Chester Eleganté's Profile
Scarborough To-Do List - What have I missed? What SHOULD I miss?
Thx Chuck. Been walking the earth, lol.
Scarborough To-Do List - What have I missed? What SHOULD I miss?
Not at all, actually. I should've saved'em for another thread. I tend to look at the Scarborough places for plaza-hopping on a drive -- a dish here, a snack there. These places tend to embody that. The vermicelli dish (+ spring roll) above is a good version, though I can't vouch for much else there. You're missing out on the brisket though. Rincon Latino and El Pulgarcito are two El Salvadorean places (a poster named jaimitoelosoa introduced them awhile ago) a couple blocks away from one another. The latter would be more suited to your purposes, but is still steps from fancy.
Below: they didn't used to have that hole in their storefront :)
Spring menu fever
It's a large Korean supermarket, emphasis on 'super'. Well, the York Mills location is...don't like the Yonge/Steeles store as much. Anyway, the Koreans specialise in utilising all manners of wild herbs and veg, so you'll find some pretty diverse stuff there. Also a pretty extensive cooking area for either takeaway or eating there (or a by-weight table that's much cheaper than Longo's), sections for sushi, tofu, good meats, seafood, preserved veg, bakery, cookware, and so on.
http://www.galleriasm.com:8888/# -- real jumbled splash page, look for the 'english' box in the upper right corner.
GTA Gelato Wars 2012
..and the limone, and the caffe, and the non-dairy chocolate, and so on. basically the old gelatiere flavours.
Broasted Chicken
Ya I would think so as they still have the equipment. It was just too much of a pain to make it and have it not sell.
Nicola Potatoes?
For any blood sugar concerns, instead of going through all these hoops to source obscure potatoes, just substitute it with sunchokes/jerusalem artichokes. They store inulin instead of starch so blood sugar impact is minimal. It's great for diabetics, and the inulin is also a prebiotic (food for your good bacteria), so it's also great for your digestive system.
Anyway, sunchokes have long been a hidden star in the tuber family, but it was interesting to hear Mark McEwan bring it to light at a conference talk he did last year - basically he loved cooking with sunchokes because he could use it as a replacement for potatoes in any cooked form: potatoes with a twist, as they taste great in a more distinctive way.
Broasted Chicken
The Somalian place (Cafe Sinai & Restaurant) on the SW corner of Lawrence and Pharmacy used to have it all the time as Fritou chicken, and then the new owners only did it on weekends or with special orders, citing a ventilation problem. Don't know if they've quit altogether. I think Akram's stopped recently as well cuz not enough people ordered it.
tacos within walking distance of kensington market area
go on weekdays for the tacos. weekends you get the down home stuff like barbacoa and carnitas.
Organic Big Burger - Brown's Line, anyone heard of it? On a daily deal site today...
Ol' Gritty Bastard.
Lemon Liberte - so good
Ya, it's a damn good tasting yoghurt, but the problem isn't the fat, it's the sugar. If you're gonna have it, have the Mediterranee 7%. Maybe I'll try making my own lemon curd to mix with the plain to see how it goes.
Lemon Liberte - so good
Hi Charlie, any trans fats such as CLA in their yoghurt are naturally-occuring. They're present in full fat dairy products and meats, and in much higher amounts if they come from grass-fed animals. For example if you look at a container of Haagen Dazs you'll find about the same levels. These types are readily used by the body and have beneficial effects on cardiovascular function and more. They're starkly different from the synthetic and hydrogenated trans fats you otherwise find elsewhere.
The Mediterranee will list 0.4g trans fat per 175g serving while the 2% and the Greek 0% - devoid of cream - will have it at 0g as you can round down to the nearest 0.5g, ie 0.
Coconut fan seeking 'Coconut Spread'
Ya, you can use it as a spread, stir it into your yoghurt or oatmeal, as a topping or icing, put it in many desserts, or better yet, just eat it off a spoon. The Artisana brand is great for its flavour and spreadability. The Nutiva one is okay. Huge benefits with this including a quick source of sustained energy (brain and body), helping with your thyroid/cold hands & feet and weight loss, and much more that you'd prolly want to look into yourself.
GTA Gelato Wars 2012
When it's on, Simply Italian's pistachio is the best, bar none. The freshness of the pistachios carries through so well and the vibrancy is in your face. Boreal, Soma, Ti Amo (Yonge north of Major Mac) - prolly in that order, from last year - are good too. il Gelatiere's may still be fine. Ventisette otherwise makes high quality versions like their chocolate and coffee, but pistachio was more of a whiff. Ed's has a good product. Hollywood is okay depending on which flavour. Arte sounds promising. La Paloma, Dolce, Sicilian Sidewalk and some of the others do not compare at all.
