Origin – Tasty Gems

When I was home for the holidays I asked my family a question, “What was the best thing you ate in 2011?”  For my parents it was a tough question since they eat so much good food it’s very difficult to narrow it down.  Responses ranged from pizza in Brooklyn to Lee’s in Toronto.  I started to list off my favorites of 2011, the top coming from NYC while many others coming from various tapas places right here in Toronto.  Origin was first recommended to me by one of my eating companions early in the year saying they have one of the best hand rolls in the city.  I guess a hand roll wasn’t enough to sell me since it took another friend recommending the fior di latte and truffle popcorn before I finally made it over.

I was on a bit of an oyster kick on this particular occasion so we started with the Oysters with Yuzu dressing.  Also pictured is the Spearhead beer from Hawaii.

The oysters were quite good.  The salty, briny-ness was nicely balanced by the sweet yuzu sauce while the other ingredients added a nice floral fragrance.  The oysters themselves were meaty but nothing out of the ordinary from what you would find at any good seafood place.  The beer, very hoppy.  I like Hawaiian brews so this is a nice change from your typical mainland brews which don’t quite have the complexity that micro brews have.  Next we had the smoke cod croquettes with saffron aioli.

Crispy, not too greasy, nice texture.  The croquette itself is a little on the bland side but mixed with the aioli, it’s quite good.  Next, the Spicy beef and spicy tuna hand rolls with apple, shiso, miso mayo and amaranth.

Now this is something I’ve come back for time and time again.  The beef is tender, warm and delicious.  The tuna is fresh and very flavorful.  There is a nice kick that is balanced out with the miso mayo.  The textures are an adventure every bite from the soft meat, to the crisp apple, to the light and flaky amaranth leaves.  The seeds on top also add a nice crunch.  In terms of overall flavor, there is a lot going on here.  Spice, meaty goodness, fragrant flavors, slight saltiness from the nori wrap…soo good.  I’ve ordered one of these every time I’ve come here.  The sizzling beef plate with mushrooms, onions, truffle butter and ponzu sauce was next.

Just reading the ingredients made me think to myself….wait a second…..I love ALL those things.  And you know what, it’s all as good as it sounds.  The beef is hot and super tender, the mushrooms and onions compliment the meat very well and the truffle and sweet ponzu flavors are there but not overpowering.  Its a very well executed dish but a little on the expensive side for the small portion of beef you get.  Next, the Chinois duck on a flour tortilla with cucumber, hoisin, sriacha and sour cream.

At the end of the day, this is really just a fancy spin on Peking duck….but given that Peking duck is already awesome adding a bigger piece of duck, a more flavorful wrap sriracha and sour cream, how can you go wrong?  The duck pieces are quite generous however it doesn’t overpower any of the other strong flavors like the hoisin and sriacha.  The spicy kick tingles that tongue but is cooled by the sour cream.  The combination of sweet, spicy and fatty meat is always a win in my books.  That’s probably why when thinking back to the best things I ate last year, this was definitely on the list.  On another visit, my friend and I started with the Bufala mozzarella with confit tomato, basil and preserved lemon.

I loved this.  Huge dollops of mozzarella is always a win.  The sweet tomato confit is perfectly balanced with the tartness of the preserved lemon.  The basil adds another layer of flavor that compliments the cheese.  The bread underneath was good.  It didn’t fall apart which was nice given the juiciness of the ingredients on top.  Next we tried the Spicy Spanish fries with chorizo and manchego.

After a few bites my friend and I agreed, this is like a Spanish poutine.  Fries were perfectly fried and the manchego cheese is a solid choice.  The chorizo is flavorful.  There were scoops of another pepper-like aioli that mixed well and cut some of the saltiness however the addition of olives pushed it a little on the salty side for me.  Don’t get me know, it’s a tasty dish, but I can only take it in doses.  It’s a good thing it came out the same time as the mozzarella.  Moving back and forth between the two was a nice mix-up so you never got too much of one thing.  Next, Creamed Ontario corn with peaches, smoked bacon and sage.

Again, this is one of those dishes where you read the ingredients and think to yourself, I love ALL those things.  Each ingredient tasted as good as I would have imagined.  I had to laugh after though because I had previously told the friend I was dining with that the secret to cooking is adding fat to an otherwise normal or bland dish.  In this case, it was all cooked in butter…..and they added bacon.  So good and so artery clogging.  Well, if you’re going to only live once, you might as well enjoy it.  Bangkok beef salad with peanuts, mint, mango, fried shallots and nam jim dressing was next.

Nuts and beef, sounds like the beginning of a dirty joke.  This dish has a lot going on.  The individual components were well executed, the beef was delicious, the nuts were nicely toasted and added a tasty but not overpowering nutty flavor and the mango salad underneath was sweet and fresh.  In hindsight, I like all the components individually but wasn’t quite sure how it all came together.  Beefy, nutty and sweet…maybe I need to try it again.  The Crispy calamari in a caramelized peanut sauce with pineapple was next.

Now this really wasn’t what we were expecting.  Normally when you see calamari it’s breaded and deep fried or the (for lack of a better term) slimy and chewy meat is grilled.  This was somewhere in between.  It wasn’t breaded but had a nice crisp layer on the outside and a meaty inside.  The sweetness and nuttiness came through nicely.  The pineapples were nuggets of sweetness that made this feel more dessert like than an entree.  Given that it was our last dish of the evening, it was a nice way to finish but perhaps its a little too sweet if you are expecting a more traditional squid.  On a recent trip, we started with the Fior di latte with mushrooms, truffle oil and spinach (I did take pictures on this trip but they didn’t turn out so I borrowed these from the internet…thank you internet).

