Swatow

Location: 309 Spadina Avenue, Toronto

Cost: $25 for 3 (with one split entree)

I've got a serious case of the sleepies as I type this 'cause I've just eaten at Swatow. General Tso wouldn't be proud...but it doesn't really matter because it's not the 1800s and I've only just had his namesake in chicken.

At $12.50, we assumed that the General Tso Chicken would be a large platter fit for two to share. Good thing I wasn't too hungry! I know my friend who shared the dish with me was just being polite and waited until I urged him to finish the rest.

We both agreed that the dried red chillies in the dish were hoooo-ooot!



A steamed rice cost an additional $1.60.

My other friend dined on the Assorted Meats with Vegetables on Rice for only $6.25!!! And his plate was heaped with assortment!



The restaurant is tiny and brightly lit! And there was a line-up after we sat down. Definitely a busy spot for lunch.



While the food is tasty, I still much prefer Spadina Garden and House of Gourmet where I know I can count on going home with more to eat later!



Still, everyone who passed by when I was trying to capture the exterior (and this is the second shot), craned their necks for a fleeting glance at the menu!

PYO: Cherry Picking

Locations:

E.D. Smith Cherry Farm
980 Highway #8, Winona, Ontario

Puddicombe Estate Farms & Winery
1468 #8 Hwy, Winona, Ontario

All summer long I'd been meaning to go strawberry picking...which by late summer had turned into peach-picking. Finally, when the opportunity for anything-picking came up, our GPS was eagerly set up to locate the E.D. Smith farm. Unfortunately, E.D. remained a mysterious location on our GPS, but our old-fashioned road-trip technique of stop-and-ask-for-directions worked out perfectly and brought us to E.D's gate which...was CLOSED?!?! You had to be kidding me.

Good thing our GPS located another farm close by. Puddicombe!



For cherry, apple and pear picking.





Didn't look like there was anything to be picked when we got there though. We were too late for cherries and too early for pears or apples. The boy behind the outdoor stall mentioned heavy rainfall having ruined the cherry crops, but the Puddicombe railway and petting zoo was open. None of us were five years old however, so we decided to taste some wine, instead. Blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and pear. Deeeellliiiiicious! Our journey wasn't completely wasted; we bought a couple of bottles of blueberry wine and called it a day.

As for pear-picking? Maybe next year.

Jodhpore Club

Location:

33 Baldwin Street, Toronto

Cost: $23

Way back before we knew how good Spadina Garden really was, we dismissed it and the buffet at Indian Flavour because all we really wanted was some tandoori chicken and naan. Really. That's all. So, when we arrived at Jodhpore Club at Baldwin Street - because Jodhpore had been a tried, tested and true choice (note I use past tense in this context) - we thought we couldn't possibly be let down.



Jodhpore, in the middle of Baldwin Street, is one amongst an eclectic mix of restaurants nestled within a residential area - away from the hustle and bustle of University and Dundas, nearby. The last time we'd been was in the summer of '06 and we sat outside, and I remember the food being delicious.



On this particular evening, it wasn't busy...perhaps it was the rain, or not...

As I type this, I wonder why we didn't end up simply ordering tandoori chicken and naan. That was really all we wanted, right? Instead, we asked our waitress what SHE recommended. Well, she recommended the 'special'. Which was a tava (pan) sabzi (vegetable). So I asked whether it included ALL the vegetables, especially okra and eggplant, and was assured that it did, indeed. Very well. We then took two more steps back and ordered the Hyderbad 'roadside' spicy chicken curry and whole-wheat rotis stuffed with peas. When our dishes arrived, we both thought we'd ordered the wrong dish. What we had on our table was a very rationed portion of "vegetables" which was really only cauliflower, onions and maybe some green peppers.



Hmm. We plopped a spoonful onto a plate, and then further dug around the serving dish looking for the so-called okra and eggplant. Not only was there no eggplant, there was no okra. What we found was a tiny slice of something I can only call "oak", the "ra" must have still been on the tava, ready to be served to someone else who was stupid enough to ask what the "special" was.

