20150712 Toronto Trip: Messini & Chatime

We had brunch earlier at Pho Dau Bo. Andrew and I had a free day, so we called our cousin, JT, and met her at Vaughan Mills. We browsed through a few stores and then made our way to Chatime.


There are so many choices! I went with the usual grass jelly roasted milk tea. Andrew wanted to try something new. Hilarity ensues.

20150712 Toronto Trip: Pho Dau Bo

The morning following my cousin, JS's wedding, my aunt and uncle took us to a pho place for brunch. During the car ride to the restaurant, my aunt told us that she had friends from Vaughn that would drive down to this restaurant, Pho Dau Bo, located in the same plaza as Long Hui Supermarket.


They had an impressive spread of Vietnamese dishes.

We ordered a few bowls of noodles. I had to go with their pho with beef balls. My aunt said that the restaurant makes them, so of course, we were interested. They reminded me of the beef balls that we used to get from Montreal. Their beef balls were tiny though.


The soup tasted just like our homemade pho. It was very comforting because it wasn't overly sweet with a punchy cinnamon flavour. The rice noodles that the restaurant used was more slippery and bouncy than we're used to. I'm disappointed that I forgot to ask what brand of noodles they used. Were they fresh rice noodles?


Dad had their mild bun bo hue and enjoyed it. He preferred another place because they didn't add enough lemongrass here.

Their noodles stood out to me. I can see why people like this over other pho places. Their local chain has expanded to many locations in the GTA.

~*~
Pho Dau Bo
2437 Finch Ave W
North York, ON
416-749-9943
 

Noodles at Rice Pea

It was brought to my attention that we've only written about Rice Pea on just one other occasion. The small restaurant hidden on Carling has joined our regular restaurant rotation. Our favourite dish from this northern Chinese restaurant has to be the noodles pictured above. It's listed as 'N02' on the menu. These house made noodles are chewy and tossed in a mix of chili oil, black vinegar, roughly chopped garlic, and some dried chili. I can eat a bowl by myself. Let me correct that statement to: I have eatten a bowl by myself -- it's that good.

Jack Astor's Lansdowne: Zomato Meetup

Have you been to the redeveloped Lansdowne Park recently? Do you remember what it used to look like? My memories are a bit foggy. I vaguely remember going down for the SuperEx and going to 67's games. Gone are the empty lots. Now there are places like Whole Foods, Lindt Chocolate Shop, Winners, and Cineplex Cinemas. Among the new shiny establishments, Jack Astor's can be found by the Aberdeen Pavilion. Earlier this week, I had the privilege to be invited to the third Zomato Meetup in Ottawa.



Once we were all introduced to one another, we went on a brief tour around the restaurant. We learned that Jack Astor's has added more of a local feel at both their Lansdowne and Hunt Club location. At this specific location, they have coasters that feature local personalities, arena lights that used to light the old Civic Centre, pictures and memorabilia of Ottawa's sports history. Don't be shy to ask the staff if you're curious about the decor.

Ahora

Ahora has been popular with locals for many years. Located down some stairs along Dalhousie Street, this small Mexican restaurant serves items like tostadas, tacos, enchiladas, horchata and churros.




After we ordered and payed, we visited the salsa bar and brought some condiments to our table.


On this warm sunny day, I went with two tacos ($9.25) and had the chicken and steak, My friend, MB, was really hungry so she had a burrito grande ($9.25).

The double corn tortillas were filling. It didn't look like much at all. The tacos were alright. I preferred the chicken over the steak because the steak was overdone. I think the flavour of corn tortillas are not my favourite. Maybe I haven't had the right ones, or maybe I'm just not used to them, but they remind me of something being stale. I prefer the less authentic flour tortillas. I'll try their burrito next time.

~
Ahora
307 Dalhousie Street
Ottawa, ON
613-562-2081

Father's Day Banquet Lunch

Father's Day was a day before Grandpa's 80th birthday this year. The extended family gathered at Sea King Restaurant for a huge banquet lunch that started off with Peking duck. I didn't photograph every dish, but here are some notables:


The Peking duck wasn't sliced properly. Usually the skin is sliced and served with the pancakes. Then the duck meat is stir-fried and served with lettuce to wrap. And the third rendition is supposed to use the bones for soup. We got two versions of duck that day; the skin, with a bit of meat attached, on top of disappointing limp shrimp chips, and then a plate of the duck meat.


