Korean spicy fish soup

I mad maeuntang (Korean spicy fish soup) yesterday, it was a big hit with the hubby! I didn’t have moo or any of the traditional veggies, so I just used snowpea shoots but the soup still tasted authentic.

Peruvian dinner – Buenos Aires

HELLO from Buenos Aires!

We got here late afternoon today and were greeted by familiar faces – Ellen and Juan – at the airport! We went out to a close-by Peruvian restaurant for dinner. I ordered papaya juice. It was so fresh and fruity, not sugary!

Chicken & corn flour appetizer. This thing doesn’t look like much but was so delicious. The lemony onion and cilantro side was very reminiscent of Vietnamese cuisine!

This giant civiche was more fresh-tasting than the Mexican civiche we had by the beaches (sorry Mexico)! It was very wholesome with all kinds of seafood, and came with a piece of potato and a piece of sweet potato, which I thought was interesting.

Moving on to mains. Grilled fish with quinoa salad.

and another fish dish with rice. The green sauce had a bit of dill, which I am usually not a big fan of, but I really didn’t mind it in this.

Jon and I learned to order things and ask for the bill in Spanish. I’m hoping to practice this in real life tomorrow. =)

Woodlot

We got together with friends at Woodlot yesterday to celebrate Derrick’s birthday. Woodlot was featured on TorontoLife a while back, and I’ve been curious since then! Situated in a garage-like building, it was seemingly unassuming yet sort of pricey.

Jon ordered a refreshing ginger ale made in-house! Well, he just ordered ginger ale and was told that all sodas were home-made. It was very citrusy and gingery.

Onion soup, rich and flavourful… and kind of salty. The first spoonful was way better than the last.

Derrick’s salad. I wasn’t paying attention and don’t know what was in this. I think I tasted beets and… I don’t know.

Salmon on crostinis. This I liked!

I also liked the presentation on the wooden board, which went well with the rustic ambiance.

We had two “middles” – gnocchi and tagliatelle – to share. The gnocchi tasted great a but a bit too soft for my liking. Mercatto’s definitely trumps this gnocchi.

And very creamy tagliatelle. The nuts added an interesting texture.

I got the pickerel. The fish was great but the lentils were again too salty. Is everything really salty nowadays or is it me?

Jon’s pork chop was the best main in my opinion. It was juicy, tender, very smokey, and not salty!

Derrick’s steak. I didn’t try this so can’t really say much about it. Looks pretty healthy with all those greens.

The birthday boy got this vegetarian dish called… (I forget)… Derrick, help me out if you are reading this. 🙂 Its texture was in between tofu and chicken, and it had a bit of bitterness to it (but otherwise nutty).

Here’s my absolute favorite of the meal – caramelized Jerusalem artichokes! It was sweet but not overly so, deliciously smokey, and slightly undercooked. It was nothing like your usual artichoke hearts.

We didn’t have enough time for dessert (they politely kicked us out because our reservation was only for an hour and a half!). 쩝…. Next time! 🙂

I enjoyed the meal here, but won’t be rushing back for more.

My first stop motion video!

I made an all-manual stop motion video using my point-and-shoot and iMovie. Here’s what it’s like to drive through the Red Rock Canyon!

The King of Kings ramen

James and I went to Kenzo for dinner. Excellent call by James. MMMMmmmmm

We had to wait outside for a little while, but it was totally worth it. We both got the King of Kings ramen, the best ramen in the house in my opinion, loaded with lots of veggies and pork. Thanks James!

Smiling rice and lamb chops

We made lamb chops (from the amazing Loblaws) for dinner yesterday. I used the cast iron skillet to see if it makes it any tastier, but I couldn’t really tell. It probably would’ve been just as good if I used the IKEA pan…

It was served with red veggies. 🙂

Salmon Steak

So we were on our way to T&T to get some groceries and happened to pass by the grand opening of the new Loblaws store on College. Situated in the old Maple Leaf Gardens building, the store boasts sky-high ceiling, modern interior, maple leaf art made of old chairs from the stadium, exposed concrete walls, fresh sushi station, the great wall of cheese, an awesome deli section, Ace Bakery, and Canteen to name a few.

It was like St. Lawrence market and a regular Loblaws combined!

Anyhoo. I bought two pieces of overpriced salmon steak (and Jon bought lamb chops but that’s another post). I pan-fried it in some EVOO and homemade garlic butter (all the way from Las Vegas). It got a little oily because the salmon itself had a lot of fat to begin with.

I often find fully cooked salmon steaks too dry, so I cooked it to about medium, and it was really melt-in-your-mouth. It was served with rice and a bit of salad, lemon, and kimchi to counterbalance the oiliness.

Late-night dinner at County General

Nadim invited us to his new hipster restaurant, County General, for dinner. It’s located in the up-and-coming hipster district (Queen and Ossington) right next to Jon’s favorite furniture store, Style Garage. The interior was very modern yet cozy and familiar.

We sat at the bar with Nadim and started with drinks. I ordered Ella (on the left, in the tall narrow glass), because it sounded sweet and innocent like my niece. Boy, was that deceiving! Note to self: always carry Zantac.

Then we had delicious sliders and pork belly sandwiches.

Each of the three pork belly sandwiches had three different flavours, and the one I picked up happened to have KIMCHI! I was pretty impressed with this very authentic tasting kimchi, and Nadim explained that a Korean lady who used to work at Nota Bene trained the chefs here. 김치와 삼겹살… 음.. 환상의 조화였어요.

The sides – fries and coleslaw – were excellent as well. They don’t mess around! 🙂

Then we moved on to this fajita-style, do-it-yourself meat platter with chicken, pork, steak, and a million different condiments and toppings. Sorry, I have no idea what this is called, because Nadim did all the ordering…

The crust on the chicken was deliciously crunchy and pork skin deliciously crispy! The steak was a bit chewy for me.

The finale to this awesome meal was a red velvet cupcake, which I don’t have a photo of. Jon and I are still convinced that the Wedding Cake Shoppe has the best red velvet in the world. 😀

By the time we finished, it was almost midnight. We went home, tired but completely satisfied. Wonderful ambiance, great service, great company, and delicious food. Small joint with big flavours. Definitely going back!

Japonais at the Mirage

Michelle and I got together with our Eemo and baby cousins in Vegas for Thanksgiving. Eemo’s been spoiling us rotten as usual by feeding us, clothing us, and getting us cultured. She took us to see an absolutely mesmerizing Cirque show, the Beatles LOVE!

We ate at Japonais, conveniently located at the Mirage hotel, right before the show. They served complimentary tuna sashimi, which was melt-in-your-mouth but a bit on the salty side.

We each got a prix-fixe meal, starting with some rolls. Here’s spicy tuna.

and soft-shell crab…

followed by various mains. I got the filet mignon. It was delicious, but a little too cooked for rare.

Annie’s chicken…

Eemo’s salmon, also nicely presented…

and then there was Michelle’s ribs.

It was impossible to take a nice photo of this giant brown blob, though it tasted great.  It was funny how they didn’t even try to embellish it. 😀

The dessert was the most impressive part of the meal. Most of us got the pumpkin cheesecake, which came with a dried pineapple garnish.

So delicious with the right amount of sweetness and perfect texture. We all devoured them!

Porom had chocolate mousse cake, which came decorated with gold flakes. Gold tasted chocolatey! 😀

Vegas Schmegas

This delightful meal greeted us when we landed in Vegas!

Purumeh and Shridhar’s hearty masterpiece… It was sooooo goood….

with super garlicy garlic bread

and then some cake for dessert!

Eemo is the best! 😀