Toronto's very own Khao San Road

In Bangkok, Khao San Road is backpacker party central, making it a fitting name for the new Thai restaurant in Toronto’s own alcohol-soaked Entertainment district. But Chef Nuit Regular’s latest venture with her husband Jeff speaks more of wooden, mod urban temple than a 100-baht hostel bunk.

This Khao San Road evokes Thailand’s street food and teleports me back to my own Southeast Asia adventure, even with its contemporary white dish plating. Khao soi is a must: a traditional northern Chiang Mai noodle dish with tender beef cubes bathed in a tangy curry broth. More familiar fare is available too, including deep-fried garlic shrimp, chicken pad thai and daily Thai curries, all extraordinarily tasting of Regular’s land and love.

Halal devotees of the original hole-in-the-wall Sukhothai, beware: she’s playing with fried pork belly here—but to pig eaters’ delight. Opened for lunch and dinner; stand by for the Thai breakfast introduction, which is sure to spice up the city’s typical bacon-and-Benny scene. 326 Adelaide St. W., 647-352-5773 (www.khaosanroad.ca)

 Khao Soi $10: Tender braised beef with egg noodles in a coconut milk-enriched curry and garnished with crisp fried noodles, green onion and a slice of lime

Garlic Shrimp $9: Shrimp breaded in a crispy garlic coating served with a sweet and tangy garlic sauce

Chicken Pad Thai $14: Special pad thai "three flavours-style" topped with homemade roasted peanuts, dried chili and a fresh slice of lime

Gaeng Phed a.k.a. Thai Red Curry, Chicken for $12: The red colour comes from a curry paste made of dried red chilies

Yum Ta Wai $8: A salad of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, julienned vegetables, coriander, shredded chicken and a sliced hard-boiled egg, tossed in a sweet curry peanut dressing

Pad Kee Mao, Shrimp $15: Stir-fried rice noodle with fresh green chili, fresh garlic, long green pepper, bamboo shoots and Thai basil leaves

Chai Yen a.k.a. Thai Iced Tea $4.50: An infusion of Thai spices and black tea mixed with condensed milk (!) and served over crushed ice

Brockton General

Brockton General is a new low-key bar on Dundas Street West that opened in early to mid-August. The kitchen serves a simple menu Thursdays through Saturdays, while the bar is opened every day.

The walls are bare, and the tables and chairs look like they were plucked out of a grandmother's basement, but the wait staff and buzzing, laid back patrons makes this place easily attractive.

I came on a Friday night for a drink before a dinner reservation at Enoteca Sociale, which is right across the street. Then spontaneously returned the next night to sample its locally sourced, daily changing menu.

By the looks of the patterns, the China plates seem to have came from the same grandma's basement, but I absolutely love the repurposed old classic English porcelain China sets.

For starter, we shared pickled radishes with fried ricotta, dressed with parsley, a vinaigrette and sliced chilies (pictured above). I've never had pickled radishes before and I'm not a huge parsley fan, but I like the clean, simple, fresh tastes.

We split two mains: a poached egg on brioche toast. And a lovely, lovely lamb shoulder, done pulled-pork style, served atop a grilled eggplant, dotted with goat cheese cream. It was so dreamy and textured, I forgot to take a photo.

For dessert, we tried fried brioche dough, done in a kind of beignet style, with husk cherries (which are these tiny yellow tart balls that are nothing like the sweet bing cherries I love...oh crap, I completely missed cherry season this year!) and a lovage-mint sauce.

We each had a glass of Ontario wine, and it came out to just over $80 all together.

It will be really interesting to see how the place evolves as it's young cooks just doing what they love to eat and play with. It didn't blow me away but I loved the atmosphere and the people.

Noodle King in the PATH

Another recommendation from my sister who's worked in finance district for years now and knows a lot of PATH goodies. Noodle King is under the Sheraton and tends to have a line-up that rivals McDonald's.

I've been craving simple broad noodles like this for ages. I went to Kenzo Ramen a couple of Fridays ago and wasn't that impressed.

Today I had pork wontons ($4.35) but will probably opt for spicy beef ($5.95) next time. The dish wasn't the tastiest noodles ever but the simple, clean flavours and sweating over the steaming bowl brought me back to the food of Southeast Asia for a moment... in a good way.

Deep Fried Butter at The Ex

...photo courtesy of my cousin Bryan.

It tasted like fried butter, really. I didn't get the funnel cake flavour and when you bite into it, it's mostly hollow with melted butter coating the inside batter. Selling at $5 for four pieces, it's a great gimmick to attract a constant long line-up.

