CURRY CRAB at Saigon Star!

Although we love to eat, we don't know enough about places off the beaten path and rely in particular on our "local" friends for recommendations on Asian food places in the burbs. Our good friends Jon and Stella brought us to Saigon Star during the Summer, and we were in LOVE. Saigon Star serves Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, and is most famous for its curry crab. This crab is no joke - it is heart stopping rich and indulgent, and is like no other crab or curry you have had before! The crab comes hot and fresh, drenched in delicious curry yet still has the sweet, fresh taste of crab meat. After our first time there, we knew we'd be back to try other crab preparations. The next time we accidentally found our way to the restaurant was just Tony and I. We confidently ordered a crab, pineapple fried rice (you always need something to have with the curry sauce!), and water spinach with shrimp paste sauce (tung choi). Obviously, we were way too ambitious and finished nothing but the crab. The servers were so gracious, although we got to the restaurant around 10:30pm (closes at 11:00pm), they assured us we could take our time...but we felt really bad anyhow, the staff was getting ready for their dinner!

On Friday, we made another trip to Saigon Star with friends. I was excited to revisit with more people - we wanted to try the beer crab and needed people to share it with! We made reservations and did our best to get their early - the restaurant is always packed. So many things on the menu look delicious at Saigon Star, I've always wanted to try the hot pot seafood rice pilaf with coconut milk & curry...but after curry crab it just seems like too much. We went with the standard: curry crab, hot pot beer crab served with clear noodles, pineapple fried rice and roti (a must for mopping up the curry), grilled honey pork neck meat (another famous dish), Thai tom yum shrimp soup , our veggie favourite the shrimp paste water spinach. Yum! Our meal was spectacular as usual, starting first with the curry crab, which you can't possibly eat without making a mess! The beer crab was also fantastic and I'm glad we had a chance to order it - it's very different from the curry crab, not as intensely flavoured, but delicious in a different way. The hot pot broth was very tasty, filled with vegetables and chewy clear noodles...I couldn't get enough. I can barely decide which I prefer more; but ultimately, the curry is the real outstanding dish. If curry crab were a 10 beer crab would be a very close 9.5...and felt a bit less dangerous to my heart.

It was a perfect meal for a Friday night, we were all ready to just collapse from food coma. Saigon Star is a real gem and is starting to be a regular spot for us to take visitors. Best crab in the city, I think! Having a cold beer or some young coconut juice is the perfect accompaniment to the meal...it's like being on a tropical holiday, a brief escape via food and drinks :)

A Feast at Banjara Indian Cuisine

I had a craving for butter chicken last week, and too hungry to wait on the great food at Matagali (although delicious, sometimes the wait is just too long!), we started to look up where else we could go. Bread Bar is always a favourite, but then we were also too lazy to drive north. There are plenty of great Indian places around town, and I thought of a place our friends Stella and Andrew recommended - the best butter chicken in Toronto!? Worth a try!

Pulling up to the front of Banjara Indian Cuisine, Gloria immediate recognized it as a place she had been before and said the food was good....so we were off to a good start. They don't take reservations (I tried), but it seems we arrived at just the right time, and the first round of diners were just finishing up so we were seated within 10min. Banjara is what you would expect from an Indian restaurant - lively and colourful! There is also abundant space on the patio for a hot Summer night. The menu is extensive - we had already browsed it while waiting so we wouldn't have to waste time deciding what to eat :)

Here's what 4 hungry people settled on:

- 2 orders of butter chicken: we were foolishly hungry and the metal bowls at other tables didn't look that big!
- goat curry: I had been craving this since we had it at our friends' wedding in Calgary at the Taj Mahal restaurant. It was the first I had it and was so delicious!
- shahi shrimp: we ordered this because we had never had it, shrimp cooked with coconut and green spices.
- palak panner: done with spinach and cream.
- bheendi masala: another dish we had not had before, okra done with onions and tomatoes.
- sides of saffron rice (my favourite), plan naan and garlic naan.

