce and the spicy sausage wasn't that spicy at all. Overall,  it was a really good pasta dish. The favourite out of the three dishes ordered.

Tagliatelle al Frutti de Mare

Pasta with lots of seafood, but the sauce didn't really stand out or tie the whole dish together. 

Torta Della Nonna and Tiramisu $10 each

The torta della nonna is literally Grandma's tart. It was really nicely done since the almond cream wasn't too sweet and it had a fantastic thick cookie crust. The tiramisu was also really good, not too heavy on the liquor and not too sweet with great mascarpone.

Website: http://tavernitis.ca/

Tre Mari Bakery

Veal Parmigiana and Lasagna

The veal was pretty good because the tomato sauce is excellent. The lasagna was really nicely done with many layers of pasta and a good ratio of cheese, sauce and pasta. If I were to rank the Italian hot tables we've eaten at, I would say that it's better than Agincourt Bakery for sure.

Pistachio cannoli and tiramisu

The filling was green which was promising. The pistachio flavour was a little bit better since it was incorporated into the filling as opposed to other places where they dipped the ricotta cannoli ends into a bowl of pistachio nuts. However, it tasted more custard-like than cream. The tiramisu was okay, it had a chocolate powder on top which I'm not really a fan of and it needed more cake than cheese and cream.

Website: http://tremaribakery.ca/