Summerlicious $15 Lunch
Canadian (New)
401 Bay St / Queen

A quick summerlicious lunch with B at yet another O&B restaurant. Didn't expect it to be so casual cafeteria style, but food was decent!

Salt-Baked Beets - split and sweet pea hummus, grapefruit, grenadine

Fresh, soft red & golden beets with nice presentation. Love the hummus and the kick from the grapefruit and seeds.

Roast Peameal Bacon Melt - bannock sauerkraut, cheddar, smoked tomato marmalade

Bacon and flatbrad (bannock?)  was tough, but I loved the sauerkraut and tomato marmalade - the sweet and spicy combintation reminded me of kimchi! Served with taro chips - my favorite!

O&B Artisan Croissant Bread Pudding- spiced chocolate, peanut butter, kaffir lime

This was more of a dense/eggy cake,  not the moist custard-drenched bread pudding I like, but I did like the chocolate sauce.

Cortland Apple Fritter - maple and cider dulce de leche

Like giant timbits! I like the berry compote and dulce de leche.

Overall, I enjoyed my lunch here. Great Canadian classics with a twist.

Summerlicious $35 Dinner
French
4 Front St E

Came to O&B's (@Oliver_Bonacini) Biff's Bistro for dinner with 2 friends. A nice, simple meal in a quiet, French setting.



Salmon Tartare with Belgian endive, zucchini ribbons & Espelette mayo

I liked this and it was great paired with the thin, slightly bitter endive - something different than pairing with toasts. The mayo was good too. There was a lot of thin carrot ribbons.



Also shared half a dozen of buck a shuck oysters. They were a BC variety, too fishy for my taste.



Beef Steak Diane with mushroom peppercorn ragoût & pommes écrasées

Nice charred crust but it was not as rare as I wanted for a medium rare. While it was tender, it was also quite fiberous/difficult to cut and could be more juicy. I liked the mushrooms, green beans and potatoes.



Bordelle de Fraise with French meringue, Ontario strawberries, rhubarb compote & Chantilly

Essentially strawberries and whipped cream, this was a nice sweet & sour combination. Very simple pairing of strawberries, rhubarb, light Chantilly and French meringue bits. (But the spoon was a bit big for the jar)





We sat inside and I love the French bistro décor (sat near the bar) - very comfortable and cozy yet classy and great place for quiet conversation. Service was ok but I found that the server interrupted a few times. Also the bread was very hard & difficult to bite.

Verdict: Dishes were very standard yet well executed. Good for dates or small intimate groups.

8333 Kennedy Rd (at T&T Plaza), Markham

Discovered this Taiwanese cafe about a month ago and it's my current favorite for popcorn chicken lunch/dinner combo and a nice place for conversation. Space is large and spacious; a lot of staff compared to the low traffic. Very extensive drink menu, as well as lunch/dinner, snacks, and dessert (shaved ice, toast..)

Ordered from the $9.99 lunch/dinner menu which comes with a large drink and dessert (some jello/pudding). The complimentary garlic black pepper edamame is quite tasty as well.

Popcorn Chicken + Noodle; Grapefruit Green Tea
- large portions!! Couldn't finish at all
- popcorn chicken was crispy, light batter, and juicy
- noodle is plain white, soft, thin noodle, to balance out the saltiness of the deep fried meat, with some green veg. and egg

A compilation of what I ate in London. (In addition to Hawksmoor, Borough Market & Aquashard)

1. Vietnamese spring rolls & pho at Mien Tay in Pho Mile, Shoreditch area


2. Hot Salt Beef - Brick Lane Market
   


3. £10 steak at Flatiron.  Lovely juicy, tender shoulder cut with nice beef flavor and a cute little cleaver.


4. My fav coffee chain - Pret! Great salmon sandwich. Love the Americanos. (Also missing the Flat White from Costa Coffee.. )


5. Happy moment - found Stella Apple & Pear Cider at a local convience store


6. Sourdough pizza with anchovies, tomato, garlic, oregano, capers, olives, mozzerella - omg jam packed with salty anchovies goodness! at Franco Manca


7. Fish & Chips - flaky, meaty goodness. The mushy peas were great as well!


8. Fresh  juices from M&S to make up for lack of fruit & veg
   


9. The best ham & cheese crepe ever! at Creperie Angelie, Bicester Village
   


10. Amorino gelato
    


11. Udon at Koya, in Soho


12. Cottage pie ~ must squeeze in a second pub meal on our last night

London is another foodie heaven! Such a variety of diverse and multicultural foods for every budget. I ate fries (chips) every day and they were all delicious!! (So chunky and soft!) Too bad we didn't have time for a sit down Indian meal so settled with take-out butter chicken. We also had afternoon tea, but it didn't taste that great, mainly a nice photo opp.

I visited Shibui for their $25 Summerlicious dinner. It's seems like a pretty good deal for four courses (2 apps, main protein + veg, dessert), but order a $10 drink or $20 sake pairing and it adds up!

Couldn't resist getting a drink. Ume Yuzu Mojito - very refreshing from the shiso leaf, love the yuzu flavor; alcohol wasn't strong!

To start I had the Crispy Rice with Salmon. The rice wasn't crispy.

Next came the Shibui Salmon Maki - average spicy salmon rolls, 8 pieces!! B had Pirikara Ebi Maki - crispy fried shrimp on top of the avocado roll. Didn't like this one; couldn't taste shrimp.

For main, I chose Black Cod in Miso Glaze with Asparagus.  Thick, soft and meaty with a sweet glaze. The sweet potato was good also. Pork belly was a bit dry for my taste.

It's been 2+ months since my London trip and one of the best things I ate was the beef pie from Pieminister (@Pieminister) at Borough Market (@boroughmarket). Borough Market is a food market in Southwark with local vendor food stalls serving a variety of multicultural foods as well as wholesale & retail stores selling anything from cheese to fish. (For those in Toronto - think TUM x St. Lawerence Market) The full market is only open on certain days and the location is walking distance to London Bridge & the Shard area.

Food is around 5gbp per item. We sampled paella, Moong Dal Dosa (spiced lentil crepe filled with masala potato served with a side of chickpeas - crepe was dry and thick but I liked the spiced chickpeas with pomegranate), German sausage and best of all - Moo & Blue beef pie (British beef steak & long clawson stilton pie). I never liked beef pie (or pies in general) until I had this one - flaky crust, with warm, soft, flavorful beef inside (like Guinness) ... Seriously must try!!