La Rosa

La Rosa Grand Hall (25 Lanark Road, Markham, Ontario)
905-477-7539
info@larosabanquethall.com

Ivan and Vivian's wedding reception

Traditional Chinese ten-course meal.

Pork.

I liked it, but Mel wasn't a fan. She said hers wasn't crispy, but mine was plenty crispy.

Deep-fried crab claw.

Scallop with snow peas.

Shark fin soup.

Apparently before that day, I didn't realize which part was the actual shark fin. It's the stringy clumps.

Abalone and choy.

Steamed fish.

Lobster.

Chicken. 

The chicken was the best dish. The meat was really moist and the skin was very crispy.

Noodles.

By this time, I was really full.

Red bean soup.

I have no major complaints about the food... only that I was shoving most of it in my mouth in order to keep up with the scheduled timing. I was displeased when they took away some of my plates that I wasn't done with. I guess they just had to keep the dishes coming.

Inatei

Inatei Japanese Cuisine (9021 Leslie Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario)
905-881-9500

Salad and miso that comes with my meal.

Sometimes I prefer that to chunks of iceberg lettuce. Sometimes.

Salmon on rice.

I remember it being okay enough. 

Creamy pudding type thing. I liked it.

Total damage: I do not remember, but it wasn't too bad. It was on the lunch menu.

See Jo's review of that meal.

Mini Random Post

Mangoes. Why am I allergic to you??

President's Choice peanut butter and chocolate chunk cookies

They're pretty good. I think I like them better than the regular chocolate chip cookies.

They're crunchy and crumbly. 

Some Korean instant noodles I found in the cupboard.

Doll instant noodle. I didn't know instant noodles came in sesame oil flavour. I thought that was just an addition to whatever other flavour it's supposed to be (e.g. beef, seafood).

I do appreciate that it doesn't come with solidified fat in a small packet that some other brands have.

Pan seared salmon on rice.

Todamgol Korean Restaurant

Todamgol Korean Restaurant (5935 Yonge Street, North York, ON)

416-222-8076
Parking is in the back off of Cummer Avenue.

Complimentary side dishes. There are a lot!

The nuts go good with beer. Oou broccoli! 

There seems to be this trend among Korean restaurants that offer a special of five beers and an entree dish for around $20 to $25. The trend also seems to be that this particular section of the menu (if not on a separate menu altogether) is entirely in Korean only.

We matched up the characters to find BBQ eel for the special.

The eel wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the melt-in-your-mouth version from Kaori.

Also complimentary.

Nothing stellar, but not bad. 

The only English on the sign says "Korean Restaurant". 

Would I return? I wouldn't mind. The beer is cheap enough, the eel that we had was pretty good, and they give you a lot of complimentary stuff.

Total damage: approximately $15 for my share of the food+beer special.

See Jo's take here.

More Drinks and Snacks

A trip to the liquor store meant restocking. 

Jo picked up a bottle of McGuinness Blue Curaçao.

It's sweet and orange-flavoured. At 15%, Jo called it the source of flavour shot.

Selection of the night. I picked up Cointreau and the Absolut vodka.

The combination of vodka, Cointreau and blue curaçao was pretty good.

Jo liked that the drink tasted decent and didn't require soda. The Cointreau adds a bitter orange taste (like the white part of the orange peel) and the blue curaçao adds colour and orangey sweetness. The vodka adds... well, vodka. (40% + 40% + 15% = 95%? Not really, but lol.) I quite liked this combination.

President's Choice aged cheddar and onion chips.

I like that the PC chips are a bit thicker and sturdier than regular chips. I do not like how some of pieces are absolutely massive. In my mind, chips should never be more than 1.5 bites each. The aged cheddar and onion tastes a bit more like the classic sour cream and onion. The aged cheddar part isn't that noticeable.

Bibim-Q

Bibim-Q Bibimbob & BBQ Korean Eatery (597 Yonge Street, Toronto)
416-922-6367

The setting is like a fast food joint. The prices are similar.

Jess calls this place "white uncle" because there's a usually white guy in a hair net behind the counter. Mr. white uncle can greet customers with a Korean hello, and displays a pretty friendly demeanour.

Kim chi fried rice.

Cheap and plentiful. I liked it. It's not super fancy, but the sunny-side egg is there, as are the sides.

