Subway @ Dundas/Bathurst Deal.

subway deal... On Tuesday September 1, 2009, there is a new Subway restaurant opening at Dundas/ Bathurst. As a promotion for their grand opening, they are offering a buy one get one free deal. At this location, buy any 1/2 inch or foot long sub and get the second one free on September 1, 2009 only. This is a great deal, but it is only at this location, so go and grab it if you happen to be around there tomorrow.

Ap Ku Jung.

ginseng chicken soup... Ap Ku Jung is a Korean restaurant in North York that serves a unique Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup meal that is delicious. I haven't seen this type of ginseng chicken soup in other Korean restaurants, so it definitely caught my eye when I was looking through the menu and I had to order it.

Like other Korean restaurants, they brought us the complimentary Banchan (korean side dishes/ appetizers) first. They had a decent selection of Banchan with the typical kimchi, sprouts and also pickled cucumbers, tofu and potato in sweet sauce.
For 2 people, we ordered the 2 person set of the "Ginseng Chicken + Noodle + Congee" meal ($22.99 + tax/tip). This is right on the front page of the menu and it also comes in 3 person sets ($34.99 + tax/tip) and 4 person sets ($45.98 + tax/tip). This meal turned out to be a pretty unique multiple course dinner that can be broken down step by step:

1. The waitress brought out a pot filled with ginseng chicken soup that continued to boil on the portable stove set on our table. There was an entire small chicken in the soup along with green onions, dried dates and plenty of ginseng that you could definitely taste throughout the soup (the soup was good, but could a little bit more salty).
2. After drinking some of the soup, the waitress came by again and took out the chicken, cut it in half for us to each eat. It is a very small chicken, and I thought this tasted pretty good, and it even seemed like we were eating healthy!
   
3. Every so often the waitress would come by, and this time she came by with a plate of green tea noodles and put those into the boiling soup to cook. We both enjoyed a tasty bowl of green tea noodle soup we were already pretty full at the time with all the Banchan, chicken and noodles.
4. The final step of this meal was to turn the soup into congee as the waitress brought a bowl of rice and mixed it into the soup that remained. The waitress came again to check if the congee was ready and there was more than enough ginseng chicken soup flavoured congee for 2 people.
   

To finish the meal off they gave us each a little bottle of Korean calpis juice. If you don't know what this is, its basically a sweet dessert or juice like drink that is sold in tiny bottles at Korean and Chinese supermarkets.

Ap Ku Jung is a good place to go for a pretty hearty meal without spending too much. Their ginseng chicken soup meal feels like something you would eat at home on a cold winter day. They also serve other more typical Korean dishes like Gam Ja Tang (pork bone soup) and barbecued beef ribs.

Ap Ku Jung Korean Restaurant

6309 Yonge St

Toronto, ON

DIY Biscotti.

WRITTEN and EATEN by Yili Wang

If you love coffee or nuts, you will love these biscottis. This recipe is adapted from Giada’s Holiday Biscotti recipe. I like to credit myself for taking these biscottis to the next level though. I add an insane amount of nuts, including walnuts, almonds, pecans, brazil nuts (whatever you prefer) in addition to the REQUIRED pistachios and dried cranberries. The lemon zest gives these biscottis an extra kick and really balances out the buttery taste because I’m not a big fan of the latter. I have made them with the chocolate dip but prefer them without. I also bake them for a slightly shorter period of time, just a bit harder than a typical cookie. This way, I can enjoy them without the usual java dunk. Be warned that you should cut them while warm and the more nuts you include the more difficult it is to cut without the pieces crumbling on you. But really, that means the more pieces to snack on. They also make impressive gifts as they look gorgeous.

---

Holiday Biscotti

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped
• Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

---

Yili Wang is a Guest Star/ Guest Writer for Good Food Toronto. She is a Dental student from UBC who grew up and lived in Toronto before moving to Vancouver. Her love of food goes beyond eating good food as she spends lots of free time learning and improving her culinary skills.

Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar.

sushi... I just posted about some cheap sushi, so it is fitting for this post to be about some quality, pricier Japanese food. I went to check out Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar, which is like a 2 minute drive from my house. The name alone intrigued me as I have never been to a sake bar in Toronto. Inakaya is a really nice place all around- from the moment you see their entrance to the small yet classy decor inside (their walls are even lined with bottles of Sake.

