Phoenix Restaurant

Phoenix Restaurant (8190 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill, Ontario)

905-886-1113

Jess's milk tea.

Jess's thick toast with black sesame sauce.

My seafood macaroni.

It was a bit underwhelming in terms of seafood, and there could've been more cheese, but I suppose I can't expect much for that price. I'm actually not a big fan of that tasteless white sauce many of these types of restaurants use for pasta/noodles.

Jess likes it here because the milk tea is strong and flavourful and their afternoon tea specials start a bit earlier than most other Hong Kong style restaurants in the area. Josie avoids this place because either her or her coworker (I can't remember) had stomach problems after eating there.

Would I go back? Probably. I'm a fan of cheapo afternoon meal deals.

Total damage: I can't remember, but it was cheap.

Strewn Two Vines

Strewn Two Vines Riesling Gewürztraminer 2009


Chris suggested we get a riesling. I suggested a gewürztraminer. So we got a hybrid.

Chris: "It tastes like water." 

I'm going to have to agree with his assessment. There's almost no dryness to it, minimal to faint sourness, and it really does go down like water. I think it'd be a good starter wine for people who don't normally like the taste of strong wines. It's very inoffensive to the taste buds in that respect.

Would I have it again? Sure, it'd be good if I were trying to get someone drunk on wine. Just kidding.

Total damage: free for me thanks to Chris!

Ding Dong Pastries

Ding Dong Pastries (321 Spadina Avenue, Toronto)

416-640-2761

How can one resist going into a place called "Ding Dong"?

I had been craving some butter cookies with a chocolate button.

They weren't as nicely made as last time. The chocolate drizzles off to the side of many, and doesn't stay mainly in the centre. The box is different, possibly smaller. The chocolate part was more melty than before (perhaps because last time I had these, it was winter). The cookie part was also a bit softer than I remembered.

Downgrades aside, I'd still get them again. 

Total damage: 2 boxes for $5. 

Apple Pie

Nothing beats a homemade apple pie... unless it's made fresh in a bakery by a professional... but homemade pies are still good.

Pie crust recipe

2 c. flour, heaped
Pinch of salt
1/2 to 2/3 c. oil
Milk to make one full cup (with oil)

Stir quickly; roll between wax paper. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes to use prebaked crust; or, bake per specific pie directions. Makes 2 crusts.

I added a random amount of white sugar to the crust before mixing just because what's a pie crust without sugar? The recipe yields the hard, crispy kind of crust.

The filling was just cut up apples and brown sugar.

Josie told me to put some brown sugar on top... Looks like I threw sand on it. Didn't do too much to add to the taste.

Letting pie cool before you cut it is a pretty important step to the process. I impatiently cut it before letting it sit, and the others noted the pool of sugary liquid in the pie. I left it for a bit, and when I came back to cut it again, the liquid had evaporated. 

I thought the pie wasn't bad. Jess and Josie liked it too. 

Baked for approximately 45 minutes at 325˚C. 

Richmond Court

Richmond Court (Times Square Mall)

Just more pictures of late night eating at Richmond Court on Highway 7. This place is great for when you didn't eat all day, and you're suddenly hungry at midnight. 

I like how they don't overcook their beef. 

Would I return? I always do. They don't have the best service, the food is okay, I try not to think about the cleanliness, but they're open late and with enough people it's cheaper than McDonald's. 

The Keg

The Keg (135 York Boulevard, Richmond Hill, Ontario)

(905) 882-0500

Hours:
Monday - Wednesday 11:30 a.m. - Midnight
Thursday - Friday 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Saturday 4:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Sunday 4:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

We went over the summer when they had the lobster summer specials.

Chipotle mac and cheese.

You can barely taste the chipotle, but the cheese on top is awesome. I like how the server came out and put it in the middle as if I was going to share. No, no, it was all for me.

The lobster on the steak was sparse. The steak was okay. 

I think the winning dish of the night was the mac and cheese... if only they'd take chipotle out of its name.

Total damage: I don't remember, but not cheap.

Pretz

Pretz

One of the great things about Asia is the variety of snack flavours.

Shark's fin flavoured Pretz. 

Oh yes, they went there.

Do they actually taste like Shark fin? Maybe not so much, but they're still tasty... like an un-glossed pretzel stick covered in msg. 

