Toronto Weekend July 2013: Part II

Our family went to Toronto one weekend for my cousin's wedding. This is the second, and final, part. The previous day can be found here [link].


We had breakfast at the hotel's breakfast buffet. It wasn't just a sad cereal and fruit selection with juice, coffee, and hot water. No, no. They had stuff like scrambled eggs, bagels, sliced bread, cubed fruits, and a waffle machine.

I didn't mean to have a carb-heavy breakfast. Lucy shared half of her waffle. I suspected that she couldn't finish it all. The breakfast sausages were very lean. They were close to being dry.

Lucy's comments:
Being the first one in the family at breakfast, I excitedly texted everyone to let them know that there was a waffle machine available.  It was an impressive feature for a complimentary breakfast.

After breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We headed to Pacific Mall to walk around a bit and get some bubble tea. We had already been drinking our bubble teas when we walked by a bubble tea shop that had winter melon tea available! Holy! Even though I barely had any of my drink, I was so tempted to buy a winter melon-flavoured drink. I think it must be a Taiwanese thing, because I can't really find it anywhere else. I found some expensive cans of winter melon tea at T&T. Not worth it. Next time... bubble tea shop... next time.

I have to admit that while walking around Pacific Mall, I was trying to buy time so that we could go for dim sum in the GTA before we head back home. But then I realized that we all had a late breakfast. No go. I gave up and we to Kingston for a late lunch.

Mother's Day Breakfast

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

This morning, Mom was greeted with a spread of Westphalian ham, spicy Genoa salami, sautéed spinach, eggs (poached and fried), and potato cheddar leek sourdough bread for breakfast.


Westphalian ham was soft and not as chewy as some prosciutto can be. When fried in a pan, the ham tasted like a smoky bacon. We all preferred to eat the Westphalian ham as is. Lucy picked this at the Golden Rooster Deli in Kingston, and also brought back a few other things from her brief visit to Kingston.


Sautéed spinach with onions and Greek salad dressing.


Slices of spicy Genoa salami.


Shredded old cheddar and mozzarella cheese.






Potato cheddar leek sourdough bread from Pan Chancho. The loaf of crusty bread was quite dense but was flavourful on its own.




We finished off breakfast with a sweet note. Lucy bought some desserts from Card's Bakery: cherry supreme bar, peanut butter brownie, and double chocolate brownie.

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Addresses:

Golden Rooster
111 Princess Street
Kingston, ON
613-549-6540


Pan Chancho
44 Princess Street
Kingston, ON
613-544-7790


Card's Bakery/Cakes by Krista
304 Bagot Street
Kingston, ON
613-544-4448

Roadie to Kingston: Sima Sushi and Arisu

A few days ago, Jimmy, Richard and I went to Kingston for Henry’s convocation. Since the convocation didn’t begin until the afternoon, we had lunch at Sima Sushi. This is Lucy and Jimmy's favourite sushi place in Kingston. You can read about their fondness of the restaurant here.

Each set included some salad and a bowl of miso soup. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I got the sashimi and maki lunch set. It came with yellowtail, tuna, salmon, and butterfish sashimi.

And also included some California rolls. Henry ordered the 1A Sushi lunch set which replaced the sashimi with sushi rolls (not pictured).

Richard got the unagi don. The eel was a bit fishy to me, though it’s normally like that, but it tasted fine with the rice and sauce.

Jimmy got a sashimi dinner set (salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and butterfish sashimi).

Lucy and Jimmy love Sima Sushi – oh, Andrew too! They always talk about the dreamy butterfish. I didn’t think it was that great.

It does look like Sima Sushi has been consistent over the years. Take a look at their two trips here and here about two years ago. Reading the two entries written by Lucy is a breath of fresh air. I know I'm not a great writer. Anyway...

We headed back to Henry’s place to chill after the ceremonies wrapped up. The plan was to go to Grecos for some Greek food, but we weren’t able to grab a table since everyone came in to town for the convocations. Henry suggested that we go to Wooden Head’s, while I suggested that we just grab some burgers from Five Guys (which happened to be a few steps away from Grecos).

We went to Arisu in the end. I really wanted to try Smoke’s Poutinerie, but we went to have Korean instead. You can read about the last time Lucy wrote about Arisu here.

I was surprised that the restaurant wasn’t packed, but I was glad at the same time. We ordered a plate of dukkboki (rice cakes) to share. As soon as I saw the dukkboki, I had a feeling that it the sauce would be a sweet and spicy sauce. You know, it's like the really sweet sauce buffets use for general tsao chicken. Anyway, it tasted exactly like I imagined. I'm sure this wasn't what it's supposed to taste like. Where are the fish cakes and large pieces of green onions? There was a weird (thin) crispy layer on the outside of each rice cake. It was probably from all the sugar.

