Well, it’s been a busy last couple of months. With a combination of closing off a few
projects at work, spring-cleaning and the usual stuff with the family, it’s
hard to believe we’re already in the month of May! Oh yes, and my work has me away from home for just about 3
weeks of it.
Funny enough, my last few restaurant experiences, all during
the month of April included some form of showers as the saying goes.
My first adventure (literally) was with a group of
co-workers on our way to a 100km challenging relay race event on the Bruce
Trail in Niagara. We drove to our
destination over dinner and so naturally had to stop and eat. I was pleased to find out I wasn’t the
only “foodie” on our venture. Side
note – I’m not sure that I’m actually a real foodie. According to Wikipedia, “a foodie is a gourmet, or a person
who has an ardent or refined interest in food and alcoholic beverages. A foodie seeks new experiences as
a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger.” I thought being a foodie required some
form of expertise. Well, I guess
I’m considered a foodie then.
1st Stop – Hamilton’s Chicago style Pizza
Shack! Apparently, these deep
dish pizzas are a rarity in our great city and of course since this now famous
place was featured on the Food Network show You
Gotta Eat Here with John Catucci, it was a must go. We were starving and skeptical about
the waitress’ recommendation that our order would be enough. Are you sure 2 pizzas and a couple of
side Caesar salads will fill all 6 of us? Well, she was right. We even packed a couple of “slices” to go! I quote “slices” because they’re not
true slices. Deep dish pizzas are
basically big pizza pies and so one “slice” is actually like a big sandwich
pizza. Oh, and the Caesar salad
was amazing! 
2nd Stop – Bi Bim Bap on Eglinton West (mid
April)– I know I know this stuff is not new. I ran into a Korean guy who looked at me cross eyed when I
asked him to educate me a little on the history behind these cool Korean dishes
that come in a hot stone bowl, and are basically a cool concoction of
vegetables and rice stir-fry. I’m
sure he’s thinking – “what a naïve white girl who wants to know where stir-fry
comes from – are you serious?” to
which I reply secretly in my mind: “Listen, I’m writing a blog and I’m hoping
you will give me something cool and insightful to write about – I get it that
it’s just stir-fry” Oh, then I
also want to add that I’m actually Armenian and therefore have the “knowing how
to cook” gene but that’s just taking it too far righ?
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| Starters that are included with your meal order |
So overall, the hot stir-fry in my hot bowl that I could not
touch without burning myself was fantastic! It was kind of neat getting to the
bottom of my bowl and still having to blow on my food before taking a
bite. I would say, best stir-fry
I’ve had out. It was healthy,
plentiful, colorful and delicious.
But wait, where’s the egg?
After seeing the picture at the front door of the Toronto Life article
commenting on the addition of the egg to the dish, I was really looking forward
to that experience. I think I just
got overwhelmed with the whole experience of simply ordering the food that I didn’t
realize until half way through my dish that I forgot to order the egg!
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| And for desert: Sweet cinnamon tea |
Last Stop -
(technically, this stop was on the 1st of May but it was raining
again so I’m categorizing it in April ;-) Pure Spirits Oyster Bar & Grill
in the Distillery.
So this was my second experience with the oysters so I am by
far no expert in critiquing them.
Nevertheless, I want to say that my experience at John & Sons
at Yonge & St-Clair was a little more tasteful. It probably helps that the waiter we had and J&S was
absolutely phenomenal and knew just about everything there is to know about
oysters. He looked the part with
his cute fisherman hat and was quite charming. He got a great tip that night!
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| Calamari |
Back to the distillery though – I can not remember which oyster I chose but they were basically the cheapest one from BC and the cheapest ones from PEI. Maybe that’s why they weren’t as good? Lol
My main dish definitely hit the spot though. BC Halibut served with crushed potatoes, foraged mushroom, roast garlic and spinach with a warm tomato and almond vinaigrette. It was divine.
My husband had the Calamari, which was cooked (fried really) like Tempura so a little Asian twist there, followed by the Black Cod Paella. This dish was good but a little salty to our liking. In fact, I like my food salty so believe me when I say this was a little overkill, almost to the point that we figured they may have made a mistake cooking it.
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| Black Cod Paella |
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| BC Halibut |
