Living It Up Toronto- Part 3

Decided to combine the last two days of the trip into one post as there were only 3 stops in the two days. We doubled down on the City Pass and hit up some tourist stops: Casa Loma and the Ontario Science Center.  In between the two spots decided to check another place off the list:  

Kanga Aussie Meat Pies 

Meat pies are pretty much the only thing I know about Australian cuisine. Although I "a shrimp on the barbie" might be a thing or just racism. I'm not quite sure. #ThanksCrocodileDundee. I don't know that I've ever had the desire to visit Australia but I'll gladly try their cuisine. 

Karen went with the Kiwi Classic meat pie. Just looking at what's in it screams Karen: beef filling with chunks of white cheddar cheese. Apparently its the favorite of New Zealanders per their website. Maybe Karen is a Kiwi at heart? They had an option to make it a meal- so she got garlic mash potatoes and sausage roll. She highly enjoyed it with the sausage roll being the star of the show.

Kiwi Classic Meat Pie w/ garlic mash potatoes, and sausage roll

I ended up going with the Mate's Masala pie which got my attention ingredient wise: Indian chick pea curry, eggplant, and sweet potato. Per the menu its said it was "spicy" but I didn't think it was spicy at all. The fries were freshly cut/made there which were also excellent. The spinach + feta roll was great as well. I have no idea if Australian folks made our food but kudos to the chefs/bakers as it was fantastic.

Mate's Masala Pie w/ fries and spinach + feta roll

So somewhere (possibly our hotel) there was a stand with tourist brochures and places of interest. One of the pamphlets she picked up was a tour for butter tarts. Apparently butter tarts are national treasures for Canadians. I was unaware of this fact but figured it was our duty to try it out. Unfortunately all the tour spots were a couple hours away so after a quick google search ended up finding Tartistry as it was on the way back to our hotel.

We arrived at Tartistry and wouldn't you know it- they were closed. Damnation...so turn to head back to the car and the door opens up. The owner is there and says she happens to be baking for a big event they had coming up for the end of the week and if we wanted to get some tarts she'd be more than happy to accommodate us. That was cool as hell. She also gave us a run down on the history of butter tarts and per the sample it was confirmed they are all the rage.  We ended up getting a half dozen butter tarts: plain, coconut, lemon curd, pecan, maple walnut, and smore.

Butter Tarts

These butter tarts were FANTASTIC. Kudos to you Canada and the inventor of butter tarts. Karen was talking about trying to make them at home. I fully support this as I'm terrible at baking. I don't think I have the discipline and appreciation of exact measurements needed for baking. She's the top baker in this household.

Last day in Canada saw us hitting up the Royal Ontario Museum. That was super cool as a nerdy history major here. Definitely put that on top of the list for tourist spots within in Toronto. Wanted to hit up one more spot on my bucket list for food: Schnitzel Queen.

Karen is the one who introduced me to schnitzel (not code for something). Knowing that in my research prior to leaving I found Schnitzel Queen ranked highly for both ratings and cheap eats. This was definitely a great choice. Karen ended up going with the pork Bayern schnitzel which came topped with cheese and sauerkraut.

Bayern Schnitzel

Bayern Schnitzel side view

I went with the pork Cordon Blue schnitzel with came with ham, onions and cheese.  These sandwiches were so huge that no side items were needed. I had thought about a side prior to ordering but glad I decided not to get one. We ended up eating half of the sandwich and saving the other half for the plane ride home. I really enjoyed both of them- Karen of course liked mine better so she got to eat the other half on the plan ride home.

Cordon Blue Schnitzel

Cordon Blue Schnitzel side view

Fair warning- Schnitzel is cash only for international travelers as they only take Canadian debit cards for electronic payment options. Since it was the last day I only had U.S. dollars on me. I handed the owner $20 to which he replied "I'm not good with math so this seems good enough." That was very cool of him as I think the total more than that.  So memo to self- make sure to have enough Canadian money next time for another meal at Schnitzel Queen.

Toronto was definitely a foodie/fat kid's dream when it comes to food. I would say food wise it was the one of the highlights/reason to visit Toronto. Definitely want to go back and hit up more places to eat and who knows go on a butter tart tour.

