Pi-Tom’s Thai Cuisine
6 Alexander Street
416-966-1813
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and fruit shakes: $50

There is rarely a block in Toronto that does not contain a Thai restaurant , making it a gamble to find a gem among the duds that serve up ketchup drenched Pad Thai and bland curry. So with a hankering for spicy soup and spring rolls several months back, I stumbled into Pi-Tom’s, hoping for the best – luckily, I made a good bet.

Continue reading Pi Tom’s - Flavours to Savour »

Being raised in a town devoid of much Chinese food outside of the family restaurant, it was always a joy when my parents made the trip to Toronto to bring back a bunch of goodies, especially if it was from a Chinese bakery. I would be eagerly anticipating the rice flour steamed cakes and coconut buns from Kim Moon Bakery (442 Dundas Street West), a longstanding soldier that continues to thrive in the Spadina/Dundas Chinatown.

Continue reading Egg Tarts and Beyond »

As a kid bread used to mean symmetrical square slices of white bread to me - I didn’t know any better. It was just seen as a carrier for the better things in life, like meat and spreads. Nowadays, artisanal breads are giving the white loaf a run for their money, with so many bakeries popping up in our city providing us with lovely bread varieties. The best part is the availability in both independent food shops and the big chain grocery stores. As I enjoy doing product comparisons, I did a head-to-head among several baguettes in town to see who can live up to the “Parisienne standard” of the ideal baguette. This was a dream for my husband (a big bread snob), as that meant he could devour artisanal bread galore for several days sequentially.

Continue reading Baguette Bounty »

Arrabiata Trattoria
692 Yonge Street
416-916-7034
Complete dinner for two with all taxes, tip, beer and mineral water: $75

Smack downtown on Yonge Street between Bloor and Dundas, it can be hard to find a restaurant that produces consistently tasty food, is not a fast food chain, and is not a tourist trap. As I live in the neighbourhood, once I find a place I like, I tend to stick to it and find it hard to deviate from what is familiar. Hence, I took a chance stepping into Arrabiata Trattoria, an Italian resto-bar that took over the spot of the now defunct Living Well. The former incarnation was known more for the “dirty bingo” nights rather than their food, so I was hoping this new place would be up to the challenge of providing delightful eating experiences on an ongoing basis.

Continue reading Tasting Arrabiata »

Around this festive time, I usually whip up a batch of cookies, squares etc., for my friends and family to indulge in, as it is the season to be munching on rich food and sipping egg nog. This year, I see the probability of pulling out my baking supplies as slim to none, since my schedule has been packed to the rim… and I can attribute it to my procrastination too.

Therefore, I needed help to make up for my lack of sweet treats in gifts this year. So I investigated who the cream of the crop of shortbread suppliers are in the Toronto area. As is the trend for my articles, I ventured around the city (and beyond) to do my research. There was a common theme that ran across several of the vendors I came across, which was developing a business out of the love of baking, and taking a family recipe and perfecting it to share the end results with the public.

Continue reading Buttery Love During the Holidays = Shortbread »

I tried to be a vegetarian back in my early years of university – “tried” being the operative word. I could not turn my taste buds off of pork, as it is a staple ingredient in Cantonese cuisine, which I grew up with. Yes, I am a fan of this “other” white meat, and noticed that many pubs and restaurants in the city now have a slow-cooked drool worthy entrée on their menu – the pulled pork sandwich. What’s not to love about this sandwich? It has super tender meat enrobed in a barbecue sauce and cupped in a bun that soaks up the fat and sauce… yum. I did an overview of a few places to see who makes the meanest pulled pork out there. To slow the process of clogging up my arteries and decrease the risk of chronic stomach-aches, I limited myself to three places offering this “low-fat” handheld snack.

Continue reading Pulled Pork Put to the Test »

Halloween is coming up, and that means sugar rush season is upon us too. Kids and adults alike will be chomping down on confectionery treats much to the delight of the big candy manufacturers out there. This year, I went on a mission to find Halloween candy and chocolates that were beyond the mini size branded wrappers and lollipops that I am used to seeing in drugstores and supermarkets. Is there Halloween candy out there beyond the big names that one can put in their candy tray to give out at rocking parties or to trick-or-treaters? I did a city wide trek to investigate beyond the multi-pack boxes and bags to see what else is out there.

