Pan Chancho, Northern Dumpling Kitchen, and Kenzo Ramen - June 23rd/24th

We made a trip down to Toronto for my graduation at the end of June. Jimmy, Andrew, Lucy and I stopped in Kingston first. By the time we arrived, it was around 10 in the morning. Jimmy's brother met us for breakfast at Pan Chancho.



Lucy ordered the croissant and the apple cider french toast with creme fraiche and maple syrup.


Andrew and I got the croissant breakfast sandwich with bacon. Jimmy had the croissant sandwich with chorizo instead. It came with a BBQ-ish salsa. I felt like the croissant was a bit dry. It wasn't anything special.


Henry had the smoked salmon platter. He definitely enjoyed it. It's a good thing, too, because Jimmy and Andrew were eyeing it the whole time.

Most people wanted to go to Sima Sushi for butter fish sashimi, but I'm glad we came here instead. Sure, it wasn't that great, but it helped settle my stomach. I wonder why I keep getting car sick. Does anyone have any tips to prevent it - other than drugs?

We arrived in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) just before my graduation. Needing a quick snack before getting my gown, Lucy and Andrew picked up two spicy patties in a bun from the Ackee Tree, located in Humber College.


A bit of ketchup and hot sauce, and it's ready to go down the hatch.


After grad, we checked into the hotel and took naps/showers before meeting up with Liz for a dumpling dinner. Guess where we went? Here's a hint... I've gushed about the dumplings here and here.


The Northern Dumpling Kitchen, home of the amazing chicken potstickers.


Aren't they beautiful? The potstickers were just as tasty as all the other times. I'm starting to drool just thinking about it.


The xiao long bao (aka XLB or soup dumplings) are also really good here. The skin is so thin that you can see the filling. You know, out of all the times I've been here, the dumplings have only arrived empty of soup once. They also rarely stick to the steamer/wax paper and rip. It has never happened to me before, though Lucy ripped one after she eagerly picked one up. If you ask around, I'm pretty sure other people have had the same experience. It's so sad when there's no soup in the soup dumplings you order, and when the dumplings rip and spill the soup.


A bit of vinegar and ginger slivers on my spoon await a plump dumpling.


You are so fat - oh how I love thee!


Take a peek inside.

Because Andrew and Jimmy needed more substance than dumplings and a plate of stir fried rice cakes, we ordered a few more dishes.


Fried pork intestines.


Some veggies: stir-fried snow pea shoots.


The surprisingly tasty dish was Andrew's lamb noodle soup. This picture doesn't do it justice at all because here, the clear broth looks flavourless. Quite the contrary, my friends. It was full of lamb flavour in a wonderful, slow simmering stock.

After dinner, we grabbed bubble tea at the Ten Ren on Warden and Steeles Ave E (in the Metro Square). Lucy added another cup to her collection. I'll get a picture of it later.

The next day, we dropped by Kenzo Ramen for a quick lunch. We didn't want to spend too long downtown because it was the G20 Summit weekend.

Starting with the simplest ramen.





I ordered the simple shio (salt) ramen. This was so much better than the shoyu ramen I had last time! The soup was refreshingly simple. But the flavour is so remarkable. Just trying to decipher what went into making the broth/stock made my head hurt. It takes an amazing chef to make it taste this good.

The photo was taken from another trip to Toronto.




Jimmy had the Tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen.




Lucy had the Sapporo-style (named after the city, not the beer) miso ramen.




Andrew's Orochong (spicy) ramen. His bowl of ramen had veggies that had been stir-fried to a smoky perfume (wok hei), and added to a spicy, yet flavourful, soup. We all enjoyed the smoky dimension of the Orochong ramen.


The cha siu, I have to mention, is different from the Chinese version. Both are delicious though! This super moist and tender slice of Japanese cha siu is bursting with unadulterated pork, whereas the Chinese style cha siu is marinated in spices. You can never get enough of either. Just look at the marbling!

Just like Lucy and Jimmy's first visit here, we wolfed everything down in record timing. Random fact, we saw a motorcade go by when we were leaving. Yup.


It's getting late. Need to pack and get ready for another trip to Toronto. I'm off to help cover The GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon. Good luck to all racers!

Update: Lucy and I returned to Toronto during the marathon weekend. There was a lot of food, of course.

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Address:

Epic Food Disappointment at the Dragon Boat Festival – June 19, 2009

Yes, I am more than three months behind. I considered ignoring this long-promised post, but I realized that I hated the food so much, the story demanded to be told.

After the team meeting at the Dragon Boat Race Festival, Christine and I wandered over to the food vendors for dinner. We finally settled on Jamaican food from Fitz’s Catering.

I was sooooooooooooooo disappointed.



I ordered a spicy Jamaican patty because I was REALLY craving something that would punch me in the mouth with flavour (The Diet was starting to get to me at that point). I wanted a flaky, crispy exterior with a rich, spicy, meaty filling. Instead, I bit into hard, crunchy pastry filled with dry, flavourless minced meat.

