Food Review: Congee Time (North York)

In the plaza on the south east corner of Cummer/Yonge (just north of Yonge/Finch), there is another "Congee" type restaurant that delivers good chinese food.

It's not a chinese Hong Kong Style diner and that means the prices are slightly higher, but of course, for a supposedly better quality of food.

The restaurant can fit quite a bit, but being spacious is not one of their key attributes. The service is quick and the food is the same. I've had several meals here, and so far, I haven't had to complain... too much! 

Malaysian style noodles with seafood and veggies

As taste goes, this was eaten up pretty quickly. There's nothing about this dish I do not like. It was a very well done stir fried noodle dish. 

Next up.....

Trying something new, we had a very wet seafood sauced fried rice. This, like the Malaysian fried noodles, had a great taste. The spices were just right and the sauce made the fried rice that much more.

Overall, I rate this 4/5

It's simply a good chinese restaurant that does it authentic in style of cooking, way of serving and the prices aren't bad. 

Food Review: Tandoori House (North York)

Just around the corner from my neighborhood, I finally decided to try this Indian restaurant. Tucked between  many other restaurants, Tandoori House sticks out as the only Indian restaurant on that strip.

We made reservations for 6pm and when we got there, there were but few patrons already seated. However, once it passed 7pm, the restaurant was getting filled quickly.

Very traditional looking decor. The space could accommodate many patrons. 

The menu prices were fairly regular, same as I've seen with any other Indian restaurants.

Lamb Curry ($11.99)

Butter Chicken ($11.99)

Chicken Curry ($11.99)

Rice ($1.50)

The Butter Chicken was the best dish! It had a great taste! It was creamy with just enough spice to tickle our taste buds. The rice, as usual, was deliciously amazing.

Overall, I rate this 3/5

I'm not usually a big fan of Indian food, but I did enjoy all the different dishes! 

The service was very good

The location is central

The atmosphere was good

The price was average

The taste was good

=0)

Food Review: Mr. Congee Chinese Cuisine (Tsai Tsan Tang)

Here is my second review on one of GTA's HK diner restaurants

Mr. Congee Chinese Cuisine

Location: Warden & Finch (North West corner plaza, next to Price chopper)

This establishment is not as visible. It's located inside a very large plaza. However, if you keep going north on Warden, you see an opening into the plaza (left) and once you drive in, it has a medium-size sign.

I went in the late afternoon, which was just around the time they were serving afternoon tea. For those of you who don't know what afternoon tea is, it's set time (usually 3-5, sometimes as early as 2:30pm) where they have a different menu, greater value and along with the food, they provide a complimentary beverage. In this restaurant, they extend that service and offer 2 other options on top of the regular hot milk tea, coffee and lemon tea. At Mr. Congee (during afternoon tea 3-5pm), you can choose a Red Bean Ice Cream or Bubble Tea. *yum

The food here is not average, like most HK diners. 

My favorite dish was the fried rice, which was cooked perfectly and made very tasty. The soup noodles were as to expect, not bad but not great. My sister who had the beef in the red sauce, said it was not to her liking.

The restaurant is not too small, but not as spacious. The atmosphere and decor is very nice and very clean looking. The staff is so-so.

And best of all, the drinks. hahah It gets me all the time, I don't know why! I just find it makes the deal so much sweeter!

Overall, I rate this 3.3/5

Location .......... 5/5

Atmosphere ......... 4/5 

Service .............. 3/5

Prices ......... 3.3/5

Drinks ......... 5/5

I hope this post helped! =0) Enjoy your day everyone!

Food Review: Leslie Cafe (Tsai Tsan Tang)

I am a lover of hot milk tea and I am in search of the best hidden HK diner gems surrounding the Toronto GTA.

Since there's no real list or good list for Hong Kong Diner style restaurants in Toronto, I have decided to put matters into my own hands and do it myself. 

This is my first blog stop: Leslie Cafe 

Location: Leslie St. & Finch (North East corner plaza)

Specials Offer Daily:

Breakfast specials that end at 10:30am (or 11am, not a 100% on that) 

Afternoon Tea Specials between 2:30 - 5:30pm

I came here with 2 other people on a late Sunday morning. It was nearing 11:30am and we were very hungry. Other than that 2-sided menu (above), we noticed that in their "regular menu" that their prices were just as good. We definitely liked the extension on good priced specials.

