gimel's Profile
Avenue & Lawrence update.
Bombay Hut appears to be toast now, to be replaced by "asian fusion"...
Alphonso mango available at Price Chopper
They are similar, but Alphonsos are a little bit more resinous in flavour than Kesars; I find the Kesars have more floral scent, and I'm coming around to liking them a little bit better these days.
Note: although sunny market (leslie/finch) has Kesar mangos at $2.99/lb unboxed, they are not very good at all. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were some other cultivar entirely, based on the last batch I got their.
2012 alphonso mango sightings
Just a note that Kesar mangos are now in (at least at Om Food Center) - a little bit cheaper at $24/case, but more importantly I'm finding better quality in terms of lack of bruising and hidden internal rot compared to the Alphonsos I was getting there. Taste-wise they're similar to Alphonso, but with some of the vigorous terpenoid flavour dialed back in favour of increased floral flavour.
2012 alphonso mango sightings
$25/case at Om India Food Center in Thornhill (plaza at Dufferin/Center). I think that's a dollar or two more than I paid there last year. Make sure you pick and choose to get rid of any over-ripe specimens.
A few years ago my local no-frills had mini-cases of 6 for a really good price - every year I ask if they're going to get them again, and they think I'm mispronouncing Ataulfo.
Safari on Avenue Road
I have beers there on the patio from time to time, as it's convenient, usually has Stiegl on tap and has a slightly nicer atmosphere than the chain pub up the street. In that context, nothing wrong with the lamb burger or the odd salad - but I'd agree with the Milestones-is-better comment. Larger groups seem to enjoy the billiards upstairs.
Native Pawpaws
henryfields.ca sells the saplings. I've been sorely tempted, but a pawpaw thicket just wouldn't look that great in my limited garden space.
Finding Meyer Lemons
I gave up looking locally and got one online, probably from henry fields (can't remember now). It doesn't particularly like being inside over the winter near a north facing window, but it more than makes up for that lack of progress over the summer on the patio. It tends to drop leaves with temperature fluctuations, but it does bloom profusely in winter with just the tiniest hint of fertilizer. I haven't let mine set fruit yet.
Sapote / zapote in Toronto?
Diospyros digyna vs Manilkara zapota perhaps? Not familiar with the former...
Sapote / zapote in Toronto?
If you can't find fresh, Indian groceries also often have the pulp in tins, usually next to the tinned mango pulp.
Flying Fish?
I have bought them (frozen) at West Indian stores on Eglinton, west of Eglinton West station. Sorry to space out on the particular names of the grocery stores!
American Cheese, again
Saw two brands at Fortinos (Lawrence/Allen) the other day, both in the kosher refrigerator. I think one of them was Haolam, can't remember the other.
Has anyone tried "Bombay Hut" on Avenue Road?
Tried it last night, and the verdict was positive from me and my wife (who is brown and has high standards when it comes to Indian restaurants) - thankfully, the sins of excess oiliness and mother sauce laziness were avoided.
The chef/part-owner, a friendly fellow of Nepalese extraction, is recently ex-Banjara, having worked there since its opening, apparently. Not having eaten at Banjara, I can't offer comparisons, but friends have raved about the cooking there.
For app we had the onion bhajia, which was a huge serving and would probably suit 3-4 people. It came as large balls of fried, lightly battered onion strips. The batter was nice, and the sprinkling of chat masala made it legit.
The chicken biryani had well-marinated pieces of meat, and was sensitively spiced - maybe not Mother in Law quality, but plenty good for a restaurant.
The aloo matter featured peas cooked just right, not overdone as you often get it. My wife felt it could have had a higher pea to curry ratio, however.
I particularly enjoyed the lamb vindaloo, which seemed to have more layers and nuance to it than run of the mill versions. The heat was nice, and I didn't feel like they'd dumbed it down for the white guy at all. Perhaps the lamb could have been a little bit more tender, but I'm not complaining.
A complementary serving of warm gulab jamun was a pleasant surprise at the end of the meal.
We'll definitely go again, next time trying the seafood items on the menu. Not being huge fans of copper chimney (dry chicken, crummy lamb last time we went), it's nice to have a credible replacement for Mela on Avenue.
Belly Ice Cream - have you tried it??
Hey, I copped to it being my responsibility to inspect the label - it's just that it wasn't immediately obvious from the labeling what the product was, and frankly I was going off the recommendation in this thread, which is titled "belly ice cream" and which hadn't even contained a mention that there might be non-ice cream items in the product line at that point.
