Fugo :: Cookie Monster Ice Cream!

Bar Bucca :: Back Home Lunch!

 

 

 

 

Neo Coffee Bar :: Waiting for Departure

Kyoto Matcha Latte (~$6 with tax)

I've been meaning to visit NEO COFFEE BAR for quite some time and finally had a chance to do so when I was downtown exceptionally early for my flight back to Chicago. While my visit was a very quick detour to the airport, I did enjoy my time there and would definitely return. I absolutely adore matcha green tea lattes and it's no secret that it's my staple order for Starbucks (ask my fellow team mates at my office!). However, NEO COFFEE BAR does matcha lattes traditionally. It's not some sweetened powder that's prepackaged and mixed such that one or two scoops added to steamed milk and it's good (like Starbucks) but the baristas here take their time to make a quality matcha latte by properly whisking the Kyoto matcha powder with the bamboo matcha whisk and slowly steaming the milk to the correct temperature. The Kyoto Matcha Latte was very smooth and didn't have any matcha powder clumps. I look forward in returning to try it again, along with the cafe's assortment of sandwiches and Japanese inspired desserts.

NEO COFFEE BAR

Unit 100-161 Frederick Street 

Toronto ON M5A 4P3

647.348.8811

website

The Lockhart :: Harry Potter Themed GNO

Tea For Two ($26)

5 oz peach vodka – lime juice, agave, tonic, lime garnish/peach bitter 

(raspberry, chamomile or black tea base)

Ludo’s Debt ($9)

lemon infused Gin, lillet blanc (aperitif), aperol, lemon twist (3 oz)

The Captain Picard ($9)

earl grey infused (bombay) gin, agave, lime, tonic (2 oz)

Befuddlement Draft ($32)

gin, vodka, peach schnapps, blue curacao, cherry brandy, triple sec, ginger-ale (8 oz)

The Lockhart

1479 Dundas St West

Toronto, ON M6J 1Y8

647.748.4434

website

Zakkushi on Carlton :: NYC Planning Dinner with Tiffany & Nina (Missing Taylor!) + Trying Something New!

Hey guys!

I thought I would give video blogging a dinner a try for fun - let me know what you guys think.
It's my first time filming (Canon G7X - new) & editing a video (all on an iPhone 6) - I think it turned out pretty well and I'm quite happy with the results.

Click here to watch in HD!
Dishes Ordered Sapporo Pitcher ($9.99) Kura Buta Bacon Caesar Salad ($6) Waygu Beef ($6.8/skewer) Horenso Ninniku Foil Yaki ($5.9) Ebimayo ($7.5) Mé Maki ($1.9/skewer) Mochi Maki ($2/skewer) Scallop ($3.1/skewer) Chicken Gizzard ($1.9/skewer) Tomato ($1.7/skewer) Negi P-Toro Don ($7.5)
This was my second visit to Zakkushi, my last visit being when they first opened a couple years ago. The food at Zakkushi was delicious and I would definitely recommend going. Even after opening a couple years ago, it's still quite busy so reservations would be a wise choice. I would highly recommend ordering the Mochi Maki, Chicken Gizzard, and the Waygu Beef as those were my favourite skewers. Also, all the main dishes that were ordered, including the Kura Buta Bacon Caesar Salad, Foil Yaki, and Negi P-Toro, were full of flavour so I would definitely give those a try as well.

Zakkushi on Carlton

193 Carlton Street

Toronto, ON M5A 2K7

647.352.9455

website

Bang Bang Ice Cream :: After Lunch Treat - Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich!

Jumbo Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich ($4.80)
London Fog Macaron Shell + London Fog Ice Cream

The macaron ice cream sandwich was much anticipated treat as this was my third visit to Bang Bang Ice Cream and it was the first time that it wasn't sold out! Unfortunately, macaron sandwiches are not as customizable as the cookie ice cream sandwiches, the ice cream puffs, or the HK waffle cones as you cannot select the macaron shell or the ice cream because they are pre-made and are kept frozen in the refrigerator close to the entrance. 

Despite the lack of customizability, I quite enjoyed the London fog macaron ice cream sandwich! I was told that the macaron shell was also London fog flavoured but to me it tasted more like vanilla bean. The texture of the macaron was still crunchy (as it did crack upon biting the sandwich) but slightly chewy - which I quite enjoyed as it was very reminiscent of my favourite macarons in the city which can be purchased from MoRoCo in Yorkville. The London fog ice cream perfectly complimented the macaron shell. Neither the macaron or the ice cream was overly sweet and both were quite light. 

I would definitely recommend trying the macaron ice cream sandwiches if you are able to get your hands on it!

PS: Don't forget to click the Bang Bang Ice Cream tag to see photos from previous visits!

