Poutini's House of Poutine (Revisited)

Poutini's House of Poutine (1112 Queen Street West)

Sun & Mon: closed
Tues & Wed: noon-11pm
Thurs, Fri & Sat: noon-3:30am
squeaky@poutini.com

The following pictures were taken during different visits.

Notice in this picture that the fries and gravy are a bit darker than in the other pictures:
The cheese curds were pretty big here:
The fries were noticeably undercooked:
The fries taste very different when they're undercooked - not a good thing. I thought it might have just been in my head, but Andrew confirmed the undercooked flavour once we had left the establishment.

Total damage for a poutine: $7, including tax.

Carmelina

Carmelina Restaurant (7501 Woodbine Avenue, Markham)
Tel: (905) 477-7744

E-mail: carmelinarestaurant@rogers.com
Minestrone:

The soup of the day was really hearty and massive. I was full after eating two thirds of it, to be honest. It was loaded with pasta, vegetables, and some beans. It could have been my whole dinner, if I didn't order risotto.

Risotto Con Funghi ($16):
Really, it's just a fancy name for mushroom risotto. I didn't think the food portions at this restaurant would be so big. The website makes it look like one of those restaurants that serve tiny portions of fancy foods with a million ingredients.

My entree had great flavour, and I was pretty impressed with it. The risotto was properly cooked, and the mushroom flavour came through quite well. Actually, all of the entrees that I sampled at my table were pretty good. I have to say that I was surprised with the manicotti. It kind of just melted in my mouth.

The odd thing was that we were one of two large tables being served in the restaurant for pretty much most of the night. It's a shame because the food is pretty good, and the prices aren't terrible.

Hodgepodge of Home Food

Breakfast of champions:

Crumpets were on sale:
They're great from the toaster oven.

This is what happens when I forget that I'm baking cookies:
The bite marks indicate that I ingested some carcinogenic goodness.

I felt like I needed carbs and fruit one morning:
They look happy:
Got creative and this is what I came up with:
Yeah, I'm surprised that I put pineapple in there too. I feel like pineapple and ham usually work though.

Red Lobster Biscuits

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Ever since Andrew got the idea into my head, I've been itching to make (him make) the Red Lobster biscuits for a while. It turns out to be pretty easy. We made it using a recipe found here.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups bisquick baking mix

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup cheddar cheese finely grated
2 tablespoons Butter melted
3/4 cup whole milk
We just assumed whole milk = 3.25% homogenized milk. It's a good thing we were right.

• To mix and brush on the tops of the biscuits before baking:
• 1/4 cup Butter melted
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

We just ignored the parsley flakes. The ingredient list also includes a dash of salt. I think we might have forgotten this element.

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine Bisquick with cheddar cheese, milk, 2 tablespoons of butter that has been melted in the microwave, and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder in a medium bowl. Mix until well-combined.

3. Drop approximately 1/4-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Combine 1/4 cup butter with 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, parsley flakes and salt. Brush this mixture over the tops of each unbaked biscuit.

5. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown. Serve warm.

• 
  

Biscuits!
They actually looked a little dry, but they tasted okay. I don't remember what the Red Lobster ones taste like, so I can't comment on how close they are to the real thing.
Andrew was surprised at how weak the cheese flavour was. That didn't stop him or me from eating a whole bunch from the baking sheet though.
I'm a sucker for salty carbs.

Golden Court Abalone Restaurant

Golden Court Abalone Restaurant (270 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill)
(905) 707-6628

Dim sum. Dim sum is great with people who like to eat a lot. Chances are they'll order lots of different dishes, and in one meal you can eat a bunch of different foods.

Korean style short ribs and deep-fried tofu:
I actually ordered the steamed beef balls, but they didn't have any that day. It was okay because the short ribs were tasty enough.

Har gow and deep-fried dumplings:
This is what deep-fried should be: crispy! And that is what they were.

Shrimp rice noodle roll:
Shrimp rice noodle rolls are my favourite. This place wins for not skimping on the shrimp.

I have no idea what this is called in English:
The food that day was pretty good, but I didn't like that a bunch of items were crossed out on the menu. Not only that, but they didn't have egg tarts! What kind of a dim sum place runs out of egg tarts? Also, a bunch of dishes that we ordered never came. We got bored of waiting, asked for the bill, and headed to a Chinese bakery nearby for some egg tarts.

Oh, and ordering a Coke may take several asking attempts. For some reason, the staff tends to forget things.
Total damage: approximately $15-20 per person. I can't remember the exact cost.

CNE Food

Admission ticket:
For $1.75, it was a cheap thing to do.

I saw this sign, and the name sounded Quebecois:
Andrew's Canadian, which is just their poutine with two strips of bacon:

My Lumberjack poutine ($8.18, tax included):
Honestly, I didn't feel that the egg and sausages added anything special. My fries were undercooked, and the cheese bits didn't really taste like curds. They were more like hard chunks. Clearly, the sign misled me. Andrew liked his poutine, but he did mention that his fries were actually cooked compared to mine.

Bouchard's Poutinery also sold something called "taco in a bag". It's basically taco toppings put into a bag of Doritos. Honestly, sounds like something I'd create as a makeshift meal in university.

Potato tornado ($5):

It looks way cooler than it tastes. I was expecting crispy like fries or chips, but it kind of tasted like it just soaked up all the oil it was dunked in.

Special edition Coke ($1.75):

Restoran Malaysia

Restoran Malaysia (815 Major Mackenzie Drive East, Richmond Hill)

905-508-1432
Tuesday - Thursday 11am - 10:00pm
Friday & Saturday 11am - 11:00 pm
Sunday 12noon - 9:30 pm

We got there at 8 p.m. on a Friday. We were seated close to 9 p.m. Nope, they don't take reservations. Yes, it gets that packed. The restaurant is in a pretty small plaza in a somewhat random location, and one would never expect that kind of business. Must be the food.

Roti and curry beef ($9):
The roti pieces were very soft and chewy. In the curry bowl, there were three chunks of beef and a soft potato chunk. The curry was the soupy kind, and it was quite flavourful.

Mel's chicken murtabak ($6) with a cup of curry ($2, I think):
It was kind of like an omelette wrapped in roti. I thought it was pretty cool.

My Mango Freezy ($3):
I was expecting bits of crushed ice, but the actual drink had enough mango flavour to appease my taste buds.

I didn't order anything fantastical, but judging from the dishes headed towards other tables, there is a lot more I need to try from this restaurant.

Total damage: approximately $15.

South St. Burger Co.

South St. Burger Co. (2215 Steeles Avenue West)
Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Phone: 416-514-1412

Small burger ($2.95):
The good thing about this place is that you get to pick your toppings (like at Harvey's). The bad thing is that it slows the line a bit. The burger tasted a bit bland and dry to me. That may be because I ate at BQM not too long ago. I'd say that it's pretty good for fast food.

Onion rings:
The batter crumbles off the onion too easily. Oh well, at least they use real (red) onions.

A window of opportunity into obesity is forming at the bottom of the onion ring container:
Total damage: $7.01.
Verdict: Okay enough, I guess.

Backlogged

Crazy backlogged. Will try to update soonish.