Bangkok Garden.

thai... last weekend was my friend Pris' birthday and she invited a bunch of people out and we all went to a Thai restaurant downtown called Bangkok Garden. From outside, it looks pretty small, but once you walk into the dining area its very spacious and nicely decorated with lots of wood everywhere (really cool lights that look like wooden birdcages too!). Looking through the menu there were lots of different dishes including curries, noodles and grilled items as well (there were dips with many of their items as well, lol). We decided to order a bunch of appetizers to share first including a Satay ($7.95 + tax/tip), which were assorted thin marinated pieces of meat (pork, chicken and beef) on a stick with a vinegary type of dip and a peanut dipping sauce on the side. The satay was alright and I definitely prefer the dipping sauce. For appetizers, we also got the Thai Calamari ($7.95 + tax/tip) and Steamed Mussels ($7.95 + tax/tip). The calamari was pretty simple, as they were literally just normal deep fried calamari rings with some chili dip on the side (normal calamari rings taste awesome though!). The steamed mussels didn't really stand out to me, although it came with 10 of them and some spicy sauce on the side. For $7.95, it's an ok deal as you can compare it to mussels at Richtree where it costs $6.89 + tax/tip for 1/2 a pound (about 10-12 mussels).
I decided to be safe and go for a curry (which I knew would like for sure), I got the Emerald Curry of Chicken (green curry with chicken, $19.95 + tax/tip). A bunch of us also got the Tamarind Beef Curry (a tangier curry with beef and potatoes, $19.95 + tax/tip) and Vegetable Curry (vegetables and tofu in red curry, $16.95 + tax/tip). They also brought our whole table two huge bowls of rice to share and there were unlimited refills for the rice. The curries were all pretty normal, nothing special about them, especially for the nearly $20 price tag. My green curry chicken was rated at 4/5 peppers on the menu, although it was only moderately spicy, so if you like real spicy make sure you ask them to make your curry extra spicy. Pris had previously been here and suggested the Grilled Cornish Hen and Lemon Grass ($19.95 + tax/tip), which my friend Chris got. This dish was sick, it was a deboned and marinated cornish hen grilled really nicely. They were perfectly grilled and very tender pieces of the cornish hen. It also came with an orange dipping sauce, but the cornish hen itself was good enough. Also ordered were the Pattaya Grill (grilled marinated chicken breast with chili sauce on the side, $18.95) and the Ginger Duck (stir fried pieces of duck with ginger, garlic, onion, peppers, $21.95). The ginger duck came with a surprisingly generous amount of duck and went really well with rice as well.
Bangkok Garden is a decent Thai restaurant located downtown at Elm and Yonge. The food is alright and the place itself is very nice inside. It is a good place to go if you are looking to go out for to a nice Thai restaurant with a nice setting downtown. The place seemed pretty busy on a saturday night, so making a reservation wouldn't be a bad idea. Bangkok Garden is easily accessible from the Dundas TTC subway station. Although, I would suggest trying out Xaphire on Eglinton, which is pretty much half the price and equally as good or better food (check out the Xaphire Review).

Bangkok Garden
18 Elm Street, Toronto
M5G 1G7
416-977-6748

Baskin-Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night.

free ice cream!... Tomorrow night (Wednesday April 28 2010), Baskin-Robbins is holding their annual 31 cent scoop night across Canada. It's going to be a nice sunny day tomorrow, so be sure to head over to a Baskin-Robbins after work or school (the deal runs from 5pm- 10 pm) and get some 31 cent scoops of ice cream (if you get a waffle cone, it's like $1 extra, but worthhh it!!!).

Last year, I went (2009 31 Cent Scoop Night Review) and depending on the location, you might run into a lineup. From my experience though, they are pretty good with trying to make sure everyone gets their 31 cent scoops.

Not sure what flavours to get?! I suggest: Jamoca Almond Fudge (lots of chocolate and nuts) or Raspberry Cheese Louise (chunks of actual cheesecake in icecream!).

For locations across Canada check out the Facebook Event for 31 Cent Scoop Night.

Greek Crostini Recipe.

WRITTEN and EATEN by Felicia Mcclinton

If You Don’t Make these Healthy Mediterranean Recipes Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later

Ingredients

1. 1000 grams of bread
2. 200 grams of Greek Kalamata Olives
3. 100 grams of Greek Feta Cheese
4. 8 tablespoons of Olive Oil
5. 1 clove Garlic
6. Salt and Pepper

This recipe is perfect for 8 persons and you can prepare it in 35 minutes. It is a very flavorful and sumptuous dish inspired by the Greek feta croutons and black olives. This is also one of the easiest recipes to prepare.

Preparation

Make 1.5-inch thick slices of bread. Place the sliced bread in the oven or toaster. Rub garlic on each slice of bread after toasting.Meanwhile, cut the feta cheese into small cubes. Cut the olives into quarters or halves. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the cubed feta cheese and olives and season with olive oil. Make sure the toasted breads are still hot before sprinkling the cheese and olive mixture. Serve and Enjoy.

Nutritional Value:

Food	Gr	Kcal	Fat	Carb	Pro	Fib	Water
White bread 00	1000	2900	0	680	80	30	290
Black olives	200	470	33	18.4	23.6	0	116.4
Greek cheese, feta	100	264	21.28	4.09	14.21	0	55.22
Olive oil	20	176.8	20	0	0	0	0
Garlic	2	2.98	0.01	0.66	0.13	0.04	1.17
Salt	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pepper	2	5.1	0.07	1.3	0.22	0.53	0.21
Total	1326	3818.88	74.36	704.45	118.16	30.57	463
A head (8)	165.75	477.36	9.3	88.06	14.77	3.82	57.88
Per 100 grams	100	288	5.61	53.13	8.91	2.31	34.92

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Felicia Mcclinton is a Guest Star/ Guest Writer for Good Food Toronto. She writes for mediterraneanrecipes.org. Her personal hobby blog focuses on cooking tips to eat like a real Mediterranean and eat healthy to prevent diseases.

Ritz Caribbean Food.

jerk chicken... A great place to go for a cheap and quick lunch is Ritz Caribbean Food. They serve a variety of jamaican food including rotis, jerk chicken and patties. I walk by this place pretty often immediately noticed the sign advertising their $3.99 Jerk Chicken special (everyday 11am-3pm). This is for a small Jerk Chicken dinner, which includes a couple pieces of jerk chicken served on top of rice and coleslaw on the side. They also pour some kind of gravy on top, which goes great with the rice. The chicken itself is moderately spicy and you can taste all the different spices used to cook it. For those who can't handle spicy foods, for this deal, you can also get BBQ chicken instead of the Jerk chicken. This is a great deal for a quick takeout lunch when I'm downtown, but if I'm around North York, I still prefer the jerk chicken from Allwyn's Bakery (esp. the jerk sandwich!). The location I go to is at Yonge and College, although they have a few other locations in downtown toronto (listed below).

• the $3.99 small jerk chicken deal is served in a square styrofoam box, but if you buy a small jerk chicken at regular price, they give you more in a larger rectangular styrofoam box (still a good deal though!)

Ritz Caribbean Food
Locations:
450 Yonge St.
45 Overlea Blvd.
211 Yonge St
606 Yonge St
77 Lower Jarvis St