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?

Chucking Myself with a Burger Lunch

Wanting to just spend a day during my Christmas break at my sister's apartment relaxing and memorizing my lines for upcoming shows, I opted for a lunch within a reasonable walking distance.  My sister suggested Holy Chuck Burgers as one of the possible locations.  At first I wasn't too thrilled about having to walk uphill both ways, but I was willing to grin and bear it as the fare wasn't worth a one-subway-station ride.  After lunch, though, I was very thankful I chose to walk!

A Thai Road on a Toronto Street

By the time I was pretty much done exploring downtown Toronto for the day, it was time for dinner, and with my sister having suggested Khao San Road for some Thai, I took the opportunity to give it a try.  Imagine my surprise when I realized I was grabbing one of the very last open seats, and it was barely 5:30pm!  The last time I experienced a restaurant becoming packed this early was when I was a kid going to Magic Wok Chinese Restaurant back when it was located on Brimley Rd. just north of Sheppard Ave. E.  Well, when people are clamouring to dine here, and, if they're late, they're willing to wait to get a seat (when I left the restaurant I overheard a group of 7 being told to wait at least an hour for an open table), you know this place must be doing something right.

A Classy Bay Street Lunch

With another day on my own in Toronto, I decided to explore the downtown area, and opted to have lunch there as well.  My sister suggested a few places, including The Gabardine, to try for lunch or dinner.  Knowing that there would be lunch crowds on weekdays, I planned on heading downtown to get to The Gabardine between 11:30am and 11:45am to be able to get a seat.  Unfortunately, I left for downtown late and arrived about 11:50am, and there was already a small line-up with an approximately 40-minute wait in the packed place.

Going Beyond BBQ for Korean

I had not had some authentic Korean food in quite a while, so I asked my sister to suggest a Korean restaurant before our night out at the movies.  She recommended Mot Na Son, a small restaurant that appeared to be family-operated located in North York Centre, one of several Korean business hubs in Toronto.  Compared to other Korean restaurants I've tried in the Toronto area, the focus wasn't BBQ, though that was a possible option.  I appreciated this as I wanted to try other aspects of Korean cuisine, and I was not disappointed.

Return to The Stockyards

On my first full day of my Christmas vacation in Ontario, my sister took me to The Stockyards for lunch.  I tried The Stockyards' fried chicken and ribs the previous Christmas holiday for take-out, and with my sister having talked about the small joint's brunches favourably several times, I had to try it for myself as well.

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.

Toronto Dishcrawl to End 2011

Part of the kitchen at Bannock.

(I've unfortunately had to take a pause writing about my Christmas break culinary adventures due to my involvement in a musical production that just finished this past weekend.  So, now we return to our regularly scheduled programming....)

Knowing that she would still be on holidays from work, before my holidays my sister suggested doing a dishcrawl throughout central Toronto.  For those not familiar with what a dishcrawl is, you may have heard of a pub crawl, where people hop from one drinking establishment to another to try a feature/unique drink from each establishment.  So, a dishcrawl is where people hop from one eatery to another to try a feature/unique food dish from each establishment.  Though she had a quite a few places to choose, we originally settled to try five places and eventually only tried four as, in spite of what our tastebuds would tell us, our stomachs could only take so much.

Starting my Return to Toronto with Hands-On Eating

Vegetarian Bayaaynatu (for two) with an additional order of Gored-Gored at Ethiopian House.  All the food items were served on a layer of injera.

When my sister and I arrived in Toronto a few days after Christmas with the parents in Ottawa, it was early evening and we were not in the mood for cooking dinner.  When my sister bounced a few suggestions on places to eat, I decided that we should give Ethiopian House a try; though she'd been there in the past, I'd never had Ethiopian cuisine, and there was no better time like the present.  When I got to the restaurant, located in a converted house on a quiet side street off Yonge near Wellesley, I found it fascinating that, for years, I've heard of Ethiopia for all the unfortunate reasons, yet its cuisine, though comparatively simpler than, say, Chinese or French cuisine, was colourful and lively.  Though there was some meat in Ethiopian cuisine, I understood that there was a stronger emphasis for vegetable dishes, and it was reflected in the menu at the restaurant and the meal my sister and I ordered.  (The following close-up photos are courtesy of my sister at boneats.ca.)

