Sneaky Dee's

It's been a long while since I wrote a blog post.  Laziness describes it all and I really haven't been eating out much (lies).

The long awaited nachos dinner at Sneaky Dee's finally happened.  Throughout the past year, I have been trying to find the Best Nachos in Toronto.  After reading many food blogs and reviews, I have decided to give Sneaky Dee's a try.  It is indeed the best we've had so far.

We arrived on a late Sunday afternoon around 5ish and Sneaky Dee's was pretty busy.  The bar was dark with minimal lighting, very colourful with graffiti on seats, tables and walls, and loud music.  To be honest, it is a great place to hang out with friends, if you want to enjoy some nachos, wings and beer but not if you are looking for a relax, quiet and comfortable hang out spot.

We ordered nachos of course, we selected the Kings Crown.  It came with crisp corn tortilla chips covered with salsa roja, piled high with frijoles, ground beef, tomatoes, onions, mixed peppers, jalapeños, melted cheese, topped with guacamole and sour cream ($16.50).  It was massive and it was probably the first nachos we've had that we can't finish off.  The cheese and toppings were layered out evenly on the chips, instead of only being topped on at the very top.

Another dish we ordered was the Pulled Pork Enchiladas.  It was served with 3 crisp corn tortillas covered with salsa mole and melted cheese, frijoles and mexican rice ($11.75).  This was my first enchiladas for me and I loved it, however I cannot compare with others.

We will definitely come back to Sneaky Dee's in the future for their nachos.  Highly recommend it especially to nachos lovers!

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House is one of the well known ramen place in Toronto.  I've heard a lot about it through food blogs and through friends, and I finally had my first ramen there a few weekends ago.  I went to the Kenzo on Yonge and Steeles.

There were quite a few choices on the menu but I opted for the Hot Ramen.  The Karashi Ramen was served with a 'Special Ramen in Karashi Sauce and Japanese hot sauce'.  There was a hot level from 1 to 3 to choose from, and I chose level 2.  My tolerance for hot food is pretty high but the ramen was considerably hot for me.  My mouth was flaming and I had to drink ice water throughout my lunch.  I am not a huge fan of ramen but I believe the most important things about a delicious ramen are the noodles and soup-base.

The ramen at Kenzo was decent.  I did not had a jump, nor disappointment from it.  The portion was more than enough for me too.  I will return to Kenzo if I suddenly crave for ramens in the future, since it is probably the closest by my house.

Embrujo Flamenco

My first authentic Spanish tapas experience was great!  I am not familiar to Spanish restaurants in Toronto, so from researching in different blogs, urbanspoon and reviews, we decided to give Embrujo Flamenco a try.  Mr. Yu, his parents and I made a reservation at Embrujo Flamenco on a Saturday night at 6:30pm.  When we arrived, the restaurant was half fulled and started to filled up later in the night.  The atmosphere was romantic and elegant.  We were seated right beside the small stage where there was a 10 minutes dance show in the middle of the evening.

We ordered six tapas to share among the four of us.  There were hits and misses in them but nothing too disappointing afterall.  I will not describe each one of them but one of the highlight for myself was the sausages.

Our main purpose of the night was to try their Paella, which is a Valencian rice dish. We ordered the Arroz Negro served with rice and prawns, squid and fish cooked in squid ink.  It is quite a cool dish since it is just black in colour.  It was very tasty since it was very buttery.  

 There were three dessert options available and we opted for two out of three to share.  However, nothing was special about them at all so I would recommend getting another tapas or getting dessert somewhere else.

La Maquette

Last weekend, we used another one of those voucher for dinner, this time it was a $35 voucher for $80 of food at La Maquette.  I called to make a reservation a few days ahead of time but was told that the only time available on that Saturday night was 5pm or 8:30pm.  I selected the 8:30pm time slot but when we arrived the restaurant was not full at all.  The atmosphere was very romantic and it has a super classy environment. 

