WINTERLICIOUS: Great Braised Rabbit at Globe Bistro

Our first stop for Winterlicious this year was Globe Bistro on the Danforth. It's one of those restaurants we've always meant to try but never got around to it...and Winterlicious is one of those great opportunities to get a taste.

We were pleasantly surprised stepping into the modern restaurant at how far big it actually was, stretching deep to the back and with a second (and maybe third?) floor, where we were seated. The hosts at the front seemed a bit scrambled, Winterlicious is probably an exceptionally busy time, but we were quickly taken to our seats. We dined with our friends Julie and Daniel, and we knew right away what we wanted:

To start, we had the elk broth and salumi plate. The broth was tasty but nothing extraordinary, and the salumi plate was quite good...I'd say the salumi plate was the better choice. For mains, we had the roasted wellington country rib, which looked and smelled delicious but was a bit on the dry side. The braised rabbit accompanied by polenta and a rosemary froth, on the other hand, was fantastic - every bite was tender, flavourful, and just amazing. After passing it off for Tony to try, I quickly tried to steal it back! The rabbit was definitely the best main, but I recommend anyone going to visit to maybe try the Ling Cod, we couldn't decide between that and the rib. For dessert, I had a tasty walnut butter tart while Tony had originally ordered the goats milk panna cotta...but when he received the espresso chocolate mousse cake made the wise decision to keep it (he had a taste of the panna cotta from Julie and Daniel).

Overall, we were pleased with our Winterlicious experience at Globe. The rabbit was really outstanding enough to warrant a return at some point! The restaurant is very modern and would make a great place for a small party or gathering.

Globe Bistro

124 Danforth Ave

416-446-2000

Click here for Winterlicious Menu.

My Great Love of Porchetta

I am always on the hunt for great porchetta, and I was happy to have found a new place had opened on Dundas West.

My love of porchetta started in 2005, when my friend Lorena and I went to the south of France and stumbled on this amazing stuffed pig at a deli in the Nice market. Our face pressed against the glass in awe led a lovely lady to come greet us....who turned out to be American and cut us a small slice to try it out. It was stuffed with lots of herbs and other sweet-meats, it was amazing. We were in heaven, and I have been in love ever since.

When we were in NYC last year,

we made our way to Porchetta, a small deli on the East side. And this week, I discovered that a porchetta deli had opened right here in Toronto, Porchetta&Co.! I, of course, felt obligated to go and try it out as soon as possible - could it be as good as in France?? We made our way there for a late brunch today (Sunday), which was the right choice given there's really only 4 stools, it's kind of a grab and go kind of place...and very very similar to the one in NYC, no idea if they are related. We did manage to get a seat along the bar, facing out to Dundas St. We each had a porchetta sandwich topped with truffle sauce (if you get this, I recommend not adding too much mustard afterwards...takes away from the truffle!), and a side of black lentil and beef short rib soup to warm up from the cold. Next time I think I'd like to add the rapini on my sandwich. It was a very good sandwich indeed, similar to what we had in NYC; but sadly, not like the porchetta I had in Nice. Don't let my mild disappointment fool you, it is good, simple and hearty food, and definitely worth a visit. Don't expect a seat (it's a bonus if you get one), but drop by to grab a sandwich on your way out on weekend errands.

Porchetta & Co. 825 Dundas St. West

www.porchettaco.com

@porchettaandco

Tues-Sat 11am - 9pm

Sunday 11am - 4pm

Redemption: A Tasty Meal at Coquine

It's not often that we'll return to a restaurant we've had a bad experience in, but the exception is usually made for gatherings because it's not really about the food, there's always something acceptable to eat, it's about the people. We made a return to Coquine Bistro on Yonge this weekend for a friend's birthday. Long time followers of my blog know I generally don't write "trash" reviews - why share bad experiences? I'm here to celebrate food! I have shared some mediocre experiences in the past, usually to express my disappointment more than anything. Coquine was one such experience more than a year ago where we stopped in for a bite after picking our friends up from the airport and were served a disappointing meal that came slow and cold. I was disappointed because the menu had looked so good online! Well today, we have redemption! We had a wonderful meal last night and are glad we had the opportunity to return.

To start:

I had escargots, which were baked with lots of ooey gooey cheese. They were hot and delicious and exactly what I was expecting. Tony had French onion soup, which was also delicious. The soup was not super salty as it is in most cases, but had a rich, sweet onion taste. We were both pleased.

