Where to eat in Downtown Hunstville: That Little Place by the Lights and Nutty Chocolatier

Before checking in at Deerhurst to celebrate Hubby’s birthday, we decided to grab some lunch. And what better place to try in downtown Huntsville than That Little Place by the Lights (yes, that’s the actual name of the resto), featured in You Gotta Eat Here. And indeed, you gotta try that yummy lasagna! But I am getting ahead of myself here…let me start from the beginning.

So finding parking downtown was not so bad. There were several green P parking areas which were free, though some lots were packed with snow. We walked to TLPBTL (whew, even the acronym is a mouthful!) which also had an entrance from the back. Once we were inside, we got the feeling of being in a cozy kitchen. Various paintings of Venice were also displayed along with works of local artists--lest you forget this is an Italian place in Muskoka!

DD#2 had a craving for pizza. So, we ordered half and half of pepperoni and Mamma Anna’s (their version of meatlovers with salami, bacon, ham and Italian sausage). The crust was thin and the sauce was delicious! The 12” is good for two, at least in our family. However, Hubby, the pizza lover, claimed that their pizza did not surpass the one we had at Port Hope.

I shared not only DD#2’s pizza but also an order of lasagna with DD#1. And boy, were we really happy with our order! The meat sauce was just the right amount of tang and sweet and was generously packed in between lasagna sheets. Chef Annie did an awesome job! This delicious comfort food went well with the focaccia on the side, which DD#1 wanted to order more of!

Hubby had the pasta special of the day—linguini with asparagus, which had a wonderful Alfredo sauce. Grandma had tuna melt sandwich which was also hearty.

Sadly, they didn’t have their homemade gelato available (not until Easter, they said) and I realized belatedly that I should have tried their Tiramisu! But then that just leaves me a good reason to come back! Yay!

The staff was very friendly and service was fast. Portions were also good, costing about $10 per person. So, I agree with John Catucci, you do have to try this place.

After lunch, we walked around downtown and checked out the quaint little shops. We also bought some goodies at the Nutty Chocolatier. They sold Muskoka Roastery Coffee which i had to try, and of course, I got some chocolate. The girls, however, were pretty content with their gummy kebabs. These were not necessarily what I would get for myself in a chocolate shop, but if they’re happy, then we’re good. 30-45 minutes was sufficient for us to browse the area. After that, we were ready to head for our winter get away.

Viva Santo Niño! A yearly festival to honor the child Jesus

Santo Niño de Cebu. The statue of the child Jesus, wearing kingly garb complete with crown, scepter and a globe, is venerated by many Filipino Catholics. It is said to be one of the oldest religious images in the Philippines. Liturgically, the feast is celebrated on the third Sunday of January. The feast originated in Cebu City which is considered the “second city” of the Philippines and the second most populous Metropolitan area after Metro Manila. It was the first Spanish settlement and the oldest city in the Philippines. One of the more popular fiestas in the Philippines takes place in Cebu City-- the Sinulog which, if you haven’t guessed yet, celebrates the feast of the Santo Niño.  

Every year various groups sponsor Santo Niño feasts around the world. In Toronto, the Estrella Family hosts one of these celebrations. Mass is usually held at the St. Ambrose Church in Etobicoke on the last Saturday of January. Devotees are invited to bring their statues of the Santo Niño to be blessed. After Mass, lunch and fellowship follows in the Church Hall. They have been doing this for the past 30 years!

The Estrella Family, Richmond-Stanley Prayer Group, and devotees of Sto. Niño de Cebu prepare the food enjoyed by everyone, even non-Filipinos. And what Filipino gathering will be complete without music and dancing? After the meal, people are invited to take their Santo Nino statues and dance. Year after year, it has been a wonderful thanksgiving and festive celebration. Prayer, delicious food, and fellowship—ingredients which surely make this feast a success. Viva Santo Niño!

Another KFC at Home of the Hot Taste

Living in a neighborhood with a lot of Korean restaurants, we were glad to discover that there was another KFC to love—Korean Fried Chicken! I had read some good reviews about Home of Hot Taste, so we decided to check out how different this KFC was.

