Cabo Eats: Campestre

Date Visited: Dinner on Monday May 4, 2015
Company: Walk-in for 4

So... it's been a while, but I'm back and ready to hit the restaurant scene again... and just in time for patio season! I was in Mexico the first week of May and had spend the most of the month prior at the gym and trying to eat better in preparation. I was pretty lucky to to be able to try lots of the restaurants in Cabo San Lucas as we didn't stay at an all-inclusive. But instead of blogging about all of those places, I thought I'd just pick one that really stood out to my palate :)

Campestre is the spot where I thought we got to try the most authentic Mexican food, it was filled with locals and located off the beaten path. Our Cabo expect Laura suggested it when we asked for a cheap, authentic Mexican restaurant to check out, and it also happened that two of her local friends work there. It took about 10 minutes to get there from our hotel via taxi into some dirt road streets away from downtown. We were dropped off and entered a fairly large open restaurant with ample tables and even more floor space. It was about half-full for dinner and I didn't see any tourists there. Luckily they still had some english menus. We also got started off with some chips and salsa for the table. The portion of salsa was hefty compared to other restaurants, there was also a spicy salsa that was more liquidy. The tomatoes in the mild one were extremely fresh but light in flavour.


To start, I ordered the Bloody Merry (according to their menu) while the boys got beer and Laura got a Beer and tomato juice combo drink. I hadn't ordered a Caesar as of yet the whole trip so I was very excited to see how it would taste. The drink looked fancily dressed but more importantly it tasted amazing. Almost exactly like a Caesar but with more of a kick of different spices. The prices here were cheaper than anything we had seen before too which made things even better!

Their food menu had a lot of options with some photos to accompany. The one dish that stood out to me though Grilled Steak Tampioueña with Quesadilla, Enchilada, Guacamole and Rice, mostly the photo beside it looked delicious. The plate I got however, looked even better. The steak was perfectly grilled a medium-well (just like how I asked) and extremely tender. It was a thin slice but had a lot of character with some fatty and muscly parts on the edges and tons of flavour. I thought I had gotten a tortilla on top but turns out it was filled with cheese! One difference I noticed from home was that their tortillas are flakey and layered unlike a soft taco shell. Also their quesadillas are mostly just all cheese, no veggies inside. The Enchilada was great too, I could only finish one of the two but I loved the red sauce and cheese on top. The guacamole was a nice addition to the plate as well as the rice, which had a lot more flavour compared to other plates I'd had.

Overall, I was very happy with my choice of dish... even happier the next night where I got to drunkenly finish my leftovers. Like many of the restaurants we visited in Cabo, the service was quite slow, we were sitting a while just waiting for our bills before we could find anyone to flag down. But despite this, they were always accommodating and even nice enough to call us a taxi to pick us up since there was no way we could flag one nearby. I would definitely recommend this to anyone going to Cabo that wants to try a local authentic restaurant, I'd try to come back here anytime I was in the city.

Food: 4.5/5 - Best meal we had in Cabo and cheap prices!
Decor: 3/5 - Pretty cute restaurant.
Service: 2.5/5 - Really friendly, but pretty slow. Little bias since Laura knew our servers though
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Totally worth the trek.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.restaurantcampestreloscabos.com/#_=_

Negril

Date Visited: Lunch on Friday Mar 13, 2015

Company: Take-out for myself

A co-worker of mine who lived in Jamaica for a few years always mentioned the take-out place near our work where she always gets Chicken Sandwiches. I decided to check it out myself one day when I was leaving the office around lunch time and was heading downtown to work from Will's the rest of the day. It's a really small hole-in-the-wall spot in a plaza beside KFC and can only fit about 5 people to line up in before gets too tight. You order through a window to the kitchen where the guys are prepping the food for you. And for the month of March, they had a Small Jerk Chicken Dinner on special for $5. :)

I put in my order and stood back a bit to the window while the other people in line ordered. It got a bit busy around noon and it seems like there were a lot of regulars who knew what they wanted. Their soup was asked about but the guy was not down after he heard it was Goat Head... There were only two people behind in the kitchen, one taking the orders and the other making the food. It took about 10 minutes to get my order and I was quickly out of the packed room to head downtown.