The very friendly vendor also had other similar wonderful delights available, such as deep fried Mars bar, chocolate-covered bacon, and some crazy chocolate- and nut-coated Twinkie creation.

BLT on bagel

...for $2.89 at Bagel & Co. in the PATH at 120 Adelaide St. W., east of York Street. Fresh to order; warm and yummy. Your choice of bagel. Mine? Whole grain.

Life's little indulgences. Love it.

La Bettola di Terroni

I met my friend Yasmin (@yasminATlesauce) a couple of week's ago at Terroni's latest empire addition, La Bettola di Terroni, the wine bar at Richmond and Victoria.

It's a really lovely, open, airy space, and has that Terroni Italian wooden rustic charm most Torontonians have come to know and love. We met on a Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 p.m., and I was surprised to see how empty it was, considering every time I've walked into a Terroni, it's packed to the pasta-, pizza- and wine-soaked gills. We sat at the bar and my only slight problem was the stationary swivel chairs. I get it, but I don't necessarily like it.

Service was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful for each person who came around: hostess, bartender, food runner, dish cleaner-upper (i.e. busboy, but seems like such an archaic term, no?). We had a half litre of wine, and right now I'm still treating wine like boys -- can't really remember their names but I know whether I liked the way they smelled and tasted -- and this wine, on the dry and crisp side, I definitely liked.

We also split the rice cones ($9) to nibble on, and they couldn't be more perfect little golden browned Christmas trees, filled with creamy tomato risotto and spring peas. A little arugula and shaved pecorino (maybe parmigiano-reggiano?) on the plate, and satisfaction complete.

But wait, there's more! From 4-6 on weekdays, if you sit at the bar, the kitchen dishes up little crostini bites for free. So we had a nice fresh tomato bruschetta, and something else... something else... shaved pecorino again, but in any case, I do love that Terroni always serves up quality ingredients.

I'm more into scotch than wine at the moment, but this La Bettola is easily a nice laid-back after-work drink and nibblies spot where you can actually have a conversation with the persons you're with.

I approve Terroni. You're back in my good books.

Caplansky's

356 College St.
Toronto, ON
(416) 500-3852
www.caplanskys.com
Date Visited: Sunday March 14, 2010

Before Caplansky's had its College Street opening, I read and heard a lot about how wonderful the smoked meat was. How it was -- get this -- Toronto's answer to Montreal's Schwartz's! Uh, skeptical? Yeah, I certainly was. (And my pitiful Schwartz's post needs a new one because two summers ago we had a smoked meat taste test in Montreal that needs to be documented properly.)

When we sat down for lunch, I was tempted to order the BBQ Brisket on a Bun ($8) but decided the good ol'7 oz. smoked meat on rye (also $8) needed to be tasted before anything else.

Verdict? I liked but I didn't love. The meat was dry in some places and then too much fat in others. There was something off about the rye bread as well. I'm a stickler when it comes to my carbs. Oddly, I don't think the bread was dry enough. (How is that even possible...) And of course, the seasoning was nothing special, and for all you Schwartz's fans out there, you know it's Schwartz's spicy, peppery seasoning that takes its meat above and beyond.

Oh well. Maybe next time I'll try the BBQ brisket. Good atmosphere though, and servers are extra accommodating.

Iron Cupcake Toronto

I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes but one of my closest friends, Stephanie, is. (In fact, there's a crazy personalized NYC cupcake tour posting that still needs to be written...) So when I heard the Liberty Village cupcake shop, For the Love of Cake, was hosting Toronto's first Iron Cupcake competition, and that the secret ingredient was going to be beer in honour of St. Patrick's Day, I decided we should go.

It was chaotic and packed but we somehow wound up relatively close to the front of the line when they started handing out the mini cupcakes. This is how it worked:

• Each person had a ticket with 4 of 16 numbers on it, and so you were judging four of sixteen cupcakes.
• The other side of your ticket listed all 16 numbers, and you judged visually who you thought had the most aesthetically pleasing cupcake display, aligned with the St. Patty's Day theme of green.

Cover was $5, and it included the four mini cupcakes plus tea was being given out for free. I felt a little jipped because apparently No. 4 had some sort of accident. My friend heard "baking accident"; I heard car. I hope it wasn't car.

The one in the upper left-hand corner was No. 15 and the ultimate judges' winner. It was also the one Steph chose as her favourite -- I think mainly because the cream cheese topping really pushed that particular cupcake to a higher state of deliciousness. The one in the upper right-hand corner, No. 16, was People's Choice and had my favourite visual presentation.