Yeah...it was a lot of food! Don't let those little bowls fool you, we forgot how rich things like butter chicken can be and ended up with leftovers. The food was all good and satisfying, we often found ourselves staring at the table and wondering what we should eat next! The best of the night was the okra, most unique and delicious. While we were very happy with our food, it was served just warm, not hot enough in temperature...and in fact, also not spicy enough. We had ordered all our food "medium," I was the weakest link, but it really was mild so next time I think we would definitely go spicy.

A Good Quick Meal at O&B Canteen

We're gearing up for TIFF this week, and thought no better chance than now to get acquainted with the new O&B Canteen at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. We're not expecting it'll be an easy place to get a seat once things get busy down on King Street, although it is unfortunate the rest of the building doesn't appear to be quite ready for the festivities. No worries - Canteen is ready to serve!

Canteen is modern with simple lines for decor and lofty high ceilings. I especially loved the giant blackboards that cover the back wall (kitchen) boasting grab and go items to the left and market cafe dining menu to the right. The half open-kitchen concept has various le Creuset serving pieces sitting along a long stainless steel rack. I was tempted just to order just whatever was served in the Moroccan Tangine! The restaurant offers different specials by day in slightly different variations - Saturday was burger day, a turkey burger. We, however, decided to skip the special.

There was no question what I would have to start, picked easily off the paper menu/placemats - potted shrimp! Tony ordered the chicken liver parfait, which was AMAZING!!

It was probably the best chicken liver parfait we have ever had, incredibly smooth, rich and we just couldn't get enough. It was served with cumberland sauce, which had a bit of kick and was quite complementary, but we loved the parfait just as it was. My potted shrimp was served chilled in a mason jar, and more just like a cold shrimp salad, although it was still quite delicious. For mains, I had mussels in white wine sauce (served in a creuset, yay!). The broth was great, and I only wish it had been served with some French bread rather than the little toasts - didn't soak up the broth as well! It's about a pound of mussels, so not for the super hungry, but was sufficient for me. The mussels were also served with a side green salad, which was probably one of the nicest side salads I've had, including candied peacans. Yum! Tony loved his gnocchi with braised lamb, although I found the gnocchi a little bit crumbly. A really nice touch was the fresh parmesan grated on top. We were quite full after dinner, and the dessert wasn't calling out to me, but next time, maybe I will try the brownie.

When I think about good restaurants vs bad, there are always several elements: food quality, service, efficiency, and ambiance. Overall, O&B Canteen is a solid choice for any meal - I didn't find the food extraordinary but I enjoyed it, the service and ambiance were both good, and most importantly for a theatre district restaurant - it was quick and efficient. It's definitely a great "go to" restaurant, and maybe next time I'll try that burger special and definitely have some more chicken liver parfait!

Eating at The Beast!

I was sad to learn not long ago that Amuse Bouse had closed down - it was a great little French restaurant tucked away between residences, delicious although a little pricey. Our fabulous realtor, Holly, had introduced us to Amuse Bouche, and so it was only fitting that we tried the new restaurant in its place with her! I was sold on The Beast after taking a scan through the menu online - pig's head pasta? That sounded interesting enough for me to try it out! We had a lovely table on the patio, perfect for a hot summer day. The menu, from starters to mains to dessert was all very appealing - and the healthy eaters we are, we wanted everything! The waitress was a bit concerned for that all that we ordered, but she did not know how much we love to eat :)

Starters:

Of course, I had to have the Pig's Head Pasta, which was actually agnolotti and was DELICIOUS and my favourite dish of the night. It was served with an egg cracked on top, and was amazing...comfort food at it's best! We also had lamb ribs, which were tasty and had us licking our fingers, but admittedly, not that memorable. The smoked black cod was served uniquely with beet root and caperberries - I have never had caperberries before! And finally, we also had fried green tomatoes, which I actually really enjoyed even though I don't really like tomatoes that much! It was served with bacon and spot prawns that of course, made it extra yummy.