The meal was still decently hot after the 30 minute drive to Will's. The chicken was very tender but didn't have as much kick as I thought jerk chicken would. The sauce wasn't powdery but rather moist and juicy. The rice was a bit bland and dry, it just had some beans in it and no sauce. I got a lot of rice compared to everything else. Even the coleslaw was minimal. The flavour was there but needed just a but more sourness to it. Overall, I can't really complain for $5, it was really worth it. It didn't have the authentic Jamaican flavours I was expecting but seemed they had a loyal following of regulars who enjoy the food.

Food: 2.5/5 - Good value but not an outstanding meal.

Decor: 1.5/5 - Small, white room but does the job.

Service: 3.5/5 - Quick and easy.

Willingness to go back: 2/5 - I wouldn't order that again but I'd return if I was feeling for something different then I usually eat.

Overall: 2.5/5

Website: none

Avli

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday Aug 16, 2014
Company: +Stephanie

+Stephanie and I were hanging out in Scarborough on the weekend, attempting to do some hiking at the Bluffs and I suggested going to the Danforth for some dinner afterwards as we were kind of close-by. I really wish I had more chances to visit the Danforth because Greek is possibly one of my favourite types of food. We found a parking spot a few blocks from the core of Greek town and walked down trying to decide where to go with all the options we were presented with. Avli seemed like a small, busy (but not packed) restaurant on the strip and we were appealed by their 'World Famous Dips' sign. They had their menu specials presented outside their door and were surprised how cheap it was... Little did we know that it was their Lunch Specials and they forgot to change the sign.

We started with some World-Famous Dips and ordered a combination of 3 for $16.50 instead of $6.50 each. It also came with Grilled Pita for which we got an extra order for $2. An order was 2 round pitas and we though it was too many but we actually used all of them. We tried the Kopanisti (Feta Cheese, Roasted Red Peper, and Olive Oil), Skordalia (Creamy Potatoes with Olive Oil and Garlic) and Melitzanosalta (Eggplant with Onions, Parsley, and Garlic) to try ones we've never had before. The plate was presented with some cucumbers and olives on the side which were a nice addition to eat with the dips. Some of the pita looked a little burnt but still tasted OK, it was thick and held together well with the various dips and also delicious on its own. When we ordered our dips, the waitress warned us about the Skordalia, saying that it has garlic in it... aka there's LOTS of garlic in it. The creamy potatoes was basically only for the texture which was nice and smooth but the kick was from the garlic flavour. The Melitzanosalta was an fun one because I tasted something different in each bite, it was sour, eggplanty, sweet, and refreshing all in different instances. The Kopanisti was the thickest and richest of the three, mostly from the feta cheese, the red pepper gave it a nice orange hue and subtle flavour. You could get really full off that one alone, so it was nice to have all three to complement each other as they were all so different.

We were able to have a good taste of the dips before a manager came back to let us know that the $12 Chicken Souvlaki 'specials' we ordered from the front menu was only for Lunch. Our waitress had told us we could still get those prices because we couldn't find them on the menu and had to show her what was written  outside. The manager I guess didn't allow that so we said didn't want them anymore (since we already were pretty full from the dips). She then mentioned that they had a dinner with one chicken skewer for $13 instead of the $17 one, we decided just to order those instead.

We go got our Greek Salads shortly, it was a small appetizer plate topped with lots of feta cheese and the standard ingredients. I didn't like how shredded the lettuce was and the dressing was rather plain and flavourless. I also tried to save most of it for the main meal since there are usually no vegetables with Souvlaki plates.


So at this point, we were pretty full already so when we got our very hot plates, I can't say that the appealing food added to our hunger. The plating looked bland with all the brown colours and the placement made the plate look empty. The potatoes had amazing flavour though and melted in your mouth, it was over-cooked but the taste made up for it. The rice on the other hand was also over-cooked but was pretty bland and dry. The chicken and tzatziki was not bad, it was really hard to tell when you're stuffing yourself. It wasn't too dry and had good flavour, I tried to add some tzatziki to the rice but it made it even more dry, nothing could save it.

Overall, I was left unimpressed by Avli, if we hadn't had ordered the Chicken Souvlaki's I think I would have a different impression because the dips were amazing. I think they have some other interesting dishes on the menu that I wish we had room for to try instead of the Souvlaki. The dips really fill you up so I would be mindful of that for the future.

Food: 2/5 - Torn here because I was left with a bad impression from the Souvlaki but the dips were actually good!

