Thai Senses

Location:

www.thaisenses.ca

How apt, we came to our senses and left Compass's Grand Opening to grab some real grub and found Thai Senses.

A wonderful hospitality and creative dishes made for a memorable meal.



The coconut ice-cream was complimentary!

Besides the creepy fish head, the meal was quite tasty and a welcome change in hospitality from Compass Lakeside Grill.

TRAVEL: India: Delhi: Haldirams

Location:

somewhere in Delhi

www.haldiram.com

Anyone who has ever visited an Indian family's home or is Indian is familiar with the Haldiram's symbol.  See below (image from Google)


No Indian tea-time is complete  without Haldiram's.

A bag of bhel puri or chiwda will always be kicking around the cupboard of an Indian home.

So think of the impact of going to a Haldiram's RESTAURANT.  I was amazed, astounded, in awe of the industry that is Haldiram's.

Look at the number of servers behind this counter as you walk in:

now that's service !

There were three people asking me what I'd like.

And then there's the sweets.  My God, the sweets!  Imagine the biggest Indian Mithai (sweet) shop you've been to in Toronto, then triple that!  Row after row of delectable goodness...all so fresh, too!

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeets

Then there's the "restaurant" part of it, more like fast food, where you pre-order then wait in line and bring back your goods to round tables that you stand at to eat.  It was lunch time when we went and incredibly packed so at least they've figured out that putting chairs into the equation would be a waste of time.

The chinese food was delish!!!  Made specifically for taste buds that can appreciate spice.  I don't know why fries are a chinese dish in India, but we saw it a lot.  Spicy fries.  Can't complain though, I'd never be able to get spicy fries in the Western world unless I made it myself.

the chinese food (with fries)

The channa batura was....well, see for yourself.

channa batura!

HUGE!

You even have to go through a security check/terminal to enter Haldirams.

Now, that's hard-core!

Sloan's, Florida

Location:
112 Clematis St West Palm Beach FL

www.sloansonline.com
One of the prettiest candy stores I've ever been to has got to be Sloan's in West Palm Beach, Florida.

It's PINK!   And has fancy lamps and a painted ceiling and they have chocolates and delicious ice-creams!!







We had a caramel-and-nut-filled chocolate which got wrapped up all prettily!


I'm sad to say I missed out on the bathroom which is apparently incredible!! Check out the review on Crappers Quarterly (yep, I'm just as surprised as you that this site exists!)

Fascinating!

Worth going there for that, alone!

Compass Lakeside Grill & Lounge

Just got invited to the opening of Compass Lakeside Grill and Lounge, Oakville’s Newest Waterfront Resto in Bronte Outer Harbour!

Looking forward to it.

TRAVEL: India: Bombay: Jalebi

Our first jalebi stop was in Bombay and I think it's appropriate to start with jalebi, right? Y'all know me!

TRAVEL: India!

Foodhogger is off to India to savour all that is India: dosas, idlis, vadas, jalebis, curries, not to mention the fish, that I so love!

See you in a few.
Photo from: sachinkelkar.blogspot.com

TRAVEL: Banff: The Maple Leaf

Location:

137 Banff Avenue
Banff, AB

www.banffmapleleaf.com

After a two hour trek across Lake Louise and back to the Chateau and by the time we reached Banff, we were riddled with cravings for salmon (or really, anything other than sandwiches and soups), so we headed straight to The Maple Leaf, number one on my list of Banff eateries.

Also, after not finding a single fireplace (working) at the Chateau, we were tempted to ask if there was a fireplace at the Maple Leaf, to which we got the response, "one moment please", and then, voila! A table RIGHT beside the fireplace!   Mind you, not only a fireplace, but a giant moose head to go with it, right above us.  

GIANT moose head!

I love Banff. Everything's so rugged, so earthy, so natural. If it isn't wood, it's leather or stone. The Maple Leaf ambiance was beyond cosy.

Such a cosy interior

Oh so comfortable leather chairs

The many celebs who have visited

We'd scoured the outdoor menu to make sure that there was salmon and I knew what I was going to have:

The Atlantic Wasabi Salmon...sesame-scented Asian noodles, nori, pickled ginger.

The other item we ordered was the Mahi Mahi sandwich (I know I said enough with the sandwiches, but it sounded so good!) with potato and leek soup (okay, I take it back).

Yummeh x 2!

Our only - and very slight - qualm was that the "Coke" tasted more like Cola and then we figured out it was DIET Coke. Er, no thanks. Not on vacation (or any other time, for that matter).  Our server was very accomodating and made no fuss.  Our adjoining table of seven or eight however, complained about their regular burgers being too pink and found out that the regular burgers also had a mix of bison in them (the server said something about bison burgers being more on the pink side).  They voiced that the menu made no mention of the bison mix in the regular burg and they'd have loved to have known beforehand...etc.etc.

