We Feastin’!

I’ve had sushi burritos before, they are alright but a bit too much. I was hoping that Rolltation, best sushi burrito, would have size options like the other place I had been to. Alas no such luck, but at least sushi burritos hold up nicely cold (I ended up eating the second half for dinner the next day). Was it a good sushi burrito? It was alright but like I said I am not a fan. It is a monstrosity to eat, the seaweed is not as easy to bite into as a tortilla is. Plus it is impossible to get a bite with all of the components in it. That is the beauty of sushi: you get all the flavours in one bite.

No worries, we could still turn our day around! Up next we were headed to Kensington Market to get waffles for dessert. Wafels & More was trying to emulate Belgium. I think if I had not been to Belgium and eaten so many waffles from different places I may have liked this place more. Overall I was not impressed, it was just below the lowest ranking waffle I had in Belgium. It was not a bad waffle, but when you go in with the high expectations of a true Belgian waffle… The other downside was that they were out of Speculoos butter (even though they had some for sale on the shelf, were they empties? Where the Biscoff cookie packages also fakes?!). I was not going to order it anways, it came with vanilla ice cream- bleh. It was Brent who had wanted it. I went with the cookies and cream. It was very heavy on the cream. I legit think that there was at least half a can of whipped cream atop my waffle. Maybe more. Probably more. Very likely.

On the way we stopped in at Blackbird Baking Co. We were cutting it a bit close, going so late in the day. Our goal was to get a baguette, they had been voted best baguette. And what’s a baguette without some meat atop it? I already had some good cheese at home. It made sense, especially given that Sanagan’s Meat Market was right next door. It was a tasty baguette and the sandwiches were great (it lasted us a few days!)… but I am still a fan of Thobor’s. That one I end up eating half of on my way home, just picking at it.

 

Gelato-oh-no

Ed’s Real Scoop had recently been voted best gelato and wouldn’t you know it, they opened one in Etobicoke right near where my parents still live! Two birds with one stone: quality family time and a best of, it was the perfect plan.

One small note, the posting does say Roncesvalles but arguably all the locations are the same. The Lakeshore location was lacking the jokes in the cone display (plain, sugar, waffle… pine, traffic- cone). But everything else checked out.

I went with my usual go-to, the straciatella flavour. I was not impressed. The gelato itself was so bland. What the hell I thought? What gives Ed’s? Turns out they were on the nose. It is SUPPOSED to be like that! It’s just basic ice cream sans crazy flavours and with chocolate shavings. I liked the chocolate but when I ordered it I was expecting cookies and cream with chocolate bits. I was so wrong. I feel I need to go back and try a different flavour. Then one more time to be certain. Plus now it’s so close that every time I visit I should go. Right? I did steal a bite of Brent’s chili chocolate. It was good but I would not want to eat that much of it. Again, I think we need another trip there.

 

The Calzone That Went Too Far

In continuing our streak of returning to previously voted best-ofs, we found ourselves heading back out to the neighborhood near Birreria Volo. Obviously we would have to stop in there after dinner for a drink or two. Bitondo’s had been voted best calzone. But it would be silly to get two calzones, so I went with the old stand-by a pepperoni slice. I had forgotten how big the slice is and that they do not cut it for you. While I battled trying to eat half the slice, Brent mounted an attack on a cheese calzone. Cheese was the only one they had left. In theory it sounded great. The first few bites were great. Then it went overboard really fast. There was just way too much cheese in there. It was just cheese! A sea of cheese with traces of tomato sauce. Add to that the deep-fried texture of the outside and it was overkill. I ate maybe a third of it and then popped my last two Pepto-Bismols and prayed my stomach would not hurt.

As per usual we overdid it at Birreria Volo. I paced myself and only had 3 but it was enough to do me in. On the way home I stopped and got a Drumstick ice cream cone. At this point I was still feeling fine. It was only soon after that everything kicked in at once. I don’t think I have ever been that bloated and uncomfortable and in stomach pain before in my life! Except the pain part, but that was because I ate a cucumber and ~apparently~ those now make my stomach hurt?

 

Kids? Argh!

Piano Piano had been voted best kid-friendly restaurant. Honestly, I was dreading going there. I had visions of the restaurant from The IT Crowd passing through my mind. Children screaming and embarrassed parents. Piano Piano was not at all what I had expected. It had a nice interesting interior and a bar. There were only two kids in there and they were so well-behaved that it was almost unnerving. One of them was wearing a polo shirt. The menu was printed like a newspaper which entertained me to no end as Brent tried to figure out what to order. None of the cocktails caught my fancy and I decided to change it up for once and order, *gasp*, a red wine. Only because it was from Italy and we were in an Italian restaurant. My dislike of red wine may be biased because when I think of it, it is always in reference to a whole bottle not just a glass. This may be added to my future drink rotation.