Decor: 2/5 - The tables where we were near the window were pretty close to each other in the small restaurant.

Service: 3.5/5 - Very sweet waitress we had, manager was less nice but good timing between dishes.

Willingness to go back: 2/5 - Depending on the nature of the meal, definitely know how not to order here as it left me ridiculously full and hating myself.

Overall: 2.5/5

Website: http://www.avlirestaurant.com/home

Cali Eats: Panini Cafe

Date Visited: Lunch on Wednesday Apr 16, 2014
Company: Walk-in for 5

One of the fanciest places we got to check out in California was definitely Rodeo Drive in LA. The streets were so fancy and populated with brand name stores everywhere. We weren't sure exactly where we would find a place to eat but right by where we parked the car, we found a reasonably-priced restaurant, Panini Cafe. It looked very quaint on the outside with a large patio and very rustic furniture. We were seated rather quickly considering how busy it was and their inside didn't look very large.

Our waiter was pretty awesome, he was a large Italian man? We had a bit of a debate on what his background was, but I think he was the owner. He was quick with the jokes and really wanted us to try their specials. After checking out their menu, most of us went for a Greek plate rather than a Panini, much to our dismay considering the restaurant name. Everyone's orders coming out around us looked so incredibly delicious though, it was hard not to order a larger meal.

I went for the Charbroiled Chicken Shish Kabob served with Basmati Rice and Mediterranean Greek Salad. When my order came though, I got a Romaine Avocado Salad instead of what I ordered. There was a bit of confusion when we all got our plates because I didn't think any of them were mine, but luckily our waiter was overlooking us being served and he said that the plate was mine. I told him what I thought I ordered and he got me a side plate of Greek Salad on the side shortly thereafter :).

The plate was very colourful and had great appeal overall. The chicken looked slightly charred but I was impressed that it maintained its juiciness. The skewer had tomatoes and onions between the large pieces of chicken breast. The flavour was very mild and nice to add some lemon on it to complement the grilled taste. They must have used very small onions because there were so many layers to each piece. The Basmatic Rice was pretty plain, the top layer had yellow rice which I guessed just had some butter in it. Other than that, it was plain rice and a bit dry. I got to try both salads and I think I liked the Avocado Salad better. The Greek Salad had tons of feta and was topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives and onions. I thought it could have used a bit more dressing as it was a bit plain. The Avocado Salad was mixed better with the dressing (maybe because it wasn't prepared in a rush?) and had tons of avocados which was the highlight. 

I was glad we had a somewhat healthy meal during our trip, all the ingredients were extremely fresh and they kept everything nice and simple. It was affordable but still had the appeal that it was an upscale restaurant you might see a celeb at.

Food: 3.5/5 - Amazingly filling and well-prepared meal, only complaint is that it could have used a bit of different seasonings to tingle the taste buds a bit.
Decor: 4.5/5 - So quaint and cute.
Service: 4.5/5 - Spectacular customer service!
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Would definitely check out any of their many locations in California again.
Overall: 4/5 
Website: http://www.mypaninicafe.com/

Cali Eats: El Toro Taqueria

Date Visited: Late Lunch on Sunday Apr 14, 2014 
Company: Walk-in for 5

After a long walk to Twin Peaks, we ventured back to the Mission District where we started to find a spot for an early afternoon lunch. There were tons of Mexican places we passed by when we were walking around the area so it wasn't difficult to find a place to eat. El Toro seemed like it was a fairly busy cafeteria style place right on the corner of Valencia and 17th, it was very welcoming with colourful signage and windows to look in. It looked like it wouldn't take us long to get food and had a table to sit, so it was exactly what we were looking for... and also some fish tacos for us to try!

Their menu was pretty simple but with lots of options, the foods are all there in front of you to awe at while the servers make your delicious plate of food. I decided to order a Super Prawn Taco Dinner, which ended up being around $8. The taco was only $3.50 itself but I wanted to add all the fixings! They also give you free nachos (which probably never get eaten after having that huge plate) and there's a salsa bar off to the side for you to try their different homemade salsas.

