This Fortnight in Eating (30 Jun - 13 Jul)

When I first started this blog, I envisioned a place where I document my eating adventures with pictures and as few words as possible, aka "let pictures do the talking". This explains the tagline "an eating log". But rambling on and on is my second nature. I find it hard to not talk when there's so much to talk about! Each long-winded post leaves me with little time for others. And I have accumulated a long list of less memorable / less writable places.

Say hello to This Fortnight in Eating! A new feature to this ever-changing blog. It's a compilation of snapshots from my restaurant / bar visit, happening every two weeks.


Mori Sushi 森壽司

Hokkaido Kaisendon 北海道魚生飯 ($98) - possibly the best thing that can happen during lunch break. The sashimi tastes fresh and there is more of it than rice. It's true there is only a small bowlful of rice (you can ask for more but it isn't going to make a difference) but the oily fish and sticky rice (along with the zensai appetiser, miso soup and ice-cream mochi) will fill you up pretty nicely. I have been for more than five times and I still want to go back. Be warned though: service isn't the best and you're advised to book two days ahead.

Sanche Modern Korean

Bossam ($138) - this is my favourite among the three dishes we ordered that day. I love Korean food and I love how Sanche does it with a twist. And it's impressive they do it all in the tiny corner in the restaurant they call kitchen.

Sevva

This reminds me of something I have read in a rooftopping article - "the coolest views are often from lower buildings nestled in between the tall ones."

Forgot what I have ordered... but it's the first time I have eaten a passionfruit.

Posto Pubblico

Linguine Vongole ($145 set lunch) - my first time having linguine alle vongole in red sauce (rosso). Loved the sauce, the big clams and the generous portion.

Frey & Ford

A few years ago there was a budding artisan sandwich craze. There were shops selling mini hot dogs and sandwiches. Memorably, a tiny shop in Wan Chai, 'wich, shut their doors before I could pay a visit. Frey & Ford is the only shop that is still around. Mind you, it isn't a sandwich shop, it's a "sandwich boutique". They sell "petite sandwich creations" which are actually "a work of gastronomic art that pleases both the tastebuds and the eye". Yes, I'm stealing sentences directly off their website.

Set A ($58) - this included three petite sandwiches and soup/salad. I got the French Onion Soup, Salmon Sandwich Cake, Bruschetta of Tomato Salsa and Parmesan and Peking Chicken Pocket Rockets. There was a generous amount of onion in the soup, which made me happy. But the sandwiches failed me. Like jewellery in jewellery shop, the "work of gastronomic art" sat under the glass patiently waiting for your purchase. But unlike jewellery, bread would go stale and dry. And that's why these sandwiches were. It's a shame though, as I really like the concept of artisan sandwiches.

BO-LO'GNE

Deep Fried Pork Cutlet Sandwich ($?) - this place used to be pretty famous for their Danish bread. In recent years, with more bakeries selling Danish bread and "trendier" bread, BO-LO'GNE seems to have gone off the radar. Their bread was still good, but this sandwich was disappointing. The pork cutlet was too thin and dry, the breading was detaching...

BEP Vietnamese Kitchen

Pho Tai ($68) - BEP is Nha Trang group's latest concept, or you can refer it as it the hipster sister of Nha Trang. It's more expensive but in my opinion, it tastes better. The broth of my Pho Tai was distinctively clearer and more flavourful than that at Nha Trang... but MSG level was the same. Can I get some more water please?

Taco Chaca

Nachos (?) - it doesn't look like it would taste good does it? I may be biased because I had just had some world-class nachos over at Dicken Bar a few weeks before.

Baja Fish Taco ($58) - was there even fish? All I could taste was flour tortilla (weird because it said "corn" on my recipe) and guac and lemon juice.

Ping Pong 129

Who would have known under this unassuming door...

... it would be a gintonería? I know nothing about gin, but the long stairway and high ceiling and industrial hippiness of this place speak for itself.

La Terrazza bar & grill

La Terrazza is positively reviewed by the online community. So when we headed to Shatin one Sunday to run some errands (I hadn't been there for almost five years!), we decided we would go there for lunch. But disappointedly, bread was the best part of the meal...

The mussels were surprisingly not bad, but the spaghetti was soggy! I thought with the concept of "al dente" being more and more common, soggy pasta would only exist in cha chaan tengs nowadays. Apparently I was wrong.

La Terrazza operates under the Maxim's group. Its menu reminded me a lot of another Maxim's operation, Simplylife Bakery Cafe - salad, pasta, chicken burger, beef burger, roast chicken, steak... but Simplylife does it so well while La Terrazza does it so bad, it would surprise me they have the same parent if I hadn't known already. Simplylife's Beef Burger is my go-to choice when I'm feeling extremely hungry and want to play safe. This burger? It was awful. The bun was exactly the same as the oatmeal rolls I used to buy from the supermarket for school lunch. The burger patty was... wait, was it even a burger patty? Not meat-flavoured plastic? It was dry and dense from over-handling and over-compression.