Victorious Dinner with Friends

On my final night in Toronto for this Christmas break I was able to meet up with three university buddies for dinner and drinks, the second time in as many years I'd visited Toronto.  The first time we did this was at a pub just north of the University of Toronto, but this time we opted for a place located closer to where one of my buddies lived, was less of a detour from a commute home for another, and was still easily accessible by subway for the remaining two of us.  Of course, with the three others wanting to enjoy some good beers in an atmosphere comfortable for conversation, they suggested a little pub called Victory Café.

More Dumplings Please, Mom! (Part 2)

Though my family and I usually pan-fry our homemade jiaozi, many familiar with these Chinese dumplings would know that there are also two other traditional methods of cooking them: boiling and steaming.  With boiling, this can either be done in plain water or in a broth, and steaming is a popular method as they can be placed in steamers with other foods such as steamed buns at the same time, allowing for mass cooking.  There are a few Chinese restaurants in the Toronto area where dumplings are a specialty or at least prominently featured in the menu, and Mother's Dumplings is one of them.

Another Meal Manufactured to Satisfaction

I've concluded that holidays or vacations are times to relax is a myth.  They're actually times to do something, see something and/or catch up on something.  This Christmas break, that meant mainly memorizing my lines for "Much Ado About Nothing", seeing some of my friends, family and relatives in Ontario and catching up on some sleep.  Of course, when seeing some friends and relatives, sometimes that also means dining out, at times trying new places.  Already since returning this week to Toronto, I've tried The Stockyards and Fresh, and I'll be trying a couple more places before I fly back home.  For dinner with a friend this evening, we decided to try Fabbrica.

A "Fresh" Perspective for a Change

After plenty of feasting during the Christmas break (I'll link my sister's entries when she posted what she cooked on Christmas and New Year's Eve as soon as they're up) as well as a meatfest last night thanks to The Stockyards, a lighter, healthier meal was in order.  Originally some university friends and I planned to have lunch elsewhere, but since it was still closed due to the holidays, we decided to go to Fresh Restaurant on Spadina.

Where There's Smoke... There's Meat

KFC and Chicken Chef, eat your hearts out.  I just discovered some even more delicious fried chicken.

After arriving in Toronto with my sister late Sunday afternoon from a busy post-Christmas drive from Ottawa, neither of us were in the mood for cooking and we had virtually nothing in the fridge, so she and I agreed to do some takeout.  Now, Swiss Chalet was an option (and she knows I've a serious weakness for the Chalet sauce), but when she also suggested The Stockyards, I couldn't resist trying this unique local haunt.  Thank goodness my curiosity was well rewarded.

The Stockyards Fried Chicken in a take-out box, minus a drumstick, traded for one of my sister's smoked pork ribs.

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.

An Unusual and Delightful Indulgence on Meat

(I had meant to write and post this sooner after I finished my Ontario trip, but other matters, including an illness, dictated otherwise.)

Charcuterie... it's a style of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, and since it deals exclusively with meat and meat products, it is a vegetarian's nightmare. With respect to one particular charcuterie in Toronto, it may also be a conservative diner's nightmare as well. Allow me to explain: The Black Hoof also serves dishes that involve parts of animals that may not be considered as traditional fare, so don't expect ribs, chops or tenderloins at this place. I'll divulge on the details shortly along with the requisite pictures.

The Black Hoof, located in the centre of Toronto's Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood, was ranked #2 in En Route's 2009 list of Canada's 10 Best New Restaurants (refer to my previous entry), and having missed the opportunity to try Nota Bene last year, my sister and I made it a mission to try this place. Fortunately, two of our cousins agreed to join us, which was perfectly fine with me; the more the merrier... and the more dishes we could sample and share. Yes, when it comes to food, I admit that I at times may have ulterior motives to satisfy my indulgences.






