The plate looked delicious and packed with colourful foods, they let you choose the type of beans you want, either black or re-fried, I choose re-fried but I don't really like beans anyway. They topped it off with some shredded cheese and layer it a bit with your rice. There was nothing too special about the rice and beans, very average and just filled you up. There was a salad on the side with an excessive amount ranch dressing which was pretty okay, added some veggies to your meal. Now the taco on the other hand, was definitely the highlight of the meal... there were so many prawns, you could really taste a nice grilled, spiced flavour. They double tortilla'd it so it wouldn't fall apart which really helped but the tortilla was already pretty thick to begin with. It was a gloriously messy taco but was delicious with very fresh ingredients. Their guacamole was packed with zesty flavour and was nice to have with the nachos too. They also give you tortilla with the dinner meal but I didn't want mine.

Food: 3/5 - Prawn Taco was amazing, everything else was mediocre.
Decor: 3/5 - Quite clean and nice place to sit inside for a bit on a hot day and still enjoy the sun.
Service: 2.5/5 - Fast to clean tables, free ice water, few misunderstandings with my order, and busy line-up though.
Willingness to go back: 3/5 - Tons of taco joints to check out in the area, wouldn't necessarily go back to this one but I wouldn't complain either, cheap and easy.
Overall: 3/5

Website: http://eltorotaqueria.org/

Tangerine Asian Cuisine

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jan 3, 2014

Company: Early CNY dinner with +Stanley, +Kelvin, and company

Tangerine was recommended to me by my Tamil friend who said it was an awesome Hakka restaurant in the Whitby/Oshawa area. For those who don't know, Hakka is a style of cuisine from China that the Hakka people cook. They have traditional dishes but they're popular for their Indian style Hakka food which combines Chinese dishes with Indian spices. My dad is Hakka so I've had my share of the traditional dishes but don't get to try the Indian style ones very much unless we go to a restaurant. Some Asian friends of mine were going to be in town/convinced to come and wanted to go for some Chinese so I thought it was a great opportunity to try it. I actually don't know any good primarily Chinese restaurants near me so I really had high hopes for this place!

+Stanley and I arrived first and got a table for five. It was pretty full and we just waited a few minutes as they cleared a table for us. The restaurant is about small-medium sized with a hall upon entering that spans the length of the dining area taking you to to the waiters in the back with a small waiting area there. There weren't any Asian customers but I guess that isn't very surprising as it is in the Durham Region. As we waited, we checked out the menu and saw that a pot of Chinese Tea was $2, which usually should be free. +Stanley also wasn't impressed that they didn't have chopsticks on the table, only forks and knives but I expected that. They had a lengthy and wide-range of Asian cuisine from Thai to Indian and dishes were reasonably priced as if they would be in a typical restaurant in Scarborough/Markham.


After everyone arrived, we ordered a soup and four dishes from the waiter that took our order. He also assumed that we wanted White Rice and we weren't sure if he was going to charge us but it was actually free! We started off with a Large Seafood Hot & Sour Soup for the five of us. We served ourselves and waited a bit for the soup to cool down! I was impressed on how much seafood they actually packed in this soup. It included the regular items you would see in hot and sour soup like tofu, bamboo, and wood ear, but also had shrimp, imitation crab, scallops etc. (ie. the seafood part) It was a great addition the soup and added nicely to the flavour. The hot part was spot on but I thought it could have been a bit more sour.


To pick what dishes to order, I actually looked on Foursquare recommendations and literally everyone said to order the Mango Chicken or the Bombay Chicken (both which were also on the Chef Recommendations part of the menu). We of course, got both. The Mango Chicken ended up being my favourite dish of the night and I'm actually still craving for some now. The sauce was sweet and packed with flavour but it wasn't overbearing and thick. The chicken was crispy and the mango was ripe. I couldn't get enough of it! The Bombay Chicken was a dry dish and had a lot of spices added to the chicken. It was also tossed with some onions which were cooked perfectly. This dish had more Indian spices and flavours to it but I didn't find it spicy at all.

We also wanted to order calamari and were debating between the appetizer dish and a main, but we ended up getting the Spicy Deep Fried Calamari main dish. I found this one pretty greasy (deep fried of course) but the calamari itself wasn't bad. I found that certain pieces were saltier than others but the overall flavour with the onions, pepper, and garlic was great. 

Our last dish was a Seafood Hakka Noodle which was in a huge bowl and was the only one we were too full to finish and had to take home. The noodles were cooked nicely though and there was a nice mix of vegetables and seafood in the dish. I thought the flavour was a bit bland and probably could have done without this one.

