Canada – Page 2

Eggspectation – Montreal Series

May 30, 2014 Posted in Canadian, French, MontrealLeave a comment

From our hotel on a mission to find somewhere good to eat, we somehow ended up in front of Eggspectation. As their name suggests, eggs are their specialty and they have quite a diverse selection of dishes to choose from even beyond just eggs of course. Such as sandwiches, salads and burgers for breakfast and lunch. Somehow when we decided on our breakfast meals, we all ended up ordering almost the same dishes with slight variations.

The Veggie Omelette looked great, and has wonderful flavour from the mushrooms, spinach and onion. It’s served with Lyonnaise style potatoes which is a French originated dish with pan fried thinly sliced potatoes. I found the potatoes to be warm but not hot that seemed to possibly have been left on the plate waiting for omelettes to be cooked.

I love how most North American restaurants allow you to choose how the eggs are cooked. I find it quite scarce in Melbourne to find a place like that as it’s usually just offered as scrambled. The Eggspectation’s The Classic comes with two (any-style) eggs with the Lyonnaise potatoes and a choice of bacon, sausages or ham and served with baked beans and toast. As pictured, we ordered the sausages and they are quite stock standard sausages. Scrambled eggs were moist but needed a bit of salt and pepper to give it life. Otherwise, I’d say it was a decent meal.

Being in Montreal, you have to try their famous Montreal Smoked Meat, so we ordered the Montrealer which comes with your choice of two (any-style) eggs, the famous smoked meat, pickles, toast and fruit and of course potatoes which were noted as french fries but they came out similar to the Lyonnaise potatoes served in the other two dishes (*shrugs*). I found the smoked meat to be fantastic, along with the oozy poached eggs that just need a sprinkling of black pepper. Again the potatoes were a bit cold, but other than that it was a great meal.

Impressions

Eggspectations’ Second floor is wonderful in its atmosphere, with a industrial like feel but modernised. However, I found their service though is a bit sparse. Food-wise, the dishes were about average which was a slight disappointment for one of our few breakfasts’ in Montreal but you never know until you try.

Eggspectation
1313 Boulevard De Maisonneuve West
Montreal QC H3G

Prairie Girl Bakery – Toronto Series

May 16, 2014 Posted in Toronto1 Comment

Prairie Girl Bakery in Toronto is quite well known. Famous for their beautiful cupcakes in either Buttermilk or Dark Cocoa as their base and also speciality cupcakes for an special occasions or events. Choices are varied and you won’t be satisfied until you haven eaten an entire cupcake. Prairie Girl Bakery was recommended by my now Toronto based (ex-Melburnian) sister, and these cupcakes do indeed live up to her recommendation. Delightful in its flavour and sweetness and their Peanut Butter iced cupcakes are something you would hardly ever find in Melbourne.

Their array of cupcakes knows no bounds, and honourable mentions to the Lemon Icing Buttermilk Cupcake, Peanut Butter Dark Cocoa Cupcake, Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing and the Banana Cupcake with a Peanut Butter Icing. Those were the clear stand outs at Prairie Girl, and I found the Dark Cocoa cupcake base to be exceptionally moist compared with the Buttermilk Cupcakes but both were great cupcake “cakes”, if you know what I mean.

I really did love the Peanut Butter icing, it tasted rich but not overly sugary sweet so the peanut butter flavour didn’t seem in any way artificial, paired with the moist dark cocoa cupcakes and ding ding ding, Prairie Girl, you have a winner.

Impressions
Prairie Girl earns its self proclaimed name as Toronto’s best, and it’s a must for those travelling to Toronto and in need for something a little bit sweet.

Prairie Girl Bakery
Downtown
Victoria Street
Unit 106
18 King Street East
Toronto Ontario M5C

Mon – Sat: 10 am to 6 pm
Closed Sundays and all statutory holidays

First Canadian Place
Marketplace, Concourse level
100 King Street West
Toronto Ontario

Mon – Fri: 8 am to 6 pm
Closed Sat, Sun and all statutory holidays

Khao San Road – Toronto Series

March 28, 2014 Posted in Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Thai, TorontoLeave a comment

Khao San Road at 326 Adelaide St, Toronto was one of the highlights when visiting Toronto. I never knew Thai food could be done so well outside of Thailand and especially in a place like Toronto where the climate seems so disparate. Nonetheless, Khao San Road is extremely popular with the locals and even on weeknights you can see people waiting around for a table and after dining here you can certainly see why.