We beckoned to our server and asked her what our dish was to which she replied, "tava subzi". That's when I pointed out the lack of 'subzi'. I showed her the okra and said we wanted something with more than one piece of okra and not this. Her response was very clear. She asked us to return the spooned out subzi from our plate BACK into the serving dish and whisked the dish away. Aghast, we both turned to the chicken.



The measly portion and poor cuts of bone-in chicken definitely deserved the name 'roadside' Hyderbad chicken! It was overly spicy, the chilli so hot, it overpowered the palate.

And don't get me started on the roti.



Burnt, dry and stuffed with frozen peas.

Yeah.

Sometimes it's better not to stray away from what your stomach really wants.

Panago Pizza

Location:

44 Gerrard Street, Unit E, Toronto

Cost: $32 (incl. tip) for 2 small pizzas

www.panago.com

Everyone has a favourite pizza place, right? And the first time we tried Panago Pizza we swore we wouldn't ever order anything else. Unlike Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, Mama's and even Pizzaiolo's pizza, Panago's is truly bursting with flavours and crisp, fresh toppings. I can't remember which pizza we ordered that first time, but I remember it being the. best. thing. ever. (Note: The Magic Oven at 6 Wellesley St West is the only other place competing for number one spot on our favourite list....review to follow soon).

Last night we ordered from Panago's again. Unable to decide how much pizza we wanted we opted for 2 smalls after learning that one small proffered six slices. We got the 'garden veggie' with extra jalapenos and the 'tropical chicken', again, with extra jalapenos. For dips, the chipotle cilantro sounded swell and the 3-chlili shaker seemed appropriate 'cause we like it hot.

45 minutes later our pizzas arrived.



I think part of the appeal is the packaging.



Admittedly, the 'small' really was quite small, but we ended up with enough left over for work the next day. And even though the pizza looks home-made (and we actually do make pizza that looks like this), maybe that's what makes it so great because it's not like extra-large, greasy, pepperoni-filled corner shop pizza.

The garden veggie was brimming with black olives, sauteed mushroms, roasted garlic, pineapple, green peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos and mozarella. We got the THICK multigrain crust for the veggie and it was quite good - not very flavourful as far as crusts go, but we really enjoyed the thick as opposed to the thin crust which we got on our other pizza.



The meaty one had a sweet and smoky "tropical" sauce, grilled chicken, pineapple, green peppers, caramelized onions, cheddar and mozarella with jalapenos to top it all off. The THIN multigrain crust is new at Panago's and didn't really do much for us. It wasn't terrible by any means, but next time I'd go with the thick for sure.



Not as good as the first time, but still very good (and great the next day!), but at $15 per small pizza, it's a tad bit too pricey. It's not something we'll be ordering all the time. Oh, and don't get the chipotle cilantro dipping sauce, as delicious as it sounds, it was quite revolting.

Spice Route

Location:

499 King Street West, Toronto

Cost: Summerlicious. $15 for lunch

It used to be an auto dealership. Then Touch lounge. Now, it's a massive Asian bistro/bar called Spice Route. Although there is neither spice nor route to any flavours here. And the service is one of the most pretentious I've ever seen.

Not to take away from how glamorous and exotic the place is, however. It's quite a retreat from your work day.

With its cavernous entryway, giant studded wooden door, encased fire towers and marble fountains, it's as if you've stepped into an episode of Survivor: Laos.



Inside, the vast expanse of open space creates an atmosphere not unlike a museum or Buddhist shrine.



The sleekness of the furniture throughout the space culminates at the bar, situated under four big screen tvs and illuminated by recessed lighting.



Green (albeit fake) grass trims the window ledge behind your (back-less) seat. High wooden fences on the patio shield away the common folk who linger, necks craning, on the sidewalk. Oranges are nestled within intimate cubby holes in the walls.



But, enough of the ambiance!