As I ate, I broke off the super hard bits because they were simply inedible. It was clear that the patties had been overcooked to begin with, and then they sat around for too long in the warmer. It was pretty gross. I’m not sure there’s much you could change to make it delicious, except buying one from another stand!



We also got a goat curry roti, which was a giant scoop of goat curry wrapped up in a flatbread. There was some potential awesomeness in this dish, but it really let me down.

The curry was a smidge too gamey for me to eat every day, but I enjoyed it. The goat was quite tender, though not properly prepared. There were shards of bone in the curry and large chunks of inedible bits (cartilage, tough tendons, and God-knows-what), which turned me off almost immediately. The potatoes, on the other hand, were delicious. This could be attributed to my carb-loving soul, seriously deprived over the preceding months.

I really hated the chickpeas. At first, they were okay, but as I continued to chew, they just sucked out the last bit of moisture and flavour in my mouth. Powdery and flavourless, they detracted from an already mediocre goat curry. I ignored them after my first few bites.

The next day, the festival organizers provided all of the volunteers with food vouchers (worth $6, I think) for Friday Organics. No pictures of the food, unfortunately, but the food itself was decent. We ordered a cheeseburger, poutine, and a few drinks. Christine said that the gravy tasted like it came out of can, and I totally agreed. But it was good.

I think I’m going to have to lower my expectations a little bit when I eat at festivals and events. I was expecting super deliciousness from Fitz’s Catering, so that was probably unfair. When I ordered the food from Friday’s Organics, I knew that I was getting a cheeseburger and poutine. I didn’t expect it to be awesome, and it wasn’t. It was exactly what I ordered, and it certainly met my expectations.





While I don’t have any pictures of the races, I do have a few shots of our badass temporary tattoos. The stand made a killing because their customers were walking billboards. Christine had her dragon tattoo on her neck, and I put mine on the back of my calf. Word.

Anyway, Christine and I had a blast at the Dragon Boat Race Festival, and we’ll probably return as volunteers next year. We will have to ensure that we have one day to wander around and photograph the event itself because I was only armed with a shitty camera phone. Oops!

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Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival
Mooney's Bay Beach
Ottawa, ON

Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival Vendors

Jamaican Patties

I've never really been a fan of Jamaican patties. The ones I've tried have all been frozen. They just aren't that great. I find the filling sometimes unappetizing, as I seem to always have mushy bits inside. I'm thinking they're supposed to be onions? Gross! I know it's funny that I'm going to say this, because I hate when my mom said it, but it'll taste so much better if I make it myself.

Why am I talking about Jamaican patties all of a sudden? Well, there's a small Jamaican food stall-place on (the North campus of) Humber College called Ackee Tree. Ever since the first day of school, I've always seen at least five different people eating their Jamaican patties everyday. I've also seen people eat some chicken and other things that the school's cafeteria could not make.

On a long and tiring day, I picked up a Jamaican patty before they closed (6ish?), found myself a seat in the hall and started munching. The first time I bit into it, I immediately thought of meat pie and shephard's pie. The second and third bites I thought to myself, okay, this isn't that bad. But then half way through it, I was struggling to chew and swallow the damn thing. The spicy patty that I got wasn't all that spicy, but the heat overwhelmed any flavour that was there. It just wasn't fun to eat.

The next week, my friends and I were walking up to class when one of them decided to pick up a patty. He asked for a 'patty in a bun', but they were sold out of buns. I had no idea what that was, so I asked him, and he told me that it was literally a Jamaican patty in a bun. Genius! He said that the bun really made it taste better, after I told him about my experience I had the previous week. Hmm.. okay, I'll give it another go.

Later that week, I found myself walking by the Ackee Tree on my way back from class. There was a pretty long line up, as it was noon. They couldn't have run out of buns yet... I turn myself around and stood in the line up. As I was waiting, I noticed that people were cutting the line and just went up to the cash and asked for a patty, paid, and then left. So after watching a couple of more people do this, I move toward the cash and ask for a spicy patty in a bun. The line was for people who wanted to order everything else. I found myself a seat nearby and looked at the patty in a bun. Will you end up in my stomach or the garbage this time? I took a bite. I was shocked. I stared at it again. I took another bite and then another.

The light, fluffy bread tasted sweet. I was expecting some crappy bread that was close to it's expiry date, but this was almost the exact opposite. It was so soft and moist. Mmm... my friend was right, it made the patty taste so much better. It only costs $3 too! Add a pop and it's $4. But since I'm a thrifty student, I went to the bookstore for a $1 Arizona's Ice Tea. I watered it down, like I do with all juices, and enjoy my watered-down-iced-tea for the rest of the day.

Since that first one, I've had many, many more. They usually run out of spicy patties by the afternoon though, so I open up my mild patty in the bun and add some of their green spicy hot sauce. I've tried squirting a bit of ketchup, too, just to help bring back the spiciness. I think it's the best thing on campus. Quick, delicious, cheap and healthy. Okay, maybe not the last one.

Now I'm one of those students eating a Jamaican patty.

~ Christine

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Address:

250 Humber College Blvd.

Etobicoke, ON

Across the bookstore, beside the large screens.