Canada – ohdenny

Ki – Toronto Series

January 16, 2015 Posted in Canadian, Food Reviews, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews, TorontoLeave a comment

Ending my Toronto series with Ki Modern Japanese and Bar located on Brookfield Place Bay Street, in the Toronto CBD. Ki meshes the Western culture with Japanese cuisine in which you end up with dishes such as burgers but with a slight twist or sushi with spicy tomato salsa or mango.

For those looking for a more traditional Japanese meal, at Ki they do offer a variety of freshly made nigiri, sashimi and maki sushi rolls. As a modern Japanese restaurant, they also serve slightly different sushi rolls, some with bacon or sweet potato which make for interesting combinations and especially on your palette.

Impressions

Overall, the food quality here is fantastic. The sushi, tempura sushi and even the burgers are all delicious. However, I found the dishes leaning more towards Western style to have very minimal Japanese influences as such it would appear like eating it in any other upmarket cafe or the like.

Ki do Japanese well, although it comes at a price because the dishes here aren’t exactly cheap.

Ki
181 Bay St
Toronto ON M5J2S1

Marché de la Villette – Montreal Series

January 9, 2015 Posted in Canadian, Food Reviews, French, Montreal, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Marche de la Villette was recommended by my sister because of their soupe à l’oignon (aka French Onion Soup) so we had to give it a try. Located in Old Montreal, this eatery is super popular. We travelled down to Old Montreal twice on our visit and even in the late afternoon, there was not a spare seat in sight. Having a little patience, we found a table.

Their French Onion Soup comes in this cute bowl, with the cheese oozing on the sides. The soup itself is rich and creamy, and very flavourful. I’m not fond of very creamy soups but sharing amongst the three of us it was just enough to go around.

We also ordered the Quiche Lorraine, the pastry is nice (although harder than I’m used to) but the filling was moist.

Keeping it a bit light, we also ordered Pate Sandwich, being in Montreal and all I had to order it. Coming in a baguette roll, the pate was delicious although I’d prefer if the bread was warm or toasted as it was a chilly day on our visit.

Impressions

To be honest, it wasn’t amazing but above average I would say but it definitely a lovely dining experience in Old Montreal.

Marché de la Villette (Menu)

Noodle Factory – Montreal Series

October 31, 2014 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Montreal, Restaurant Reviews, SingaporeanLeave a comment

Noodle Factory in Montreal’s Chinatown is one of the more favourable restaurants in Chinatown and it’s one of the reasons why we were curious to dine there.
Noodle Factory is a incredibly small restaurant, but nonetheless a popular eatery. As being in Chinatown it serves Asian cuisine, and in particular offers a variety of noodle dishes to choose from.

Noodle Factory’s Singapore Fried Noodles reminded me of those Chinese Food take-away meals, with it’s generous use of curry powder. It isn’t something I would order again though.

Their Beef Hor Fun was interesting in that the noodles itself were not the soft flat rice noodles I’m used to. The noodles here are a bit denser, with more bite so it’s actually quite different to the Beef Hor Fun’s I’ve tried before. Flavour wise, it didn’t standout or have the signature “hot wok” flavour you would tend to get with this dish. However, for just a meal to fill you up this would be sufficient.

Impressions
Maybe my tastes are just so disparate from the locals considering the positive reviews by most compared to mine. Or we just lucked out with the three dishes we tried.

Noodle Factory
1018 St-Urbain
Montreal QC H2Z1K6
Canada

IHOP – Niagara Falls

October 3, 2014 Posted in American, Canadian, Food Reviews, Niagara Falls, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

I had never been to an IHOP before (aka International House of Pancakes) which primarily serves breakfast dishes and it’s quite a large chain in America so presumably they would have decent food, right? Well lets take a look as we dined at their Niagara Falls location (Ontario, Canada side FYI).

I love Belgian Waffles, and if they are done right it’s down right amazing. I love waffles that are crispy on the outside but ever so soft and light inside, and just with a bit of butter or cream to give it a bit of richness. Wonderful just fresh. IHOP’s waffles were a bit of a disappointment, luke warm and just bland. The Belgian Waffle Combo comes with your choice of two eggs, and either bacon strips or pork sausages. Being the indecisive one, I ordered one pork sausage and one bacon strip and just topped with whipped butter and icing sugar but you can choose strawberry toppings, blueberry or cinnamon apple compote too.