If you like mushrooms and truffles, this is the dish for you.  Very strong hints of truffle, meaty chunks of mushroom all under the large scoops of mozzarella.  It’s like mini fungi pizzas….but better.  Next we tried the Japanese style tuna salad with asian pears, avocado, puffed rice and spicy ponzu dressing.

We asked our waiter what his favorite dish was and he immediately said this Japanese tuna salad.  And I can see why.  The tuna is fresh and delicious.  The sweet and spicy ponzu compliments the sweet pears and works really well with the tuna.  The puffed rice bits spread throughout the disk adds a nice crunch to the otherwise smooth and soft ingredients.  I’m convinced avocado goes well with almost everything so it’s a welcome addition.  Come to think of it, this dish is probably in my 2011 top ten as well.  Next, the Miso glzed black cod served on a soba noodle salad with a ginger vineigrette and miso broth.

The cod is soft, smooth and flakes apart ever so nicely.  Perfect.  The miso broth is tasty and is slurped up quickly with the fresh soba noodles.  This dish is a win.  I feel like I’ve had something very similar at Foxley (truffle miso cod).  Both are delicious, I’m going to have to eat both of them again to determine which one I prefer…a welcome taste-off.  My father being a big beef eater had to try the Origin beef burger, served with Avocado, smoked mayo and arugula.

As far as burgers go, it’s quite good.  Thick, well cooked ball of meat.  The avocado and smoke mayo are nice compliments to the beef.  The bread might be one of the best things about the burger.  With burgers this juicy, the bun normally disintegrates.  Well done Origin.  The burger also came with Cream soda and soft serve float.

Nothing extraordinary.  Reminds me of my childhood  when I was able to make these myself.  Considering no one ever serves these anywhere, I’m happy to see it on the menu.  For dessert we tried the Banana cream pie with chocolate sherbert and mango.

This was nice.  Sweet fruit flavors on a nice light cream pie.  I also like how they caramelized the bananas on top.  I was pretty full at this point so I only had a couple bites but from what I did have, I like what I ate.

Origin has quickly become one of my favorite places in the city.  There are a lot of dishes that are just good, again nothing is bad but not everything is outstanding either.  They do have a handful of gems that ARE outstanding though, many of which were some of the best things I ate in 2011 and trust me when I say I ate a lot of stuff in 2011.

http://origintoronto.com/#/home/

Momofuku Ssam Bar (NYC)

So I finally got to try Momofuku Ssam Bar last time I was in New York.  I was a little turned around trying to find the place but we eventually found the nondescript restaurant.  I’m not sure if nondescript is the right word though since once you’re inside you get a simple yet classy sort of vibe.  A neighborhood gem of sorts…and what a gem it was.  Luckily, having visited this place with two other food lovers (my folks), we were able to sample a good chunk of the menu.  We started with the Santa Barbara Uni with tomato, mustard oil and chawanmushi.

I knew uni had something to do with sea urchin but wasn’t completely sure so I googled it just now.  Apparently it is the actual gonad of the sea urchin (the part that produces the eggs or roe).  Sounds kind of gross doesn’t it.  It’s actually pretty good once you get around the fact that you are eating sea urchin gonads and also getting around the very unusual texture (almost like a flaky paste, like a lighter wasabi in terms of texture).  It had a strong ocean saltiness to it that you would find with raw oysters buy maybe not as salty.  Mixed in with the sweet tomatoes, the tang of the mustard oil and the bed of eggy goodness it was laid on, it made for a very interesting and tasty first dish.  Next, we had the famous steam pork buns with pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers and scallions.

There is a reason Chef Chang is famous for these.  It’s like peking duck on steroids.  The only thing I find off putting about peking duck in general is that there is never enough meat and it’s mostly skin and fat (which don’t get me wrong it’s delicious but I just prefer more actual meat in addition to the fat and crunchy skin).  Here, they have solved this problem by just including the whole pork belly!  Genius!  The bun itself has the perfect texture with the right amount of doughy flavor.  They’ve also managed to add just the right amount of hoisin as not to overpower the flavor of the bun or meat (when I cook I tend to be a little overzealous with the hoisin).  These were perfectly balanced.  These may have ruined me for all pork buns in the future.  The vegetable special they had this evening was the Maitaki mushroom.

So on top of the pieces they cut off off the table size giant mushroom in the back, it also came with duck liver mouse, caviar, pickled radish on top of a black berry…well jam.  I figured that with all that was going on in this dish, even people who don’t like mushrooms would love it.  It was so rich but not heavy.  Smooth flavors ranging from sweet to savory to tart and textures that have you guessing at every bite.  And if you like mushrooms, WOW!  This is one of the best mushrooms I’ve ever had.  Next we tried the Wild Catfish with corn curry, green mango and peanuts

Fish was perfectly cooked to a fall apart flakiness upon hitting your mouth and worked really well with the curried corn.  In all honesty, if they had just put the corn and the fish in the dish it would have been enough.  Adding the mango salad I thought was a bit too much.  It added another layer of flavor and sweetness but I find mango to be a little overpowering and it takes away from the already great flavor of the fish and curry.  Next was the Spicy pork sausage and rice cakes served with Chinese broccoli and sichuan peppercorn.