Brent ordered a pizza and I ordered a pasta dish because those were the two items that Piano Piano was known for. And no wonder, the pasta dish with spicy sausage was amazing. Easily the second best in the city. First still goes to the pig-blood noodles at Enotecca Sociale. Nothign on the dessert menu really caught our fancy. I was intrigued by the Nutella tiramisu but I was not about to eat the whole thing by myself- that would be too much.

I did end up overdoing it later at Dairy Queen, straying from my go-to snack size and getting a small. It was too much and I soon regretted it.

 

You Again?!

 

I am not a fan of quiche. No human should consume that quantity of egg in one meal, it’s just too much. Regardless, I would still try a bite of quiche. A bite was all I needed really. Bonjour Brioche had been voted best quiche and I was not about to turn down a croissant for breakfast. I did not have high hopes of a chocolate croissant. It was my lucky day however as they were not all sold out, despite how late (almost 11am!) we got there. I also got a loaf of bread. The day before I had bought some nice deli meats and a Beau’s beer washed rind cheese- I had epic plans for an afternoon lunch.

The first bite of quiche was not that good. I tried a bite towards the end, when it got to the crispy flaky crust. Now that was a good bite! It had flaky crust, green onion and ham. Why did they not just make it a mini-quiche so you have more crispy to soft texture ratio?! And it would be easier to serve?!

Despite the fact that the Taste of Italy street festival was going on, we decided to risk and try going to Birreria Volo. Worst case we would have to stand and drink. We did not walk all that way for nothing. Except when we got there they were not open yet. They were opening an hour later than the website had said. Good thing we had set out late that morning. We went to the temporary Muskoka patio next door to hang out. Getting to sit down and drink ice cold water felt pretty darn good. In the end we wound staying there quite a while. I had 4 different beers because the selection was so new. We had not been since December and now it was a panic to try as much as we could. It was alright though because two of my drinks were 5-6oz pours.

 

I’m Back Baby!

It had been a while since we had gone fooding. We ran out of nearby places, I was going crazy with end of school and we had gone on vacation. Slowly but surely lists starting getting updated and new places started popping up. A few weeks ago we found ourselves having a “business lunch” yet again, this time at Drake 150. And as always I had an agenda on my phone. I tried to limit the wedding stuff and cover a wide range of topics. I have since deleted the list and I have no clue what was on that list.

I made the mistake of asking to be seated outside. Patio season had barely started and I was desperate for the feel-good of the nice weather. As we walked to the patio I glimpsed the wacky interior and all the business people having their business lunches. Dammnit, I thought, I screwed that one up. A business lunch is never complete without alcohol, enter Ginger Rogers: ginger beer and some kind of alcohol that I failed to make note of. If it is not yet obvious, I am not good at business lunching. In fact I am very bad at it.

I ordered the chicken sandwich. Honestly, the focaccia bun was the best part. Until it started to disintegrate from all the mayonnaise. The lettuce was actually one of the better components, a welcome texture amidst the chewy (even the chicken was a bit rubbery). The fries were also a welcome change. It was funny to watch Brent, in his dress shirt and tie, cutting a pizza with scissors. Ah yes, in addition to the wedding we discussed an upcoming barbecue at a friend’s house. We thought it would be hilarious to bring kale and rabbit sausages as their dog had recently found a dead rabbit and eaten their kale saplings before they even got planted. I had been assigned a deliverable: get those products. I failed because I was overburdened with shopping bags from all the sales at the Eaton Centre. Like I said, I am not good at business.

 

That’s One Best Of I’ll Never Forget

It was a Saturday in March and the plan was to head out to best new cafe of 2016. Hale Coffee was a ways away at Dupont and Lansdowne so the plan was to transit out there, because you know, March in Toronto is still pretty damn cold. We were a bit delayed in heading out the door for our breakfast because Brent proposed. It caught me so off guard and was so out of nowhere that I was floored and in shock. And then overjoyed.

Needless to say this fooding outing is more prevalent in my memory. We sat at the bar and sipped our espresso-based drinks. I had no idea what the difference was between a flat white and a cortado. I took a sip of each and let Brent have the more creamy and less-coffeey one of the two. The almond croissant was delicious and any place that serves Red Bench* cookies has a place in my heart. Especially when it is a cookies and creme cookie.

 

 

*I don’t know when but Red Bench has since closed down, leaving me broken-hearted and cookieless lest I venture afar