Scaddabush

Scaddabush (382 Yonge Street Unit #7, Toronto)

(416) 597-8838

Hours of Operation:

Sun–Wed: 11am – 1am

Thurs-Sat: 11am – 2am

The lighting in this place is dim, romantical lighting, candles included - real candles, with the wax melting on to a tray. 

Avocado and goat cheese bruschetta

Potato parmesan crusted snapper

Tiramisu

This is a delayed post, so I don't remember much... but I had no complaints, so that's good. Service was friendly and attentive enough for me. 

This tiramisu was way more legit looking than the one from that other Summerlicious place that I went to. (That one looked nothing like the picture on their menu.)

According to their website, they'll be opening a location in Richmond Hill, so that's cool.

Please excuse the blurry pictures taken in romantical lighting.

Mighty Angus Burger

There is a promotion at McDonald's to get the mighty Angus burger combo for $7 (plus tax), but only at the locations on Yonge Street, between Bloor and Front. The promo goes on for unannounced length of time.

The burger itself is big enough, and looks exciting. There is a good half inch in height of meat. The bun holds well, and this might be the best beef I've had from McDonald's. (I'm comparing this to the "100% beef" in the Big Mac.) It works, but my one gripe is that the sauce is a bit too sweet for me. 

All in all, not bad for the promo price, but I wouldn't pay $9-something (pre-tax) for this combo.

Portland Beer

High off our Maine Brew Bus tour, we decided to grab a random collection of beer to try back at our hotel. We paired our beer with blue cheese and buffalo wing XX popcorn from Coastal Maine Popcorn Co. 

Ballast Point grapefruit sculpin: Thought it'd be sweet, but it was kind of bitter, and too hoppy. 

Allagash Saison: I do not remember, but I guess it was okay if I made no bad notes about it? 

Hitachino Nest Japanese classic ale: Very woody taste, and enhanced the blue cheese flavoured popcorn greatly. 

Ram Island iced Tea Mead from Maine Mead Works: Sweet, but has that very American iced tea taste. Enhanced the spiciness of the Buffalo XX popcorn. We enjoyed this very much, as we all agreed to buy and share it when we had tried it at the brewery. 

As for the popcorn from Coastal Maine Popcorn Co., it's flavoured popcorn; what can go wrong? It was pretty fun seeing which beers would bring out which popcorn flavour. 

Beer and popcorn time antics with Jo post to come. 

Sweet O'Clock

Sweet O'Clock (5461 Yonge Street, North York)

647-352-5461

This is another North York Yonge Street place that has been receiving quite a bit of attention since it has opened. 

Taro tofu pudding. 

I actually ordered taro balls tofu pudding... but I guess they didn't hear that. I think I might just get a Mandarin-speaking friend to order for me next time. It was fine, though, since the taro was pretty good. The chunks of taro are huge and soft, and very hearty. 

We decided to get take-out since there were no tables available. The order took a little while, but the wait wasn't unbearable. Monique said it tasted like the stuff she had in Taiwan, so I guess it's pretty authentic-tasting.

Would I return? Sure! We saw someone order a supreme mango crushed ice thing, and it looked pretty glorious with it's scoop of ice cream on top. Plus, I would like to try their taro balls, and see if Zen-Q has some real, local taro ball competition.

Total damage: $6.77.

Artisan Noodle

Artisan Noodle (5421 Yonge Street, North York)

647-345-1155

Hours (from website):

Mon - Thurs: 11:30 - 10:30

Fri: 11:30 - 11:00

Sat - Sun: 12:00 - 11:00

But here's something good to know: they're closed on Tuesdays.

Every time I pass by this place, there is always people in it. During meal times, a line can often be seen out the door. There seems to be hype around this place since it opened not too long ago. Take-out is encouraged by staff to preserve their tiny seating section, I guess. 

They offer Xi'an style food... I'm not going to pretend that I know where that is or what that food is supposed to taste like.

Pork jia mo $3.99.

It was good. The bun is crispy on the outside, and the meat is a good amount. It was leaking meat juices as Monique ate it. Meat juice is always good. Pretty filling.

Yo po biang biang mian $9.99. It's noodles with meat and vegetables with garlic, ginger, and chilli oil sauce.

This is a pretty colourful and exciting dish. There is a good amount of raw garlic and scallions on top, so be sure to mix before eating, and talk less after eating. Monique seemed to like her order.

The "hand-slapped" fat noodles of the yo po biang biang mian.

 Soy stewed beef noodle soup $9.99.

I am a sucker for noodles made by hand. There is a nice bounce to them. Good portion of meat and noodles. The soup definitely had a nice soy sauce flavour to it. Couldn't complain about the meat.

My one gripe is that the whole place seats about ten people in pretty squished arrangement. It's hard to get to the bench along the wall without knocking or moving a table. There's a mural featuring cartoon people making noodles, all with a look that I can only describe as maniacal laughter face. It's a little funny and kind of scary at the same time. On another wall, a light-projected logo spins and spins and spins. The table legs are made of pipes; they look cool, but try not to hit them with your shins.

Would I return? Yup! I quite enjoyed the pork jia mo and soy stewed beef noodle soup, and I would be interested in trying out the other noodles they offer, too. The prices are fair, and portions are happily filling. Also, I am a bit of a noodle monster. It's not a fancy place (water is given out of styrofoam cups, and we used disposable chopsticks to eat), but it's comfy enough. I'd probably do take-out next time anyway because I'm not a fan of cramped spaces full of people.

Top four photos taken by Monique. Thanks to her for checking this place out with me! Go Mandarin-speaking friends who order for me!

Ginger Mead

Ginger Mead by Trafalgar Ales and Meads

I was introduced to mead on a brew tour, and it seemed pretty cool: alcohol derived from honey.

The ingredients in this particular mead I picked up seems so simple.

The taste is not as spicy as I thought it'd be, but there is a ginger taste. It sort of goes down like beer in bitterness, but finishes like wine, possibly because of the acidity. Beer grape juice comes to mind?! The honey is very light. I feel like it needs to be sweeter.

Pros: 8.5% alcohol/volume. Might go well in Coke.

Cons: Too much bitter without other flavours. Cork took me too much effort to remove; like hand-hurting effort. It's got nothing on the delicious iced tea mead I had in Boston.

Would I purchase this again? Probably not... I have to try everything else, and this ain't got nothing on my regular beer.