Now every once in a while I’ll have a dish that completely blows me away.  The type of dish that is so good that I almost fall out of my chair and weird noises start coming out of my mouth (“mmmm, ahhhh, oooohhh, HOLY COW!”).  I can maybe think of five in the past few years that has done this for me.  This was one of those dishes.  First off, the dish has a good amount of heat to it.  It’s not suicide wing hot but enough to give you one or two drops of perspiration forming on your forehead.  The spice blend is also very reminiscent of my favorite instant Korean noodles blend.  I don’t know what they put in it but it is one of the most addictive things I’ve ever eaten.  The pork sausage comes in pretty small ground chunks but are savory and soak up all the flavor of the spices and sauce.  The rice cakes are phenomenal.  I think they must either flash deep fry them or pan fry them because they have a perfect crunchy texture on the outside while still maintaining a warm doughy inside.  You don’t really taste the broccoli but this along with the green onions and fire red sauce/spice blend make the dish visually appealing (like Christmas).  Now I’ve noticed when I talk about food I like I use certain sayings a lot since these are some of the general things I personally love about food (I should really start flipping through a thesaurus to stop sounding redundant).  For example, “complex flavor”, “good amount of kick”, “crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside”, “varying textures”, “well balanced flavors”, “excellent portion size”….ALL OF THESE APPLY TO THIS DISH!  Now this isn’t rich like foie gras but it is super tasty which at the end of the day is what I eat for.  Again, one of the most mind blowing dishes I’ve had.  Next was the BRT bun, crispy pork belly, heirloom tomato and smoked mayo.

By this point in the meal I was craving more pork buns so I thought we would try the other pork bun on the menu.  This one, compared the the peking duck on steroids, was like an Asian pork sandwich on steroids.  How does this differ?  Peking duck has hoisin and scallions while the asian pork sandwich has a smoky mayo and heirloom tomatoes.  Both were similar (since the pork and buns are similar) but the complimenting flavors vary significantly.  The traditional pork buns are sweeter and tangier due to the hoisin while the BRT had a nice smoky flavor with a more subtle sweetness from the tomato.  Both are really culinary jewels so I wouldn’t discriminate.  In fact, just eat both…even if you’re full.  It’s well worth being uncomfortably full.  Next we had the Roasted lamb loin and belly served with bulgar, snap peas and an egg yolk.

The lamb loin was perfectly cooked.  Red, meaty and delicious.  I don’t think I’ve had lamb belly up to this point but much like pork belly, fatty, savory and delicious!  The snap peas were executed perfectly and really had a nice “snap” when you bit into them.  For dessert, we were intrigued by the Sweet potato ice cream with root beer and orange.

Wow this was different!  There is no subtlety about any of the flavors listed in the name.  Sweet potatoes?  Present.  Orange? Present. Root beer? Present!  It’s all very well balanced and you really taste all the flavor simultaneously.  I’ve had orange and root beer mixed before but the sweet potato took some getting used to.  By the last bite I was really enjoying the flavor party in my mouth but at first it was a little awkward.  I guess everyone just had to get better reacquainted when they were in there.

Now I went into this place with high expectations and must say, they were exceeded.  The pork buns are pretty legendary but I had heard so much about them beforehand I got what I was kind of expecting so it was delightful to not be disappointed.  The other dishes were stellar, especially the mushroom dish the sausage and rice cakes dish.  All the other dishes had something special which made the whole meal one of the best I’ve had in years.  Can’t wait for the Toronto incarnation next year.

http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/ssam-bar/

The NYC Pastrami Showdown

Everyone hears how great the deli sandwich is in New York.  Maybe it was growing up in western Canada that started me off with a low baseline for quality deli meat but I remember my first trips to New York or Montreal thinking to myself, “This is a real smoked meat/pastrami sandwich?!  Where have you been all my life?!”  On a recent trip to New York, I had to chance to indulge in a number of my favorite delis and set it straight in my head how each stacks up against the other.

Carnegie Deli:

Located just north of time square, this New York institution has been lined up outside the door every time I’ve tried to eat here.  The walls are lined with celebrity pictures and testimony and rightfully so.  They make a pretty good sandwich.  First off, the thing is huge.  The picture above is just the regular size sandwich.  They can make them even bigger.  Meat wise, the meat is moist and well spiced.  There are parts of the huge meat pile that can feel a little on the dry side but the flavor comes through every bite.

Katz’s Deli:

As much as I had heard about Katz’s on food shows, movies and from other New York residents I actually didn’t try this place until my sixth or seventh trip down.  Finally, on a rainy day in 2009, I walked from Canal street all the way down Houston to try this lower east side legend (I recommend taking the subway….this walk was really long).  This placed, much like Carnegie, is rammed with people.  You can watch the busy staff pull slab after slab of meat from the smoker (yes they go through it that quickly) and hand cut off samples for patrons and stack them on to slice after slice of rye bread.  It’s can be a little overwhelming but them smell and rush of people kind of puts you in the zone and you order and are seated within minutes.  As for the sandwich, melt in your mouth good.  The meat has a well balanced smoky flavor, rich peppery spices and is so moist it really does just melt in your mouth.  And that’s just the pastrami.  The beef brisket must be one of the best I’ve ever eaten and the Russian dressing they use on their Reuben is the stuff of legend.  The corned beef is a little on the dry and salty side (I know it’s supposed to be salty) but toss some coleslaw and Russian dressing on top and you have an amazing Reuben sandwich.

