Hot Toddy

I've been quietly sick with a sore throat and random coughing for most of the month of August. For the past week or so, it turned into violent fall-to-the-ground coughing fits with runny nose, chest congestion, wheezing, and minimal sleep. If you have these symptoms, go see a doctor. I would, but I still think I'm invincible. Because I'm so stubborn, I started downing some hot toddies after realizing that they could shut my cough up at least for a little while (most of the time).

Ingredients:

-lemon juice

-honey

-whiskey

This recipe calls for heating the lemon juice and honey to a slow boil, then adding some rum or whiskey after the mixture has cooled. I tried that, but it took too much work. Instead, I've been putting the ingredients into a cup, and adding boiling water to it. 

Depending on how much of each ingredient I add, it can taste like anything from sweet liquor to cough syrup to a soothing drink. 

I don't think this is effective in treating the illness as I've run out of honey once, I'm almost finished the whiskey, and I'm down to two lemons from a 3lb bag. But you know, it tastes pretty good sometimes and more often than not it shuts up the cough long enough for me to eat some food. 

Casa Victoria

Casa-Victoria Fine Dining and Banquet (8601 Warden Avenue, Markham, Ontario)

905-948-1618

info@casavictoria.ca

So here's another post that should have been up a long time ago. 

There are black sesame seeds in the wraps! There's too much meat, and not enough crispy skin in that left piece.

Chandelier!

Fancy teapot.

More fancy lights! My eyes! =_=

Would I return? Maybe if someone else were paying. Everything was cooked well, but not super amazing. There's quality and freshness in the dishes, but you're totally (over)paying for it. I think we visited this place last year before summer, and I remember the restaurant being really hot inside. Also, blinding bling everywhere! 

I appreciated the servers portioning each platter, but this style of eating Chinese food is better suited for a (bling!) wedding than a casual get-together. 

The desserts were pretty cool. 

Total damage: $32.75 per person. I think this is the most expensive Chinese food I've ever had to pay for. BLING! =_=

Check out Professor Crunchy's take on this place.

Formerly Known As Craft Burger

Craft Burger (now Big Smoke Burger) (830 Yonge Street, Toronto)

416-922-8585

I'm a fan of burger juice. The first time I ate at Craft Burger, there was plenty of that. But the last few times I went (which were still all a while ago), the meat seemed more cooked than I would've liked.

Regardless, it's a thick burger, and it's got fresh toppings. 

I did enjoy their Craft Spicy burger (now just called Spicy Burger). We got take-out because you get the food faster.

Would I return? Maybe. They'll have a location at the Eaton Centre (Urban Eatery) soon enough, so that might be more accessible to me. I don't know how I feel about reusable dinnerware in a food court yet... I hope they run plates and cutlery through an industrial dishwasher, then stick 'em under ultraviolet rays for a while... 

Total damage: approximately $12.

Team Fatty's Wedding

Golden Regency Restaurant (2nd level of Pacific Mall, 4300 Steeles Avenue East, Markham, Ontario)

905-470-8785

The way in which this pig was presented was pretty awesome. The servers stood at the front holding a platter of pig each. The platters had sparklers on them! 

I'm used to the crispy pork at Chinese weddings, but the flat, disc-shaped doughy pieces were new. 

The crispy pork skin was delicious.

Stuff mushroom in conch shell.

This also seemed novel. It tasted like a curry mixture. There was a secret broccoli buried under the stuffing. 

Scallops and green beans.

Bird's nest soup.

I think this was the abalone.

Chicken.

Lobster.

Steamed fish.

I haven't had steamed fish in so long. It was soft, seasoned with soy sauce, and satisfying.

Rice and noodles.

Everyone went for the noodles so I didn't get a chance to try them, which made me a little sad. Note to self: grab fast.

Red bean soup.

Cupcakes!

I had the taro one. It was good, but the lemon one looked better. I snuck a peek at the insides of other people's lemon ones, and they seemed to have some sort of lemon cream or custard in them. 

That food at that reception was so plentiful. I enjoy eating several different types of meat at one meal.

Congrats to Team Fatty!

Tea Shop 168

Tea Shop 168 (5193 Yonge Street, Toronto)

416-224-9168

Small almond milk tea. 

It tastes like the Chinese almond paste soup in cold drink form. The almond flavour is pretty intense and the drink is quite sweet. 

Would I return? Sure. It's a comfortable place to hang out while grabbing a drink and/or snacks. They open somewhat late, and there are magazines and board games available for patrons to borrow. Just don't pick up the Chinese chess game and ask the staff how to play. 

My Sushi

My Sushi (420 Highway 7 East, Richmond Hill, Ontario)

905-763-1388

It's been a while since my last all-you-can-eat sushi adventure. 

It's okay for AYCE. Before ordering, we noted that the table surface was sticky, but the waitress wiped it down for us when we told her. I wasn't blown away, but some things were good. I liked the sushi pizza, which was quite crispy. 

Would I return? Probably not any time soon. I can't handle all-you-can-eat like I used to. I also find that the fish isn't always as fresh and the rolls seem more sloppily made than in other places. But that's a general statement.

Total damage: $25.

CNE

Canadian National Exhibition (Food Building, Princes' Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario)

It's almost the end of summer, and that means the Ex is back for another year of rickety rides, rigged games, and all the food you shouldn't eat. 

The first attraction we hit was the Food Building. Andrew had a list of about ten things to eat, and they were all deep-fried except for the donut burger.

Deep-fried cola. It's more expensive than the deep-fried slushie and deep-fried Kool-Aid.