If you order from their Special menu, you will also receive a complimentary drink. You may choose from the following:

Hot milk tea 

Hot water

Coffee

Hot Lemon Tea

This was each of our orders...

They look gigantic, don't they? Well, it's really that big. Of course, you can immediately tell that the "food" itself is only drizzled on top while a massive amount of rice is embedded underneath. 

1) Smooth Egg with beef on rice (back, left)

2) Spare ribs with black bean sauce with veggies on rice (front)

3) Curry chicken with veggies on rice (back, right)

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My thoughts on the 3 dishes:

The best tasting dish turned out to be the smooth egg with beef. The sauce mixed with the rice was a very easy to please. 

Unfortunately, my order of "spare ribs" was very disappointing. There was little to no meat on any of the spare ribs. The spare ribs themselves seemed smaller. What saved the dish was the sauce. 

My least favorite dish was the Curry chicken with vegetables on rice (photo below). I did not taste any flavour. It tasted very bland and boring. There were no spices and nothing to help save this dish. It was a big disaster, I'm sorry to say.

The thing that saved whole meal was when I had my first sip of my Hot Milk Tea. The creaminess with the tea itself was made to be very tasty. It was not watery and the tea flavours were bursting out and dancing on my tongue. 

Overall, I give Leslie Cafe a 2.9/5

I was very pleased with the service (easy & quick)

For a HK diner in TO, I was pleased with the cleanliness and modernity of this place

I was very pleased with the big portions offered

Beware of what is good and not (If you happen to be like me and miss 2/3 of the dishes, then be smart for next time, if you ever go back)

I was very pleased with the hot milk tea

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And in case you're curious to try, here's the menu for the value prices:

Thanks for reading. Keep looking out for my HK diner reviews. =0)

For sale: ipod touch 4th generation 32gb

32 GB

I’ve decided to finally upgrade and so I’m selling my ipod touch (32gb).

For sale: $210 CAD (local buy only please)

While my ipod touch is used, I am offering to bundle in my BRAND NEW & UPGRADED accessories (headphones w/ microphone, charger, 2-way split headphone jack)

It's in PERFECT condition even after usage. There are NO major scratches!

I am flex with the price too! =0)

Leave your email in the comment and let me know! =0)

Food Review: Avenue Open Kitchen

At a nearby diner, I go for my first time to try what my co-workers call "good food" at Avenue Open Kitchen (Richmond St West/Spadina area).

For all the locals around, they provide daily specials. Each day is different. I went on the day they had short ribs. Sounding very tasty and realizing I haven't had a "southern meal" in quite some time, we all head out to grab some food for lunch at Avenue.

With very limited seating at the venue itself, we opted to get take out and bring it back to work. 

All the same order of short ribs.

With a side of mashed potatoes, vegetables and 2 buttered slices of bread, the short ribs made for a very tasty and more-than-enough to fill anyone's stomach.

The short ribs had a very succulent sauce and tenderized ribs with meat that fall-off-the-bone. The vegetables were rather plain with very little taste. And the potatoes were even better after I add the short ribs' drippings over the top. And lastly, the bread was not much to talk about -plain but filling.

Overall, it did the job and if so, it lasted me through dinner as well. 

Take out was quick, food was good.... overall a solid 3.8/5 stars for Avenue Open Kitchen in downtown Toronto. 

Korean drama watch: BIG

It's been a while since I've done my 16 hours of watching-k-dramas like there was no more tomorrow. It can get very exhausting after your 10th drama... well, really depending on your vision and internet streaming strength.

After being in the military for a little over 5 years, one of my favorite korean actors, Gong Yoo (also his last drama before going into the military, 1st Shoppe Coffee Prince, was my first korean drama ever) came right back into the game with a fairly new drama called BIG.

(courtesy of google photos and KBS)

It's ultimately about a body switch between 2 guys (student and a doctor) and a girl they both know -in some way. To one, she is his teacher and to the other, he is her fiancee.

I have yet to finish, with only one episode remaining. After watching 1st Shoppe Coffee Prince and then in this role, I was very disappointed. His acting stayed the same, but it was the story that didn't quite make it as a hit show for me.

But for me, I like to watch Gong Yoo no matter what. He is a delight at comedy and his adult and childish ways are always very entertaining.