Bang Bang Ice Cream

93 Ossington Ave

Toronto, ON M6J 2Z4

647.348.1900

website

Bareburger :: Dinner with Taylor

Taylor's Burger

Hog Wild ($12.25)

wild boar, pimento cheese, fried egg, chickpea onions, picked green tomatoes, brioche bun

*chickpea onions were subbed for wild mushrooms

Side of Baby Green Salad ($4.85)

Ginger Green Iced Tea 20oz ($3.25)

Located near the Eaton's Centre on Bay & Dundas, I've walked past Bareburger a couple times prior to trying it out. The menu is unique with a variety of interesting patties to choose from like elk and wild boar. Bareburger allows you to customize any of the burgers on the menu or make your own which is cool. Although the food was quite wholesome (they are advertised as organic and hormone free), the burgers lacked flavour and the portions are quite small. Side salad was also quite small but was decent. The ice tea on the larger side but tasted watered down/diluted with an ever so slight flavour of ginger and green tea. Although the ingredients were good quality, it was quite expensive for the portion given. Both Taylor and I were quite hungry after our meal and agreed for the value and flavour we both favoured Hero Burger instead.

Bareburger

111 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON M5G 1C4

647.345.2273

website

Lisa Marie :: After Dinner Cocktails and Desserts with Taylor andTiffany

Bubble Sparx ($13)

tito's vodka, chambord, and freshly squeezed lemonade topped with grasshopper wheat beer

Deep Fried Panna Cotta

Elvis in a Jar

Lisa Marie is part of the Fidel Gastro's family - Fidel Gastro's being a food truck! I've eaten at Fidel Gastro's food truck when it came on the University of Toronto's campus for the first "Food Truck Friday" in the beginning of fourth year, which was one of the catalysts that lead me to indulge in trying new restaurants and starting up this photo diary/blog! With the slight bit of shared history aside, my friends and I came to Lisa Marie after having dinner, on the hunt for some late night desserts and drinks. Surprisingly, we were having difficulty finding a restaurant that provided some sweets and fun cocktails on the fly and ended up driving back and forth on Queen Street West. We eventually stumbled into Lisa Marie after recognizing the name from a few brunch Instagram posts.

George was our waiter/bartender for the night and he was extremely attentive to our needs as a table. He came around often to refill water and to ensure the drinks and desserts were enjoyed (as he recommended them to us). 

We tried one of the sweeter drinks, Bubble Sparx. Although, it's on the sweeter end of the menu, this drink is not for the faint hearted. It's definitely stronger than it appears. Perhaps it's cause I'm not a huge drinker myself (and was mostly peer pressured into having a drink :p) so I didn't finish my drink. I felt so bad when George was concerned that I didn't like his drink and graciously brought over some lemonade to ease the process hahaha.

On the sweeter note, between the deep fried panna cotta and the Elvis in the Jar, it was a resounding vote for the panna cotta with a close second finish for Elvis. The panna cotta was light and not overly sweet with a welcomed contrasting texture of the deep fried batter. The berry dip was delicious. The deep fried panna cotta is highly recommended. The Elvis in a Jar (which helped me with the conclusion of realizing that the restaurant was named after his daughter?) is their "infamous house dessert" which included a mixture of peanut butter cream (yes), cake/bread (sorry I forgot), and two sticks of maple bacon! The peanut butter cream was definitely interesting and worth a try. One thing was that my friends and I found that it was difficult to get the "full essence" of the Elvis in the Jar cause it was a little difficult to get all the components onto a single scoop. It was much easier to just eat the dessert from the top to the bottom instead of digging for the gold that the dessert required.

As a first impression of Lisa Marie, I'm definitely glad we tried it out and I'm definitely interested in trying out their brunch menu. I'm very certain that the girls and I will be returning for brunch especially when reservations (and on OpenTable!) are allowed for brunch (super rare in Toronto). The food and drink selection is diverse and creative. The environment is fun, cool, and laid back. The service was friendly and impeccable. According to George, they also have bingo night on Tuesdays and occasionally a live band playing. Just as a warning, washrooms are interesting - and definitely is a love it or hate it scenario with all the crazy graffiti, damp floors, and steep stairs. 

Lisa Marie

638 Queen St W

Toronto, ON M6J 1B4

647.748.6822

website

T-Rex Zone :: Cheapest Lunch Deal in Yorkville

I saw T-Rex open maybe a couple of months ago, briefly walked by it to investigate, but didn't have any interest in it - perhaps to the simplicity of this salad bar (which is very ironic considering that the T-Rex was a carnivore!). It wasn't until I ran into the Cumberland Terrace Food Court grabbing some food for my manager and I had a deep craving for a salad bar lunch that I remembered T-Rex and went back to try it out. I'm super glad I did!

Lily, who works there everyday with presumably her family, kindly explained to me the simple pricing of her restaurant.