If I hadn't overdone the whole burger thing having had two in the last four days, I would have ordered the regular burg as well, but the salmon and mahi mahi sandwich was exactly what we needed. 

Wasabi Salmon

The salmon dish was amazingly good.  Surprisingly, the noodles were chilled, but together with the crispy (breadcrumbed and fried) salmon and the fresh ginger slices, the dish was refreshing and satisfying. 

Mahi Mahi Sandwich

The fish sandwich was tasty as well; we tried to pinpoint the "indian" flavour in it.  At first I accredited it to the chilly yogurt mentioned in the menu, but then it dawned on me as being CILANTRO (to the joy of N and to my dismay).  If you know me, you know I am not a fan of the green stuff and its overpoweringly horrid scent.  That said, it was still a good sandwich.  Washed down with a cold glass of real Coke, that is.

Potato and Leek soup

The potato and leek soup was the perfect antidote to an active Winters day, while the Maple Leaf was the perfect end to an active Winters vacation.

TRAVEL: Montreal: Chu Chai

Location:

4088 Rue Saint-Denis, Montreal, QC

Cost: approx $90 for two (incl. glasses of wine)

www.chuchai.com/

Mock duck, you say?

I never thought I'd actively scope out a vegetarian Thai restaurant...but that's what we did when we were in Montreal. Coming highly recommended from more than a few friends, Chu Chai is a trendy zen-like Thai resto boasting authentic thai dishes made from completely veg/vegan friendlyproducts (ie. soya, tofu, seitan).

In Toronto I've only tried a handful of veg restaurants, such as Fresh, Cafe 668 and Le Commensal, that too mostly under the persuasion of my mock-meat eating friends, so I'm no expert on the best veg restaurants in Toronto. I've heard Vegetarian Haven, Urban Herbivore and Hibiscus are good but haven't gotten around to trying those out, yet. [By the way, a great site for you veg eaters is the Toronto Vegetarian Association: www.veg.ca]

Now back to Chuchai! With no reservations, we took a cab out to St. Denis around 9pm on Saturday night, and found the place to be pretty packed. We were assured that we'd be seated as soon as they could get us a table leaving us to wonder about the one vacant table to our left. We were then told that the table had been reserved but the patrons were now more than 1/2 an hour late. I guess that table had our name on it, afterall.

Eyeing the dishes on the tables made us realize how famished we really were but a quick glance at the menu proved we'd be taking a while longer to decide what to eat!

Finally, after much deliberation and chats with our friendly and helpful server, we decided on won ton soup and dumplings in peanut sauce to start.



The dumplings in peanut sauce was not only lip-smacking good, it was
plate-scraped-with-fork-many-times-over-because-you-can't-literally-lick-the-plate good. Damn. Just remembering it now makes my mouth water.



And the won ton soup was a perfect complement to the sauciness of the dumplings. Yum!

Next we got a mock beef and duck dish.

The mock duck curry was amazing with pineapples, green peppers and tomatoes.  The beef dish suggested to us came with bamboo shoots and was also a curry (I was expecting more of a dry/fried dish - should have gone with the beef with chili and basil afterall!)  Still, they were both really good.





Both had amazingly accurate meaty textures from the seitan (wheat-gluten) in highly flavourful curries; however, the mock duck beat out the beef dish that was recommended to us.

My only gripe is the miniature portion of the serving of rice...argh! Seriously? The sticky rice we ordered (not included with the dishes) arrived in a fancy basket which I thought was at least the depth of the basket...only to discover that the rice was sitting in an even shallower basket within!



There was barely enough rice for one person in there! We had to order a second, plain rice, which came in a white ceramic bowl; still a small size but more of the standard side-of-rice bowl. Combined it was barely enough to finish the curries (which didn't stop us from finishing the curries, mind you - they were so tasty).  Besides the ridiculousness of the rice portions, Chuchai is a winner in taste, presentation, and service....a delicious place for both veg and non-veg eaters.

We're already planning to bring my sister and family of vegetarians out to Chuchai; and I have to admit, I can hardly wait to go back (even though we both felt slightly ill afterwards...perhaps from all the soy/gluten or peanut sauce?  Not sure).

Also, Chuch the restaurant next door, under the same ownership, is more of a casual (and cheaper), take-out place which allows you to BYOB but perhaps instead, I can Bring My Own Rice?

