TasteBud.ca

Healthy Food Court Option: Sushi Q

Last Friday night, Joe and I went to the Eaton Centre looking for a Wii.  Although we figured that our search would be fruitless, we tried nonetheless.

And as we suspected, after hitting five stores, we were empty-handed and... very hungry.

Our usual go-to at the Eaton Centre is the food court on the south end, closer to Queen St.  Joe usually goes for KFC, but he opted for a  burger.  And my usual pick is Sushi Q... especially since after a certain time at night, they offer a 30% discount.

This time I was pleased to learn that they've started offering more selections with brown rice.  It's not the greatest sushi, nor particularly authentic, but with a discount and a healthier brown rice option, it can surely be a lot worse!

TasteBud.ca

I am very excited to announce that I have secured the URL address: TasteBud.ca for my little labour of love.

Tell one, tell all!  I welcome all comments, suggestions and recommendations on all things food and this site, as well.

My goal is to share and grow my love of food with anyone who is interested.  I'm one step closer with the birth of this site.

If You Like Butter Tarts...

As we were leaving HAL Burger the other day at lunch, Ron asked casually, "Do you like butter tarts?"

Hell ya.  He of all people should know by now that anything with the word "butter" in it is a definite winner in my books.

The butter tarts are on display behind the bar area in what looks like large muffin pans.  They look homemade and not exactly like your average tart, specifically because the shell looks to be handmade.

I started to get a little impatient waiting for the tart to get to our table, but I soon find out why.

The butter tart arrives warm.  And before we dig in, there is some talk about art directing the shot of the tart.

Once we get the pictures out of the way, I get a bite and it's totally decadent.  I think the whole tart is made of pure butter... maybe some flour and shortening in the shell and the tiniest bit of sugar... but mostly butter.  One tart is really enough to share, especially after the heavy burgers.  But a definite must-have.

Ace of Cakes on the Food Network

It's been a while since I've watched the Food Network, but when I tuned in today, I was treated to a marathon of a pretty cool show called Ace of Cakes.

It's essentially a reality show about the day in the life of a cake shop called Charm City Cakes in Baltimore run by an eccentric cake maker, Duff Goldman, his company, friends and clients.

The cakes themselves don't look that great to eat, but they are definite masterpieces, marvels to look at and the folks on the show are fun to watch while they take their sweet business seriously.

As far as I'm concerned, any show about cake gets my vote.

Tune in Fridays at 10pm, Saturdays at 4pm and 1am on Food Network Canada.

Photo courtesy of About.com

A Second Go at HAL Burger

Hello Dave.  Would you like your burger now?

Ok, it's nothing like that and I KNOW it's a pretty bad reference.  But my mind went there, allll-ight?  And I'm sure mine was not the first.

Joe and I have been to HAL Burger (244 Adelaide West, 416-979-8787) for dinner a little while ago.  The place had just opened and maybe they were still ironing out some of the finer details, but I didn't enjoy the mini trio of burgers I ordered - they were overcooked.

The most intriguing thing for me is that HAL Burger is the new incarnation of the spot which previously housed Dirk Gentley's and later simply, Dirk's - a pub with a dance floor on the lower floor.  There were many nights of drinking and drunken dancing that can be recalled when I think of Dirk's.  R.I.P. to Dirk's and to the age where drunken dancing was a norm.

Well, it seems Ron has been obsessed with the HAL Burger, making multiple lunch trips in a single week.  It's sincere dedication to brave the cold to make the trek on foot; especially if you know that Ron doesn't really do voluntary treks on foot.

After hearing him rave about it for the last little while, the rest of us in the office had an opportunity to sample the burger on Thursday.  WE drove.  It was still bone-chilling cold.

Because I can't help but seeing the place as its previous life as Dirk's, essentially a pub, I don't love HAL's decor.  They have kept all the old dark wood trimmings and then modernized it with bright green accents.  Apparently, I may be the only person who feels this way as my opinions are met with across the board disagreements from my tablemates.

Ron recommends the root beer, so everyone orders one... that is except me because I don't like root beer.  I decide on the grape soda.  The bottles are old-school cool and so are the sodas.