No reservations are accepted here, and neither are credit cards, so armed with a trip to the bank we got there at the tail end of rush hour while there were still a few empty tables to take. When I entered The Black Hoof I thought of it as a scene of paradoxes; the decor seemed to say class, yet the metal and wood chairs reminded me of high school; the dishes were presented well, yet the restaurant only had a household Kenmore oven range for cooking them. Fortunately, the service was good and, more importantly, the food was delicious.









While my cousins and I waited for my sister who had to stay at work a bit late, we started indulging ourselves with our first order of the evening, the large charcuterie. Except for the chorizo (the dark slices at the bottom left of the wooden platter), all the meats and meat products shown were made by the restaurant itself. From what I can recall after two weeks, there was everything from pancetta and capicola to liverwurst and dill-infused lardo to smoked foie gras and foie gras mousse. Flavours got more intense as one moved from the right side of this picture to the left, and all of them were delightful. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we didn't leave any for my sister; she's guilt-tripped me royally about this, but that's another story.









When she did at last join us we ordered our own dishes; my first (yes, first) was Tongue on Brioche. Ah, the picture fooled you, huh? It certainly wasn't what I expected to see or even taste. The texture, both visually and physically, was very reminiscent to Montreal smoked meat, though it was comparatively leaner than actual Montreal smoked meat. The subtly sweet brioche helped bring out the flavours of the sliced tongue. My sister and I both agreed that, of all the dishes we tried that night, that was our favourite. (Yes, this wowed me more than their charcuterie plate, perhaps, in hindsight, likely to its ingenuity and presentation.)









Our second-favourite pick was my sister's first order, the Raw Horse Sammy. Consumption of horse meat may be illegal in certain jurisdictions, but not in Ontario apparently, and the chef's audacity to present the meat raw is testament as to how fresh it is. My sister opined that the texture was reminiscent to raw tuna. Notwithstanding the egg yolk and the spicy mayo, this may have arguably been the leanest dish sampled by us that evening.









Both of my cousins opted to order one dish each; one of them ordered Sweetbreads and Polenta. I only managed to sample some of the sweetbreads, which were fried to a nice texture, but though they definitely didn't feel nor taste greasy, the fried sweetbreads combined with polenta made it a heavy dish. (For those of you not familiar with them, sweetbreads are typically veal or beef thymus glands.)









My other cousin ordered Nduja Fetuccini, with the sauce made from that unique Calabrian sausage. The sauce was sufficiently rich in flavour that not as much was needed to coat the pasta as other sauces typically might.









After that, my sister and I felt ready for Round 2, so we ordered a couple more dishes to try. The next I ordered was Foie Gras PB & J. Pan-seared and resting on a brioche slice, the foie gras was heaven in my mouth; I'm sure I had a Chairman Kaga grin on my face during one of those bites. The "PB" refers to the peanut sauce on one side of the foie gras; the sauce's flavour and texture seemed closer to a southeast Asian version of peanut sauce instead of peanut butter as we know it. The "J" portion refers to the thick dark coulis, which on its own was a bit stronger in flavour than the peanut sauce but married well with the foie gras; somebody even took the time to peel and quarter a grape to place within the coulis on my dish. My sister called this dish a "heart attack on a plate", and I must admit that I must concede to that point. At least I've been a good boy and, until that night, had not hat any foie gras since the previous November.









My sister's second order was Tripe and Trotter Stew. It reminded my sister a little bit of French onion soup, and it was hearty, flavourful and belly-warming. The chickpeas added some contrasting texture to the generally soft and smooth textures of the tripe and trotter meat.









Finally, I was the only one who could only handle one more dish, and only then a small one at that; nonetheless we almost sampled the entire menu, and I had no regrets. To finish things off, I ordered the Roast Bone Marrow. The last time I had a dish where marrow was featured was at several Chinese restaurants when I was a kid as a stir-fry with some seafood and vegetables. Alas, that dish quickly disappeared from every menu I've seen to date since the BSE scare in Canada, and I was quite disappointed. Marrow is mild and sweet, and in the stir-fry dishes it was firm enough to stay as one piece when held with chopsticks, yet gave way easily like jelly or tofu when bitten. You could therefore imagine my anticipation to try this simple dish, and I was not disappointed. The bone was cut across and roasted on its own, the marrow had to be scooped out with a small spoon and some sea salt was needed to bring out the flavour. Spread on the supplied crostini the marrow was buttery and melted in the mouth.