Our server, Sebastian, took a seat beside us and began to describe their regular menu mentioning that patrons usually order 5-7 items and share tapas-style. My lunch partner politely requested the Summerlicious menu (which I'd already mentioned to them upon making the reservation). His response was classic. A slight nod, grunt and an abrupt exit. Nothing was said about the Summerlicious menu.

But here it is. The appetizer selection was as follows:

Mushroom Noodle Soup
Efu Noodles, Thai Chili and Young Spinach
or
Citrus Salad
Spring Mix Greens, Orange, Asian Pear, Water Chestnuts and Honey Walnut Ginger Vinaigrette
or
Shanghai Eda Mame Salad
Pickled Cucumber and Rice Vinegar
or
Spiced Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Brandied Hoisin Sauce

My friend ordered the Citrus Salad. And I, the Spiced Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

Our appetizers didn't take very long to arrive and were brought to the table by another gentleman.



Citrus Salad, which my friend seemed to enjoy.



I'm still amazed that they named it "Spiced" Chicken...I'm sorry, but to warrant the term '"spiced", a dish must have some spices in it. Not great, but not terrible, either.

For the mains, our options were:

Wok Steamed Mussels
Red Thai Curry and Kaffir Lime
or
Lemon Glazed Chicken
Crispy Wonton and Thai Citrus Sauce
or
Mandarin Sizzled Fried Rice
BBQ Roast Pork and Sweet Peas
or
Thai Vegetable Curry

My lunch partner opted for the veggie curry and I decided to try the lemon glazed chicken.



Apologies for the blurry photograph. The veggie curry sat well with my friend...I, on the other hand, was not impressed with my 'lemon glazed chicken' which actually was BATTERED and DEEP FRIED chicken with an accompanying lemon sauce that I had to dip my chicken into.



Why was I having to do all the work? First with the lettuce and now with the glazing. We couldn't figure out what the mystery vegetable beside my chicken was, either. Baby bok choy? Overall, not a great dish - which on the regular menu is $19!

For dessert we had two choices:

Chefs Selection of Exotic Sorbets
Fortune Cookie and Sesame Praline
or
Raspberry Chocolate Brownie
Caramelized Mandarins and Tangerine Cream

My friend chose the sorbet and I had to go for the brownie.


The desserts were definitely better than the rest of the meal. The sorbet flavours (we decided) were mango, raspberry and coconut? We weren't too sure about the white one.



The brownie with mandarin oranges paired together really well, with the ice-cream topping it all off - I didn't notice the raspberry flavour in the brownie at all however, or the tangerine in the ice-cream. Overall, it was fairly good although it came with a Pocky stick, which we both thought was weird.

After lunch, while we waited for our change, and having read so much about Spice Route's 'amazing' loos, I thought I'd take a few pictures of them to show you all.



The 'stalls' basically line the length of the hallway at the back of the restaurant; each massive wooden door leading to a separate washroom, with its own floor to ceiling window. The view from the toilet is an alley-way of grass, stone and the same tall water-fountains displayed outside. A strange looking sculpture - Protector of the Alley? - loomed down the way as well.



Weird.

Two things; a) the washrooms are clean, but I think that leads us to b) you are so afraid that someone is going to walk down the alley-way that you don't use the toilet at all. And they don't have any hooks for women to hang their purses!

Back at the table, Sebastian still hadn't returned with our receipt or change. That meant he had assumed all of it was a tip? Well! How...assuming!

He was nowhere to be seen either! We had to ask someone who asked someone else who told us he was coming. We finally saw him and he returned with our change and the receipt. Needless to say, our tip was lower than what he thought he deserved. What a pain!

2 Hours for lunch is a bit long for food which is prix fixe and probably even pre-prepared, don't you think? I'd suggest taking another route when picking a place for lunch. Spice Route definitely isn't worth all the fuss.