Would I return? Yeah, why not. 

Total damage: Under $10.

Sapporo Sushi

Sapporo Sushi (3 Chalmers Rd, Richmond Hill, Ontario‎)
(905) 882-7877

I think the value for this place is okay. The fish may not be the best quality, but the prices are pretty reasonable last I was there.

Clear glass noodles and miso soup that comes with my meal.

That miso soup looks really light coloured.

Salad that comes with my meal.

I like that Asian-type salad dressing. The leaves are cheap iceberg lettuce, and I think there was a slice of cucumber too.

Chirashi.

It might have been nicer with more varieties of sashimi pieces.

Ice cream that comes with meal.

Would I return? Sure.

Total damage: $15-$20... I don't really remember because these pictures were taken a long time ago.

Richmond Court

Richmond Court (Times Square Mall)

It should be warned that this restaurant isn't the cleanest of its kind. If you have a large table that requires lots of cups of tea, a server might very well be sticking their fingers inside the cups filled with tea to bring them over. I'm pretty sure that's not standard health regulation procedure, but I think they favour efficiency.

Fried rice with salty fish and chicken pieces.

The salty fish is definitely salty. They like to mound the rice on a large plate. During this particular visit, we found a hair in the rice.

Rice noodle rolls

Decent. Average.

Would I return? Sadly, I probably would. It's cheap Chinese food that's available late at night. Good for midnight cravings. Not good if you want a nice dining experience. I think some of the servers have permanent stank face.

Total damage: I honestly can't remember, but I can assure you that it was cheap.

Firefly

Firefly (3229 Highway 7 East, First Markham Place, Markham, Ontario)
905-479-6188

I know this place as the Chinese place that offers various combos in the $10 - $30 range. There are various meat options such as steak, pork cutlets, fish, and lobster. On their many menus, I noticed that they really try to promote the lobster dishes.

Most of the combos come with a bun and a choice between two soups. It's usually either the red vegetable soup or the cream soup.

I like that the bun has the shiny top and is slightly sweet. It is also served semi-warm. The soup had enough stuff in it to fill me up, but the beef pieces were kind of hard and some pieces felt like I was eating twigs.

Salmon in pesto cream sauce.

The sauce is more like a cream sauce with dill. Lots of dill. The sauce is fine and I think it goes well with the salmon. Though the filet looked super dry on the naked side, it was actually only the outside that was crusty. The bit of moisture had been sealed in, which I found was pretty nice. The salmon wasn't mouth-watering, but it wasn't as dry as I thought it'd be. The vegetables were not seasoned and tasted a little bland/healthy. I did, however, appreciate the fact that they were not mushy.

Table bell. I love these things. They're so much easier to use than trying to flag people down for service.

After 9:30 p.m., a siu yeh menu is available where there is a small list of cheap eats. Josie asked for this menu and ordered the thick Hong Kong style French toast with peanut butter. The outside was crunchy, and the inside carbs had turned yellow from eggy-ness. 

Would I return? Sure, but maybe not anytime soon. There are a lot of cheaper options in the same plaza and I don't need to have too much of this.

Total damage for my food: $18.

Drinks!

Still awesome: Grey Goose La Poire.

Some Bailey's coffee hot chocolate concoction.

Apricot wheat ale purchased in Montreal.

Yes, there is a hint of apricot.

Aphrodisiaque stout

It was super thick. Renée and Josie couldn't handle how strong it was. I liked it for what it was, but I probably wouldn't have been able to finish the whole bottle. There's a bitter chocolate taste to it that's kind of interesting.

Total damage of the Aphrodisiaque: $2.59 + applicable taxes.

Jackson Triggs Malbec Merlot courtesy of Simon and Renée

The red wine went down very easily and was quite inoffensive. Also not dry at all.

The grocery brand hickory sticks were also pretty good.

Jumex Guanabana nectar courtesy of Josie.

I can definitely see how this is nectar versus juice. It seems to have stronger fruit flavours.

Pinnacle 2007 ice cider purchased in Montreal from le Marché des sauveurs in Jean-Talon Market.

It has a strong apple taste. It's slightly sweet, and a bit on the sour side. It tends to leave a dry feeling in my mouth, but for its price, I appreciate it. I'd call it poor man's ice wine.

Probably not meant to be drank in such a full glass.

Real cork!