六點四十七分
生活 (m-life) January 31st, 2006
還沒下班的我。
好煩喔。
最近工作好像很忙的。
搞不定，
就是有一些程式，
uninstall後就不能回頭了。
兩千多美金，超貴的。
明早一定要打電話給 technical support.
Dammit.
生活方面嘛，最近也好像很多事情的。
星期三的晚餐將會是一頓很特別的晚餐。
星期五是第一頓 Winterlicious，地點是Assaggio。
星期六是第二頓的 Winterlicious, 地點是 Zucca。
之後，有很多遠道而來的親戚朋友，
恐怕還會有很多個晚上上館子。
這樣吃下去，要破產的了。
Royal Teahouse 君皇茶坊
中菜 (chinese), 飲食 (m-food) January 30th, 2006
About 1 month ago, I went to Wendy’s (the one on Woodbine, north of Hwy 7) duing lunch time. Across the street, I saw a new plaza with one of the restaurants called Royal Teahouse. Hum… that name sounded familiar. Later, I recalled the one called Modern Teahouse originally located in First Markham Place (that moo blogged about). Last Friday, me and 3 of my colleagues decided to pay a visit to this “dim sum specialist”.
It was around 11:45am by the time we arrived. The look and feel of this restaurant was very “unconventional” for a chinese teahouse. With a lot of square tables instead of round ones, it looked more like a congee/noodle place. Looking at the menu, the price was slightly higher (as expected).
Compared to a lot of the Chinese teahouses, obviously this one is marketed towards the mainstream customers. A lot of the customers were non-Chinese. Some of them seemed to be quite excited about trying out the Chinese dim sum and asked what we were having on our table. Here are what we ordered…
First dish of the day, BBQ Pork Patti (叉燒酥)… it was quite small and there wasn’t a lot of fillings. Um… I’d say that was not one of the best that I’ve ever had.
Since new year is coming and we didn’t want a lot of fried food, I ordered the steamed turnip cake (蒸蘿蔔糕), which was not bad.
Then, as usual we like to order the steamed rice noodle (腸粉). This is the shrimp one. the rice noodle was quite good! Smooth and thin rice noodle wrapping good portion of shrimps. I like it.
Of course… how can we not order the shrimp dumpling?! (蝦餃) It was quite good. The dumpling wrapping was thin. Maybe that was why it seemed a bit over-cooked.
Steamed beef tripe with ginger and green onion (牛柏葉) - the taste was above-average.
Ah-ha! dessert time… I just couldn’t help ordering the steamed egg white with almond juice (杏汁蛋白). Not bad… I could taste the almond, although it wasn’t very strong.
Other dishes that we ordered are:
- Steamed bean curd with meat and oyster sauce (鮮竹卷) - my colleague’s comment was the taste of pork meat was too strong that it covered the taste bean curd and I agree with her.
- Deep fried meat dumpling (咸水角) - freshly made, above average
- Steamed rice noodle with deep fried flour stick (i.e.炸兩), that one was so-so; the rice noodle was good, but the flour stick wasn’t that fresh, a bit hard.
The total for 4 people was around $38 before T&T. Overall, the food there wasn’t as good as expected. I think you can get better quality food at the same price, or similar quality food for less at other places. Maybe I’ll also order something else if I happen to be there again next time… It’s always good to try out some new restaurants! Also, another comment is - they should offer cutting up the dim sum (e.g. for the steamed bean curd with meat & oyster sauce and the deep fried meat dumplings) since they came in 3 servings and we would like to share them.
OH! Another selling point of this restaurant is its opening hours… I think it opens til 10-11pm at night… so in other words, whenever you feel like dim sum, you can have it there :0
FYI:
Royal Teahouse -DimSum Specialist 君皇茶坊
10 Applecreek Blvd., Building B, Unit 3, Markham, ON L3R 5Z1
Tel: 905-946-1898
AYCE again!!! 任食怕怕。
日本菜 (japanese), 飲食 (m-food) January 27th, 2006
The first buffet that I have ever been to (or that I can remember) was in the late 80’s or early 90’s. One day, my parents brought me to a really nice restaurant in Kowloon (Can’t remember exactly where, but I remember we had to walk uphill…). Even now, I can still remember the feeling that I had that day. The word, buffet, to me was so foreign. I couldn’t believe there was a place where you could eat whatever you want and how much you want. I even doubted how the restaurant could make any profit out of it. (Of couse, now I know I just over-estimated the capacity of my stomach.)
Yummm…
On that same day, I also had my first fresh raw oyster. Looking at all the oysters-in-shells lying on the ice, I could not help picking up one. I love oysters, but all I have had until that day were cooked oysters. Picked up one and saw how other people squeezed lemon juice onto it, I had a weird feeling… afterall this was raw stuff!!! It was alive!!! Oh gosh… but I ate it anyway. You know, marz always have the courage to try all kinds of food.
Yea, that was my first time.
I think AYCE Japanese food is just a lucrative business, otherwise, there won’t be so many AYCE Japanese restaurants in Toronto. If I have to choose, usually I avoid going to AYCE because of the quality and the size of my stomach. Don’t know since when my stomach has become smaller. I used to eat A LOT! If I’m not eating that much, and I’m paying $20+, that’s really a waste of $$. So, I’d rather go for some better quality a la carte instead.
However, sometimes you just can’t avoid AYCE.
