Niwatei

Niwatei (3160 Steeles Avenue East, Markham, Ontario)
905-513-6492
info@niwatei.com

Pork ramen ($8.80)

I've been craving ramen for so long now. SO LONG! Anyway, this definitely satisfied my craving. Doesn't come with much meat, but the noodles are bouncy and fun, and the broth was so turbid with flavour. I also really like how they don't overboil their eggs. I was pretty full by the end of it, but Lorne was still hungry after eating his bowl of ramen. 

Deep-fried chicken ($6)

The chicken wasn't super crispy, but the meat was nice and moist. They appeared to use dark meat for it. Lorne said that it wasn't great, but I liked that the meat wasn't dried out. Could have been crispier though. 

Would I return? Yes. They have good ramen noodles. The menu isn't super extensive, but it is a ramen joint and that's their focus. I also really enjoy their random racoon cartoons on their menus. So random and so cute!

Total damage: approximately $15 for my noodles and half of the chicken.

Red Lobster Festival of Shrimp

Red Lobster (20 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

House salad.

Giant croutons! Rawr!

Red Lobster signature pizza

It wasn't very good. The bits of lobster were super dried out. 

I chose three shrimp options for about $20 which is part of their Festival of shrimp special. You can also get two shrimp choices for about $15. The options include garlic butter shrimp, shrimp tacos, breaded shrimp, fried coconut shrimp, potato-encrusted shrimp, shrimp pasta, etc.

I got the breaded shrimp, garlic butter shrimp, and shrimp tacos. The garlic butter shrimp came in a pool of butter. I'd say it was my favourite option... because I enjoy butter. I was unimpressed with the shrimp tacos, possibly because I was expecting something like the yummy fish tacos I had on the weekend from a food truck (more on that later). When I had ordered, I didn't realize that my meal came with a salad and a side. It was way too much food for me... especially since I ate multiple biscuits.

Would I return? Overall, the food was blah and a bit pricey. I went mainly to introduce my peers to the infamous Red Lobster biscuits (free with dinner meal).  I can't believe that many of them have never been to Red Lobster and have never experienced the greatness of their biscuits. The biscuits are soft, salty, buttery, and delicious! They're a bit cheesy too. They are simply awesome. I would return if they brought back that endless shrimp, but otherwise I might just get their biscuits to go (approximately $3 for 6).

Total damage: $35 for my meal, my share of the pizza (split into 4), and my draft beer.

Holy Chuck

Holy Chuck Burgers (1450 Yonge Street, Toronto)
416-962-4825
info@holychuckburgers.com
Hours:
Mon - Sat: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

The Holy Chuck ($9.99)

They ask you not to put any extra condiments on it and that's perfectly fine with me because I don't usually like them. It's a double cheeseburger with bacon and caramelized onions. It wasn't as big as I expected, but it was about average burger size. First thing I noticed when I bit into it was that it was grilled really nicely. The very peripheral edges of mine were just a bit crispy, but the insides of the patties were so so juicy. Think leaking burger. The meat was cooked to about medium - really nice. I was a fan of the meat. The caramelized onions were fine. Unfortunately, on my first bite of the burger, I managed to drag out all the bacon with my teeth. This resulted in a baconless burger for the rest of the time. The bun was soft and nothing fancy. I was impressed with the burger, but Andrew said that it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. He mentioned that Craft Burger (now Big Smoke Burger) has better tasting burgers and it's cheaper. I haven't been there since the name change, so I'll have to go again and see what he's talking about... but somehow I don't think those burgers would be as moist. 

I like their cow pictures.

If you're feeling underweight and suffering low blood pressure, might I suggest the cowlorie ($11.99). It's a double cheeseburger with bacon and caramelized onions, in between two grilled cheese sandwiches. It sounds very fair food like. I was interested, but I didn't particularly want to die of a heart attack right then.

The Go Chuck Yourself Challenge seems a bit frightening as well.

Would I return? I would. I enjoy the meat, and some of their speciality shakes sound interesting. I'm pretty curious about the Reese's pieces and banana one. They also have poutine with actual cheese curds. The place isn't very difficult to get to, being just south of St. Clair station. It won't be the cheapest burger though.

Total damage: $13.31 for my Holy Chuck burger and can of Sprite.

Phoenix

Phoenix Restaurant (8190 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill, Ontario)

905-886-1113

A02: Fish bean curd and Yunnan noodles in soup... or something like that.

I can't really remember what it's called. I like the soft bean curd poufs. I switched the standard noodles for other noodles, but I'm not sure what I switched it for because Jo ordered it for me in Chinese. Overall, it's very plentiful, and could probably feed two people. Other soup noodles of this variety can come in combo form with a drink. Renée got the fish slices in soup noodles and I'll admit that it tasted better than it sounded. The fish was peppery and not super bland.

Would I return? Sure. Jo likes their cold Hong Kong style milk tea, and the prices are cheap enough. They've repackaged their menu into a nicer bound book with lots of pictures. We also saw a staff member wiping down menus with steaming water later in the night. I was impressed and it's good to know that they're cleaned.

Total damage: approximately $7. Jo had a receipt from before which gave us 10% off our meal. I don't know how long that promotion is going to last.

Starbucks

Happy Hour Frappuccinos are back at Starbucks.

I got my grande mocha cookie crumble for a total of $2.68.

It tastes like Java chip, which is why I liked it.

If you want to be really beastly, you can get a venti for about $0.10 more. Fel, Bianca and Viv all did and one of them couldn't finish hers. The calories in that drink could have been dinner for many people. Get yours now until May 13 between 3-5 p.m. 

Would I return? Probably by peer pressure. While the rest of them got venti, I'm surprised that I could restrain myself to a grande.

Izakaya Ju

Izakaya Ju (3-3160 Steeles Avenue East, Markham, Ontario)
905-474-1058

In J-town, there's a small izakaya that's unlike any that I've been to. It feels more like a small restaurant, and maybe that's because the set-up is almost the same as the adjacent ramen noodle place. In fact, they share washrooms, and I almost walked back into the wrong establishment.

I didn't have much to eat (I actually only had a drink), but Mel's dumpling stuffed chicken wings looked interesting. They deboned a part of the wing, and stuffed it with dumpling filling.

Would I return? Sure. There's a chalkboard full of menu items on the wall, and I remember some of them being interesting. Plus, the plum wine sawa I got wasn't bad. The only thing is that it closes kind of early for an izakaya. I think it was either 10 or 11 p.m... might have been a Thursday or Friday night. I don't know; I like to drink into the night. They have wifi, but Jo couldn't connect to it, even after getting the password.

Total damage: $10 for my plum wine sawa.

Flat Rock Cellars

Flat Rock Cellars 2010 Riesling

Having previously tried the 2009 Riesling the night before, this one was a lot less dry, and it was sweeter (and less sour). The colour was very pale as well. It got dryer as I drank more of it. Quite enjoyable.

Total damage: free for me thanks to Josie! But it'll cost about $17-something plus tax at your local LCBO.

Ka Chi (414 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

416-598-3222

Hours: 

10:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. daily

Squid and beef.

Pork bone soup.

The meat looks so pink!

Bulgogi bibimbap.

It looks real legit.

#18. Bulgogi rice cakes ($8.50).

The rice cakes do a good job at absorbing the bulgogi flavour, but it's also good to take other people's leftover rice and soak it in the sauce.

Would I return? I sure would. It's clean, and the food is pretty decent. I still have yet to try their pork bone soup where the pork is super pink.