It was a very nice Saturday early evening. After the one-month trip, suddenly I realized that I’ve gained a different perspective. I’ve always looked at Toronto from a resident’s point of view. This is the city where I live. Even though I’ve spent a decade in Hong Kong, I didn’t reflect when I came back to this city. Everything seems to happen for a reason. The reservation was for 6pm, but I got there 20 minutes early. So I decided to walk around the area and take some pictures - just like what I did when I was visiting other cities. I felt like a tourist, re-exploring Toronto. Toronto’s weather is perfect in this Spring-summer season. Enjoy it while I can.

5:58pm. I was brought to the table. The staffs were very friendly and polite. JK joined me in a couple of minutes and got me a lot of gifts. (Thanks again!) While chatting about work, travel, cosmetics, etc. and waiting for MR, I also noticed that the restaurant patrons were generally more mature. Scaramouche has definitely done an excellent job developing and keeping its loyal customers in the past twenty-something years. I’ve heard about the amazing consistency in food quality and service of this place, and I was happy that I could pay a visit, as one of my finales (season 2008) in Toronto.

A view from our table. The view could be nicer - if you sit at the tables near the glass window. I could imagine it’d be quite romantic at night. The atmosphere of this visit, I’d say, was a bit different from our previous dining-out experiences - one thing was that we dined with the daylight this time.

Selection of breads. Yes, they definitely had one of the best selection of breads. We loved it - especially the baguette and the walnut breads. *bread-lover alert*

Amuse bouche.

Minestrone. According to MR, the ingredients were finely diced.

Tian of Snow Crab - Gaspe Snow Crab with avocado and cucumber. Tomato mayonaise and garlic crouton. Both JK and I wanted to order this - so as usual we ordered to share. I liked it - very refreshing. I like crab meat. The only thing was that I found a small piece of thin shell in there. I guess it wasn’t a perfect dish for the elderly.

Yellow Fin Tuna - Sashimi grade tuna tartare marinated in lime, ginger and soy, with coriander and crispy taro root. Caramelized soy glaze and citrus sweet chili sauce. Very fresh tuna - marinated just right. Oriental obviously, I loved the taste of lime, ginger and soy. Maybe I’ll try this at home next time. :p

Fresh Rabbit Loin Ballotine - Wrapped in double smoked bacon on a navarin of spring vegetables, seasonal mushrooms and ricotta gnocchi. Rabbit jus with fine olive oil. Felt like having something different - so here it is. I can’t recall when was the last time I had rabbit, but the taste/texture was a bit different from this one. This one didn’t wow me, but was pretty good overall.

Grilled Kerr Farm Filet Mignon - Whipped potatoes, French green beans and shallots. Sauce Bordelaise. Tried a bit of the potatoes - woah, it was really good. Should try. It was very rich and flavourful, and good portion.

Roasted Kyuquot Sound Black Cod - Green asparagus, honey mushrooms, edamame and baby carrots. Orange soy reduction. Black Cod - JK’s flavourite. Had a bite and I liked it too. (JK, please feel free to comment.)

Dessert Menu.

Coconut Cream Pie - with white chocolate shavings and dark chocolate sauce (left); Ontario Strawberry and Lemon Stack - with brown sugar meringues layered with lemon cream and macerated strawberries. Stawberry rhubarb syrup (right).

After hearing/reading so much about this legendary coconut cream pie. We ordered this. The strawberry and lemon stack was a recommendation from our server. They turned out to be an excellent combination.

Coconut Cream Pie was divine. You can taste the coconut and you can feel the coconut, but eating was effordless. Just dive into the coconut cream @_@ loads of calories but you won’t remember that when eating. You just can’t get enough of that. lol

Ontario Strawberry and Lemon Stack - extremely refreshing after (or in between) the coconut cream… surprisingly good when you eat the meringues + lemon cream + strawberries altogether. It was a bit hard to do at first… but after you take away the first layer, it’d be much easier.