I was very impressed with Tangerine overall, the food came timely after we ordered and being in a group, our food was pretty cheap after we split everything. It's probably the best you'll get in the Durham Region hands down. Usually you see many small, sketchy take-out Chinese restaurants but this place is actually legitimate and presentable.

Food: 4.5/5 - Delicious flavour, huge portions and reasonably priced.
Decor: 3/5 - Clean but very standard and simple.
Service: 3/5 - Nothing spectacular but servers were attentive.
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Yes, totally taking anyone who wants to go for Chinese in the area there!
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.tangerineasiancuisine.com/ 

Top Bajan Meals

For those of you who aren't aware, I took a lovely, week-long trip to Barbados earlier this month. In this post, I'll rank the top Bajan meals I had on the island. I had a chance to dine at many local restaurants and also fast-food places, so there was a lot of variety in the meals I tried.

Just a little foreword, but the famous local delight of Barbados is flying fish. It's their national fish and an icon around the country. Most of the recommendations I got prior to going to Barbados was about trying the flying fish (along with hitting up Oistins on Friday night)!

What is a Bajan meal you ask? Well from a tourist POV (no idea if this is what locals eat), this is we were served: Fish or chicken, rice or macaroni pasta, and salad all adding up to around $12... so here it goes:

1. Uncle George's, Oistins Fish Fry (the one with the longest line)

As mentioned above, practically everyone told us to go to Ositins Friday night fish fry, even locals we spoke to during the trip asked if we had gone yet. I can definitely see why after trying the food. We were told to go to the one with the longest line and though there were many shops we passed by, it was obvious which one they were talking about. We waited about 25 minutes here, with the rain going on and off, but it was so worth it in the end. When you order, you pick what fish you want and whether you want rice or macaroni pie. I ordered Flying Fish with Rice, but as you can see from the photo below, I got both rice and macaroni pie. I also asked for Macaroni Salad on the side (no extra cost either!). It's VERY varied what you get in your plate, I didn't get any potatoes in mine but someone else got like two whole potatoes in their order. Everything was amazing but the white sauce for the fish is just to die for! Not sure how they season the fish but it was so distinguished. The plate was an excellent medley of Bajan food, perfect for our last night on the island.

2. Sea Side Bar, Bathsheba

One day, we decided to rent vehicles and explore other parts of the island and Bathsheba was one of our destinations. The Soup Bowl is known as an advanced surf spot in Bathsheba, and no swimming allowed because of the rip tides (of course we didn't know this going there and brought our beginner surf boards), so we stayed in the natural jacuzzi pools in the water and explored this lesser traveled tourist spot. While walking around the area, we found a spot for lunch, the Sea Side Bar located conveniently steps away from the beach. Available for order were Fish Burgers, or Fish or Chicken with Rice, I of course ordered the later as shown in my photo. This meal really stood out in my mind, not sure if it was because I was starving, or if it was flavourful rice and gravy, or the extremely juicy and tender chicken but I remember it as the best meal, well before Oistins. I also loved the random side of corn and carrots, nice change from plain iceberg lettuce. Great food eaten on the patio with a beautiful view of ocean waves crashing on random shaped rocks and watching surfers? Definitely a standout lunch.

3. Jammin' Catamaran Cruise, Bridgetown

IMO, the second best day of the trip was when we did a Catamaran tour, 5 hours on a boat with all-you-can-drink, snorkelling with turtles and in a shipwreck, and lunch buffet. What else could I want? I wasn't expecting much from the food but I was really surprised on the quality they served us. The meal included Tilapia, Chicken, Rice, Macaroni Pie, Salad, and Bread in a self-serve fashion. The tilapia was absolutely amazing, even someone who isn't a fan of fish would have enjoyed it. The chicken was also great, I really wanted another piece but they were all out when I went back. I was glad the salad had dressing because most of the places don't serve dressing with their salads so it's literally just lettuce. There was also a gravy they said to pour over basically everything, the rice, macaroni, fish. It was such a delightful meal to add to a fantastic day. It was really hard to rank this one and the last one because they were both great.

