Category Archives: Restaurant Review

Simon says, “Eat amazing sushi.”

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On this soggy, gray, and wet day, my mom, my sisters, and I decided we wanted to have all-you-can-eat sushi. I’ve been to Sushi Star (at the corner of College and Spadina, next to the Red Room) about 3 or 4 times in the past and I can say that the food is pretty decent. Decent enough for me to go back for more. Their prices are also very reasonable. So based on my previous experiences, I suggested we go there.

The minute we stepped inside the restaurant our noses were assaulted with the smell of raw sewage. Or possibly an overflowed toilet full of shit and God knows what else. The eager host seated us right next to the door leading to the washrooms downstairs. Very sweet of her, no? We asked to be moved as far away as possible, while at the same time I looked around at the other diners who seemed oblivious to the stench. Maybe they had already gotten used to the smell? I was ready to sit down at a table 10 feet away from our first choice but the look on my mother’s face told me we wouldn’t be staying. When the host asked us if we wanted to sit at the table next to the toilets again, I explained that it smelled really bad but I guess she didn’t understand (or possibly didn’t notice the smell anymore) because she kept saying it was better at that table. I was trying to explain but my mother was already outside, visibly taking huge gulps of fresh air. I quickly left and joined my mom and sisters. Slightly sad, very ravenous, and grateful to have survived the Bog of Eternal Stench, we started to walk down Spadina, hoping to find another sushi joint. We found one directly across from Sushi Star.

Simon Sushi. What can I say? I’m incredibly happy Sushi Star reeked and the smell drove us to Simon Sushi. Take my word for it (and my mother’s and sisters’) this is one sushi restaurant you definitely need to visit. The food was excellent and served promptly. The servers were nice and were constantly refilling our cups with green tea. We gorged. There’s no other way to put it. It isn’t all-you-can-eat but our total bill came to $62 and I think we must have ordered between 10 and 12 plates of sushi (each plate held 6 to 8 pieces of sushi). When the restaurant got busy, our second order was a bit delayed and we were given an extra plate on the house. Amazing.

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Oh, totally random. We saw this on our way to the Eaton Centre on College:

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Poutine Man

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A bright yellow chip truck sits on Bank Street in Ottawa, selling fries, hot dogs, and awesome poutine. It’s M & G’s Chip Wagon and a grumpy man with a moustache stands inside the truck and ignores me for a few moments before he acknowledges my presence by looking in my direction.

“One medium poutine, please,” I say in my most polite voice.

He grunts and turns around without a word and proceeds to drop fries into the deep fryer. Three minutes later I pay and the surly man hands me a Styrofoam container with a heaping mound of fries covered with melting cheese curds and piping hot gravy. Crispy fries, cheese, amazing gravy…Mmm…

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On the Danforth

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It has been an incredibly hot sunny day, perfect for eating out on a patio and strolling along the Danforth and so that is where I met my Mom to grab some lunch. We decided to go to The Greek Grill located at the corner of Danforth and Carlaw. My Mom and I sat outside to enjoy the weather and to people watch. From the moment we were seated until the moment we left the restaurant, the staff was incredibly nice and friendly. Our server even apologized for the bees that were hovering around our food.  We ordered saganaki to start since my Mom had never tried it. I am a huge fan of cheese and fried salty cheese is way up there on my list of favourite things to eat.

 

For the main course I ordered the lamb souvlaki dinner and my Mom ordered the grilled calamari dinner. The portions were huge and well worth $16 each. The lamb was so tender and well seasoned and, as I exclaimed to my mom, the rice made me want to dance. There’s a sauce that goes over the rice and it is so tangy and delicious. I love it! The potatoes that came with our meals were also full of flavour and so buttery soft. I am very sad I couldn’t finish my entire plate; it was a very filling meal.

My Dad was able to join us a while later and, being a vegetarian, he ordered a grilled red pepper hummus dip which was amazing. I wish I hadn’t been so full so I could eat more of it. A long time later, after letting our stomachs rest a bit, we walked along the street, conversing and looking into shop windows. We ended up at a store called Re: Reading which sells second hand books. I came out of the shop with five books. I couldn’t help myself. We then walked into a candy store only because on the window display my eyes caught sight of a cookie jar I absolutely had to have. For a few seconds all I could do was say, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” and point at the glass. It was Huckle Cat from the Richard Scarry stories. I was nearly jumping like a little girl from excitement.

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My Mom bought it for me as an early birthday gift. Thanks Mom!!!

Indian and Thai

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My family and I had dinner at Indian Flavour buffet a few nights ago. I’ve been to this restaurant twice now and each time I’ve been there the place has been empty except for two or three other people. This is a bit surprising as the food, in my opinion, is quite delicious and full of flavour. Maybe the look of the restaurant isn’t very appealing, not as clean or nice looking as, say, Babur on Queen Street but we’re here to eat food, not judge the decor. And I haven’t felt sick after eating here so that’s a definite positive, right? The restaurant is located at Bay and Dundas and at $13 per person for dinner buffet, I think it’s worth visiting again.

The beer they serve there is my kind of beer; refreshing, bubbly and a little mild. Cobra beer:


I loaded my plate with tons of meat: tandoori chicken, goat curry and butter chicken.



Since then, I’ve had a craving for more Indian food so last night I pulled out my new vegetarian cookbook I purchased at Winners. I love that I can find cookbooks for less than $10 at Winners. It makes me very happy.
Anyway, there is a recipe in this book for vegetable and coconut curry and I was very glad to discover I had all the ingredients, including a can of coconut milk. I always keep a chunk of ginger in the freezer because I never know when a recipe might call for fresh-ish ginger. I also keep a jar of pickled jalapeño peppers since I don’t often buy fresh peppers. The recipe asks for fresh green chilies but my pickled peppers did the job. Mm! So spicy!
As soon as I added the the coconut milk to the pot, it dawned on me that this was in fact a Thai dish. It smelled a lot like green curry, which I absolutely adore. Jay and I both enjoyed it immensely, though this is one dish where I wish I could have added salt. And Jay, the carnivore, said it would taste even awesomer (is that a word?) with shrimp or some sort of meat. I agreed. But, for all you vegetarians out there, this dish is awesome. Next time I make this I’m adding shrimp to it.

Recipe for Vegetable and Coconut Curry

1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 fresh green chilies
1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used peanut oil)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2lb mixed vegetables such as: cauliflower, zucchini, potatoes, carrots and green beans cut into chunks
1 cup coconut cream or milk
salt and pepper
freshly cooked rice, to serve

Put the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies in food processor and process until smooth. Heat the oil in a pot over medium low heat and add the onion mixture, stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Add the spices and stir frequently for 3-4 minutes. Add the vegetables and stir well to coat them in the spices. Add the coconut cream or milk, cover and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender. Serve with rice.




A Day of Gastronomical Debauchery

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As planned, yesterday was my day of sinful eating. I began my day with my usual cup of coffee, pineapple chunks and, this time, scrambled egg whites over a thick slice of warm buttered toast. Mmmm. Later, I met my mom and sister at Sneaky Dee’s at the corner of College St. and Bathurst St. This place might look like a grungy looking bar but it is awesome. They serve Tex-Mex type dishes for brunch, lunch and dinner. Yesterday, we opted for their amazingly famous nachos; King’s Crown Nachos loaded with a ton of guacamole, sour cream, ground beef, cheese, beans…I’m not even sure what else is in there. The server brought us a bottle of Frank’s Redhot Hot Cayenne Pepper sauce and I have never tried it so I put a tiny drop on a chip and I was in love. I think if I’d had the option I would have unscrewed the top and guzzled the sauce out of the bottle. We ended our lunch with dessert; my sister got a slice of Snicker’s Cake and I got a slice of Toffee Cheesecake. Both were pretty decent but I preferred the Snicker’s cake. It tasted like a Snicker’s bar in cake form. My mom thought it tasted like they scooped a mound of peanut butter and then covered that with melted chocolate. She did not like this. To each his/her own I guess.

Next stop was The Hideout at Queen St W and Denison. Here, we found a cozy little spot out on the patio and we sat back with a couple of pints (Amsterdam Blonde for me) while we listened to some live music. I could almost fall asleep.

But we couldn’t stay long because my aunt and her family had just arrived in Toronto and she beckoned us to her hotel across from Toronto Island. I chugged what was left of my beer and we began to walk. Once we met everyone we tried to find a patio, again since it was so gorgeous outside, but all were full. We settled for a table inside Scotland Yard Pub on The Esplanade. Since I was still too full from those amazing nachos and cake I ordered another pint of beer (Rickard’s White). By this time, Jay had joined us as well and he was famished. He ordered poutine and convinced my aunt to order one for herself as well. We marketed it as a Canadian delicacy that everyone must try. It wasn’t the best poutine I’ve had but it was alright. At least they used cheese curds instead of mozzarella cheese.

It was night time and Jay and I said goodnight to my mom, sister, aunt, uncle and cousins and made our way to our final stop; Pauper’s Pub near Bloor and Bathurst. Again, I ordered a pint of Rickard’s White in addition to The Annex Combo which included nachos, cheese sticks, quesadillas and bruscetta.

As my day of gastronomical debauchery came to an end, I discovered my stomach was protesting. It was churning and begging for me to stop eating such crap food. After not eating salt or oily things for a week I guess the overload of deep-fried, salty bar food was a bit of a shock.

Next Saturday I plan to eat whatever I want but it will be something homemade and not so unhealthy. And maybe just one pint of beer…maybe two.

It was a good thing I walked for more than two hours yesterday! Good exercise haha.