At any rate, I posted as a warning to others - scrolling back, it appears foodie_guru may also have made the same mistake: "The strawberry tasted so fresh and "strawberryish" I thought it was almost sorbet".
Belly Ice Cream - have you tried it??
I bought the strawberry/rhubarb flavour, assuming it was ice-cream - turned out to be a dairy-free sorbet sort of thing. I guess that's my fault for not closely inspecting the label, but I feel a little bit mislead.
Haliburton Highlands
We stayed at the Domain of Kilien once and ate quite well. It might be worth asking about dinner reservations even if you aren't staying there. They do wine tastings and such as well.
http://www.domainofkillien.com/
Avenue & Lawrence update.
damn, mine too. And I had a groupon to use too... maybe that should have been a clue?
Alphonso mangoes yet?
Got a case of 12 for $20 at Om India Food Centre (dufferin/centre st) - they don't look as good as last year's, but they taste as good as they should. They let you pick and choose the best fruit from a few boxes.
Anyone have reports on that mango home delivery service (buymangoes.ca)? I tried to use them last year but found them rather disorganized and nothing got delivered. This year it looks like Alphonsos are off their list, but they claim to be delivering Sindrhi, Dusehri, Chausa and Anwar Ratole as of "the last week of May".
Seeking opinions about Thai Plate
We order takeout from them all the time, very tasty and fresh at a reasonable price. I particularly enjoy the spicy beef salad. I was less impressed with the lunch buffet, although it wasn't bad.
Spicy pickles Toronto?
Second the Tymek's call - these are the closest thing I've found to what my grandma used to make. That link was a dud for me, tho. I've been buying Tymek's at Highland Farms (Dufferin/Supertest).
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Highland Farms
850 Ellesmere Rd, Toronto, ON M1P, CA
Where can I buy black radish (black Spanish radish) in Toronto?
Highland Farms at 4700 Dufferin has had black radishes the last few times I've been.
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Highland Farms
850 Ellesmere Rd, Toronto, ON M1P, CA
Technivorm brewing machines & grinders
I'm not the only one with this sharp edge issue - a little googling brought up a review thread on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Technivorm-KBT-741-Moccamaster-Polished-1-25-L/product-reviews/B002S4DI2S?pageNumber=3
towards the bottom of the page... this guy had a few other specific complaints on the design as well.
Technivorm brewing machines & grinders
I got my brewer from Elysian Coffee in Vancouver - they had Baratza grinders but not TechniVorm grinders, if memory serves. Good price, fast service. It could be worth emailing them to see if they have product that's not listed on the website. http://shop.elysiancoffee.com/
That said, I'm unimpressed with some aspects of the technivorm moccamaster, to the point where I would likely not purchase anything else from the company again. The coffee tastes great, don't get me wrong, but, for instance, the plastic parts seem really cheap, there's drip issues and a hard-to-work on/mid/off switch, and a very sharp edge all the way around the top of the jug that's drawn blood several times from me and my wife. Such flaws seem unreasonable on a unit that costs this much.
Naga Peppers
I have a ton frozen from this year's crop, if you want a few... I found drying them made them much more tolerable heat wise, so I made sure to freeze them to maintain the awesome power.
Where to get pawpaws?
grimonut, as mentioned in the article, was the easiest source for the trees, when I was researching this. I haven't bought these yet but I'm sorely tempted!
I have Heritage Foods USA bookmarked as selling the fruit mail order, but I think they were really pricey.
INDIAN/ITALIAN WEDDING MENU DISASTER + VENUE HELP
You could investigate La Vedette in Vaughn (http://www.lavedette.com/weddings_services.htm)
For our Hinjew wedding, they didn't charge extra for the fire (or have any fire by-law issues), unlike more downtown sites, and family style catering by The Host was great. Kosher requirements were met by an alternate or in house caterer. Word of warning - Indian guests may request Kosher just "for fun"... I think they do a lot of Italian and Greek weddings there, so it may be ideal for you.
Owl of Minerva Korean restaurant
I've eaten there many times, invariably with a gang of Korean friends post-soju bender craving specific delicacies that I never remember the names of... they always found it acceptable fare, although Korean options at that time of night are a bit limited and palates are perhaps a tad numb.
Issmi on Ave Rd. Don't bother
Yeah we live close by too, and Nara (and the rest of the sushi within walking distance for that matter, like Rainbow on Bathurst) has failed us to the point we won't order again. On the other hand, delivery from Sushi One is fast (well, we order before 6PM, can't vouch for later in the evening), decently priced and consistently fresh.
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Sushi One
4924 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M2N5N5, CA