Product: Dufflet Small Indulgences

Dufflet Pure & Sweet: Cranberries & Blueberries in Pure Dark Chocolate

Cost: $10.99

www.dufflet.com



Everyone knows the name Dufflet. It's synonymous with heavenly baked goods. If you haven't had a cake, tart or pastry from Dufflet, then there's something horribly wrong with your life. And you don't have to visit a Dufflet store to buy the cakes (although, it is fun 'cause you get to buy miniature treats for yourself other people). Dufflet cakes are available at many grocery stores such as Loblaws, The Kitchen Table, Rabba's, Longo's and Grocery Gateway (online). For a full list, go here.

But the reason to go to a Dufflet store is so that you can buy 'small indulgences' like the one pictured here. Cranberries and blueberries drowned in pure dark Belgian chocolate! No artificial flavours...really. I looked.

I bought this tin at 25% off, which is still pricey, but worth it if you really want to indulge. Just have a little handful..it's better than, say, having a whole cake.

Thai Princess is fit for a Queen

Location:

387 King Street West, Toronto

Cost: $10-15 per person

www.thaiprincess.ca

Across from MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) on King street is a little gem of a restaurant with a giant green and pink sign. Thai Princess.

You can expect a bit of a wait if you get there between noon and 1pm. Sometimes doing take-out is a better option.

After our crazy long wait, we were blessed with the loverly window seat and started off with a couple of drinkies; a pina-colada and a mango something-or-other. Mmm.



They have a special lunch menu and a regular menu, but I don't really know the difference between the two...maybe a couple of bucks off here and there? It doesn't seem to matter to me anyhow; I always order the Thai Kha Nom Jeen (steamed rice noodles) which comes with chicken marinated in lemongrass and grilled, served over a bed of vermicelli ($9.95). I get the combo with the spring roll and minus the bean sprouts (I feel bean sprouts are filler). They can sometimes skimp out on the chicken and the salad if they're busy, so I'd suggest getting there earlier rather than later!



I find it refreshing and light for a lunch time meal and doesn't make me feel ill or sleepy afterwards, which is always a plus!

My lunch partners ordered a variety of different meals. Like, the cashew nut chicken ($9.50).



And Combo A ($6.95) ...



And the green curry chicken ($9.95)....yummy.



The service is always friendly and although it's slow to get your dishes, I feel it's worth the wait. A great place to come for lunch during the work-week.

Spadina Garden

Location:

114 Dundas Street West, Toronto

Cost: $50 for 2

One of our friends has been talking about this place for so long, claiming it to be his favourite chinese restaurant. Ever. And we had tried, on numerous occasions, to eat-in (and even do take-out from) there, with no luck.

So, it became the perfect dinner venue for us on the night we saw WALL-E at the AMC theatre at Yonge and Dundas. There was no question where we really wanted to eat, even after a walk down Elm St. with all the fancier places (like Oro, Thirty-Five, Adega - which I actually DO want to try sometime) toting their Summerlicious menus and vacant patios.

Spadina Garden doesn't have a patio, but I suspect if it did, it would be packed. it does however, have a very nicely decorated interior with very comfortable chairs.



Since we had less than an hour to eat, we looked around at what other people were enjoying and asked our host what he recommended on the menu. His suggestions mirrored our own for the most part, so we went with the dry chilli chicken, the chicken in ginger sauce, a vegetable noodle dish and later decided we also wanted shrimp fried rice instead of plain rice.

We were warned that it would all be too much but we were inclined and happy to finish the rest the next day.

Our vegetable noodles came out in no time. Colourful and crisp.



Then our chicken in ginger sauce arrived....which I thought looked like it may have been the dry chilli chicken.



But then the dry chilli chicken arrived...



The fact that all the dishes reached the table separately bugged us a little bit. I'd have preferred having everything arrive together, at once, so that we wouldn't have been eating noodles first, and then chicken in ginger sauce and then dry chilli chicken.

And how about the shrimp fried rice, you want to know. Well, we had to double check that they'd received our order. They had. And there it was...



With lots of shrimp dispersed within the rice.

But, Foodhogger, how did it all TAAAASTE???