Mains:

I was still a little skeptical of the restaurant when I ordered,

so in debating between the veal bourguignon and seafood linguine, I decided to go with the safer linguine - how can anyone screw up pasta right? My seafood linguine ended up being AMAZING, probably one of the best seafood pastas I have had (imagine that!). It was served with copious amounts of seafood, I could barely finish the giant scallop, mussels (done just right), shrimp, clams...let alone the fresh pasta. It was all served in a little peppery white wine broth and was just perfect. I lapped it all up in the end! Tony had veal liver, and he was also very happy with his meal, asking for it rare, it came more like medium rare, but actually quite perfect how it arrived. Served with a savoury sauce of onions and mushrooms, Tony said it was some of the best liver he's had in years.

Dessert:

Our meals were such large portions that I was too full to indulge in dessert, but the waitress kindly brought over a chocolate lava cake and creme brulee for the birthday girl that was passed around - I had a small bite of the cake which was oozing chocolate; no doubt, having a whole dessert would have been good too!

I'm very happy to write about what a great meal we had, especially since we were so disappointed the first time. Our waitress was also quite good, no wine glass was ever empty or had to be filled by the group themselves. Hopefully Coquine maintains its consistency and our bad experience was pure bad luck! We are definitely happy to recommend and return to Coquine now!

Coquine is at 2075 Yonge Street, phone 416-322-6767.

It's Time for WINTERLICIOUS!

Well it's time for Winterlicious again! Reservations start today for a great deal on a number of restaurants across the city - whether you need a place for a night out or just interested in trying some new restaurants, this is the time to do it!

This year, Tony and I have settled on 3 restaurants to check out: Globe, Celestin, and Auberge du Pommier. It will be our first time at all these restaurants - very exciting.

Where will you go??

For some tips on the Winterlicious experience, see my post from 2010: How to Winterlicious :) I also shared some great experiences at North 44 and Trevor's Kitchen from last year, 2 restaurants I highly recommend. Reservations open today, so start calling!

Chiang Mai: Wonderful Food, Markets and an Elephant Camp Visit

We made our way to Chiang Mai on Christmas Eve, and it was the perfect city to spend Christmas - a small, quaint city, we felt comfortable as soon as we arrived. As they say, "location is everything," and our hotel, Le Meridien, had the perfect location right by the popular night bazaar. Our days in Chiang Mai started great, with our dinner the first night at Just Khao Soy. Khao Soy is a northern noodle dish, noodles in a rich curry-like soup base with coconut milk. Several sites we had read recommended this restaurant, including the Nancy Chandler map, known to provide some unique local details. We found this homey restaurant not far from our hotel, and were welcomed into the air conditioned room for our dinner. Imagine sitting at a fancy noodle bar - that's what our experience was like. The restaurant is a full experience and education on khao soy, a must visit for anyone in Chiang Mai. Our menus were a guide to what and how to order: what kind of broth, thick or round noodles, and toppings etc. It's even vegetarian and allergy friendly! I chose chicken with bone broth while Tony had seafood. The meal that came was comprehensive and exciting, accompanied by assorted side dishes that small, street stalls also serve, but here, I had the benefit of a great placemat educating me what each item was for. Our side dishes included bananas to help sooth the mouth of spicy flavours, coconut milk to make the soup more mild as needed, pickled vegetables, onions, sugar, lime, fish sauce and more. It was a great learning experience to eat at Just Khao Soy, I think I could have eaten there everyday! We also had mango sticky rice for dessert, and unique assorted ice cream (basil, coconut and amaretto). A great first meal really set the tone for our trip!

We spent Christmas Day at an elephant camp north of the city.

We saw an elephant show that demonstrated how smart the animals are (playing soccer looked kind of fun!). We also had a very "chill" bamboo raft ride through the valley and an elephant ride on a trail through the mountains. It was nice to spend the day outside and in the beautiful valley. We probably could have done probably without raft ride or the elephant ride all together because the highlight was just playing with the elephants before the show - they were playful, gentle and kind. We were careful about choosing the elephant camp initially, some are better than others in how they treat the animals; but ultimately, they are still animals in captivity. If we had to choose again, we would go to the elephant sanctuary instead where they rehabilitate elephants because we really enjoyed just feeding and playing with then. Nonetheless, I think we developed a greater appreciation for elephants by going.