Mains:

Holly had the rainbow trout while I had duck confit with papardelle (that's a combo that I cannot resist!) and Tony had the braised wild boar with mac n cheese. Honestly, with those items on the menu how can anyone resist trying the restaurant? My duck confit was amazing - he duck leg was tperfectly done, served at the right temperature (I hate when it is mildly warm) and the papardelle was delicious. I, unfortunately, was first to tap out and too full to finish my main - not to worry, I packed it up to be indulged in later :) Tony's braised boar was another case of comfort food at it's best - it was saucy and tender and we lapped up every piece on the plate. We also had sides of green beans and mixed mushrooms - the mushrooms are a MUST if you visit. I know I'm biased because I love mushrooms, but it was truly a delicious preparation and plenty to go around.

Dessert:

Yes, somehow we still had room for dessert - a frittura dolce with corn ice cream and blueberry compote. I have never had anything like it and loved every bite - it wasn't really sweet, and was so unique, you couldn't stop eating it! The waitress told us it was a bit of a home made recipe from the chef's Italian mother. LOVED! We also had cream puffs with cherry mousse - these were delicious as well, and basically melted in your mouth. I was resistant to dessert being so full from mains, but I'm so glad Tony and Holly dived in because I loved both and it elevated my meal experience!

The Beast (I just love saying it) was delicious and unique - it is a bit of a splurge, but then again, you don't have to try and eat everything on the menu like us :) I guarantee anything you pick you will like. The food was just phenomenal. Items on the menu can change weekly, and I am eager to go back and eat more agnolotti and dessert!

Vancouver: Tapas off the Beaten Path at Judas Goat

Vancouver is one of our favorite cities to visit and eat - we get delicious, fresh food for much less than we spend in Toronto. Perhaps it just appeals to our preferences, with great seafood and sushi options! Only making it out for a couple days each year has limited our "tasting" experiences as we always want to visit our favorites, but we met up with our friends Jen and Andrew this time around and had the chance to visit Judas Goat, in Blood Alley Gastown, for a fabulously fun dinner!

I never knew what or where "Blood Alley" was, feels like one of those unique destination that I should have known about having lived there for 4 years, but I chalk it up to being a newer destination (no idea true or not). The popular Salt Tasting Room is also located there, tucked away in Gastown. There are no signs, at least none that we saw, and so Tony and I drove around several times before concluding the restaurant had to be located down this sketchy looking alley. Judas Goat is a small, modern restaurant, with large windows and bar seating opening up to the alley. The rest of the restaurant is made up of a share table and several small round tables along a banquette. My one complaint about the restaurant is I wish we had bigger tables for all the food we were about to have!

Six of us at dinner was just perfect to try everything we wanted - thankfully everyone is a good eater (which one of my friends aren't??) and we proceeded to check random stuff of the menu. It was another case of order by "elimination," where we mostly just agreed on what we didn't want. The menu is divided into Bocadillos (here was a re-invented Spanish sandwich) , Hot, Pressed/Potted/Cured, Salads, Condiments and Sweets. We ate almost everything on the menu - that's the beauty of tapas! Some of our favourites were:

• Braised pork belly: while I feel like pork belly is everywhere these days, I'm not quite sick of it yet. This pork belly was prepared very similar to some Chinese dishes, (fatty and saucy!) and of course, we had to have seconds of this!
• Warm lamb cheek with cabbage and white truffle oil: it smelled so delicious and just melted in your mouth.
• Cacciatori from local artisan butchers: this was ordered on our second round, since none of us were sure that this was - but it ended up being a good plate of cured meats to nibble on, plenty to go around.
• Rabbit rillette with carrot panna cotta: rillette is a pate like preparation of meat, which was very good and the carrot panna cotta was surprisingly delicious, Jen and I really dived into it (and maybe just the two of us!).
• Scallop tartare with pork rinds: when we ordered this, Jen described it as "crunchy." The pork rinds were indeed VERY crunchy, like "can't hear yourself" crunchy...but very good! At least I was a fan, and have had an odd craving for it since then.
• Potted prawns with pistachio butter: The pistachio butter was deliciously rich, although it was hard to share the 2 prawns in the "pot," so of course, we had seconds!
• Foie gras with rhubard foam: foie gras is rarely, if ever, better than in Quebec, but this was quite good indeed, and I particularly loved the rhubard foam - very unique and added a nice, unique flavour!

