Antler Kitchen.Bar [Canadian]

Can I say it right off the bat that Antler Kitchen Bar (@AntlerKitchen) is my favorite restaurant of 2015 and it was to be expected from one of my favorite Toronto Chef, Chef Michael Hunter (@TheHunterChef). For so long we only got to taste his special dishes at special events, so glad that there's a permanent spot for all the goodness.

Antler celebrate regional ingredients with a menu that feature foraged ingredients and farmed game meat which mean you will find things other that the usual beef, pork and chicken. Farmed game meat and not hunted since Canada have very strict regulations for serving hunted game mean in restaurant (outlawed with exception for charity dinner).

The place have very limited seating with a long bar, although with 2 weeks advance reservation, we only got bar seats.

Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin $10

~ caramelized onions, foraged mushrooms, sorrel walnut pesto, puff pastry

This is for me the perfect example of foraged ingredients with the yummy earthy mushrooms and did I mentioned the super flaky super buttery puff pastry, Mushroom + Puff Pastry = I'm in heaven!

Jamaican Venison Patty $9

~ spicy dipping sauce

What a great take on the classic street food, love how it's served in the paper bag. Made in house, the pasty is incredibly light and delicious... no idea how I can go back to the regular ones now. Even the side of scotch bonnet hot sauce mixed with the sweet red pepper puree was perfect with the savory minced venison.

Lin's Chinese Bun 包子林 [Chinese - Scarborough]

 Lin's Chinese Bun 包子林 is hidden at a corner of a Chinese plaza at Finch and Midland. Last time we noticed it only after eating and notice that there was a long line, so we decided to come back this past weekend.

This is the type of small hidden gems that I want to keep to myself but too good not to share.

As the name says, it's mainly about boa aka Chinese steam bun but they also have items like marinated and smoke dishes which are just as delicious.

Fresh Tofu Pudding  特色豆腐脑 $2.49

The tofu is incredible smooth, I find it a tad bland so I added so chili oil which was perfect. And the liquid is perfect to go with the buns.

Kinka Izakaya [Tasting Menu]

Due to the ending of a franchise contract between Kinka Family Inc. and Kitanoya Marketing Corp, all 3 locations of Guu Toronto will be renamed as Kinka Izakaya (@KinkaIzakayaTO).

The name Kinka means Golden Flower and symbolizes Happiness in Japanese and aside from their name, nothing is change. Same staff, menu and quality that we all know. In celebration of the name change, we were invited to a Tasting Dinner featuring their popular menu items.

Love their selection of sake, very reasonably priced, good price range and each location has a slightly different selection.

I never knew that have a 9-course tasting menu for $33pp, all favorite dishes from their menu.

Gomaae $4

~ blanched spinach w/ sesame sauce

Love the sesame sauce, thick and delicious; always love starting my meal here with this dish.

La Merceria [Coffee]

Passed by La Merceria (@lamerceria) many times and I kept saying how I should come by this cute café for coffee one day and never did until a few weeks ago.

After entering, I realize it's a café slash home design store with display of household items for sale.

LUSH obsessed [Beauty]

I have been obsessed with a few LUSH Cosmetics (@lushcosmetics) this pass year and what not to love with all the effective handmade products made from fresh organic fruit and vegetables and finest essential oils and safe synthetic. Everything is made fresh by hand with little or no preservative with minimal packaging. Here's a few favorite of mine.

Roots

I have super fine hair which make it difficult to find a hair treatment that doesn't weight it down but this is a miracle. This is a hair and scalp treatment with minty cooling sensation that revitalize the scalp and extra virgin olive oil and honey to soften and condition hair to make it shine. This totally give my dull fine hair volume and shine without weighting it down. 

Healthy hair does start at the root!!!

Ocean Salt 

A face and body scrub, no synthetic preservatives self preserving formula. Love this salt scrub instead of my usual sugar scrub, this is perfect for oily to combination skin or acne pron skin. The minerals in sea salt soften as it scrubs away dirt, dead skin and blockages for a bright, fresh complexion. With the fresh avocado and coconut added to the mix it hydrate while the like and vodka deep clean and tone the skin; so no irritation or dryness with this scrub.

Boxcar Social - Riverside [Café-Bar]

Boxcar Social (@boxcar_social) second location of this cafe-bar hybird and just off Queen East, this is the perfect location for a relaxing afternoon.

Bigger and better with an amazing high 18ft ceiling with expose brick and beams, what's impressive is that they made all the wood furniture ad countertops themselves which looks amazing.

There's something for everyone from coffee, beer, wine to whiskies.

Just like their original location, there's coffee flight tasting available which I will def be back for (see my post of 1st location here). And I read that they also have a Whisky Tango Flight that consists of two features espressos paired with two half-once bourbons or even a pour-over paired with a beer.

Maha's [Egyptian] - Brunch

Maha's (@mahasbrunch) is an Egyptian brunch spot that I have been meaning to visit for a while but was discourage a few time when I saw the line up outside, this past weekend with the extra hour we finally went. No reservation but we waited for around 30-40 mins for a table of 2 at around 11am Sunday, a very reasonable wait time but be warned that the space is rather small, so I won't recommend for party of more than 4 people.

Love the little counter as we walk in, there's so many action going oh with the pastries, coffee and cashier. And the shelf that separate the front from the kitchen. With this type of wait, they should definitely consider expanding since the space next door is vacant.

Honey Cardamom Latte $4.95

This is their signature drink and I really don't know anywhere that serve this in Toronto. I generally do not like any added flavor to my coffee but this was delicious especially for the fall weather. You can see them grinding the cardamon for each order and the smell is just amazing. All the flavors are so well balanced. They also have Turkish coffee which I would love to try next time.

Foole $4

This was so delicious, this arrived piping hot and make sure to order this with a side of Pita $1 to scoop up all the goodness.