Review: Lunch @ Sansotei Ramen, Toronto

We arrived at around 12:30pm and after a short wait, was seated inside.  We ordered one Tonkotsu Ramen, and one Tonkotsu Black Ramen.  Between the two, I preferred the original one, without the added garlic oil. It's a decent meal, but not one that I would wait more than 10 minutes in line for.  I do wish they gave us more than 2 thin slices of pork belly though.

What we ordered

• 4/5 Great
• Tonkotsu Ramen ($9.6)
• 3/5 Good
• Tonkotsu Black Ramen ($9.85)

Summary

• Bottom Line: decent place for ramen
• Score: 4/5
• Food (i.e., Ramen and broth) is flavourful
• Service is good
• Value is decent (<$10 for a ramen)
• Seating environment is so-so, a bit cramped with hard benches.  Might have to wait for a table.

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Board Game Rankings

5/5 Fantastic Games.  A must-play.

• Agricola
• Pandemic
• Settlers of Catan
• Telestration

4/5 Great Games

• Battlestar Galactica
• Hanabi
• Istanbul
• Ticket to Ride

3/5 Good Games

• 7 Wonders
• Niagara

2/5 OK Games

• Are you the Traitor? Card Game

My Kitchen: How to Make Fried Rice Using Random Ingredients in the Fridge

Hi everyone!  Today I made fried rice with pretty much random things that I had found in the fridge.  Fried rice is best with overnight rice, so it is no longer soggy but has a slightly hard texture.  The key to a good fried rice is to cut up the ingredients to similar sizes.  I had zucchini, kolbasa sausage, onions, and eggs.  There really isn't a set recipe.  Just get whatever leftovers you've got in the fridge.  Eyeball the quantity.  This is not baking, fried rice is very forgiving with ingredients and quantities.  ;)

Steps

• Prep all the ingredients by cutting into bite sized pieces.
• Stir fry the onions and the ingredients (except the egg) so they have a nice brown colour. 
• Now slowly add in the egg to the ingredients.  Don't overcook it!  Set all the ingredients aside.
• Add the rice.  Leave it in the frying pan for a few minutes so the rice can crisp up.
• Add in the ingredients that you have placed aside.
• Lightly toss and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Done!

Tips

• Use overnight rice
• Onions, eggs, and pineapples are great complements to fried rice
• Cook the ingredients and fried rice separately before combining them.

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My Kitchen Recipe: How to make Korean Chicken with Sempio Andong Chicken Simmer Sauce

Hellooo my lovely friends!  I have this random packet of Korean sauce sitting in my cupboard for many months now, so have finally decided to use it.  

Now, I don't speak Korean, and as this was a gift from someone that went to Korea, unfortunately all the instructions were in Korean.  Uh-oh.  Luckily.  Aerie's Kitchen saved the day.  I found a recipe in a blog that showed you how to prepare this dish IN ENGLISH.  Thanks!  Here is the recipe that I used as inspiration Aerie's Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 1 packet Sempio Andong Chicken Simmer Sauce
• 8 chicken thighs
• 4 Parsnips
• 2 Onions
• 1 Spring Onion
• 1/2 cup of Carrots

Steps (adapted from Aerie's Kitchen):

• Put the chicken in boiling water for a minute to remove the fat.  Drain fatty water.

• Add 1 cup of water with the sauce.  When mixture boils, reduce to medium low and cook for 10 minutes.

• Add the chopped onions, carrots, and parsnip to the pot and cook.

• Add green onions.

• Serve and enjoy!

This is really a simple dish to make, and the sauce is perfect with the chicken.

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Review: Dinner @ The David Duncan House, North York

It was a rainy day when we arrived at the David Duncan House.  Situated at the north west corner of York Mills and Don Mills, the restaurant is on a rather large plot of land, so finding a parking space will not be an issue here.

The restaurant, true to its name, is more like a beautiful large house than a restaurant.  Once you step inside, you are greeted by intricate decor and woodwork.  It's interesting to see that they layout of the restaurant has a lot of "mini half floors".  A few steps here and there.  

