A Korean restaurant named Piggy’s

Banchan

Piggy’s is a Korean restaurant? We wondered as we searched the Thornhill complex for some new place to eat. We were hesitant at first as the place wasn’t too full (we were pretty early). By the end of our dinner, though, it was packed. And it had good reason to be!

First, the Banchan (appetizers/side dishes) had a few additions to what we usually get. They had sweet roasted seaweed with sesame seeds, which we all enjoyed. They also had some sort of apple/pasta salad which was a bit unusual for us, but the girls liked it. They also included Korean pancakes, yum!

We figured it was time to try Korean dishes we had not ordered before. So, we got some Mul Naeung Meyon which is sweet potato vermicelli in an icy cold broth. This would be the Korean version of gazpacho. There were some spicy versions but we ordered the mild one. It was quite a refreshing dish. The soup had crushed ice and tasted of cucumbers. DD#1 really enjoyed this! It was a good palate cleanser to the other new dish we ordered, Bbeo Jjim—a hot and sweet pork bone stew. It was very spicy and had us sniffling after a few spoonfuls. The dish was hearty and very flavorful. It had a lot of rice cake and potatoes which were very effective fillers.

Pork Stew

Mul Naeung Meyon and Dumplings

The girls and grandma shared some meat and vegetable dumplings and our usual Bul go gi (marinated beef). The dumplings were tasty but a bit on the dry side. I particularly liked the sweet-sour chili soy sauce which went with it, though.  The Bul go gi beef was tender and the marinade was delicious. It also came with hot pot rice.



Bulgogi

The servings were big. We overestimated our appetites so we got “to-go” boxes at the end of our meal. I was quite impressed with the thought taken to use heat-sealed containers for the soup! Awesome! Other restaurants would just let you figure out how to get the leftovers home without spilling half of it.

With rice cake and potatoes expanding in our tummies and our leftover boxes in tow, we headed home slightly smelling of bbq and hotpot. Quite an interesting discovery! And the candies they gave out were really good! Now, if I can only understand what type they were and how to find them in the Korean grocery store…

Happy Hour--a seafood feast at The Fish House/Shuckers Seafood Bar

I searched for a seafood place (that is not Chinese) at the North end of Toronto. I discovered The Fish House over at Markham.  When I found out that the place had a Happy Hour for appetizers, it was enough to convince me to check it out! The place was divided into the main dining room of The Fish House and Shuckers seafood bar.

It had a good number of patrons, not quite what I expected for a week night. The atmosphere seemed more lively at Shuckers (and this is where they have the Happy Hour as well!) so we decided to go into this side of the restaurant. They shared the same menu, but at Shuckers there were TV screens and a lot more drinking going on.

We started off with some crab cakes while the girls had crispy fried calamari. The crab cakes were served with dill sauce. It was okay, but it left a bit of a greasy after taste.

Crab cakes

The calamari was served with a ginger cilantro sauce, which was a nice change from the usual tartar sauce. The girls, ever the calamari-lovers, enjoyed their dish while coloring their activity sheets.

Crispy Calamari

Hubby had Butter-Poached Lobster & Cod. A good-sized cod was pan-seared and topped with butter-poached lobster meat. Gnocchi and sautéed rapini complemented the rich, buttery dish—which was served like a very chunky soup. It wasn’t something hubby quite expected, but he enjoyed his meal.

Butter-poached Lobster and Cod

I had the Seafood Grill with crab-stuffed salmon and Mediterranean salsa, grilled jumbo shrimp & grilled calamari with chimichurri sauce. On the side were mashed sweet potato and steamed asparagus. It was a nice, light dish. I liked the grilled calamari—a dish we don’t often find in other restaurants. The mashed sweet potato was so filling that I had to share a good portion with DD#2, convincing her that “it’s healthy, honey!”

 Seafood Grill

Grandma, the birthday girl, had the Crusted Fresh Fish Platter. It consisted of Macadamia-crusted tilapia, crab-crusted rainbow trout, chili-coconut-crusted cod with white rice, steamed asparagus. Chimichurri was drizzled on top. Again, the dish was nice. I tried a bit of this as well. The fish was tender and not chewy, and the flavours were light and not overwhelming.

Crusted Fresh Fish Platter

Prices for each meal are around $20. Not very cheap, but then again, we expected seafood to be on the pricey side. We were told that the fish they serve is flown in from around the world and the dishes we had were fresh (or should we say, fresh-frozen?). But I’ve had better and fresher seafood.

I’m not raring to return anytime soon to The Fish House/Shuckers Seafood Bar. But you wouldn’t have to drag me to go back, either--especially for Happy Hour!