Incredible! Very spicy (we asked for it), fresh and not greasy. It's very good chinese food...maybe a bit haka-ish.

Speaking of spicy, we also requested a SIDE of hot sauce and this is what arrived at our table! None of that Tabasco s***.



You might be interested to know that the left-overs were even BETTER the second (and third - yep, that's right) time around. Highly recommended. Thanks friend.

Dukem

Location:

950 Danforth Avenue (West of Donlands subway station)

Cost: approx $20 a person (incl. a drink)

The last time I'd had Ethiopian food was at Ethiopian House at Wellesley and Yonge and although I was not entirely unimpressed, I knew if I were to try it again, it would have to be some really good Ethiopian to make me a fan of the cusine. Dukem has done that. And some.



In trying to organize a surprise birthday party for a friend, one of the requirements was that it was Ethiopian. The other was that it was near a subway station. So, I turned to the world wide web for some help and good ol' reliable Chowhound is where I discovered people talking about Dukem and how good the food is there.

They were right. The food was great and so was the service.

Mike (the owner) and the the waitress (whose name I didn't catch unfortunately) did an awesome job making our party feel at home; fully accommodating our huge group (of 14 people by the end of the night) into their cosy, albeit small space.

We had brought a cake with us, which they instantly accepted and placed into their fridge. They were on the ball with our drinks, our orders, and especially the "surprise" factor of our surprise party - making sure everything was perfect. We may have taken over the entire restaurant for four hours (my apologies to those who were at the restaurant while our raucous bunch was there).

We each started off with a St. George (Ethiopian) Beer. Very tasty.



The ambiance was intimate...the restaurant's not cramped by any means, but it's definitely not huge. However, it had enough tables (inside and outside on their patio) to accommodate us as well as other patrons without ever feeling stuffy. And, it was clean. As far as decor goes - they have a couple of tvs, a few paintings on the walls, plain tables and a red glow from the large neon "open" sign in the front and glowing bar in the back.





But mostly they have amazing Ethiopian food.



Mike knew just what to bring to the table - a couple of meat platters and one veggie platter - shared around with plenty of injera constantly replenishing our plates.



The beef stews (both spicy and mild) were succulent and flavourful.


The split peas, spinach/chard and lentils weren't mushy as I've had before...each with its own distinct flavour. The injera wasn't as sour as I've had before - everything was just delicious and perfect....and is this any indication that we cleaned it up?



The wait for our food wasn't too long either, about 1/2 an hour or so.

And the cost for 11 of us was about $200 including beers/drinks, so about $20-22 a person. Good deal, I say!

Would I go again? Most definitely.

My thanks go out to all the Chowhounders who recommended this venue. The birthday girl was very happy.

N'awlins: Cafe Du Monde's "BenYAYs"

Locations:

Riverwalk Marketplace, One Poydras, Suite 27, New Orleans
Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9:30am-6pm

French Market, 800 Decatur Street, New Orleans
Open 24 hours a day, closed 6pm December 24, opens 6am December 26

Cost: $4 for 3 Beignets and a Cafe Au Lait

www.cafedumonde.com/main.html

"What are beg-nets?"

"Ben-yaaaays.."

"Oh. What are they?"

"They're French doughnuts, covered in icing sugar...you MUST try them."

"Will do. Sounds amazing!"

And. They were.

Everyone kept telling us that we'd have to try the beignets while we were in New Orleans, so imagine my excitement when I came across a Cafe Du Monde at the Riverwalk Marketplace! The timing couldn't have been more perfect. It was of course, tea-time!



There was a terrific line-up when we jumped in, but it moved along swiftly and as we got closer to the menu board, we realized the only items you could order were beignets and cafe au laits. And the beignets came in three's (for $1.82) which was perfect as far as I was concerned.

One of the difficult things to avoid while eating these outdoors, as we did, is getting the icing sugar on yourself!





At the Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter, the atmosphere was much the same...carefree, easygoing staff but an ordering system a bit different from at the Riverwalk. You place your order at your table and the beignets and coffee arrive to you.



The icing sugar behaves the same way no matter where you are....



I fully understand now why they're called "benyays"...I found myself exclaiming "YAAY!" whenever I saw a Cafe Du Monde. And, I know it's touristy but I had to bring back a box of beignet mix and a tin of Cafe Du Monde's original coffee. Needless to say, they've both been opened and the joy has been spread as quickly as the icing sugar on the top.

Blue Mountain Bistro

Location:

119 Spadina Avenue

Cost: $8-10 for lunch

I guess the 'jerk' in Jerk Chicken comes from the service at Blue Mountain Bistro.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me, but I used my friend's cell phone camera to capture these shots.



Our waitress was the lady on the right - as you can see she has her head in her hands...too many customers, perhaps?



No. Not really. Just one table of four at the far end and us. Still, it seemed we might have been a burden on her that day.

According to the menu, the Jerk Chicken Pita ($6.95 + tax) comes with fruit salad or salad. So I opted for the fruit salad. When our dishes arrived with a clatter on the table, our waitress announced that they didn't have fruits, so salad it was. (With a side of sliced canteloupe). The portions were quite hefty however.





And the chicken was quite spicy and flavourful and there was lots of it stuffed into the pita along with lettuce and tomatoes and some mystery sauce.

In my anticipation for the meal (read: hungry), I dropped my fork on the floor, only to receive an angry glare from our waitress when I asked for another one back at the counter. (She came by later to retrieve the fallen fork).

The final straw (for me) was when our oh-so-lovely waitress mixed up our bills and charged my friend $8.99 instead of $7.86 for his pita (the same thing I'd ordered). I pointed out the error in miscalculation but she defiantly claimed that it was $8.99..until she realized that was meant for for my other friend who'd ordered the Jerk Steak Sandwich (7.95 + tax) . I handed her a $20 for which she needed to go next door for change, during which the chef appeared. We expressed how much we enjoyed the sandwiches (they were tasty). Our waitress returned, apologizing for her mistake. I internally accepted it as an apology for the whole experience.

If it weren't for the terrible service and crazy-ass wait, BMB would actually be quite a nice place for a quick (and filling) lunch.

Nawlins, baby!

Foodhogger is off to Louisiana for some authentic, local Creole dishes, not to mention huge-ass beignets, chicory coffee, Po'boy and Muffaletta sandwiches and boiled crawfish (thanks for the tips you guys)!

Yeeeeeeah!

Trinidad: Richard's Bake and Shark

There's nothing better than eating outdoors (I think) - bits of dirt and grime add just that lil' som-som to your meal. And there's definitely nothing better than eating on a sandy beach after a salty dip in the ocean.



Richard's Bake and Shark is the best kind of beach meal, too. And at TT$25 (or US$4) there's simply nothing better.



Richard. I tink.

On Trinidad's Maracas Beach there's really only one thing to eat. A Bake and Shark burger. The 'bake' means fry-bake and it looks like a deep fried bun slivered in half and the 'shark' is exactly that, battered and deep fried.





What makes Richard's stand out from the rest of the beach's 'bake and shark' is the type of toppings you are invited to drown your burger with.



Under Richard's bright red canopy lie several metal dishes containing a variety of toppings with your standard lettuce, tomatoes, onions, ketchup and mustard but then ingenious others like tamarind sauce, cilantro/coriander (Chadon Bene perhaps?) sauce, garlic sauce, spiced pineapples, cabbage, mango chutney, a thousand island type of sauce and.....the mother of all hot sauces.

(On a side note: What I learned is, if you want to try the hot sauce in Trini, you may as well eat it IN the bathroom...'cause that would save a lot of time, really).



Er...aaaanyway...if you're still reading this and weren't repulsed by my toilet banter.... basically you come away (after it's wrapped and placed into a cardboard box for you by the gentleman at the head of the condiment table) with your bake and shark looking like this:



And it is simply the. best. thing. ever.

It's worth the trip to Trinidad.