We were promptly seated on the ground floor on a large round table.  My sister loves the caesar salad, where it is prepared table side with their house made sauce, so that's what we ordered.  I didn't feel like having steak that day, so opted for the BBQ ribs instead.  My parents ordered the Duncan Cut Prime Rib, which looked (and tasted) a lot better than the ribs.  So next time, order steak at a steakhouse!  

Dessert was tiramisu and baked alaska.  The Baked Alaska,   like the Caesar Salad, was prepared table side.  The portion is meant for two and it's worth ordering. Oh, and the Tiramisu, oh the Tiramisu was heavenly, possibly the best that I've had anywhere - a definite must-try!

What we ordered

• 5/5 Must order
• Caesar Salad
• Tiramisu
• 4/5 Good
• Duncan Cut Prime Rib
• Baked Alaska
• 3/5 Average
• Honey garlic ribs

Summary

• Score: 4/5
• Food: order the caesar salad and the duncan cut prime rib.  Skip the ribs.
• Service: good, but being served in a tux made me feel a bit uncomfortable (I'm a casual kind of gal).
• Seating environment: delightful!  Very elaborately and elegantly decorated.
• Value: a bit on the pricey side, but given that they can only have 1 seating a night, it's not bad.

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Review: Dinner @ Boston Pizza, North York

We visited Boston Pizza for dinner, and well, I'm not sure what to say about it.  The food is decent, not superb, but where they lack in food quality they make up in service.  Our server was extremely attentive and efficient.  

We ordered for appetizers the calamari, spinach dip, and the cactus cut potato.  I ordered the holiday special - Seafood Chorizo Fettucini with the Tiramisu dessert.  We also ordered a Tuscan pizza.  All in all, it was a decent meal.  Nothing particular great or bad about it.

What was ordered

• 3/5 Average
• Calamari ($10.99)
• Spinach and Artichoke Dip ($10.99)
• Tuscan Pizza ($17.24)
• Seafood Chorizo Fettucini ($18.99 combo)
• Tiramisu (included with combo)
• 2/5 Not my favourite
• Cactus Cut Potato ($9.79)

Summary

• Score: 3/5
• Food was average, nothing particularly delightful
• Service was great though
• Seating ambience was spacious and comfortable
• Price was on the high side (~$35 pp)

Calarami

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Tuscan Pizza

Tiramisu

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Review: Dinner @ Cafe Green Tea, Markham

Cafe Green Tea is located within the J-Town supermarket.  They offer delicious curry and noodle dishes.  I ordered the Curry with Breaded Pork and I did enjoy it.  You place the order at the counter, and when it is ready, they will bring it to you.  So it's kinda halfway between a restaurant and a fast food place I suppose.  It's not a bad place for a quick bite for solo eaters.

What was ordered

• 4/5 Great Eats
• Curry with Breaded Pork ($10.80)

Summary

• Bottom Line: good for solo eaters offering good curry and comfortable casual seating environment.
• Score: 4.5/5
• Food was pretty delicious.
• Price is slightly high for a semi-fast food place
• Service is good, happy employees
• Seating ambience is average

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Review: Dinner @ Congee Queen (皇后), North York

I have been a regular patron of this particular Congee Queen (皇后) location for several years now, and other than one brief unfortunately incident the week after their major renovation, have always found the quality and service to be consistent.  One of the better (if not the best) Congee Queen/Wong/Times in the city.

We usually order a variety of dishes, a combination of congee, fried noodles and rices.  I particularly enjoyed the salty and crunchy fried squid, and the teppenyaki beef. They do get busy on weekends, so come early!

What was ordered

• 5/5 Delicious!
• Teppanyaki beef (鐵板牛肉)
• 4/5 Good
• Salt and Crunchy Fried Squid (椒籃鮮魷)

Summary

• Score: 4.5/5
• Food: Probably one of the best HK style diner in town.  Consistently producing delicious food.
• Value: Great value for the food quality and quantity provided.

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Review: Omescape: Mysterious Study

There are no spoilers in this review.  However, if you prefer to know absolutely nothing about this room, just know that Mysteriuos Study is my favourite room at Omescape Markham.  Now stop reading and make the reservation!

I have now played all the room at Omescape Markham, and here's how I would rank them (based on my personal experience).