As it was the Home of Hot Taste, we had to try their Blazing Fire chicken, which also seemed to be the house specialty. For the girls, we ordered Original Crispy Chicken, since we did not think they could handle the 2-chili hot rating of the Blazing fire. We also ordered some Oyster Kimchi rice to round out our order.

We were served some salad and pickled turnips which were perfect to tone down the heat. I personally wouldn’t really call it Ban Chan as it didn’t seem quite complete, but anyway…

Our Blazing Fire chicken arrived on a hot plate—a good serving for about 2-3 people ($15.99 each order). Sweet and very spicy sauce generously covered boneless dark and white meat. Some roasted seaweed topped the dish. It was quite good—the meat was tender and juicy. The sauce had us asking for another pitcher of water!



The Oyster Kimchi rice was also good. The rice was well-cooked, neither soggy nor hard to the bite. I could hardly see any oysters, though. Also, the sauce of the Blazing Fire chicken drowned out any heat the kimchi rice might have had. (I would suggest white rice for the Blazing Fire chicken). I don’t think I would do the kimchi rice justice by describing it now.

What hubby and I did enjoy more was what we ordered for the kids—the Original Crispy chicken. Well, we came looking for KFC right? We got a half chicken. It was a bit on the pricey side at $8.99, especially when the pieces were not very big. However, the crispy skin won me over, so I will overlook that for now. The chicken is fried twice which makes it extra crispy, each bite having a crunch! The meat is tender and flavourful. We have realized that this fried chicken is definitely something we will be craving for—in the very near future! And while there is some salt-herb mix you can dip your chicken into, a good gravy would definitely work well! As we ate, the server was also busy making boxes in one of the tables—take out!!! Ahhhh…this gets better and better!

After our lunch, I decided to pop into one of the Korean grocery stores to look for that candy I tried at Piggy’s. And I found it! Sweet success! It is called—Nurungji, a toasted rice flavoured candy. Yum! I opened the pack the moment we got back into the car.  

A Fancy dinner for a milestone: Grandma’s 65th dinner at Fancy Chinese Cuisine

My mom loves seafood so I tried to look for a good seafood place that we haven’t gone to before to celebrate her birthday. Of course, Chinese restaurants with tanks of live fish and crustaceans would fit the bill. We decided to try Fancy Chinese Cuisine restaurant over at Markham. Apart from Chinatown, Markham would be the place to go to for Chinese! And Chinese restaurants are also known for having creative names. Hahaha. Well, we were celebrating a milestone so we wanted something fancy for dinner. This place would not have us guessing. Apparently, the Chinese name of the restaurant is translated into the name of a Chinese millionaire. Ooh. Fancy :)

We arrived for early dinner as we heard the place gets packed and it is quite difficult to get parking. By the time we left, about 8pm, we realized we made a good call in going early! The place was already packed for a weeknight. And, with snow taking over half of the parking lot, there was even less slots. The interiors were indeed fancier than most and the servers had some very cool LED name tags. We were seated quickly and the host spoke good enough English to get our orders and requests correct.

Anyway, we ordered HoFun noodles (for long life), Yeung Chow fried rice (my mom’s favorite staple), and of course, sea food! The complimentary bone soup hit the spot on yet another cold winter night.

The rest of our orders came soon after. The Fried HoFun noodles with beef and Yeung Chow fried rice came first. These were both pretty good. The noodles were not too oily for me as that is what I was expecting from this. Hubby found it on the oily side. The rice had a good amount of shrimp and Chinese sausage. It was quite flavourful.

We got some sautéed scallops, a fave of hubby and DD#1. The scallops were plump and perfectly cooked. The snow peas were sweet and crunchy.

We also got Crispy Tofu/Beancurd and Shrimp with Chili. They were both so yummy! These were served atop rice krispies with garlic and chili. I actually added some of these rice krispies to the fried rice and it was absolutely delicious! The shrimp was mom-approved (this is her favourite!) and the crispy tofu is the newest addition to our usual order in Chinese restaurants.

I also got the girls some HarGow (shrimp dumpling), but we could have done without it. Hubby said I ordered too much! But the dumplings were good and were packed with full shrimps!

The highlight of the dinner was the Steamed Bass. Seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce and scallions, it was fresh (swimming just minutes before!), sweet and wonderfully tender-- worth the $30 price tag! Our server proceeded to slice the fish and remove the spine. Then, she put the flesh back for presentation. It didn’t stay long that way, though, as we started digging into it.

Other patrons ordered peking duck, which was served table side. It looked delicious! Definitely something worth trying next time.

Complimentary dessert of sweet beancurd, red bean soup and sesame cookies were available. But we were too stuffed we just asked for the sesame goodies. Another hit for all of us, especially DD#2!



Actually, after the first few dishes came out, we already decided we will be coming back here. Food was good and service was courteous and prompt. Each meal would cost about $10-15 but the portions were decent. To boot, the washrooms were clean! Fancy!

The best time to bring the kids to the ballet: at the National Ballet of Canada’s Nutcracker

So, when is the best time to bring the kids to the ballet? Are they too young still? Will they appreciate it? Will they get bored? Should I wait until they’re a little bit older? When should I take my kids to the ballet? Well, my answer to that is Christmas eve! This year, we decided to do something different for Christmas eve, at least for our family. We went to the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts to see the National Ballet of Canada’s Nutcracker. I had waited a few years until DD#2 was 5 to take them to see a ballet. They’ve seen the Nutcracker ballet on video and even Barbie’s version, but I wanted them to see an actual performance. I figured it was about time.

Garbed in their holiday wear, we took the train downtown to catch the story time at 12:15pm. The kids were seated on the floor of the Richard Bradshaw Ampitheatre to be closer to the two actors (portraying Marie and Misha) who told the story of their version of the Nutcracker. They told it from the viewpoint of the grownup kids remembering the wonderful dream they had many years ago. It was about 30 minutes long with just a little bit of audience participation. It was creatively presented and the kids actually thought that was what we came to see. Boy, were they in for a treat if expectations were low!

We then headed off to the theatre and the show began promptly at 1pm. Act 1 was not as exciting as Act 2 even if it had the battle with the Mouse king. The act was mostly on preparing for the feast and greeting guests. The stage, made to look like a barn, with snowy scenery outside, was beautiful. There were also nice dance numbers for each of the family guests. Of course, the Nutcracker, the uncle’s present to Marie, was first shown in this act. The highlight for us was the dancing bears. The costumes were very realistic. Apart from the bears, the horse bearing the gifts looked like a real horse, if not for the legs! In this act, Marie and Misha fought over the Nutcracker until they were sent off to bed. At midnight, the tree and the Nutcracker grew larger than life and the kids were transported into a different world. The Mouse king battled with the Nutcracker and the kids helped defeat the Mouse king through a great big pillow fight. This scene was actually so short, hubby failed to realize it was the big battle scene. I think he was dozing off  Speaking of boys and the ballet, the kids I saw were mostly girls. There were only less than a handful of boys during story time. Grown men were aplenty, though, which made me think that men are able to appreciate ballet as they grow older. Either that or they appreciate their women enough to take them to see these performances.

Intermission was a walk back to the ampitheatre to get autographs and pictures of a couple of Snowflake ballerinas. Others got some snacks and merchandise at the booths outside.

Act 2 was at the palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy with the Empress Dowager. The costumes were very dazzling and the dancing was just exquisite. It was mainly another sort of feast in the honor of the kids, showcasing different sets of dances from the chocolates, sheep, flowers (no gingerbread houses in this one). The snow plum fairy emerging from the Faberge egg to perform to one of the best known Tchaikovsky music was just awesome. The prima ballerina was the very picture of grace itself. Together with the Nutcracker turned Grand Duke, they seemed to have been dancing on air! They were such a beautiful sight to behold. It was just about the time to end. Each act was about 50 minutes long. Anything longer would have my 5 year old off to a nap.

Overall, watching the Nutcracker was a delightful experience. It was enchanting to see the beautiful dancing and intricate costumes and to hear the music. It will not be for the plot that you will appreciate this performance, though. Now, since we were left wanting more story on top of dancing, music and costumes, I think we will go see the Swan Lake next time. Hubby did not shoot down this next plan so he must have sincerely liked the Nutcracker--maybe as much as the girls and I did.

Hope your holiday was just as special. Here’s to a new year full of new memories!