#Foodie4Life,
Reef

Living It Up in Toronto Part 2

Day 2 in Toronto was definitely the Foodie Tour of the city. Met up with a high school friend of mine who I don't think I had seen in person in around 20 years. Obviously in the glorious age of technology and Facebook kept in contact and what not. I would say that's not really the same thing but I digress. Anyway he suggested Kensington Market. Unlike St. Lawrence Market, Kensington Market is an actual neighborhood/district. I would say it most likely is the most diverse area I've ever seen- in a good way. It has all types of cuisine- Mexican, Jamaican, Chinese, etc. I think the weirdest combination for a restaurant (which will have to scope out next time) was a Hungarian Thai place called Hungary Thai. Decided to do a walking tour and actually hit up two spots that were on my list of places to try.

The first stop was Seven Lives- which they don't have a website but here is their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SevenLivesTacosYMariscos/. This place does So Cal/ Baja style tacos. Fair warning this place only takes cash so you know it's legit.

Karen ended up getting a Carnitas tacos. In case you're not familiar, carnitas is braised pork shoulder. As you can tell from the pictures they serve them on blue corn tortillas which added to the awesomeness. This taco was someone simple but awesome and full of flavor. I think its safe to say if we weren't going to hit up other joints we would have ordered a whole lot more.

Carnitas Taco

I ended up picking two different types of tacos to try. I got the Gobernador and a Carnitas taco. Should have let Karen order first so I could have tried another type but hey just another reason to go back. The Gobernador was fantastic if you're into seafood as it contains smoked marlin, shrimp, and cheese. Since I don't get to eat much seafood at home, this was a great treat for me.  I think whenever I go back to Toronto is this going to be the first stop right off the plane (depending on time of day). Honestly not familiar with the seafood scene of Toronto but this tasted pretty fresh and got bonus points from me.

The Gobernador and Carnitas Tacos

We perused the streets of Kensington Market and Toronto- catching some local tourist sites like the old city hall building, a street art alley, and an apartment that was used for Queer As Folk and Orphan Black. Ended up picking up some specialty ice tea from Ten Ren's Tea . Like a dummy I forgot to snap a picture but man they were refreshing. I picked the Taro Coconut Milk Tea per my friend's suggestion. Karen wanted a Pineapple Mango slushie but they were out. So she opted for the strawberry mango slushie... which she didn't like it so we ended up switching. Probably why I didn't take pictures. I mean I like both of them so I can't complain.

Stock photo of the Taro Coconut Milk Tea 

Definitely some good walking which lead to stopping for a snack. This time from another place on my list: Banh Mi Boys. Best I can describe it would be a Korean sandwich shop. This is located in Toronto's Chinatown. Related note- I think that might be the largest Chinatown in this side of the planet. Seriously might be 10x the size (if not more) of Chicago's Chinatown. Luckily we had my friend Jon who knew of a secret menu option for Banh Mi Boys: Club Bao. This is a steamed bun filled with fried chicken, pork belly, mayo, pickled carrots, cilantro, and cucumber.

Club Bao

Banh Mi Boys can be added to another must go to place on a trip to Toronto. You know the place is good when there's a line/wait to order and get your food. Well worth the wait for sure. Next to this location of Banh Mi Boys ended up being an Asian Gelato place called Kekou Gelato House. Asian Gelato? Sounds like something I had to try so we went for it.

Osmanthus Plumbery in the background

Karen ended up getting a cup of Osmanthus Plumberry gelato. She said it tasted like blackberry sorbet and really dug it. I ended up picking the peanut butter sesame gelato in a cone. To be honest Asian flavored gelato never would have crossed my mind when it came to ice cream but I'm glad these folks came up with it. This was some good stuff. Definitely have to say Toronto's Chinatown puts Chicago's to shame in size, food, and creativity.

It was an awesome time hanging with my friend Jon and going on a walking foodie tour for most of the day. We said our goodbyes and ended up hitting the very tourist spots afterwards as I had picked up a City Pass (basically for 1 price you get tickets to a bunch of place). The two stops which were next to each other were CN Tower and the Ripley's Aquarium. Definitely hit the tourist standards for fun. Actually thought they were pretty neat.

Given the time we were done with the CN Tower, our options for food places on my list were limited. One place which was not was Poutini's House of Poutine. I'm fairly certain you could guess from the name of the place that they specialized in Poutine. Day one we had tried poutine at a generic place so we felt it needed to be tried at a legit place.

Karen went with The Layered- which fits the name as it is what the original poutine combination is known for (fries, cheese curds, gravy) but with an extra layer of cheese curds. I ended going with The Works: which added sour cream, bacon, and chives to it. If you can tell there are no healthy options when it comes Poutine but hey we were on vacation so it's allowed.

