Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu

My high school friends and I decided to eat at Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu for dinner last month. We go to Buk Chang Dong for soon tofu similar to how we go to Owl of Minerva’s for pork bone soup. A meal here is $10 with tax and tip. Their menu is mainly a variety of soon tofu however you could also get bibimbap or bulgogi. The restaurant is cosy but the lighting is bright. All of the soon tofu comes with purple rice and you can choose the spiciness level of the broth which ranges from no spice to very spicy.

A friend ordered the combination soon tofu which has a decent sized mussel, shrimp and beef along with tofu in a spicy broth. It comes with a raw egg that you crack into the soon tofu.

Another friend ordered the dumpling soon tofu which has dumplings, beef and tofu in a spicy broth. A third friend had the kimchi soon tofu which has kimchi, beef, pork and tofu in a spicy broth. A fourth friend had the Veggie soon tofu which has mushroom, broccoli, onion, zucchini and tofu in a spicy broth. They all come with a raw egg as well.

I ordered the soybean soon tofu. The broth is soybean based as opposed to its regular broth and it doesn’t come with a raw egg. The soybean soon tofu has beef, mushroom, a decent sized mussel and tofu.

If you have a craving for soon tofu in either downtown Koreatown or uptown Koreatown then you should eat here.

Okonomi House

My university friends and I went to eat lunch at Okonomi House last month. I was under the impression that it was located on Yonge Street between Wellesley and College. I was sorely mistaken. It’s on Charles Street between Bay and Yonge Street and closer to Bloor than to Wellesley. The restaurant is abit on the small side. We all ordered the seafood deluxe okonomiyaki ($12.95).

extras: bonito flakes and seaweed

seafood deluxe okonomiyaki

The seafood deluxe okonomiyaki comprises of tiger shrimps, imitation crab, scallop, squid, special sauce, and a dab of Japanese mayo. It was my first time eating okonomiyaki so I thought it was quite good. The portions may look small for the okonomiyaki but I was quite full from only eating half of it. The service is very friendly and prompt for a Saturday afternoon. If you don’t sit at the tables, you’d probably be able to see how the chef makes the okonomiyaki.

I would come back to try the beef okonomiyaki.

Owl of Minerva (Part II)

My friends and I ate at Owl of Minerva located at First Markham Place afew weeks ago. The restaurant itself reminds me of Huh Ga Ne but has none of its fanciness and it could be as small as or even smaller than the Owl of Minerva located in North York that’s open 24 hours. There aren’t any traditional tables and seats at First Markham Place, at least out front. The menu at First Markham Place differs from the menu at Uptown Waterloo or North York. It focuses on kam ja tang (pork bone soup). There’s a variety of pork bone soup on the menu at First Markham Place. Three of my friends and I had some variation of pork bone soup while another friend had jap chae. My friend likes the jap chae at Owl.

Kimchi served at Owl

Jap Chae

 

Original Kamjatang

One friend just got the original/regular pork bone soup.

Dumpling Kamjatang

Rice Cake Kamjatang

 

Another friend got pork bone soup with rice cakes while another friend had the pork bone soup with dumplings. They both enjoyed it.

Seafood Kamjatang

I had the pork bone soup with seafood ($10 with tax). The seafood is miniscule. There were mini-mussel, mini shrimp and mini oyster. It also has rice cakes. The kam ja tang itself is comparable to the ones I had at other locations.

 

I still like Owl of Minerva for their pork bone soup.

Jerusalem Restaurant

Yesterday, two of my friends and I had dinner at Jerusalem Restaurant on 4777 Leslie Street. Jerusalem Restaurant is an all you can eat Middle-Eastern buffet. It’s $25 (tax and tip included) on a weekday. On a weekday there’s a belly-dancing performance. The decor reminds me of the Mediterranean area. My friends and I had a booth table. Prior to going there, I read the reviews online and it was very mixed so I was slightly apprehensive.

