Momofuku Daisho – Toronto, ON

Momofuku Daisho
Third floor, 190 University Ave
Toronto, ON
(647) 253-6227

Let’s continue on this “David Chang in Canada” journey shall we, by taking another flight upstairs to the third and top floor of Toronto’s house of Momofuku.  With the tasting menu offerings of the impressive looking counter seat-only kitchen of Shoto unavailable this evening, the remaining choice was the ala carte menu offerings at Daisho.  In case you are interested, I was informed by the hostess the two spaces are run by two seperate teams of chefs.

The large glass panels that feature prominently all along the outer barrier of the floor space is stunning.  As you are led to your table and make your way through the aesthetically clean lined tables and seating, you get the sense that you will definitely be paying for this view in the menu prices.  Watching the blue hour unfold if you time your visit nicely, is something I would recommend experiencing.

Momofuku Milk Bar – Toronto, ON

Momofuku Milk Bar
190 University Ave
Toronto, ON

Swapping out a single word in the title of the previous post, we find ourselves upstairs in the very same establishment and into a glass-walled cool room, set up as a mini dessert shop-within-a-shop. It is a fully self-service, including the need to return down the flight of stairs to pay for purchases; which can be a pain when the hostess is trying to process a bill for a customer from the Noodle Bar, or trying to escort new customers to their seats. With a minimal footprint, if you’re in there browsing the goods with even a few other people, you can feel a bit squeezed in. I imagine it is a nice place to be in during the humid Toronto summer, but the late-winter/early-spring season makes you think you’re actually back outdoors.

Momofuku Noodle Bar – Toronto, ON

Momofuku Noodle Bar
190 University Ave
Toronto, ON
(647) 253-6225

In a recent discussion with the Foodosopher, we touched on the topic of this website, our former haunt where we used to regularly pen our thoughts on our latest eating adventures and released them to the oblivion of the internet. Was anyone still reading it? A good question. The WordPress stats seem to indicate there is still a stream of traffic coming mainly from search engines, much to my surprise. So let’s see what happens with this post, a testing of the waters so to speak…

Hogtown Bar and Grill – Toronto, ON

Hogtown Bar and Grill
Level 2, Post-Security, Domestic
Toronto Pearson International Airport
(416) 776-0492

Your truly up in the air again, headed east and also down to the southeast. In other words pretty much as far away from Vancouver and still remaining in the continental US of A. As such, I thought I’d quickly spit out a brief post of a desperation meal I had at our country’s largest and busiest airport while waiting to board a transfer flight. Situated right in the open with seating clearly seen by all the people passing through and mingling near the close by gates, it has its benefits as you can easily know when you plane has arrived and its time to book…

A friendly, one might say overly for an establishment of this level, waiter-type was our lone human interaction. Rattling off a few suggestions, of course dropping in a few of those dreaded “oh, its one of my personal favorites” that seem to spill off the tongues of so many servers these days, my dining mates both got some kind of chicken wrap item, while I opted for this. Supposed to be some kind of breaded chicken breast sandwich. Instead of the accompanying fries, I asked to swap with their soup of the day which was a chili.

XOCOCAVA – Toronto, ON

XOCOCAVA
1560 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON
416-979-9916

Located just a few yards off Younge and tucked out of view is a tiny chocolatier called XOCOCAVA.  I must thank a good friend of mine who sent me here, but I sure wish he had given me a little better directions than “Younge and St.Clair”.

As this was my first time walking into this establishment – my eyes were fixated on trying to understand what resembled a  ‘periodic table’ of chocolate truffles.  Once I managed to figure this out, I was faced with the larger decision of beverages, pastries, candies, ice cream and sorbets.

What a Bakery – Toronto, ON

What a Bakery
875 Milner Ave
Toronto, ON

Once upon a time, my wife worked at a bakery to help out a friend.  Waking up at 2am to GO to work was absolutely mind-boggling, but I sure enjoyed waking up to a fresh loaf of bread, and the occasional treat.  As we started our journey out of Toronto, we turned off the highway for a coffee in the suburb of Scarborough – and happened to come across this bakery.

I’ve written in the past about my love of cornbread, and this cornbread muffin ranks as one my favorites.  My second choice for the road, was the cinnamon twist (figured it would be easy to eat while driving).  Both were superb.

Stonegrill – Toronto, ON

Stonegrill
51 Winchester St
Toronto, ON
(416) 967-6565

Anyone familiar with Korean gogi gui or Japanese yakiniku, has experienced being served a platter of raw meat and given full control to cook at their own table. Stonegrill, takes this in a slightly different direction by replacing the sliced meat with a thick steak, and the table mounted grill with a pre-heated slab of stone.

Pictured here is the 10 oz. Certified Angus striploin, cooking atop the stone block.  Our waiter explained that “the stone is a volcanic rock imported from Iceland, heated to 750 degrees – which sears in the natural juices and is the healthiest way to cook a steak as it requires no additional oil”.