The Black Hoof does a wonderful job showcasing meat and meat products, reminding us that some of the best treats offered by an animal is not necessarily in a rib eye steak or a rack of lamb. That said, in a sense I'm thankful I live well outside Toronto, as I'd be constantly tempted to try the restaurant again when I know I have to keep an eye on my own health; hey, the chef never said he'd only serve lean cuts at this place.

Name: The Black Hoof
Address: 928 Dundas St. W., Toronto, ON
Cuisine: Charcuterie
Price Range: Dinner ~$50
Accessible: No

A Mercurial Ending to a Good Day

My Tuesday in Toronto was a good one, starting off with lunch with a university buddy at diner called Fran's Restaurant, going to a live taping of CBC's The Hour with my sister, and ending the night with a dinner with her at Bar Mercurio, an Italian restaurant previously discovered by my sister, as explained in her review in her food blog (you'll notice we both have the same pictures, as my camera was used). Located on Bloor Street West just west of the St. George subway station it's in the midst of the University of Toronto (according to my sister, it's actually in UofT's English building) and in close proximity to the ROM and Queen's Park. I'll admit we really wanted to try Nota Bene first that evening, but we couldn't get a table for the time we wanted there; considering En Route ranked it the best new restaurant in Canada this year, I'm looking forward to my next return to Toronto to try this joint.

Two things I noticed right away when I entered Bar Mercurio were the following: first, it was a small, packed house, and second, there was an open kitchen further up the bar counter, allowing the aromas of the dishes being prepared to permeate and mingle in the air with the babble of various conversations amongst diners. One thing I began to feel a bit disappointed about after we sat at our table was the wait for service at times. Perhaps since we were in a small corner of the restaurant away from where most of the tables are we weren't attended as quick as I expected, especially when it came to the serving of our dishes. That gave us some more time though at least to enjoy the bread basket offered to us. The focaccia was chewier than what I expected (and especially chewier than my sister's version), but the tuscan bean dip was a nice touch, a departure from butter or even the more stereotyipcally Italian oilve oil/balsamic vinegar dip. As I chewed I also noticed how this place covers the linen tablecloths with large sheets of paper; if the paper can actually keep the tablecloths clean, I don't know which has the more detrimental environmental effect, the constant use and replace of the paper or the daily washing of tablecloths.








For starters I had the salad of the day, a baby spinach salad with seared chicken breast, red grape tomatoes, mushrooms and a warm gorgonzola dressing. Historically I have not been a fan of blue cheese, but I actually enjoyed and appreciated how the flavouring was not too strong for me. The raw grape tomatoes added a sweet dimension to the salad countering the saltiness of the dressing, but the chicken breast itself could have perhaps been cut into smaller, more bite-size pieces.








For my main course, at the suggestion of my server I had the pappardelle with duck ragu. Bonita suggested I try one of the pizzas at this place, but since they were apparently big pizzas (large enough to be easily shared between two people), that would have meant leftovers for sure, a bit of a problem if I'm leaving in a few days; she would not like me to leave stuff in her fridge, I'm sure! To be honest with you, this was the first time I've had pappardelle as well as a ragu on pasta. I had an amusing time trying to "twirl" the pasta around my fork (easier said than done compared to fettucine and spaghetti), and I noticed that ragus are heartier and have considerably less liquid than pasta sauces. The duck ragu was nicely flavoured, the meat all shredded up to better coat the pasta, and the sprinkle of grape tomatoes were actually cooked, allowing bursts of tangier sweetness to come forth between bites of pasta.

Aside from the unexpectedly slow service (my sister assured me that it wasn't like that the last time she was here), I enjoyed this place. Being small means tighter spaces (not to mention reservations being highly recommended), but it also means a warmer and more intimate atmosphere. Food can be seen prepared right before your eyes, and the wait staff were friendly and helpful. I can see why my sister was eager for me to try this place as well.


Name: Bar Mercurio
Address: 270 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON
Cuisine: Italian
Price Range: Dinner Entrées $15-$26
Accessible: Yes