Viennetta

So, usually I post things that I eat. Here's what I'm NOT eating:

That's right. I'm not eating Viennetta because it isn't produced in Canada anymore. I've been craving this product for years, possibly over a decade now. I remember the smooth vanilla ice cream and the crisp, thin layers of chocolate. It was like ice cream lasagne. It was so pretty, and it had a fancy name to go with it. Oh, how I long for the days of Viennetta. Why did they take it away from me? WHY?

I heard they still sell it in the UK.

Waterloo beer

Waterloo Amber Seasonal Collection

Jo says I'm pro-Canadian beers. Maybe... or maybe that's just what's cheaper in Canada. :P

Anyways, saw this on the shelf, and decided to go for it, being my Canadian self.

I like that colour. So pretty. Tastes very flavourful. It's a bit bitter, but I like it. Smells... malt-y. It's marked as "strong beer" and at 6.8%, I guess it is. It's not exactly smooth, but I find it drinkable. That's the best description I can come up with right now... not everyone's going to like it, but I don't hate it.

Would I get it again? Sure, why not. I support Canadian products and this beer is okay by me. It would go well with spicy wings. Though in general, I remember liking their dark beer more. 

Total damage: $2-something + tax at your local LCBO. 

Muskoka Cream Ale

Muskoka Cream Ale

Smooth. So smooth. 

It's a little heavy, so I can't drink too much of it, but it's definitely smooth. Slightly sweet, goes down easy. It feels like a meal on its own though.

Would I get it again? I might. I feel that it tasted better from the bottle I had the first time around though.

Total damage: $2-something at the LCBO.

Kinton Ramen

Kinton Ramen (51 Baldwin Street, Toronto)

Hours: Mon - Sun: 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

647-748-8900

This place is pretty tiny and I've heard that it's always packed. We got there around 1 p.m. on a weekday, and the wait for our party of four was about 20 minutes. They don't take reservations. We ended up at a table in the back, sharing it with other customers.

Spicy garlic ramen with pork belly ($9.80)

There's a choice of pork belly or pork shoulder with each of their noodles. The slab of meat I got seemed dry at first bite, but it seemed okay afterwards... possibly because it soaked up the broth? I'm not sure. There was also the option of light, regular, or rich broth. I got the rich one because I enjoy intense flavour. The broth was good. It wasn't very spicy, but that small mound of garlic certainly delivered. The noodles were good consistency, and they had that bit of bounce that I like.

Bianca and Amanda each got a cheese ramen ($10.80).

It seemed very cheesy, but they noted that the cheese melted into large clumps that were a bit difficult to eat. 

Would I return? Yeah... when I have a lot of time... and don't want to talk to the people I'm with. There's all sorts of noise coming from the staff, similar to what you'd hear in Guu - you know, cheering, greeting, and the like. The environment makes it hard to hear anything else. The wait makes it hard for it to be a quick lunch. I liked what I ate, though. It should also be noted that they don't have air conditioning, but there are fans all over the restaurant. Oh, and their sawaa drinks are priced similarly to the bottled beers. Fair enough.

Chingu

Chingu (280 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill)

905-763-0620

Hours:

Mon - Thurs 11:30 a.m - 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Fri - Sun 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Josie had Korean barbecue cravings, so I suggested Chingu, remembering that their all-you-can-eat business included pork bone soup. 

Korean appetizers

Yay to glass noodles and the fish cake thingies. 

I like their pork bone soup, but Jo noted that she remembered it having more peppercorns and stuff last time. I still liked it. 

I spared the pictures of the raw meat, but on the regular AYCE option we got, there was fish, pork belly, pork in red sauce, beef, short ribs, squid, and I can't remember what else. It comes with lettuce, and chopped up lettuce with spicy seasoning. You're meant to wrap meat in the lettuce and shove the seasoned lettuce in that as well. Lettuce in lettuce still seems kind of weird to me. 

The deluxe AYCE menu that we didn't get included things like tofu soup, handmade dumplings, salmon, and I can't remember what else.

There's also ice cream at the end.

There's still at 15% automatic gratuity charge, but it's well deserved. Staff nonchalantly eyed us as we cooked, making sure that if the grill got too crusted up with black stuff, they would change it. 

Would I return? Yes. Their marinated beef is pretty awesome and I appreciate that it comes with lettuce.  I also like that they're actually Korean. I'm a fan of the pork bone soup as well. Also, chingu means friend. :D

Total damage: approximately $25. (It's cheaper than that by a few bucks on weekdays.)

Kokoya

Kokoya Korean Restaurant (5515 Yonge Street, Willowdale, Ontario)
416-221-2002

Outside of this place, there's a sign that says "beer and chicken". I like both those things, so we decided to go for it.

