Spice Shack

Fried Fish

Naan Bread

Last night, I had a chance to try some tasty south asian food from Spice Shack, a family owned restaurant in Scarborough. The restaurant has a modern feel with ethnic touches evident in the décor and specializes in Halal food offerings . Owner Chef Lionel John eagerly gave us a nice run down of the menu and his own background as a trained Italian Cuisine chef. The direction of the food is more specifically Pakistani Fusion. He immediately brought out some Namak Paray chips with house-made hummus for us to snack on, which paired nicely with the hummus. We started our meal off with some Tandoori Chicken Wings ($5.99+tax) to share. Portions were quite generous with the wings (7-8 pieces), but the heat from the spices and flavors were what really made this dish special. Mango Lassi’s ($3.49+tax) go down nicely with the spicy foods!

Namak Paray Chips + Hummus

Tandoor Chicken Wings

Next up was the Fried Fish entrée ($8.99+tax), with marinated basa fish that has been battered, fried and served with Spice Shack fries spicy mayo! The fish was my favourite dish, and I was very pleasantly surprised as I don’t typically order seafood at south asian restaurants. The Butter Chicken ($8.99+tax) is one of the best sellers at Spice Shack, and it was one of the best butter chicken dishes I’ve had in recent memory. There was quite a bit of cream in it, making it a delicious yet deceptively heavy dish. With any saucy dishes, an order of Naan Bread is perfect to soak up the flavours, and we did this with the spicy Lamb Karahi ($8.99+tax) as well! We finished our meal with the Chicken Tikka ($8.99+tax)- chunks of dark meat chicken marinated in spices, served on a sizzling hot plate with lemon butter sauce! Yummy!

Chicken Tikka

Butter Chicken

I really enjoyed the variety of food at Spice Shack and they also offer some mean burgers and steaks. They have been open at their Scarborough location for almost 2 months and serve Brunch as well. I’m looking forward to new things Chef Lionel has planned, including American Style Smoked BBQ, using Halal meats! If you like spicy, Spice Shack lives up to its name.

Mango Lassi! Yogurt Based Drink

Chef Lionel!- The BOSS!

Spice Shack
308 Painted Post Drive 
Toronto, ON
M1G 2M3 
647-748-0786
www.spiceshack.ca

Bonga Buldak.

spicccyy... If you like spicy food or korean food in general, Bonga Buldak is the place for you. My friend Shiaang showed me this place after I recently moved downtown and Bonga Buldak is my new regular spot to grab food. This place serves a variety of Korean dishes and I think they specialize in spicy chicken. The place itself is pretty nice and the atmosphere is very casual as it is clearly a spot frequented by many students. Its a nice spot to grab some drinks with friends, especially since they have the typical Korean alcohol combos (like they have at Kokuryo across the street) and pretty cheap beers (~$3 +tax/tip). Inside the restaurant, they have huge posters of their lunch menu on the wall (which is actually served all the time). They also have some crazy names for some dishes like Blazing Fire Chicken with Fried Rice ($5.99 + tax/tip, pictured top right). The entire thing comes out in a hot plate with some pretty spicy chicken and tasty and crispy fried rice since its on the hot plate. The rice also has plenty of sesame oil flavour which makes it even better. The couple times I went with Shiaang, he has created his own giant combo which will definitely fill any hungry person up. He orders 2 dishes: Oyster Fried Rice ($6.99 + tax/tip, pictured middle left) and Gam Ja Tang aka Pork Bone Soup ($6.99 + tax/tip, pictured bottom left). The oyster fried rice is different than the the typical chinese style fried rice I'm used to, but it tastes damn good with plenty of oyster pieces, dried seaweed and a touch of spiciness. The Gam Ja Tang is also good here according to both Shiaang and my friend Mark, who commented that the soup base really stands out. The tasty pork meat from the Gam Ja Tang also seems to go really well with the oyster fried rice (if you are crazy enough or hungry enough to order 2 dishes like Shiaang).
Bonga Buldak is a good place for some pretty inexpensive spicy Korean dishes. It is also right in the middle of downtown just south of Yonge and Bloor (at St. Mary Street). They are also open pretty late, until 2 am, so its a good, cheap sit down option if you need to grab a late dinner.

• they also serve complimentary Banchan (aka korean side dishes), but sometimes they don't bring them all out, so ask specifically for kimchi, salad or pickled radishes and they will be happy to bring it to you
• pretty much paid parking everywhere around this area and closest TTC stop is Yonge and Bloor

Bonga Buldak "Home of Hot Taste"
710 Yonge St
Toronto, ON
(416) 975-0000

Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu.

tofu... One of my favourite Korean restaurants is Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu, which serves homemade tofu stews and a few other common Korean dishes such as bugolgi and bimbimbap. They have less than 10 items on their menu, most of them being different types of the tofu stew. The different Tofu Stews (aka Soon Doo Boo) come in different flavours including Kimchi, Vegetable, Seafood and Soy Bean.
I went with a few other friends and among us, we tried the Kimchi, Vegetable, Seafood and Soy Bean Tofu Stew (each of them ~$7). Each one comes hot and bubbling in a mini pot with tons of soft homemade tofu in it. It is also served with hot pot cooked mixed purple grain/white rice and you can also ask them to adjust the level of spiciness of the stew. If you like spicy, the Kimchi one is a good choice, if not, the Soy Bean Tofu Stew is not spicy at all. Each soup also comes with a raw egg that you crack into the soup while it is still bubbling hot. These stews are especially good on a cold winter day, but they are equally tasty any time of the year.

