BiteMe

Beef Noodle Soup

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:23 -0500

Nelson @ 佳客多牛肉麵: After visiting Taiwan, I have a newfound appreciation of the tendon in the beef noodle soup. Before I didn't like eating it, but after eating some expertly prepared tendon in beef noodle soup I am a believer.

My dad and I were wandering around the area where the first Din Tai Fung is located and came across this restaurant that had a lot of ads about winning prizes for having the best beef noodle soup. So we tried one with noodles and one with hand drawn noodles. This was incredibly good. It had a huge continuous piece of tendon as well that tasted really good. Actually tendon doesn't have that much taste, so really it depends on what it is paired with, but it adds a lot in the texture and the sensation in your mouth. I thoroughly enjoyed this one even though it was hot outside and eating this made me sweat even more.

In taiwan, there a solution to that problem, stay tuned for the next post!

Kensington Market Pie

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:24 -0500

dre @ College and Augusta: I first heard about this place after watching an interview with Joe Carter. The reporter asked him what he missed most about Toronto and he said, "The food! Every time I come back, I need to eat at Wanda's Pie in the Sky." I was intrigued to find out what Joe Carter loved, and discovered that this place was in Kensington Market. I made a mental note to check it out the next time I was in the area.

A couple months later, we were close-by, and biked there. There were so many pies to choose from, but I decided on the small very berry pie. It melted in my mouth! The crust tasted so fresh. The fruity filling wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. I will definitely come back and try different flavours!

More Random Snacks

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:08 -0500

Nelson: After visiting the museum, I was hungry again, so I ate some more random things off the street. I again picked the green onion pancake, but this time, the way they made it was interesting.

They took the bags you see in the lower right and put it on top of the machine. It then does something and out comes a pancake! Yeah, I have no idea how it works...it's magic. Anyway, they then take that and cook it on a flat surface with an egg. This place was different in that they included a herb with it (basil I think). I didn't like this twist on the classic formula and didn't enjoy it as much as I usually do.

The whole time we were there, I didn't have bubble tea, so I ordered one from this place. They had a whole bunch of tapioca, so I ordered tapioca with tea and green beans. This also turned out to be a disappointing, as it didn't taste that great and the beans didn't really add to the drink nicely.

Can't win them all I guess.

Summer Is Almost Over!

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:19 -0500

dre @ Queen and Airport: I got some BOGO (Buy 1 Get 1) coupons for Marble Slab, so we went there after a softball game. We just beat the crowd as we were deciding what to get because as we left, the line got really long. I decided to get blueberries mixed in with vanilla bean ice cream. Mike got cookie dough mixed in with vanilla cinnamon ice cream. It was really satisfying!

On another hot summer day, we used another BOGO coupon and this time Mike chose white chocolate ice cream mixed with Oreo cookies. I had peanut butter ice cream mixed with Nestle Crunch. I was really happy with my choice!

Random Snacks

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:02 -0500

Nelson: From my dad's place I would always walk by these places on the way to the subway. Even though I was not hungry, I popped into a local bakery and got a coconut/pinapple bun. It was quite large and quite buttery and quite good. I was so stuffed, but I figured this was my last chance, so I also went for some pot stickers. They were too tempting and I was able to order them in singles. Although I was stuffed it still tasted good. That's one of the best things about Taiwan, the variety of food available everywhere!

Mississauga Ribfest 2010

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:12 -0500

dre: This year's ribfest wasn't very good. They moved the location because the open area was under construction. The new place was narrow, which made it extra crowded. We definitely wanted to just get our food and leave.

This year I was smart and took a picture of the places we ate at. I chose Bib's BBQ, and I really enjoyed my pulled pork sandwich (the one on the left). Mike chose Blazin BBQ, which happened to the be same place he tried last year, but he forgot. His pulled pork sandwich was sweeter than mine. I liked mine better. Mine also looked bigger.

Richard chose Bad Wolf. I only had a small taste, but I remember his was pretty good as well.

I think next year we'll go back to ribs at Ribfest.

Japanese Curry Pork Cutlet Cordon Bleu style in Taiwan

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:35 -0500

Nelson @ Aubergine: After buying computers, we went to a curry place. My title contains 3 different styles that I suppose is a hallmark of Taiwan - the mixing of cultures. The meal came with a salad and onion soup (which wasn't that good). They also brought out a strange red liquid during the appetizers before the main came out. I wondered what this was. I shot it like a shot and it was some sort of vinegeary liquid. Not sure what that was all about...maybe someone can explain it to me?

I ordered an omelet containing fried rice and cordon blue pork cutlet. I should have gotten it slightly more spicy, but the sauce was good nonetheless. The pork was deep fried and filled with cheese and ham. The rice and omelete were good as well as filling.

It also came with a drink...I tried the calpis (not pictured). It sounds like cow piss when you say it out loud. But the taste is more of a malt flavour. Strangely enough, in Taiwan, they typically bring out the drink at the end of the meal. We had to special request that they bring it out during the meal.

Dessert was a yogurt/mousse like cake with a raspberry topping.

York & Angelica's Wedding

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:40 -0500

dre @ Shangri-La: York and Angelica had their wedding banquet at Shangri-La banquet hall. It was the first time I've been there, and learned that at the back, there is a small garden and nice photo area. However, the weather was crazy hot and muggy, so once we took a picture with the bride and groom, we went back inside to enjoy the air conditioning.

As the servers brought the food, they got used to me taking a picture before they distributed, so they were very helpful that way. It helped that everyone at our table was also used to me taking pictures.

They had a Chinese meal that started off with roast suckling pig slice with jellyfish, deep fried stuffed crab claws, and sauteed fresh prawn and scallop with pine nut and seasonal vegetables. The first 3 were typical Chinese banquet food and it was delicious.

I was very impressed with the superior shark fin soup, as the shark fin came out in tact. This is the first time I've ever seen it in one piece. At first I was skeptical, but when I tasted it, it tasted like shark fin. I was impressed.

I got a small piece of braised sliced abalone with seasonal vegetables (not a fan of abalone). The roast crispy chicken was very juicy and delicious. I had a small piece of fish. I got a double portion of lobster... yummy.

The rice and noodles were one of the best tasting I've ever had at a Chinese restaurant! I was glad they left the dishes there as I got seconds for both.

For dessert, I ate mango pudding and cookies, some fruit and some cake. In conclusion, it was one of the best Chinese meals I've ever had. Every dish was delicious! No complaints!

Shilin Night Market...at Lunch

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:59 -0500

Nelson @ Shilin Night Market: I came here during lunch time because I was nearby even though it is not "night" Most of the places were closed, but a few in the middle front were still open.

This time we tried the seafood soup that was in the fire the last time I posted about this place. The soup was thicker than I expected and tasted very seafoody. It was better than I expected, beacuse I didn't think it looked that good.

Next is a beef and noodles. I didn't try much of this.

Next is yet another oyster omellette, but this time you can see inside at the oyster goodness.

Next is a fried chicken leg over pasta with an egg. The sauce that went with this was quite tasty and I liked this dish the best. It also came with some buttery bread and a corn soup.

Hong Kong Style BBQ

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:15 -0500

dre @ Erindale Park: When we were invited to a Hong Kong style BBQ, I was skeptical. Why on earth do you want to sit around an open BBQ and cook food on a stick? It's going to take forever!!

Well, I was wrong. York and Angelica marinated quite a number of different meats - chicken wings, chicken breast, pork, beef, fish balls, etc. I figured out the system. Once you get over the hump of the first item, you can cook the next food item and take your time eating what you just cooked. I ended up eating a lot and it was a pretty relaxing, chilling time.