For appetizer, we ordered the Flash Fried Calamari ($14.50), it was served with sour cream yogurt and caper dip.  I actually loved this dish because the calamari was only breaded slightly so it seemed like only the outer part of the calamari was deep fried.  This dish is very different from calamaris from pubs and bars for sure since those are usually overly breaded.

My main course was the Mixed Seafood Risotto ($32).  The seafood included lobster, scallops and shrimps, and they were tossed in tarragon cream cause. At first, I thought that the portion was tiny.  However, it was actually very heavy and rich, so I ended up not finishing it up.

Mr. Y ordered the Roasted Muscovy Duck Breast ($38), served with blackberry, apple reduction and sweet potato.  It was very satisfying because it was cooked very differently than how I normally have duck (fried, in a Chinese-style). 

Overall, food was great, not amazing though given the prices.  However, the service was way too slow, we were there for almost 3 hours, considering we only had appetizer and main course. 

Cafe Green Tea

Cafe Green Tea located in the supermarket at JTown is definitely another one of those non-Traditional Japanese dining places in Toronto.  The environment was extremely casual due to its 'food court' style.  The way it works is you order your food by the cashier, she gives you a number and she'll bring you your dish when it's ready. 

I ordered the Curry with Breaded Chicken since I read some positive reviews about it earlier.  When the dish arrived, I thought the curry was too watery, however it seemed to be just right when you mix it with the rice.  The dish is a very 'homemade' style dish, so it felt as if there isn't much you can complain or complainant about it.  I will definitely try something different if I ever go back to Cafe Green Tea in the future.

Shiso Tree Cafe

This is my second time visiting Shiso Tree Cafe.  The first time was last year before I started blogging and I thought the concept of having Japanese-Italian style food was pretty unique.  However, I never went back until today.

My sister and I arrived at Shiso Tree Cafe located in J-Town at around 6:30 pm.  The restaurant was pretty quite but it started to filled up very quickly.  I love the environment there because it was bright, quiet and modern.  All these combined makes you want to stay there comfortably and enjoy yourself for the rest of the night.

Both of us ordered one of the Shiso pasta served with Shiso Tree Salad and Garlic Bread.  We didn't go for the set meal for an additional $8 that comes with soup and a slice of Japanese-style cake as well.  However, we regretted it when we saw the soup served to the table next to us.  I am not sure what kind of soup it was but it just simply looked delicious.  The Shiso Tree Salad was served with mixed greens, cucumbers, carrots and miso-based vinaigrette.  The salad was awesome because it was cold enough so it seemed fresh; however, some of the veges at the bottom didn't physically look fresh to me.

The pasta that I opted for was the Shrimp Okonomiyaki pasta served with shrimps and bacon bites.  The sauce cooked with it is different than the tomato or the cream sauce that we always get from Italian restaurants.  It was simply amazing!

My sister ordered the Shoyu and Mushrooms pasta that was cooked with Japanese soy based sauce and served with enoki, king oyster and shimeji mushrooms.  The sauce used for this pasta was a lot more mild compared to the sauce for my pasta.  Taste buds certainly calmed themselves when I took a little bit of this to try but it tasted absolutely great.

The dinner was excellent at Shiso Tree Cafe.   I will certainly come back again since the food is unique and it is close to my home.  The pasta was cooked just right and the thickness of the pasta matches the dish amazingly well.  To.live.my.life grants a rating of 8/10 to Shiso Tree Cafe.  Next time I will try their fries for sure because I came home and read some very good reviews about them!

Dukem

For our monthly special 'cultural' dinner, we chose Ethiopian food this month.  I looked through some blog reviews and comments, and decided to try Dukem on Danforth.  The restaurant was small with only 7 tables and we really weren't sure if it was an authentic restaurant. 