As this is a Korean restaurant, they also serve side dishes/ appetizers (unlimited as usual). This time, they only had kimchi, sprouts and some kind of sweet beans (the selection varies from time to time, as I have had some kind of seaweed side dish as well).
The Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu that we went to is located at Yonge and Finch in the Korean area of North York (5445 Yonge St.). If you are driving, you can try parking in the area behind the restaurant (although spaces are limited). They also have another location in the Korea Town on Bloor (691 Bloor St. W), which is frequented by many UofT students downtown.

Oh Geul Boh Geul.

gam ja tang... I already posted about a Gam Ja Tang (Korean Pork Bone Soup) place downtown. This time we're gonna take a look at a North York Restaurant (in the North York Ktown!..Yonge/Finch area). This place is called Oh Geul Boh Geul, and it serves all types of Korean food (bbq pork belly, bim bim bap, bugolgi, etc.). I came here for the Gam Ja Tang, as I love this stuff. At this place, the first thing you notice is that they give you a huge variety of /korean appetizers. This included Kim Chi, Pickled Turnips, Spinach, Tofu, Sprouts, Seaweed, Pickled Cucumbers, a Potato Pancake and other stuff! (Sometimes they even have some cooked spicy fish as an appetizers). So, before you even start your meal, you have this table full of free, unlimited refill appetizers! 2 Words: Sick Deal. My friend and I each ordered a Gam Ja Tang, which is served with purple rice here (a little more grainy than white rice). This dish is pretty good and even if you can't eat spicy food, you should try it still. My friends say the Owl of Minerva location next door is better for the Gam Ja Tang specifically, but this place has some crazy appetizers. Like all korean places, they also give you a handy jug of water.
Quick Notes: Now onto the prices. The Gam Ja Tang is regular price ($5.95 + tax/tip). This is pretty cheap for the amount of food you get (includes all the free appetizers and rice). On that day we went though (Mar. 25 2009), we got the bill and it turns out they had a speical going on ... (drumroll)... $2.99/each! That's the cheapest I've ever heard of for Gam Ja Tang. I nominate this for "Deal of the Year." Our meal, 2 Gam Ja Tangs and all those appetizers, came out to be less than $8 (even after tax/tip!). I'm not sure how long this special is going on for, but even at regular price it is a good place for cheap eats. Oh Geul Boh Geul is located at 5320 Yonge Street, next to the Owl of Minerva. It is on the West Side of Yonge, in between Sheppard and Finch.

• Parking: pretty busy area, but they have a parking lot in the back, shared with Owl, you can also park on Yonge or the side streets in the back after 9pm for free
• Subway: Get off at North York Centre, walk north
  

Owl of Minerva.

spicy... Pork Bone Soup or Gam Ja Tang is a spicy Korean stew made with pork bone, vegetables, green onions and potatoes served with a bowl of rice. To quote a friend who I ate with last night, "Pork Bone Soup is the Pho of Korean People!" A bunch of us went to the "Owl of Minerva" restaurant in Korea Town (Bloor/Christie) for a late dinner at around 12:30 am. We just won our intramural semis basketball game!, so we needed to recharge with some delicious Gam Ja Tang. Owl isn't the best place, but it is open 24 hrs which is great for late night partiers or even people who just want to eat this spicy stew for breakfast. Like most Korean places, Owl provides side dishes. Unfortunately the only side dishes they have are kimchi and some pickled turnip (no pics). Other places (ex. Oh Geul Boh Geul and Ka Chi) have up to 10+ types of side dishes. If you haven't tried it and are scared that its too spicy, most places offer a mild version of the Gam Ja Tang (Owl does not offer this though). Last night, one of my friends who can't take spicy food ended up finishing up the the whole bowl, even all the soup, so it really isn't thaaaat spicy.
Quick Notes: There are better places for Gam Ja Tang, but Owl of Minerva is a good alternative to Mcdonalds when nothing else is open. The Gam Ja Tang/Pork Bone Soup ($6.20 +Tax) is definitely the most popular dish, although they offer other korean dishes like bugolgi, calbi, etc. (lol, i can't name any other ones). In case you didn't know, the side dishes (ex. kimchi) are unlimited and can be refilled. This location in Korea Town (On North side of Bloor, South of Christie) is great for UT students and downtowners but Owl also has a location around Yonge/Empress and also another location at First Markham Place (Highway 7/Woodbine).