Mi Ne Japanese Restaurant

Mi Ne Japanese Restaurant (10815 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill)
905-883-6616

I ate something exciting again. Mi Ne does fancy, giant maki rolls.

They were pretty busy for a Tuesday evening. We managed to nab the last free table in the small restaurant when we got there.

Yam roll, Orangeville roll, and lobster roll.

Lovely presentation. That Orangeville roll was a hit with us. It was a bit hard to eat, because each piece was difficult to shove in my mouth in one go. That is basically my only complaint. The yam roll was topped off with yam fries. It was a good break from flavourland because it tasted simpler. Good texture. I enjoyed the lobster roll as well. 

Torched rainbow roll.

Yes. This was my favourite. Love the flame taste, haha. 

Would I return? Yup! Service was friendly. The food took a bit long, but our hunger monsters were placated with free salad and miso soup. There is clearly work involved in each of the rolls, as far as ingredients and presentation. Not the cheapest place, but the rolls are huge and full of stuff - exciting stuff, not just a crap ton of rice!

Hakata Shoryuken Ramen

Hakata Shoryuken Ramen (5321 Yonge Street, North York)
(416) 733-3725

So, the last time I visited this ramen place was a long time ago.

Changes to note:
The prices on their website are about a dollar less than what they actually are (noted today).
The portion size seems much larger than the last time I was here, and if you're not full, you can get more noodles for $2 to be added into your leftover ramen soup.
There is an option of wavy noodles or straight noodles.
It is way, way, way busier now.
They are now open on Mondays.
The $13 lunch special (ramen plus don) is now from Monday to Friday.
There are more menu items now (including tako wasabi).

A little E. Honda. 

Chashu Lover

Seven pieces of melt-in-your-mouth chashu. Really, it is the highlight for me. The soup base is flavourful and very rich. The ramen is filling. The one guy running the room is super efficient. He set us up with menus and water real quick.

Would I return? Yeah, love that chashu. Though you have to wait a little bit for the ramen (there's two guys in the back making it, and only one server), it's good. Not the cheapest, but pretty tasty. Also, Street Fighter. 

McCain Marché Harvest Pockets

Fanciest non-pizza pocket I've ever eaten. It is alright... A bit salty, but pretty much what is expected of frozen foods. I might prefer the original pizza pockets more for convenience and nostalgia. I am not a superfan of fake healthy foods.

New Glasgow Lobster Suppers

New Glasgow Lobster Suppers (604 route 258, New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island)
(902) 964-2870

Heard lots about the East coast lobster dinners where you can eat lobster and all-you-can-eat mussels/chowder/dessert.

The mussels come in a bucket. They were a bit on the dried up side, but other than that, they were okay.

The salads

Coleslaw, green, and potato. With bread roll.

Lobster

First whole lobster of the trip! It came pre-cracked, so it was like lobster for beginners. Meat was tasty, fresh, and surprisingly easy to get out of the shell. If you eat the green stuff inside, the make it so that it tastes pretty creamy. Also, you can taste the ocean on it.

Coconut cream pie and lemon meringue pie.

Photo by Jo.

Not pictured: seafood chowder. The salad plate was okay, and the chowder was a bit standard, but I would later have much, much, much more interesting chowder later in the trip. The bread was surprisingly good, and it was, in fact, the only food item that Dave liked. I wasn't amazed with the food, but it was a good experience to have, and a good benchmark for the seafood to come. I quite enjoyed my lobster and pie. I think I remember Josie saying she liked the pie crust.

Some notes: 
You pay and pick your entrée of choice right at the front of the restaurant before you are seated (even if you have reservations). 
They ran out of chocolate cake. :( 
Service is nice enough, but a little understaffed.

Would I return? Possibly... but I had a much better experience at Baddeck Lobster Suppers... more on that later...

Bruce Cost

Bruce Cost Ginger Ale Unfiltered Original

Saw this at Loblaws for $2-something. It's delicious! The ginger flavour is strong, yet it is still pretty sweet. That fresh ginger taste is what makes this drink awesome. You can see the ginger bits in the settled drink - be sure to invert before opening. 