The baker called it "Morning After St. Patty's Day." As you can see, there are little Guinness "cans" spread around the bed and even a mini Advil box on the nightstand. Now that is some serious creativity and theme dedication.

We also liked this cheese spread one, though it's difficult to make out the cupcake in this shot. (It's underneath the pretzel sticks.)

For the most part, all the cupcakes we sampled were very good. It was funny to sit on a floor, at a little table, swapping these mini baked goods and trying to debate the finer points of why one may be better than the other. Except for one of Steph's cupcakes, I couldn't really taste the beer component in any of them. But I think it would be fun to experiment next time I whip up my own batch.

Gio Rana's Really Really Nice Restaurant

The first time I may have heard of Gio Rana's was way back when Christine Cushing Live still existed on the Food Network as a new show. But then again, it could've been when I was 16 and read Toronto Life's little red restaurant review book before I went to sleep at night, as if it were the best page-turning thriller novel of my life.

No matter because I will always remember the first time I actually visited and, more importantly, ate at Gio Rana's: this past Saturday night with three great, food-loving university girlfriends.

I love eating, but the experience of eating is so wonderfully enhanced when the people you're with love to share food, drink wine, talk loudly, laugh inappropriately, and don't fuss over how to split the bill when it arrives.

For appetizers, we went for grilled calamari (how could we not? $7.95), prosciutto with fig and goat cheese (so simple but tasty $6.95), and the mother of all meatballs (easily bigger than my fist yet somehow perfectly cooked inside-through-out $7.95). For main, I had bites of osso buco (sticky, sweet, warm and comforting $15.95), veal parm (saucy, meaty, hearty $??) and ordered a whole grilled seabass ($19.95) all to myself. I'm greedy, I know.

I love whole fish. This seabass was paper-thin crispy (like Korean fried chicken!) on the outside, and flaky and moist on the inside. There were some parts that were a little dry but for $20, it's hard to go wrong; especially considering the other whole fish I've had were more in the $30 range (Vertical and my regular Italian spot, Sapori at Yonge&Lawrence).

I drank a merlot and had a great cappaccino -- it's been a long time since I've had great coffee. We ended it all with a chocolate brownie in caramel sauce and berries ($7.95?), and a goat cheese cheesecake with a keylime sauce ($7.95?). I've grown away from chocolate desserts (although I still love them) and am so drawn to citrusy flavours now. So I pretty much devoured the cheesecake. I wasn't sure how I would like the goat-cheesiness, and I loved.

Service was amicable and attentive enough (except with the bill, but we were okay to linger). Place was busy, loud, conversational, dim with candlelight and all woods. Table too small for all of our foodiness.

I'm still having dreams about the meal.

Torito Tapas Bar

It took nearly two months but the fine Twitter foodie dinner for four finally happened.

One is vegetarian, does eat eggs and cheese. Another rules out pork because of religion. The third is wildly (my word) allergic to mushrooms (but luckily not truffles). And the final will eat anything in sight that is edible. Can you guess which one is me?

Individually, the food restrictions aren't that challenging but together I thought it may pose a problem since we were doing tapas, sharing-style. But it turned out to be an excellently executed ordering of various food stuffs: Spanish tortilla of egg and potato, roasted beet salad with goat cheese and lentils, chickpea stew, quail with sweet potato mash and a pomegranate glaze, and grilled sardines with a romano bean-parsley salad. For dessert, churros and an almond cake. Oh, and a hard-hitting Spanish red wine from the Rioja region.

No pictures. Despite the mass food blog-iness of the table, we were too busy enjoying one another's company and the very, very good food.

First time tapas, first time real Spanish food (aside from chorizo sausage and Iberico jamon) for me. I can say confidently all dishes were a great mix of simple but intense flavours. If something was supposed to be light, it was light. If it was supposed to be warm and comforting, it most definitely was. And I think four is definitely the perfect tapas number. We evenly split the bill at $35 each (including tip) and I think we all walked away with satisfied stomachs.

Plus the space is very nice -- warm and inviting, and service is pretty good. Restaurant got quite busy after 8, and unexpectedly loud so it became difficult to hear conversation from across the table. May have needed more wine.

Overall, in conclusion, hurray for food&drink&city lovers! :)

Meatless Monday, Week 4

There were only two occasions when I wanted to consume meat, and neither time did the desire arrive when I was actually eating my meatless meal, which I think is a huge step.