After returning to the city, we had a fabulous Christmas dinner at Sila Aat, a great restaurant in the Kalare Night Bazaar a stone's throw from our hotel. The open restaurant is known for its seafood, so we took our server's recommendation on the fresh catch of the day, red snapper (steamed with lemon and chili...it was AMAZING!). I also had shrimp khao soy and Tony had an order of seafood with flat noodles. I can't recall if I had mentioned it before, but we discovered that squid tastes incredible in Thailand, and we tried to have it as much as we could. And of course, we had to finish with some mango sticky rice - here I think we had the biggest mango to sticky rice serving so far!

On our last day in Chiang Mai, we decided we should visit the Doi Suthep Temple on the mountain overlooking the city. The spot for the temple was chosen many years ago, apparently by sending an elephant (believed to be holy) up the mountain and the site was chosen where-ever the elephant stopped. Honestly, after going to Angkor Wat and seeing the fantastic temples in Bangkok, we didn't expect to be overwhelmed by this temple, but what we did experience was Sunday worship. It was fun to experience the lively and festive crowds. After visiting the temple in the morning, we went to an afternoon cooking class at Smart Cook. Chiang Mai is known for its many cooking classes and schools - the one I had originally read up on at the Four Seasons was ridiculously expensive but we wanted to have th experience anyhow. Smart Cook was a good choice for us, it is a quaint teak house with a garden kitchen (we each had our own cooking station) and prep area - perfect for a small group. We started with a market tour, and because Tony and I were starving, the lovely owner stopped to pick up some fresh pork and red bean buns for us. These were seriously some of the best buns I have ever had! The market was an essential part of the cooking class, our teacher told us about the different vegetables that make up the lovely fragrant flavours of Thai food (and finally we learned what some of the mysterious vegetables we had seen in our food!). Did you know there are some 6 or 7 types of eggplant? And the only one they DO NOT cook with are the ones we have in North America! I think a cooking class without the market tour would be a real miss. The class was intimate and lovely, we each got to choose 4 dishes to make. I made tom ka gai soup, pad thai, green curry (from scratch!) and mango sticky rice. Tony made shrimp tom yum soup, cashew chicken, red curry and spring rolls. The class gave us an even deeper appreciation for Thai cooking - it is always made to individual servings with fresh ingredients. We ate what we made, and it was delicious (whew!). It was kind of fool proof to be honest! There are also full-day classes available but the half day was already a full experience for me.

We had our last meal in Chiang Mai at Huen Phen,

a restaurant in an old northern Thai house decorated with an abundance of cultural artifacts. We had Burmese spicy pork, which was quite good but was kind of like spicy bolognaise. We also had banana flower and pork rib soup - which was spicy although it did not look it. It reminded me of clear Chinese pork bone soup with some spiciness from Thai vegetables. Although spicy I couldn't get enough! We also had a unique papaya salad with local salty crab - it was a very different mix of flavours, salty, sweet and sour at the same time. Finally, we finished with a young coconut sorbet and Chinese grass jelly - both perfectly refreshing for the end of a hot day. On a side note, the funny thing about all the spicy food is that because it is made fresh, our stomachs never got upset - it is all very "clean" flavours!

We really loved our short stay in Chiang Mai and would happily go back again. The night bazaar was fantastic itself - everything was cheaper AND nicer than other markets we had been (Chiang Mai is an artisan center!), and we also braved the Saturday and Sunday markets with the locals, which seemed to go on forever and were PACKED. We thought we'd be "done" with markets, but each are different in some way and have a different feel and character to them. The markets of Chiang Mai had great finds for half of what you'd find even at the night bazaar, and good food! We picked up some great items like bamboo placemats and silk pillow cases for a mere fraction of what we'd have to pay here in Canada....all well made and beautiful. Chiang Mai is definitely worth a visit if you are going to Thailand - we have no regrets skipping the beaches of the south and making our way North to this lovely city instead!

Bangkok: Highlights in Eating

We did not get to eat around Bangkok as much as we would have liked, using the city to fly in and out of other destinations meant we were often rushed or too tired to be super adventurous; but nonetheless, we did have a couple great meals found with minimal effort and here are the highlights:

One of our first nights in town, we decided to check out a Chinese seafood restaurant nearby our hotel, Lebua. Somboon was probably a hidden gem at some point, but is now very tourist friendly....not that it's a terrible thing, but good in a different way. We were welcomed into a bright, clean restaurant with an extensive seafood menu (with bright colourful pictures!). Everything looked so good we didn't know where to start! Of course, we had to have the well-known curry crab (regular followers will recall our love for curry crab at Saigon Star in Toronto). This curry crab was prepared a bit different - less heart-stopping rich, but still very delicious. The crab came cracked, and the curry chilis were mixed with egg that toned down the "hotness". The fresh chilis used also tasted wonderful, without the awful mouth burning we sometimes experience from chili oils. We also had steamed sea bass and a small plate of grilled squid...yes, we were on our way to a trip of very high cholesterol! The food was very affordable and we wanted to eat it all!

Best value: $4 meal at food stall outside Tha Chang pier. The seafood fried rice with shrimp paste and egg is still one of the best dishes Tony had on this trip, and I loved my bowl of fish maw noodle soup. I regret not having another bowl!

Best "sit down" meal: Taling Pling - the most delicious spicy soft shell crab and butterflied fried sea bass with fish sauce. Although I initially wanted to stay away from fried food, I could have eaten the whole plate of spicy soft shell crab by myself, every bite was crispy and tasty. We couldn't possibly go a meal without curry, so we had red curry with duck breast, which was very tender albeit a tad spicy for me. While it's tucked on a quiet street by night, the area is completely safe and Taling Pling is definitely worth checking out, great food in a comfy restaurant at of course, very reasonable prices!

Best Tom Ka Gai soup (coconut chicken): food stall at Soi Pradit Market. This street lined with food stalls was a short walk from our hotel so it was one of our early stops for a meal. We stopped in for lunch the second day we were in Bangkok, and just randomly stopped in one of the many lining the street. We had a delicious bowl of coconut chicken soup, full of incredible fresh flavours - lemon grass, cilantro, bay leaves, ginger peppers and more (I can't name it all!). The flavours all blended beautifully and tasted great! That was one of the most amazing things about eating at food stalls - the food is all made to order, made fresh, and has a wonderful complexity of hot, sweet and sour purely from the fresh vegetables used. This was one of the first instances we really appreciated Thai cuisine and its true complexity.

We really learn about Thai cuisine and what makes up the fragrant flavours when we take a cooking class in Chiang Mai...but more on that later!

Siem Reap: Food, Shops and a Visit to the Spa

note: updated 12/26/10 with pictures!

Our sole focus in Siem Reap was really to see Angkor Wat, as with most visitors, but we were lucky to cram our planned destinations in our first 36 hours, which left us plenty of time just to wander the town. Here are some of the highlights:

First the food: When we first arrived, we ate at a nice, comfy restaurant called Champey. It offered traditional Khmer fare, but was a bit pricey vs "local" menus (the far simpler restaurant across the street offered meals for $1USD while our meal came to over $20). We had Siem Reap sour soup, amok (local coconut curry flavour) with fish, and bar fish with vermicelli in a clay pot, which had a lovely onion sweet both. It really hit the spot as we were starving from landing after lunch. The restaurant, like many in town, offers AC upstairs, but we were happily cool sitting downstairs in the open restaurant. Champey was also our first realization that Siem Reap operates in USD - there was no need to change money!

Our 2nd day in the city was our visit to Angkor, which started at 5AM. We had a breakfast stop after the sunrise back in town at a Chinese-Cambodian restaurant called Thida Spean Neak. We were happy to wolf down a delicious hot breakfast: I had Chinese noodle soup with shrimp (which ironically, boasted the flavour of "Cambodian noodles" I have often had at pho restaurants in Calgary). The noodles were some of the best I've had - in addition to the great soup flavour I love, the egg noodles were freshly made...I suppose that is a great side benefit of eating food where ingredients are made fresh everyday because preservatives/freezers are not so common. Tony had a local dish, loc lac, which consisted of beef cubes marinated with a black pepper gravy, served with rice and a fried egg. We made a second trip back to this place on our way out of Siem Reap (around the corner from our hotel) and although I had different noodles, they were still incredibly fresh and the broth very tasty. This was definitely an unexpected, yet simple, highlight the city!