I didn’t want to get into any major discussions about this at the table (as we were visiting some old friends) – but can someone explain to me how this could be any “healthier” than cooking my steak on a bbq? The myth of searing meat to contain natural juices is a topic I won’t dive into on this post.  Nonetheless, I was a little disappointed that they use this to promote their restaurant concept.

Cora’s – Toronto, ON

Cora’s Breakfast & Lunch
277 Wellington St W
Toronto, ON
(416) 598-2672

This particular post was recently conducted in Toronto, but was spurred by the sighting of a new Cora’s restaurant opening in South Edmonton.  If you’ve ever spent any time in Eastern Canada – chances are, you are already familiar with the popular breakfast & lunch restaurant operating under the cartoon image of a smiling sun.

Cora’s chain of restaurants is the result of the success story of Cora Mussely Tsouflidou and her first Chez Cora restaurant started in Montreal, Quebec in 1987.  This breakfast chain has quickly grown to become a very popular breakfast destination, while it continues to expand across Canada and South into the US.

The prominent draw to this establishment is their offering of huge portions of fresh fruit, paired with classic breakfast  fare.

The Fresh Fruit Waffles is the go-to option for my friend and Toronto resident.  A sweet custard over the waffle is topped with a mound of fresh fruit.  Beautiful to look at, and from their expression – it must have been as good as expected.

Ichiban Sushi – Toronto, ON

Ichiban Sushi
Front St. E & Wellington St. E
Toronto, ON
(416) 862-9191

Continuing my tour of downtown Toronto, I happened to find myself standing out the front door of Ichiban Sushi. Located across the street from the historical Godderham building (a.k.a. Flatiron Building), a couple blocks east of Yonge.

Ichiban – translating to ‘number one’ in english, is terribly overused in the naming of Japanese restaurants throughout North America.  This is one of my personal warning signs – usually preventing me from going to eat at a particular restaurant; however, my overwhelming hunger won.

I usually try to order at least one cooked dish at every Japanese restaurant to get a full picture of an establishment, and I’m a sucker for good gyoza.  These were served with a nice crisp base, and a flavourful filling.  It was a little off-putting to see them cooking these on a rickety stove just to the left of the sushi bar, but the outcome was just fine.

Next to arrive was the the green dragon maki.  The presentation is definitely non-traditional, but I did enjoy the playfulness of it.  On a side note (maybe this is just a mental thing) – but I much prefer the choice of naming this a dragon over a caterpillar (something I saw years ago at a different restaurant).

We also ordered the 20 piece chef’s choice nigiri combo.  This was rather disappointing.  I would have expected a higher quality and selection of fish, not to mention that the nigiri were ridiculously small.  Don’t get me wrong – I am not saying that nigiri sushi needs to be big – but these were tiny ( I honestly could have slid my wedding ring over some of these).

The ebi were prepared poorly, as they were split right through (my guess is that they were using factory deveined shrimp), and the majority of the fish was dry and as already mentioned – the selection was weak.   From a presentation perspective – I’m not a fan of stacking sushi on top of another – and yet again with ridiculous garnishes of parsley, lemon, and baran.

I have since discovered that this restaurant is a franchise location (another of my personal warning signs).  Belonging to the Ichiban Sushi House organization, currently operating about 20 locations throughout the GTA.  It appears to be a Korean run organization – as their Ichiban sushi college website is entirely published in hangul.

I was a little perturbed with their claim that they are “one of the leading figures in Canada that developed the Sushi industry”, especially since they’ve only been in operation since 1983.   I know a few places even in Edmonton, which have been around years before this.

Bikkuri Japanese Restaurant – Toronto, ON

Bikkuri Japanese Restaurant
36 King Street East
Toronto, Ontario  M5C 1E5
Tel: (416) 369-0330

I recently found myself staying downtown Toronto, near the financial district for a few days.  Much like the first time I visited this city – the humidex was up making my Alberta-acclimatized self,  feel as though I was standing in a steam-room.  😉

Stepping out onto Yonge Street – I pull out my trusty iphone and run the iSushi application, to identify the closest sushi restaurants from my current location.  Weeding out any obvious no-no’s, we start walking towards Bikkuri Japanese Restaurant located on King Street and a block east of Yonge.

We are promptly seated in this surprisingly large restaurant, and are given a large selection of choices from their huge menu.  We ordered some chicken karaage as an appetizer, and the mains consisted of the nabeyaki udon, nigiri sushi combo, and the salmon-teriyaki.  The latter two entrees came with a starter salad and bowl of miso soup, which both arrived quickly.  Both tasted very good, which put my initial concerns about our destination decision at ease.

The chicken karaage arrived quickly – served on a soba dish garnished with lemon wedges.  The karaage was cooked well, but the flavour lacked punch.  Figuring that a shot of lemon might perk this up a little – I found that it was difficult to use – as the wedge was subjected to some unnecessary knife-work to partially separate the fruit from the rind.

Moving to the entrees, the salmon-teriyaki scored average.  The salmon portion was huge – served in three slices, with veg and a bowl of rice.  The fish was cooked well, saved by the pleasant flavour of the teriyaki sauce being just right (not overly sweet).  The sides of carrot and broccoli seemed like an odd pairing though.

