Wendy's.

wendys... After a long day and a serious nap, I woke up around 11 pm craving some burgers. I've been kind of tired of McDonald's so I headed out to my local Wendy's (Don Mills/York Mills). When people think Wendy's, they usually think of the Baconators because of all those damn commercials, but I gotta stick with the value menu cause that is where the real deal is at (you can get real food for Baconator prices!). My usual order and what I got last night was a Stack Attack Combo (basically same as a double cheeseburger) with sides of a Small Frosty and a Caesar Salad ($3.99 +tax). In addition to that I also got a Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe which has lettuce/tomatoes($1.49 +tax). Wendy's does taste better than McDonald's and the variety of sides is what draws me there everytime (although I have to mix it up with different fast food joints). For a fast food place, Wendy's makes some good Caesar Salad. They give you a box of lettuce with a decent amount of Mozzarella/Bacon Bits with a pack of Caesar sauce and a pack of Croutons on the Side (instructions on how to eat below). It's a good change from fries. They also have baked potato, chili, garden salad, yogurt and mandarin oranges that you can choose from instead of fries as a side.
Quick Notes: If you are planning to order an extra burger/sandwich from the super value menu like I always do, make sure you order the expensive burger (ex. stack attack, which is $1.99) as a combo first since all the combos are $3.99, then add the cheaper burgers after (ex. Jr. Cheesburger Deluxe at $1.49). This way you will save about 50-60 cents. Trust me... it adds up! Gotta be thrifty! Also the drive through closes at 12 am (McDonald 24 hour locations wins here).

Instructions on how to eat the Caesar Salad:

1. Open all Packages (Salad Box, Croutons, Caesar Sauce)
2. Dump Croutons package into Salad Box, followed by Caesar Sauce (adjust amount to your liking... the more the tastier, the less the healthier... but hey you're eating at Wendy's already.lol)
3. Close Box. Shake Vigourously!!! Shake Vigourously again. Open Box. Enjoy!
   

Hachitarou Japanese Cuisine.

sushi... If you know me, you know 2 of my favourite terms are "All You Can Eat" (AYCE) and "Sushi." I've been to so many of these places probably nearly 100 times, across Toronto (& even in Hamilton and Vancouver). On the weekend, I went to my regular spot in Toronto, Hachitarou. It is a pretty big place for an all you can eat sushi place and it has a pretty sweet menu. Their items include the usual Sashimi (Salmon, White Tuna, Mackarel, Snapper, etc.). Sushi and Rolls including black dragon rolls, green dragon rolls, rainbow rolls. The fish quality at this place is fresh because of its high customer turnover. Especially good at this place is their shrimp tempura (perfectly fried, not too much batter) and their Beef Sashimi (soooo good, don't be afraid to try it, its sooo good). If you have been to any sushi all you can eat place, you know that they totally dominate any buffets like the Mandarin or Starwalk. At Hachitarou, each table has order sheets which are filled out and you can make unlimited orders.
Another item that I don't see much at other places in Toronto is deep fried oysters. And a special shrimp tempura with yam wrapped around it. There are also many items on the huge double sided menu that extend even further from sushi territory in such forms as noodles, rice, grilled fish/meat, skewers/kebobs. They also have korean style seafood pancakes, seaweed salad, beef sukiyaki (japanese style beef hotpots) just to name a few items. The selection is seriously endless. Their dessert and beverages menu is also unlimited (including pop and a red bean ice cream slush). Just to add to this goodness, they have really good ice cream. Its the best ice cream I've had at an AYCE sushi place. You gotta try the Mango and Strawberry ones as well as the more Asian flavours, Green Tea, Ginger and Redbean.

Quick Notes: This place is located at Highway 7 and McCowan in the plaza at the North East corner, across from Markville Mall (8515 McCowan Road, Unit #9). This unlimited deliciousness comes out to around $20-25/ person (after tax and tip, which is included), depending on the day of week; more expensive on weekends. I have been to pretty much all the AYCE sushi places in Toronto, ones that are new and all the ones that have folded. Sushi on 7 used to be the King of these places, but Hachitarou, which has been around for a year is still standing strong. BTW, they also serve alcohol and even have the Japanese beer Sapporo on tap. They also close later than most of these places (~11pm).
Hints when going here:

• Call ahead and make a reservation no matter when you're going, as it is quite busy, unless you go early. 905-472-1210
• There is often an AD for this place in chinese newspapers (ex. Ming Pao), which gives you 10 % off if you pay cash
• If you go more than once, definitely try to ask them for a vip card, which gives you 12% off each time
• Come with friends if you can't eat a lot or if you are "not good" at AYCE
  

Melona Bars.

melon bar... What exactly is a Melona Bar. They are tasty Honey Dew Flavoured Ice Cream Melon Bars...wow, that sounds pretty ballin'. Usually, I stick with the basic Breyer's ice creams and drumsticks, but I was chillin at my friend's place and she gave us all some of these amazing Melona Bars that were sitting in her freezer. Only a truly asian person would have these asian desserts on hand in their fridge. The Melona Bars are basically frozen popsicle stick versions of a super tasty honey dew ice cream (They are pretty sweet and have lots of fruit flavour!). They are from korea and can be found at asian supermarkets like T&T (Warden/ Steeles) for ~$4.99/box of 8 (according to my friend). If you like melons/ honeydew and ice cream, these our perfect for the upcoming summer months. Actually, they are perfect for anytime of the year, day , hour, etc.lol

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
  

Health Herb and Harmony.

chinese desserts... So, I haven't had chinese desserts (or Tong Sui) in Toronto for awhile. A couple friends and I went to Health Herb and Harmony for some desserts after a pork bone soup dinner. There were three of us, so we ordered a bunch of stuff so that we could each try some of everything. When you get here, the place is pretty spacious and chill. It isn't like a bubble tea place as its more dedicated to Chinese traditional desserts. We ordered a cold almond soup sago thing where you could pick three fruits (choices included mango, honey dew, strawberry, sea coconut, papaya and some other stuff). That was pretty good and very refreshingly tasty. The next dessert we ordered was a hot walnut soup. This was quite thick and not too sweet, both the almond and walnut soup had lots of walnut/almond flavour and it didn't seem like the usual mix type ones at other restaurants. We also decided to grab Tong Yuen (which is a Chinese dessert type dumpling; glutinous rice balls filled with sweet black sesame). These were loaddded with sesame and came in a very pleasant smelling sweet ginger soup. The final dish we ordered took longer to prepare as it was the Steamed Milk with Papaya (ginger juice is an extra $0.50). This dish had a bunch of papaya chunks steamed with it. For a restuarant, I would say that it was pretty high quality. You could taste a bit of egg in it as well. I can make this much better at home but it was pretty good still. Next time I make it at home I'm going to add some fruits in it as well.
Quick Notes: Don't order the curry fish balls. It is expensive ($4/4) and it didn't taste that good either. Stick with the desserts at this place. If you wanna check it out, its at the Times Square Plaza (Highway 7/Leslie). The restaurant is facing Leslie. The 4 desserts + Curry Fish Balls came to around $25 (after tax/tip).

• the menu is huge! (over 500+ items), take your time with ordering
• when ordering, you check off what you want on a sheet which is in Chinese (ordering takes a while if you can't read Chinese as you need to match the corresponding number on the English menu to the Chinese selection sheet.
  

Pyung Hwa Brand Dumplings.

dumplings... This time, I was at my friend's house. We all got really hungry that night, so my friend, being the amazing host she is, boiled some dumplings for us. Usually I only eat the chinese ones at home, but these were korean style ones bought from T&T at Warden/Steeles. They were Pyung Hwa Brand Korean Pre-Cooked Dumplings. They come in a big plastic bag, are easy to make and tastes pretty good with a little soy sauce or hot sauce. The wrapper part of the dumplings had a very smooth, slippery texture. At $5.99 for 750 g of dumplings, they aren't the cheapest, but they're pretty good. It's good for a late night snack, just as easy as making cup noodles, but better!

