viet-thai... I recently went out to lunch with my family and my parents recommended that we go to Green Thai- Viet Thai Fusion. My 2 brothers were also there, so between the 5 of us, we had to order quite a bit of food to fill us up. The restaurant itself is really nice inside with lots of modern style decor (it almost seemed new, but I'm not sure how long this place has been open for exactly).
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We ordered a whole bunch of different stuff ranging from noodles, rice, different meats and curry. Pictured top left is their signature "Green Thai Rack of Lamb" ($18.95 + tax/tip). This was one of their more expensive items but each piece was tender and juicy with plenty of flavour from the grill. There were about 7 or 8 pieces of lamb in the dish. Another dish we ordered was the "Malaysia Kwai Dew Pan Fried" ($7.99 + tax/tip). The portion size for this was decent and its better to share these types of dish, so you don't fill up on all the carbs haha. Taste wise, this dish was good, but didn't really stand out too much for me. As a group, we shared a "Thai Red Beef Brisket Curry" ($6.99). This was a little spicy, but it tasted awesome. You also have to get a side of rice or roti to complete this dish. They had different sides ranging from $1.50- $2.50 including rice (ex. jasmine rice, coconut rice and chicken flavoured rice) and also noodles or roti that goes great with the curry.
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One pretty unique dish that they we ordered was the "Deep Fried Chicken in Pandang Leaves" ($9.99 + tax/tip). This dish was made up of some marinated boneless chicken pieces wrapped in some kind of leaves and then deep fried. Before eating it, you have to unwrap the leaves and the leaves seemed to keep the chicken more tender and moist by trapping the flavours inside. We also ordered some kind of seafood fried rice (don't remember the price, i think around $7-$10), which even had crab in it, although I felt that the strong flavours of all the other foods made this dish a little more bland than it actually should be. An awesome promotion that Green Thai is also running is that they will give each table an entire Curry Crab for FREE, if you order over $40. This is a serious deal, considering it is an entire crab and the curry sauce on this was filled with flavours from the crab as well. We ended up getting an order of roti to eat with this.
We were already stuffed by the end of the meal, and then one more surprise came when owner recognized my parents from the last time they came and gave us a free dessert, which was Deep Fried Banana with Honey. This tasted way better than the ones you get at all you can eat sushi places and the banana was even covered in shredded coconut before it was deep fried which made it taste awesome!
Green Thai- Viet Thai Fusion is a nice restaurant if you like Viet, Thai, or Malaysian food. Both the portions and prices are pretty decent (it came out to around $10-$12/ person after taxes and tips). If you go more than once, definitely ask for a VIP discount card, which gets you 10% off each time you eat here. It is located in the plaza on the west side of Bayview and High Tech Road.
Green Thai- Viet Thai Fusion
8750 Bayview
Richmond Hill, ON
L4B 4V9
hot pot... I previously posted a coupon for 616 Restaurant, which serves Chinese Hot Pot Buffet for dinner. The owners of 616 Restaurant have sent me another coupon for their Hot Pot dinner. If you print out this coupon (or click on the picture), for every 4 people that eat, 1 will be free. This is a pretty good deal and it expires Nov. 30, 2009 (basically 25% if you have four people). I haven't been their recently, but apparently they have made some changes in their food recently, so if anyone goes, please let us all know what you think of this place.
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).
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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
pizza... After my previous post about Cora Pizza, I received some comments on the Good Food Toronto Fan Page from Allison and Lulu saying that close by PaPa Ceo's Pizza was much better. With these comments, I had to go and try out PaPa Ceo's. It is actually 2 stores next to Cora's, and both pizza places get a large amount of customers from UofT.
The first thing you notice when you walk into PaPa Ceo's is all there different pizzas that they have on display (they advertise "20 gourmet slices to choose from" on a sign in front of the store). They've even named many of their pizzas after hollywood stars like "Marlon Brando," "Al Pacino" and "Rambo."
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I went with my friend Jackson, as we were planning to play some ball at the UofT Athletic Centre across the street afterwards. As for the pizza, I got a slice of the "Marlon Brando" (toppings: Pesto & Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Ham, Ground Beef, Onions and Mushrooms). Jackson got a slice of the "Rambo" (toppings: Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Ham, Sausage and Parmigion Cheese). Both of these cost $3.99 taxes included and more basic pizzas like a Pepperoni will run you $3 flat. The "Marlon Brando" slice that I had tasted really good, especially with all the toppings that provide plenty flavour (especially the ham!). In comparison to Cora's next door, I think Papa Ceo's wins out with better combinations of toppings and generally tastier slices, although Cora's has their own unique slices and thinner crusts.
PaPa Ceo's is also great for late night pizza runs as it is open everyday from 10 pm- 4 am. They have a couple of ghetto looking tables in the back that probably seat about 10-12 people, which is good enough if you just need a place to chow down the tasty pizza. Since I'm always in the area, I'll definitely be coming back here, although I will still mix it up by going to Cora's from time to time. My preference is definitely still Martino Pizza at Dupont and St. George.
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PaPa Ceo Fine Italian Foods & Pizza
654 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON M5S 2H7
Daily 10:00am- 4:00am
Tel: (416) 961-2222