2nd Ave Deli:

The name can be a little misleading since this place actually isn’t on 2nd Ave anymore.  This place came recommended by a few lawyers I used to work with who lived in New York early in their careers.  They said all the tourists go to Carnegie and Katz’s but the locals go to 2nd Ave Deli.  Well I had to test it out.  Walking into the narrow establishment after about a 15 minute walk south east of Grand Central, it immediately gives a classic Jewish deli feel.  Knishes, matzah ball soup, perogies and hot sandwiches are flying out of the kitchen and making my mouth water.  The first thing I have to mention is the coleslaw. Probably the best I’ve ever had.

The perogies, both the spinach and potato, are covered with buttery caramelized onions and taste delicious (both the deep fried or boiled varieties).  But the sandwich… gooooooood!  I had the matzah ball soup half sandwich platter since I wanted to try the soup.

My father had the sandwich combo.  It came with both a corned beef sandwich and a pastrami sandwich.  The pastrami was excellent.  Again, like it’s counterparts, strikes a nice balance between smokiness, spice and meaty goodness. The corned beef was also quite good, juicier than Katz’s corned beef but neither corned beef sandwich stacked up to the pastrami (I think I just prefer the juicier pastrami over corned beef).

Really all three pastrami sandwiches are amazing!  You’d be hard pressed to find a deli sandwich of the same caliber outside of New York (except maybe Schwartz’s in Montreal but then again, Montreal smoked meat is a different beast than pastrami.  The very first sandwich I had at Caplansky’s when he was still in that dive bar south of college was also a close rival, maybe even better, but since moving to the big shop I find it has slipped somewhat).  But, if I had to pick my favorite pastrami sandwich, I would have to go with Katz’s, then 2nd Ave and then Carnegie.  For the best sandwich, pastrami Reuben at Katz’s although the beef brisket is a close second.  Best side dishes would have to go to 2nd Ave deli.  It is hard to beat the convenience of Carnegie being midtown right by the theaters though.  In any case, all three serve up some legendary sandwiches, I just wish I could get them here and wouldn’t have to schlep all the way to Manhattan to satisfy my deli craving.

http://www.carnegiedeli.com/home.php

http://katzsdelicatessen.com/

http://www.2ndavedeli.com/

Rouge (Calgary) – Pretty food

On a recent trip back home to Calgary my parent’s took me to Rouge, an Inglewood home converted into a French fine dining establishment.

On the way into the restaurant I found this particular sign quite amusing.

I assume this was referring to the wines.  Oddly enough probably three of my favorite wine regions.  We ordered the chef’s menu and were excited to see what the chef was about to put together.  The amouse-bouche was a radish from the restaurant garden mixed with various oil and herbs.  The bread, freshly baked, came with a berry vinaigrette in oil.

Next was a halibut tartar with asparagus, greens and a pepper sauce.

The fish was fresh was a lovely taste and texture.  The pepper sauce was a great compliment and added a nice zing to the softer tasting fish.  Next was the gazpacho, dots of a berry coulee and steak.  Now it wouldn’t be an Alberta chef’s tasting without beef.

The gazpacho was hearty and delicious.  I always find cold soups a little strange but this one was full of flavor.  I wouldn’t even say it was refreshing (which most cold soups are).  It was more rich and textured than one would expect.  The steak was good.  Tender, cooked perfectly and had a nice hint of truffle since it was topped with small shavings.  Next was the foie gras over mixed greens and citrus.

The foie gras was oh so creamy and oh so rich!  It was balanced out nicely with the fresh greens and citrus flavors.  This dish was a home run for me.  Next was a palette cleanser with a sweet beverage, cold mint water and hot tea.  Well timed to clear the rich taste of the foie gras.

The beverage, when mixed together was very interesting.  Soothing from the hot tea, but refreshing from the mint and subtle sweetness.  Next was the arctic char, rack of lamb with shaved truffles.  It can served with an eggplant puree and cauliflour puree.

The fish was well cooked but a little on the heavy side for my liking.  The lamb was awesome.  Tender and flavorful (not gamey) but I just wish we had more.  The purees were delightful and complimented the meats really well.  I’ve been having a few hit and miss experiences lately with eggplant but this one was a hit.  The cheese course.  It’s a Quebec cheese with a blood orange, berry, honey sprinkled with bee pollen.

All I can say is that this was amazing!  Bee pollen?!  Who would have thought the crunchiness would add whole layer of complexity of this dish.  Also, blood orange and cheese, match made in heaven.  The dessert was a thick crunchy layered pastry with fruit and ice cream.

Sweetness balanced by creaminess of the ice cream.  The pastry was a little on the heavy side but it was very tasty and buttery.  To finish they gave us an additional treat, chocolate mouse with a blackberry on top of the berry coulee.

This sounds much sweeter than it actually is.  The chocolate is rich dark chocolate so it’s more cocoa-ey than sweet which is good since the coulee is quite sweet.  The berries add a nice freshness to the bite which leaves you leaving the meal smiling and satisfied.

The service at this place is pretty amazing.  Very attentive and friendly and the staff wanted to make sure we were enjoying ourselves.  The food is very well executed.  It’s not the most adventurous restaurant but they do add some subtle twists to some dishes that makes things interesting.  And the plating….one of the best I’ve ever experienced. These really are picturesque dishes.

http://www.rougecalgary.com/

Le Cartet (Montreal) – Brunch? Oui s’il vous plait!

Just before leaving Montreal on my last trip a few weeks ago, a friend of mine took me to Le Cartet, a popular brunch spot in Old Montreal and also just steps away from her new place.

We arrived at the door step and were told there was about a 45 minute wait.  ”Worth it?” I asked me friend.  ”Definitely! Let’s just go down the street and grab a coffee.”  A cup of coffee and several rounds of iphone 20 questions later we finally got a table.

The waitress brought out the amouse-bouche first, a serving of banana? bread.

The bread was moist and delicious.  Rich with fruit flavors (banana, plantain…I should really develop my fruit palette).  Great start to the meal.  My friend’s significant other had the Brunch Sante.

It looked much healthier than what I ordered and just as delicious.  It was devoured quite quickly so I’m assuming it’s good.  The granola and fruit looked particularly appetizing.  My sister had the Brunch d’atlantique.

Now if you love salmon, this is brunch heaven!  Salmon and cream cheese on top of a bagel.  Formidable!  Salmon egg scramble.  Magnifique!  Other salmon pastry cake thing (almost like a crab cake).  Incroyable!  This plate was very well received.  I had the Brunch de cantons.

This is a meat lover’s brunch.  Ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, baked beans and potatoes wedges (brined, spiced and then pan fried).  The frying pan presentation makes me even giddier since it makes me feel a bit like a cowboy out on the range (must be because it’s around Stampede time back home).  Heavenly going down, not so nice on  a 6 hour car ride back to Toronto.  Oh well!  C’est la vie.

My friend also ordered an egg dish with some sort of green vegetable that I can’t remember for the life of me.  That too looked delicious.  Whenever I find myself in Montreal I’ll have to make my way back to Le Cartet to eat my way through the rest of the menu.

To my friend, thank you for your hospitality during the weekend.  I had a blast!  Great food, great scotch and even better company.  I’ll have to make a point of visiting more often.  Miss you and hopefully see you soon.

http://lecartet.com/

Montreal – Friends, food and Jazzzz

I can’t even mention Montreal in a sentence without a smile on my face.  I love that city!  So many great memories from the Absinthe taxi ride of my first trip to my friends kidnapping us from Kingston so we could eat at Wok Cafe and bowl at Sharx.  My most recent visit was an impromptu trip to take in Jazzfest, eat some good food and visit with an old friend.

On the first morning, we went for bagels on St. Vianteur.  Now I’ve been to Montreal on numerous occasions and I’ve never had a Montreal bagel.  How sad was that?  So on this trip, I vowed to try one to see what all the fuss was about.

First off, the bagel oven at St. Vianteur Bagels Shop is amazing!  So old school.  Well, if they tasted this way for hundreds of years, why mess with a good thing.

Now I may be biased because I love bread and all things bread-like but these are worth all the fuss.  My sesame seed bagel was fresh out of the oven, still hot and full of doughy goodness.  It’s cooked perfect.  If undercooked it has that weird uncooked dough taste and pasty texture.  If overcooked it is dry and flaky.  These where moist, hot and had the perfect amount of “meatiness”, not so doughy it was heavy but heavy enough to fill you with soul-satisfying goodness.

http://www.stviateurbagel.com/main/

I think we walked half a block before stumbling upon the smells of La Crepiere, a small little cafe run by a single chef/server/owner?.

This friendly frenchwomen runs a lovely little shop serving up fresh, delicious coffee and breakfast confections.  We started with ice coffee (it’s was boiling this particular July long weekend).

The coffee is excellent!  Smooth with no hint of bitterness.  The vanilla ice cream adds a cool creaminess while the cocoa power adds a rich chocolaty flavor that isn’t overpoweringly sweet or cocoa-y.  Seeing as we just had bagels a minute ago, we decided to split a apple, ham and cheese crepe.

After ordering, the chef asked what kind of flour I wanted: regular flour, buckwheat, whole grain with oats?  I asked her what she recommended and she said she would mix a few together.  The result was a flavorful, perfectly textured crepe with fresh, sweet apples mixed with chewy salted ham and the gooey goodness of cheese.  A piece of culinary heaven.

Now no trip to Montreal would be complete without some smoked meat washed down with cherry cola. Schwartz’s, your fatty smoked meat will send me to an early grave but it is worth it.

We met up with some friends, both old and new, caught some of the Jazzfest events and sat out in the sun drinking some beers.  This is how man was supposed to enjoy the weekend.  After a few hours, hunger struck again and our local friend took us for a seafood feast at Maestro S.V.P.

The window advertised an oyster special, a dozen for $13.  Sold!  Let’s get two dozen!

We decided to try the Maestro platter…basically a huge platter of seafood.  First they brought out the bruschetta. I’m not sure if they do this to create some sort of shock value by serving a small portion followed by a huge one but it worked.

When the platter came out my jaw dropped to the ground.  This was a LOT of food!

The platter included snow crab, clams, steamed mussels, coconut shrimp, calamari, lobster and chicken and shrimp satays.  Not only was there a huge amount of food, it was all pretty good too. Merci Montreal!  Merci!

http://www.maestrosvp.com/

LAB = experiment+food

I took a friend out for a belated birthday dinner last week to LAB where there website has the formula:

experiment+food=LAB

Sounded interesting.  My friend is also quite the food enthusiast so experimental food seemed right up our alley.  We decided to order a few dishes to share and then a main each.  First up were the Parmesan Potato Croquettes with a tomato chutney.

You really can’t make a mistake with fried potatoes and cheese.  These little bundles of joy came out fresh out of the fryer, wicked hot and wicked tasty.  The tomato chutney was cool, a nice contrast to the hot croquette.  The chutney was also very sweet.  Almost suspiciously sweet.  I feel like there wasn’t any salt in the croquette which would have balanced it a little better but it was still well taken.  Next was the Mushroom Ragu under a fried polenta with sage smoked parmesan

The fried polenta was  like a crispy, airy flavorful cracker.  A nice contrast in texture to the creamy and very mushroomy ragu. The texture of the ragu itself is much what you would expect of ragu however I found the dish as a whole a little bland, especially since it uses mushrooms which usually do it for me.  It had the nice taste of mushrooms but honestly could have benefitted from a little salt or some other spice.  Next was the  Eggplant cavier on a parmesan crostini.

Again, like the Ragu, we found this a little on the bland site.  Possibly another veg mixed in would have helped or maybe some sort of spice.  It’s funny, after the first bite we both agreed it was missing something but ten minutes later when I had another bite, I thought the flavor opened up a little.  Almost like a nice wine.  Maybe it was wishful thinking or maybe eggplant needs time to breath.  Who knows.  Next was the Caprese alla burrata.

I recently read that burrata is mozzarella mixed with creme.  I KNOW!  It’s as amazing and rich as it sounds.  The tomatoes  on this dish had these wonderful and prominent notes of smoke.  With the sweetness of the fresh tomatoes, the smokiness of whatever they did to prepare them, the creaminess of the cheese and the bite of the vinaigrette and oil drizzled on top, all I could say is “Wow!”.  Then I would put more in my mouth.  My friend had the Gnocchetti with fresh pea sauce and pea shoots.

I loved the color of this dish.  It’s taste as refreshing as it looks.  And yes, it’s taste like peas, delicious delicious peas.  Creamy, tasty, pungent peas.  The texture of the gnocchetti was also perfect.  I had the Short ribs braised in brio with rosemary polenta and gremolata

These are some of the best short ribs I’ve had in a long time.  The meat fell right of the bone.  You didn’t even need a knife.  The meat was juicy, tender and ever so tasty.  The brio braise gave the meat a nice sweet undertone without overpowering the beef flavor.  The “gravy” had a great consistency, not as thick are some gravies or syrups but thick enough to stick to the meat if you swirled it around.  The polenta added a nice creamy texture to balance the almost stickiness of the brio braise and the gremolata added a fresh, earthy background flavor.   Loved it!  For dessert, we shared the Chocolate budino with salt caramel chocolate mousse

The budino was nice and light.  They used good chocolate however it didn’t weigh the dish down.  It wasn’t mind blowing with rich flavors.  In fact, it kind of reminded me of pudding snack packs.  But hey, I like pudding snack packs…but then again you can probably get a whole 8 pack for the price of the dessert.  Oh well.  The marinated cherry on top was really good.  The bill came is a flask and test tube.  This appeals to my uber-nerd side so it gave us both a smile at the end of the meal.

The appetizers were a little touch and go but the mains and caprese salad knocked it out of the park.  I think I would go back to try some of the other pastas, the lamb shank (given how well they did the ribs) and to eat the caprese salad again (so smokey, so gooood!).  Not all experiments were a success but there were those select few that deserved an “A”.

http://www.labrestaurant.com/

Barque Smokehouse – Meat-fest on the west end

A few weeks ago I found myself of the west end craving BBQ.  From about half a block away on Roncesvalles you can smell the sauce.  Oh the sweet smell of BBQ sauce.  I’ve been on a bit of a BBQ kick ever since the guys from the Houston office sent me some famous Goode Co. BBQ sauce.

You ever find yourself in Texas, pick up some of this stuff.  It’s awesome!  On this particular Sunday evening, the weather was warm and there was a slight breeze.  With the smell of sweet BBQ sauce in the air  I thought to myself, “This is what summer is supposed to be like”.  On Sundays, Barque Smokehouse has a prix fix menu.  When I first looked at the menu there were a ton of items listed.  We thought to ourselves, do we get all of that?  It turns out you do!

Instead of bread, they bring out popcorn that is seasoned with the southern spices.  It’s like dry rub flavored popcorn.  Very addictive, very tasty.  The spices mixed with the sight of the behemoth oven in the back makes you start to salivate.

The first course consisted of chicken wings; warm soy marinated scallops; and a watermelon and mint shooter with herb oil and pulled pork.

The wings were amazing!  Juicy and full of flavor.  The spice blend used is just perfect.  The skin had  a great texture, not slimy, not tough, just right.  I like how they came out piping hot too.  I hate cold chicken wings.  The scallops were good.  A nice contrast to the sweetness of the wings since they are marinated in soy.  The texture was chewy, almost raw.   I liked it.  The watermelon shooter was very interesting.  It was very refreshing with an interesting mix of fruity flavors and BBQ meat flavors.  I really liked it but I don’t think I could have a whole bowl of the stuff.  The one shot was just perfect.  Next was the apple and almond salad with herbs…well without the almonds since my sister is allergic.

After the wings, this was very refreshing and light.  The apples were fresh, juicy and crisp.  It all mixed so well together.  The almonds, had we had them, would have made this salad perfect.  Next was the crazy meat course.  It came with a New York striploin with garlic shrimp and smoked tomato holly; pork ribs and BBQ chicken over crushed potatoes, peas and mushrooms.

The steak was ok.  A little on the peppery side and it came out a little on the cooler side.  The shrimp with the smoked tomato holly was delightful.  The shrimp was tender and bouncy.  The sauce had the lovely essence of smoked tomato and it was nicely balanced with garlic.  So good.  The ribs were a little overcooked and on the dry side.  I think we may have just gotten a bad batch since the ribs on some of the other tables looked more succulent.  The dry rub is super tasty though and the meat had a lot of flavor.  Again, just overcooked.  The chicken was awesome!  Not quite as good as the Stockyards but definitely up there.  The spice rub is the same as the wings and it has a nice sweetness to counter the spices.  The veggies were also good.  The peas and mushrooms were cooked well and balanced out the meat heavy dish.  The potatoes were delicious.  Not too creamy, which kind of annoys me with some mashed potatoes, and mixed with some nice fresh herbs.  For dessert we saw them handing out ice cream sandwiches but we got something a little different since the last batch of ice cream, which I guess they make in house, wasn’t quite thick enough to put in a sandwich.