I noted that the pieces sticking out of the cup looked like tentacles. It's basically a broken funnel cake topped with syrup, whipped cream, and cherries. Andrew said that he tasted the cola flavour, but it was like "weird Coke". 

Epic Burgers & Waffles.

There was a bit of a line for this place, as it sold the infamous doughnut burger. There was also the behemoth burger (grilled cheese sandwich as the bun of the burger).

Krispy Kreme burger ($8-something). Approximately 1500 calories.

It's a thick burger with processed cheese, lettuce, and tomato slices sandwiched in between two Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The vegetables were crispy and necessary to cut some of the sweetness away. The icing on the doughnuts were partially melted from the heat of the burger. I thought the actual meat was okay, but I could've done without the Krispy Kremes. They were way too sweet and didn't really do their job in holding the burger together. Andrew seemed to enjoy it though.

There's an option to make it "epic" by adding bacon and an egg, but that seemed like a death wish. 

 Mac & Cheesery. This was the place I was excited for. 

They offered different variations of mac and cheese, but I went there for the deep-fried mac n cheese. They also had deep-fried cheese curds, but they looked a bit dried up and not very exciting. They sort of reminded me of popcorn chicken.

 Deep-fried macaroni and cheese.

Andrew's batch had round chunks, whereas three of mine were shaped like rectangular prisms. They looked like fried tofu. My first bite into the crispy shell revealed a hot, gooey, and cheesy interior. It was good, but it needed salt or more seasoning. I went back to get some of their Frank's RedHot sauce and that made it taste more complete. It was deep-fried kid food, and I liked it.

Deep Fried Mars Bars (and Vachon cakes, and Pop tarts, and Oreos, and Twinkies).

The deep-fried Mars bar isn't a new idea, but deep-fried Vachon cakes sounded interesting. ($5) Got the Jos Louis, but the Ah Caramel! might've been a better order.

It might've been a good idea in theory, but it was a mess to eat. The Jos Louis was too big and soft to be held up by the stick. The batter was thin, but a bit soggy. That might've been because we waited a little while before eating it, though. I think the deep-frying ruined the snack, which was a perfectly fine thing to begin with. The extra chocolate sauce also seemed unnecessary. 

Deep-fried Mars bar.

Andrew said this was much better (and easier to eat).

I think the deep-frying melted the cream in between the two cake layers in the Jos Louis.

Steak & Cheese

Spicy fries and Sprite ($5-something, but it should've been $3.50 + tax.) I got ripped off.

They tasted like McCain fries. Again, I got ripped off, and I was left feeling very displeased.

Would I return? Probably. The deep-fried mac and cheese wasn't bad, I couldn't find the deep-fried butter, and I might try the deep-fried cheese curds and grilled cheese burger. Plus, it's not every day that I get to feast on fair food... just two weeks out of the year.

Admission to the CNE is $5 after 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. General admission is $16 otherwise.

Total damage: 876543456787654 calories.

Related articles:

Toronto Star article about the doughnut cheeseburger

BlogTO piece on how to get fat at the CNE

Toronto Life's summary of deep-fried Ex food

My previous visit to the Ex

Fresh Slice

Fresh Slice Pizza (5223 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario)

647-346-8931

It wasn't "Festive Tuesday", so our slices weren't $1, but I did have a bogo coupon.

Our two slices were cheaper (and probably more satisfying) than a hot dog from the street vendor. Jo and I both liked the garlic flavour coming from it. They heat the slices up for you after you pick them, but I think mine could've been reheated a little longer.

Would I return? Yes. It's fast and convenient. It's also pretty cheap and flavourful. I don't always crave fast food pizza, but this will do when hunger calls.

Total damage for my slice: less than $1 thanks to my coupon.

Fish Soup Noodles House

Fish Soup Noodles House (505 Highway 7 East, Markham, Ontario)

905-709-3335

Jo and I were looking forward to some cuisine from Good Taste Shanghai only to find that it had become some Chinese vegetarian restaurant. Jo vetoed the place immediately upon reading the word "vegetarian". So we wondered around the plaza and found ourselves at Fish Soup Noodles House. Apparently, it has taken over Dow's Noodles Restaurant.

My order:

I ended up changing the broth to the original fish soup since they were bold enough to name their restaurant after it. The $7.50 combo seems pretty decent. It's a bowl of soup noodles where you choose the soup base, the type of noodles, and two toppings. Additional toppings are $1.50.

Jo's noodle set. One of her add-ins was deep fried fish skin. It was really crispy, but dipping it in the soup didn't really do it justice. It was a bit flavourless. I think it would've gone better with a saltier broth, like the one they give you at Richmond Court.

My level 2 "More Spicy" broth meant extra chilli peppers. My nose was running and my lips started to swell. They don't joke around with their spiciness. The sliced beef brisket was okay, but there weren't too many pieces. The fish dumplings were sort of like fish balls in dumpling form. I've never had them before so I'm not sure what they're supposed to taste like. I was impressed that there were other things added in, such as the piece of fake crab meat, mushrooms and okra. I thought the fish broth would be way more intense than it was. I expected MSG levels you'd find in instant noodles. But they took a different approach. It might've been the peppers in my broth, but the fish taste was subtle. 

We split an order of deep fried oysters.

These were pretty big, and I liked the crunchy batter that wasn't too thick. The oyster was soft and not chewy. I suspect they might have been steamed or boiled before being battered and submersed in hot oil.  What made this awesome was the spiced salt. 

Would I return? Sure. Now that Good Taste Shanghai is gone, I need to find a new go-to place. This probably won't be the one, but it's comfortable enough. It was somewhat busy when we went, but not too full that we didn't get a table right away. There's also a hot pot option on the menu. 

Total damage for my share: $12.