All Day Breakfast at Pickle Barrel

Now, Pickle Barrel, for us, provides more variety than just a breakfast/brunch place. While they offer “All Day Breakfast,” there are other items on the menu that cater to different tastes and cravings of most everyone.

January is a month that marks a number of special occasions in our family.  Even if we’re still food-fatigued from all the holiday eating, we make it a point to celebrate these occasions--and curb some winter blues along the way!  For one of our special days in January, we headed off to Pickle Barrel for Brunch/Lunch (we already ate something light for breakfast).

Hubby had a decent portion of New York Striploin Steak & Eggs with challah bread (a special Jewish bread) and potato latkes (Jewish potato pancakes--hey, let’s have it Jewish all the way!). The steak was nicely done, although nothing to call home about.  It was a nice, filling meal for hubby.

Steak n Eggs



I, on the other hand, was craving some nachos. So, I had the P.B. Famous Nachos with meat sauce. It was topped with shredded mozzarella, cheddar, jalapeño peppers, olives, tomatoes and onions. I got sour cream, salsa and guacamole on the side. Yum! The colorful tortilla chips made the dish more fun. I thought I was hungry enough to finish the entire order as it was only an appetizer. But, it was too much for me. Good thing I got some folks to help!



P.B. Famous Nachos

 The girls shared an order of Lobster & Jumbo Shrimp Angel Hair Pasta. A few pieces of lobster were tossed with black tiger shrimp and vegetables in a creamy Alfredo sauce. The dish also came with your choice of salad or soup. The serving was big enough for both of them, with leftovers to boot. It was filling and wonderfully tasty.



Lobster and Shrimp Angel Hair Pasta

For the portions and variety (the menu would take some time to go over), I would say that the meals are a good value. I will not hesitate to recommend, if this is the sort of cuisine you set out to have.

The wonderful world of blocks at Legoland Discovery Center

Since the closing of Nascar at Vaughan Mills, signs of Legoland Discovery Center have come up and the girls have been eagerly awaiting its opening for months. So, two days after Legoland opened, we took them to check it out—a prize for good behavior.

While we knew there was a café inside and that food would be available, we figured the prices were going to be outrageous. So, we decided to have lunch first at the food court before heading in. Despite having bought tickets online and believing that we would be able to go right in, it took about 20 minutes to queue. For single admissions, the processing of entry was pretty fast. However, families getting annual memberships were in the same line and it took a while for each group to fill up forms and have pictures taken.  The girls kept themselves entertained by playing with the bricks that were put up on the walls.

Upon entry, your family can get a picture taken with a green screen behind (superimposed later on at the photo booth on Lego landscapes. Different print packages are offered--from single photos to key chains). Then, you go through Lego Factory where the process of making Lego bricks is explained. You can even check your weight and height in Lego bricks!

The Kingdom Quest ride is next. A "charriot" seating up to five people and equipped with laser guns, goes around the “kingdom” and your team is supposed to zap trolls, skeletons, spiders and such, in order to rescue the princess. Each seat would show a score and we all had a great time. Photography is not allowed inside but an action shot is taken and can be purchased as well at the photo area-- you know the drill if you've been to Disneyland or other amusement parks.

After you’ve checked out your pictures and gotten your souvenirs (or not), you will pass through MiniLand where a miniature Toronto is displayed, including the CN tower, Air Canada Centre, Toronto City Hall, Nathan Philips Square, and even the Harbourfront!

Other Ontario landmarks were on display, too.  A miniature Parliament is set up beside the Niagara Falls (complete with Maid of the Mist and the Aerocar).  

What’s cool is that the display transforms into a night scene complete with the CN tower changing colours. There are several interactive stations where you can push a button to make sounds or make some objects move. There is even a fireworks display.

When you’re done checking out this city made of over a million Lego bricks, there is a large area with various activities and you can decide what you want to do next. The girls started off with the Racers: Build and Test where they made race cars (from Lego bricks, of course) and let them run down the speed ramp. We skipped the Duplo area for kids 2-5 and went straight to watch a 4-D movie.

Clutch Powers was a pretty good 3D movie about 10 minutes long. It was hilarious to watch DD#2 reach her hands out to touch the floating objects. The 4^th “D” made it more fun with water spraying (yes, we did get a wee bit wet) and “snow” falling from the ceiling. Both kids and adults in our group enjoyed.

We breezed through the Construction site (with stations of bricks to build anything you want) and skipped the Master Builder Academy (where mini-workshops are held on Lego-building).

The girls went straight to the Fire Academy (a huge jungle gym). We thought the girls would never get tired of this as hubby and I waited for them—there are a few seating areas.  After a long while, the girls realized they had more things to discover, so they gave the gym a break for the moment.