TRAVEL: Montreal : Les Glaceurs

Location:

453 Rue Saint-Sulpice
Montreal, QC

www.lesglaceurs.ca/

We just happened upon this cute pink cafe on our walk through Old Montreal and boy were we happy we did! Our friends C&K hadn't been to this ice-cream/cupcake place before either, so it was a real treat for all of us.



There were many gorgeous cupcakes; it was so hard to decide!

So, much like the Seinfeldian black and white cookie, we went with the vanilla cupcake and the brownie cupcake.





Iz..how you say...pretty, non?

And damn, that frosting was kickass!

Nando's

Locations:

939 Eglinton Ave E
Toronto, ON

815 Britannia Rd W
Mississauga, ON

Growing up in Africa, I remember eating Nando's chicken and absolutely loving it, so when I first discovered a Nando's in the east end of the city, I was thrilled about the prospect of once again tasting the flame-grilled Peri Peri saucy chicken. Now this was pre-Foodhogger but I recall it not being as tasty as my memory had me believe...I walked away disappointed a little.

Then recently, I found a Nando's in Mississauga and those same childhood memories came flooding back; I just had to try it again. This time it did not disappoint...there was heat, there was flavour and there was plenty to go around.



The spicy fries were mighty deeelush.



The rice was nowhere near as good as it was back in my childhood days.



And there's definitely nothing spectacular about the salad...definitely could have done without it entirely!



But it's possibly the sauces that make Nando's Nando's. The sauces! First the garlic...



And then the all-important hot sauce...



The chicken was great...and we'd ordered some skewers as well...



We got a hot and a medium spiced chicken, but either they'd gotten mixed up or it was all very hot (although not hot enough for some).



All in all; satisfying and a fair recreation of my fond memories....I suppose the only thing missing was the African scenery...

TRAVEL: Palm Beach, Pizza Girls

Location:

114 S Clematis St
West Palm Beach, FL

www.pizzagirls.com

Probably the best. pizza. I've ever had.













We craved this pizza, not days later, but hours later.....honestly. Go.

TRAVEL: Palm Beach, Charley’s Crab

Location:

456 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL

www.muer.com

Our first place to dine in PB was Charley's Crab...a highly recommended restaurant along the beach.





Apart from the Guinness that was poured out of a bottle (egh)...



the sandwiches we ordered were amazing and I'm not a huge sandwich person! (We quickly realized that most of the lunch fare in PB was sandwiches and/or burgers.)

Our server suggested the Bistro Chicken Sandwich with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, field greens & balsamic vinaigrette, which looked like this:



and tasted great although it was a bit heavy on the goat cheese (for me, but then I don't do cheeses well). The second sandwich, the Chili Dusted Ahi Sandwich - chargrilled with bacon & pepperjack cheese, and honey mustard aioli, served with French Fries and coleslaw was kick-ass!



Juicy and very filling!



We got it with green beans instead of fries, and I could have done without the slaw entirely. Still a very satisfying lunch for a day at the beach.

TRAVEL: Palm Beach, Hamburger Heaven

Location:

314 South Country Road, Palm Beach, Florida

Cost: $25 for two

Hamburger Heaven is a cute little diner in Palm Beach and one of two places suggested to us to get breakfast in the area - I'm sure there are more joints to grab freshly squeezed OJ, but HH was super close to our hotel and the beach which made it perfect.

We didn't make it in time for breakfast the first day...missed it by more than a few hours (breakfast is served until 11am and we were there around 3!), but our lunch consisted of what we considered to be makeshift breakfast dishes...ie. quiche (eggs and spinach) and fruits!

It was gloooooooooorious!!!! Ta DA!





And we thought we'd try the special of the day - Blackened tilapia on salad....my oh my was it ever delush! SO glad we missed breakfast! It was the perfect 3pm meal!



We did make it in time for french toast and eggs the next day though! And they remembered us and sat us in the same booth - so sweet! The service was amazing, they didn't make any fuss seating us in a booth even though there were just two of us and even though they had a lineup later for lunch with groups of four waiting. It just reminded me of horrible Mildred's Temple Kitchen and their huge a** fuss of seating us!

We had freshly squeezed OJ (how could you not?). Omg you guys, soooo good!



The eggs, toast, side of potatoes and....bacon....



I always get french toast for breakfast...and these were tasty (I have to admit Testa's was better, though especially with their serving of fruit on the top) but I was loving the giant Texas style toast.



The breakfast was all very good but I think it's called hamburger heaven for a reason and we really wanted to come back for one of their burgers but they were closed on Sunday, our last day there! Oh well, next time for the hamburger! We ended up jokingly calling this place Hamburger Helper but it truly is a little taste of heaven.

PYO: Berries!