One regular tub is $3.99 + tax. One large tub is $5.99 + tax. The tubs can be filled with what ever your heart fancies that's available for you at the salad bar with no worries of how much the tub weighs. You just pay for the tub and you fill it. If you want a drink add $1 + tax. It's not a self-serve salad bar, thus Lily helps you put together your lunch. It's also great cause T-Rex Zone takes credit cards so you don't have to carry a full purse/wallet with you from the office.

How awesome is that? Considering I work in Yorkville, one of - if not the most - expensive neighbourhoods in Downtown Toronto, finding lunch around work is terribly expensive. The closest 'healthy' fast food nearby is Aroma, Freshii, and Picnic where lunches run you at around $7-10+tax. 

So thanks to T-Rex, I've been eating lunch for $4.51 everyday. That's arguably cheaper than bringing frozen tv dinners to work everyday! I have no idea how T-Rex makes it's money and maintains its Yorkville rent for $4.51 a tub, so I'm not surprised if T-Rex raises it's prices a little - but even a slight price increase is still very much cheaper than everywhere else in the vicinity. I'm also astounded that it's not busy at all! I've also told all my coworkers and they are surprised! I feel the lack of a crowd is a lack of exposure and that it's not visible from the street. They don't have an Urbanspoon profile (yet ;D just submitted an 'add restaurant' request) and one review on Yelp from a user named Bernie.

So this is one of my lunches from T-Rex Zone shortly after I discovered it. 

Now, considering that it's $3.99 - one can be skeptical about the taste and quality of the food. For the skeptics out there, I'm pretty satisfied about the freshness and the taste of T-Rex Zone's salad bar. The vegetables are fresh and I normally only see a small quantity on the salad bar at a time making me believe that T-Rex brings out food at small quantities at a time to maintain freshness. Majority of the salad bar options are vegetarian, though I have seen chicken slices, tuna, bacon bits, hard boiled eggs, and diced ham. I would be really happy if they introduced tofu as a protein though!

First you get a choice of a bed of romaine, kale, or a mixture of both (though on some days only romaine was available). Then you just tell Lily everything you want to try out and she puts a spoonful in your bin. If you are particularly excited about something, maybe tell her to add two spoonfuls.

Here's a size comparison size shot beside my large Second Cup drink. That's the regular $3.99 tub. I've gotten way less for more from other salad bars such as Freshii and Aroma.

On this particular day I got the following combination (off the top of my head):

• romaine
• boiled egg
• humus
• corn
• green beans
• kale super salad mixture
• nut mixture
• croutons
• tomato, cucumber, and red onion mixure
• potato salad
• macaroni salad
• beets
• honey dijon dressing

I'm a creature of habit so my salad lunches don't really change day to day but here's what's in the above tub:

• kale (wasn't available when I got the above tub)
• boiled egg
• humus
• corn
• avocado (wasn't available last time either)
• cucumber slices
• beans
• chick peas & kidney beans (first time trying this today - liked it!)
• nut mixture
• croutons
• tomato, cucumber, and red onion mixure
• potato salad
• macaroni salad
• beets
• honey dijon dressing

Update (Nov 13, 2014)

Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Root ($2.99 + tax)

It was a particularly cold day today, so I tried T-Rex's soup for the first time today. I was also feel like I was getting sick so I was in need of something to warm me up. The soup of the day was the Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Root. I love Butternut Squash Soup and the Ginger Root was a welcomed Asian twist. The added Ginger Root really helped me feel like I was fighting off my upcoming cold and felt a lot better. I would definitely get it again without question.

Update (Nov 14, 2014)

• romaine
• kale
• kale super salad
• macaroni salad
• potato salad
• diced ham
• nuts & berry combo
• beets
• cucumber
• broccoli
• eggs
• corn
• green peas
• tuna
• chicken slices
• feta
• humus
• avocado
• parmasean
• honey dijon
• croutons

Bottom line: Probably one of the cheapest and healthiest lunch deal you can find in Yorkville. The ingredients are fresh and tasty too! The $3.99 tub is more than enough to fill me up too.

If you do happen to stop by T-Rex, tell Lily that Sam said hi! She's pretty good with names since she remembered mine just after one visit and only asking about my name once!

T-Rex Zone

Unit F02B - 2 Bloor Street West

(in Cumberland Terrace across from Manchuwok)

Colette Grand Café :: Super Late Lunch with Tiffany

Colette Grand Cafe was a perfect restaurant to visit after returning from Paris. The black and white marble floor tiles reminded me of Versailles and the décor transported me back across the Atlantic Ocean. The restaurant is split between the regular dinning area and a small patisserie. I quickly visited the patisserie - a slew of pastries and desserts were displayed in the glass case including macarons, croissants, and cakes. I am anxious to return to try them in the near future. The staff were knowledgeable about the menu, friendly, and helpful. The lunch menu had a great variety and it was difficult to narrow down our choices for our meal.