We didn’t order wine for the night (part of the reason…I was going to drink after dinner). Overall, I’d say it was an excellent experience. Dinner wasn’t that long - since we weren’t having a tasting menu. Stayed for about 2.5-3 hours. The total - before gratuity was about eighty dollars per person. When I left, I saw a slightly different mix - younger (or mid-age) group instead. Maybe it was also because of the mother’s day. I find older generations tend to eat a bit earlier. The service was very good. Also, if you are driving, you get complimentary valet parking.

Scaramouche Restaurant Pasta Bar & Grill
One Benvenuto Place, Toronto, Ontario M4V 2L1
Tel: 416-961-8011

Finally, I’ve tried 5th Elementt. A few times I have been forwarded with some special promotions of this restaurant. A few times I was gonna go check it out, but I never did until last weekend. I never really know where that restaurant is until that night.

Looking at that restaurant, I remember I’ve walked by it a few times… very cold at night. I wonder how long it’s been there. Did I walk by and not notice it? Probably. I know, I’m thinking too much again.

Last weekend, we came to this restaurant for VN’s birthday. They are currently having this special: Dinner for 2: $39.99

(I think on the website, it now only says Dinner $39.99. Maybe they’ve changed it.)

Here’s the menu:

*****
Amuse

Horny Apple & Butternut Squash Bisque
with Cabbage Pate

Appetizer Choice of

Half Shell Oyster
Turkey terrine | Californian greens

Baby Lettuce Salad
Smoked Italian tomato | Fresh buffalo mozzarella

Mango Clementine Salad
Julienne of mango | Clementine | Masala dressing

Gratinated Veggie Samosa
Marinara Sauce | Mozzarella cheese

Tandoori Shrimp
South African pepper salsa | Tender greens

Main Course Choice of

Grilled Bengali Salmon
Bengali mustard curry sauce | Pilaf rice

Braised Lamb Shank
Mashed potato| Feta cheese

Quebec Artisan Tandoori Red Chicken
Butter chicken sauce | Pilaf rice

Almond Crusted Cottage Cheese
Green pea tomato cream sauce | Pilaf rice

Tri Color Cheese Tortellini
Green & white asparagus

Dessert Choice of

Peach & Lychee Mousse
Kiwi lime sauce

Pistachio Kulfi
Rose gulkand

*****
Around 8:30pm, we arrived. From outside, we could see a bit of the interior - quite simple… overall orange/amber color theme. While waiting for the birthday guy, we looked at the menu they presented to us - a white one (as shown in the first picture). It said $39.99 (for 1 person). Around 9pm everyone was there, so we mentioned about the promotion that we saw online. Then they right away gave us another menu - orange in color - the only difference was that on the top right corner it said $39.99 for 2. We started ordering. Service was quick. Everyone ordered from the orange special menu.

The Amuse - Bisque was ok - but i kinda like the cabbage pate - a bit spicy but refreshing.

Appetizer - Half shell oyster - was ok fresh. Could be better. Tandoori Shrimp was good. The pepper salsa was very appetizing. Some of us ordered other options but I’ve only tried and taken pictures of these two.

Main course - The lamb shank was a popular choice. I think they did a pretty good job on this one, but surprisingly the tandoori chicken was also very tasty - the sauce wasn’t overpowering and we could still taste the chicken - pretty darn good. I guess Indian fusion is their expertise there.

Dessert - Personally, I wasn’t especially fond of the desserts (compared to the main course). If I had to pick one, I’d probably go for the Pistachio Kulfi - This dessert gave me a very meaty - fulfilling satisfaction… it was made of milk and pistachio. Very rich but I kinda liked it. The mousse, on the other hand, wasn’t very inspiring and i couldn’t really taste the lychee.

Overall, it was a pretty good dinner. Food was good - considered the price - it was very good value. Service-wise, nothing to praise or complain about. We didn’t have any wine for the night. The total after tax and compulsory gratuity came to about $300. Now, you know what I mean by very good value. It was easy to find parking - there was a parking lot right beside Bistro 990 - $10 flat rate. Dress code? It was smart casual.