Location:

9365 10th Sideroad, Milton/Halton Hills

www.andrewsscenicacres.com

So, this was my second time at Andrews' Scenic Acres in Milton - the first was for pumpkin' picking.

As we walked in (***update***no admission fee), we were told that there were strawberries and raspberries ready for picking - and were given two baskets - a larger one for the strawberries and we were told to hop on the berry bus which was just coming down the road.

So, we hopped on and were taken down a little way to the strawberry fields. Upon our descent I asked one of the three teenagers where the best place would be to start picking. She directed us to the far end of the fields and said we'd get some good strawberries there and for the raspberries to go equally as far behind a thicket of trees. So we set off with our baskets in hand. The farm was fairly crowded; full of people doing the same thing. We didn't see too many berries but we plucked quite a few that we thought were decent.



We noticed that the strawberries weren't that big and decided that what we'd gotten was enough and went on in search of the raspberries.



Near the raspberry bushes, we saw more strawberry fields and what's this?? GIANT strawberries!!



Why, it seemed that girl sent us off in the wrong direction - perhaps to scatter the crowd? Boo. There were far better sized strawberries in this location. Too bad our basket was almost full! Nevertheless, we plucked some more and then went to check out the raspberries, which were plentiful towards the back of the raspberry rows.



We went through the aisles and finally discovered some really nice fat ones, ending up with a juicy basketful.



Then we hopped back on the berry bus which stopped to pick up some people in the blueberry fields - I didn't know we could pick blueberries too, so we decided to get off the bus and look for some blueberries (my favourite!). The bus tried to take off while a family (the mom had a baby in her arms) was still climbing on board, which I thought was irresponsible, as did everyone else who shouted at the driver (just a young boy, again).

I had no idea blueberries were so gorgeous! Some didn't look ready but we managed to find a nice batch that were. Yum!



After this, we jumped back on the berry bus and back to the farm.

We decided to check out the playground area as my 9 year old niece was with us and wanted to play, and then we decided to get something to eat at the food stand...a hot dog and a veggie burger.

Now, we were seated near the food stall, and close to the entrance and were just about to begin eating...I was literally starting to take a bite out of my hot dog, when this man came up to us and scolded us for not having paid for our berries first. I was like...huh?Wha?

He said we couldn't just buy food and eat before paying for the berries! I was absolutely dumbfounded, "Excuse me?" I said. To which he replied that once we got off the bus we were to pay for the berries immediately and that's what they tell you on the bus when you get off. At this point I started to get annoyed by his tone and accusation of what, stealing the berries? I told him that we were going to obviously pay for the berries and were not aware that we had to pay for them before doing anything else on the farm and that nobody on the berry bus (or at the entrance, for that matter!) bothered to mention this and that I could go in and pay right then and there! At this, maybe feeling bad for accusing us of stealing, he half-heartedly said we could finish eating first. I decided it would be best to pay and get that done, so I started to head to the barn to pay, and saw him following me. Honestly? I turned to him and told him that I thought he'd been quite rude and that he shouldn't have assumed that we were stealing the berries because we had really been having a nice time at the farm enjoying the warm weather and he'd completely ruined the experience for us.

Once inside (and once I paid - $28 for all three baskets) I asked to speak to the owner of the farm and this young man turned up. I told him what had happened and he apologized and said that the older man who had yelled at us was in fact the owner and that was how he was. I told him how unfortunate it was for him to have dealt with the situation the way he had as it had really brought a damper to the day.

Once outside with my baskets (the handles now stamped with smiley faces on them indicating that they were paid for) I went back to my hot dog!

I was trying to get a bite of the damn thing when the older man showed up again! I think he must have either spoken to (his son?) the young man inside and realized how rude he'd been 'cause he started apologizing for his behaviour and saying that people often visit the farm and steal the berries and leave the baskets lying around. I told him that I understood but he should rather execute a better system of paying for the berries or employ more people to guide the visitors instead of going around accusing honest citizens of theft.

He agreed with me and apologized again and said that other farms had more people and that he should perhaps do the same. I reminded him that nobody on his berry bus had mentioned anything about this nor had they said anything at the entrance, so he should really make changes to that system if he wanted people to comply.

He did offer to give me a fresh hot dog but at that point I just wanted to eat the one I had (it was about 3pm by this time and I still hadn't eaten!). Still, I thanked him and told him that this wasn't our first time on his farm and that we loved coming to it and that I totally understood where he was coming from, and so there were no hard feelings.

We left it at that, and then my niece did the pony ride that was offered there and we left.



I'm not sure how many people know of the payment policy, but there you go, now you know and do comply with the rules unless you want to be told off in front of everyone for just trying to have some lunch at Andrews' Scenic Acres!