From Best to Worst (but honestly, there are no "bad" rooms at Omescape):

1. Mysterious Study (this review)
2. Penitentiary
3. Joker's Asylum
4. Kingdom of Cats
5. Dark Altar

Click here for a list of other escape rooms I have tried.

Mysterious Study has it all - personally I think it has the best features of Penitentiary and Kingdom of Cats.  All the puzzles flow logically, and there's a nice balance of exploration and logical puzzle.  All in all, my favourite room at Omescape Markham.

It's not a difficult room - the 6 of us were able to get out with 1 minute to spare with ZERO hints required.  That's right - no hints!  To succeed, you'll need to have a good group composition where each individual excel at a different skill - logic, math, "finding things", etc.  As with rooms we have come to expect from Omescape, they are extremely well designed with attention to detail.  This is a multi-room escape.  But unlike Dark Altar, this is not a scary room (yay to that!).

Mysterious Study remains one of my favourite room at Omescape.  *Maybe* it's because we escaped with no hints.  I'm not sure, but either way, gather a group of friends and try it out!

Summary

• The Bottom Line: One of the easier rooms at Omescape.  Also my favourite at this location.  I recommend 4-6 players for this room.
• Score: 5/5

Related Posts

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Review: Dinner @ That's Italian Express, Richmond Hill

That's Italian Express is one of my in-law's favourite restaurants, so we've been here several times already.  I've always found the service to be exceptional, and although I'm not too big a fan of Italian food (I know, I'm weird right?), I've always enjoyed dining here.

Out of the appetizers, the Mini Arancini (mini rice balls) was definitely my favourite   The veal shank, which was a special for the evening and not in its regular menu, was fall-off-the-bone tender, and accompanied by a a rich savoury mushroom sauce.  All that's missing is a side of mashed potato or polenta so I can mop up that delicious sauce.

What was ordered

• 5/5 Exceptional
• Veal Shank
• 4/5 Very Good
• Mini Arancini (mini rice balls)

Summary

• Overall experience: 4.5/5
• Food: loved the veal shank with its fall off the bone tenderness.
• Service: exceptional.
• Seating environment: cozy restaurant with less than 10 tables.

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Review: DInner @ Nolbu, North York

Happy fall everyone!  Tonight we decided to try out Nolbu, a Japanese/Korean/ Chinese restaurant around the Yonge/ Sheppard area.  I'm not which cuisine they are really - since the menu contains items from all three cuisines.  Last time I was at this location, it was a different restaurant, and I remembered that it was kinda dark and had a dirty pub-like  feel, so I'm glad that the new owners have decided to brighten the lights and make this a more family friendly place. I'd like to SEE my food.  :)

We ordered the Takoyaki appetizer, followed by Soon Tofu and a Sushi Bento box.  After placing our orders, we were given the usual Korean small dish appetizers. There were only 3 dishes though - kimchi, glass noodles, and bean stalks.

The Soon Tofu came in a stone bowl, and was hot and bubbling and full of favour.  The takoyaki balls were a bit smaller than what I'm accustomed to, and looked like maybe they were deep friend instead of made with a takoyaki grill? 

Sashimi in the bento box were fresh, but we found that the tempura was a tad soggy and the batter was maybe too thick - we *think* that it was because they forgot to give us the bento box.  The Tofu came out 20 minutes before the bento box, and we only got the bento box after following up on the order.  Maybe the chef had it prepared but the servers forgot to bring it out?

Our final bill with tips and tax came to $45 for 2.

What we ordered

• 4/5 Good
• Soon Tofu ($8.99)
• 3/5 Average
• Takoyaki ($6.99)
• Sashimi, Sushi, Roll, and Tempura Bento ($18.99)

Summary

• Score: 3/5
• Food: I liked Soon Tofu Bowl best, and the Sashimi was fresh.
• Value: the bento box was a bit on the pricier side at $18.99.  Soon Tofu is a good deal for $8.99.
• Seating Environment: Comfortable booths, there are about 10-15 tables.
• Service: good, but one dish came 20 minutes before the other - so if you're here on a date, it would be an awkward wait watching the other person eat while you twiddle your thumb.  :P

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