ISO organic yogurt in a multipack
It's not a pack, but there's a local brand called Zaika that makes 650g tubs of yoghurt. It's certified organic, unhomogenised whole milk, so that's about as good as it gets for commercial cow's yoghurt around here. It'll be available at Indian grocery stores, and I've also gotten it from the Metro in North York. Look for a white container with green letters - Zaika Dahi (yogourt). $2 a tub, can't beat that.
Spring menu fever
If you head to Galleria (where you'll get better quality veg anyway), you'll find an exotic collection of spring veg, such as fresh sea mustard, shepherd's purse, spring cabbage, wild rocambole & parsley, green laver, stuff like that.
matcha green tea powder
Look for DoMatcha at the health food stores, i.e. in Kensington.
Natrel Dark Chocolate Milk
If you want the actual best tasting chocolate milk, get the Harmony bottle.
Any great porchetta places in GTA
Waste? The fat's the best part. And yes, $10/lb, they just eyeball it, and if they go a little over, they'll usually just give you it for the ten bucks.
$23.60/lb at porchetta & co. It is to laugh.
100 Foods to Eat Before You Die - Toronto/GTA Edition
some of the common ones not mentioned:
25. crab cakes - Zee Grill, seasonal ones at Trio Ristorante, Bymark
65. oxtail soup - most Korean restaurants, i.e. Mot Na Son
83. sauerkraut - Polonez, Elle m'a dit, Globe Earth, any Eastern European restaurant, any supermarket
85. shark - Bake & Shark @ Drupati's
87. snake - Big Mouth Kee, Sam Woo, etc.
+
6. baklava - Patisserie Royale
22. churros - Cava
Scarborough To-Do List - What have I missed? What SHOULD I miss?
Rincon Latino - 1352 Kennedy - pork and cheese pupusas, yucca (but not the dried out chicharron), red snapper soup at Just Love Caribbean next door.
Patisserie Royale (Pharmacy & Lawrence) - walnut mammoul (my personal weakness), bassma, swar, borma (the most intricate), baklava, knefeh.
http://patisserieroyale.com/?page_id=130
Mona's - the doubles, and get their roti skins to eat with your Babu order from next door.
ACR - 2680 Lawrence - doubles
your Montmartre - organic sourdough on Wednesdays, bienenstich
Pho Vietnam - 1280 Kennedy - grilled pork vermicelli
Chiu Chow Boy - 3261 Kennedy - best beef brisket & tendon (on noodles) around
Sun's Kitchen - Pac Mall - cold hand-pulled noodles with shredded chicken and cukes in sesame sauce. Better cold to retain the bounce of the noodles throughout the meal.
Schwepps- Bitter Lemon?
C Market European Deli across from Folia Grill also carries it. And Sedo Snax on John St. in Thornhill has the Schweppes South African Dry Lemon with quinine, I believe.
Where's the best fried chicken in the GTA ?
Taste of the Caribbean in a plaza on the southwest corner of Keele and Sheppard. Excellent crisp coating that's strongly seasoned, large juicy and flavourful dark meat, around $1.25 per piece. Mary Brown's is pretty good too. Stockyards dark is one of the best; the white, not so much.
Where's the best fried chicken in the GTA ?
Mom's chicken at Galleria. Usually a twenty minute preparation.
Best Chinese BAKED buns in GTA?
Lucullus is the best of Richmond Hill but Fragrant is the only one I go out of my way for if I'm anywhere in the area. Coconut tart is my favourite and easily the best in town - no shell, all moist, eggy, coconut goodness. Egg tarts and wife biscuits are great, and can't go wrong with the rest - bbq pork buns, green tea/red bean/cream roll, egg white sponge cake, etc. Various choices are available in half size. There's also the sister store Aroma Bakery (via breakup apparently, and not to be confused with Aromaz) at Brimley & Sheppard that makes very similar items.
Folia Grill: pork gyros is not your typical gyros...its ridiculously amazing
I had the mixed pork and chicken sandwich about a month ago. Respects to the audacity with which he fills up this badboy, and the low price point going on. But I actually loved it that much more with the chicken pita from back in the day. It could be that I was starving at the time so right beforehand I had already gone through a fair portion of a jerk dinner and a stewed chicken dinner (try it!) from Caribbean Soul Food down the street so I didn't fully appreciate the porky delight. I'll be happy to try it out again though. Always good peoples working here.
below: old and new
Best Tasting Charbroiled Teriyaki Chicken Burger and more......Guess where??!!
What's up Chuck? I'm good, just staying on the down low, haha.
Best Lunch Picks - St. Lawrence Market
Naw, it's European Delight. Everything's good - latkes, schnitzel, pierogies, lasagna.
Also bifana and natas, the pasta and the sauce upstairs, dill & lime hummus at Uncle George's downstairs, peameal and mustards at Kozlik's haha.