For my first plate, I had calamari, mussel in tomato sauce, sea bass fillet,  imitation crab salad, saffron rice with meat, rice with chicken, BBQ zucchini and eggplant and half of a zucchini stuffed with meat and rice. I really liked the zucchini stuffed with meat and rice, it was quite delicious. The mussels, calamari and sea bass fillet were tasty and cooked perfectly. I didn’t like the imitation crab salad, it didn’t taste completely like imitation crab and it wasn’t well-made. The BBQ zucchini and eggplant just taste like BBQ vegetables while the saffron rice with meat and rice with chicken were ok.

For my second plate, I had baba ghanoush, hummus, labaneh, taheena, purple coleslaw, crispy shrimp, chickpeas with eggplant and chili, cous-cous and stuffed grape leaves with rice and herbs. Baba ghanoush is eggplant, taheena sauce, lemon, garlic and olive oil blended together. Hummus is chickpeas, garlic, lemon, taheena sauce and olive oil blended together. Labaneh is homemade strained yoghurt with olive oil. Taheena is sesame seed sauce mixed with lemon and garlic. The baba ghanoush, hummus and taheena were absolutely scrumptious. I’ve had better labaneh at Armenian Kitchen. The purple coleslaw, crispy shrimp and chickpeas with eggplant and chli were ok. The cous-cous and stuffed grape leaves with rice and herbs were delectable. The cous-cous was fluffy and light. I had stuffed grape leaves with rice and herbs at Rodeo Brazilian Steakhouse and it is just as delicious as the ones I had there.

For my third plate, I had lentil soup, chicken skewer, pieces of a lamb shank, kabab (kafta), hummus, babaghanoush and taheena. The lentil soup was tasty and enjoyable. I only had pieces of a lamb shank because one of my friends had an entire lamb shank for his second plate and he became very full from it. The portions of the lamb shank are very sizable and quite large. The lamb shank and kabab were tasty. I dipped it in hummus, babaghanoush and taheena which made it scrumptious. The chicken was ok but dipped in hummus, babaghanoush and taheena made it delicious. My other friend told me that anything with hummus and babaghanoush is absolutely delicious and she is correct.

My fourth plate was dessert and Jerusalem Restaurant has creme caramel/flan. It was absolutely delicious and mouthwatering. The last time I had creme caramel/flan, it was homemade by my high school friend a few years ago.

Overall, this restaurant is alright. It’s not as bad as I thought and it definitely has some delicious offerings. If you’re in the neighbourhood and want Middle Eastern cuisine rather than Asian cuisine, then I would recommend this place.

Gourmet Malaysia

My colleague and I wanted to eat stingray in Toronto. Restoran Malaysia doesn’t serve stingray so I was on the hunt to see if I could find any restaurant in the GTA that would serve it. I came across Gourmet Malaysia and we decided to go on the first Saturday of August for lunch. We ordered poh pia ($3.80), ikan bakar (banana leaf grilled stingray) ($16.99), Penang char kwei teow ($7.80), Hainanese Chicken Rice ($7.80) and chendol ($3.99).

Poh Pia at Gourmet Malaysia

When I was in Singapore, I was fortunate enough to be able to have homemade popiah at a fellow local colleague’s home. She had prepped everything and all we had to do was put whatever toppings we want in it, roll it up and enjoy it. The homemade popiah was crammed with lots of stuff and the roll was quite moist which made it very delectable. At Gourmet Malaysia, the poh pia isn’t very moist and the filling isn’t as varied. Poh pia is a crepe roll with vegetables and egg. The poh pia was ok but nothing like the ones I made at my fellow colleague’s home in Singapore. My colleague in Toronto enjoyed it alot more than I did.

Fried Kway Teow in Singapore

Penang Char Kwei Teow at Gourmet Malaysia

The fried kway teow at Gourmet Malaysia is way better than the fried kway teow at Restoran Malaysia however it is still slightly lacking compared to the ones I had in Singapore. The fried kway teow at Gourmet Malaysia is fried hor fun noodles with seafood served on top of a banana leaf. My colleague and I found it very delicious all things considered.