Kokuryo @ Yonge/ Bloor.

koreaaa... The other night was the WBC finals between Japan and Korea. My friend loves Korea, so we had to hit up a Korean restaurant because of this game's huge signifigance to him (even though Korea lost). We went to a place he recommended that was downtown called Kokuryo. It is a Korean restaurant and bar right in the middle of downtown at Yonge and Bloor. If you haven't been to one of these Korean bars, you should check it out as the place is mad chill and a cool place to enjoy some korean food while kickin it with some friends. To quote my friend, "Hot Korean girls are great too!" This place has your typical korean bar menu, with lots of food items as well as the Alcohol Combos, where you can get a huge plate of food (ex. bugolgi, spicy pork, spicy chicken) and either 5 beers or 1 bottle of soju (korean rice wine) for around $25 bucks. They also include a wide range of free appetizers as well. As you can see in the pic, this includes deep fried calamari rings, creamy corn on a hot plate, a basket of fries, fish cakes, fruit salad and a cool pizza made on toast (these dishes usually vary from place to place, night to night). We didn't order the Alcohol combo since a couple of us weren't drinking, but we tried a couple of their dishes. We got the Bugolgi, Spicy Pork, Spicy Fried Chicken. Of the three, the spicy chicken was definitely the highlight. It was proper. It was jus super tasty, and not with alot of batter. The Bugolgi is a little more of a barbecue style as its charred a bit more, which is a little different then the usual saucy ones. The spicy pork....wow.that was spicy! haha, but pretty good with drinks.
Quick Notes: When you select meat dishes for the alcohol combos, they usually don't come with rice, but instead are just a bigger plate of Bugolgi, chicken or whatever you order. This is great for sharing and perfect to have along with some drinks. If you're around the UT area and want a change from the usual clubbing or karaoke, Korean bars are pretty chill spots where you can get wasted and have some good food. In total we had Spicy Chicken, Spicy Pork, Bugolgi (each with rice), 2 Canadians (beers @ $3.50/ bottle) and a sprite for a total of ~$38 (before tax/tip). Kokuryo is located @ Yonge and Bloor (649 Yonge St), right across from the Scientology Building. There is also a location @ Yonge and Sheppard with different owners.

A couple of good hints when coming here.
1. Weekends are packed! Get a table early on weekends to get your drink on.
2. I talked to the owner, and he said the best time for the best food is on Wednesday, when the oil is the freshest!
3. If you plan to drink, the Alcohol Combos are the way to go in order to get best value for quantity (of drinks and food).

Pizza Nova.

pizza... A couple nights ago, I took a nap until 8 pm and woke up hungry, so 2 friends and I decided to order a pizza. As usual, we ordered from Pizza Nova and feeling pretty hungry, we ordered a "Pepperoni Party Size Pizza." Toronto isn't a city known for pizza, especially when most people think of pizza in Toronto, they think of the terrible Pizza Pizza ones. I'm not sure if many people know this, but Pizza Nova has to be the number 1 most underrated chain pizza store. They offer a thin crust which has the best dough of any chain pizza store. Pizza Nova is the only place where ordering just pepperoni is good enough. At places like Pizza Pizza, you have to order a whole bunch of crazy toppings just so the pizza will taste half decent. The Party Size is an awesome size for value and is good for 3-6 people depending on your appetite. The worst feeling is when you don't order enough!
Quick Notes: It is key to get the garlic dipping sauce ($0.70 extra). In total our order for the 21 inch x 15 inch party pizza (including 2 garlic dipping sauces) was $22.45 (after tax, picked up). The number for Pizza Nova is 416-439-0000. The location I go to is at York Mills/Don Mills.

A couple of good hints when ordering from Pizza Nova:
1. Have them bake it a little longer for a more tasty pizza!
2. Try putting the Pizza Nova BBQ sauce on the pizza (a friend of mine swears that this BBQ sauce is ridiculously delicious!)
3. If you have a pizza cutter at home, ask them not to cut the pizza, that way when it gets to your house, the pizza will stay extra hot!

G7 3-in-1 Instant Coffee.

cafffiiieenne...I don't drink coffee normally, but I know most people need their morning coffee/caffeine fix. I recently met up with one of my Vietnamese friends who came to visit in Toronto. Vietnamese people are known for their unique coffee (more well known is the famous Vietnamese Iced Coffee made with condensed milk). My friend cannot live without his Viet coffee and came to Toronto with packets of this G7 3 in 1 Instant Coffee. I don't drink coffee, but the amazing aroma of this coffee soon made me try. What can I say? This stuff just tastes really good, it is like coffee on steroids! For something that you just add hot water to, the G7 Instant Coffee filled the room with a great smell, tasted really sweet, and even non coffee drinkers would enjoy it. If you like Vietnamese coffee or sweet coffee, try some of this, it's pretty good for an instant mix. According to my friend, you can get it for about $3.99 for a box of 30 packets at most Asian supermarkets. As a bonus, I have included a picture of my friend, a genuine Viet, enjoying his G7 Instant Coffee. lol.