A family favourite, shrimp paste balls, arrived. These are the same mixture that restaurants use to make those stuffed crab claws that you get during Chinese wedding banquets. Grandpa likes these too.




Grandpa wasn't happy to see the Chinese roast chicken. In his opinion, if we got the duck, then we didn't need this. We had to remind him that it was part of the set meal and to try and enjoy it. The chicken skin was so crispy and the meat was very tender and juicy. The chicken is usually left mainly untouched, since it tastes great reheated the next day. But the chicken was finished.


This was an unfamiliar dish of young snow pea shoots with crab meat and egg whites. The family really enjoyed the dish.


The lobsters with ginger and onion were spot on for me that day.


The last two main dishes were fried rice and braised e-fu noodles. The e-fu noodles were slightly smoky and tasted even better when mixed with some of the lobster and ginger onion sauce.


The set lunch was capped off with a plate of almond cookies.


But our lunch finished with a fragrant durian layer cake from Kowloon Market (about $23/lb of durian), which my uncle picked up beforehand. Although we were in a private room, I still felt bad for anyone who was eating in the restaurant. The room reeked of durian and we overheard people talking about the smell. Most of the family loves durian. I find that I have to be in the mood for it, otherwise, the smell ruins any curiosity. I had a small slice that day and that's all I needed. After scraping off most of the icing, I got into the fluffy cake and durian, which was very creamy and custardy.

The banquet lunch was paced at a reasonable pace, especially considering that it was during their busy Sunday dim sum service. The portions were good too. There was enough for everyone to have at least one serving of every dish, except the Peking duck -- but we made the miscalculation. We still had leftovers after eating, but none of the good stuff.

~

Sea King Restaurant
1558 Merivale Road
Ottawa, ON
613-228-8819

The Hintonburg Public House, Gelatini Gelato and Claustrophobia

To celebrate Andrew's birthday, we went to Claustrophobia yesterday. The idea behind the different game rooms is that you are "locked in" a room and have to find clues to unlock keys, which would hopefully unlock the final door within the time limit. Lucy, Jimmy, Richard, Andrew, and myself, did the Hostel-themed room. Lucy was the only one who had an idea of what to do. We were all lost and just spent the first few minutes looking for clues and writing them down. The ball got rolling once Andrew found a big clue. We solved the code and opened the first safe, which contained a key to unlock more clues. Without giving anything away, we got out in 35 minutes which was the May record for the Hostel. It really was thrilling as every combination was unlocked and it satisfying when we finally got out of the final door.




We walked down the block to The Hintonburg Public House for an early dinner. We were a bit disappointed how small the Ploughman's Plate was, but the flavours and textures were good. We really enjoyed their crunchy fries with their house ketchup and Beau's Beer Battered Fish & Chips with House Tartar Sauce. We were pleasantly surprised to find crunchy nubbins underneath the pile of fries. Our favourite! Lucy's Pink Fuzz from Beyond the Pale Brewing Co.
was bright. Jimmy inhaled his juicy medium-well cheeseburger.


Looking to satisfy our sweet tooth, we drove down to Preston Street and went to Gelatini Gelato, which is located beside the soon-to-be-opened Roberto Pizzeria. The pistachio was extremely creamy and nutty. The other flavours were refreshing. It was wonderful.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

~*~

Claustrophobia
984 Wellington Street West
Ottawa, ON
613-899-5170

Dumpling Bowl

Not long after the Bubblicity reopened as the Dumpling Bowl, Richard went with some friends and said that the place was great. "They make their dumplings in house," he added. Sounds good.

When MO and I met up for a snack, we weaved through groups of high schoolers and sat by the entrance. I liked that their menu selection is so small. In my mind, the smaller the menu is, the more likely there's better quality control. Check out their full food menu here.