Hainanese Chicken Rice in Singapore

Hainanese Chicken Rice at Gourmet Malaysia

The Hainanese Chicken Rice at Gourmet Malaysia isn’t as authentic as the ones I had in Singapore. I absolutely love the Hainanese Chicken Rice at Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice stall at Maxwell Hawker Center. Hainanese Chicken Rice comprises of chicken, spicy chili sauce, black sauce, vegetable garnish (typically cucumbers and/or tomatoes) and rice. The chicken meat at Gourmet Malaysia wasn’t as soft, silky and smooth as the chicken meat at Tian Tian. It also lacked the black sauce that you can find with any Hainanese chicken rice dish served anywhere in Singapore. My colleague liked it while I wasn’t a huge fan of it although it tasted good for chicken rice.

Chendol at Gourmet Malaysia

Chendol is coconut milk, ice, green jelly noodles and grass jelly. It was very delicious and quite authentic. I would have preferred it with less ice though.

Stingray in Singapore

Stingray at Gourmet Malaysia

Ikan Bakar at Gourmet Malaysia

Ikan bakar also known as grilled stingray on a banana leaf is fairly authentic compared to the ones I had in Singapore. My colleague and I loved it. In order to eat the stingray, you first squeeze the lemon wedge all over the stingray then you use the fork and spoon to slice the stingray into pieces and serve it. In Singapore, the restaurants and hawker centers only give you a fork and spoon to use. Unless you ordered steak, you’ll be able to get a steak knife. When you stay in Singapore for some time, you learn to just use a fork and spoon to cut food into pieces. The sauce we’re given is spicy so if you can’t handle spicy then eat it without the sauce. My colleague prefers the stingray without the sauce while I prefer it with the sauce. I would have liked the stingray more if the sauce was drizzled all over the stingray and grilled along with it so that the stingray could really soak up the spiciness and the flavours. Overall, I would recommend this dish to everybody unless they are allergic to seafood or they don’t like to eat seafood.

Overall, now that I’ve been to two Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants in Toronto, I recommend Gourmet Malaysia over Restoran Malaysia. There is more variety of food at Gourmet Malaysia and in general, the food is more authentic in comparison. Gourmet Malaysia is also nicer on the wallet compared to Restoran Malaysia. If you’re in the mood for authentic Singaporean/Malaysian cuisine then go to Gourmet Malaysia!

Don Don Izakaya

It was the first time my friend and I went to Don Don Izakaya two weeks ago at the end of July. Another friend was telling us about eating at an Izakaya restaurant so we decided to try this one since Guu Izakaya and Guu Sakabar were too far from where we were wandering around in Downtown Toronto. Matsuri (the first Japanese cultural festival in Toronto) was also occuring at Yonge Dundas Square on that day. We went there first and we weren’t completely wow’ed by it. It was fun to see people cosplaying though. At Don Don Izakaya, my friend and I sat at the bar because there were no tables available. The decor is quite rustic in a Japanese style. Most of the furniture looks like it’s made from wood.

Crispy Fried Shrimp

Between the two of us we ordered a total of 5 dishes. My friend had the Crispy Fried Shimp ($6) and Beef Bowl ($6.20). He liked both of them. I ordered the Black Seafood Rice ($7.8). We split the Hoppeta Yaki ($8.50) and the Grilled Quail ($9). I was pleasantly full from the three dishes.

Hoppeta Yaki

Hoppeta Yaki is potatoes and chicken in otafuku sauce. The bonito flakes (it’s hiding the potatoes and chicken) actually moved even though there was no wind or breeze where we were sitting, it’s quite cool to see your food move by itself. All things considered, it’s quite tasty.

Black Seafood Rice

The Black Seafood Rice is seaweed, seafood, rice and ketchup. It was enjoyable although there wasn’t alot of seafood in it.

Beef Bowl

The Beef Bowl is beef, sesame, onion and rice. My friend liked it because it reminded him of the beef bowls that he would eat in Hong Kong from the fast food chain Yoshinoya.

Grilled Quail

The Grilled Quail is 4 pieces of qauil that’s wasabi flavoured. I didn’t taste the wasabi flavour at all. The quail was delicious though.

If you’re at Don Don Izakaya, I recommend the Hoppeta Yaki. The Black Seafood Rice and Grilled Quail are also good if you want to eat seafood rice or quail. I wasn’t amazed with this restaurant however it does have fairly tasty food even though it’s slightly pricey for the portion sizes.

Arkadia House

My friend and I decided to try Greek cuisine for lunch on my birthday. The decor is nice and quite rustic. Once we ordered, we were given pickles, olives and garlic bread. The garlic bread was delicious.

House Pickles and Olives

House Garlic Bread

We decided to share the Saganaki ($10.95) and Spanakotiropita ($6.95). Saganaki is flambeed wedge of delicately floured cheese. It’s delectable. Spanakotiropita is a phyllo pastry stuffed with feta cheese, spinach and herbs. It’s scrumptious. I love the combination of feta cheese and spinach.

There was flambee and now it’s gone

Saganaki

Spanakotiropita

I got the Mousaka ($11.95). Mousaka has pan fried eggplant, potatoes and ground beef and it’s topped with bechamel sauce. It also comes with salad, rice and vegetables. It was appetizing. I couldn’t finish it so I was able to have leftovers for the next day’s dinner. My friend ordered the Gyro in a pita ($9.95). Gyro in a pita comes with fries however my friend changed it to a salad instead so that it’s a healthier dish.

Mousaka

with salad

My friend insisted that we get dessert because a birthday celebration isn’t complete without cake or pastry. We decided to get Galaktoboureko. Galaktoboureko is a phyllo pastry filled with custard. It’s very sweet and tasty. The cinnamon adds a nice dimension to the flavour.

Galaktoboureko

Overall, if you want Greek cuisine in Toronto, this is a good restaurant to go to.

Da Ya Li

My friends and I went to Da Ya Li for our celebratory dinner at the beginning of July. My friends have been there before and they don’t recommend the Peking duck there. If you have a member’s card (it costs around $20) then you can get discounts on most of the dishes. You usually get $1 or $2 off each dish. One of my friends have a membership card. If you go several times then you would be able to recoup the costs of the card.

Peking style four bowls
Top left: meat
Top right: tofu
Bottom left: lion head (meat ball)
Bottom right: meat

Peking style steamed tofu

We had the Peking style steamed tofu ($3.49), Peking style four bowls ($10.99 membership price), Tofu with crab roe ($7.99 membership price) and Noodle with meat sauce and vegetables ($5.99 membership price). A friend also got a bowl of rice ($1). The Peking style steamed tofu was quite salty and it had lots of sauce. The tofu itself was quite smooth and tasty. My friends and I really like the tofu with crab roe soup. The noodle with meat sauce and vegetables was also very appetizing. My friends and I had our own preferences for the Peking style four bowls. I preferred the lion head the most out of the four options. The tofu and the meat (bottom right in the above picture) were also good. I didn’t like the meat (top left in the above picture) because it had small bones in it. Another friend preferred the meat (bottom right in the above picture) while the other friend preferred the meat (top left in the above picture).

Tofu with Crab Roe

Noodle with Meat Sauce and Vegetables

Overall, if you want to try Northern Chinese cuisine, Da Ya Li is another option for you to consider aside from Asian Legend.

Owl of Minerva

Back in early April when the power was out in most of Waterloo, my friends and I had dinner at Owl of Minerva because I still didn’t have power at 7pm. I’ve been to Owl of Minerva before at Uptown Waterloo and in North York on Yonge Street. The first time I went to Owl of Minerva, I was in elementary school. The last time I went to Owl, I ordered dolsot bibimbap.

Spicy Kimchi

One of my friends ordered Japchae because he’s a vegan and he liked eating Japchae. Another friend ordered seafood stew because she loves the seafood stew at Owl. The rest of us ordered pork bone soup because that’s the specialty of Owl. I really enjoy the pork bone soup at Owl. The kimchi we were given are spicier compared to kimchi at other Korean restaurants in Ontario. There’s only 3 kimchi dishes at Owl compared to the usual 4+ kimchi dishes at other Korean restaurants.

Pork Bone Soup

Seafood Stew

Japchae

If you want pork bone soup or any other Korean dish, Owl of Minerva is a good place to go to.