bakery/cafe... If you like to chill or study at places like starbucks or tim hortons and think its too expensive, you should definitely check out Better and Better Bakery Cafe in Korea Town. This family run bakery/cafe is always quiet, with plenty of tables and seats. They serve freshly baked goods including muffins, bagels, pastries and fresh home made soups. The best thing about this place is that there is Free Wifi, which makes it great for those who like to study at coffee shops.
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I always get bagels there, which are freshly baked. They are super soft and chewy! With cream cheese, the bagels are $1.85 and for an extra $0.50 they will even add vegetables (which usually cost $0.50 each at Tim Horton's. My friend Florence always gets coffee ($1.85 for a large mug) and according to her, the hazelnut flavoured coffee is the best with their homemade chocolate chip cookies ($0.55/cookie). These cookies were soft, chewy, had plenty of chocolate chips in it and you could taste a bit of salt added which made the cookie sweeter as a hole (although they are pretty average for size). Better and Better Bakery Cafe also has a daily homemade soup and daily specials for breakfast and lunch (ex. $5, taxes included for a sandwich and coffee, between 11am- 3pm everyday).
Better and Better Bakery Cafe is a great quiet place to study or chill at in Korea Town (just west of Bathurst, on the north side of Bloor, across from Honest Ed's). All of their baked goods including bagels and pastries are freshly baked and affordable. Every time I've been there, there have always been plenty of seats and I never get hassled for staying too long (ex. >2 hrs). In addition to this, the Free Wifi makes this place much better than typical coffee shops like Starbucks and Tim Horton's. They are open until 10 pm everyday.
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Better and Better Bakery Cafe
586 Bloor St. W.
416-530-4666
WRITTEN and EATEN by Hu-Yan Leung & Marron LawItalian… Mela is an Italian, vegetarian/vegan restaurant located on 7 Yorkville Road, a 5 minute walk from the Bloor-Yonge station. The eatery is literally in a garage and the garage door is often left open. Little round stone tables fill the small dining area. Mela serves some delicious dishes, not the stereotypical vegetarian stuff. They place the food on display, freshly pre-made and then heat it up to serve. Everything is topped off with their famous tomato sauce, which is so good, they sell it for $7.99/litre. Made with organic and fresh ingredients, their menu changes seasonally, but has some staple items such as fair-trade organic coffee and some desserts. Often times you see the chef returning with some fresh groceries when you’re sitting there enjoying your meal. The owner and chef here is the former chef of the Four Seasons and Il Fornello, and the food here at Mela reflects his impressive résumé.Previously, we’ve ordered the spaghetti frittata (spaghetti pie), potato & mushroom pie (bottom right) and butternut squash pasta (bottom left). All of these dishes were very authentic, perfectly flavoured and tasted great. Filled with lots of veggies and herbs, eating here made us feel very healthy.However, out of all the dishes, our favourite was the potato & mushroom pie. The earthiness of the mushrooms complimented the starchy flavour of the potatoes amazingly. As we dug deeper into the pie, we discovered bits of cheddar cheese which added just enough saltiness. For a cheese lover, the cheese may not have seemed enough, but it was actually the perfect amount. It was such a change from the overwhelming oiliness of Italian-American restaurants. This time, we ordered the potato & mushroom pie again along with lasagna with spinach and ricotta (bottom right). The lasagna was not your traditional heavy, cheesy and meaty lasagna. It was light, healthy and made me feel good about eating it. As mentioned above, they top everything off with their famous tomato sauce. This tomato is sweet and sour, with chunks of tomato found throughout the sauce. Although they put it in everything, it is not overwhelming as it is so light. You could seriously drink it like a soup! Mela also has some amazing desserts. Previously, we’ve ordered the cannelloni (cylindrical shell filled with cream and dried fruits) and their famous butter tart. The butter tart was seriously the best I’ve ever had. It was the perfect amount of sweet and sticky all in a buttery and flaky tart shell. As tempting as it was to order it again this time, we decided to order the pumpkin pie (bottom left) since it is a seasonal item. The pie was definitely not your traditional pumpkin pie. As usual, it was very light. It tasted of a blend of spices such as nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon and was the texture of a cheesecake combined with a mousse. Like the butter tart, the pie crust was perfect.The price for each dish is around $6-$8 and the desserts range from $3-$5. The prices may seem expensive for the portion size, but it is definitely worth it for the quality and taste of the food. Next time, we will definitely be trying their famous panini. Mela Cafe
7 Yorkville Avenue
Toronto, ON
M4W 1L1
(416) 916-0619
Hu-Yan Leung and Marron Law are both Guest Stars/ Guest Writers for Good Food Toronto. They are both students who live and enjoy all types of food in Toronto. Marron is a student at York Mills CI, while Hu-Yan (who is my bro) goes to York University and shares my love for deals (especially free ones!).
shawarrrrmmma... If you didn't know already, I'm currently studying Physiotherapy at the University of Toronto and our building is at University and Dundas. A new shawarma place called Anoush Middle Eastern Cuisine (I think it is a chain) opened up right behind our building and of course I had to go check it out. It is also very close by to OCAD. On their opening day, they had 2 dollar shawarmas which I took full advantage of. Since then, I've gone a couple times because it is so close to where I'm at school everyday. Anoush is a pretty small place with only a couple of chairs to sit at (most of their customers seem to do take out).
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Most people who come here seem to get either a shawarma wrap or a shawarma dinner plate. The one pictured middle left is a chicken shawarma wrap ($4.99 + tax, or $5.49 + tax for Beef). As you can see in both pictures of the chicken shawarma, it is pretty damn big and they are not stingy at all with the toppings which include shaved chicken pieces, lettuce, tomatoes, hummus, pickled radishes, pickles, something that looks like parsley. They also cover it with the typical white sauce and hot sauce that you get at these shawarma joints. Taste wise, I'd say it is pretty average for a shawarma place as my friend Yasir from school walks all the way to Taste of the Mediterranean where he claims the shawarma's taste much better (although they are much smaller... here is a picture). The best part about Anoush is that you get a free pop or Lentil soup with every wrap or plate purchase. I've tried their soup once, but it is kind of bland and literally just pureed lentils (maybe I just don't like the taste). This is a limited time offer, although I'm not sure when it will end.
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When I am really hungry at lunch, I will get the Chicken Shawarma plate ($6.49 + tax), pictured middle right. It is really big and will definitely fill you up + more for a lunch. It is basically the exact same as the chicken shawarma wrap but set out on a plate with salad, rice and toppings of your choice. They also give you a couple chunks of roasted potato. Again, the price also includes the free pop or lentil soup. Anoush is a good place to go if your hungry and want large portions of shawarma wraps or plates (the free drink doesn't hurt either). In case your wondering, they only take cash or debit.
Anoush Middle Eastern Cuisine
250 Dundas St. W. Unit 15
Toronto, ON
416-204-1680
