Kinton Ramen 4

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jun 26, 2015

Company: +Will Ives 

Will and I had plans to go on an Escape Room double date in North York and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some good Korean food since we were in the area... little did I know that they had a Kinton Ramen down the street from where we were going! It also turned out that my dad brought back some take-out pork bone soup for lunch that day so I already had my Korean fix. I was very excited to try Kinton since I've heard the name so many times. 

The location looked pretty small from the outside and like your typical noodle bar. We entered to the staff yelling (welcoming) us in and were seated for two at the bar as the rest of the place was already full. It was pretty hot where we were as the staff was right in front of us preparing the soups. It was definitely interesting to see but it made a difficult to talk with all of their yelling. It was a fun atmosphere though and made for a lively dinner.

The menu is very easy to understand, they direct you step-by-step how to place an order and I went with the Regular Original Pork Broth with Thick Noodles and Pork Shoulder. We watched all the orders being made and it was fun being on the front line for that to see their process. I was a bit surprised on how fatty the broth was when I first got it, especially for a regular. Nonetheless, the broth tasted good, pretty rich. The pork shoulder was delicious, such amazing flavour with each bite! The egg was also cooked perfectly, still a bit runny on the inside. The noodles were also amazing, excellent quality and fresh. I can see why Kinton has built up such a good establishment, they really use the finest of ingredients.

Food: 4/5 - Excellent ingredients, only complaint is the fattiness of the broth.
Decor: 3.5/5 - Very clean and simple with wooden decor.
Service: 4/5 - Quick in turning customers over, fast to get the ramen.

Willingness to go back: 2.5/5 - Lots of options to try, would try to go to another location.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.kintonramen.com/

VIP Bistro

Date Visited: Brunch on Sunday Jun 7, 2015

Company:Walk-in for 3

+Stanley was in town for the weekend and we were planning to grab some brunch with him before he headed back to NY. I randomly looked online for somewhere we can meet mid-town, in between both of our locations. I found Vip/Vivetha Bistro online but it was a bit confusing as to what it's real name was as there are multiple locations and no website for this specific one. Nonetheless, +Will and I drove from downtown into a quaint neighborhood past Yonge and Lawrence to find it. We got some parking on a side street and had a nice stroll through the large houses in the neighborhood onto Yonge. We found the spot and saw that it is called VIP Bistro and even had a website on the sign. After checking the website just now, it is no longer active.

The place was pretty small with about 7-8 tables but was decently filled up. We sat and were given some menus to look over while our waitress asked what we wanted to drink. I was surprised that their food menu didn't have a page for drinks, I kind of wanted something but didn't know what kinds of juices they had. About 5 minutes after we placed our food order, the server came over to tell us that it would be about a half hour wait for food and asked if that would be okay... we said yes because what else are you supposed to say? Stanley already got his coffee so all we could do was wait. Looking around, only 1 table had their food so far so it couldn't have been good news for us.

For my dish, I got the Eggs VIP, Eggs Benedict with spinach and mushrooms with the eggs poached medium as they ask you how you like them done. I wasn't very impressed with the hollandaise sauce as it was very bland and hardly any of it at all. I loaded salt on the eggs to get some flavour as spinach and mushrooms were bland also. The potatoes were pretty good but it seems like they were sitting out for a bit, not that warm. It was a pretty disappointing plate overall and not even filling. 

Will got the Brunch Combo Platter with Blueberry Pancake, French Toast, Eggs, Bacon, and Sausage. He substituted Blueberry for Strawberry so they put some sauce on the side for him. The french toast and pancake looked amazing and were equally delicious. I've never had good french toast before but now I have, it being smothered in apple sauce really helped though. His other plate was also half-filled with scrambled eggs, no way that was only 2 eggs.

Our waitress did apologize for the wait when the food did come, she mentioned something about the cook... he was new or something? She didn't check up on us any other time though and just seemed to avoid the whole situation which was awkward because the restaurant is pretty small.

Food: 2/5 - Worst Eggs Benny I've had, but delicious French Toast!
Decor: 2.5/5 - Quite small but clean and simple.
Service: 0.5/5 - Awful, not sure what kind of business they are running here where the kitchen is this slow.
Willing to go back: 1/5 - Unlikely but would definitely recommend the Brunch Combo.
Overall: 1.5/5

Website: n/a

Over Easy

Date Visited: Breakfast on Sunday Apr 6, 2014
Company: Girls brunch date for 3

For hung-over Sunday morning, +Gisele and I decided to find somewhere to grab a nice breakfast, ideally located in between her new place at King West and Will's. We couldn't exactly find somewhere right in the middle but she did locate Over Easy at Yonge and Wellington (with another location in the Annex). Laura and I moseyed over and luckily +Gisele had already gotten a spot in the line because it was extremely busy when we arrived. The restaurant is situated inside Hotel Victoria so the decor was very old-fashioned but quaint. We got a spot on the booth and I was very surprised to see how many tables the place had because you don't expect it to be very large.

We asked our friendly waitress what she would recommend and she said anything on their Specialties section is unique and also they have great hollandaise sauce for their Benedicts. There were so many interesting and appealing options from their Specialties section, the Eggs Bruschetta, Breakfast Poutine, not to mention their many Eggs Benedict. I decided to order the Vegetarian Skillet with the Poached Eggs, Hollandaise & Toast add-on (to get some Benedict in there too). Most of their options were priced around $11-$13. 

My dish came and it looked so colourful with the yellow Hollandaise sauce, green veggies underneath, and bright red tomatoes on the side! The poached eggs were cooked to perfection and the Hollandaise sauce did live up to the reputation that the waitress had just given me a few minutes prior. The skillet itself was filled with tons of veggies, with a bit of potatoes at the bottom and cheese topping it off. I love their tiny home fries which were cut up in small cubes. The baked cheese on top was also a great addition to the dish. So filling, I only had one of the eggs and about 2/3rds of the skillet. Also, their brown bread was delicious! It was sour dough which was a nice surprise and I usually don't care for the bread but I wish I had more of this! 

+Gisele ordered the Eggstro which she was already confused about what it was with the 'baked eggs' but it wasn't very appealing once it came. Everything was baked in a plate together and very greasy. Laura ordered the Waffles with Strawberry which looked amazing. It was topped with fresh strawberries and also came with a side of strawberry sauce.

Food: 4.5/5 - Tons of options for those who want a twist from their classic breakfast. Perfect for a 'morning after' brunch/breakfast, they have greasy options as well was healthier ones. 
Decor: 4/5 - Loved the small town feel of this place but still hip and modern.
Service: 3/5 - Waitress was chatty and food came at a decent time.
Willingness to go back: 5/5 - Definitely returning, so many more things to try!
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://www.overeasyrestaurants.com/