There a number of burgers on the menu with fancy names and a gourmet-type feel to them.  But all four of us decide on the basic burger with toppings we select ourselves.  The boys go for the 8oz burger.  And us girls opt for the 5oz'er.  All burgers are served with a side of fries.  We also decide to order a side of slaw and onion rings (which HAL Burger calls "onion fritters").

I'm happy to report that my previous opinion of HAL Burger has now changed.  The burgers here are good.  My burger was done medium with portobello sauteed mushrooms.  It arrives open faced with a nice big juicy-looking slice of tomato in full view.  The ketchup, peppercorn mustard and relish mayo look and taste homemade.

As we eat and share our opinions of the burger, we realize that the tomato is salted and that is where much of the savouriness is coming from.  But the salted tomato is GOOOOOD.  That tomato helped the burger a lot.  The coleslaw was excellent.  The small order was enough to share amongst the four of us.  And the onion rings or fritters had a hint of pakora to them... but it didn't particularly compliment the burgers.

We were stuffed after finishing our burgers and as we were about to leave, we found out that they had a special dessert...

Fionn MacCool's on King West

I was at work a little late last night, so I convinced Joe to come and hang out with me at work for a while.  It's been at least a week since he's been out for a beer, so we decided to head out to Fionn MacCool's on King, west of Spadina to quench that thirst.

Joe was also pretty hungry, but having gorged myself on China Gourmet late in the afternoon for lunch (not to mention that I'm supposedly on a healthy eating program), I set my mind on having something light for dinner.  And of course, a pint of beer.

It's nice that it's been mild the last couple of days, so it was a nice walk over.  And suprisingly, the place is pretty packed.  The pub is in a recessed space in the basement of a building.  It's a good set up, as it's possible to clearly see what's going in the entire place from the wide front windows.

There were only two tables left right by the entrance.  No kidding, those tables are a bit cold due to people constantly walking in and out.  But the heavy drapery they have in that area helps to keep the draught out somewhat.

We each get a pint of Keith's and browse the menu.  Joe is set on having the burger and I order the seafood chowder - trying to stay true to "eating light".

The one thing I like about this Fionn Maccool's is that even when there are a lot of people and noise, it's still possible to have a conversation without yelling.  That's definitely one of my all time pet peeves about pubs, bars and clubs.

Our food arrives as we're about half way through our pints.  Joe's burger was good and standard.

And my seafood chowder was loaded with ingredients and flavour. 

The cheese scone was a nice addition, too.  I thought it was funny that they just took a slice of cheese and melted it on top of a regular scone.  The melted cheese wasn't really doing it for me.  It just looked a mushy orange blanket on top of the scone, so I flipped it to Joe and he ate it with his burger with a "mmmm... it's good!"

The soup was a good serving size, but it really filled me up.  And I realize that it's not exactly eating light to have a soup loaded with cream and butter and to soak it up with a buttered scone...  Well, I saved a few calories by giving Joe the rest of my beer I couldn't finish.  That counts for something, right?

China Gourmet Crack Buffet

One of the things we love to order at work is China Gourmet (warning - there is a pretty terrible redirect ad page before you get to the main site) for lunch delivery. 

This is my junk food.  I don't eat chips.  I don't eat candy bars.  But I do eat China Gourmet like the world is about to enter the apocalypse.

Yesterday, we had a very late lunch.  And while there is usually two or three of us ordering the Crack Gourmet, we had a client in the office and Ron, our boss, who doesn't like Asian food but had no other choice for lunch.  So we ordered the buffet-to-go.  No, there's no actual menu selection called that, but what ended up showing up was an array of dishes to make my mouth water and for my arteries to voluntarily start clogging up at the same time.

We ordered the beef ho-fun with soya, chicken wings, and for the caucasians among us: the chicken balls and the peanut chicken.  Oh yes, and two orders of my favourite the young chow fried rice.  YUM!

It was a little alarming how we all attacked our lunch.  And I am openly ashamed at the sheer volume of food I was able to inhale.  And it was a pure carb kick, alternating between the fried rice and the noodles, with a couple of chicken wings thrown in for good measure.

So wrong, yet sooooo good.   