The ingredients are simple: carbonated water, pure cane sugar, 100% fresh ginger, and citric acid. And really, that's all it needs. 

Would I buy this again? I already have, heh. It's the best tasting ginger ale I've ever had.

PIE

Pie (499 First Street, Collingwood)
705-293-3900
Hours: 11:30 AM - 10 PM daily.

After a great experience at the other location in Barrie, I decided to go for some more after-snowboarding (okay, so I've been holding on to these pics for a while) Pie pizza (and stein of beer).

Stein of Sapporo

It's a thinner crust type pizza, and it was delicious. Again, I added some sausage to my Kobi pie. I cannot vouch enough for the stein of beer plus Kobi pizza combo. 

Would I return? Yes! Also, Kobayashi has eaten there.

Red Bench

The Red Bench (611 Yonge Street, Toronto)

(647) 748-4868

info@findtheredbench.ca

Hours: 1 PM - 10 PM daily. 

 A full ice cream sandwich: $6 plus tax. Brookie and Cookies n Cream cookies with Peanut butter ice cream.

For the full sandwich, you can choose two types of organic cookies, the ice cream flavour (on rotation), and a topping. There is a decent selection of toppings, but I opted for roasted almonds. The Brookie cookie (described as "brownie in a cookie costume") seemed softer and worked better in the ice cream sandwich. The other cookie was a bit harder, which made eating a bit messier. My advice would be to pick the Brookie or an equally softer-looking cookie. Overall, pretty good. I split this with Julie, and the half is a pretty decent size for a dessert/snack.

Photo by Phoebe.

Would I return? I might. I'm not crazy about ice cream in general, but ice cream sandwiches are a bit nostalgic for me. The cookies are organic, and they have some fun flavours. The made-to-order cookies reminds me of Sweet Flour, but this place is more conveniently located. Come to think of it, I never did try the ice cream sandwiches there... they'd probably be awesome since their cookies were fluffy and soft.

Garrison Brewing Company

Klingon Warnog Roggen Dunkel Ale

Also picked this up at the Halifax airport. I totally didn't realize this was a Star Trek thing. I also read "Warnog" as "Warhog".  

I like the cap. :D 

First thoughts: what is this headless beer I am drinking? Dark and opaque, it looks like Asian hot pot plum juice. Tastes slightly fruity with a slightly bitter/clove aftertaste. It was okay, but I probably wouldn't get it again. 

I just wanted to know what victory tastes like. Spicy? I didn't notice that.

Linda's Coffee Shop

Linda's Coffee Shop (32 Queen Street, Charlottetown, PEI)

Ran into this shop because the breakfast we thought was included in our conference fees at the Delta was not. It was basically the closest thing around that was open in the morning. Spotting other patrons with their name tags around their necks, it appeared we weren't the only ones who were misled.

Pretty tasty. The potatoes were crunchy on the outside and super soft on the inside. The egg with the cheese was nice. Server was friendly. Food might've taken a little longer than expected, but we just might've been really hangry.

Total damage: approximately $15 (including drink). 

Upstreet Craft Brewing

Upstreet Craft Brewing (41 Allen St, Charlottetown, PEI)
902-894-0543
Hours: 12 - 12 daily.
cheers@upstreetcraftbrewing.com

What's a trip to the East coast without some craft beer? We walked into an empty place at around 10-something p.m. on a Sunday night. Our bartender was really chill in true Maritime fashion. 

Settled in with our flights of beer

I think Jo and I agreed that the favourite was the Rhuby Social. It was fruity? I can't remember now. I also liked the Top Stamp honey brown lager and the Barnone IPA. I thought it was pretty cool that they had a tap dedicated to featuring other brewery's beer. Craft beer seems like such a friendly scene.

Board games

That's a lot of Catan. Giant Jenga!

Would I return? Sure. None of the beers were amazing, but there was a couple I liked. The vibe is cool in that it seems real laid back, and there are things to entertain you e.g. board games, pinball machine. Our bartender seemed to have no problem with us playing Jenga at the bar. They also have pretty decent hours.

Total damage: approximately $24-something for two flights of beers.