Breakfast: Banana and peach. (I realize this may not qualify as breakfast to some, but I'm not exactly an early riser.)

Lunch: Leftover fusili pasta with red&orange peppers and frozen peas that I made for Sunday night dinner. Are you starting to see a theme here with peppers, peas and pasta? It seems to be what's always available in my house. I'm not sure why my dad is obsessed with buying peppers, but they are always there, newly bought, without fail, every week. I've also taken to adding butter and 35% cream to everything. Butter and cream makes life better in every way.

Meat "craving" No.1: Kenzo Ramen noodles thanks to @chantalbraganza's post yesterday. I was meeting Irene later that day for dinner and a TIFF movie. I had already decided on Jules Bistro at Queen and Spadina, but thought of changing it to Kenzo at Dundas and Bay. (We rushed The Invention of Lying by Ricky Gervais -- of The Office and Extras TV shows fame -- at the Elgin theatre at Queen and Yonge.) Then I realized, a vegetarian ramen would not fulfill my desire to recreate my Momofuku Noodle Bar experience. So stuck to Jules. Later, I would find out vegetarian ramen -- even bad vegetarian ramen -- would have beat Jules without a blink.

Meat "craving" No. 2: Jules Happy Hour special is steak frites for $12.95. I contemplated breaking my Meatless Monday vow for a total of five seconds. French bistro vegetarian food was tempting enough to sate my craving. Again, how wrong I was.

Dinner: Jules Vegetarian Sandwich of ratatouille and dijon; plus vegetarian French onion soup ($12.95 all together). An incredibly small portion for 13 bucks. Food was fine but seriously I felt jipped. Plus, I wasn't keen on the service. I get really annoyed by servers who are sweet from the onset, and slowly become more stiff and curt, and are outright rude by the end of it just because I'm not ordering an expensive meal. At one point, I also thought the streak frites may have been better value but probably not. It probably would have been a cracker-size and cracker-thickness piece of flank with possibly 10 frites for accompaniment.

Dessert: Small coffee and chocolate chip cookie at Le Gourmand. Thank gawd for that monster cookie. It filled me right up and gave me the fuel I needed for a two-hour TIFF rush-line wait.

P.S. The Invention of Lying was so much better than I anticipated. Not sure if I would recommend watching it in theatres but it's definitely an unusual (in a good way) storyline.

***Update: Apparently all of Kenzo's broths are pork-based. There are no vegetarian options, which seems very un-Japanese to me.***

The Queen and Beaver Public House

35 Elm St

Toronto, ON

Get Directions

(647) 374-2712
www.queenandbeaverpub.ca
Chef: Andrew Carter (@ARJCarter)
Date visited: Friday July 17, 2009
Apps/snacks $4-12; sandwiches/burgers/pot pies $14-17; mains $17-23

1. Most interesting menu in Toronto I've seen in a long time.
2. The food is "authentic" English pub fare.
3. Fried cod cheeks and tongues. That's why I came.

Victorian home, mismatched but matched decor, over-sized comfy chairs, the Queen's photos all over the place, English china with the gold trim and floral patterns. It's a pub you go home to instead of a pub you feel over-greased from.

So the cheeks and tongues. I didn't see the big deal. It was little pieces of fried fish. But the housemade relish that came with it... Now that's a different story. The tangy, honey, slightly spicy, citrusy relish -- I could eat that for days.

For main, apple cider braised duck leg in a curry sauce ($17) -- I don't think there's anything else to describe. The duck was a little dry, and the apple cider could've stood out in flavour a bit more, but the curry sauce was a nice accompaniment and I had no trouble eating it all up.

Now, here's what you should go for: The Q&B BLT with maple glazed pork belly, butter lettuce and smokey tomatoes ($16). It was best BLT of life. The pork belly was mouth-watering -- smokey, sweet, meaty, salty.

To end, sticky toffee pudding ($9) because we're at a British pub, and sticky toffee pudding has climbed the ranks of being my favourite dessert over the long-time stranglehold of creme brulee. The pudding was definitely traditional -- warm caramel toffee goo that keeps your soul filled. (Not better than Nota Bene's! but nothing to complain about either.)

Service was pleasant, but kitchen was somewhat painfully slow to deliver. I'll chalk that up to still trying to get into the routine of things (they opened on June 15, and there were two large parties when we went).

In any case, screw the bad reviews from The Globe & Mail and Toronto Star. Q&B, I like you.