Phoenix.

yum... Maybe it's because of my canto background that I've become a regular at Phoenix, but this place has some damn good food! I went to Phoenix today for a late lunch around 3 pm. Phoenix serves Hong Kong style Chinese and Chinese fusion food ranging from from HK style baked rice to HK style french toast. If you've ever been here you know the menu is huge and covers a variety of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I wasn't too hungry today, so I ordered the French Toast with condensed milk on top from the tea time menu (2:30-5 pm), which included a hot drink (ex. milk tea, coffee, hot lemon tea). The HK style french toast was good, being made from a thick slice of toast and had a sweet crispy batter. Having the sweet condensed milk on top makes it even more of a dessert type dish (don't even have to use the syrup that comes with it). The one recommendation I would have when ordering this dish is to ask for butter on the side as the butter was pretty heavy (as you can see I brushed it off in the picture, but theres still tons of buttery goodness on the french toast). My friend had just woken up and was really hungry. He ordered his usual order of the Pork Chop Cutlet Rice with Tomato Sauce and Rice. This is his order every single time he comes here and he swears that it is the best pork chop cutlet in Toronto. I have tried this and agree that it is HELLA tasty, but I prefer choosing the option of having it baked in a casserole style rather than the one in the picture.
Quick Notes: A good tip when ordering any meal with the hot lemon tea is to keep refilling the lemon tea with the free tea that has free unlimited refills (this way your hot lemon tea becomes "unlimited" hot lemon tea.lol). The French Toast is $4.50 + $0.50 for condensed milk on top or an extra charge for having a filling inside the middle such as condensed milk or peanut butter. This price includes the hot drink (+$1 for cold drink) during the tea time period(2:30-5 pm). The porkchop cutlet w/ tomato sauce and rice cost around $8-$9. Our total bill came to ~$17 after tax/tip. Phoenix is definitely not a cheap restaurant but the food is always good and you can be sure that there will be a lineup during weekends or busy hours. It is located at Woodbine/Steeles (just south of the Frankie Tomato's). They also have a location further north on McCowan between 16th and Highway 7.

Friends.

so... This blogging thing is pretty fun, I hope you guys are bookmarking my page and spreading the word so everyone in or visiting Toronto can enjoy the great food we have to offer. On a side note, I got 2 friends with some serious blogs.

1. Julian- aka JCOM, a buddy of mine from high school runs his own blog for his clothing line Just Compton. I've been keeping up with it and he keeps the Toronto community up to date with good things happening in and around T.O..

2. June- aka sheltermanager, is a truly special person. She is a shelter manager at the Etobicoke Humane Society. She runs a blog sharing stories of cats that have found their way to the Humane Society. It is some truly amazing stuff.
Check out both their blogs regularly as all our blogs are a great ways to get in touch with different aspects of our great city. yes Toronto.

Nathan Phillips Fry Truck.

brinner... Brinner is the new brunch. By Brinner, I mean getting food at 4am, way after dinner and way before breakfast. So after going to Burrito Boyz, my friends and I were hungry yet again. We had a hotel room at the Sheraton across from Nathan Phillips Square, so we went over to the lone fry truck that was still open (on Queen Street @ Nathan Phillips Square). At 4am on a saturday night, it was not surprising that there was a lineup of about 4-5 people when we got there. These fry trucks make some really cheap food and are known for their poutines and fries. I went for the combo of Hot Dog's and Fries ($4.50) with free gravy. The hot dog was your typical street meat and was decent, but unfortunately gravy ruined the meal for me. The fries were typical "oily fry truck fries", but the gravy was clearly sour and by the time we got back to the hotel and ate in the lobby, we were too lazy to go back and request an exchange. These fry trucks are usually alright, but you gotta be careful with cleanliness. I know many people could care less when its 4 in the morning and they just want some cheap food fast, but you gotta be careful with getting sick. That being said...I can't lie... my affinity for good deals will definitely bring me back to get a poutine here, but I will definitely look out for sour gravy (just nastyyy)!
Quick Note: This is unrelated to food, but a good tip for getting a hotel cheap is to use priceline.com, where you can bid for hotel rooms. My friends used the site and ended up getting the room at the Sheraton, a 4 star hotel, for about $45/night (+ fees, coming to around $60). This is great for tourists and even a good option if you do not live downtown and plan to go clubbing, as you can crash at a hotel within walking distance from clubs, not worry about driving and not worrying about cleaning up after intense pre drinking.