It might just be in my head, but it seemed as though these were thicker than normal Pretz sticks. Also, they're kind of diet-sized.

Total damage: free for me thanks to Renilla!

Drinks and Stuff

Starbucks iced green tea.

Mocha drink from Destiny Tea House.

Cake also from Destiny's.

Chris asked for this cake, but they said that they slice was too small to serve. 

Then they said they'd serve it but still charge us the same price. :/

Beverages brought back from Montana by Josie.

Golden Thai

Golden Thai (105 Church Street, Toronto)

416-868-6668

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday: 11:30am - close
Saturday - Sunday: 5:00pm - close

The closing hours on the website aren't very descriptive, but it's a good thing we went here in the early evening to avoid confusion. 

Tom kha gai: chicken coconut soup.

The soups are quite large and really can serve two people, as stated on the menu. I was pretty filled after it. The mushrooms aren't fancy, the chicken soaks up the soup flavour and tastes delicious, and the coconut part of the soup is more on the subtle side. Overall, I quite enjoyed it.

Chili basil lamb on the left, and spicy eggplant on the right.

Those dishes were supposed to be spicy? Psh. The texture of the meat was okay. The vegetables were on the crunchy side. I really liked the peanut sauce that came with my sticky rice. There were manageable chunks of peanuts in it. The rice itself was a bit hard and clumpy. Berta's coconut rice seemed much more appealing.

The decor is pretty nice for the most part. There was a Thai statue in the window that was a bit scary to look at. 

Would I return? Yeah. Price is okay enough. Food is okay. Soup is great. Service is very attentive. Berta told me that the lunch specials were pretty cheap. 

Total damage: $26 for my share.

Congee Wong

Congee Wong (3235 Highway 7 East, Markham, Ontario)

Seafood congee.

Giant bowl of congee filled with random seafood including but not limited to salmon, squid, and white fish. I feel like there's less msg in their congees than there was before. Also, it seems like there's less seafood in it.

Shrimp rice noodle roll.

Shrimp-filled, and satisfies cravings.

 Deep fried dough sticks (for the congee).

These were super hot when they were served to us.

Would I go back? Yes. Many standard Chinese staple items are available at affordable prices. 

Random note: I remember everything being super hot when stuff arrived at our table.

Total damage: I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure everything was about $15 - possibly less. 

Gal's Sushi

Gal's Sushi Japanese and Korean Restaurant (3621 Highway 7 East, Markham, Ontario)

905-305-7753

Hours: 

11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. every day

info@galsushi.com

Sushi and sashimi platter

The fish is pretty decent. I'm sure Chris enjoyed the fact that they had uni. I enjoyed that crunchy one with yellow roe. I like the small amount of rice they put with the sushi. It's very compact and neat.

Would I return? Yup. It must always be packed for a reason. Also, the takeout quality was pretty good. The platter had a decent variety of pieces.

Total damage: $40-something.

Lean Cuisine

Lean Cuisine Meals

Salmon with Basil from the Spa Cuisine line.

What does spa cuisine even mean? This wasn't very appealing. It was just bleah all over. 

Orange chicken.

It's better than the salmon crap. 

The chicken wasn't awful, but these snack-sized meals always leave me feeling hungry. For real food.

Total damage: I don't remember, but they were definitely on sale when I purchased them.

Inatei

Inatei Japanese Cuisine (9021 Leslie Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario)

905-881-9500

I don't remember what this was called, but it was $30. 

The pieces of raw fish were quite soft, and melt-in-mouthable.

This plate of assorted sushi wasn't bad.

Ou! Salmon roe! I approve. There was uni and that one with the crunchy yellow roe. I've completely forgotten the name of that one, but it's my favourite!

Passionfruit gelatin dessert

Nice. The fruit has enough sourness to offset the sweetness of the white stuff.

So, after we ate the pieces of raw fish from that $30 plate, they take back the plate and fry the long strip of fish. It was a bit strange as this came out after our dessert.

Tastes like... fish chip?

Would I return? Yeah, it's good enough.

Total damage: $29 for my share.

Kenzo

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House (138 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

416-205-1155

Miso ramen.

After realizing that the restaurant wouldn't be able to fit the nine of us at a table for a weekday lunch, we opted for takeout. As we returned with our respective boxes, we all realized that they super skimped on the portions. The amounts that we were given were nothing compared to what we saw in the bowls of patrons in the restaurant. It made the noodles look a lot less appealing.

