Winner Winner, Chicken & Waffles!

 

Chicken & Waffles @Inspire

Hubby and I enjoy Chicken & Waffles whether it is for brunch, lunch or dinner. A perfect combo of sweet and savoury, Chicken & Waffles will hit the spot for us, every time. As we find ourselves becoming empty-nesters more often, we have been checking out different brunch places. And while Eggs Benny, in various iterations, catches our attention, we almost always gravitate toward Chicken & Waffles. Here are three versions, ending with my favourite so far!

Evviva – nothing really to call home about. They used chicken tenders, which, although easier to eat, lacks the flavour and depth of bone-in chicken. They served this with BBQ sauce, which was nothing special. The waffles were also on the ordinary side. I could have thrown this together myself at home. There are better things to order here.

Chicken & Waffles @Evviva

Inspire – their version had been our favourite for the longest time. The presentation is big and impressive and the flavours are bold! The fried chicken, while boneless, is crispy and juicy. It went perfectly with slices of chili and blueberry sauce. The syrup, waffle and mac sauce balance the dish out. We trek to the heart of Markham just for this dish!

Chicken & Waffles @Inspire

And our latest discovery…and this still makes me hungry as I think about it…

Glass Kitchen—Chef Keith Pears has brought it home with their version of Chicken & Waffles! The double-fried chicken was so crispy, like Korean Fried Chicken. The deboned chicken was marinated with delightful spices, coated with honey butter and garnished with a scallion salad. Then, it was layered on top of black sesame flavoured egg waffles, which are always a delight to eat—even as is. The chili-maple syrup was absolutely delicious and it took some effort not to pour everything over the dish (I was afraid it might get soggy). This is hands-down my new favourite version of Chicken & Waffles.

Chicken & Waffles @Glass Kitchen

I cannot wait to try more brunch places, to see if anything can top our new fave!

Tableside service at Black+Blue

 Hubby took me to dinner at Black+Blue at the Exchange Tower in King St. one snowy evening. It was a rescheduled date, but he did keep the surprise until we walked up to the place, with pictures of bulls. Oooh, we were having steak!

Black+Blue Toronto

The place was vibrant as we entered with the bar and a huge wall of wine greeted us. While the wine wall had a ladder, I wondered how the bartender can possibly get the drinks from the top of the shelf. The drinks must be good, too, for all that effort! To get to our table, we walked past the meat locker with the glass allowing us to see all sorts of premium cuts of meat, which included Kobe, Wagyu and Canada and USDA Prime. Their website indicated that the beef is dry-aged for 28-45 days in a one-of-a-kind Himalayan salt-lined meat locker. I could not wait to see the menu!

Meatlocker @Black+Blue

It was so easy to get lost in the menu. I wanted to try everything! The Raw Bar offerings (which included Seafood towers!) seemed as enticing as the other signature entrees (where I was eyeing the Mushroom Risotto). However, we came for the meat and so I had to focus.

We started with tableside Caesar salad. Hubby and I really enjoy Caesar salad prepared tableside. I guess knowing that my dressing did not come from a bottle, makes it even more delicious. And the dressing was good! It was garlicky and cheesy and got our appetites ready for the main course. However, we noticed they did not have bacon bits. Maybe it wasn’t their style but I do love a good sprinkle of bacon bits in my Caesar salad. They also serve Tableside Steak Tartare and surely that would have been good. But we had to get some greens, right? Now, lest you think it, not all meals were prepared tableside. We were out for something special so we wanted to try their tableside service.

Caesar Salad @Black+Blue

Our main course was Beef Wellington which was a beautifully cooked tenderloin wrapped in mushroom duxelles (finely chopped mushrooms) and pastry. It also came with truffle jus, baby heirloom carrots, pommes purée (which is just a fancier way of calling mashed potatoes).

Tableside Beef Wellington @Black+Blue

The Beef Wellington was also presented tableside. It was carved very nicely and plated beautifully before it was served. The meat was just melt in your mouth and the duxelles was so full of flavor! I detected some wine in there 😊 The pastry was buttery and flaky and the sides were just the right complements. The heirloom carrots were a bit tough, though, but tasty nonetheless.

Tableside Beef Wellington @Black+Blue

pommes purée for our Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington @Black+Blue

Hubby and I wanted to try yet another tableside offering—for dessert this time. The Tableside Crepe Suzette seemed so enticing (though we were advised their signature was the Buttercake) but we were both stuffed! I would not be able to comfortably walk out of there if I still had some dessert. We decided to come back here just for dessert next time. Maybe then, we can try both the Crepe Suzette and Buttercake!

It was a beautiful meal. The ambience was great and the service was very attentive. The food, of course, was spectacular. I would not hesitate to go back!

New Favourite: Southern Thai dining at Koh Lipe

 

Koh Lipe Scarborough

I love love love Thai Food. I am always in search of some good Thai restaurants especially since my previous favourite, Pai, is such a pain to make reservations (for our group) and get to. Chiang Rai has replaced Pai’s spot in my heart (and stomach) for a while now, but it looks like we have a contender! The fam and I checked out the Michelin Guide’s Koh Lipe in the Scarborough/Markham location! I have heard good things about the Chinatown location but am so glad there’s one a tad bit closer! And we are soooo glad to have discovered this! Now, I understand that Pai specializes on Northern Thai and that Koh Lipe specializes in Southern Thai, but it is Thai to me and I love all of it 😊!

 It took a while to choose what we wanted to try since everything on the menu looked so good! We finally settled on a couple of specials and some classics.  

The staff was friendly and the service was fast. It did not take long to get all of our dishes served!

 To start, we got the Crispy fried smelt which was so yummy! It got us excited about all the other dishes to come! The smelt was topped with crispy garlic and it was delightfully tasty! The green chili dipping sauce gave the perfect sweet and sour taste to balance out some of the oil.

Crispy Smelt @Koh Lipe

 We then got Tom Yum hot pot which was pork bone in Tom Yum soup. The serving was generous and while broth was good, I could use a bit more kick. After a while, we had to ask them to turn off the flame so that the boiling broth does not all evaporate.

Tom Yum Hot Pot @Koh Lipe

 We also got the Chef’s Special Luok Jhim platter which featured steamed mussels, shrimp, squid and fish, rice noodles flavoured with fried garlic, chili-lime sauce and lettuce wraps. We were thinking, after some very good (junk) eating the previous days, maybe we should go for some steamed food. We reminded ourselves later, to make no pretentions going forward! While it was still delicious (seafood tends to always delight this family), this was our least favourite dish. It was just, well, steamed seafood with lettuce wrap and dipping sauce. What did I really expect? Anyway, we vowed to try the Prik Pao Talay (Stir-Fried smoked chilli platter, shrimps, mussels, squid, and clams) next time!

Luok Jhim platter @Koh Lipe

We all definitely enjoyed Mas Sa Man which was a tamarind coconut red curry with peanuts and potato. We got Braised Beef (instead of the Veggies/Tofu version—see why we felt we needed to have the steamed seafood?).  It was just an explosion of flavours in our mouths! Curry with tamarind was something we don’t usually get to try and we really enjoyed the sweet, sour, mildly spicy sauce with the very tender braised beef. It will be a challenge not to order again even if we want to try so many other dishes when we come back.

Mas Sa Man @Koh Lipe

 Of course, we got our usual Pad Thai (with chicken) and it while it was not the best, it still had all the elements we love about this dish--chewy noodles, good sauce (not too much tamarind to make it sour and not too sweet). They didn’t scrimp on the chicken and did not drown the dish with bean sprouts. Will try their Pad See Ew or Pad Kee Mao on our next visit.

Pad Thai (with chicken) @Koh Lipe

 We also got a Honey Longan drink and Thai milk tea which were good to balance out the rich flavours in between bites—and allowed us to eat some more!

drinks @Koh Lipe

 We ended the meal with the mango sticky rice dessert. It came with half a mango atop wonderfully chewy sticky rice and coconut cream. The mango jelly topping was cute but doesn’t really do much to add to the already delightful dessert. It was a wonderful way to end our meal!

Mango Sticky Rice @Koh Lipe

There were Southern Thai specialties we have not tried so we would definitely go back. We think this will now become our new favourite Thai place!

 

Love is Blind: Chef’s Choice tasting at George

George Toronto

Hubby took me to dinner at George to celebrate a special day and this multi-year Michelin guide-recommended spot did not disappoint! It was one of the nicest meals we’ve had! Now, I will say my disclaimer outright—this is not a food blog per se. I told Hubby that I cannot even begin to remember all the ingredients which came with the dishes, much less describe them all with their most wonderful and unexpected flavour combinations. I will, however, attempt to share with you the experience and photos of what we had. These articles mainly serve to remind me of our experience and what we ordered.

Chef Loseto’s signature Chef’s Choice tasting experiences is offered in five, seven or ten courses. Hubby and I got the five course which were “double-blind,” meaning, hubby and I each got a different dish per course. So, we didn’t know what was coming! The dishes were also not available in the A la Carte offerings which made it all the more mysterious and exciting!

To start off, I got a Mango Fuego cocktail (loved the yummy mango puree, with rum and a kick from the chili salt rim!) with our amuse-bouche. Our amuse-bouche featured different textures of the veggies—from pureed chickpea to crispy potato chips and gave us a preview of the delights to come.

Mango Fuego @George Toronto

While the server explained what we were having as each dish was presented, I did not take notes (of course) for me to be able to recount accurately to you. As well, my memory took a blink as I savoured each bite! So, while some of the ingredients stood out, what was memorable was how beautifully plated and how great each dish tasted.

Amuse-bouche @George Toronto

For starters, I got a hamachi with matcha vinaigrette while hubby got tuna (who took the unappealing photo which did not make it here :P).

Hamachi with Matcha Vinaigrette @George Toronto

Next was our favourite, foie gras course. The richness of the foie gras was cut by a hint of acidity in the sauce. I got mine with pheasant while hubby had his foie gras with rabbit. So delicious! Another blurry picture did not make it here :P

Seared Foie Gras @George Toronto

Our main course consisted of bison for me and veal for hubby. Both were beautifully cooked! The bison was tender and did not taste gamey at all! However, I did prefer the veal and hubby preferred the bison. As we split each dish, we got to really try and enjoy both dishes.

Bison @George Toronto

Veal @George Toronto

The cheese course came next which was Ontario goat cheese and Quebec cheddar. Hubby and I equally loved these. The bread, fruit and nuts were perfect complements! The richness and saltiness of this course rounded out the mains and prepped us for dessert.

Cheese course, Cheddar @George Toronto

Cheese course, Goat @George Toronto

Finally, for dessert, we got lemon tart for me and caramel tart for hubby. It was just perfect for both of us. I loved the tartness of the lemon while hubby enjoyed the richness of the caramel. What a delightful way to end our meal!

Lemon Tart @George Toronto

Caramel Tart @George Toronto

Service was excellent and the place had a great overall vibe. If you go out to the street, you can even take a peek at the kitchens. I highly recommend this dining experience at George!

Food Tripping in Ajax – Karahi Boys and Kunafa’s

Family Naan @KarahiBoys

 Meeting up with a friend in Ajax, hubby and I did not realize we would end up on an amazing food trip! I was happy to find a branch of Karahi Boys which a Pakistani native recommended to me. With branches in downtown and GTA, it turned out great that we can try this place out where we were going to be. It was our first time trying Pakistani cuisine and we loved it!

We ordered half Potohari Goat Karahi which was cooked in whole tomatoes, cream and aromatic spices. We asked for the dish to be served with medium heat as I was warned that Pakistani cuisine tends to be really spicy. However, hubby and I think we could have handled a bit more heat. Next time! The karahi was deliciously hearty with a bit of tang and sweet from the methi (fenugreek) and other spices. The goat was tender and the tomato cream spice sauce was so flavourful. It went perfectly well with the family naan we ordered (with butter, of course!).

Potohari Goat Karahi @KarahiBoys

The naan was simply the best! It was baked to perfection and served on a stand for that wow-effect. This soft and buttery naan was perfect for sharing and scooping up the karahi sauce!

Apart from the Family Naan, we also got some Garlic Naan and paired that with our dish with no sauce, Chapli Kabab. 

Garlic naan @KarahiBoys

The juicy fried Chapli Kabab came in 2 pieces of patties made of minced beef and a blend of spices. It was crispy outside and juicy inside. It came with sauce on the side and on a bed of onions. In my opinion, this was spicier than the karahi we got. It was yummy but I will try something else next time.

Chapli Kabab with Family Naan @Karahi Boys

For dessert, we tried the Khoya Kheer which is a traditional rice pudding made in house which was nicely presented in a clay dish. It was a light palate cleanser with a smooth yet gummy texture. This one was just ok for me.

Khoya Kheer (pudding) @KarahiBoys

We were so delighted to have tried Pakistani cuisine! We will definitely be back with the girls!

Another treat we discovered in Ajax was Kunafa’s. I had not heard of kunafa before but as I was looking for a treat to bring home to the fam, I chanced upon Kunafa’s, tucked away in one of the shopping complexes in Ajax.

Kunafa, which can also be searched up online as kanafeh, kunafeh or knafeh, is a Middle Eastern cheese and dough pastry drizzled in a sugar-based syrup and topped with pistachios. They had Crispy Kunafa (topped with crispy shredded phyllo) 

Crispy Kunafa @Kunafa's

and the Kunafa Nabulsi (the original, traditional kunafa). We tried it first to decide which one to get and as we bit into the warm, gooey cheese pastry, we decided we had to get both. It was just melt-in-your-mouth creamy and the cheesy goodness had just the right sweetness. Alternating the crispy one and the original one was even better!

Kunafa Nabulsi @Kunafa's

We also got their Pistachio and Hazelnut baklava. Grandma and Hubby claimed it was the best baklava they had. I agree, but only outside of the one we had in Mykonos. DD#2 prefers those made by the Greek Orthodox Sisters in Stouffville.

Pistachio and Hazelnut Baklava @Kunafa's

Baklava cups @Kunafa's

There were many other places to discover in Ajax. Cannot wait for our next trip to check out what other goodies they had instore!

Trying out Georgian cuisine at Suliko

Hachapuri/Khachapuri Adjarsky @Suliko

The fam is always on a quest to try something new—especially a new cuisine. We’ve never had Georgian before so for one of our celebrations, we decided to give it a try.

I will share with you what we had, in reverse order. This is because the dishes we had to share as appetizers were the best among everything we’ve had. And, when we return, these are what we will definitely order again.

The girls and I had Chanahi, lamb stew with potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and herbs. It was served steaming in a crock pot, inviting us to soak in this hearty, comfort food. The stew hit my insides like a warm embrace that had been simmering for hours and hours. It was delicious, but I preferred Hubby’s Lamb Shish Kebab.

Chanahi (lamb stew) @Suliko

The Lamb Shish kebab came with hubby’s choice of rice and pita (not pictured). It was beautifully cooked. It was nicely marinated and so tender, a delight for any meat-lover.

Lamb Shish Kebab @Suliko

Grandma had an equally nice dish of Baked Trout which came packed with herbs, tomatoes and onions. It was light, flaky and very flavourful.

Baked trout @Suliko

Now the stars of this show were our appetizers. We shared Khinkali with pork and beef. The almost fist-sized dumpling was filled with spiced meat and had broth in it, much like the Xiaolongbao soup dumpling. It was a delight to eat, though we had yet to figure out how to enjoy the broth as we couldn’t pop the whole dumpling in our mouth. Suliko has 5 different types of Khinkali so we will get to try the other ones next time.

Khinkali (Georgian dumplings) @Suliko

Our favourite was the Hachapuri (some call it Khachapuri) Adjarsky. The traditional Georgian boat-shaped bread was filled with melted cheese and topped with half-cooked egg and butter. Our server suggested we swirl around the butter and egg before digging in. It was heavenly. Each bite oozed with runny, stringy cheese and the delicious bread was the perfect vessel. The creamy saltiness burst in our mouths and we wondered where this has been all our lives. Why were we just discovering this now?

Hachapuri/Khachapuri Adjarsky @Suliko

Georgian cuisine has now been added to the list of cuisines we really enjoy. We will be on the look out for other Georgian restaurants now!

 

 

Premium Donburi at Hana Don

 

Tsukiji Don @Hana Don

Celebrating an award for DD#1, we went to Hana Don for a late lunch. We went to the Markham location and at 2pm, the place still had a good number of customers.

Grandma got Fried Shrimp set served with tartar sauce. The presentation was lovely, but not really extraordinary. Shrimp tempura might have been better with panko crumbs.

Fried Shrimp Set @Hana Don

Hubby got a Salmon Avocado Don which is pretty much like poke. The diced salmon and avocado were fresh and the rice was light and fluffy.

Salmon Avocado Don @Hana Don

DD#2 got a Gyu Don which was really yummy.  The sliced beef and onion were cooked in a very tasty special sauce. This is something I will definitely try to order next time.

Gyu Don @Hana Don

DD#1 and I both got a Tsukiji Don, the only one which didn’t have a lunch option. What can I say, we felt like celebrating. The dish had salmon, scallop, white fish, yellowtail, squid and roe. The ingredients were fresh and the sushi rice was premium quality.

Tsukiji Don @Hana Don

They had so many other Donburi to choose from, and even some you can customize. Service was polite and prompt. We will definitely be back!