There were tons of items on the menu and between the 7 of us we sampled quite a bit of their menu. Each of us ordered a Sushi Moriawase ($26 + tax/tip) for ourselves, which is basically a plate of assorted sushi. The presentation of this dish was sick, as we each had a long plate with 7 different types of nigiri sushi (Tuna, Toro, Shrimp, Ikura, Unagi and 2 others that I don't remember what they were) and 6 pieces of tuna makis. Each piece of fish was really fresh, especially the Toro, which literally melted in my mouth. One thing that some people might have an issue with is that the sushi chef here has a really heavy hand with the wasabi. Upon eating each nigiri sushi piece, you can feel the bite of the wasabi (although I thought this was awesome and complemented the fish really well).
Johnson and Vivian also ordered some Uni nigiri sushi (aka Sea Urchin), which they said was really fresh and they ate them up as quick as they came to our table. A couple other items that we ordered included Grilled Cod and some Grilled Scallops. I tried the Cod, and I thought it was pretty good, but nothing especially good about it compared to other places. Since this place is a "Sake Bar," we obviously had to order some Sake as well. They had a huge 1 page list of around 30 different types of Sake. These different Sakes ranged in price as well, from as low as $6 to $200+ for a bottle. None of us are really ballin' or sake lovers, so we ordered 3 small bottles of some pretty standard sake that you could grab at the LCBO. When you order a bottle of Sake, they come around to your table and let each person choose from a variety of unique, cool looking sake cups that come in different colours, materials and sizes (we had lots of stupid fun arguing over the cups.lol).
Finally, to finish off the meal, we ordered some Black Sesame Ice Cream (~$5). This was not cheap, but it tastes soooo good. This isn't the typical vanilla based sesame ice cream you can buy at T & T. This black sesame ice cream is literally infused with black sesame as it is even completely black in colour. It tastes damn good too (keep in mind that this ice cream will make you look like you're eating dirt- it covers your mouth and teeth with black stuff, so rinse your mouth with some tea afterwards, lol).

Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar isn't a cheap place but it is delicious (typical meal would probably run you around $40-50/person depending on what you order). They also offer Omakase (お任せ) for $65/person, which is basically a higher end price fix menu with the chef's selection of a series of 7-10 different dishes. I am looking forward to try this, and I will post a review when I do.
Inakaya is located in North York on the West side of Willowdale, just North of Sheppard. It is impossible to miss as it is clearly the only Japanese restaurant in a pretty residential area. I'm not sure if they have dedicated parking spots, but we just parked on the side streets of the residential neighbourhood.

Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar
126 Willowdale Ave
Toronto, ON

(416) 224-8881

Sushi Bong.

cheap sushi... If you're looking for some good value for sushi, Sushi Bong is the place to go. They offer giant portions for cheap prices, which are 2 key aspects for an awesome deal! This is a small Korean run restaurant in North York that mostly does takeout for people in the Condos around the area. It really is tiny, as they only have about 6-8 seats in the entire place and very often, more than half of the customers in the restaurant are just waiting for their takeout.

I live pretty close to this place, so I come here whenever I need a quick and cheap sushi fix. Me and my friends usually order the same thing every time we're here. For 2 people, we order the Dynamite Roll ($5.95) and the Sushi Bong Special (I think its around $10). The Dynamite Roll (pictured bottom left and right) is HUGE! It is seriously the biggest roll I have ever seen as each piece is almost as wide as your fist and it is basically a California roll filled with Tempura Shrimp and covered in tempura giving it the crunchiness of a Dynamite Roll. This roll alone will fill one person up! The Sushi Bong Special (pictured top right) gives you a little more variety as it comes with 17 pieces- 3 Salmon sushis, 1 Unagi sushi, 1 Snapper sushi, 4 pieces Salmon Roll, 4 pieces California Roll, 4 pieces of California Roll with salmon. The food is pretty decent as well, although this is not the place to go if your looking for super high quality Japanese food and super high quality fish.
Sushi Bong is an awesome place if you are looking for quantity and a good deal. The Sushi Bong Special / Dynamite Roll meal I always get comes out to under $20 after tax/tip and fully satisfies a quick sushi craving. They are super fast as well (seems like you wait max 2 or 3 minutes for your order), as I will often be in and out of this place in under 15 minutes. It is located in the Northtown plaza below the Northtown Condos just south of Yonge/ Finch (it is right off Yonge street). You can either park in the plaza (limited spots), Yonge Street or park in the free Metro supermarket underground parking lot next door.

Sushi Bong
5 Northtown Way
North York, ON
M2N 7A1
(416) 227-0022

DIY Apple Coffee Cake.

WRITTEN and EATEN by Yili Wang

Dieters beware! Do not read the following. No matter how much you convince yourself that you are making these “for friends”, honourable attempts to resist these amazing treats are futile. The smell of the apple coffee cake is enough to win over the most hard-core dieters and self proclaimed dessert haters. That is if you are not a mutant who does not enjoy the devilish combination of cinnamon (FYI, excellent for those suffering from an overgrowth of yeast in the intestines), butter, brown sugar and apples.
I was first introduced to this cake when my classmate’s wife made it for our potluck Friday PBL breakfast sessions. I immediately asked for the recipe and was delighted to discover that it was a simple Emeril Lagasse recipe. I mean if the dessert is going to be a hassle to make, meaning complex pastry chef level techniques, time consuming, too many dishes to clean afterward or simply obscure costly ingredients that I will never use again, I might as well buy it. FYI, Dufflet company offers excellent desserts.

