If you build it, they will come—Barrio Fiesta and how a seemingly lack of marketing effort makes me still try a restaurant out

Passing by Steeles Ave one time, I saw that the awning of Barrio Fiesta was put up. Really?  THE Barrio Fiesta?  Here?  Really? Hmmnn… same font and logo, it does say “Original,” so maybe it is the one! I haven’t heard folks talk about this much in forums or even in Facebook so I assumed their strategy was—we will build it and they will come. And those who come will spread the word. Well, we did come and here I am spreading the word! So I guess it works, somehow. When we passed by the area again, and I saw the sign “Now Open,” Hubby had to detour so that we can go check it out!

Hubby was quite unsure. This might be a soft opening, the line ups must be long, service will be slow! But I had to be the optimist that day so I said, no, not a lot of people know about it yet and slow service can be tolerated as we were not too hungry.

There was no line up when we got there but we did have to wait a bit for a couple of tables to be cleared before we were seated. The menu was the usual Barrio Fiesta fare minus anything with pork. Apparently, the Franchise owners cannot have pork in the menu for religious reasons. So much for Crispy pata! Oh well.

Service was not bad at all! It wasn’t lightning fast but the food came promptly. Not at all like the 1 hour wait times right across at Max’s these days!  Overall, the food was good, but the servings were small (not for the usual portions for Filipino-style family sharing). Most of what we ordered was good for only two; thus, making it a bit on the pricey side (each dish costs about $13-18). We started with Bouillabaisse soup, my mom’s fave and authentic to the Barrio Fiesta specialty that I remember. Hubby has never tried their version, much less DD#1 and they both loved it! But at $13.99 for a small pot, it was like fine dining. The creamy soup was good and there was a decent amount of shrimp. However, the mussels were not plump nor were they appetizing.

The crispy adobo (a specialty Filipino chicken dish) flakes were indeed crispy but lacked flavor. It does not taste of adobo at all. I would not recommend anyone to order this. But if you still end up ordering this dish, let me know if it is good. Am hoping they'll improve on this because Hubby and I love adobo flakes!

The palabok (rice noodles with sauce) was really good, though, and packed with seafood. The sauce was rich and it had tinapa (salty fish) flakes.

The crispy tadyang ng baka (beef ribs) was also good, especially with vinegar and soy sauce.



We no longer went for dessert but they had pandan and halo halo, among others. We would come back to try the other dishes, but I can see that eating there can be a treat. It is no Toonie Tuesday or Value meal. But we are just too happy that these dishes are becoming more and more accessible. And there is so much more to try! Happy Fiesta!

Panawagan: How we can help rebuild the Philippines from Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)

 


Super Typhoon Haiyan headed for the Philippines, Handout photo by NOAA/AFP/Getty images

 Last Friday, November 8, the strongest storm to ever make landfall caused widespread damage in the Philippines, particularly in the area of Samar and Leyte in the Visayas. Thousands have died, thousands are missing and thousands of typhoon survivors are now desperate for help. Haiyan (local name, Yolanda) has left so much devastation, wiping out houses, schools, and hospitals along its path. It has been a week since the storm hit and the roads continue to be blocked with debris and casualties. Communication and electricity are still down. As the Philippines is an archipelago, relief goods cannot get to the survivors fast enough. Most have no home to return to and have gone days without food or water. Some of those affected were those already left homeless from an earthquake barely a month ago.
 




Tacloban City after the storm, photo by Dennis Sabangan, epa

  

The best way to help is to donate to experienced humanitarian organizations. My aim here is to inform as many people as possible on the major organizations deploying relief efforts.  This is the fastest and most efficient way we can get help to the typhoon victims.

Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.ca/donate/donate-online/donate-to-the-typhoon-haiyan-fund

Unicef:

http://www.unicef.org/index.php

Save the Children: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

World Vision:

http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?funnel=dn&item=2639566&go=item&section=10339&

Habitat for Humanity:

 http://www.give2habitat.org/philippines/ReBuildPhilippines

#ReBuildPH

Global Medic:

http://www.globalmedic.ca/

The Canadian government will match every dollar donated by individual Canadians to registered Canadian charities.

For a full list of registered Canadian charities, click here

I hope the people find it in their hearts to give a little something to help. The Philippines may be at the other side of the world but the need is real and immediate.

Brazilian and Australian: rodizio and wine at Touro

While hubby and I were looking for a place to have a nice steak one date night, we chanced upon Touro in Richmond Hill. We haven’t had rodizio for a while now, so we figured we should give this Brazilian steakhouse a try. And, I also saw Rio with the kids on TV a few days ago, so I guess all signs pointed to Brazil!