We didn't know what to order, so the safest way to go was to opt for a combination dish to try a wider variety.  We chose the Tibs Combinations with Vegetables served with beef.  The quantity of the dish didn't look filling to us at first, but we were very fulled with some of the wraps leftover at the end.  It was a nice and different experience because no utensils were used at all throughout the meal. In our opinion, the meat and the vegetables were overall not too special even though it was cooked in an Ethiopian way. 

We ended with a Traditional Ethopian Coffee Ceremony as well since it is one of the special ceremonies in an Ehtopian restaurant.  For $10, we were provided popcorn and apporximately 6 small cups of coffee.  Both of us drink coffee on a reguarly basis, but are not experts of coffees.  We were not able to taste the difference of it.

Overall, it will be a long while until I will have another Ethopian meal because once is enough for the experience.  However, the food was great at Dukem, a rating of 6/10 will be provided due to my personal opinions in Ethiopian food.

Paese Ristorante

Before the TFC vs. LA Galaxy last week, I had dinner at Paese Ristorante on King Street W because I wanted to use the wagjag $25 for $50 food and drinks deal before the voucher expires this month.  We got there around 6pm and the restaurant was still pretty quite.  The atmosphere was quite relaxed and chilled.  We were lucky that we got there early because it was completely full around 6:30.

We decided to share our dishes as we usually do, starting with an Antipasto, the Grilled Octopus ($14).  It was served with potato salad, grilled escarole, mint, lemon, and chili oil.  We were surprised because the portion was tiny, there were only two slices of potatoes and four pieces of octopus.  It tasted really soft and more like fish than octopus, but it was quite different from the way I used to eat octopus.  This is different in a good way :)

For our main dishes, we ordered a pizza and a pasta.  The Prosciutto Bianca ($17) was the pizza we opted for, it was served with prosciutto cotto, arugula, fior di latte and tomato.  The pizza was actually served with prosciutto cotto which is a cooked ham instead of a smokey ham, which we had in mind when we ordered.

The pasta that we ordered was the Veal and Spinach Ravioli ($20).  The ravioli was stuffed wtih veal, pork, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, sage and butter sauce.  The portion was just right but the ravioli was a bit too thick.  It wasn't as tasty as thought to be.

Overall, the meal was satisfying.  Nothing too extraordinary, nor disappointing, so a rating of 7/10 will be given to Paese Ristorante.  

Il Fornello @ Bayview Village

Never been to, but seen and heard of Il Fornello through a few media locations before. On a Sunday girls night out dinner, my two girlfriends and I decided to try it out.  The atmosphere was quiet and relaxing, our waitress and service were excellent.  All of us wanted to try different things on the menu, so we decided to share all our dishes.

We started with the Calamari for appetizer.  We opted for the 'grilled alla puttanesca' served with tomatoes, black olives, capers, lemon, olive oil.  If one likes spicy and sour mixed in a dish, then this will be a perfect appetizer for them.

Next, we decided to get a pasta and a pizza.  We weren't sure what to get so the waitress recommended us  the Penne Capri served with grilled chicken, mushrooms, spinach, cherry tomatoes, white wine garlic and grana padano.  It is one of the lighter pasta on the menu.  It was definitely worth a try because it tasted delicious with quite a few slices of chicken mixed in the pasta.

Last but not least, we opted for the Fichi pizza.  It was served with mascarpone, prosciutto, figs, shaved grana padaneo, honey, and arugula.  This pizza was also recommended by our waitress and I like it very much.  It was a bit sweet and fruity which made it very special.

To.live.my.life was extremely satisfied with the dining experience from Il Fornello, and will recommend and dine there again in the future. A rating of 8.5/10 will be given due to the highly rated food and service qualities. 

Niwatei Japanese Restaurant

Normally I won't buy Groupons for a noodle or a burger place but since Niwatei Japanese Restaurant is so close to where I live, I bought a $10 for $20 coupon.  However, after dining there, I figured I should of bought a few more for nights that I am lazy to cook :p  I made a reservation for Miss J.Lui and myself that night because usually it is a requirement for the usage of a Groupon.  I am glad I did that because the family owned restaurant located at J-Town was packed when we got there at 6:30 until around 8-ish when we left.