FYI: 5th Elementt
1033 Bay Street, Toronto, ON.
Tel: 416-923-8159

“Hey. How are you doing?”
“Doing ok… hanging in here.”
“Haven’t seen you for ages!”
“Yah. I know!”
“Do you wanna have dinner some time?”
“Sure, let’s do it!”

An inaccurate transcript of a msn chat between me and FC - a friend of mine from high school.

It’s really been a long time since I’ve seen her last time. As people get older, it seems that everyone has his/her own things to do, errands to run. We often have to make appointments long before the meeting day. The “yes, sure, let’s do it now” is quite rare.

Looking forward to seeing FC again after all these years. The restaurant of the night was Tutto Bene, an Italian restaurant located on Yonge Street in Thornhill. Very close to Dante’s. If you drive from the GTA, head north on Yonge, it’s on the right side…near a LCBO. If you see Extreme Fitness on the right side, that means you have gone too far.

Around 6:50pm. I took this picture outside. I thought I’d be a bit early, but FC was already there :p She’s always so prepared.

Looking at the menu, I like it. Not too many options, but all looked pretty good. I’d rather get a few good dishes than getting many options but so-so quality.

Besides the regular menu items, they also had a few specials of the night. I ordered from the menu, while FC got the specials. As for the wine, we got half a litre of 2002 Rief Carbernet-Merlot.

So, here’s the Lobster Bisque for FC. Forgot to ask for feedback. Look is great. (FC, feel free to comment on this if you see this post.)

Here’s my applewood smoked salmon salad w. maple mustard dressing. Really felt like seafood/fish that night. And I like smoked food. The salad was good. Very aromatic.

Entree for FC - Clam linguini with garlic, basil sauce (not 100%, again FC, feel free to correct me). opps. cut off FC’s thumbup. They did put quite a lot of clams in there.

Originally, the “Grilled seafood medley with bouillabaisse broth” caught my eyes - but that was only an appetizer, so I ordered this linguini marinara - with seafood and plum tomatoes. Oh… I have to say… I haven’t had such a good seafood linguini in a long time. The seafood were cooked just right. Very flavourful. The linguini’s texture was great - wondering if it’s made in-house. I haven’t been to Italy, so I can’t say if that’s authentic. I can only say this is really good. Portion was filling.

After the starter and main course, I was quite full. Chat chat chat and finished off the wine. It’s interesting to talk to someone whom you’ve known from high school… when you were younger. After years of school and work, everyone’s kinda developed personal taste and perspectives. We shared quite a lot of common topics and it’s just such a good feeling that you can learn more about a person and feel the click. I guess we may even have more to talk about now compared to 10 years ago.

Finally, we ordered the desserts. It was interesting how the server (or boss?! an interesting Italian guy) asked us once and never came back to take the order. I kinda liked that he was totally not pushy, so we could take our time to chat and drink, but yah, he should have followed up one more time.

Anyhow, here’re the desserts - key lime pie lemon meringue pie - VERY refreshing; and tiramisu - it’s airy and heavenly. FC’s friend was right. I think they make pretty darn good tiramisu. AWW… so full after.

Everything you see here + wine + tax & gratuity. Totally was about $120. It was a very good dinner at a cozy place. Overall servers are really friendly. Overall food quality was very good. Thank FC for suggesting this

FYI: Tutto Bene
8133 Yonge Street, Thornhill, Ontario
Tel: 905-764-0199

There’s something about breakfast.
or should I say…
There’s something about morning.

Morning means new beginning…morning means fresh start…morning should be energetic. Well… unless you’ve been up partying all night. yah… those days… partying til morning. Felt kinda F-ed-up coming out of the clubs and saw the sun.

Morning has this special light effect that… you know it’s morning when you see that kind of light even on a picture. I don’t know if you know what I’m talking about, or am I just mumbling to myself.

Yes… been kinda stressed out lately. Even though I’ll be done with my current job in 2 weeks. I guess, I just can’t say “I don’t care” if I’m still working there. I’ve been looking forward to this day. Take a real break. Since I’ve started working full time, I don’t think I’ve taken a real break. Even on vacations, I went on trips that I never got to rest. Now it’s the time… almost there. Hanging in there, Marz.