The lady that greeted us was super friendly and very helpful. She briefly showed us the menus and invited us to ask her questions if we had any. Their Korean specials menu (what I call the menu from Korean restaurants with the alcohol and food combos) actually had English on it - bonus points! We were curious about what "half and half chicken" meant and she explained that it was half fried chicken and half spicy chicken.

Half and half chicken (combo with 5 bottles of Molson Canadian)

I liked their triangle plates and how they presented our giant chicken. The fried chicken was super crispy, and the spicy chicken was also super crispy and sweet. Both types of chicken were not dry at all, which I really appreciated. Nothing makes me more angry than dry chicken. The only thing that was that if you ate the red chicken first, the other kind tasted a bit bland since it wasn't as sauced up in flavour. The lady came back with some pickled white radishes and explained that the sourness of it went well with the sweet and spicy of the chicken. 

The complimentary sides included this mystery mashed ball. Usually in other Korean restaurants, it's mashed potato mixed with stuff, but this was sweeter and orange. 

The salad had a creamy type sweet onion dressing, which we enjoyed. Halfway through our meal, we were offered another dish of salad. I thought that was nice.

Would I return? Yes. (Super crispy + moist) chicken + beer = good. The lady that worked there was super friendly. We had fun watching and commenting on the Korean music performances on the TV. The Korean specials can substitute the 5 bottles of beer for soju or a pitcher of beer. The prices seem comparable to the other restaurants in the area. It's a bit dark and small inside, but we were a small group on a weekday that didn't have a problem with that. Washrooms are single stalls and clean. Parking seems non-existent unless there's two spots in the back, but there's free street parking on Yonge after 9 p.m. One last thing that should be mentioned is that I don't remember seeing many non-chicken items on the menu, and most stuff looks like it's meant to be shared. This place really is mostly for chicken and beer/soju.

Total damage: approximately $23 for my share of the chicken and beers.

Burger Week!

It's The Grid's first Burger Week where a bunch of Toronto joints add a special $5 burger to their menu. Some offer a Black-Tie burger. And I just noticed this, but some of the places offer a beer-and-burger special featuring Muskoka Brewery products where you get to keep the glass... now I feel jipped one glass. :/

We tried Hrvati Bar but it's a small bar, and they said the wait would be about 45 minutes. I'm not sure if it's usually that packed or Burger Week is more popular than I thought it was.

So we deflected to Caplansky's (356 College Street). It took them a little while to get us seated, and we were a little perplexed as there seemed to be enough free tables. They offered their $5 burger, but also a $10 beer-and-burger deal which I got.

Here's the Muskoka cream ale in a cup that I was supposed to keep.

I liked it. It was nice. Went down easy and smoothly. Very unoffensive.

Here's the $5 burger, and I ordered an extra side of smoked meat poutine ($5). 

The burger was super, super dried out. It had flavour, but I found myself wishing for more fat pockets to cut the dryness. I liked the challah bun. I didn't taste much of that piece of smoked meat on it. The poutine had lots of oregano which Berta did not like. Jess liked it until it got too salty. I liked it because the flavour was so strong and it was so meaty - it went well with my cream ale, I thought. (Also, I like salty.) The cheese curds were a bit scant though.

Would I return to Caplansky's? Maybe for their smoked meat, which they seem to advertise way more of. I had interest in the latkes, but looking at an adjacent table's order of them, they seemed a bit too blackened. Service is friendly. 

BQM Diner (354 Queen Street West)

The diner isn't very big, and it's mostly two seater booths, but we managed to find two benches in the back that could seat six people each.

There was a $10 pitcher of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer from 3 - 6 p.m. written up on the chalk board, next to the $5 burger for Burger Week. Naturally, we got the pitcher.

It's okay. It's light and... okay, it tastes a bit like water to me. I'd drink it if someone else orders it or if it's on sale.

In the back, you can see them grind up the meat. Meat grinder excitement!

 Onion rings ($5) and my $5 burger. 

The onion rings were HUGE, and very crispy. They tasted sweet. I liked them, but I felt like they could've used a bit of seasoning. Not a problem, since there was salt and pepper on the table. A good idea might be to get one of their dipping sauces and dip 'em into that.

 AAA house-ground beef with herbed goat cheese, caramelized onions, and jalapeno aioli.

The meat wasn't bad, but I really liked the caramelized onions and goat cheese. That's good stuff. 

 Bianca and Derek both got a poutine. It was pretty good. 

We also tried the deep-fried pickles. They were super crispy and came with some sort of yummy chipotle aioli sauce. I tried a small bit and I think that's all I can take. It was fun to try. 

Would I return? Yes. Burger wasn't bad and had good toppings, poutine was decent (slightly pinkish, not too dry), sauces were interesting, fried stuff was crispy, server was fun. 

Burger week lasts until Sunday. More info here.

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.