McDonald's Oreo Cookie N' Cream Pie.

oreo pie!... The newest set of McDonald's coupons floating around Toronto mailboxes had picture of the new Oreo Cookies N' Cream Pie from McDonald's.  Since Jan 3, 2011, these Oreo Pies (2/ $1.39 + tax, or $0.99 each) have been available in McDonald's around the GTA.  The pie crust is like the normal apple pie one with chocolate in it and it is filled with some Oreo cream that has melted marshmellow like texture.  I actually like this new creation by McDs as the not so sweet crust goes nicely with the sweet gooey cream inside. These have replaced the Mixed Berry pies and will probably be available for a limited time along with the available-all-year-round Apple Pies. They're still selling the Creme Brulee Mcflurry atm too. McDonald's, please make the Peach and Banana Chocolate pies available all year!!! Throw in all day Sausage Egg McMuffins too!

Fickle Viet Chinese Cuisine.

pho in the downtown core!... Fickle is a Viet/Chinese restaurant downtown Toronto that has been open for about a year.  I was quite ecstatic when I heard about a pho place opening up around Yonge and College, where fast food joints are a dime a dozen. If you walk or drive by, their crazy interior lighting/ decor will really draw your attention.  The restaurant looks kind of like a club with colour changing walls and ceiling.  The entire place slowly changes colours while you are eating, which is kinda trippy (reminded me a bit of the mood lighting they use in planes during a long flight to HK).

When I first tried this restaurant, they definitely had their share of problems, especially slow/ inadequate service (waited 45 mins for food, clearly understaffed, no water refills, missing orders), but I recently went again and things have definitely improved.  Fickle has an extensive menu of chinese, viet and asian fusion type items, but I was here strictly to eat some Beef Noodle Soup aka Pho close to where I live.  The Pho comes in 2 sizes, Regular ($7.99 + tax/tip) and Large ($8.99 + tax/tip).  It is served with slices of lean beef and 2 out of the following items: Brisket, Soft Tendon, Beef Balls, Tripe. There isn't much variety in the pho- especially with the absence of chicken, seafood and curry pho choices! Aside from the inflated prices (the Regular and Large sizes are more like Small and Medium bowls at other places), the Pho is decent and comes with the usual tray of beansprouts/ lime.  For $9.99 + tax/tip, you can have the Fickle Special pho, which comes with a mix of all the meats listed above (kinda like #101 at Pho 88).  I also tried their viet Spring Rolls, which they call Fickle Spring Rolls ($4.99 + tax/tip).  These were good deep fried viet spring rolls that came with 2 rolls cut up. 

In terms of pho, there are definitely better places across the city (and cheaper), but the convenient location just north of College TTC station will keep my coming back when I don't want to travel far to get my fix of Pho.  They have lots of items I haven't tried and any feedback would be great if you have been to this place. The service at Fickle recently was pretty good and it seems that things are running much smoother than half a year ago.  Alcohol is served here, so you can get wasted and jam out to the colour changing walls! haha.

Fickle Viet Chinese Cuisine

507 Yonge St

Toronto, ON 

M4Y 1Y3

(647) 351-3529

PC Candy Cane Chocolate Fudge Crackle Ice Cream.

ice cream!... It's holiday time atm, so here's a quick post on a tasty seasonal product. One of my favourite store bought desserts is the "Presidents Choice Candy Cane Chocolate Fudge Crackle" Ice Cream.   It's vanilla ice cream with pieces of candy cane and these thin strips of crunchy, crackly chocolate pieces.  It's different than mint chocolate chip ice cream as the ice cream itself isn't too minty, just the candy cane pieces.  It is delicious! but make sure you don't leave the box out long (+ bring it home quicktimes from the supermarket), because the candy cane pieces kind of melt sometimes and it's just not the same without those hard minty candy cane pieces. Picked it up for $4.99 + tax on sale (regularly ~$7) at the new giant Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens and you can probably grab it from other President's Choice stores like No Frills or Fortinos, but it is only around during the holidays.