Pictured above, we have the Khao Soi which is a egg noodles curry with coconut milk, crispy noodles, scallions, coriander, and lime. You can also choose from chicken, beef and tofu or shrimp for extra. It was this wonderful creaminess to it, but not overwhelming or too rich. The subtle spices just alight your tastebuds and create a warming aroma.

My favourite dish of the night was the Massaman curry, I absolutely adored this spicy dish. It’s just the right amount of creamy, and the peanuts and potatoes add a crunchiness and softness to the dish. The spices are fragrant and welcoming. I really cannot fault this dish.

Khao San Road’s Green Curry with the lovely bamboo shoots, green capsicums, kaffir lime, basil and made creamy with coconut milk is another winner but not to the same extent as their Massaman curry.

The Pad Thai was also quite good, but probably not the best Pad Thai I’ve eaten. The tamarind flavour comes through well and it tastes fresh and light.

Impressions

Although Khao San Road leans on the expensive side of things, I can say that you will find it hard to be disappointed with the quality of food here. Again, I must mention the lovely Massaman curry because it was the standout dish even though all the other dishes were excellent too.

Khao San Road
326 Adelaide St W
Toronto ON M5V1R3

Cafe Crepe – Toronto Series

March 8, 2014 Posted in Food Reviews, French, Restaurant Reviews, TorontoLeave a comment

Cafe Crepe on Queen St, Toronto was highly recommended to me by my sister and it appears very popular amongst the locals. I love crepes because you can eat them with something sweet or savoury but also because they are like pancakes but ultra thin and light but with a hint of sweetness and buttery flavour.

Other than their specialty crepes, they also serve Breakfast Baguettes which are basically baguettes with egg, tomato, lettuce, basil and bacon with tomato sauce as a side. It’s quite lovely, with the lightness of the egg and overall feels fresh for breakfast that doesn’t bog you down.

The Europa Ham and Egg crepes are on the salty side but light and delightful. I love the thinness of the crepes, just a bit crisp and although the filling isn’t as generous as I would like, I still found it satisfactory.

I love spinach and feta so I had to order the Spinach and Feta cheese crepe, again the crepes are just perfection. Not too floury or buttery and thin enough. The saltiness of the melting feta balances against the fresh spinach. Again, it’s not a heavy breakfast but it does fill you up.

Impressions

Cafe Crepe isn’t the most generous with their dishes but they are incredibly tasty and that’s why people keep coming back. If you want fantastic crepes, of the savoury or sweet kind, this is the place because they have so many varieties to choose from.

Cafe Crepe
246 Queen St W
Toronto ON M5V2Z5

Pocha Korean Restaurant – Vancouver Series

December 13, 2013 Posted in Food Reviews, Korean, Restaurant Reviews, VancouverLeave a comment

We actually stumbled upon Pocha Restaurant as we initially wanted to dine at the Thai restaurant next door but being such a petite space, it was unfortunately full. Luckily enough we looked next door and saw this Korean restaurant opened. From the outside, Pocha didn’t really seem open. It was very dark inside, and no signs it was open. Somehow being desperate for some place to dine we walked in and found this very interesting restaurant. There is a long walkway with each side having this little covered/tent-like dining spaces. It looked like you were in some sort of food market and these were the outside tents to eat in, but somewhat private.

The menu was slightly on the pricer side of things, and we didn’t really know what to order. We ended up ordering meal combo, choosing from the four dishes (you can select two). We ordered the spicy pork bulgogi (pictured above). Lovely flavours, subtle spiciness and a tad sweet marinated pork cooked with onions and carrots. Although, it was on the oilier side of things. It was very tasty.

The other beef dish was also nicely cooked, and again with onions and carrots. Meat just cooked right but I preferred if they used less sugar on the sauce/marinade. Not too exciting but it’s still satisfying.

The tofu soup was very light in flavour or seasoning but with the more robust flavours from the two meat dishes I think it complements each other well.

It also comes with a salad that is dressed with a vinaigrette. Very strong dressing and with the lettuce in large chunks, it was more difficult to eat. I would have liked the Korean/Japanese sesame seed dressing that is creamier and light brown in colour.

Impressions

Overall, I didn’t mind Pocha Restaurant. It’s not the best Korean food I’ve tried but not the worst. The quaint dining atmosphere is certainly a plus, along with the food. Good service too on that quiet Tuesday night.

Pocha Restaurant

1221 Thurlow St
Vancouver BC V6E

Don Buri Ya – Vancouver Series

November 22, 2013 Posted in Food Reviews, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews, VancouverLeave a comment

Don Buri Ya on Robson Street, Vancouver is what I’d call Japanese Fast Food. Quick and easy meals, that taste great too. Dishes can be ordered in varying degrees of size, ranging from rice dishes to noodles as well as snacks/appetisers such as Takoyaki.

The Minced Beef with Tofu is similar to the Chinese Mabo Tofu, very similar to be frank. I never realised Japanese cuisine also had a similar dish but what do I know. Nothing spectacular with this dish, just tasty Mabo tofu on Rice with a slight hint of chilli.

Their Teriyaki Chicken Noodle soup is nice on a cold day, well, like most soups are anyway. Packed full of flavour with perfectly cooked chicken. It’s a great tasting dish.

Their Yakisoba is gargantuan, I believe I ordered a medium, and it definitely can serve two quite easily. I wasn’t fond of this dish to be honest, it lacks any kick. It feels like eating a soya sauce stir fried dish.

Being a big fan of Takoyaki, these little balls lack the crispiness are are also unfortunately too full of the flour mixture and only the tiniest octopus pieces can be found. The mayonnaise and Takoyaki sauce (similar to Okonomi sauce) are tasty though. It’s just a disappointment these were mostly soft and basically very average.

Impressions

Whilst my review of the dishes may seem a bit harsh, I still believe for a quick and easy meal it’s still worth a try. Not the greatest Japanese food I’ve tried but definitely nowhere near disastrous.

Don Buri Ya
1329 Robson St
Vancouver BC V6E

Burger Bar Crescent – Montreal Series

October 18, 2013 Posted in American, Canadian, Food Reviews, Montreal, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Burger Bar Crescent on Crescent St, Montreal is one of those trendy burger joints that appeals to the younger generation with its offerings of alcoholic beverages and cute burgers that can almost be considered to be sliders. Being unfamiliar with the area, I used my trusty Urbanspoon with led me to this popular place with a pretty high rating.

The restaurant is two floors with the ground floor being the more “bar” scene and the second floor having seating catered for larger groups and sit down meals.

Burger Bar Crescent’s menu is diverse, it actually took me a while to pick what to eat because they all sounded good on paper.

We ordered the Firestorm aka supposed to be the token spicy burger, with beef, peppers, jalapeños, cheese and spicy sauce with coleslaw. Their burgers are high but more petite in girth. The beef is succulent and juicy, cooked to perfection. The spicy sauce was a tad disappointing, it was creamy but lacked the edge. It definitely required further spicy seasoning which meant TABASCO to the rescue. Other than that, I’d think it’s a pretty decent burger overall.

The coleslaw was interesting, I can’t quite put my finger on what ingredients they made the dressing with. It was sweet, not particularly creamy, but with the dressing slathered all over the cabbage and carrots. Kinda odd but maybe it’s because I’ve never had coleslaw like this before.

Being the adventurous one (when it comes to food only), I ordered the Bison Burger, that comes with a Bison patty, sautéed leeks, wild mushrooms, brie and truffle mayo. My two main attractions to the dish was the Bison patty, having had Bison sausages back in Melbourne which were delicious, I had to seek it out. Secondly. truffle mayo, I’ve only had truffle butter previously and that has wet my appetite for some more truffle seasoned food. I really did love this seemingly packed burger. The patty was juicy and had a nice grilled texture/smokiness to it. The hard cheese retained it’s shape but was velvety and stringy. Loved it.

