Toronto Ramen Adventure 2012/13 - Part 1

Later in the evening, after digesting that filling burger lunch, I headed out to dinner with my sister and some of her friends, and they all graciously invited me to join them for karaoke night afterward.  What better way to fill our bellies on a winter night before some karaoke than a hot bowl of ramen?

A Kawaii-zy Creperie

On one daytrip in September 2012 to Winnipeg I didn't have time to enjoy a full-service dinner, so I wanted to find a preferably different and untried place for a quick bite to eat.  Apparently a creperie had opened fairly recently in Osborne Village, and since I hadn't had a crepe for a while, I had to visit this place.  Kawaii Crepe serves both savoury and sweet crepes, and serves them differently than crepes I've had elsewhere in the past.  "Kawaii" means cute in Japanese, and apparently the crepes are made in a distinctly Japanese style; no simple rolls served on plates, the crepes here are folded into flat triangles and served open-ended on stands, allowing one to steadily chomp on them like one would an ice cream cone.

An Epic Sushi Dinner

The open kitchen area of Sushi Kaji.

Even though our family celebrated my parents' anniversary with dinner at Allium back in Ottawa, my sister was thinking of truly celebrating their anniversary with a nice dinner in the Toronto area.  With her foodie connections she managed to find Sushi Kaji, a Japanese restaurant located in Etobicoke.  The location was not what I'd consider to be typical for a higher-end restaurant, located in a 1950-1960's era Toronto-suburban strip mall right on a 6-lane thoroughfare.  This place, however, was definitely a diamond in the rough.

Guu Revisited on New Year's Eve

Inside Guu SakaBar.

Some time after trying (Kitanoya) Guu on Church St. in Toronto last year, Guu opened another izakaya, Guu SakaBar, on Bloor St. W. near Bathurst St.  My sister had previously been to this particular Guu and preferred this location more, partly for having more seating and being less crowded.  Perhaps because it was New Year's Eve, with partygoers having gone elsewhere to celebrate, Guu SakaBar still had a few empty seats available during the entire evening we were there.

Another Toronto Winter, Another Ramen Lunch

With my sister still having some time off work, we went grocery shopping one day for some meals over the coming days.  After finishing most of her shopping it was time for lunch, so we decided to swing by a nearby ramen noodle restaurant.  Located in the same commercial complex as the J-Town Japanese mall, Niwatei had a more varied menu selection than Vancouver's Motomachi Shokudo, but my sister and I opted to stick with the ramen noodles.  Unfortunately, as I wasn't expecting to try something new for lunch, I committed a foodie cardinal sin (again!) and didn't bring my camera with me.  Fortunately, my sister (http://www.boneats.ca/) saved my bacon one more time.

Shio Ramen. (Photo courtesy of www.boneats.ca.)

Bite-Sized Mentions from Vancouver 2011

Eating a fresh Lower Mainland raspberry at Granville Market.

Though I tried quite a few restaurants and eateries, there was definitely more to Vancouver's food scene.  Since the following individual instances were too small for their own posts, I decided to compile the notable "honourable mentions" here.

Of Street Food and Gelato

Going for my first bite of a Kurobuta Terimayo Japadog.

After a delicious lunch at Motomachi Shokudo, my parents and I continued exploring downtown Vancouver as well as Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.  After some more exploring in the early afternoon we decided to do some culinary exploration as well.  Our first stop was in front of Waterfront Station where we disembarked a Seabus from North Vancouver.  Waterfront Station was one of several locations for the famous Japadog, one of many of the more unique street food vendors in Vancouver.  Vancouver has been a progressive city in opening up street food in Canada.  Street food in Canadian cities historically almost exclusive meant burgers, hot dogs and ice cream products.  However, Vancouver opted to open its doors in recent years for street food vendors selling food of different ethnic cuisines as well as healthier choices.  One sign that street food is successful is that this year Vancouver granted licenses for 19 new vendors, further expanding the diversity of street food in especially the downtown area.

Ramen-ya? Ya!

The storefront of Motomachi Shokudo.

The second Saturday  of my Vancouver trip was my last full day in Vancouver, so my parents and I decided to have the day to ourselves and take on as much of the downtown area as possible.  After spending a good portion of the morning walking along the False Creek waterfront of downtown we managed to time it just right to catch a bus to Denman St. about 15 minutes before the noon opening of a ramen noodle shop, or a ramen-ya in Japanese, called Motomachi Shokudo.  Fortunately we were the first in line at the doorway; which meant that we were guaranteed a table in this small eatery with only about 20 seats or so.

Go Fish... Goldfish, That Is

The open section of Kingyo's kitchen.

Specials menu at Kingyo.

Thanks to being Canada's Pacific Gateway, Vancouver has strong Asian communities and a dining scene that matches.  Japanese cuisine is no exception, and unlike in Toronto, izakayas have been established in Vancouver for a longer period of time.  I definitely enjoyed my first izakaya experience, and I was hoping my experience in Vancouver would be just as well.  I knew from my parents' and sister's prior experience last year that the place we wanted to go was more subtle, but it was in the end for my parents' benefit as it was less raucous than most izakayas would typically be.  Kingyo, Japanese for "goldfish", is located in one of several dining hubs, Denman Street in Vancouver's West Side, and there are actually several izakayas on Denman.  Unlike Guu in Toronto, reservations are allowed at Kingyo and highly recommended; I fortunately did manage to reserve the last available table of the evening.

A Hot Bowl of Ramen to Warm a Cold Belly

Having to run an errand at the Eaton Centre, I decided to have a quick lunch in the area.  However, I wanted to avoid the shopping centre's food court as well as the tourist trap restaurants in and around Yonge-Dundas Square.  After a quick search on the internet the previous night, I discovered a ramen shop called Kenzo Japanese Noodle House.  Like izakayas as I mentioned in my previous blog entry, ramen shops are still in foothold stage in Toronto.  With that in mind, and with my penchant for noodles getting the best of me, I decided to try this place.

Dining Out with Character (And the Crowd Goes Guu!)

Yet again I must apologize for neglecting my blog for over two months, but my schedule had not allowed me enough time to do any further culinary exploration, especially with my involvement in community theatre productions of the musical "White Christmas", which just finished over a week ago, "Much Ado About Nothing", which is coming up in January, and "Twelve Angry Jurors" in February.  With the Christmas break upon me now, I'm able to spend it in Toronto and Ottawa for a few weeks, which fortunately means trying new places to eat.

The open kitchen at Guu was constantly alive with activity and enthusiasm.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blufish

I managed to be in Winnipeg for another long weekend, and with that came the opportunity to try another restaurant in town.  Fortunately, a few more friends of mine who thankfully are, for argument's sake, about as adventurous on the food front as I am are now living in town (one of whom I must credit with the inspirational title for this entry).  That meant one thing for me: foodie dine-out!