Wei's Kitchen 阿緯廚房 [Markham - Chinese]

 As usual we try to stay uptown during the weekend and this week we had no special cravings, so we random picked a place to try. We decided to head to a noodle place in First Markham Place but when we passed by Wei's Kitchen 阿緯廚房, we change our mind since this place was packed.

It's a rather small space with no décor, fans around to keep you cool and menus on the wall. Probably the worst looking place in First Markham Place.
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 5 Flavor Duck with Rice 招牌五味鴨飯 $6.99

This was the first item on their Lunch Specials menu and I didn't even look further and decided I had to try this. Although the sauce look rather thick, it was delicious with sweet and sour flavors. The duck was perfectly cook, tender, moist and very flavorful even without the sauce.
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Dufflet® Gluten-Free Desserts [Launch]

Dufflet Pastries (@dufflet), the ground breaking Canadian Bakery founded by Dufflet Rosenburg is launching a gluten-free line. I am not sure about you but as soon as I hear gluten-free, I will assume that it won't be as good as the real thing. Since I don't have Celiac disease, for me Gluten-Free usually mean sacrificing taste and texture, so I was excited to see if this would change my mind.

 

All the items here are certified by the Canadian Celiac Association and they are all made with premium gluten-free ingredients with no artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.

 

 

 

This gluten-free line will be available across Ontario and Québec and will consist of the following tasty items:

 

• Carrot Cakelet®

• Chocolate Cakelet® 

• Pink Velvet Cakelet®  

• Lemon Tarts 

• Fudge Tarts 

• Devil’s Food Cupcakes & Heavenly Vanilla Cupcakes 

• Chocolate Chunk Brownie – Chewy fudge brownie with dark chocolate chunks.

• Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroon 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to received a pack of the Dufflet's Gluten-Free Lemon Tart and I am not going to lie but it does taste different from the regular stuff with the crust being extra fragile in comparison but it was still delicious nonetheless. This is a really great option for people with Celiac disease and even if I don't, I would love to try their other product from the line especially the Cakelets which look so pretty (just look at the adorable cube pink velvet cake picture above)

 

 
*** Products are complimentary. All opinions are my own *** 

Delicious Food Show 2014 [Contest - Closed]

I'm giving away ONE PAIR of tickets to 

Delicious Food Show
 

Taking place October 17 to 19 at the Direct Energy Centre, the Delicious Food Show (@deliciousshow) is back for another year with even more amazing line up of celebrity chefs, cooking demos, workshops and of course the many exhibitors.

 

This year highlights :

– Chefs Mario Batali, Tyler Florence, Chuck Hughes, Roger Mooking, Nadia G, and Cronut inventor Dominique Ansel will be taking to the stages for demos, talks, and workshops throughout the three-day event

– Over 100 purveyors of premium products and fine foods will be on display, showcasing their absurdly delicious eats and treats

– Taste Canada Cooks the Books will pair one famed Canadian cookbook author with groups of students who will have to prepare one recipe from the author's book to vie for the title of Canada's Best New Student Chef

– Naturally Delicious will see a host of vendors with foods and products that are all-natural, organic, raw, gluten-free, free of additives and preservatives, and overall promote a healthy lifestyle

– #DeliciousHotspot will highlight some of Toronto's top restaurants and pop-ups, with show attendees able to purchase samples to taste their edible excellence

– A very special edition of Abbey's Kitchen Stadium will pit eight (8) of Toronto's top chefs against each other in an all-out maniacal melee
(my fave part of the show last year, see my post here)
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Tickets are $20 each online and $22 at the door - get your tickets here

 

Good Luck!!!

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/26c99bed3/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway



Jung Soo Nae [Korean]

We were actually heading to another Korean restaurant for lunch this past Sunday and it was not open, so we decided to give Jung Soo Nae a try since I've heard they have raw crab. Not many restaurant have this dish so I was excited to try it since it crab season.

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 Jung Soo Nae is apart from any other restaurants and it located at the floor of an old tiny apartment building that stood kinda apart from everything else. Nothing fancy but a very comfortable space with all the dark brown benches and tables.

All of their side dishes was really good (^_^)

GanJang GeJang $14.99

~ Raw Crab marinated in JungSooNae's special unique soy sauce

The crab was fresh which is very important when eating anything raw and it wasn't overly salty like many other places. This dish is basically meant to be on the salty side and you are suppose to eat it with rice. The soy was slightly sweet which was very good and it was definitely marinated for the right amount of time... nothing fishy or weird tasting.
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Bang Bang Ice Cream [Dessert]

Have been a big fan of Bakerbots ice cream sandwich (see post here), so I was so glad that they open up
Bang Bang Ice Cream (Instagram: @bangbang_icecream) shop on Ossington which was a much more convenient location.

There was just a small sign by the window which you can easily missed and the space inside was rather bare and lack the cute touches compare to Bakerbots. Maybe it's not a permanent location?! Everything was very minimal... they had the ice cream selection on the buckets which I thought was a cute idea but not very as cute looking as it should be with some hand written paper stick on. A simple blackboard would have work and look much better.