Hey Meatball - Toronto

Date: 6 November 2013



4 - 6 November was my hell week (my workweek is only three day long but you could put another day in there as I had to pack for my US trip and I hate packing). To celebrate my temporary exit from hell, I went to have really photogenic meatball spaghetti with my awesome Swiss friend, Alexia.



I've totally just discovered the stone/concrete robot as I think about what caption to write. Perfect.



Hey Meatball has a chalkboard sign on which they write/draw random funny things. Exploring the shop's Instagram geotag page, previous jokes include IT'S BALL-O-WEEN for Halloween and EVEN MILEY COULDN'T WRECK THESE BALLS with a wrecking ball doodle (referring to my guilty pleasure - Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus). On our day of visit, it was poking fun at the Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who had admitted to cocaine use.



Hey Meatball is a farm-to-table restaurant, all the ingredients they use are natural and are sourced within a 100 miles radius. I always appreciate it when restaurants use good ingredients. After all, you are what you eat. One point to note, this menu seems to be less flexible than the online menu? I guess you can always customise.



I do! I do!



Lemon sodas. Alexia was disappointed because it was supposed to come in a jar as shown on the website. Instead they served tap water in a jar... Well, at least this plastic cup could hold more soda than the tiny jar.



Annoying Orange, I've forgot about you already.



I had Spaghetti with Pork + Beef Balls with Tomato Sauce and Cheese.



I like the texture of the spaghetti, it was slightly flat and very dense. I was so full half-way through my pasta I added spicy salsa/preserve/hot sauce for some kick. There were three levels of heat, ranging from no heat to Oh God, which is what I had obviously. It was very spicy but it definitely made the dish and helped me to eat more.



Alexia had Polenta with Braised Rib, Sausage, Pork and Beef Ball with Bolognese Sauce. I stole a forkful of the braised rib and it was so tender, "fall-out-of-the-bone" tender. It was my first time eating polenta, not usually a fan of corn-based products (I love sweet corn though, I eat it straight from the tin), it was like mashed potato.


Rating: 4/5

Food: Who'd have thought meatball spaghetti could be this tasty? Confessedly I think I'm pretty good at cooking pasta, but I know I couldn't cook what I had here at Hey Meatball. Everything was fresh, the meatballs were cooked and seasoned to perfection, the sauce was delicious. I want to go back but there's simply too many places to try out before I leave Toronto! :(

Environment: Cool decor with a big open kitchen. I like the red chairs together with the wood tables, very simple but effective. The restaurant was a bit dark though that's why we chose to sit by the windows.

Service: It's a fast causal restaurant. You'd have to order at the counter. They'd take your name and call you by your name when your order's ready. There's limited service but the folks behind the counter/in the kitchen were all friendly. I like how they called you by your name instead of your order out loud. It's always better to be known as yourself than the girl who ordered meatball spaghetti...

Price: $15 for a massive plate of pasta made with good natural ingredients and heart, along with a big cup of natural lemon soda. Though Hey Meatball is self-service, I thought it was almost a bargain because you could taste the freshness of the ingredients. I have been long deprived of affordable fresh food in Hong Kong.


Hey Meatball
719 College Street
Toronto, ON
M6G 3C1
Canada

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The Old Spaghetti Factory - Toronto

FIRST POST YAY! Nothing celebratory though, just a causal meal with friends.

Date of visit: Sunday, 27 October 2013



After a visit to the Distillery District - of which I had an image of being a more photogenic LKF but in reality looked more like Main Street in Disneyland - we walked to the Old Spaghetti Factory in St. Lawrence upon the recommendation of a friend in our group.

Hadn't eaten anything since 10 a.m. that day, I was starving when we got there at 6 p.m. But it was still a 20-min wait before we were seated. Needless to say I was thrilled when the waitress brought us fresh warm bread with garlic butter.



We ordered three entrées - Penne Arrabiata with Sausage, Chicken Parmigiana and Seafood Linguine. Each came with soup/salad, ice-cream and tea/coffee. I had the minestrone soup, which was great but over-seasoned. To be frank, the pasta tasted rather like my home-cooked dinner (am I a good cook or...?). Though I did enjoy the baked chicken breast of the Chicken Parmigiana a lot. I also loved the texture of the Seafood Linguine. It reminded me of fresh pasta I had at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen: doughy, gummy and almost Shanghaiese noodles-like.



Rating: 3/5

Food: Slightly better than your average chain restaurant food, with a few surprises here and there. But nothing remarkable.

Environment: Famous for its various interesting antique decorations. The restaurant felt like a mix between the pre-renovated Spaghetti House (coloured-glass decorations) and a Ruby Tuesday (dark and birthday-celebrating crowds). I only learnt it was a chain restaurant when I googled it for this post, but I wasn't too surprised when I found out.

Service: It was a gigantic restaurant during dinner time, so it was understandable for the staff to be inattentive. There were no spoons to eat our ice-cream with - I used a knife! Our server, Lizzie, gave us a smile (albeit fake) whenever she walked past our table, but she managed to skip seeing us eating our ice-cream with forks and knives.

Price: Roughly CAD$23 pp post-tax and tips. Good value considering the location and the portion size.


The Old Spaghetti Factory
54 The Esplanade
Toronto, ON
M5E 1A6
Canada

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