For those who want to go down nostalgia road for Allan’s Kisses, candy corn and pumpkin shaped mellocremes, bulk candy stores are the best bet. I perused through three stores with bulk candy offerings to see what they have in stock, and they are all priced at $1.09/100g (or approx. $11.00/kg). Two stores on the Yonge Street strip between Bloor and College, The Bulk Mine (655 Yonge Street) and Tutti Frutti (1 Carlton Street) both generally had the same selection, but Tutti Frutti also sold pre-packaged treat bags priced between $2.99 - $4.99 before taxes. These are perfect for parting gifts at house parties.

Continue reading No Tricks, Mostly Treats »

Cafe Polonez
195 Roncesvalles Avenue
416-532-8432
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip, and beer: $57

Back in the day (oh say, six years ago), I was pretty ignorant as to what qualified as Polish cuisine. To me, it consisted of two staples: sausage and No Name’s brand of cheese and potato frozen pierogi. Then I met my Polish significant other, and was exposed to so much more that this cuisine had to offer. I have enjoyed many of the Polish dishes I consumed - even Flaczki (beef tripe) soup that my husband shudders at. He brought me to Cafe Chopin for my first Polish restaurant experience, and that was where I learned that pierogi did not have to taste like the fried doughy cardboard slathered with sour cream that I was accustomed to in university. On a stroll in Roncesvalles a few years back, we decided to try Cafe Polonez instead of Cafe Chopin, and haven’t looked back since.

Continue reading Comfort Food At Its Best »

It is almost time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and this year, it falls on September 25th. This celebration of the end of the harvest season also honours abundance and togetherness. Falling on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, the mid-autumn festival often parallels the autumn equinox of the lunar calendar. Most festivities have traditional foods that are associated with them, and for this celebration of fall, the moon cake takes centre stage.

Traditionally, moon cakes are made with lotus seed paste and a salted duck’s egg yolk (or two, three or four) encased in the paste. This dense mixture is then encased by pastry ingrained with a symbol of ‘mid-autumn festival’ on the top, or the name of the company who manufactured them - my mom deems Wing Wah as the moon cake gold standard. Nowadays, with consumers being more demanding about variety, there are different flavours and fillings available, as well as healthier options such as low sugar.

Continue reading It’s Moon Cake Time! »

Starsky Foods
2040 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
905-279-8889

Being a food geek, I was truly excited when T&T Supermarket decided to expand to Toronto from Vancouver a few years back. I was enthralled by the selection of Asian candies, various tea drinks, sweet and savoury bread varieties and the always fresh produce. Now that I have married into the Polish culture, I am on the lookout for a store that can fulfil my needs of all food items Polish, similar to what T&T has for all things Chinese. My in-laws have promoted and raved about Starsky’s Foods in Mississauga ever since the first time they went last year.

Continue reading The Biggest Deli Counter in the GTA »

The ready-to-go (a.k.a home meal replacement) market has become all the rage, where you can pick up almost anything for dinner on a run-through in a food store of some sort. The meal is on the table fast, and it takes the worry out of what to cook up for dinner. Sure, it isn’t the same as a homemade, slow-cooked meal, but admit it – there are times where this is the alternative for those time-pressed days. My curious mind wanted to put a popular home meal replacement product to the test – the rotisserie/roasted chicken. So who makes an acceptable rotisserie chicken? Since there was only so much chicken I could consume without becoming one, I narrowed down the choices to three outlets that have their unique advantage in attracting the consumer:

My husband was my fellow designated eater for this taste test. We tried the products all within one week, and maintained the same side dishes of rice and corn. Plain yes, but the focus was on our poultry companions. Here are the results…

Continue reading Battle of the Rotisserie Chickens »

Our cub reporter Irene Ng braved the crowd last night at Taste of the Danforth to bring our readers this quick review. Taste of the Danforth runs today from noon until midnight and tomorrow from noon until 8pm.

I braced myself for the immense crowds that would be pouring onto the Danforth on the first night of this popular Toronto food fest. My hungry posse and I were definitely impressed by the variety of cuisines available and the large portions. There were many souvlaki and gyros vendors, but we were most impressed with the tandoori chicken ciabatta from Magic Oven, and the beef quesadillas and churros that were not too doughy from The Willow, a tex-mex grill. Other highlights included fried calamari from Mezes that is not rubbery, with tasty tzatziki on the side, and the fried honey balls, loukoumades for dessert at Cafe Frappe and Athens Pastries Pies. The prices were also reasonable, as I could not find anything for over five bucks.

Continue reading Taste of Danforth = Volume, Value and Variety »