The ice cream was served in a small bowl with a rich chocolate cookie-like layer on top.  It was topped with a roasted apple.  I’m not a big chocolate fan and even I loved this.  I had trouble finishing it though since at this point, I was very full.

This isn’t the best BBQ I’ve had but it was still pretty good.  I’d like to go back and try their brisket and their pulled pork.  What made this meal really noteworthy was the price.  All this for $25 per person.  So much food, and pretty good food, for only $25!  A steal of a deal for a huge meat-fest.

Guu – Tasty and Fun!!!

So it’s 10:30 at night on a Wednesday night.  I spent the evening playing with my new phone and watching the Bruins trounce the Canucks.  My inner Flames fan is satisfied but my stomach feels otherwise.  My sister flew in from a business trip to the Peg and we were trying to decide where to grab a quick bite to eat.  We finally landed on Guu, a Japanese Izakaya place that is always lined up outside the door.  I guess the trick it to go at 10:30 at night since there was no line at this time.

As we enter the staff starts yelling at us in Japanese.  Everyone in the restaurant turns around smiling gauging our reaction which I’m sure is the same as everyone’s when they enter, surprised, speechless and smiling.  ”This is going to be a fun experience” was the thought running through my mind.  We put in an order and then my big mug of Sapporo came to the table.  I love places that serve beer in the big schooners.  I like to think that I’m getting a bit of exercise lifting the giant mug.  The first dish to arrive was the Maguro Tataki, lightly seared B.C. albacore tuna sashimi with ponzu sauce and garlic chips.

The fish was fresh, the sauce was light and tasty.  The garlic chips added a nice crunch to each bite.  Not the best tuna tataki I’ve had but enjoyable and tasty (the best would have to be Alpha sushi in Vancouver).  Next to arrive was the Kurage, marinated jellyfish and vermicelli with Guud Otsumami.

Again, nothing spectacular but tasty.  It had a nice sweetness too it while being very cool and refreshing.  Jellyfish can have a bit of an almost slimy texture which is why some people don’t like it but I quite enjoyed this.  The Salmon natto yukke was next (chopped salmon sashimi with seven friends: natto, shibazuke, takuan, wonton chips, garlic chips, green onion and raw egg yolk).  The server quickly mixed the ingredients and we were left to wrap the concoction in nori seaweed to our liking.

At first there is a bit of a shock. There is a lot going on in this dish.  The more and more I ate though, the more and more I liked it.  All the ingredients were fresh and held together nicely with the raw egg yolk.  The nori added a bit of saltiness to the otherwise sweet dish.  The textures also made this dish interesting.  You get the softness of the fish with a bit of crunch from the wonton and garlic chips.  This was my favorite fish dish of the night.  Next, the Karubi, salt and pepper grilled beef short ribs with green onion sauce.

This was just ok.  The hot grilled beef was a nice change from the cold dishes served so far.  The beef was pretty tender and marinated well.  Nothing to write home about but a nice addition to the mix of dishes.  Next was the Enoki hotate bacon, Enoki mushroom and scallop wrapped in bacon with soysauce and mustard mayo.

First off, the mushrooms and scallops alone were perfectly cooked and delicious.  Wrapping them in bacon put this whole dish over the top.  Easily my favorite dish of the night.  The mustard mayo also added a nice sweetness to the otherwise salty bacon and soysauce.  The Takoyaki, deep fried puffed octopus balls served with tonkatsu sauce and mustard mayo, came out next.

The bonito flakes on top make this dish look living since they wave around when the dish is served.  The balls are fresh out of the fryer and wicked hot (my burnt tongue can attest to this).  I thought it was delicious.  Not too different than the takoyaki at Manpuku which is good because I love the takoyaki at this place.  The balls are perfectly fried, the octopus is chewy and meaty and the sauces add a wonderful sweetness and creaminess to the dish.  Next out of the fryer was the Ebimayo, deep fried prawn in crispy batter with spicy mayo.

The prawns were bouncy, hot and delicious.  It was very reminiscent of the deep fried prawns I had at Sidecar, which I had described as some of the best shrimp I have ever had.  My sister made a comments about over-saucing since the prawns were drenched in spicy mayo but you know what, I liked the sauce so for me this was a good thing.  I even scooped up the sauce with the chip in the middle of the dish….wow that just makes me sound fat.  I need to start hitting the gym again.  The Yakiudon, pan fried udon noodle with beef and vegetables came out next.

The noodles were cooked well, the beef was tender and juicy, the veggies were more of an after thought except for the odd mushroom that managed to make it to my mouth which was delicious.  All we could say about this dish was “tasty”.  Again, like most of the other dishes, not ground breaking or mind blowing or super adventurous but it’s good, tasty and satisfying.  Next, the Tontoro, pan fried pork cheek with salt and yuzu pepper.

This was interesting.  It was pork, tasted like pork and had the texture of pork, but reminded us of chicken.  Maybe it’s because these sauces are usually mixed with chicken.  The bite size pork nuggets were a little on the rubbery side but were quite flavorful.  We tried the Ikapiri, deep fried calamari with spicy ketchup and wasabi mayo next.