Burrito Boyz.

hungerrrr... I had some intense hunger last night after partying it up downtown. As we were walking on Adelaide, we saw Burrito Boyz and it was a must visit. It was around 2:30 and the place was packed with Saturday night party goers lined up and eating in and around the restaurant. Burrito Boyz serves different types of Burritos including steak, chicken, halibut and shrimp in small and large sizes. I chose to go with the Large Halibut Burrito, recommended by a friend of mine from Ottawa who had done intense food research. This was an awesome choice as the fish tasted awesome in a Burrito loaded with beans, cheese, rice, salsa, guacamole, green onions, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and some other stuff. I never though fish would taste good in a Burrito, but its a definite winner! My friend ordered a steak Burrito, but was accidentally given a Shrimp Burrito in the mass chaos of people trying to get their food. Ironically, the mix up turned out to be good as the Shrimp one is also really tasty especially with the cheesiness of the Burrito.
Quick Notes: The Large Halibut Burrito ($10 flat after tax) was definitely the most popular item at Burrito Boyz as I saw many people order this. If you're planning to go after a night of mad partying, just be prepared to wait for awhile, as these Burritos take awhile for them to make. The order is a 2 stage process, where you wait in line to choose your toppings then wait in line again for them to put the Halibut, shrimp, chicken, etc into your Burrito and grill it up. Large is huge, but when your hungry late at night, you gotta go with large. Other than the Halibut one, the other Burritos are 1 or 2 dollars cheaper. Where is this Mexican burrito haven? It's at 218 Adelaide Street West and its open till 4 am on Fridays and Saturday (and until 9 pm on Sundays, until 11 pm on Thursday, until 10 pm Monday-Wednesday).

Northern Dumpling Kitchen.

yummy... Being a Chinese person, it is almost a given that I love dumplings! I had a request to put up some Chinese food and its a good thing that I just happened to come back from this sick dumpling place for lunch. This place is called the Northern Dumpling Kitchen, and I made the visit with some friends that I met during my summer in Shanghai. To quote one of my friends, who was visiting T.O. from Cali, "These dumplings are HELLA good, I haven't ate dumplings like this since Shanghai!" So there were three of us and of course we ordered the Xiao Long Bao (soup filled dumplings), Steamed Leek and Pork Dumplings, Steamed Cabbage and Pork Dumplings, Steamed Fennel and Pork Dumplings, Silver Roll (a chinese bun you dip in condensed milk) and 3 glasses of sweeeeet cold soy milk. The Xiao Long Bao are HELLA good and come in orders of 6. Their Xiao Long Bao alone have made me a regular at this place over the past couple of months. They are filled with the perfect amount of soup and out of the 100s that I have eaten at this place, not one has ever broken (like they do at other places) as they've perfected the dumpling skin and steamed each order perfectly. The dumplings come in orders of 6 and I would recommend the leek and pork or the cabbage and pork. The fennel and pork ones are alright, but the fennel flavour is a bit strong, and tastes almost like a bag of dill pickle chips.lol. Finally the silver roll comes either steamed or deep fried (I prefer the deep fried) and is cheap and a good addition to the dumplings. We ordered the steamed one because one person at the table was a super health freak (even complaining about oil in pho places!).
Quick Notes: The best part about the Northern Dumpling Kitchen is that it is cheap! It's doesn't' have as nice of a decor as a place like Ding Tai Fung or Asian Legend, but it tastes awesome and has HELLA good value! I normally just order off the first page and get dumplings and appetizer type things, which are all under $5. 1 order of Xiao Long Bao ($4.99/order), 3 orders of Steamed Dumplings ($3.99/order), Silver Roll ($???), 3 Glasses of Soy Milk ($???) came to a total price of around $25 (after tax, before tip). The waitresses/waiters mostly speak Mandarin and a bit of English and there is also one who speaks Canto. Where can you find this awesome place? At the Times Square Plaza (Leslie/Highway 7) in Richmond Hill. It is located at the corner facing the parking lot on the inside of the plaza (not facing Leslie or Highway 7), a couple doors left of the Richmond Court entrance.