The miso soup seemed to have a lot of flavour, and the meat was pretty good. The clumpiness of the noodles was a bit of a turn off.

Would I return? Maybe I'd go back to try their food that isn't takeout. It might taste better that way.

Total damage: $7-something.

Cora's

Cora's (16 Vogell Road, Richmond Hill, Ontario)

Cora's Special.

The potatoes weren't as fried as Renée's so I felt a bit cheated. Bacon was crispy, eggs were fine, crêpe was meh. Fruit was sweet.

I was impressed with the girl who took our order (who I don't think was our actual server). She took all six of our orders without writing anything down and remembered everything, even Jess's waffle toppings on the side. On the odd side, she kept asking Renée what kind of eggs benedict she wanted, and I heard Renée say "ham" three times. 

Total damage: ~$15 for my food and a coffee.

Man Doo Hyang

Man Doo Hyang (6068 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario)
416-512-2007

Handemade dumplings and noodles in soup.

This bowl of soup noodles comes with three giant dumplings. Your choices of dumpling are beef, kimchi, or half-half, which is just two kimchi and one beef. I got half-half.

Beer is now $2.75 (increased by $0.25 since the last time I was here).

Giant fried dumplings!

For the past couple of visits, we were always told that they were sold out of these, and that we had to order them in advance. So that's exactly what Kevin and Andrea did for our table so we could all finally enjoy the fried dumplings together. I was recently informed of the reason for the pre-ordering: for the fried dumplings, they need to make the dumplings a day in advance so that they can dry properly before frying them. They usually make them with day old dumplings. Renée and I never used to have problems getting them probably because we went for lunch as opposed to dinner, and they were probably not sold out for the day yet.

We pre-ordered three plates of the fried dumplings. When we asked which ones were spicy, the girl told us to break them open and if they were red inside, they were spicy.

This one is spicy:

And delicious.

Mel, who doesn't eat carbs, ordered the oyster soup thing.

Would I return? Yes! The quality is pretty consistent, and though the domestic beer prices have gone up a bit, they're still cheaper than most places. Also, the soju is still $9.99. Oh, and the giant fried dumplings are pretty exciting. 


It was also super smart of the staff to provide our large table with the breakdown of the bill (by type of item order) on separate pieces of paper. She did this without us asking for it. 


Total damage: $17 for my dumpling soup noodles, beer, and my 1.5 share of fried dumplings. 

Chinese Bakery Bun

Found this exciting garlic bun on the kitchen counter. It was wrapped in its own plastic baggy, as the buns from many Chinese bakeries usually are. 

The bread part is typical Chinese bakery bun dough, which is slightly sweet and quite soft. The top is glazed and shiny on the sides. The garlic is quite strong and buttery. I quite enjoyed the total package, and it might've been more interesting had there been some of the garlic mixture on the inside as well.

Would I eat this again? Yes. Yes, I would.

Total damage: free for me thanks to the stockers of the kitchen counter!

Kyu Shou

Kyu Shou Japanese Noodle House (4733 Steeles Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario)
416-609-1819

One order of uni (sea urchin) sushi.

Melts in my mouth. The paper divider was a bit of a turn off though. It reminded me of cheap takeout sushi.

 Pork bone soup ramen with onigri.

The onigri was pretty fillin in addition to the bowl of ramen. There was bits of what looked like dry canned fish and some seasoning in the onigri. The white soup was very intense. The noodles were wavy like packaged instant noodles, but with more turgidity. The meat was easy to chew and came in a fair portion. I wasn't a fan of the bak choy in the ramen. It just seemed weird.

 Chris's spicy seafood ramen.

The broth was indeed spicy, but I still preferred my pork bone broth. There were mussels, clams, and shrimp in his bowl. What was impressive was that the shrimp was peeled. This could also mean that the shrimp came from frozen.

After meal candy.

Guava?

The two menus are pretty solidly made. One contains mostly pictures. Most of the lunch specials with pictures and prices are posted on the windows outside as well.

Would I return? Yes. I quite liked the pork bone broth, and Chris seemed satisfied with the uni. The prices are fair, but they seem extra cheap during lunch time. The restaurant looks nice and clean inside. There were three small complimentary appetizer plates of edamame, kimchi, and bean sprouts.

Total damage: free for me thanks to Chris!