Ghali and Ben & Jerry's

After having our fill of dinner, we headed over to the food court across the street from CityTV to see if George Ghali of Ghali Kitchen would be around.  Joe used to live on Greenwood where Ghali's east end place used to be and I guess they used to chat.

George was there so Joe talked with him for a few minutes.  His place got a great write up on NOW recently.  Since we had just eaten, I didn't have an appetite to try anything but he specializes in a fusion of Caribbean and Italian cuisines.  He's known for his rasta pasta and unique pizza toppings (ie - the roti pizza).  None of it really appeals to me... the descriptions or any of the food on display.  But that could just be me because NOW gave Ghali NNNN, which is pretty impressive.  I'm not entirely convinced, though.

His kiosk in the food court looks inviting and non-inviting at the same time.  The colours and decor are warm and reminds me of a fast food version of The Sultan's Tent.  But there's also this terrible piece of serving fixture looking completely out of place that seems to block you out from entering an area that looks like a neat place to hang out.  Obviously, a picture would be handy here, but I didn't get one. 

George told us that it's been slow.  And I can maybe understand why... It's hard to tell that he's even open.  While the set up has a good vibe, there are no menu boards and no other indicators to show whether the place is open or closed.  Strange place.  Joe ended up buying a slice of pizza for later.

Yes, yes... Ghali's place is one thing, but what I was excited about was going to the Ben & Jerry's parlour for a scoop in the same building.  Yes, I realize that I'm on a healthy life program and a giant scoop of ice cream most likely doesn't fit into the picture.  Oh well, I discovered my new favourite flavour: Bananas on the Rum!  (Banana ice cream with a buttery rum brown sugar swirl)  It tastes like a banana fosters but really, really cold and creamy.  Deeeeelicious.  Nevermind that two cones cost almost ten bucks.  I thank my luck stars for my 20% off key fob I have... at least we don't feel completely raped as we fatten ourselves up like grade A veal.

Tasty Chinese Food

I've had this crazy craving for noodle soup in the last few days.  I am following Bob Greene's The Best Life program, but phase 1 does not involve too much of a restriction in the eating... thank goodness. 

Of course, with this kind of attitude, I'm ain't going no where fast.

Regardless... one of the things I have to worry about when Joe and I go out to eat is that we find a place where we can both find something to eat.  It will soon be very clear that we are vastly different when it comes to our pursuit of satisfying our hunger.

One of my favourite places to go is the Village by the Grange food court.  It's located across the street from OCAD and the AGO.  And it has a great variety of foods to choose from.  In our case last night, McDonald's for Joe and Tasty Chinese Food for me.

I could've gone for Sakura's ramen (Japanese noodle soup), but I was really hankering for a more salty and savoury flavour usually found in a Chinese bbq noodle soup.  I've tried Tasty Chinese Food a couple of years ago and was disappointed, but decided to give it another try.

   

I ordered the bbq chicken egg noodle soup (I was given a choice between egg and rice noodles) for $3.99.  Well, I was happy with the price... but with the dish, not so much.  The egg noodles were not what I expected (a little thicker and whiter in colour than I thought I would get) and the soup was tepid and didn't have much flavour.  The bbq chicken leg, which was chopped in half before being placed in my bowl, was tough and over-cooked. 

As I started hacking away with my flimsy plastic utensils on the chicken leg, it helped to flavour the soup a bit.  And I did end up finishing it, but it was very disappointing.  In this case, not so Tasty.

The jewel of this particular meal, however, was the perfectly chilled orange juice.  I like things very cold, with a lot of ice.  And this bottled orange juice was so cold that it had ice chips in it.  Yum!

Introducing...

Welcome to my little space in this wide universe dedicated to one of my most favourite things... FOOD.

The birth of this site is owed in its entirety to Joe.  For a guy who's been unexpectedly thrust into this world of food obsession, he's done good!  Thank you for your love, support and for believing in me.

I'll be talking about what I'm eating, what I want to eat, where I'm eating, food I'm obsessed with and anything else I can think of that has to do with food.

Making appearances will be restaurant reviews, what I may be eating at any given moment and stores in Toronto where I frequent or discover.

Any suggestions and/or comments are more than welcomed!  I very much hope to hear from you.