So, you know, it’s a luxury to wake up in the morning and enjoy the time. Not even weekends - coz that’s the only time that we get to sleep more.

Since I don’t get to enjoy the morning time that often. The alternative is to have the all day breakfast or brunch. That would do. Home-y and comf-y. I love it. Do you know, Canadian per capita consumption of juices is much greater than either US or Europe? Yes, Canadians love juices. It was a surprise to me. I guess I didn’t pay attention to the grocery stores in the States.

Went to Leslieville the other day and finally got to hang out with JK. We’ve postponed it 3 times, all because of bad weather/snow storms. Yea, it’s Canada. Quickly picked a place - Bonjour Brioche.

Provençale omelette - tomato, green onion, black olives and gruyere with mixed greens + fresh-squeezed OJ

Smoked salmon & scrambled eggs - with chives, rosti potato, creamed horseradish & caviar

And finally… something for sweet tooth. Cranberry custard tart.

It was around 11:30am on Sunday when we went there. The place was quite small and packed, with a line up on the side and outside the restaurant. In order to secure a table, everyone has to be there coz they ain’t gonna hold a table for you to wait for your friends. The chalk-written special menu on the board was a bit hard to read. Since it was my first time, I ordered from the menu. They don’t accept cash. The total came to about $30ish - can’t really remember exactly how much. Overall, everything was good - courteous and prompt service, right portion, good food, excellent atmosphere (given you are not going to stay there and chat for a long time - coz there’s a line up even in the afternoon).

I’d love to come back, but I think there are just many places around that area that I’d like to try. :p

FYI: Bonjour Brioche
812 Queen St. E. (at DeGrassi St.), Toronto, ON.
Tel: 416-406-1250

My first Winterlicious dinner of the year. Thank to SL, we finally had a girl night out last weekend. The destination was “Five Door North” near Yonge and Eglinton. What an interesting name. Heard some good feedback on this restaurant. At 6pm SL and I arrived at this restaurant. It was a bit of a challenge to find a parking spot - but I was quite lucky and found a parking in 5min one street south.

Came into this place I smelt good food right away. Yah, I was kinda hungry at 6pm. I think I only had a few pieces of bread that whole day. Looked around, I saw many people ordered baby back ribs - but I don’t feel like that. So, the menu above is for Winterlious and the menu below is their normal menu.

Around 7pm, We had a few pieces of breads - dip that in the olive oil. Heaven. But wait… something happened. I started feeling gas in my stomach - it usually happens whenever I feed myself when my stomach is really empty. Luckily, SL had some medicines - I picked a small pink one from the mix. I should carry something like that with me next time.

It didn’t take me that long to figure out what I wanted. Good that we have 3 persons - so we can mix and match, share and taste.

Here’s what we ordered - from left to right, top to bottom:
For appetizers:
1. Baked Polenta and Goats Cheese w. Sundried tomato paste and pesto - it’s really filling. Had a small piece of it. It’s pretty good.
2. Warm Portobello Mushroom Salad w. asiago cheese and a lemon and fresh Oregano dressing - One of the best Portobello Mushroom that I’ve tried. Yum!

For main course:
1. Grilled Flat iron Steak w. an onion and Gorgonzola sauce - Even though they didn’t ask us how we’d like it done, it was just right - medium rare. At the first glance, I thought the portion was quite small, but later I found it was just right. (Am I eating less these days?!) I love the sauce w/ the steak.
2. Seared Tilapia ala putanesca - Had a bite - still prefer my steak
3. BBQ Baby Back Ribs w. Potato salad - fall-of-the-bone. It was good.

For Desserts:
1. Flourless Chocolate Cake
2. Creme Brulée
3. Cheesecake
All three of them were pretty good. Too bad, I was feeling the pain the whole night even though I’ve taken the medicine. According to JL (our pro baker) - there is some flour in the cheesecake.

It was a restaurant that I’d like to go back again. Service was ok, food was good, atmosphere was pretty good. Price was right. The only thing was that it was quite packed - not that comfy to sit for too long.

FYI: Five Doors North
2088 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON
Tel: 416.480.6234