Our day of hanging out in town started with lunch at Red Piano on Pub Street (or Bar Street) in town. This entire lane is filled with restuarants targetted at tourists - there is almost always AC upstairs, and always an English menu (with some propped up prices as well). We chose the Red Piano because I was sold by the Tomb Raider drink on the menu, created in honour Angelina Jolie who visited while filming. Although I did not end up having the drink, the restaurant was good - I had crab fried rice which was hot and tasty. It never ceases to amaze me that food that sounds so unhealthy comes rather light on oil vs what we usually get in North America.

After lunch, we wandered up and down the few lanes of Siem Reap. A great discovery were the cute boutiques in The Alley, one street over from Pub Street. The lane is quiet and lined with many individual and unique shops, not just tourist trinkets and souvenirs. I will warn you that these unique designer items also came with Western prices. Two of my favourites were the cheeky store Poetry and jewlery from Garden of Delight. It was great just to wander in and out of the local designer shops, a nice escape from the heat and the hustle of the rest of town.

As in any hot city (can't believe it's winter here!), a couple hours of wandering around meant we needed a pit stop to cool off and re-energize. We decided to stop in the popular Blue Pumpkin, which has a cute bakery downstairs and a "cooling" lounge with a fusion menu upstairs. We were happy to plop down along the white couches and let our bodies rest. We also had a taste from the menu, an Amok Fish Ravioli, which I LOVED! I don't know if I was just really hungry, or the fusion was a welcome change, but I basically inhaled the delicious dish and would be happy to return for a taste again. Yums! Plus, Blue Pumpkin boasts free wifi, a great bonus!

Speaking of wifi, the first night we were in town, we ended up hanging out at Island Bar found in the night market. We were exhausted from walking around and just wanted a couple beers...but also found free wifi while hanging out on our daybeds lined with mats. Who needs to pay $15 a day for internet at the hotel when I can hang out over a couple beers with internet for $5?? It was amazing, and chilling out at Island Bar will be one of those "small" treasured moments from our trip.

Back to our day in the city - our day did not end at Blue Pumpkin. We had plans to hit a dinner show to see Cambodian dance, but had an hour to kill...no better way than to visit the spa! We hopped next door to the Bodia Spa, which was a GREAT choice. The spa was beautiful, with excellent service. It's a little pricier than some smaller and simpler massage places around town, but our couples massage was still only about $20 each, so a great deal anyhow. It also gave me a laugh to discover that the face cream I have been using was $15 cheaper than at Sephora in Canada...in Siem Reap! Imagine that. We LOVED Bodia and recommend anyone who is visiting to stop in for some R&R. The service and ambiance were both fantastic.

As I mentioned, we had decided to have our last dinner in Siem Reap at a dinner show. We chose The Dining Room at Le Residence de Angkor for the a la carte menu vs buffet at other places. The restaurant, not unexpectedly, was quite ritzy. In fact, the crowd seemed a little snotty, but we decided to stay anyhow. There was a reasonable 3 course meal for $35 (mind you, a $35 meal in Siem Reap is more than we had spent on any meal to date), but we opted for a couple items that peaked our interest on the menu. I started with a fish soup, that came with a tower of fresh fish served with a lobster froth. It was also served with shredded cheese, and all combined was delicious, I couldn't get enough. Unfortunately, that was the best part of our meal. Tony had a crab risotto to start, and although the crab was fresh, the risotto was a bit hard and even truffle oil couldn't save the dish for me. Our mains were king crab legs (the feature) with wasabi mayonnaise, which was too heavy for the crab. We also had a wok of seafood in Cambodian coconut broth, which came with an abundance of beautiful vegetables...but it was actually too much and in the end, I did not enjoy it. Overall, we were disappointed by our experience, even though the dance show was lovely. The people of Siem Reap work so hard for every penny, and our "lavish" meal just didn't seem worth what we spent.

We loved being in Siem Reap, and although we still have more to travel in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, expect that it will be a highlight in our trip. It has become a bit of a tourist town, with most businesses catering exclusively to tourists, so there is a weird economy. Bring lots of USD, especially $1 bills - it is the default denomination and while little to us, means so much to the people of Siem Reap! Tip generously, the people depend on tourism for a living and your generosity rewards how hard they work for every penny. And finally, haggle with a smile at the markets, it'll go a long way and be more fun for everyone :)