Cookie wise they had the same selection as Bakerbots while they have a rotating ice cream selection.

 The Hong Kong waffle 雞蛋仔 display didn't look the best, so we skip on that (we are picky about that since we are HongKongers after all).

The Saint Tavern [Gastropub - Brunch]

I think I have been to most of the restaurants on Ossington now with the exception of The Saint Tavern (@thesainttavern), not sure why since I have only heard good things about them. Since we didn't have plan this Sunday morning, we decided to head there for Brunch and it was delicious and can't wait to come back for dinner.

 


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Love the fancy diner décor with the dark brown furniture, the white subway tile, the round ball lights, the long bar and the semi round booths. Love the contrast of the light from the windows by the front and the darker wood interior.

Maple Bourbon Bacon $8

Drench in a thick maple bourbon sauce, who can resist the sweet and savory combination especially for a lazy Sunday brunch. My kind of candy!!!
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Ham Steak $16

~ grits, poached egg, red eye gravy, toast

Loved everything on this plate, my only complain is that one of the egg was way overcooked and didn't have a runny yolk (>_<) The ham was so flavorful, love it with the creamy grits, the runny egg and the pop of tart from the roasted tomato to balance everything out.
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Detour Coffee [Dundas]

We recently made a mini day trip to Hamilton and decided to drop by Detour Coffee (@detourcoffee) for a quick coffee but since they were still serving lunch, why not.

The streets was rather empty and this cafe is probably the most people I have seen on that long weekend Sunday early afternoon. Love the small cozy café feel of the space with the blackboards and vintage pastry display etc. They only have drinks menu displayed but they do serve lunch and dinner. It's a pretty small space but they do have a big patio outside.

Needed my daily dose of coffee, this was not only the perfect foam art but also a delicious cappuccino. Since they provide custom espresso roast for Dark Horse Espresso Bar (@darkhorsecafe) in Toronto, I knew I will like their coffee.

Butter Tart

Love how the filling oozes out when you bit into it, so good and isn't the random pastry shell cute, look like a flower.

 

Marben [Mediterranean] / Zomato

Since Chef Rob Bragagnolo (@RobBragagnolo) took over the kitchen of Marben Restaurant (@MarbenResto) a bit more than a year ago, I have only been for brunch (post here) and have been wanting to drop by for dinner since then.  

I was invited to a foodie gathering by the folks of Zomato (@zomato) , a new foodie guide app similar to Yelp and Urbanspoon. You ask what make them different?! They focuses on updating all the restaurant in the city with a very user friendly navigation.  Search can be done by area, recommendation, activity of people you follow, where popular foodies including bloggers, food writer and magazines go to eat. You also get to interact with followers and other foodies plus a wishlist/to-eat list.

Toronto Zomato will be available sometimes in October and I am so glad to be part of the Community. Make sure to follow me!

Will definitely be talking more about it when it launches (^_^)

I got there a bit late, so I didn't get pictures of some of the first dishes but did get to taste a bit of everything.

Artisanal Cheese Board $16

~ walnuts, toast, seasonal chutney

Daily Baked Breads $5

~ rye sourdough, carta de musica, focaccia, smoked butter, beet humus, red wine salt

You know how much I love bread and love everything here from the yummy bread to the smoked butter plus what's not to like about the pretty red beet humus. I really wish I have a picture of the whole thing to show.

Patatas Bravas $7

~ crispy potato, spicy tomato, smoked paprika, aioli

This was so good, the sauce was to die for and I am glad that how it's "over sauced"

Pan Cristal con Tomate $9

~ Spanish crystal bread rubbed with tomato 

Taro's Fish [Japanese]

Taro's Fish use to be in J Town back in the days and is now on Sheppard and Leslie right across Canadian Tire. They use to do mainly take out when they first open but are now doing sit down lunch as well. On top of the take out menu, there's also a bunch of per-packed sushi and sashimi available to choose from.

We have been here many time for take out and never thought of writing a post, what better occasion than when we went this past Saturday for a sit down lunch.

Ebi (Shrimp) $4each

Saw a bucket of these live shrimp by their counter, so we just had to order them. They were selling them by the pound and we got four which end up being $3-4 each. When I bit into it, I was scared for a sec since the shrimp was still moving (can't get fresher than that).



Scallops Sashimi $8

This was a pre-packed one from their fridge and the 5 huge scallops was less than $8. When we bought that to the cashier to pay with the rest of our order, they took it and kindly plate it and scalloped it for us. This is definitely one of the best deal ever, so big and fresh.



Chirashi $13.50

~ Tuna, Salmon, White Fish, Octopus, Shrimp, Egg & Chef's Choice

It's not the best looking Chirashi (sashimi rice bowl) that we've had but it's a really great deal for the freshness and perfectly seasoned rice.

Sushi Deluxe $25

~ 6pcs rolls & 8pcs nigiri



Verdict :

We have been many time and I am sure we'll be back many more.

Although it's on the expensive side for a "non-restaurant" setting, the quality and freshness is all worth it. Definitely get what you pay for.