The scrambled eggs were incredibly bland, it didn’t even taste like eggs to be quite honest. I never knew eggs could be done so wrong but there you go. The bacon strip was dry and hard, so noticeable over-fried. The pork sausage also lacked in flavour but not as disastrous as the eggs of bacon. For the price you’re paying too, I wouldn’t recommend it.

IHOP’s Strawberry Banana Pancakes looked great! The pancakes were fluffy although a bit bland which I guess the strawberries, whipped cream and bananas are for. Overall, nothing to run home about or Tweet about.

Impressions

For a place that supposedly is known for their breakfast foods, it isn’t very good at all. I’d probably have a more enjoyable meal by buying a Sausage and Egg McMuffin and with money in the pocket.

IHOP Niagara Falls

6455 Fallsview Blvd
Niagara Falls ON L2G3V9

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

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

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

Steamrollers – Vancouver Series

June 28, 2013 Posted in Food Reviews, Mexican, Restaurant Reviews, VancouverLeave a comment

Across from our hotel on Robson Street, there is a pretty popular takeout/fast food place called Steamrollers that specialises in Mexican burritos. We wanted something quick and easy to take back to the hotel, and Mexican food being one of my favourite things currently I had to try it. In Australia, there is a fast food Mexican place called Mad Mex and I love their Naked Burritos, which is basically all the ingredients that you would normally put into a burrito and rice but without the bread in a bowl. Love it.

I believe Steamrollers has something similar called a Roller Bowl. However, I was actually drawn to their Wet Burritos, seing as I’ve never heard or tried it before. We ordered the Tommy Burrito which basically is a spinach tortilla with spanish rice, chicken and jack cheese topped with garlic yogurt sauce, their “famous” tomatillo sauce.

I found that the Wet Burritos are actually too wet for my liking, it gets really messy and hard to eat when the ingredients inside are also slightly moist. The rice and chicken lacked flavour, it could have used a bit more seasoning or maybe just tabasco sauce all the way through. The cheese on top gave it some flavour so it wasn’t all too bad. Decent, but nothing spectacular.

We ordered one of their standard Beef Burritos too, the addition of beans and rice really makes it much more interesting. It was nice and fresh which is great with the beef well cooked. Again, I think a bit of heat aka tabasco sauce to really bring it alive. All in all, a satisfying meal.

Impressions

Steamrollers may not appeal to everyone, but what it is, is fresh and somewhat healthier then most of burrito joints I’ve come across. It certainly shows with the flavour lacking just a bit, but it is that trade off I guess. It has to compete with plenty of eateries on Robson, but for a quick bite I think this will do you just fine.

Steamrollers
1195 Robson St
Vancouver BC V6E

Juliette et Chocolat – Montreal Series

June 14, 2013 Posted in Canadian, Desserts, Food Reviews, French, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

On our last day to Montreal, we didn’t really know where to go so we just walked around. After a couple of hours exploring, we found Juliette & Chocolat. It wasn’t even near lunch time, but this place seemed so inviting for morning ~~tea~~ cocoa. Juliette et Chocolat specialises in all things chocolate, and they certainly do it well and with flair.

Being Montreal, we had to try some crepes, and with chocolate, bananas and peanut butter, this sounded like a dream come true.

The crepes were very thin and light, with the creaminess of the peanut butter and rich chocolate. It was simply fantastic. The slightly sweet bananas gave it a freshness and well it doesn’t cut through the richness, but it certainly doesn’t make you feel overwhelmed by the sweetness. I loved it.

I had to order the Passionfruit petit pot, I was thinking about the Hazelnut pot but I really do love the blend of passionfruit and chocolate. It’s simply amazing. As you can see it’s multi layered, with the passionfruit layer on top, then a layer of cocoa ganache, and at the bottom a dark chocolate and passionfruit mousse. It’s so light and just melts in your mouth. Fantastic mousse. The passionfruit coulis was sweet as expected but the flavour of it just works so well with the mousse and ganache. Ah, it was chocolate heaven.

As a drink, we ordered one of the warm hot chocolates with whipped cream. It was definitely creamy and rich but oh so chocolately. I think after this we had an overdose of chocolate but very satisfied in the end.

Impressions

Juliette et Chocolat was definitely a highlight for places to try in Montreal. It does chocolate very well, their crepes, desserts and drinks. It really is fantastic for chocolate lovers. I’d definitely make time to try other things on the menu if I ever go back to Montreal.

Juliette et Chocolat

3600 Boulevard Saint Laurent
Montreal QC H2X2V4