Monday night. Went to Metro Square. Originally, I was going to Asian Legend, but I felt that I have been to Asian Legend too often these days. Walking around the mall, I saw a new sushi place opened up where the “Guo Hua” store was originally located. Sushi Hut - $15.99 AYCE promotion. Sounds like a good deal eh! If we go to Asian Legend, it may be over $15.99/person anyway… So, we went in and tried this new sushi restaurant. To tell you the truth, this restaurant was really not attractive at the first sight… but I/we just didn’t want to drive around to find another place to eat. So, Sushi Hut it is.
At around 7:30p.m. there were not a lot of customers. There were a few tables of westerners. Background music was some fast Mandarin songs and some dance music (which was not really appetizing nor good for digestion). Looking at the menu, obviously it was not an authentic Japanese restaurant. Since my dad does not eat sashimi, we ordered some hot dishes such as the beef rice in hot pot, and some other sushi with cooked stuffs in it. Overall, the taste was not as bad as expected. Service was not bad either. The price also included the pops. If you like fried banana, you can also get it there. (Another place I know that has fried banana is Sushi on 7). Around 8-8:30pm. more customers came in… the restaurant was doing pretty well consider it was Monday.
Beef rice in hot pot - caution - it’s really HOT!
Miso mussels - so-so…
Katsudon… The donburi’s portion is HUGE!!!
Wednesday night. AYCE again. The occasion was a reunion… and farewell dinner. Around 8p.m. we came to this Japanese restaurant, Maison du Japon, near John and Woodbine. Well… I could see a lot of customers from outside. So, I told myself, this better be a good one! There were quite a lot of western/westernized Asian patrons that night. The deco was definitely better than the one I went to on Monday night. Looking at the menu… haha actually I looked but not read… Once everyone arrived, my friends placed the order in a swift and the food was also delivered in a timely manner.
The first dish of the night - translated from Chinese
- “North pole snow roll”… Quite special!
Tempura Mushroom
Steak - quite tender…
Sashimi - I found the sashimi there wasn’t as good as its hot dishes
Lots of FOOD!!!
Finally, green tea pudding
The overall experience was quite good. $18.99 AYCE weeknights. Not bad. The hot dishes are tasty, sashimi’s texture wasn’t too good. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve been there. If you haven’t been there and would like to try a new Japanese AYCE place, I’ll say… try this.
FYI:
Sushi Hut (元太)
3636 Steeles Ave. E. Unite 123-123A, Markham
Tel: 905-513-9889
Maison du Japon Japanese Cuisine (瀛風)
7500 Woodbine Ave., Markham, ON L3R 1A8
Tel: 905-415-8233
來人啊! 給我加酒.
無題 (whatever) January 21st, 2006
君不見，高堂明鏡悲白髮，朝如青絲暮成雪？
人生得意須盡歡，莫使金樽空對月。
天生我材必有用，千金散盡還復來。
烹羊宰牛且為樂，會須一飲三百杯。
岑夫子，丹丘生，將進酒，君莫停。
與君歌一曲，請君為我側耳聽：
鐘鼓饌玉不足貴，但願長醉不願醒。
古來聖賢皆寂寞，惟有飲者留其名。
陳王昔時宴平樂，斗酒十千恣歡謔。
主人何為言小錢？徑須沽取對君酌。
五花馬，千金裘。
呼兒將出換美酒，與爾同銷萬古愁。
Chung Gi Wha 青瓦
其他 (other), 飲食 (m-food) January 17th, 2006
About 1-2 years ago, I heard there was a good Korean/Japanese restaurant near Yonge and Steeles. With high expectation, I went to this place and tried their Mul Naeng Myun (Buckwheat noodle served in cold clear broth). It wasn’t as good as I expected. Since that day, I haven’t been there again. Recently, this place has been recommended by some people, including my new “sister/cousin-in-law”, who’s a Korean. Last week, we were finally here again. Located at the S.E. corner of Cummer Ave. and Yonge St., you can see the big white/green banner outside the restaurant. On the outside, it also states - Karaoke and Banquet Hall. When you step in, the restaurant is actually quite spacious. (The overall feeling was quite similar the Seoul House near Yorkdale Mall).
When we stepped in, we were led to a table on the side. On the wall, there was a piece of calligraphy that celebrated the opening of the restaurant in 1994. Looking at the menu, it was quite difficult to make the decision because of the wide selection - they have Korean, Japanese and Chinese dishes.
Finally we’ve made up our mind. The one new dish that we wanted to try was the Kimchi Jeon (Kimchi pancake). After consulting the waitress, she recommended the Hae Mul Pa Jeon (Seafood and green onions pancake) instead, BUT she would give us a side dish of the Kimchi Jeon to taste (sooo good ^^).
They have very good Kimchi!!! As usual, the side dishes are my favourite.
Kimchi Jeon - It tastes good! I like it.
Bee Bim Bap ($7.99) - I ordered the traditional one instead of the one in hot stone pot, but I kinda regretted because it was quite COLD without the hot stone pot. In the winter, I should order the Dolsot Bibim Bap ($9.99).
Hae Mul Pa Jeon ($15.99) - Seafood pancake.
I liked it, but we were too full to finish it all!
Unagi Donburi ($13.99) - Looked large, but it was not that big portion.
Don’t be deceived by the size of the bowl.
Overall I think this visit was much better than my last one. Well… it always depends on the dishes we ordered. The price range here is ok. Not too expensive - as stated above.
FYI: Chung Gi Wha (青瓦)
5817 Yonge St., North York, ON. M2M 3T9
Tel: 416-225-8090
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