Toronto Trip #1 of 4 – July 11, 2009

I travelled a lot this summer, so it was pretty hectic. We went to Toronto four times in the last half of the summer. Yeah. On most of these trips, The Diet was on hiatus.

This post, as evidenced by the title, is the first of four.

See part two here.

See part three here.

See part four here.

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The first stop in Toronto was First Markham Place for lunch. The food court is filled with a variety of different cuisines including Cantonese, Taiwanese, Korean, and Japanese.



We picked up menus from each stand, placed our orders, and waited patiently.



Top right, going clockwise: Fujian braised tofu, beef and wood ear fungus, deep-fried fish with soy sauce.



Christine’s noodles.



The spread. We bought meal combos, which comes with a few dishes, rice and a choice of either a cup of soy milk or a bowl of soup (plain broth). Our ravenous family (the five of us) devoured everything. I think we only had one container of food leftover.



After lunch, we bought bubble tea. This is the mango bubble tea, complete with chunks of ripe mango. It was a yummy treat that helped soothe our overfilled bellies.



While wandering around First Markham Place, I spotted a vending machine that sold Domo-kun key chains. I was unable to resist his toothy grin, and I bought one. As you can see, he has a baseball bat. A little weird, but I love it.



We headed to Chinatown, so my mum could shop. Christine and I went to Nguyen Huong for banh mi. I bought two dozen regular (assorted meat) subs on a whim, mostly because I haven’t had a proper banh mi sandwich in a long time.

Watching the women assemble the sandwiches was mesmerizing. It was the most efficient assembly line I’ve ever seen. One woman was in charge of smearing pâté and margarine on the bread. Another woman added the Vietnamese deli meats. Finally, the last woman added the pickled daikon and carrots, and the cilantro. The order was filled in less than ten minutes. Take that, Subway!



We brought the Vietnamese subs back to the car, and I dug into one right away. The bread was crusty and just chewy enough to satisfy. Oh, it was so fresh and delicious! I had forgotten how much I loved these sandwiches.



After Chinatown, we drove out to Humber College…



… and saw a groundhog…



… while eating cherries under the gazebo overlooking the soccer field. Cherries were on sale in Chinatown, so my mum bought huge bagfuls. They were perfectly sweet and juicy. ‘Nuff said.

No one had any ideas for dinner, so I suggested Mr. Sun’s Noodle House in Scarborough. Having been there before (Jimmy and I also stopped there for lunch on our way to Sarnia though I didn't take pictures), I was excited to show my family the noodles that a native Taiwanese--a.k.a. Jimmy--proclaimed to be authentic.



We started with the wintermelon tea, which Christine and Andrew loved. We only ordered two at first, but ended up ordering two more midway through dinner.

The glass of tea in the back was free.



This little dish of pickled mustard got Christine and my mum raving. They adored the depth the sesame oil brought to such a simple garnish.



The famous Taiwanese beef noodle soup. We ordered three bowls of regular beef noodle soup, and my mum ordered the beef noodle and tendon soup.



We prepared a small bowl of noodle soup for my dad because he ordered…



… the beef stew. My dad said that he wanted to try something different off the menu, and while I usually follow that philosophy, you just don’t mess around at a beef noodle soup joint. Get the noodles and get out! My dad ate only half of it, so I’m assuming it wasn’t great.





As you can see from the menu, this was a ridiculously cheap place for dinner. Sadly though, this place no longer exists. Mr. Sun’s has closed down, and it is now called Mirage or something like that. The next post in the Toronto trip series will cover how we found out.





So sad... so sad.


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First Markham Place, Food Court
Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Nguyen Huong Vietnamese Sandwich
322 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON
(416) 599-4625

Humber College, North Campus
205 Humber College Boulevard
Toronto, ON

Mr. Sun’s Noodle House *CLOSED*
4186 Finch Avenue East, Unit 25
Scarborough, ON