TO Food Fest 2013!

TO Food Fest is back!

Back for a second year, the TO Food Fest brings together top foodie-reviewed restaurants and local hidden gems into one exciting event.

Last year’s food market featured the best burgers, oysters, shortbread cookies and milk tea in the GTA, and many more! Established and aspiring chefs can be found at the TO Food Fest, giving the local community a taste of unique and delicious cuisine.

Where: Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto (5183 Sheppard Avenue East
Scarborough)
Time: 1pm – 6pm

Select Vendors this year includes:

- Kalofagas
- Little Tomato Catering
- How ’bout Those Meatballs
- Maratho Donuts & Coffee
- Liko’s Hawaiin BBQ
- Babi and Co.
- Gushi
- Mary McLeod’s Shortbread
- Tita Flips
- Casa Manila
- and much more

Check out the event listing on Facebook here or the website for more details.

You can also see my blog on last year’s event.

See you there!

Real Thai food from Real Thailand

What: Pad Si Ew and Lamb Curry
Where: Real Thailand
Cuisine: Thai
Affordability: $10-15

Pointers:

- I have to say, this Thai food was REALLY good. The Pad Si Ew consisted of stir fried rice noodle, egg, Chinese broccoli in soy sauce with chicken. The lamb dish was called Kang Massaman Lamb, which was made with slowly braised lamb in Thai tamarind red curry with tomato, potato, peanuts, onion and coconut milk. Both dishes were quite spicy but tasted really authentic. I kinda don’t ever want to go back to Salad King again (considering these prices are similar).

- One small downside is that curry dishes don’t include rice (you have to order a bowl of rice separately). But a cheap alternative would be to buy takeout and make rice at home because the one bowl of rice was definitely not enough for all of the curry!

- Looking forward to going back soon….or taking advantage of their delivery!

Banh Mi Boys

What: Five Spice Pork Belly
Where: Banh Mi Boys
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Affordability: under $10

Pointers:

- Banh Mi Boys has been a popular choice for locals looking for a good quick grub. They have a small menu which makes it easy to order from…that’s if you know what you’d like.

- This is the first time I had their Banh Mi. It was good, but not great. I don’t know if it was the bread or what, but it made it taste bland. I felt it was missing the five spices. I didn’t become a fan of the Bahn Mi at Banh Mi Boys. I ended up eating just the pork and throwing out the bun.

- I did, however, liked their pulled pork steamed bao. The steamed bao didn’t take away any flavour from the pork. It was a good base.

- The sweet potato fries was really good tho. It was sprinkled with sea salt that added a good balance to the sweetness of the potato. They also provide mayo for dipping. It’s a plus for mr since I didn’t have to ask for it. If you are not dipping your fries in mayo, you’re missing something! Definitely enjoyed the mayo and would have more of that.

- Would I go back to Banh Mi Boys? Sure, but probably stick to the steamed bao selection.

 

Food Truck Thursdays: The Food Dudes & Pretty Sweet

Our coverage of food truck Thursdays at the Sony Centre continues with The Food Dudes and Pretty Sweet. Here’s the lowdown:

What: BBQ Pork Shoulder Sandwich
Where: The Food Dudes
Cuisine: Sandwhich/Food Truck
Affordability: $10

Pointers:

- Good but a little greasy according to my partner in crime today.

What: Captain Crunch Fish Tacos
Where: The Food Dudes
Affordability: $9

Pointers:

- Small. As in two bites and the thing is gone. Even though there’s 2 in the serving, it’s really just a primer. Not a full meal so a little too expensive for what it was.

- Has a bit of kick which was enjoyable. I’m not into spicy stuff but this one wasn’t bad and I didn’t mind it at all.

- Batter is a little on the burnt side and fish was soggy inside. Also, re-fried oil was in use….for a while. It’s like all the other fries and fish that had been fried on it was in my taco.

- Overall for The Food Dudes, extremely slow service. We waited for 45 minutes before we got our food.

- Will pass on this next time.