The Works Poutine

The Layered Poutine

Poutine that's what's up. Don't worry about the over eating as we both didn't finish. We ended taking them back to the hotel and saving them for dinner the next night. Probably the best all day foodie outing I've had to date.

#TorontoFoodie,
Reef

Living It Up in Toronto- Part 1

Decided to hit up one of the cities on my bucket list for vacation: Toronto. Unless it happened when I was a kid, I'm fairly certain I never visited Canada before. I think one of the main reasons I wanted to visit Toronto was because of my love for the Scott Pilgrim comics. The other thoughts were that its close enough to drive to (8 hours from here). Funny enough we ended up flying cause I didn't think road tripping was the way to go- border patrol and all those excuses. Interestingly enough the customs into Canada is automated/self checkout.

Nerd me is one of those research types who pretty much just scopes out places to eat more than places to see. That being said one of the spots I wanted to check out was St. Lawrence Market . It consists of two spots: The South Hall which is a 2 floor building with over a hundred different vendors (food and merchandise) and then a farmer's market across the street. Fairly certain this market hit just about every continent with food options.  

After perusing around for a bit ended up going with Karen's pick and going to Manotas Organics & Fine Latin Foods. They had a woman out front cooking arepas and empanadas. I'm not one to turn down Hispanic cuisine so they were picked up. Once again I'm a sucker for freshness when it comes to food. I think outside of having paid for something, I don't care much for leftovers. Thus if you're ever at my place I usually try to hand off food. All that being said these were a hit.

Chicken Empanada

Arepa in case you've never had one, it is pretty much a dough made from maize (aka corn). In this instance the lady was frying them up.  Really can't go wrong with an arepa...unless of course it's super dry then you might. In this instance it was pretty good.

Cheese Arepa

So after the St. Lawrence Market- opted to check into the hotel and rest up before heading over to Niagara Falls. In case you're wondering (or too lazy to check a map) it is only 1 1/2 hours east of Toronto. Niagara Falls itself is pretty beautiful. One observation which surprised me was that the majority of the visitors (not sure if tourists or locals) were of Indian/Pakistani origin.  That being said I don't think we came across any Indian restaurants in Niagara Falls at all (driving wise). I'm sure there are a bunch if you googled it.

Food wise decided to go cheap eats and themed diner route and went with The Flying Saucer Restaurant . As you most likely guessed- I saw flying saucer in the name and was like need to check it out. Place was pretty busy as Niagara Falls had a comic convention going on at the time, which is kind of funny walking into a U.F.O themed diner and seeing folks in cosplay. It was like Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. #NerdAlert.

So first day in Canada, need to try at least one of the things they are known for poutine. Poutine for the less informed- no worries I was a part of that group- are French fries, cheese curds, and gravy.  I mean cheap eats from a diner probably wasn't the obvious place to try a national treasure but turned out to be a good decision. Not sure if their fries were freshly made or just the oil they use to cook them, but they were fantastic on their own. Add the other unhealthy stuff and you got a winner. Definitely an item to try if you're in the area.

Flying Saucer's Poutine

Food wise they kind of have the standard flair but then under their sandwich section they just had the name Western. So ended up asking the waitress what that entailed. Not sure if its a common Canadian sandwich as no description was under it. Basically a ham, egg, and cheese melt. It was okay at best. I'm not sure what I was thinking it was going to turn out. The star of the meal were the fries. Also interesting- on the table they had ketchup and vinegar. Not malt vinegar, just plain old vinegar. Never seen that before but was like well why not give it a shot. It was surprisingly addictive.

Western Sandwich, coleslaw, and fries

The Western Sandwich side view

Karen ended up going with a burger. She picked the Jupiter burger as that was the smallest burger they had. Now I'm not sure if its all Canada or what- someone can let me know- but they make their burger patties more like meatloaf. That being said- someone did not enjoy the burger. I gave it a try and it was just weird as it was kind of softer than meatloaf/almost paste like. I might be exaggerating but if you're use to burgers a certain way that just throws off your mental game.

Jupiter Burger with coleslaw and fries

Jupiter Burger side view

Overall The Flying Saucer Restaurant was a let down outside of Poutine and adding vinegar to fries. You would think they'd have a gift shop or something to go along with their theme but they didn't. So I'd say if you're on a budget and don't mind poor truck stop grade food, this might be the place for you.  Highly doubt I'd go back to this joint again.

I think day one in Toronto was 50/50 start to the trip food wise as the Hispanic food and venture around St. Lawrence Market was a good first impression. Niagara Falls I'm sure has plenty of other options food wise so won't let that mediocre experience dissuade me from going back.

#CanadianFoodieAdventure,

Reef

Birthday Foodie Style

So had a pretty gluttonous birthday weekend this past weekend which I think is okay per the rules. Something like "it's your birthday do what you want" or "hey let's get fat!". Why not both?

The first stop and meal of the day was lunch at Emerson Creek Pottery and Tea Room which isn't too far from my house in Oswego. First heard and visited this place last year on a recommendation. It was pretty funny as you drive down this gravel road towards an old farm you start thinking "where am I?"

Road leading to Emerson Creek (from their site I'm not that talented)

They do have a wide variety of teas but really the food is a star for me. I think they have the best mango salsa I've ever had. Funny enough Karen had taken her mom here the week before and brought me back some salsa. With that in mind I opted to go completely new- also helps they switch up their menus on a weekly basis.

Opted to go with a new item for an appetizer- baked blackberry brie. Honestly I don't know what my expectations were before it showed up- mostly because I couldn't tell you how brie tasted. Probably still can't as I'm pretty terrible differentiating between the types of cheeses- except for blue cheese as I am not a fan. That being said, this was pretty tasty. From what I gather its not a complicated dish to make but the freshness of the blackberries stood out to me.

Baked Blackberry Brie with crackers

Karen opted to get a strawberry lemonade that they make.  She was telling me how last time whoever made it had a plethora of diced strawberries in it. I think she was hoping for the same treatment but apparently that person from last time wasn't on lemonade duty. Probably got fired if they were stuffing these full of strawberry. That being said I gave it a try and liked it.

Karen's Strawberry Lemonade

Emerson Creek offers a you pick two type meal option. I mean I don't think they all it Pick 2 cause they don't want to get sued by Panera.  I enjoy it as I got to try a couple more new items. I ended up going with an Oven roasted turkey with Raspberry/Cranberry spread croissant and Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup. Fear not if you're thinking "hey those don't sound like they go together" as I ate them individually and did not mix them. Although to be fair the croissant and turkey would mix well with the soup. Can't say I've every had red pepper soup before but giving that Karen got a copy of their recipe we will be eating it again. Definitely would get both of these again as they were good. I think the overall quality that made these more enjoyable is the freshness of the ingredients.

Oven roasted Turkey with Raspberry/Cranberry spread Croissant and   Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Karen opted to go the pick two route as well and got the soup and a Oven Roasted Turkey Club with Provolone cheese on a pretzel roll. I think a club sandwich is definitely on the Karen's go to list when it comes to sandwiches. Once again to kill you with the recurring theme- the freshness really put it over. I should know as I tried it. Also in fairness I think you have to try very hard (aka be super lazy) to mess up a club sandwich.

Oven Roasted Turkey Club w/ Provolone on Pretzel Roll and Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Emerson Creek does have a kid's menu for you folks with kids. Lily hit up their grilled cheese which came with chips and fruits. Once again fairly simple and hard to screw up so understandably this was fantastic per Lily.

Kid's Grilled Cheese with chips and fruit

Overall was  a good lunch and will try to get back to Emerson Creek again at some point. Probably the trickiest part of hitting up that place is their hours: Tue - Sat 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Also the place fills up quickly. If it wasn't for those I probably would frequent it more often.

Probably blogged about this before but as is tradition for any special event my mom suggest eating at Gemato's. Really not sure when this tradition/idea started. I mean ribs are great there and she loves it so why not go there?

Half slab of ribs with Texas toast, fries, and back beans

Haven't ventured out in the area for BBQ food but as of now Gemato's is the best place in the surrounding Naperville/Aurora area. I know I got a couple suggestions for places but forget to check them out.

Speaking of other traditions in regards to my birthday, Karen once again baked a cake for my birthday.  I of course forgot to take a pick of the whole cake but did take a pic of my slice of cake:

Karen made: Three Layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Cake

Fairly certain I gained 10 pounds just looking at that piece of cake again. A three layered chocolate peanut butter brownie cake. That cake was awesome- not even trying for brownie points (no pun intended). That cake didn't last very long as folks dug into fairly quickly. 

Birthday was pretty good and fattening. Thanks again  to everyone I heard from and hung out with. Was a great time.

#Foodie,

Reef

P.S. Karen sent me a picture of the whole cake after I wrote this: