Gastronomy 101: Summer and Fall Dining

Canada Canon S110 Digital Food Gastronomy 101 Toronto

Apologies for the delayed posts as life worked even harder to make itself happen the past summer. K and I are well, despite being busy.

I know some friends and family who are eager to visit Toronto, so here is my summer and fall food line-up for this year.

SUN’S KITCHEN (Pacific Mall, Unit F5 2nd Floor) found our way to our list when K had an appointment to an optician and we decided to eat somewhere else other than Lai Do (we like their pepper steak). So we decided fresh, handmade noodles is the way to go. The service is quick although since this is situated inside a very busy foodcourt finding a spot to enjoy your meal is a challenge.

I had the cold noodle soup which is more sour than I expected so I think I will try a hot soup next time. Nonetheless the noodles tasted great.

THE FRY (various locations across GTA) is definitely the king of KFC (Korean Fried Chicken). They have several options but our favourites happened to be the Fried Chicken in Sauce, boneless fried chicken, and their garlic butter fries. Best served hot and enjoyed with beer.

HARVEST KITCHEN (124 Harbord Ave.) was K’s choice when we were looking to meet with C for brunch. They have a nice patio at the second floor (very boho chic) and have a good selection of breakfast items. I personally didn’t like what I ordered (not the restaurant’s fault) so I find the experience there not too memorable.

TSUJIRI (147 Dundas St. W) was a surprise. Since I was busy their opening went under my radar, which is still a good thing because the line ups were crazy long. Understandable because their matcha sundae is really good. I might order matcha next time once I ran out to taste the actual tea product.

DING TAI FUNG SHANGHAI DIMSUM (3235 Hwy 7 #18b, Markham) is not “the” Ding Tai Fung but they do serve the infamous xiao long bao and it is delicious. Try the green onion pancakes too!

Our visit to PLATITO (35 Baldwin Street) was by chance, as we were initially just around Baldwin to eat ramen at Ryu’s Noodle Bar. We went to the restaurant for desserts mostly and the feedback from our party of 4 has been mixed. I thoroughly enjoyed my ube cheesecake whereas my friend C found the ube everything Ube Waffles with Ube Ice Cream to be, well, too ube. J’s tocilog was just so-so, and it didn’t help that my friend had to wait for more than 30 mins to get his food (and he was getting grumpy).

Admitting to biases, I think it is really hard to eat at a Filipino restaurant because our baseline is still the homecooked kind. Not to mention a lot of the restaurants popping up are hip, but focusing on the deconstruction of the meal that a lot of us are so used to eat.

MAHA’S EGYPTIAN BRUNCH (226 Greenwood Ave.) by far holds the “favourite restaurant” of Summer/Fall 2016. And for a good reason of course. Forget the part that we had to line up for 30 mins, because the wait is definitely worth it. The small location is cozy and buzzing with activity led by Maha and her two children. We got initiated with Egyptian food with foole (Egyptian “chili”) included in the Cairo Classic. K ordered the Egyptian Falafel which was equally delicious. The Honey Cardamon Latte is highly recommended as well.