short lived, but a good run. I have to say bye bye to the blog as i have finally discovered Yelp.ca where now all my reviews reside. with an audience!
find me at laurachiu.yelp.ca
Katsura
At the Westin Prince Hotel
One thing that was very worth it was the grilled unagi rice. They make it in front of you, with the rice, wasabi, nori, eel (which he torch seared the top first0, egg, and some rice balls, mixed it up all together, and it served at like 7-8 bowls full. ($33)
We also got the black cod, which was very nice, smooth and crunchy. it same with small side garnishes, including a sticky rice mochi wrapped in a bamboo leaf, some pickled veggies, all edible.
What I loved was the attention to detail, and how delicate everything was.
For dessert we got the banana crepe ($8) which was flambeed with grand marnier and served with bananas on the side, and strawberries.
The total cost was $180 for 3 ppl. It was quite worth it, but only for a special occasion. Something unique fo sure. I wonder if it's comparable to the new Katseki place that opened at the japanese community centre.
One thing that was very worth it was the grilled unagi rice. They make it in front of you, with the rice, wasabi, nori, eel (which he torch seared the top first0, egg, and some rice balls, mixed it up all together, and it served at like 7-8 bowls full. ($33)
We also got the black cod, which was very nice, smooth and crunchy. it same with small side garnishes, including a sticky rice mochi wrapped in a bamboo leaf, some pickled veggies, all edible.
What I loved was the attention to detail, and how delicate everything was.
For dessert we got the banana crepe ($8) which was flambeed with grand marnier and served with bananas on the side, and strawberries.
The total cost was $180 for 3 ppl. It was quite worth it, but only for a special occasion. Something unique fo sure. I wonder if it's comparable to the new Katseki place that opened at the japanese community centre.
W Burger Bar
Friday evening. 6pm. Dinner with Conrad.
With advice from Kat F. I made reservations and so glad that I did. I was a bit late, but they still held the table for us. There was a lineup with about 3 parties, and we walked right by like VIPs and got seated at our table. AWESOME.
I guess this is the type of place that don't really need to allow reservations, but I'm very glad they did.
However, the table was right in front of the kitchen kind of in the middle nowhere. I commented to my friend that this was awesome, but we got the crappiest seat in the house. My friend said, are you gunna yelp about it? I said probably. Then... maybe he heard me, maybe he didn't, but the manager (? guy with glasses) passed by and said "you can see the kitchen? sorry about that. would you like free drinks?"
I'm like... uhh. SURE!!! and i got a half pint of beer :) :)
Onion rings are superb.
I guess this is the type of place that don't really need to allow reservations, but I'm very glad they did.
However, the table was right in front of the kitchen kind of in the middle nowhere. I commented to my friend that this was awesome, but we got the crappiest seat in the house. My friend said, are you gunna yelp about it? I said probably. Then... maybe he heard me, maybe he didn't, but the manager (? guy with glasses) passed by and said "you can see the kitchen? sorry about that. would you like free drinks?"
I'm like... uhh. SURE!!! and i got a half pint of beer :) :)
Onion rings are superb.
I took a long time to decide. My ultimate burger would be Bison + Egg + Pineapple + Mushroom + Cheese + avacado + Bacon ... but that's just heart attack waiting to happen.
Had to be selective.
Got a Bison ($9.95) + Chipotle Ketchup (free) + Monteray Jack Cheese ($1.25) + Portobello Mushroom ($2.50)
To be honest, it was good, but could have been better. The cheese was thin (i.e. melted, I can see thru it) and the ketchup was only in the middle of the sandwich so only tasted it with one bite. The mushrooms were there, but didn't really add much to the burger.
However, I will come back there one day and try this infamous frilled cheese with egg.
Conrad got the egg + tomato + beef burger +onions
They were also good about subsitutes
We were a little hurried, to get our bill and sod off, but I could see why: there was at least another 5 parties waiting (and line up out the door). As we walked past them, I wanted to shout, You can CALL AHEAD!!
Boom and Breakfast Co
My new favourite Breakfast place. It's comparable with Cora's, but with a local flavour. We went to the College location. It's a small place, and when we got there at 1pm and there was a line up. But only about a 10 min wait.
We both ordered the same Benny Boom (smoked salmon benny with spinach), because it just looked that good. I still need to go back and try that french toast, but here are the pics!! The fries were amazing!!!!!!
This place looks so yummy.
Benny BOOM ........ $10.49
2 poached eggs, fresh spinach &; applewood chip smoked salmon
Ultimate Crunchy French Toast ........ $8.49
served with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with chocolate sauce
Breakfast Panino ........ $7.69http://www.boombreakfast.com/menu.pdf
omelette style eggs, mushrooms, swiss cheese, roasted tomato & fresh fruit garnish
#1 for Best All Day Breakfast in Blog.to
3 locations
808 College (College and Ossington)
1036 St. Clair West (St. Clair and Dufferin)
174 Eglinton Ave West (Eglinton and between Avenue and Yonge)
Guu Izakaya
I was SO pleased to finally try this restaurant after hearing how awesome it was, and how long people have to wait. They don't take reservations, and we heard that the average line up was 2hrs. When we got there with a party of 6 people, and heard the lineup was only going to be an hour, we were plesantly surprised. While we waited, we got a glimpse of the interior from peep holes on the outside wall.
Let me say first that it was completely worth the wait. We arrived at 8:45pm and unfortunately waited until 10:15pm before we got let in. The place is small, and maybe fits about 50-70 people. It's quite cozy and communal tables are the trend here.
An Izakaya is traditionally a bar that serves food with drinks. At Guu, and other izakayas like Manpuku in Toronto, they serve food then and the drinks accompany it, but it's small dishes like tapas but all authentic in it's origins.
It even looks like the Izakayas in Japan on the wiki.
When we finally went in and sat down, all the servers and cooks shout out a greeting, and everyone stares at us. I imagine it's to welcome us to their establishment.
During our meal, we also saw 3 birthdays (I suspect that they pretend to get the attention) but the whole restaurant will clap and sing Happy Birthday.
When you leave, everyone shouts at you, Thank You for coming, or something of that sort.
In a sense, suddenly you've entered this family for about 2 hrs while you dine.
During the meal, food came pretty quickly and with our bouncy and cheerful server, she got our orders in quick and was really nice about everything. I hastily tried to take photos before the food was devoured (you can imagine after waiting to eat until 10:45pm)
Although we had 6 people, every dish seemed to be made for 2-3 people and shared. Everything was also priced on average $4-7 per dish. We ordered about 2 dishes each. This place would still be good for couples, where you can order a lot, try different things and not end up with an overly full stomach, or empty wallet.
We started with the
"ABURI SALMON" Lightly seared atlantic salmon sashimi
with ponzu sauce and wasabi mayo
(there was wasabi on this? i didn't even taste it!)
It was very good sashimi. soft, tender tons of flavour.
Next was
"KINOKO CHEESE BIBIMBAP"Rice, garlic sauteed mushrooms and cheese with seaweed sauce
The cheese really added a nice creamy texture.
Then (my favourite)
"TAKOYAKI" Deep fried puffed octopus balls served
with TONKATSU sauce and mustard mayo
Not as big as the ones from Manpuku, but they also don't take 20 mins to make. Yummmm
"HOTATE BUTTER" Pan fried scallop with soysauce and garlic butter
As I predicted, the scallops were buttery smooth. (and I forgot to take a picture!!!!)
"KAKUNI" Sweet miso braised pork belly with boiled eggThis was very much like Dong Bo Yuk in Shanghainese cuisine, but without the thick red sauce. It was good, but Chinese version is better.
"TONTORO" Grilled pork cheek with salt and YUZU pepper
It was okay. The meat was bit tough.
"GINDARA" Grilled black cod with SAIKYO miso and white wine sauce
A little more pricier than most dishes, but SO good. Soft fish, with tons of miso flavour
"GYUTANGUE" Grilled beef tongue with salt
We got this during round 2, and it was one of the specials for each stick $2. It was very good and tender tongue.
"KAKIMAYO" Grilled oysters with spinach, garlic mayo and cheese on the top
This was pretty worth the cholesterol. I could have eaten the whole thing myself.
"KARUBI" Salt&papper grilled beef short ribs with green onion sauce
I liked this version of Kalbi. the meat was not tough at all.
Lastly, this was an udon, but I'm not sure which one. It doens't look like much, but the noodles were covered in a smooth creamy miso-y sauce that made it really tasty.
Overall the highlights were:
- takoyaki
- kalbi type short ribs
- cheese bimbimbap
- oysters
- black cod
Insomnia (dinner)
Oh well.
On the eve of st. Patricks, I didn't want to spend the evening crowding with frat boys on Bloor Street in a sweaty bar filled with green beer and green t-shirts. I'd rather have a nice meal and do that in the streets.
Insomnia has been around for a while I know, and they also serve brunch.
The place is small, but cozy. We saw two seats in the front and it wasn't too close to our neighbours but cozy.
I got a burger ($9) with brie ($2) and mushrooms ($1) and it comes with fries and salad with garlic aioli . I wanted to diet and eat healthy, but I can't resist aioli. I also put it in my burger.
I was mess eating that 8oz tho. All the fillings and condiments sputing everywhere. I needed 2 napkins to keep me looking like a fool, which I probably already did.
Alexey got an appetizer size mussels. And it was huge! Perfect for just for him. In a spinach wine sauce, it was tasty.
would come back again.
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I came here tonight with my parents because of Andrew A's review. I forgot about this place, but I used to come here a lot with I was kid, before the place became so pricey.
It was like being in familiar territory because the same people that were working here when i was a kid, still worked here except not in their usual kimono garb. The service is really attentive, at one point we had three people serving us, even the chef came out to say hello!
The food was very good, but very pricey! We had a sashami platter, and you can definately taste the difference between regular fish, and katsura fish (however, if you go to vancouver, it does taste this fresh with a third of the cost).