We were having early dinner so we were seated fairly quickly despite not having reservations. It was the same concept as Rodeo where you would flip your card into the green side if you wanted your servers to keep serving you meat via table side service. Red was for pause or stop.

The appetizers of puffed parmesan, fried banana fritters and yam were quite good. They definitely whet our appetite.

But when we headed to the buffet area for the appetizers, I would have to say that I was quite unimpressed. Rodeo wins hands down for this. Rodeo had super tasty shrimp and mussels (which we ate too much of!) and the variety of salads was wider. In Touro, there were quite a lot of fillers-- mashed potatoes, potato salad, breads. There were also blah cold cuts, cold seafood salad (not so tasty), and broccoli soup. But we did not come here for the appetizers, we came for meat, so I was willing to overlook that part—a little.

That night, they served 12 cuts of meat. Among those we had were: Picanha,Top Sirloin, Prime Rib, Chicken breast Wrapped in Bacon, Lamb Leg, and parmesan-covered Meat Ball. We skipped on the sausages, pork loin and chicken wings (yes, hard to believe, but I did skip this! I had to ensure I had enough space for the other cuts, you know!). The meat was well-cooked (medium rare to medium) and nicely seasoned. The chimichurri sauce, however, was not that great. I have a better bottled chimichurri at home! Hubby and I especially loved the Picanha (a cut of beef popular in Brazil, known here as rump cap). After the first round, this was the only cut we were requesting for! Don’t ask me how many times we asked the server to bring this back. By the third or fourth time, the other servers carrying other meats were already skipping us.

Then, they started serving the roasted pineapple. This was really divine. Why do I keep forgetting to attempt this at home! The pineapple perfectly complemented the meats and was good to have in between as well, not just dessert. I think this made it easier for us to eat more since it provided a nice break from meat.

We were happy to find out that on that particular night, they had Wine Night! So, after dinner, we headed over to the lounge for some wine tasting. What a perfect way to make the evening more memorable for us! They featured Australian wine and had an expert come over to us to explain the different wines. They had tasting notes and food pairings as well! We started off with the Moscato paired with roasted pineapple. This turned out to be our favourite as we were coming from dinner and it was a wonderful cap. We then moved on to some Pinot Noir paired with chicken sausage. The third and last wine we tasted was the Shiraz paired with lamb. We learned quite a few things and made a mental note to get some Moscato for the house.

We had service which was ok and the appetizer buffet, as I mentioned, was forgettable. Overall, the wine was lovely, interiors were beautiful, and the meat and pineapple were delicious. We set out to have a nice dinner but it was this Wine Night which made the dinner special.

Am still having Korean…at a Chinese mall this time: Axia Resto-Bar-Café

We headed over to Pacific Mall, all set to have some dimsum, one Sunday. When we got there, though, Golden Regency was closed!!! We didn’t feel like getting lunch at the food court, nor did we want to put our coats back on and cross over to the other complex. So, we decided to give Axia Resto-Bar-Café (Korean-Japanese resto) a try. 

There were a few Bento boxes available and I debated for a bit whether to get grilled squid or Beef Bulgogi. To make it simple, I ordered both! J Hubby got some seafood soup and we ordered fried Beef Ramen for the girls. Grandma had some of her favourite-- Shrimp Tempura.

Our ban chan (Korean appetizers) of kimchi, beansprout, and even sweet potato noodles was served along with the miso soup included with our meals.

Soon after, my very yummy grilled squid arrived! It was well cooked, not gummy or rubbery. Hints of char mingled with barbecue sauce wrapped the squid. Yum! I can definitely see myself craving this again. It could also very well be a meal in itself along with some rice. Then, my Bento box came with the same type of appetizers.

The Beef Bulgogi was well marinated and cooked medium. It was delicious! As I was eating two dishes along with appetizers, I had to bring home more than half of my Beef Bulgogi. It was one left-over I was excited to eat. 

Hubby liked his seafood soup, which had a decent serving of shrimps, mussels, and kani (artificial crab).

The girls found the Ramen a bit on the spicy side and opted to swap with Grandma’s Tempura which was also nicely cooked—not oily at all! 

Prices came out to be about $10-15 per person (they have Bento box lunch specials during weekdays for about $7). It was a good discovery and something we will definitely go back to when we are in Pacific Mall-- especially if the dimsum place is still closed (or if I want even MORE Korean!).