Judas Goat was a really fun place to eat and I loved that each dish was served and prepared quite differently with unique flavours paired together - rabbit and carrot (haha!), foie gras and rhubarb (do geese eat rhubard?) etc. It appealed to our particular preference for indulgent meats and spreads. I recommend going with a group so you can maximize what you eat...but be warned that you'll have to sit and eat intimately - the two little round tables we shared table simply weren't big enough for all the food we ordered! Thanks for introducing us to this fun place Jen & Andrew!

A Day in Stratford with Dinner at Rundles Sophisto-Bistro

It's rare that we hang around town on long weekends, since we usually make our way back out West, so with the beautiful weather, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a day trip. We had heard great things about the town of Stratford so we started asking around about things to do and places to eat. A friend recommended Rundles to us, a highly regarded restaurant in the little town - reviewed by Fodor's and Frommer's. Of course, Stratford is also home to the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival, a celebration of theatre through classic and contemporary plays and musicals May through early November. The most popular play this year is likely The Tempest starring Christopher Plummer (for those who don't know, he was Captain von Trapp in Sound of Music, and is famed originally for Shakespearean plays). While The Tempest was playing during the Sunday matinee we were hoping for, it was sold out. Fortunately, we found great tickets for Evita. One of the great discoveries we made while researching plays was becoming a Play On member - it is a program designed to promote theatre to those under 29, and offers $25 tickets for great seats at various shows! We ended up with fabulous orchestra left seats, row E, right beside some uber expensive seats and the view was great.

Evita: The show was good and very intense, with scenes moving quickly through. The music, of course, was wonderful, done by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Although most reviews had celebrated the actress Chilina Kennedy over the play, we loved Josh Young the most, who played Che and narrated the story. The story was powerful and captures just a small part of the glamour and mystery behind Eva Peron, but enough to give you a taste into her strength, determination and ambition. For better or for worse, the story is captivating.

Matinee was the perfect time for a show - we left Toronto around 10am, pretty leisurely for us, and made it to town in time for lunch and a quick walk around. We came out of the play around 4pm and had time to paddle boat along the river before heading to dinner. It was a beautiful day, and we were lucky not only to paddle boat but also to enjoy music on the barge that was going on - a really nice summer day to be out!

Rundles is located right by the river, in a beautiful building - a mix of traditional and contemporary style. We arrived at the restaurant a tad early but they were able to seat us. We originally made reservations for the restaurant (which was actually quite full) and ended up being seated in Sophisto-Bistro. We didn't know this until we saw the menus, but after taking a peek through, we were happy with what we were seeing and decided to stay. Sophisto-Bistro offers a 2 course prix-fixe menu for $44.50 and 3 courses for $55.50.

Appetizers:

Lobster bisque with salt cod croquettes - the bisque was light yet flavourful and frothy. I wouldn't normally consider bisques really healthy, but it did seem that way! The salt cod croquettes were also a pleasant surprise - i've never had good ones before, they are normally underwhelming friend dough balls, but these actually tasted of cod and were quite good!

Grilled calamari with shredded green papaya, kohlrabi and mango - the calamari was served on a skewer, grilled to just the right tenderness, and the salad had just a slight kick to it.

Mains:

The braised short ribs of beef was amazing!

It was tenderly falling apart as it should, and we were given a utensil resembling a fish knife for the meal - a telling sign of its tenderness. We've had great braised beef before, but what took this meal over the top was the fantastic horseradish cream. It looked like whipped butter, and because of the large portion served, we weren't even sure what it was. Eating the horseradish, as Tony said, was like eating a vegetable. It was light and you could put as much as you wanted on the short ribs and not be overwhelmed by its flavour.

I had seared sea scallops with peking duck and green mango salad, in a brown butter flavoured with yuzu. The sauce was amazing and I couldn't get enough. I cut my scallops into little portions to maximize the surface area to soak up the brown butter! Needless to say, I also made the most of my bread to soak up the sauce!

Dessert:

Vanilla-flavoured crème brûlée and chilled lemon grass soup. It was a really complex dish, very fragrant and with an assortment of flavours that all came together nicely in the crème brûlée, the ice cream it was served with, and the lemon grass "shooter" it came with. A truly unique and delicious dessert.

Dark chocolate cream praline, with espresso granita and "Indian Summer" zabaglione (light whipped custard). I LOVED the zabaglione, served with candied pistacios on top. I also dug deep for the dark chocolate, but I guess in my hurry to pick a dessert I skipped by the "espresso" part, and those who know me will know I'm not a fan of coffee. It was all delicious of course, but in the end I swapped for Tony's fabulous crème brûlée so we wouldn't waste the granita as I desperately picked through the top and bottom layer :P

We had a great time at Sophisto-Bistro and wonder how amazing the "restaurant" menu might have been, but just means we should take another trip back. In the end, we were happy with the menu choices and our delicious meals for a really great price.

We had a wonderful day in Stratford, and we were glad to have made the drive out (was under 2 hours), see a show and have a fabulous dinner.

Contemporary Italian at Buca

Saturday night, I was craving something homey but couldn't quite put my finger on what. I finally settled on Italian and debated between Mercatto and Buca. Truthfully, I was hoping that Mercatto at Eaton Center had opened already so it would just a hop away from dinner...but alas, it's not ready. Ultimately, we decided to go to Buca. We have been before for a friend's birthday, but we arrived too late to eat and only had a chance to check the place out but not the food. Fortunately, even on Saturday night, they found us 2 spots at a communal high table. I have to admit I'm 50/50 on communal tables - you really have to be in the mood for them. I often find myself physically closer to the person sitting next to me rather than Tony; as a result, I struggle to focus on our conversation because I can hear down the table easier than across. I don't dislike them, but as I said, you really have to be in the mood to be friendly and interactive. Regardless, we were happy to get a table and were not joined by other guests until well into our meal.

To start, we decided to on the 3 salumi platter (a selection of 3 house cured meats). Our favourite was the eye of round. Our charcuterie plate was also accompanied by various house preservatives that were a nice complement to the salty meats. Our waiter also kindly recommended we order some bread, which we were hesitant at first, but ultimately ordered the nodini, bread knots flavoured with garlic and rosemary.

As I was craving some comfort food, there was no doubt I would do pasta as a main and I was immediately drawn to the Bigoli: duck egg pasta noodles with duck ragu, mascarpone and basil. I was actually a little disappointed by my dish, because the noodles were thick and chewy...which I should have expected from duck egg noodles, but it was not quite what I was expecting. In the end, I was craving some light, fresh pasta, which fortunately, Tony had! He had the Farfalle: hand cut pasta with baby octopus, artichokes and preserved chili (pictured). This was my second choice on the menu, so I'm lucky Tony cooperated :) The wide bow-like pasta was freshly made, thin and lightly tossed with chili (not spicy) and braised octopus. It was a delicious and well-made dish that I'm sure to return to eat next time.

Although we stuck to pasta mains, Buca does offer a traditional Italian experience - there were diners around us who did salumi to start, pasta as seconds, and meat/fish for mains. Buca is also a versatile restaurant with a warm yet contemporary feel. Patrons were young and old, casual and dressed to the nines - I loved the couple that had their baby with them by their side sleeping away in a stroller. It's something I've learned to love about Toronto, that young couples still dine out and have a downtown lifestyle even after kids...amazing!