The nabeyaki udon was by far the worst dish on the table.  Soup had no flavour (we even tried to make it palatable by adding lots of togarashi), and the presentation lacked any visible appeal.

The highlight of the night was the nigiri sushi.  Presented well, good balance of fish-to-rice, every piece tasted very fresh.  The shari had a slightly sweeter flavour than I’m used to, but was still good.   I would like to acknowledge the knife-work by the itamae, as he took the time to trim the ebi-tail for that little bit of flair, scored the tai and ika to attain a uniform nigiri form.

My only complaint would be that the tako was a bit thin, and the six lemon slices garnishing the plate were completely unnecessary.

Overall – I would recommend Bikkuri for their nigiri sushi, but think they should revisit their cooked dishes as they can use some work.

Smoke’s Poutinerie – Toronto, ON

Smoke’s Poutinerie
218 Adelaide St. W
Toronto, ON
(416) 599-CURD (2873)

Ah poutine… a traditional comfort food right up there with pizza or Mac & Cheese. Now I know what many of you are thinking: a specialty restaurant for a side dish of fries with cheese and gravy on top? Why? Bear with me on this one…

Most people have had poutine at a school cafeteria or local greasy spoon and not really given it a second thought (aside from dealing with the heartburn afterwards). Or perhaps like myself, at some all-night diner after a night of bacchanalian activities — just to round out the bodily abuse. But don’t let the fact that cafeterias and diners across Canada simply put some shredded mozzarella cheese and generic gravy on fries convince you that there’s nothing more to know about poutine.

Having grown up in western Canada, I have to admit that I’m hardly an expert on the finer points of this Québécois-native comfort food. In fact, I don’t think I had even tried it until I was in university. However, having made a number of road trips to Mont Tremblant and Montréal over the years ever since moving to Toronto, I’ve definitely put away some fine plates of poutine. And while I wouldn’t say I’m a full-fledged poutine aficionado, I can definitely differentiate an authentic plate from the standard diner fare.

Unfortunately, outside of the province of Quebec, it seems hard to find restaurants with the same sense of tradition and dedication to the dish. So I was pretty excited to hear about the grand opening of Smoke’s Poutinerie here in Toronto, and their plan to import real cheddar cheese curds from Quebec for their poutine. Not surprisingly of course, their first choice of location was in the heart of the club district.

Located directly above Burrito Boyz (another fine comfort food establishment) on Adelaide, it’s a fairly unassuming location. The interior could be mistaken for any fast food chain aside from the chalkboard for the post-club crowd to add their wisdom and insight to (“I love you Stephen Harper” was the word from the street when I went) and Smoke’s distinctive logo/face plastered on the walls in a kind of punk-rock caricature way. It was also not-so-subtly guerrilla-branded around town in preparation for the grand opening.

It’s a pretty small place designed for people who want grab a quick bite on the go. Bar stools line the windowed areas, and a few small tables in the remaining space. I’d say the location seats about 40 people max, but I’d imagine that most customers take their poutine to eat on the go.

But let’s get to the heart of the matter — the poutine. Now Smoke’s has a number of interesting takes on the dish: Bacon Poutine, Curry Chicken Poutine, Nacho Grande Poutine. However, I felt that for my first visit, the traditional style would be the best way to judge the quality and authenticity of Smoke’s.

So there it is in all it’s greaseful glory. For $5.95, you get a serving which should be hefty enough to soak up the last couple of drinks you shouldn’t have had, or to satisfy the munchies. I wouldn’t plan on needing anything else to eat afterwards, so it’s definitely good value for those on a budget (and eating healthy is secondary).

The verdict? The cheese curds were perfect — fresh, squeaky when you bite into them, mild flavored (unlike the orange cheddar which is used on many poutines around Toronto) so that they combine well with the gravy. The fries were also superb — made in house fresh daily using Yukon Gold potatoes and double blanched in sunflower oil. The size of the fries was just right for me. Slightly larger than McDonalds’ fries so that they can hold up to the gravy, but not so large that you end up with a bland potato center.

The one downside was the gravy. While it was good, it seemed to be lacking in flavor slightly and tended to disappear in the dish. I’ve discussed this with others and we can’t quite put our finger on what exactly it’s missing. Seasoning? Or perhaps it hadn’t been reduced enough (like it didn’t have enough time to stew)? Regardless, it didn’t seem to measure up to some of the other poutine gravies I’ve had. My wife also said that it had a bit too much cinnamon flavor for her.

Nitpicking aside, I can say that it’s the best poutine I’ve had outside of Quebec. I’m not sure how big a compliment that is given that I really haven’t found many restaurants around Toronto (or otherwise) in which it’s more than a sidenote. However, it certainly fares well even among the ones I’ve had in Quebec.

So if you have a craving for the real deal, want to find out what all the fuss is about, or are just looking for the comfort of three types of grease in one meal, Smoke’s should live up to expectations.