Sens House

It was Saturday, April 11th, 2015. The Sens were playing their last game in the regular season against the Flyers and only needed one point to clinch a playoffs spot. The same Sens were 14 points back of the last wild card spot back in February and quickly picked up steam to become the NHL's hottest team. Richard and I made plans to head downtown and watch the game with friends. There was some nervousness leading up to the game, but once it was game day, nervousness turned into excitement.


Are you a hockey fan? Do you have a team you cheer for? Where will you be watching the playoffs this year?

The Usual at Kim's Restaurant + Aladdin

Earlier last week, I found myself around Carling Avenue when running some errands. There are two restaurants that I like around there, Rice Pea and Kim's Restaurant.




On this adventure, I was craving the smoky stir-fried rice noodles with chicken (FN-04) at Kim's Restaurant. When I asked for the bean sprouts to be substituted with chinese greens (gai lan or choy sum), the owner told me that the dish didn't have bean sprouts. It was great news to me.

These were just as smoky as I remembered. The chef, who looks like the character on the menu, seasoned it perfectly. It was a solid dish which reminded me of House of Gourmet.


The order of deep-fried shrimp balls (A-11) came with only 3 shrimp balls instead of the usual 4. I've tried some of their other appetizers and some of their dim sum, but I always come back to these.


I was super full after lunch, but I couldn't help grabbing a few meat pies for the family. Aladdin Convenience & Bakery is located across the street of Kim's Restaurant. A quick run across the street and BOOM -- a bag of spicy meat pies.

~*~

Addresses:

Lunching at Hung Sum

Andrew and I went to Hung Sum for a quick bite. We both went there with some dishes on our minds. Andrew was thinking steamed tripe and stir-fried rice noodles with beef. I was itching to order steamed beef balls and cheung fun with youtiao aka zhaliang. Once we arrived, we sat down to a free table by the window.

Kid's Night: Central Bierhaus

Thinking back, I don't think we've ever had just a kid's night out. One of us was usually in another city or even in another country, so it made it tough to organize one. Now that we're all in Ottawa, we found time and got together for dinner and the Sens game.

Since the Canadian Tire Centre is in Kanata, we were trying to decide where to go for some good food. Richard suggested Central Bierhaus that's located in Kanata Centrum, right by the Landmark Theatre. It was coincidence that Chris Neil, a current Sens player, actually owns the establishment.


When we arrived for dinner, we were promptly seated and took a look at both the beer and food menu. The Central Bierhaus has an impressive selection of beers from around the world (Belgium, German, Ireland, and Japan to name a few).


To quench our thirst, we went with the Pilsner Urquell (Czech) for Richard, Erdinger dunkel (German) for Andrew, and Kronenburg Blanc 1664 (France) for Lucy and myself.


To fill our stomachs, we started with the traditional sausage flight (platter) which was served with bacon saurkraut and three mustards from McGarrigles. Then we got the giant soft pretzel, confit maple pork belly, and lobster poutine.






It was too much food. The confit maple pork belly was curiously dry. The lobster poutine was alright. The stars were definitely the sausage flight and the pretzel. When I had a piece of the pretzel, it was like an epiphany. "Ah, so this is what pretzels are supposed to taste like." I'm definitely coming back for more pretzels. No question about it. When I asked Richard how authentic they were, he surprisingly remarked that he never had any pretzels in Germany. When it came to snacks, he preferred the currywurst over pretzels.


As for the sausage flight, we got one each of a German bratwurst, Oktoberfest, German frankfurter, smoked italian, hot italian, and honey garlic sausage. It seemed like they ran out of the weisswurst. I didn't like the two italian sausages or the bratwurst. The latter seemed to be overcooked and became dry. The bacon saurkraut did its job of being the palate cleanser between each bite. I know others would disagree with me, but I enjoyed how subtle the bacon was.


Once dinner was over, we headed over to watch the Lightning against the Sens game. This pic was from the first intermission when the Sens were still up 1-0. The team couldn't keep up with the Lightnings and lost by a final score of 4-2. Despite the loss, it was still a great night with all the siblings!

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