4. Fisherman's Pub, Speightstown

This dinner followed lunch at the Sea Side Bar, we were on the opposite side of the island from which we started and in the second largest city in Barbados.  In comparison, I wasn't one of the great meals from the trip. I found the food a bit dry and the portion was quite small. When we arrived, they weren't serving much food so our only options were Chicken or Flying Fish with Rice, I think usually they have a broader menu. It took quite a long time for our food to come, but we were quite a large group and there were only two people there. The restaurant was quite big though and they were saying to come back the next night for karaoke, the owners were very friendly. There wasn't anything wrong with the food, just in comparison, I didn't enjoy it as much as the others. For dessert, they were serving Nutmeg Ice Cream, which I didn't particularly like after the first bite but other people liked it. It tasted like 'baking' to me. It was quite dark when we arrived so we didn't get to enjoy the view of the ocean and long dock beside the place but enjoyed the breezes coming in.

So that's all the traditional Bajan meals I had on the trip, I also got to try some other local foods like dolphin, curry, seafood, and Chefettes but I didn't include those on here obviously. I snuck back a bottle of the Bajan hot sauce they have at all the restaurants but realized that it doesn't go quite well with any of the food I usually eat here! :( I guess I will have to go back to enjoy that hot sauce... or find someone here who can cook Bajan food! 

Bob's Bulgogi

Visited: Lunch on Friday Apr 26, 2013

Company: Got take-out for myself while working from +Will's

I was first introduced to Bob's Bulgogi by +Will, and for those who aren't aware, his preferred choices when we're deciding where to go to eat is always Bob's and mostly because it's the closest food place in proximity to him. Usually we would try to go there on weekends, but it was a rare occasion to find it actually open, especially last summer when they were going through some construction. So of course when i was working from Will's on Friday, there was talk of Bob's and since I knew it would be open, I decided to get some take-out during my lunch break.

At first look, it's quite the hole in the wall, situated in between a corner store and waxing place? It has only room for about 4 people to sit and eat, so it's definitely a take-out place. It was pretty busy on Friday at noon which was something I hadn't seen before, only having gone on weekends prior. The kitchen is quite open which is nice, so you can see your food cooking. They have individual containers of vegetables portioned off and a large container of marinated meat you see them take to cook. They also offer complementary miso soup on the counter you can serve and they ask if you want kimchi as well. The one guy taking your orders is really nice, and the other guy just cooks.

I ordered the Spicy Beef Bulgogi for the first time. Will always got us the chicken before and even though it's still good, it is definitely no signature Korean beef bulgogi.  I got back to Will's to have the food and it was really nice just to sit, eat this by yourself, and enjoy. The portion size was generous and they have a nice amount of rice under the meat. It wasn't too spicy and the sweetness was perfect. The beef was so tender and flavourful and there was a nice mix of veggies in there too. It's hard to want to order anything else, but I saw them cook an order of noodles and that looked amazing too.

Food: 4/5 - Does bulgogi justice.

Decor: 3/5 - Extremely small but open kitchen is nice and clean.

Service: 3/5 - Super nice guys working the place and remembers your orders.

Likeliness to come back: 4.5/5 - I've been converted.

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: none

Santouka Ramen

Visited: Early dinner Sunday Apr 21, 2013

Company: Had planned to go after the Jays game with group of 8

With the popularity of ramen growing as rapidly as it has in Toronto the last year, I knew I had to go big for my first experience. I had heard about the hype of Santouka from +Gisele and +Mohan both recently, a noodle bar with people lining down the street to get in and raving reviews everywhere. I was rather excited to taste the epic-ness of this crazed ramen finally, and to experience it with both foodies and non.

When we arrived, there was only one group in front of us, but it was always a worry to be in a group of 8 going to a restaurant with very limited seating. We were told it would be a wait of 5-10 minutes, but really depended on how fast people would be. Waiting in line was quite an interesting time, being asked for money by strangers and getting chirped by someone on the bus for waiting in line to get into the restaurant. The anticipation was building, as were our appetites  Luckily, everyone stuck it out and waited to be seated rather then getting sushi instead :P.   

You can tell from the menu that they aren't messing around, with only four ramen choices and some rice dishes, it's pretty obvious what you should be getting. I decided on a combo to try both. I chose the Shio Ramen which is their signature dish and because I like creamy broths, paired with the Negi Meshi Rice Bowl which I had found out that is topped dried bonito which is a fish (not a vegetable as believed by +Mohan). There is also a minimum order of about $10 in case you were interested in waiting in line just to get an ice-cream. +Jérémie also requested that I point out that butter is $1 on the menu.

Ok, now on to the ramen... They were actually pretty quick with the orders and were presented quite appealingly. I was so excited but had to take a few photos for the blog first... but with that wait, that first spoonful of broth was just heavenly. The taste was very rich with flavour and not too creamy, I don't even know how else to describe it. The temperature was so perfect though, they have that down to a tee. The noodles were good but nothing special, and the toppings were an interesting combo but fun to try with the group discussing what things were. I got quite full from it after a few bites though, maybe it was the salt? I know others had complaints of the fattiness of the meat and in the soup but I think that just comes with Asian cooking. The rice was...rice but I didn't quite enjoy the bonito flakes, it was a lot more fishy then I had hoped so I was basically just having rice with green onions, and that's just weird. I would just go for the ramen next time, the portion was decent sized for myself and didn't stuff me but maybe for others it was too small. I couldn't see myself coming for a meal here, maybe when you're only a bit hungry. 

So that was my first ramen experience... I think after a few more go's, I'll enjoy it more and may have better reviews? Just like all foreign foods, you have to acquire a taste for it and even though I enjoyed the ramen, I don't understand the hype for it. Maybe all the other ramen places are bad and I just don't know because I went straight for the best, but I guess I will find out eventually. Looking through the photos, I definitely crave ramen but it didn't leave that much of a lasting impression on me. What did everyone else think?

Food: 3.5/5 - Good ramen, okay rice.

Decor: 4/5 - Clean, simple, tight, super Asian.

Service: 4/5 - Very friendly staff, I was actually surprised they weren't stuck up and were really nice to us noobies.

Likeliness to come back: 1.5/5 - Would like to try the other broths, but wouldn't wait in line for this.

Overall: 3/5

Website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/en/

Jaipur Grille

Visited: Winterlicious Dinner on Wednesday Feb 6, 2013
Company: Party of 5

Winterlicious was around the corner and going through the large list of participating restaurants, my friends and I wanted to try to something less safe for our second season of -licious. We planned a little too last minute and ended up getting a reservation at Jaipur Grille near Yonge and Eg. I was pretty excited anyway because I absolutely adore Indian food. My dad was born in India so he has a few recipes that he always does but I'm always itching for new tastes. That's why I'm always down for Indian buffets, as I tend to stick to what I know at traditional restaurants. Jaipur Grille seemed to offer a lot of interesting options though for their fixe price menu.

+Stephanie Szebenyi and I were running late to dinner so when we arrived, our group was seated right in front of the window which would be a great view during the day as the place is on Yonge. It was quite spacious with all the tables along the perimeter of the restaurant, half our table was facing the window which is unusual as you would think they'd have our sides face the window so they can fit more tables. There were many lights but the place was still dim. We were given these spice chips (forgive my ignorance of the names of many things) to nibble on prior to our meals. They were very flavourful but did not do anything to ease our appetites and made us drink a lot of water (you can see them in the top right corner of the first photo).

I started off with Samosa Chaat which I have never had before. I love samosas and I saw this added a lot of extra sauces I enjoy already on it so I assumed that I would be good. I was definitely right, this was an explosion of flavours that went with the veg samosa so well. There was mint, yogurt and other things I don't know but tasted amazing! I enjoyed how colourful the dish was too. Great appetizer, filled you up quite a bit.

For my main dish, I had the Pahadi Chicken. This was definitely the safe choice as it was the only chicken option. All dishes came with Saag Paneer, Rice, Naan and Raita. The portion amount was perfect, I like to mix things up and I was able to finish everything and not have too much leftover of anything. I'm always worried that the chicken is too dry in dishes like these but this wasn't bad. The pahadi flavour wasn't too overpowering and was very mild. The raita and paneer were great additions as I love both of those things. I love extra cucumber in the raita and didn't think there was enough, the yogurt flavour was also very mild. The naan came fresh and warm to the table but it wasn't the best naan I've had, it was on the hard side. I was extremely full at the end of the meal though.

For dessert, I had the mango mousse which was possibly the best mango mousse I've ever had. It was so rich in mango flavour but didn't feel heavy. But I also only ate half which might have been why (some friends didn't enjoy their first time trying gulab jamun and wanted the mousse).

Food: 4/5 - Delicious indian food

Decor: 3.5/5 - Very chill, not too busy

Service: 2/5 - Extremely slow to bring out dishes but friendly waiters

Likeliness to come back: 3.5/5 - Regular menu looks rather good and decent prices.

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.jaipurgrille.com/