As the burgers come with either coleslaw or fries, you can also upgrade to sweet potato fries, caesar salad, onion rings or poutine. Wanting something a bit different, I ordered the sweet potato fries, that were seasoned with the right amount of salt (not too much) and were crispy as they should be. Like most sweet potato fries, you’d find the innards are still soft and floppy but the crispy outside makes it retain its shape very well.

They also have hotdogs on the menu that are an absolute stunner. Juicy sausage, with buttery onions, BACON, and cheese. One of the best hotdogs I’ve ever tasted, everything just worked in perfect harmony with each other. Just needing a bit of tomato sauce (a requirement for all hotdogs)

Unfortunately, I’m unsure if it’s still on the menu but if it is, I definitely recommend it. The fries ordered with it were on the slightly darker, near overcooked side of things but very crunchy I must say.

Impressions

One thing I haven’t touched on is their service, staff are friendly but my golly it took at least 30 mins for the food to arrive on a not so busy night. There were only two other tables filled around us with a large group nearby, with a another group on the bottom floor. No way near a quarter filled actually.

My only real qualm with the place, but other than that I loved the food here. They do burgers well even if it leans on the pricier end of things.

Burger Bar Crescent (Menu)

1465 Rue Crescent
Montreal QC H3G2B2

Bistro le Brigantin – Quebec City Series

September 20, 2013 Posted in European, Food Reviews, Italian, Quebec City, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

On our last night in Quebec City it was absolutely freezing so we dared not venture too far out at night. Luckily, right across from our hotel is Bistro Le Brigantin, a Italian restaurant on the corner block. We weren’t that hungry as we had soup and bread from Baguette & Cie in the arvo. It’s a lovely little restaurant that for some reason didn’t seem to be that popular. It might be because most of the visitors were in the city centre and not near the bayside.

We ordered a Tomato based Penne Pasta with parmesan cheese on top. The pasta was perfectly al dente, and the tomato flavour was so flavourful and yet not oily. Adding a bit of chilli flakes just makes it delicious. I was really quite surprised of this gem of a restaurant that seemingly was mostly empty at night. Top notch.

Their salmon baked pizza was also just divine. Crisp and crunchy bottom, with a very cheesy and fresh salmon on top with cooked onions and herbs. It isn’t like your typical pizzas with a crust and a thick bread bottom, this instead lets the toppings come alive. For something that may seem small, it packs full of flavour and is actually filling even though it was shared between three.

It might have also been because we ate a lot of the bread as a starter. You really can’t go wrong with bread and butter, their airy bread is light and fluffy inside but with a very crunchy crust. Love it.

Impressions

I loved this Italian restaurant, I never would have imagined Quebec City to have great Italian food. Colour me surprised and very glad to have dined here. Fantastic, flavourful food, with excellent service.

Bistro Le Brigantin

97 Rue Du Sault-Au-Matelot
Quebec QC G1K4A6

Le Lapin Saute – Quebec City Series

September 6, 2013 Posted in Canadian, Food Reviews, French, Quebec City, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Le Lapin Saute is this little cafe/restaurant/brunch eatery on rue du Petit-Champlain just on the outskirts of the inner walls of Old Quebec City. They seem to specialise in Rabbit cuisine which I’ve never really tried previously so it made it all the more tempting to try. We ate here for breakfast/almost lunch and it’s a very cute homely shop on this small but bustling street.

I ordered a rabbit dish (of course) that comes with scrambled eggs, rabbit rillette, crisp potato slices, cheese, mushrooms, bread, homemade jam and fruit. This was a large dish, probably best shared between two.

The rabbit has a light texture, and similar to a pate, it’s wonderfully soft and shredded very thinly. A delight to eat, and probably not very good for you. The scrambled eggs were also light and just cooked to perfection, buttery and simply how it should be. The hard cheese melts ever so slightly against the just cooked eggs, but still retains its shape, and eating those crunchy chips as well. Wonderful. My first experience trying rabbit and rilletes and it leaves a positive impression.

The mushroom soup here is also packed full of flavour (I think this was the soup of the day), creamy and fantastic on a nice cold winters day. Not too creamy though as some soups can be. Really tasty.

This cheesy little thing is their Casserole au Gratin with scrambled eggs, rabbit, bacon, onions confit, potatoes, hollandaise sauce, and of course cheese. I loved this, just out of the oven nice and warm. Perfect for winter, and absolutely satisfying.

Impressions

Le Lapin Saute is simply a gem in Old Quebec. I’d put this as a must visit during your stay there. Rabbit as its specialty but everything else is just wonderfully delicious as well. I can’t recommend it enough for a Canadian-French meal.

Le Lapin Saute (Breakfast Menu)

52 rue du Petit-Champlain
Québec QC G1K4H5

Le Chic Shack – Quebec City Series

August 16, 2013 Posted in Canadian, Food Reviews, French, Quebec City, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Le Chic Shack in Old Quebec is one of those trendy Burger joints aka gourmet fast food. In the old part of Quebec City, I found it pretty difficult to find a reasonable priced meal for dinner. That and it was too bloody freezing to take more than half an hour to look around at whats good. We eventually stumbled upon le Chic Shack and after checking out the menu it seemed like a decent place to dine in. Like a Fast Food eatery, you order at the register. Menu is painted on the walls, along with menus at the tables and at the register. We weren’t particular hungry so opted for smaller, lighter options.

As you can see they add stickers to their dishes, this particular burger at le Chic Shack is called the La Chic Poulette, which includes Grilled chicken breast, cheddar, arugula, red onion, tomato, pickles, remoulade and brioche bun. The bun here is a tad well done, but crunchy it is. The chicken is well cooked, not tough like some grilled chicken can be and the dressing is much needed otherwise it’d be a big too dry for my liking. Overall, it’s a great little burger but definitely on the pricier side of things at $11.

Pardon my memory but I believe this was the Le Shack aka Beef, Gruyère cheese, Red-ale braised beef, tomato, pickles, red onion and horseradish aioli with their brioche bun. The cheesy goodness on the beef is mouth watering. I love it. A typical burger but made to near perfection. $11

You can order chips as a side, $4 for small or $6 for large with a choice of normal or sweet potatoes. I’m not a big fan of sweet potato fries because they are commonly too soft and not crunchy enough for me to consider them chips, so it’s more than likely I’ll order normal potato fries. The fries here are salted well, not too much. Some places will over season chips with their salt and it’s a majorly off putting. The chips here are nice and crunchy, and just the right size. I love crispy chips and here they are done reasonably well.

Being Quebec, I couldn’t not order their poutine. What they call La Fumee is basically their thick cut chips mashed slightly (crispy still) accompanied by smoked meat, chic sauce, cheese curds, swiss cheese, pickled onions and fresh herbs. Their sauce is this kinda sweet, mayonnaise like sauce. I loved their chunky bit crispy chips and eating them with the smokey tender meat and stringy cheese it just works well together. Looking at it, you may think for $11 + tax, it isn’t worth it but I can say it is very satisfying because of all that starch, carbs and protein. Adding just a little bit of tabasco, as you do, is all that is needed to liven up what is already a great meal.

Impressions

I liked Le Chic Shack for what it is, serving burgers with interesting ingredients and some sourced locally and of course, great tasting! I do recommend it, probably more so for lunch. I prefer their poutines to their burgers but that’s just a personal preference because I love me some chips (Potato head)

Le Chic Shack
15 Rue Du Fort
Quebec QC G1R3Z8

ohdenny

Category: Canada

Eggspectation – Montreal Series

Prairie Girl Bakery – Toronto Series

Khao San Road – Toronto Series

Cafe Crepe – Toronto Series

Pocha Korean Restaurant – Vancouver Series

Don Buri Ya – Vancouver Series

Burger Bar Crescent – Montreal Series

Bistro le Brigantin – Quebec City Series

Le Lapin Saute – Quebec City Series

Le Chic Shack – Quebec City Series