I did make some slight changes to the original recipe.

• 1. I added more apples and Granny Smith apples work the best.
  
• 2. I only used 1 cup of brown sugar instead of 1.5 cups.
  
• 3. I did not include the caramel sauce.
  
• 4. I added tons of coarsely chopped walnuts and pecans both in the batter and topping.

Again, see what you like and adjust the recipe to your taste buds. You cannot go wrong. The biggest mistake is not making this cake.

---

Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping and Brown Sugar Glaze

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Brown Sugar Glaze:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm.

---

Yili Wang is a Guest Star/ Guest Writer for Good Food Toronto. She is a Dental student from UBC who grew up and lived in Toronto before moving to Vancouver. Her love of food goes beyond eating good food as she spends lots of free time learning and improving her culinary skills.

Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery.

japanese fast food... One of my friends, Shirley, who is part Japanese suggested that we try this place called Manpuku. Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery is a small sit down restaurant that serves Japanese dishes other than sushi (ex. noodles, rice dishes and small Japanese snacks). The place is run by actual Japanese people, which is hard to find in Toronto (especially with all the Chinese and Korean run sushi places).

I was also there with 2 other friends, Mark and Shiaang, and each of us ordered a bowl of Niku Udon ($5.99). The Niku Udon was just a basic bowl of udon topped with beef and green onions. In terms of taste, this bowl of noodles was delicious, as the broth tasted just right and the bowl of noodles was filled with beef. For each bowl of noodles, they also give you the Japanese Mixed Chili Pepper Powder, which both adds and brings out the flavour of each noodle dish. We also ordered a serving of Takoyaki Octopus Balls ($4.99). Each plate came with 6 takoyakis, which are balls of batter fried with diced octopus inside each ball. It is also covered in a mayonnaise like sauce and bonito fish flakes, which move around when it comes out hot. If you've never seen these bonito flakes move around on hot food, it actually looks pretty cool as the dish looks like it is alive! (see video)
Manpuku is different than your typical Japanese restaurant in Toronto as they offer customers a chance to try quality authentic Japanese dishes other than sushi. It is located in the Village by the Grange food court across from OCAD. This is a good place to drop by for a quick meal as they even advertise their food as "Modern Japanese Fast Food."

Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery
105 McCaul St. Unit 29-31
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2X4
(416) 979-6763

OPENING HOURS: MON-WED 10am-8pm | THU-FRI 10am-11pm | SAT 11am -11pm | SUN by appointment

Fallsview Grand Buffet Breakfast.

fallsview... On Saturday night, Roger, Kevin and I decided to drive to Niagara Falls to gamble, party and just have a good time. This night lasted until Monday morning and along the way we also hit up the Fallsview Grand Buffet Breakfast. We hadn't slept or eaten anything all night long, which made the buffet seem that much better. The buffet opened at 8 am and we got there at 8:01 am and there was already a small lineup of a senior citizens.
We paid for the buffet first ($12/ person) and once we saw the food we started beasting and loaded up all our plates full of omelettes, small mountains of bacon, waffles, french toast and fresh fruit. Foodwise, there were certain items that were really good like the omelettes, bacon and waffles (they had mini belgian waffles, but the syrup tasted a little weird so stay away from that). The french toast wasn't that good either as there was definitely not enough batter. During this breakfast I also tried eggs benedict for the first time, which I thought was really good, although I'll have to try it at other places as well.

The breakfast buffet also had a huge chunk of ham that one of their chefs would cut up for you and they even had congee, which was a nice asian touch (but all the other fatty breakfast foods were too good for me to even touch the congee). Overall the breakfast buffet at Fallsview Casino has decent selection and is a pretty good deal at $12 if you enjoy breakfast foods as much as I do. Another great thing about the buffet is that you can grab a seat with an amazing view of Niagara Falls.
The buffet is open for breafkast from 8 am-11 am and for lunch/dinner ($20) from 11 am- 11 pm. It is located at the back of the with a big sign that can't be missed.

Fallsview Casino Resort
6380 Fallsview Blvd.
Niagara Falls, ON
L2G 7X5

DIY Banana Bread.

banana bread... I woke up one morning (or early afternoon) and I had nothing to eat at home, but just happened to have 3 super ripe bananas that needed to be thrown out if they were there for another day. Instead of wasting these bananas, I decided to deal with both the bananas and my hunger by making some tasty Banana Bread with my friend Yili. I used to work in the pastry section at Richtree (aka Marche) so I do have a little bit of baking experience (Yili also worked there too). Even with no experience though, this recipe is super easy to follow and the result will be some perfect tasting banana bread.
Ingredients:
8 Tbsp butter
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Cups Flour (I used a little less because I didn't have any left)
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed up
Optional:
1 handful of Chocolate Chips
1 handful of Craisins (dried cranberries)

Instructions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350° F
2. Mix butter and Sugar in a Large bowl until it is creamy, then beat eggs into the mixture
3. Mash Bananas up and mix it up into the previous bowl
4. Sift Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt together and add to wet mixture
5. Throw in the optional Chocolate Chips, Craisins
   
6. Butter your Pan up, or use a Silicon non-stick one like I did
7. Spread the Batter into the Pan evenly and bake for 1 Hour at 350° F
8. Eat the Banana Bread!
   

Viet Hoi Noodles House.

pho... I was playing in the Taste of Asia basketball tournament a while back and it started raining like crazy, so my whole team decided to forget the tournament and go grab food instead lol. We were right by Pacific Mall (aka P-Mall, Pac-Mall) and someone suggested that we go eat at Viet Hoi Noodles House on the second floor. As you've seen in my previous posts (Trainhead, Pho 88, Pho Dau Bo, etc.), I love vietnamese noodles, so I was more than happy to go try this place.

The Pho at this place is pretty decent, but not as good as Pho Dau Bo. Everyone at our table ended up getting #39, Large Size Rare Beef Noodle Soup because they had a $3.99 promotion for this. I was tired from basketball, and still hung over from drinking the night before, so I totally did not notice this $3.99 deal and ended up getting the XL Lean Beef and Beef Brisket Noodle Soup ($6.85 +tax/tip). The pho here was decent but I don't think I would come back here unless they keep running the $3.99 deal, which is awesome for a Large bowl of pho! I'm not sure if they still have this deal, but if anyone knows, please let me know, as this has to be the cheapest bowl of pho you can get in Toronto.
Viet Hoi Noodles House is located on the second floor of Pacific Mall near where the Heritage Town area is.

Unit F30 Pacific Mall
4300 Steeles Ave E
Markham, Ontario
905-940-6828

Taco Bell 5 Tacos Deal.

tacos... I just caught the new commercial for the new deal that Taco Bell is running. Until September 6, 2009, you can get 5 Tacos (soft or hard) for $3.99. They are running these commercials like non stop on TV, so I had to post this. This works out to $0.80/ taco compared to the usual $1.29 you have to pay for them. Once this deal runs out, I'll definitley be going back to their value menu though.lol.

Fantasy Eatery.

late night... For the past month and a half I've been working as a server at the karaoke place, TEN 23. With my late hours, I've been grabbing late night meals after work at Fantasy Eatery. In the early morning (ex. 3-4 am), this Chinese restaurant is an awesome alternative to McDonald's. Fantasy Eatery serves some really good Cantonese style Chinese food and best of all, it is open until past 4 am everyday. I usually come here with my friend Roger (who also works at TEN 23), and we order the same stuff every time.

When we can, we always call in to order a steamed egg with minced pork dish (pictured top left), which takes longer to make. Within the steamed eggs are pieces of minced pork and century egg (aka the thousand year old egg from fear factor), which gives it lots of flavour and tastes amazing when you mix it with rice. Another dish that we regularly order is the Fook Kin Fried Rice (pictured bottom right), which is egg fried rice with a wet sauce poured over it. The sauce gives lots of flavour to the rice and even has tons of shrimp, scallop, barbecue pork and vegetables in it. I don't normally order Manchu Wok style dishes like sweet and sour pork at Chinese restaurants, but Fantasy Eatery makes the best sweet and sour pork in Toronto (pictured top right). The pork is breaded just enough and deep fried to crispiness and then stir fried with vegetables and the sweet and sour sauce.
We usually order about 4 dishes for 3-4 people and it runs us about $10 /person each time (we're more than full each time too!). Other dishes we also get on a regular basis include the pork neck stir fry dish, deep fried large intestine (tastes mad good, if you don't know what it is, you gotta try it!) and some other vegetable dishes. The last time we went there, it was my friend, Karen's birthday and she wanted lobster, so we had a giant lobster stir fried on top of a bed of E-Fu noodles... where else can you eat lobster at 4 am in the morning?!
Fantasy Eatery is located in Scarborough just north of Finch on Midland (in the 3rd plaza north of Finch on the west side). Late nights, it is especially busy on the weekends when lots of people make the trek here to grab food after clubbing and partying. They also have a location in Times Square that closes earlier at 2 am, and I prefer the Midland location.

Fantasy Eatery
3320 Midland Avenue
Scarborough, ON M1V 5E6
(416) 332-0288