Friday, October 31, 2014

Sharetea

416-901-9988

Hot fresh taro milk tea ($4.60)
It has chunks! Ever since Chatime's taro milk tea became some grainy, sandy disappointment, I've been wanting some hot milk tea with chunks of taro. Sharetea delivers this. Sugar content is adjustable based on order. 

Would I return? Probably, just not if I am in a rush. It took a while for someone to take our order. And when the order was placed, there was a lot of confusion. I'm not really sure what was going on as Viv and the Sharetea girl had a back and forth discussion in Mandarin for our order of two drinks. Regardless, I was satisfied with the drink itself. Chunks! :D 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Sho Ryu Ken

Hakata Ramen Sho Ryu Ken (5321 Yonge Street)
(416) 733-3725

A new ramen place opened up on Yonge Street, and the first thing Jo noticed is that it is named after the uppercut move in Street Fighter. This was confirmed as we peered in from the windows; three paintings of Street Fighter characters in shadowy art style were hanging from the wall. On closer inspection, they are all holding ramen bowls. 

Chun-Li!


Hakata Tonkatsu ramen ($9.80) with egg ($1.50)
I wasn't too crazy about the price, as this seems more expensive than the average ramen place  (I think Ajisen runs from about $8-11). But it is slightly cheaper than Kinton (slightly further down on Yonge Street). The egg texture was awesome. The white part had this soft, silky tofu texture, and the yolk was creamy. It was perfectly soft-boiled; however, it was cold. After leaving it in the soup to heat up for a while, it tasted fine. The meat was great. It was fatty, but the fat in the chashu melted in my mouth. I don't usually like fatty meat, but it was kind of delicious. The noodles were thinner than what I'm used to, but they were bouncy and cooked to my liking. The soup base was okay, but it could've been more meaty flavoured. The amount of noodles seemed a bit scanty for the price, but it filled me up enough for a meal.

I think takoyaki was greened out of the menu.
There are four choices of ramen: Hakata tonkotsu, black tonkotsu, red hot tonkotsu, and chashu lover. They are all basically tonkotsu or variations of tonkotsu.

Would I return? Sure. Service was super prompt (which was way more than we could say for our recent experience at Mabu Station). We were greeted, seated, and given glasses of water almost immediately. I really liked the way the protein was cooked in my meal. I am very amused by the restaurant's name and decor. My only beef with the place is that it is on the more expensive side of ramen, and the soup base could use more flavour if that's the main base for all their ramen dishes. 




Sunday, October 19, 2014

Little India

416-205-9836

Hours of Operation:
Sun and Mon: 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Tues - Sat: 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

I was taken to this Indian restaurant by Vivian and Bianca. I have limited experience in eating Indian food, but I think I generally liked it.


I ordered the lamb vindaloo (middle). We were warned that this was the spiciest item on the menu. One of us asked of they could tone it down a bit, and they acquiesced. It was still pretty spicy. Vivian insisted on butter chicken (left). She said it was the best in Toronto. I thought it was too sweet for my likings; I'm not sure if I don't like butter chicken, or if I don't like that butter chicken.

Garlic kulcha
Apparently, this is a must, according to Vivian

We ordered some meat platter which was exciting in its variety. I think it also came with two of the three side bowls we had. 

Also eaten was the pakora appetizer. It was crunchy and tasty.

Would I return? Yes. The food is good, and the prices are reasonable. There were leftovers from what we ordered since we were all full to the max. The only thing that some people might be wary of is the smell; the food smell is quite strong and it hits you like a hammer in the face when you walk in. I think I'd be interested in their buffet available daily from 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Total damage: I think it was less than $25 per person. 



Sunday, October 12, 2014

Mabu Station

Mabu Station (5457 Yonge Street)
647-430-2175

Mabu Station is a Taiwanese-style bubble tea place. Me and Jo just wanted something to snack on while waiting to go for lunch. 
Mocha and popcorn chicken
The chicken was fresh, crispy, and salty. I like salty, so it was okay. The drink was okay, but nothing to rave about. All in all, our cravings were satisfied. 

Would I return? Most of the things on the menu seemed a bit expensive for what they were, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Every time I walk past this location, there seems to be quite a bit of people in there. They greet most Asians in Mandarin, and do not seem to switch languages after English responses. Our server was nice enough, and he was deeply apologetic in a funny kind of way when he forgot to get our bill after we had asked for it. 

Friday, October 3, 2014

Innis & Gunn

Innis & Gunn

I think this might be my favourite brand of beer. For a while, the LCBO was selling the rum finish and irish whiskey finish flavours, so I decided to try them before they stopped selling it.


Whiskey finish: manly, woody, not as sweet. There's a strong flavour, and a slight coffee taste. It has the highest alcohol content of the three at 7.4% ABV. It's okay, but not my favourite.

Rum finish: less sweet and a bit more alcoholic tasting than original. I might prefer it to the original since it is less sweet.

Original: vanilla hint, goes down easy. It is the most sweet-tasting of the three, and has a lighter colour. 

As I was drinking all three bottles simultaneously, I thought they went great with Cheetos. :D