Mickey's Pizza.

amazing pizza!...  Last night I trekked out to Mississauga to check out Mickey's Pizza and have been excited to write this post since!  The owner, Sandi had invited me to Mickey Pizza's very own "For the Love of Food" event because she had seen on my site that I love food! LOL . This was an opportunity for bloggers, journalists and friends to get together, discuss and eat some awesome pizza.  You will want to continue reading this article because of the Killer King Dragon Pizza, which I can honestly say this is the BEST pizza I've had in Toronto, hands down.

Me and Jess (aka jKong!) arrived at Mickey's Pizza last night, and felt right at home as Sandi greeted me with a hug and within a minute of stepping inside the restaurant, Sandi had the two us behind the counter, shaping the dough to prepare a Pizza that we were each going to make (it was mad fun!).  I decided to make a Killer King Dragon Pizza, which is their signature Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.  I was given a pizza pan about 2-3'' thick with some their freshly made dough in it. The dough here is made fresh everyday and because they don't use preservatives, Sandi explained that it makes the dough a bit harder to work with but tastier after baking). After hollowing out the dough, I stuffed the 8 inch pan (Small size) with a giant handfuls of cheese, followed by a lot of steak (proud to say I grilled the steak on their flat top)- probably like 8-10 oz I'd estimate.  Sandi warned that it was only physically possible to fit 4 toppings, because it can't go past the height of the deep dish- and that includes a final layer more giant handfuls of cheese. On top of the steak I stuffed chunks of mango into it, followed by caramelized onions bacon! Squeezed on some tomato sauce and very sweet BBQ sauce to finish it off! (I'm literally drooling as I type this haha).  The pizza pan was then thrown into the deep dish oven by none other than Mickey himself (Mickey is not only the namesake of this restaurant but also Sandi's husband).
The pics directly above show the before and afters of the Killer King Dragon pizza that I made.  The Killer King Dragon was soooo bombb! It's literally unlike any other pizza in Toronto! It's like a giant pie, with each bite providing lots of gooey tasty mozzarella cheese in addition to the giant mouthfuls of steak.  What is super impressive about this pizza is that the dough is crispy and fluffy, making each bite effortless and no chewing necessary (not that chewy Pizza Pizza crap at all!).  The sweetness of the mangoes went really good with the steak btw! I highly recommend the Killer King Dragon Pizza that comes in either Small (8") for $8 + toppings ($1.50 each or Large (10") for $15 + toppings ($2 each) or you can choose one of their signature topping combos ($11 + tax Small, $19 + tax Large... any 2 for $16 each!). No slices are served here.

jKong made a thin crust, with tomato sauce (can also choose sweet BBQ sauce), chicken, bacon, caramelized onions, mozzarella cheese, spinach (so tasty!).  The coolest part about making the thin crust or regular pizzas is that they use a special "Hickory Barbecue Oven," apparently the only one in Canada.  It's cool because the pizza(s) are thrown on and the entire oven rotates as you watch your Pizza cook. This allowed the pizza to come out with a fresh crispy crust and no signs of sogginess anywhere!  The thin and regular crust pizzas are excellent in their own right, with the thin crust costing $7 for a Small + $1 toppings  and the regular crust costing $7 for a Small + $1 toppings, $10 for a Medium + $1.50 toppings and $13 for a Large + $2 toppings.  You can also choose the original dragon (aka regular crust) pizza with unlimited toppings for $15 (small), $20 (medium) and $24 (large).

On one of their signs, they state that their goal is "to make you the best pizza you've ever had in your life. Period." and they are successfully winning the hearts and stomachs of many people all over Toronto. If you don't believe me, go out to Mississauga just to try their deep dish pizza yourself!  

The event was really fun and I was able meet lots of friendly people who all share the love of tastttyyyy food! I'd like to thank Sandi and Mickey for hosting this super fun event and even allowing me to make one of their famous pizzas!  Everybody had a great time.... a very filling time as well!  I also included a picture of myself with Sandi + Mickey below, 2 of the friendliest people I've met.  Sandi also writes her own blog, documenting her journey of starting a restaurant from scratch and running Mickey's Pizza.  This place also has free delivery ($20 minimum, only after 5 pm), probably just in the Mississauga Area, not sure.

Mickey's Pizza
1900 Lakeshore Road West 
Mississauga, ON
 L5J 1J7
(905) 822-1411
www.feedyourdragon.com