Both of us looked through the menu and opted for the $12.80 Ramen Set that comes with appetizer, ramen and dessert.  For appetizer, I ordered the Gyoza and Miss Lui ordered the Steam Rice with Mixed Vegetables.  Nothing too special or bad about them.

For our ramens, both of us went for the Tonkotsu Ramen in pork-bone based noodle soup.  The soup was tasty, it does not taste like it was made with any or too much MSG.

As for dessert, we ordered the 'Dessert of the Day'.  Miss Lui got the Cheese Cake, which was baked with sponge cake instead of cream cheese.  I got the Earl Grey Cake.  The cake was quite special because the earl grey flavor was very strong in the cake and I never had that before.

Overall, dinner was casual and filling.  To.live.my.life gives a rating of 7.5/10 to Niwatei Japanese Restaurant .  We were both very satisfied with our dinner and mentioned that we will return again.   We thought it will be better if they have more variety of ramens because after a few times one might get bored of the same ones.  The pricing is pretty good too (especially with our Groupon :D)

Paramount Fine Foods

From radio commercials, we were introduced to Paramount Fine Foods.  Without any expectations or knowledge about the restaurant, except the fact that it is a Mediterranean restaurant, we decided to give it a try.  When we entered the restaurant, we were completely lost because we didn't know where to start and instructions were not given.  It turned out that we should grab a table first, order our meals and the waiters will bring us our dishes.

For appetizers, we ordered Grape Leaves (Vine leaves stuffed with rice tomato, parsley and fresh mint) and Hummus (Chick pea paste, tahini sauce and virgin olive oil).  The Grape Leaves were a bit too bitter for me but it was interesting to try.  The Hummus was ordered because every table were served with two large pita beard, so we dipped that into our hummus.

We wanted to try different things so we opted for a Manakeesh which is equivalent to a "pizza" and a Shawarma plate to share. The Sausage with Cheese manakeesh that we chose was served with spiced minced beef sausage pinched with cheese.  It had a lot of cheese so it was very tasty.  The crust of it was actually just a pita beard though.  The Chicken and Beef Shawarma was served with 8oz. of mixed grilled chicken and beef Shawarma, garnished with mixed pickles, tomato and lettuce.  The plate was simple and we found it tasted a little similar to Greek style food.

Overall, food was great and service was average. I will definitely go back and try more of their dishes because it is a nice place for some casual dining and it "seemed" quite authentic to me (lol).  To.live.my.life rates a 7.5/10 to Paramount Fine Foods.

NYE @ Bier Markt - Shops at Don Mills

Ever since Bier Markt at Shops at Don Mills was opened, I was tempted to try it out due to the many many types/kinds of beer served and it is interesting how each item on the menu has its own pairing with one or more beer.  My friends and I decided to go for their $99 NYE dinner with four courses for our last meal in 2011.

For appetizers, we ordered the Yukon Potato and Shrimp Bisque.  I enjoyed the soup because it was thick and tasty, and there were actually a few pieces of lobster floating around.  Cider Cured Salmon was the other appetizer we ordered.  This wasn't as appetizing as the bisque because it tasted more health and it was too simple.

The second dish was the Intermezzo served with a slice of grapefruit and crushed ice made with some alcoholic beverage.  It was somewhat unique between the appetizer and the main course.

 For main dishes, the "Belgian Cut" Striploin  was chosen.  The steak was tender and the portion was actually great enormous.  However, the Chilean Sea Bass was petite when compared to the steak.

Last but not least was our desserts.  We tried both the Double Chocolate Fudge Cake and the Lemon Tart.  The lemon tart was actually better because it wasn't as original.  Also, as one can imagine the chocolate cake was way too sweet and fatten.

Just before the countdown, we all got a glass of champagne as well.  Overall, dinner was satisfying and we will be back for the Cheeses Fondue in the future along with the beer pairing suggested.