What: Banana and Red Velvet Cupcake
Where: Pretty Sweet
Cuisine: Dessert/Pastry
Affordability: $2.75 for 1

Pointers:

- Both cupcakes were dry and icing wasn’t really exciting. It tasted something out of a can. Also, I think the red velvet was old. The icing was extremely dry and it was a bit sour. I think my food poisoning must have come from this one. I don’t know if the truck was in the right temp, but the cup cakes were just sitting out in the open. Nothing worth mentioning, positive-wise. It was also too expensive for what it was; flavour or size. I remember buying a cupcake from Cupcake Girls in Vancouver and theirs was not only really good, they were also really big!

- Prettt Sweet is also a pass next time.

Soul Food

What: House Ramen
Where: Ajisen Ramen (North York)
Cuisine: Japanese
Affordability: under $10

Pointers:

- Apparently one of Toronto’s first ramen houses, Ajisen has various locations in Toronto (and I think Vancouver).

- They literally have a “book” of ramen for a menu. I often fear restaurants that have hundreds of selections when it comes to its menu, but I guess it can’t be very difficult to offer different concoction when all you have are ramen noodles and a soup base.

- The ramen noodles is what makes Ajisen different from the others, I think. Now, of course, my reference of ramen are the ones I had whilst in Japan, but Ajisen comes really close. The noodles were just right: not soggy or undercooked. It was actually enjoyable to slurp! It’s just a little salty for my liking, but that could be because my soup had salted egg and BBQ pork. But the slight saltiness didn’t make this soup one bit less enjoyable. It was very filling, but I could sure use another bowl!

- The staff was attentive, fast and friendly. We got our soup right away also which was a plus in our books since we were all hungry.

- Will I go back to Ajisen? You bet. I’d
like to try the one on Spadina. But I hear that one packs up fast with lunch and dinner time regulars. And I don’t blame them! This is Asian soul food and it fits the bill.

Surprisingly Good Breakfast at the Neighbourhood Donut Shop

What: Big Breakfast
Where: Baker’s Dozen Donuts (on Lake Shore Blvd. West/Mimico)
Cuisine: Coffee Shop
Affordability: under $10

Pointers:

- Looks like a dive outside, but totally renovated & updated inside with modern tables & chairs. Total departure from the dive it once was. Don’t let the Russian mafia looking bunch that often hang out at the front turn you off. They’re harmless.

- A good breakfast, greasy spoon style, with 3 eggs, fresh cut potato wedges, buttered toast, bacon (or sausage) and slices of fruits to finish it off. Complete breakfast for under $10 including my coffee. It’s even served on a big plate with proper cutlery & glass serving tray.

- This Baker’s Dozen up’ed the coffee shop type breakfast and it was a welcome change. I’d even go so far to say that it measures up well to even better than most conglomerate breakfast places out there like Cora’s or Denny’s. Will I go back to Baker’s Dozen? Hell yes! Thumbs up Baker’s Dozen!

Looks Can Be Very Deceiving

What: Beef Shawarma Wrap
Where: Pumpernickle’s (Queens Quay)
Cuisine: Sandwich/Deli
Affordability: under $10

Pointers:

- The wrap we got had absolutely no taste. It wasn’t salty, spicy, or herb-y (if that’s a word). We prayed for at least salty. It would have at least given it a flavour. It gave a new meaning to the word “bland”. I had to add salt and pepper to mine and my cohorts had to add hot sauce to taste something. What’s odd is that mine was the beef Shawarma. Beef explodes with flavour. This one had none. The beef was also layered with mounds…I’m talking mounds of lettuce. When I took out the extra lettuce to see what made up this thick wrap, I found no meat! (See below) it was one hollowed out wrap. I think I found one slice of tomato. The rest was lettuce and it wasn’t even separated. It was like someone chopped the lettuce head into portions and crammed if into the wrap to make it look full. Lettuce must really be cheap in the market today coz when I removed it from my wrap, I literally had two fistful of lettuce.

- This wrap was a total waste of my $8. I will probably never go back to Pumpernickle’s unless it is the last deli in the area. Then again, I’d risk eating the cafeteria food in my office building even if that risks developing kidney stones. Food there are at the very least salty. It also took an hour to get our order and it was disappointingly tasteless.