Reese Half Pound Cup!

Well, shit. My first thought was, "Is this for one person to eat?! I don't understand." It's about the size of an Oreo ice cream sandwich.

My second, more disgusting thought was, "I must eat one."

Homemade Goodness and Cake

Dinner at Jess's. Meat, potatoes, and green beans. What's not to like?

Cake! I believe this was a hazelnut cake by Dufflet. 

Wasn't as moist as I wanted it to be, but it satisfied my cake craving.

Cassava cake made by Ludie at work. It was still hot when she brought it. Hot and delicious!

Milagro

Milagro Cantina Mexicana (5 Mercer Street, Toronto)

416-850-2855

Hours: 

Mon - Wed: 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Thurs - Fri: 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Sat: 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Sun: 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

This place might just be one of Josie's favourites in Toronto. She always gets so excited about going.

The place was crazy dim and really, really loud. We had trouble hearing each other over across the large table, and Jo had issues hearing our waiter.

Cucumber margarita.

Apparently the cucumber sangria we got last time was seasonal, so I settled for this. It tasted okay and boozey enough.

Jess and Jo each got a mojito. Jess's had some sort of pepper taste in it and was very spicy. I thought it was a bit awkward in drink form, but she seemed to like it. They thought the regular mojito was very sugary.

Jess and Jo split the tacos al pastor: pork loin, pastor abodo, pineapple, cilantro, salsa verde. They were spicy. Very, very spicy. Jo didn't notice the pineapple in it, but Jess did. The regular order comes with two tacos, but the entrée-sized version comes with three tacos, rice, and refried beans.

These were my tacos, with one of Renée's fish tacos on the plate. Mine was the one with the z name. They looked a bit small. The pineapple went well with the green salsa (which had a kick). I actually think Renée's fish tacos were more exciting. The fish chunk was pretty big and crunchy, and her tortilla was white. 

Large vulve a la vida ceviche.

I liked it. It was just kind of swimming in citrus juice a bit, though. 

The bill

Not cheap.

Would I return? Sure. The food isn't bad and Josie really likes Mexican food, which is hard to find in Toronto. It's a bit expensive for what it is, though. If I remember correctly, I believe they do lamb pretty well. 

To note: They don't split bills, and there's a disclaimer on the menu that informs the customer of their spicy food that they do not alter. There are vegetarian and vegan options.

(Pictures by Jo, except for the really crappy one - I took that one.)

Cheeeeers!

It seems as though I've been drinking a lot... oh well. Cheers!

This green drink is made from 1/4 of an English cucumber, ice, 1.5 shots of sake, 1 shot of vodka, and 1 shot of pear juice. I brought out the blender for the summer. Tastes like... salad. I'll drink it!! :D

Rum Rampage!

Rum, mango juice, coconut water/juice = great!

Will make and drink again!

Piña coladas!

Tried this out before I got coconut milk. 

The coconut water wasn't strong enough for the rum.

Blended, it's frothy, tropical fruity, and quite delicious. It was way better tasting the second time I made it. I was a bit heavy-handed with the rum on the first try due to what I cool the "after work pour". Cheers! Next time I try with cream of coconut if I can find it. :P

Adios!

I brought my gin and curaçao over to Club Jo's and the drink recipe she looked up was adios  muthaf*cka! It is rum + vodka + tequila + gin + curaçao + ice. I feel like it's five drinks in one.

It tasted super alcoholic... but not bad. I just thought it needed some sugar. Then I realized the curaçao that Dana gave me was not the ~17% alcohol flavour shot that we were used to. This real stuff that is from Curaçao (the country) is actually 30%. 0_o We added some ginger ale, and everything was good.

Ema-Tei

Ema-Tei (30 St. Patrick Street, Toronto)

(416) 340-0472

Bianca and I had been going through random food site lists for izakayas downtown. The first one we went to seemed more of a sushi joint than it did an izakaya. So we walked all the way back to our old stomping ground on St. Patrick to try out a restaurant I remember seeing in the area. 

It looks legit enough.

Yam tempura. It was decent. I would've preferred more crispiness, but perhaps we let it sit for too long before digging in. I did appreciate the fact that we were given individual tempura sauce bowls. No germ-sharing for the win!

That's so Asian!

Kimchi soup thing and black cod.

I really enjoyed the soup thing. The kimchi taste was more subtle than I had expected. The bowl had a lot of stuff in it. The piece of black cod seemed larger than what I've been given at other izakayas. It was also delicious, as black cod usually is. 

I would've had more food pictures, but I got hungry and forgot to take them.

Would I return? Yes. I enjoyed the food. The prices are comparable to most other izakayas in Toronto. 

Total damage: $52-something for the both of us. There was kimchi soup thing, a beer, yam tempura, black cod, tako wasabi, and something else that I'm forgetting...

Larb Pretz

I would like to know what Larb-flavoured Pretz tastes like. Furthermore, I would like to know what larb is.

Beau's & Bridgehead

No. 9 Winterbrewed Coffee-Amber Ale.

I'm not going to lie... I bought this because of the funny-looking abominal snowman character and because the bottle said, "winter". 

Jo: Smells like coffee.

Me: Tastes like coffee.

Jo: With a Coca-Cola aftertaste. 

That pretty much sums it up. It was pretty good; I liked it. It had minimal alcohol taste, and very strong coffee taste.