Rating (out of five stars): **1/2

Pizzeria Libretto

221 Ossington Avenue
Toronto, ON
M6J 2Z8
(416) 532-8000
www.pizzerialibretto.com; follow on Twitter @PizzaLibretto
Chef: Rocco Agostino
Appetizers $5-10; pizzas $10-18; 4-course summer prix fixe $25

Was it the best pizza I've ever had in my life before? No. Was it one of the most freshest tasting for a great price? Yes.

I was skeptical about Libretto. All the raving and the moaning and the oohs and ahhs. I get it. It's good. But the no-reservation policy? The line-up for an hour? Not so good. But the wine helped. And in the end, it was worth the wait. I generally liked the place though. Communal dining tables, chalkboard menus, huge open wood-fire burning oven in the back for zapping the pizzas to a perfect 90-second blistering Napalese-style finish. Yes. I liked. My only problem was the noise level -- way, way loud. Not the place to go if you're looking to have a real conversation with someone.

First time, I split the $25 summer prix fixe of bruschetta, heirloom tomato caprese salad, wild mushroom pizza and blueberry panna cotta. My dining partner was vegetarian. It was a lot of food and great for sharing, although the three other people in our group had a prix fixe to each person and polished their plates without a problem. But like I said at the beginning: not the best pizza of my life but everything was so goddamn fresh. And the thin, charred-on-the-outside, foldable crust may have been my favourite part. (Plus chili oil. I wonder if Libretto makes its own chili oil? If not, it should. It's dead easy to do.)

Second time, with two other friends, we got the $25 prix fixe, but chose the duck confit pizza and strawberries with sabayon instead. And we also ordered a margherita a la carte to share. I loved the traditional marg. I think margs show the true colours of a pizzeria -- if you master the simplicity of tomatoes, basil and mozz, you're good in my books.

But I absolutely adored the duck confit pizza -- succulent shreds of duck meat, sweet caramelized bosc pear slices and ooey-gooey Ontario mozzarella.

The bruschetta and caprese were satisfying but forgettable. I do like that Libretto is all about using locally sourced ingredients though instead of some bullshit attitude about how true Naples pizza is only true if you rack up your carbon miles by sourcing from Italy. People, the reason why Naples pizza is so good is because they use the freshest ingredients that travel very few miles and was made right in their own backyards. Get it? Good.

There was lots of Twitter rave about the panna cotta but I like Terroni's panna cotta better. Libretto's was a little too wobbly for my tastes. I did very much like the sabayon -- a simple, creamy, Prosecco-infused sweet treat to end the meal.

Rating (out of five stars): ***1/2

Foodie Meet No. 2: Wine, wine, wine edition

The first Foodie Meet hosted by Andrea Chiu (@TOfoodie) and Suresh Doss (@spotlightcity) of Spotlight Toronto was in June at Brassaii, and it was a huge success. Free to tweeters and non-tweeters alike, it was a word-of-mouth Twitter operation that brought together at least 50 food-minded people on to one gorgeous Toronto patio.

There was a free raffle for great prizes, including a signed copy of Ferran Adria's A Day at elBulli that I just happened to win; free samplings of Toronto microbrewery Steam Whistle; wine tastes; complimentary Brassaii breakfast cards; and a specially designed menu for anyone who felt like noshing.

Foodie Meet No. 1 win: A Day at elBulli, signed by chef & owner Ferran Adria

So we knew we'd be in for an equally great -- or even better -- time at the Wine, Wine, Wine Edition, held this past Wednesday evening at Cafe Taste at 1330 Queen Street W., west of Dufferin. Andrea and Suresh set up a smart pricing system: $45 for five wine-and-cheese pairings (plus unlimited pour); $25 for five 2 oz. pours of the wine tasting; and $5 entrance for anyone who couldn't stay for the entire night, or preferred own menu selection.

I opted for the $5 ticket because five glasses of wine would be wasted on me, and I couldn't stay till 11 p.m. They also did another raffle (I won the Top Chef cookbook, which I didn't want but wasn't going to refuse); and author Kathryn Boel read from her upcoming memoir Corked. She was self-deprecating, sassy, clever and hilarious. Plus Cafe Taste owner Jeremy Day was our wine tutor for the night, and he talked about the wines and cheeses sort of like how a lawyer talks about law -- you got the basic concept down, but his capacity for details was hard to keep up with.