Daily Special - Seared Yellowfish Tuna

The Friday daily special was a seared Yellowfish Tuna dish. The dish was beautifully presented and equally as delicious. The Yellowfish Tuna was fresh and perfectly seasoned with salt. The vegetables were cooked wonderfully. I would definitely order this dish again.

Tartare de Beau ($16)

veal tartare, fresh herb pistou, horseradish, hard boiled egg & grilled seeded sourdough

I highly recommend this dish. I am a fan of tartare and this veal tartare was no different. The veal tartare was fresh, the seasoning was impeccable, and the horseradish was a great accompaniment.

Vanilla Ice Cream Profiteroles ($12)

caramel cream & warm chocolate sauce

Tiffany and I initially ordered this dish because we saw another table order it and was excited by the way the waiters presented it. They bring the profiteroles out with the ice cream and pour the warm chocolate sauce at the table. They then sprinkle the cocoa chips afterwards. The dessert itself tasted amazing and the vanilla ice cream greatly contrasted and balanced out the heaviness of the chocolate sauce. The cocoa chips provided a crunchy texture contrast against the soft, moist profiteroles and the cold, melting ice cream.


  Colette Grand Cafe
550 Wellington Street West
Toronto, ON
647.348.7000
website

Bakerbots Baking :: Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches with Harold

Left :: Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Everything Cookie

Right :: London Fog Ice Cream with Oatmeal Cookie

Bakerbots Baking is a quaint bakery on Bloor Street located close to Ossington subway station. Bakerbots offers an assortment of cookies, ice cream, and various other baked goods. For my first visit to Bakerbots Bakery, I decided to try the instagram-famous cookie ice cream sandwiches. Considering it was a hot summer day, the cookie ice cream was the perfect choice. You get a choice of 1/2 cookie sandwich (above) or a full cookie sandwich. Next you get to choose from a variety of ice cream flavours (I heard Bakerbots Bakery gets their ice cream from Ed's Real Scoop!) and cookies. I had the Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Everything Cookie. It was absolutely delicious. The ice cream was refreshing and the cookie was perfectly baked such that it was crunchy and not overly sweet. However, there is a learning curve in eating this cookie ice cream sandwich! I found it was easier to eat some of the ice cream at the top and then continue to finish the entire sandwich from the bottom up. Overall, I was pleased with my first visit to Bakerbots and would definitely love to visit them again to try their sweet baked goods (ie: the carrot cake and fruit tart!!!)

Bakerbots Baking

205 Delaware Ave

Toronto, ON

416.901.3500

website

Momofuku Milk Bar :: Cereal Ice Cream with Harold

Cereal Ice Cream with Cornflakes ($5)

After all the hype, this highly anticipated milk bar cereal ice cream was highly disappointing. The cornflakes were the best part of this dessert but they tasted that they were coated with extra sugar and the proportion of ice cream to cereal was far to large. The soft serve tastes like the leftover milk in the bowl after you finished eating all the sugary cereal and was way too sweet. I would have preferred regular vanilla soft serve. Overall, it was very sweet and very expensive dessert for the amount of ice cream you get.

Aside from the dessert itself, the set up of Momofuku Milk Bar is not very intuitive and very awkward. Initially, I thought the ice cream would be available upstairs in the glass refrigerator, but interestingly enough we later learned that we had to go back down to the hostess to order the ice cream desserts and awkwardly stand at the entrance while she ran to the back to make them. In the future, I would not order this again and would not recommend this particular ice cream dessert.

Momofuku Milk Bar

190 University Ave, 2nd Floor

Toronto, ON M5H 0A3

647.253.8000

website

Snakes & Lattes :: Games with Fontaine, Gordon, & Carson

Veggie Chips ($3)

with chipotle mayo

Snakes & Lattes

600 Bloor St W

Toronto, ON M6G 1K4

647.342.9229

website

Lettieri Espresso Bar Cafe :: Breakfast Before Work!

Matcha Green Tea Smoothie & Smoked Salmon Panini

Lettieri Espresso Bar Cafe

94 Cumberland St

Toronto, ON M5R 1A3

416.515.8764

website

Grand Electric :: Round 2 with Memie & Gordon

Guacamole & Chips ($8)

Tuna Ceviche ($11)

Baja Fish & Pork Belly Tacos ($3)

Spicy Chicken & Baja Fish Tacos ($3)

Grand Electric

1330 Queen Street West

Parkdale, Toronto

416.627.3459

website

Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill :: Distillery District with Memie and Gordon

Golden Yukon Fries ($8)

Shucker's Dozen ($36)

Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill

17 Tank House Lane

Toronto, ON M5A 3C4

website