After the first bite, I started laughing. It’s very ketchup-y.  Not something you would expect with squid.  The calamari itself is chewy, maybe bordering on rubbery which is the case with most fried squid though.  The only one I can remember in recent memory that wasn’t rubbery was Capo in Calgary (which is probably the best calamari I’ve ever had).  It was fried nicely, crunchy but not burnt.  Last but certainly not least was the Kakimayo, grilled oysters with spinach, garlic mayo and cheese on top.

I should have put something in the picture so you can gauge the relative size of these oysters.  THEY ARE HUGE!  The biggest oyster I’ve ever seen!  I can make a fist and it’s bigger than that (and I have fighters hands, think big clunky boxer’s hands).  The cheese was baked on top to a nice crispiness which was a nice contrasts to the smooth, spinachy inside.  I liked it.  Not high class food but very tasty and satisfying.

The staff is friendly and look like they are having just as much fun as the patrons and let me tell you, everyone is having a blast.  Upon leaving, the staff starts yelling at us in Japanese again which puts a smile to our faces.  I wouldn’t say Guu is a culinary gem but it’s one of the most fun and satisfying eating experiences I’ve had in a while.  I’ll definitely be back!

http://www.guu-izakaya.com/toronto/

Stockyards – Inducing meat sweats, one customer at a time

As the weather starts to get warmer, I find myself in the mood for BBQ.  Maybe it’s the long winters where BBQ-ing just isn’t feasible or maybe it’s that inner caveman crying out for meat cooked over fire.  In any case, when I find myself craving BBQ I head up to St. Claire and Christie and then follow the aroma of southern spices and BBQ sauce to a storefront with “The Stockyards: smokehouse and larder” written on the window.  At first I was thinking “larder”…a place where they use a lot of lard in their cooking….sounds gluttonously delicious.  Turns out a larder is a cool area to store food, much like a fridge before fridges were invented.  Anyways, on my first trip a couple years ago I tried the hickory smoked pork shoulder sandwich topped with coleslaw and bbq sauce.

First off, I like how everything they serve is in a frying pan.  Gimmick, yes, but it puts a smile on my face.  The sandwich was delicious.  The pork is tender and saucy.  The coleslaw is crisp and cool and adds a nice contrast to the BBQ flavor of the pork.  The only disappointing thing was the bread.  It reminded me of wonder bread.  Not that wonder bread is a bad thing it’s just everything else is so top notch you have to ask yourself why they didn’t splurge on better bread like they do at the Black Camel.  This was a couple years ago so maybe now they’re starting using better bread.  On subsequent visits I’ve been indulging on their ribs which, sadly, they only serve three days a week: Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

The ribs are smoked over apple and hickory wood and use a South Carolina style vinegar red pepper sauce.  I’ll admit the ribs don’t fall of the bone but the do have a nice texture and come off the bone with little effort.  What makes these ribs outstanding is the flavor.  You can taste the lovely smokiness with a tasty spice rub and tangy BBQ sauce.  They come out with a side of BBQ sauce in case you want to lather it on to make it extra saucy.  Welcome to flavor country, that’s all I have to say.  Oh, and the portions are huge!  Next I tried the buttermilk marinated fried chicken served with fries, coleslaw and hot sauce.

Colonel Sanders eat your heart out!  Crisp skin, tender meat (without being too greasy) and spiced just right.  I find a lot of fried chicken too salty… this is not the case here.  It uses a nice blend of spices without taking away from the crisp flavor of the buttermilk batter.  It comes with four big pieces of chicken, a huge plate of fries and coleslaw.  The fries are normally really good.  Crisp, hot and perfectly salted but on this occasion they were a little soggy.  Maybe we let the chicken sit on them for too long while switching back and forth between the ribs and the chicken.  On another occasion I tried the BBQ Beef Brisket sandwich served with caramelized onions, garlic mayo, veal jus, bbq sauce on a baguette.

The beef was good.  It crumbles into small tender pieces and was spiced quite nicely.  I really liked the addition of garlic mayo into the mix.  I think the beef, onions and BBQ sauce would have given it a one dimensional flavor but adding the garlic mayo adds a whole other dynamic to the taste.  The baguette was also really good.  Maybe this is an indication that they’ve starting moving to better bread in all their sandwiches…score!  On my last visit, I tried the BBQ pit smoked chicken, slow smoked over apple and hickory wood served with Stockyards bbq sauce on the side.

All I have to say is AMAZING!  This could be some of the best chicken I’ve ever had.  The meat was very tender, even the thicker breast meat was soft and juicy!   It was practically falling off the bones.  The chicken was well spiced and sauced just right.  It had a subtle sweetness to it but still had a nice balanced southern spice taste to it.  Soooooo good!  I’m craving some just writing about it now.

Now I took a couple co-workers here with me on my last visit.  One lives in the US and has eaten BBQ across all your major BBQ states.  The other has made frequent visits to the south and is also a BBQ connoisseur.  I know this stuff is great by Toronto BBQ standards but I had to see how it matched up against our southern counterparts.  The verdict: it’s gooood.  They both really like the pit smoked chicken.  They like the brisket and said if they were served that in the US, they wouldn’t be disappointed.  They like the ribs but both preferred the fall off the bone type of ribs and Memphis style over the South Carolina style.  All in all, we enjoyed the meal.  After all, we all left with the “meat sweats” so clearly we couldn’t put the food down.

http://www.thestockyards.ca/