There was only one waiter for the restaurant. The poor guy was definitely overwhelmed. We didn’t even get the banchan until after the dukkboki.

Anyway, the waiter brought the three small side dishes. The first one was a salad of bean sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, green onions, and daikon with a bit of sesame oil and other seasonings.

This was a plate of a potato salad. Richard and I much rather prefer the sticky potatoes that is usually served.

With just one look, I knew the kimchi wouldn’t be good. I was right. It wasn't very garlicky or stinky (fermented).

Richard and I split had got a plate of chap chae to share with the table. We barely touched it. It tasted fine but nothing that great – plus, it was easier to pack the chap chae up and eat it later.

Richard ordered the kimchi jigae (kimchi soup). Jimmy got the tofu soup (not pictured). I didn’t try Jimmy’s soup, but Richard’s soup was okay. I preferred mine over his.

I got the yuk kae jang (spicy beef with vegetables in soup).

Henry ordered the gamjatang (pork bone soup). We all tried Henry’s soup and immediately wished we ordered the gamjatang instead. The soup was sweeter than mine was. The sweet taste of the pork bones and meat was so good! Oh man, my mouth is watering now. Richard ranked the soups from crappiest to the best: Jimmy’s tofu soup, his own kimchi jigae, my yuk kae jang, and then the gamjatang.

After we paid the bill and left the restaurant with full bellies. We dropped Henry back at his place and then headed back to Ottawa. I sure do miss roadies!

~*~*~

Addresses:

Sima Sushi
66 Princess St.
Kingston, ON
613-542-8040


Arisu
185 Division St.
Kingston, ON
613-531-9265

Random Tidbits: Part 5 - Camping at Sandbanks

Here's part 5.

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Every year, our family does a camping trip and last year we went to Sandbanks. Now, when our family goes camping it’s not exactly what you think. We don’t backpack and hike to find a campsite, nor do we portage as a family. Nope. We do get a campsite, cook over the campfire, roast marshmallows over the embers, sleep in tents – although some family members do bring along their air mattresses… psh! Our family does go to the beach for the day to swim, tan, play catch in the water, etc. But where everything changes is what we bring to eat. Other than the Canadian breakfast options (bread, eggs, bacon, breakfast sausages, coffee, and hot chocolate), our meals were purely Chinese/Cambodian based; rice, marinated pork and chicken, bok la hong, lap, gapit pao, etc. We'd have the same things to eat from day 2 to the last day... anyway, that's another story for another time.

When we went to the beach, while camping at Sandbanks, we brought along lunch and other snacks. You know, the typical lunch and snacks you’d expect when you go camping? Like gapit pao, rice, sliced cucumbers, bread, marinated pork and chicken, bok la hong, and pickled carrots and daikon. Yeah, those typical Canadian camping food options.

So what did Lucy enjoy when we were on the beach? A gross sandwich made of gapit pao and rice in a hot dog bun. Wow. To be fair, I love my share of trashy foods as well, like eating mock chicken (the stuff with the bright orange stuff on the outside) sandwiches on white processed bread with hot chocolate. I’m not ashamed of my guilty pleasure, but Lucy, I’m not so sure. I think she forgot about her lunch on the beach.

When I showed her these pictures, she couldn’t believe that she ate this for lunch. She ended up eating 3 or 4 of these. Yikes.

Hmm… I think I should explain what gapit pao is. To be honest, I don’t even know how to spell it. It’s a Cambodian dish made of shrimp paste, onions, ground pork, red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. You eat with rice and/or vegetables like sliced cucumbers.

When it was time to go back home, half of the family went to Toronto (since Sandbanks is almost half-way between Ottawa and Toronto), while the rest of us went back home to Ottawa. On our way home, we dropped by Kingston for lunch. My dad was craving his favourite pizza. Guess what his favourite pizza is?

Nope.

Wrong.

This is going nowhere. Let me just tell you. My dad’s favourite pizza is made by A&P (now called Metro). The thing he loves about it is the thin crust, the amount of cheese and – the most important thing – how cheap the pizza is.

With 7 mouths to feed, two of their family sized pizzas were more than enough to feed us. At $12.99 for a family sized pizza with 3 toppings (on each pizza), I have to admit, it is cheap. We enjoyed the pizzas with some pop and junk food by the waterfront on a warm and very sunny Kingston day.

The first pizza was half pineapple and bacon crumble (bleh) and half Italian sausage.

The second pizza was half pepperoni and green peppers and pepperoni and bacon crumble. I really liked their tomato sauce. It was very simple with chunks of tomatoes. Other than that, it was a solid meh-pizza.

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: