Kaiju

Kaiju (384 Yonge Street, Toronto)

647-748-6338

kaijutoronto@gmail.com

Hours: 

Mon - Fri: 11 AM - 8 PM

Sat: 12 PM - 7 PM (only day they sell tofu cheesecake by the slice)

Sun: closed

Trouble finding this place? It's in this maze of a basement under Aura, part of what looks like a semi-abandoned food court. 

Kaiju poutine $6

Curry and grated cheese on seasoned, thick cut fries. Good-sized fries. Could do with some double frying for extra crispiness. Salty enough for me, and the sweetness of the curry adds some contrasting flavour. Overall, not bad since the curry has gravy-like consistency. I wonder what it'd be like with cheese curds.

After being offered a sample of their Japanese curry, it's pretty evident that it tastes different from other curries (at least the ones that I've had). It's sweeter, and it kind of has a slight fruity taste. 

They heartily advertise their curry, which includes various spices, fruits (makes sense to my tastebuds), and vegetables; however, I think the most unique thing about my experience there is that they came out of the stall to bring our food to us in the food court. They also came by as we were eating, and checked with us how the food was. Food court service. Cool.

Would I return? Yes. I think I'll definitely have to try the katsu next. And I really want to try their tofu cheesecake, but it's only sold on Saturdays. Prices are not so cheap, but it's downtown, and what I tasted was pretty good. Plus, I totally got served in my seat in a food court. Who does that? Kaiju.

CNE

Canadian National Exhibition

End of August means end of summer and two weeks of the Ex. For me, that means trying out whatever disgusting concoction of food combination they've come up with this year. The big craze this time was bacon, but I wasn't sold. The Bacon Nation offerings didn't seem that exciting to me, or maybe I just couldn't see the full menu. I decided for pulled pork business from Pull'd instead.

 The Jack'd ($13.56 after tax)

Pulled pork in between layers of red velvet pancakes... with a square of salted butter on top. It looked like something I'd make out of leftovers in rez. The pancakes were more orange than red, but surprisingly went okay with the meat. The meat wasn't all pulled apart, and could've used more sauce - Jack Daniel's sauce. The butter was good at moistening things up. It was kind of pricey and alright. 

 This is what it looked like after hacking.

We saw this sign that me and Renée found hilarious, but Jo didn't get it. 

Village By the Grange Food

Village By the Grange (Dundas Street West and St. Patrick Street, Toronto)

At the corner of Dundas West and St. Patrick to about McCaul, there's a small food court that has a pretty good variety of food. It may look a little old, but it definitely has character and some family run options that you wouldn't find in other food courts.

Monique got this hearty breakfast meal for lunch from Karine's.

There was fruit, there was meat and eggs, there were potatoes, and there was toast. All for about $6. She would've saved $1 if she had eaten there instead of getting take-out. I think they're green or something. They advertise various vegan options as well. 

Amanda got her spinach pie and salad from the Greek place for under $10.

I went to Red Red Noodles where the guy had great customer service. I like this place because they sometimes give you a large chunk of dragon fruit. It seems random though, as they don't always have it.

I got the one with BBQ pork and chicken, and a spring roll. You can get it on noodles too. The optional spicy sauce was no joke. You can see the pepper flakes and seeds in the picture, and I thought my mouth was going to explode. Bianca tried some, thinking I was being a wuss, and she had to cool her tongue with peanut butter and crackers. She looked like she was in pain. The food was decent. I like their chicken and their sauce is on fire!!! The meal was about $7. 

Chicken katsu from Sakura ($6.75)

That sauce is awesome. Always say yes to the sauce. I like their salad dressing, and I also like that I got two large pieces of chicken katsu. 

Would I return? To Village by the Grange? Sure. There's no reason not to. It has many options, from Greek to Chinese to vegan to Japanese, and it also has a McDonald's for familiar fast food convenience. Also, it's just too easy to find a filling meal there for under $10 - great for students. 

Warning: The simply titled Tasty Chinese Food joint at the corner may have cheap food, but it gave two people diarrhoea. 

Amaya Express @ Urban Eatery

Amaya Express (Urban Eatery, Eaton Centre, 220 Yonge Street, Toronto)

Spicy lamb curry bowl.

This bowl was extremely filling, probably because of the rice and chick peas. The lamb is pretty soft and indeed spicy. 

Butter chicken poutine.

Bianca said that the fries were soggy, but there was a really long time between when the food was received and when we started eating. She also noted that butter chicken poutine was on the menu of the New York Fries Poutinerie next door.

 Would I return? Sure. I think this place had the most aroma surrounding it in the food court, which is what drew me there to begin with. The curry bowls are definitely filling. 

Oh yeah, good luck to those who want a garbage bin in the Urban Eatery. I don't think they exist there. 

Total damage for my curry bowl: $8.

Rare @ Urban Eatery

Rare (Urban Eatery, Eaton Centre, 220 Yonge Street, Toronto)

I was excited to try something at the Eaton Centre's brand new Urban Eatery because many millions of dollars has been put into those renovations. Though the name is a little pretentious, it does seem a little nicer and bigger than the average food court. But I must insist that it is still just a food court, a really huge food court.

There were the food court regulars such as McDonald's and KFC, but there were also some more unique options. I noted a Big Smoke burger joint, Mucho Burrito, Amaya, etc. Among the newer names, Andrew noted Rare, a sandwich joint.

Oh Canada roast beef sandwich and mango salad.

The sandwich came with aged Canadian cheddar, bacon, creamy horseradish, and caramelized onions. I really liked the caramelized onions, and the pressed, toasty ciabatta white bread held everything together quite nicely. There was a good serving of roast beef, but I thought the meat lacked a little flavour. Andrew said that might have been because the other ingredients were really strong and overpowering. Also, I was still a bit sick, so my taste buds might have also been under the weather. A soup or salad of my choice was also included in the $8.95 price tag. The mango salad had bits of noodles and I think there was cilantro in there too. There was a sourness reminiscent of the clear vinegary fish sauce at pho restaurants.

Oh Canada roast beef sandwich and chicken noodle soup.

Andrew didn't seem to have many complaints about his sandwich other than the creamy horseradish sauce being strong. He mentioned that he'd like to try the philly sandwich next time.

Would I return? To the Urban Eatery? Probably. It's now the only food court in the Eaton Centre and it seems convenient when shopping in the area. There are a lot of options, and the area is clean (for now). The other big change that was implemented was the use of reusable dishes and cutlery. Cups and glasses too! It's like Ikea, but fancy. Andrew thinks the glasses will be stolen because they're pretty nice. There are signs on some tables to remind patrons to bring their trays to one of the service stations where staff will clear and sort trays. Andrew said that on Friday, the piles of trays and plates were about two feet off the counter. There were less people and less chaos when I went. Oh, and there are hooks underneath the taller tables to hang your purses, bags, new purchases, etc. 

Would I return to Rare? Sure. It's okay. It seemed like a healthy meal, and overall the food tasted pretty good. My mind wasn't blown, but it's pretty good stuff for food court food. Also, I'm a sucker for caramelized onions.

Total damage: $10.11.

All pics by Andrew's camera.

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