Foodie Meet No. 2 win: Top Chef cookbook

A couple of interesting things I learned about wine last night:

1. There is no use in cleaning your palette with water from one wine to the next because there are about 500 compounds in a wine, and two will only have about 35 in common. So better to cleanse with your next wine!
2. The idea behind drinking wine and eating cheese together is the cheese will coat your tongue in fats and acids, so when you take the next sip of wine and next bite of cheese, an improved flavour should occur for the subsequent sips and bites.

I had a really lovely time, enjoying a 5 oz. glass of Calamus Estate Gewurtzraminer 2007 Vinemount Ridge ($9 -- Jeremy only sells Ontario and Quebec wines and cheeses as he's all about local, local, local!), and mostly chatting with Twitter friend Yasmin (@yasminATlesauce) and her currently computer-less friend Stephanie. It was very cool meeting Yasmin in real life, as we talk almost daily on Twitter and each other's blogs (hers is fabulous, by the way -- funny writing and beautiful food photos of her nearly daily creations) but haven't had the opportunity to meet until Wednesday.

Cafe Taste itself has a dark neighbourhood feel. The front is all dark woods, low tables and chairs, which I'm not that into. But the back patio (where we were) was much more quaint -- canopy covering, twinkle lights along the wooden fence, stone path.

Cafe Taste's back patio: Kathryn Boel, reading from her upcoming memoir Corked

I'm really happy I went. I couldn't have had a better time. Plus beforehand, I stopped at Le Gourmand at Queen and Spadina for a small coffee ($1.20) and enormous peanut butter cookie ($2.25); and sketchy Ali's West Indian Roti Shop about a block away from Cafe Taste for $1.70 doubles -- chickpea deliciousness, too good.

L: Le Gourmand coffee and peanut butter cookie; R: Ali's doubles

Lalibela

869 Bloor Street West (at Ossington Ave.)
Toronto, ON
M6G 1M4
(416) 535-6615
www.lalibelaethiopianrestaurant.com
Mains $8-15

For someone who only eats chicken and turkey (and sometimes seafood) because she says other meats gross her out, my friend Irene is pretty open to trying new cuisines. And she likes spicy things. Spicy things are key to eating with me. Anyway, she suggested Ethiopian, and I was game because I've never had it before. I even had to read about it on my good ol'friend Wikipedia as my knowledge was non-existent.

Your only utensils are your hands and injera "bread." Being a child raised on Indian parathas and curries, I had no problem with the hands-only method. It was injera that gave me major issues.

I first saw injera at the Brick Works Farmers' Market in late July and I love all things carbs. So a huge circular piece of doughy bread looked fantastic. But when it sat in front of me at Lalibela with various pickled vegetable mixes on top, I was not eager to dive in.

First, the sight freaked me out. Injera looked like a holey, dirty, wet, used sponge. Then the feeling -- gooey rubber. And sadly, it tasted like spongey rubber with a sour-milk tinge to it. Obviously, I wasn't pleased.

We ordered the hot vegetarian platter ($12) to share, which was described as consisting of splint peas (maybe it was supposed to read "split peas"?), lentil, chick peas, cabbage, collard green and vegetables -- everything I dislike. But what I've noticed as I've gotten older is when I try foods I normally dislike prepared in an "authentic" way, I tend to grow a taste for it. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times.

We also tried chicken tibs ($13), which is a spicy buttery stew that was good, but not better or that much different from eating my dad's chicken curry.

I thought maybe the Ethiopian coffee would make up for everything. Instead, an elaborate coffee show left my face almost burnt, getting choked by unrelenting smokey incense, and drinking coffee that could've been Nestle Tollhouse for all I knew.

I'm not going to rate this restaurant because it wouldn't be fair. Just because I dislike the cuisine, does not mean the restaurant is bad. Lalibela was recommended to me by a friend who lives in the area, and I know there are a ton of people who are into Ethiopian food. In fact, the place was pretty busy for a Thursday early evening.

It's only the second type of cuisine I don't like -- next to Korean. Although Korean has been growing on me in little ways after all these years. Anyway, still happy I tried it. At least now I know.

Persian Patisserie

8952 Yonge St. (at Scott Dr.-Bantry Ave., south of Carrville Rd.-16th Ave.)
Richmond Hill, ON
Petit fours $2-4; cakes $20-30; cookies and miscellaneous $1-2; ice cream $2.50/scoop

I made that address up based on a rough estimate on Google Maps. I'm not even quite sure if the place has a "real" name. It calls itself Patisserie and also has gold Arabic writing on its store sign. It's a small place that my sister wandered into out of curiousity, and fell in love with instantly.

You're greeted by an amazing array of cakes, petit fours and teeny-tiny pastry bites, all lined up row after row in one long glass case. A homemade sign on top tells you, "WE USE ONLY REAL CREAM AND REAL BUTTER IN OUR DESSERTS. NO SUBSTITUTES." Or something to that effect. And you can smell it in the air from the open door of the kitchen in the back.

Every little cake glistens and twinkles, and you can hear the love in the voice of the woman serving, as she coos about what's what and how it's "sooo good." "You have never had a carrot cake like this before!" I dreamily stare at the itty-bitty petit four (I don't even like carrot cake!) and prod my sister, but she demonstrates self-control. We are here to buy a cake for our father's birthday.

In one corner is a round 10-inch cake with a lovely golden brown goo spread over top and dripping ever-so lovely on to the sides. "Caramel and hazelnut," the woman says as she comes out from behind her magical glass case. We groan because we love nutty desserts but our brother is allergic! Blast him!

She rattles off a list of what else is available -- no two cakes are the same. We finally settle on a rectangular Belgian chocolate butter layer cake with the sides exposed ($20). The woman expertly writes "Happy Birthday Dad" on top with chocolate in a piping bag. Before leaving, we treat ourselves to a scoop of blueberry sorbet ($2.50) from her selection of store-bought and homemade ice creams. It's like eating crushed blueberries and ice -- exquisite. Your hands and clothes will easily be stained with the stuff if you're not careful.

Later in the evening, after dinner at Saigon Star, we return to our sister's condo for coffee, tea and cake. What I love about this patisserie's cakes is that somehow they are light and airy, yet rich and deep in flavour at the same time. The vanilla cake layers are firm but soft. The Belgian chocolate cream in between is buttery and delicate. And it all hits the perfect amount of sweetness.

This place has easily become one of my favourites in the city. If you ever find yourself travelling north to Richmond Hill, this is the place to stop at.

Rating (out of five stars): *****

Saigon Star Vietnamese Restaurant

330 Highway 7 East (at Bayview Avenue)
Richmond Hill, ON
L4B 3P8
(905) 731-7221‎

No website; no "chef"
Date visited: Saturday August 22, 2009
Mains $10-15; crab @ market price

My dad's choice for his birthday. My dad doesn't have the same food mind that I do. To him, Vietnamese is exotic.

But this was definitely faux Vietnamese. The food was some strange Vietnamese-Thai-Chinese hybrid. Think Asian Legend meets Lemongrass meets every other regular Chinese restaurant you've ever been to; with overcrowded minimalist decoration, and a noise level that surely induces migraines if I was the type of person who got migraines.

As always at places like these, my siblings and I let my dad order: an appetizer platter of chicken satays, veggie fried spring rolls, some strange pate-like meat substance, fried shrimp-meat claws; smoked glazed pork; broiled fish on a mango-veggie salad; grilled lamb chops; whole crab in a super garlicky garlic sauce; and I'm sure there were a couple of other things I forgot about.

The lamb chops were impressive and cooked quite well. Everything else was mediocre to acceptable. The food came out really, really fast... a little too fast actually. It made me think the kitchen had most food pre-prepared, and just threw on necessary sauces, heated it up (possibly in microwave??) and dashed out.

But definitely the overcrowded space and loudness was the biggest turn-off for me. I couldn't pay the bill and get out of there fast enough.

Rating (out of five stars): Zero

Cowbell

1564 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON
M6R 1A6
(416) 849-1095
www.cowbellrestaurant.ca
Head chef: Mark Cutrara
Date visited: Wednesday August 12, 2009
Appetizers $10-20; mains $20-40

Hailed as one of Toronto Life's best new restaurants of 2008, I've been pining for one of Cutrara's carnivorous creations for a long while. Once again I was set up for a Stop for Food prix fixe disappointment, but unlike Harbord Room my back-up plan to be okay with ordering off the regular menu didn't turn out.

Cowbell did offer a prix fixe but only a $50 option -- no lower priced $35 one like I was hoping for. If Jessica and I were hungrier we may have been able to accomplish the small charcuterie, Red Angus beef steak and creme brulee on offer between the two of us; but it didn't seem to whet our appetites enough. In fact, the entire daily chalkboard menu didn't really have anything super appealing, plus it was really difficult to read from where we were sitting.

Jess and I finally settled on sharing the large charcuterie board ($25) and a salad appetizer featuring Arctic char ($13). The charcuterie had some interesting things -- elk with chocolate, elk with blueberries, house-made mortadella -- but nothing really memorable. It was then I decided I'm over charcuterie plates. After a few bites, the fattiness and greasiness was overwhelming, mushing all the flavours into one indistinct blur.

Our salad was probably the best but it was hardly a salad and it wasn't the one we ordered. There was only one server for the whole room, who wasn't that attentive, so we shrugged it off and tried what was in front of us -- a sausage and goat cheese wrapped in a fig leaf ($12 -- with some lightly dressed greens on side; presumbly the salad part). Both were fantastic but the goat cheese was a stand-out. It was unexpectedly spicy, and there was some sort of grain rolled inside as well that gave an unusual contrast to the creamy soft cheese.

We really liked our cheap $6/glass Italian red wine.

On whole, it was a let down. I think the experience may have been better if I tried a real main, but like I said, the daily menu didn't showcase anything to my interest.

I'm not sure how much longer Cowbell will be around. There were only a few other people when we went (8 p.m. on a Wednesday night) and did get a bit buzzier when we were leaving at 9:30; but it's in a middle-of-nowhere low-income neighbourhood and seems like a long way to go (Roncesvalles) for a hit-or-miss menu.

Rating (out of 5 stars): *

Harbord Room

89 Harbord Street
Toronto, ON
M5S 1G4
(416) 962-8989
www.theharbordroom.com
Chefs: Cory Vitiello and Curt Martin
Date Visited: Monday August 17, 2009
Small plates $9-12; medium $15-19; large $21-28

Instantly loved look and neighbourhood feel of place. Charming, kind of absurd pink walls, warm and inviting narrow space lined with a narrow bench and wooden tables for two to four on one side, long-ish bar on other. (Too hot to even attempt back patio.)

Disappointed no longer offering Stop for Food prix fixe menu, which was whole point of going, but already had back-up plan of trying the burger. First enjoyed wonderfully refreshing daily cocktail cooler ($9) -- white port with lemon, soda water, and some other delightful alcohol mix that I can't recall or have any idea what it was. Chantal tried the red port one (also $9), which I thought was equally delicious, but she said mine was more suited to a hot summer day.

Debated getting daily summer plate of open-faced tuna burger ($16) but I'm moving away from eating non-sustainable fish these days; plus it was ground-up tuna turned into a patty as opposed to a tuna "steak" piece as I wanted. Stuck with the Kerr Farms natural beef burger ($15) with sharp cheddar, caramelized onions (my favourite burger topping) on fried egg's bun "with fries and a little salad." Added Berkshire bacon too ($2 extra). As you can tell, I hadn't pledged to start Meatless Mondays yet.

It was a very delicious burger, cooked about medium-rare so moist and tender with a little pink centre. I particularly loved the egg bread bun -- lightly toasted but still squishy and fluffy. Could've done without bacon though. It didn't add anything for me. I think cheese and onions would've been enough. Salad was arugula, thinly sliced carrot and radishes. I couldn't really detect a vinaigrette. Fries were fine -- crispy and salty; but house-made ketchup a delight. Instead of the blood-red Heinz variety, I got a tangy, sweet orangey-red specialty.

I got to try the tuna burger anyway, as Chantal ordered it. It was smaller than my burger and came with the same salad but no fries, only a handful of chips. Tried a little and it was quite tasty -- zippy with an avocado-lime guac on top.

Service was very pleasant. Woman attending to us (and most of the room) very helpful, great at refilling our water, and answered my questions (Prix fixe menu? Tuna burger?) knowledgeably and delightfully. I would definitely dine here again.

Rating (out of five stars): ***

Masamune

5200 Dixie Rd.

Mississauga, ON

(905) 625-1852

www.sushimasamune.com

Date visited: Saturday May 9, 2009

Mains $10-30, sushi/sashimi dinners $13-30, maki $4-17

Fresh, buttery, nice cuts of sushi for nagiri, which was really well-prepared. Plus, best California roll I ever had. Actually had flavour in it as opposed to other flimsy California rolls I normally experience. Tempura banana with green tea ice cream for dessert. Served black sesame ice cream that looks like charcoal but tastes exactly of black sesame. Despite what the server said that the sesame ice cream and tempura banana wouldn't go together, it really would have. The savoury taste of the ice cream would have perfectly complemented the sweetness and slight crunch of the banana.

Overall, extremely impressed that there is excellent quality sushi in a Toronto suburbia. Probably the best place I've had sushi in Toronto ever...! A bit more expensive than other run-of-the-mill Japanese places, but worth it.

Rating (out of five stars): ***1/2