Resto Boemo

Assembly Chef's Hall is like a really cool food court downtown at 111 Richmond Street West. 

Once I saw this sign, I really wanted to try their gnocchi

White truffle gnocchi (full portion) $22.95

The truffle costs an extra $4. The plate was full of fluffy pillows of potato pasta, the sauce was kind of heavy but not too heavy. Overall it was good, but I also found that it got a little boring after the 3rd bite or so since it was so heavy. 

Website: https://www.assemblychefshall.com/menus

Aloette

Aloette has a $25 prix fixe lunch, which is a great deal for downtown Toronto and a lot of people have raved about Alo. 

Cool decor

The bread was really good

Mushroom Salad

A really nice salad with a variety of mushrooms. 

Petite Wedge

When I saw this on the menu, my first thought was: a wedge of lettuce? However, I was pleasantly surprised by this - it was delicious and it was such a great combination of textures and flavours from crunchy sweet lettuce to crispy wild rice to salty parmesan.

Short Ribs

Beautifully braised and cooked and so tender it almost melted in your mouth. The fries were good, but I didn't really like the bloody mary aioli. 

The meal was really good and the whole experience was quite fun! 

Website: https://aloetterestaurant.com/

Dainties Macaron

Dainties makes some really unique Asian flavour macarons. 

Pistachio and Milk Tea

I'm a macaron traditionalist. I love new and different flavours and combinations, but I generally prefer the buttercream and cookies to be a bit more proportional so that you get an even bite into these tiny morsels of deliciousness. I just found that there was too much buttercream between the two macaron feet, which I guess is the style here, but I didn't like them as much because I thought the actual flavour of the cookies was lost (both cookies were crumbly and hard). The buttercreams had good flavour though.

Website: https://dainties-macaron.business.site/

Drom Taberna

Borscht

I thought borscht was just vegetable soup, but I didn't realize it was a Ukrainian beet soup with sour cream, dill and rye bread. It has a few things I don't generally like: beets, sour cream and dill. However, it ended up being not too bad when combined altogether since the beets were sweet and the soup was pretty tasty. I still couldn't get used to the sour cream in the soup though. 

Adjapsandali - Georgian eggplant ratatouille with blue fenugreek, calendula petals, potato, chili and green and red peppers with bread

This ratatouille dish was really good; I've never tried Georgian food before, so this was a pretty good introduction. The spices were well done and the dish was tasty. The vegetables paired really well with the fennel bread. This was my favourite dish of the night.

Lamb belly skewers with cilantro and narsharab (Azeri pomegranate sauce)

The lamb was cooked well since it wasn't too gamey. The sauce was delicious and the flatbread went well with it. 

Website: https://www.dromtaberna.com/

Hanabusa Cafe

I've been craving Japanese pancakes for a while, so I came here with a friend immediately after work. They close at 6:30pm (which I thought was kind of early for a Friday night). 

Custard Pancakes and Earl Grey Pancakes (about $17 including tax)

Pretty custard pancakes 

Really delicious! They were not too sweet and there was lots of delicious oozy custard in the middle. I loved the sauce they put on top.

Earl Grey Pancakes

The actual pancakes were okay. They were fluffy but not really as tasty as the custard pancakes. The earl grey sauce was delicious! 

Website: https://www.hanabusacafe.com/

Fresh Land Super Market

Grocery stores sometimes have the best deals for take-out food. It's interesting that Fresh Land Super Market (a Chinese grocery store) has Jamaican food, but I'm willing to try it. 

Goat Curry $5.88

The goat curry is on special today - a massive portion for $5.88! The goat curry was pretty good too, lots of goat meat (not that great if you don't like the gamey taste). It also came with a lot of rice and potatoes, which made it quite filling for under $7 including tax. 

Website: https://freshlandsupermarket.ca/