Grand Electric (Lunch)

I haven't been back to Grand Electric (@grandelectricTO) since my post here due to their famous 2hrs lineup. They over seven days a week for lunch, so we decided to give it a try for lunch one Saturday since we passed by a couple of times not seeing lineups..... and lucky us, we only waited for 20-30mins, just enough time to grab a coffee across the street (^_^)

Simple menu on the board just like dinner.

They have the same taco choices and a lot of the other dishes for both lunch & dinner, so I would suggest coming for lunch to avoid the long wait and still enjoy their yummy goodness.

Spicy Caesar $10 & Ceviche Monkey Beer $6.50

Pork Belly Torta $9

I am so glad that it came with the wet-naps since it was very saucy and was quite messy but incredibly delicious. The pork belly was just melt in your mouth good with the thick spicy sweet sauce and also love the bun which soak up the sauce nicely inside but without soaking through the crust. (had the taco version last time here and it was my fave taco of the night)

@EyalPastryChef at Boehmer Restaurant

Remember when I mention that we had other plan after dinner here, it's because we decided to head to Boehmer Restaurant after seeing a tweet pic by Pastry Chef Eyal Liebman (@EyalPastryChef) earlier, where he will be cooking for the night.

Since we ate already, we just went in for the dessert and a drink

This Black Current Souffle was an ice cream which was so light, airy and perfect. This was a rather large portion bit since it was so good, we definitely have no problem finishing it.

We sat at the bar since at 10:00pm at night, the place was still incredibly packed.

Ben had a glass of wine while I try to be adventurous and try a cocktail but this Glamorous Cocktail was rather sweet and plain and was a horrible idea to have it with the dessert.

Hawthorne Food & Drink

I have been meaning to try Hawthorne Food & Drink (@HawthorneTO) since it first open but maybe it's a bit too late since Chef Eric Wood, the visionary behind the restaurant have since left for other projects and his sous-chef Bihn An Nguyen have since taken over. Hawthorne's mission is to empower and educate hospitality workers in the city and work alongside UNITE HERE Local 75 to create a paid intership program.

Wanting to make a reservation for 8:30pm Friday but was told that they were full and only seats at the bar available. But arriving on time, we found a half empty restaurant (>_<)

Upon entering the place, I can only imagine how bright and beautiful it will look during the day with light shinning on the mason jars through the large windows
.

They had an all Ontario Beer list, very short wine list, house-made sodas and an extensive cocktail list.... with pages to choose from, I just had to decide on one.

JitterBug Perfume $12

~ Victoria Gin, Lillet, Candied Beet Juice, Honey/Craked peppercorn

Since I love beets, I just had to try this one and it was delicious. Not too sweet w/ a hint of the beet juice and don't you love the mini beet salted beet skewer on top ;)

Lisa Marie (fidel gastro)

Lisa Marie is the newly opened Queen West Restaurant from fidel gastro (@fidelgastros) Matt Basile. The kitchen here will be doing double duty as the production central for his food truck Priscilla as well. Being a big fan of all his pop-up, I just had to go try as soon as they open up.

I made a reservation for the 2nd day of their opening.

Continuing with their Elvis theme, the space was rather spacious with a bunch of high communal tables on one side. It was in no way a tight space but with the high backless bar stool, I wished there was some kind of hook underneath the table or by the wall to hook my bag or coat.

Somehow I really like the rusty lamp they had (^_^)

 

At the back, there's many marinated raw meat and canned good to bring home.

I bought their last Jar of Bacon Jam ($7) which I just tried and love, it wasn't oily like many other brands and was packed with bacon. I will have to go back to try the marinated meat as well, a brown butter Guinness marinated chicken sort of catch my eyes =P

Love how they are serving all local Beer & Wines

Their menu consist of 11 items, thing meant to share while the menu displayed the special for the bigger plates and desserts.

 

The Ritz Carlton - Afternoon Tea

A few weeks ago, me and the girls went to Ritz Carlton for Afternoon Tea and we went for the Classic Tea at $38pp. There's also two other choice: Posh Tea $72pp (w/ a glass of Veuve Clicquot Yellow) and Royal Tea $88pp (w/ a glass of Veuve Clicquot Rosé). Since none of us are big fan of champagne, we`ll save some $$ and go with the cheaper choice (^_^)

I was disappointed that there was only 8 types of tea to choose from.... and although it was loose tea leaves here, we were not given strainer or anything and I assume tea bags are being served here.

 

Although the presentation looks great on picture, I find the "display case" rather dated in real life with chipped paint on the sides there. And the glass keep moving when you pick up each piece from the sweet display.

Yorkshire Valley Farms #ChickNDip [EVENT]

Back on Feb 28th, 10 food bloggers and Celebrity Gastro-Entertainer Christian Pritchard was invited to test out Yorkshire Valley Farms' Organic Chicken Nuggets (@YVForganic) at the gorgeous Sub-Zero Wolf Showroom. At this Chick N' Dip Event, we got to sample their organic chicken nuggets along with 11 sauces.

Within those 2 hours, I ate more nuggets than needed so yes they were tasty.

They were small tiny bite size, moist and delicious even on it's own... yes, even without any dipping sauce.

Magners Pear Cider

To refresh our palate between dips

McEwan's Bacon Jam (@McEwanFoods)

This was probably the favorite of most people, me included ♥

No need to say that i finish the jar in no time, perfect on bread and even better w/ roasted tomatoes.

Also love it on a cheese broad as well, basically it's good on anything since everything taste better with bacon ;)

Quinta

Opened since last summer,I have been hearing good things about Quinta (@QuintaTO), a Portuguese Restaurant on Dundas. Just like many new restaurant, they had minimal decor but a lot more spacious than most.

I only had Macau Portuguese food before, which adapted to our Chinese pallet... so I am not sure what's authentic Portuguese food taste like ?!

They have have a small menu of 5-6 main to choose from and a few more special on the blackboard.

As soon as we sat down, water was pour and snack was served. What a great start (^_^)

The salty deep fried fishies which would be perfect w/ a cocktail or beer, but it was so good that we finished it before even having a change to order,

Malivoire Red Bordeaux Bland 2011 - $38

Charcuterie Board $16

~ Cow's feet terrine w/ egg white center, Pork terrine w/ walnuts, dates jam, Duck liver mousse cover w/ duck fat, duck confit rillette, spicy duck gizzard, chorizo, pickled Shiitake & veggies

It's a deal at that price, everything on this board is made in house with the exception of the chorizo.

Everything was so good, I especially loved their pickled veggies.

Sugarbush-ing Outfit [OOTD]

 The trees was so pretty at the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival (post here) that I had to take a few pics. Nothing much, just a very simple casual comfy outfit for the day.

Got the colorful pompom bag end of summer last year on sale for $7.99 and I finally got a chance to use it... and I have to saw I ♥ it a lot which mean you'll be seeing a lot more of it ;)

Outfit Details: 

Jacket- no name (old, from Hong-Kong); Shorts - F21; T-Shirt,Tights, Necklace & Sunnies - H&M; 

Bag - UO (on sale for $7.99)

Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival

This is actually my first time at a Maple Syrup Farm/Festival and I was just thinking of finally plan a trip. And it just happen the people of Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival send me a email inviting me to go and I got my tickets within days in the mail (^_^)

There's 2 location to choose from that are within 1/2 to 1 hour drive from the city. We decided to go to the Bruce's Mill location which was less than 20 minutes drive from our house.

The festival is open beginning of each Spring and run for 4 weeks (March 2nd to April 7th for this year). It really great for family with children. There's also picnic tables all around, would be great to pack a small feast of the weather permit.

 There's hourly wagon ride and guided tour around the trail.

Love how there signs all around explaining the Maple Syrup making step by step. This allows you to go on a self guided tour without the small crowd and at your own pace.

Did you know that it actually take 40 buckets of Sap to make only one bucket of syrup.

The best trees for maple syrup making are sugar maples, because they have the sweetest sap but Red, black and silver maples saps are also good for syrup making
.

Sparkly + Military + Studded [OOTD]

Love at first sight when I saw this skirt in a Joe Fresh commercial where they paired it with white button down and white sweater. I wanted to recreate that look but then realize that it wasn't very me. 

So here's my version for a more casual look with a military jacket and studded boots which also toughen up the sparkly dressy girly sparkly skirt.

Outfit Details: 

Sweater- ZARA; Skirt - Joe Fresh; Jacket - F21 (on sale for $9.99); Bag & Sunnies - H&M; 

Boots - Sam Edelman Lockhart from Capezio

Messini Authentic Gyros

Messini located on the Danforth is probably know to serve one of the best Gyros in Toronto and I haven't been until a few weeks ago, mainly because of how pack it is no matter what time and day. 

It's not only a cheap eat here but also a late eat spot, open till midnight from Sun-Thurs and until 4am on Fri-Saturdays.

We arrive at around 2pm on a Saturday and the place was packed both with people ordering take out and people waiting for a table. Although it was packed, we had to wait for only 10-15mins.

Greek Fries $4.20

It's basically Fries w/ oregano and feta then put under the broiler for a bit so the cheese just begins to melt. It's just as simple and good as it gets ;)