We lined up next for the Merlin’s Apprentice ride which only took 12 passengers (both adults and kids can ride, with some restrictions, of course) per batch. Each ride takes about 2-3 minutes. The ride goes up and down and around while “apprentices” pedal to help Merlin conjure magic. The rides come equipped with spellbooks and sorcerers’ hats. Our family is still debating whether pedaling actually makes your ride go up. Guess we have to come back to validate.

While DD#1 tried to get a turn at the Earthquake Tables (where you can build bricks as tall as you like and press the shake button to see if your structure survives an earthquake), DD#2 happily made some Lego cupcakes over at the Lego Friends area. There is even a sing-along section where you can make guitars and pianos and sing to the song on the screen. The girls weren’t in a singing mood, though. These two areas flank the Café where you can get kids’ meals: pizza, pop, coffee, sandwiches, etc. A kids’ meal costs $15 for a pizza, a wrap, a juice box and a Lego lunch box. Didn’t get a chance to see how big the portions were or if the lunch box was worth the price.

After another run at the Fire Academy, we were ready to go home—or actually check out the Discovery Center shop. Lego sets in all shapes and sizes are available. Other items such as key chains and clocks can also be purchased. One can even design Lego people and buy them. As well, if you are missing a brick or two, you can get them here by hundred-gram increments (yes, they’re weighed for consistency).

The Discovery Center is certainly a Lego fan’s dreamland. This was also something that my girls, who are not such fanatics, were able to appreciate and thoroughly enjoy.

Toronto on Dwellable

Start your engines: The 40th Toronto Auto Show

It was ages ago since I last went to a car show. And it was nowhere near as fantastic as the Toronto Auto Show! We started off at the North building where the Japanese cars and SUV’s/trucks were showcased. The girls had a blast climbing in and out of the SUV’s, pretending to be picky buyers. There were also a couple of race cars on display—pretty cool. Hubby joined a game (one of the many gimmicks in the exhibit) for a chance to win gas cards. He went into a glass box with paper flying all around. And if he managed to catch the winning cards and put them in the small box within 15 seconds, then they were his.  In the short time we hung around, nobody won. Oh well. There were also some amazing hi-tech displays there, which left the girls in awe. There was the Nissan hologram booth where they get to select cars and their colours by moving their hands—like Kinect. There was also another activity at the Hyundai booth where the girls were able to manipulate images by touching a screen of smoke. You could select either the car or the engine, make the image bigger/smaller, and even rotate it.  You could also do the usual stuff with the car’s body like change the colour, add accessories, etc.

And before we knew it, it was time to eat. The food court at the North building offered some very lean pickings: pizza, sushi and hotdogs. We forked over $25 for a couple of hotdogs, a slice of pizza and a veal sandwich—no drinks! We were eating for sustenance, and that was it.  After all, we had another building to cover and many more cars to see. The Metro Toronto Convention Centre was so huge that there were shuttles to get from one building to another!  We opted for escalators and a good hike.

The South building had the European, vintage and accessory sections. We dropped the girls off at the Volkswagen supervised play area, so we could cover more ground.  The cars proved to be so interesting that we knew the girls would absolutely love them.  So, we took them around the exhibit after they were done with their crafts and face painting.  Hubby and I didn’t mind checking out the amazing cars a second time around.  We went back to the BMW concept cars—our family’s hands down favourite.

the BMW i8--can you tell why this is our fave?!

another view BMW i8--love the doors!

We preferred the i8 over the i3.


BMW i3

Girls being girls, we like anything sparkly. Add to that some cuteness, and you have a winner with the disco Smart car!

Disco Smart!

Then, we made our way down to the Toyota concept car—the Fun Vii. We got our family pic taken on a tablet and seconds later, our faces were up on the side of the car! It was so amazing! Think of all the marketing and advertising this car can do! (And while this was not demo’d at the show, we found out later on that the doors of the Fun Vii were also a giant touch screen!)

Toyota Fun Vii with some stock wallpaper

Our last stop (or so we thought) was the hot rod exhibit. Beautifully maintained and restored vintage vehicles garnered a few favourite votes for us.  Hubby especially liked the “Cruella de Ville” car and I was amazed at the intricate design of the dragon mags of another vehicle (pardon my ignorance at the models and makes—by this time, all the R’s, X’s and i’s were blurring in my mind).  It was already becoming pretty difficult to navigate the exhibits. The place was packed and we were getting tired (after all, we had been walking for almost 5 hours!). Lollipop give-aways managed to give the girls a much needed boost, but not for long. After another short stop at the exhibit for modern modified cars, we headed back to the parking garage, with all our loot bags, of course. It was time to enjoy our very own ride—with an engine we could actually start.

Hot Rod