RICHMOND HILL: ELEPHANT GRIND COFFEE

Elephant Grind Coffee is a brunch spot located in Richmond Hill neighborhood. The restaurant is brightly lit with natural light. The interior is minimal with white walls and simple wooden furniture that creates a cozy ambiance. The menu features brunch classics with Asian flavours like char siu, lap cheong and go chu jang. On our weekday visit, we decided to stick with the classics and order the Egg Benedicts, Chicken & Waffles, and The Classic.

There are many options for Egg Benedicts. All served on english muffin with house salad & home fries. If you want an alternative to the classic Egg Benedict, you can try the house char siu pulled pork with pickled veggies and kale or truffle cream, cremini mushrooms and spinach. We went for the Egg Benedict with smoked salmon and yuzu avocado spread. The egg was nicely poached and covered with a blanket of creamy hollandaise sauce. However, I wasn’t able to taste the yuzu flavour in the avocado spread as it was thinly layered on top of the english muffin underneath the smoked salmon.

Chicken & Waffles ($15 CAD)
Hojicha Latte

Next up is the boneless fried chicken with Belgian style waffle, house salad, house hot sauce and cheddar sauce. The portion size was quite large as there were three large pieces of boneless fried chicken on top of the Belgian style waffles. The fried chicken were lightly seasoned and had a light batter. The crispy skin and tender chicken meat complimented well with the sweetness of maple syrup and fluffy waffles. I especially liked the side serving of spicy aioli which you can mix with maple syrup for a sweet and spicy twist.

The Classic ($13 CAD)

Lastly, The Classic is a breakfast staple and consisted of two eggs any style, bacon/sausage, sourdough toast and baked beans.

There is nothing fancy here, just a cozy place to go for decent brunch in Richmond Hill area. Keep a note that this restaurant is cafeteria style ordering where you order and pay at the counter first and wait for the food to be served to your table.

Elephant Grind Coffee
Address: 10 East Wilmot St Unit 7, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1G9
Website: https://www.elephantgrindcoffee.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elephantgrindcoffee/?hl=en

Food

TORONTO: FAMIGLIA BALDASSARRE

Famiglia Baldassarre hand makes fresh pasta from scratch in all shapes and wholesale to some of Toronto’s best restaurants. It is quite difficult to eat there as it only opens four days a week (Tuesday to Fridays) for two-hour lunch service. Only a limited amount of pasta is served, and when it’s sold out, it’s sold out.

Cavatelli (CAD $12)

Wednesday is always cavatelli day. Cavatelli have an elongated shape with a hollow cavity that is perfect for trapping sauces. Tiny but packing a textural punch, it has a hearty, and bready texture that works incredibly well with flavorful vegetables like broccoli rabe (also referred as rapini), mushroom or a bright, bold red sauce. Both cavatelli dish were wonderful. The homemade sausage and sugo was very hearty and paired well with the unique texture of cavatelli. Rapini and pasta is a classic italian pairing and the sprinkle of pecorino adds saltines and makes the dish taste stronger.

Fresh pasta in the making
Parma D.O.P. 16 month (CAD $6)

Tortellini Bolognesi in brodo di gallina is stuffed pastas in chicken broth. These delicious stuffed pasta pouches are filled with a mixture of pork loin, prosciutto di parma, mortadella and parmigiano reggiano. I really loved how well seasoned these tortellini were. The rich, fragrant chicken broth beautifully balanced the savory tortellini. This dish is delicious and comforting especially during the chilly winter months.

I’ve always had a soft spot for long, fresh pastas like tagliatelle, pappardelle, and tonnarelli. There’s something so decadent about the chewiness of fresh pastas. Paglia e Fieno (straw and hay) is a combination of plain and green tagliatelle flavored with spinach. This colorful pasta dish is served with butter and casera d.o.p cheese. The rustic flavor of the pasta pairs well with the casera cheese and has a nutty and sweet taste.

I love just about everything pasta and fresh pasta especially. Have you ever had fresh pasta? Trust me, you are missing out on an amazing experience if you haven’t. There is a huge difference between hardened pasta from a box and fresh pasta. I highly recommend Famiglia Baldassarre and is a must-try for pasta lovers.

P.S. Expect long lineups during summer time and they take cash only.

Famiglia Baldassarre
Address: 122 Geary Ave, Toronto, ON M6H 4H1
Website: http://famigliabaldassarre.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/famiglia_baldassarre/?hl=en

Food

TORONTO: EGGSTATIC

Eggstatic is a fairly new brunch spot located in Leaside neighborhood. The menu has a Middle Eastern influence serving foods like Hummus, Shakshuka and Pita bread. We came on a weekday for brunch and ordered the Shrimp & Feta Cheese Omelette, Oven Baked Tenderloin, and Biscoff Lotus Pancake.

Shrimp & Feta Cheese Omelette ($16.49 CAD)

The Shrimp & Feta Cheese Omelette consisted of shrimps, scallion, diced tomatoes, eggs, and feta cheese. The eggs were a tad overdone and dry but it was flavor packed with chunky tomato sauce, fresh herbs, garlic and feta.

The Oven Baked Tenderloin was an interesting dish with slow cooked beef tenderloin baked under a bread dome with tomato sauce and fire roasted veggies. This middle eastern influence dish was spicy and hearty. The smokiness and savory aromas of the spices add depth as they balance the flavor of tangy tomatoes. The dish is served with baked pita and veggies, providing the perfect carrier to soak up the sauce.

Biscoff Lotus Pancake ($15.79 CAD)

If you have a sweet tooth, try the Biscoff Lotus Pancake. Light and fluffy pancakes served with fruits, grounded lotus biscuits and vanilla ice cream topped with rich creamy peanut butter sauce. When there is ice cream on your pancakes, it’s like having a sundae for breakfast. The warm peanut butter sauce drizzled over ice cream was very good. The grounded lotus biscuits also adds caramel flavor and a little textural variation.

Overall, the food was good and our server was friendly. The food is a bit pricey though with a long wait time as it took close to 40 minutes for our food to be served. I would still recommend to check this place out at least once.

Eggstatic
Address: 1568 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON M4G 3B7
Website: https://eggstatic.ca/home
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eggstaticto/

Travel

EXPLORING HAKODATE MORNING MARKET (HOKKAIDO)

If there’s one thing you can’t miss when visiting Hokkaido, it’s their seafood! The whole Hokkaido region is famous for its abundance of seafood and there’s one great place to experience that in Hakodate, the Hakodate Asaichi.

Hakodate Asaichi is the city’s famous morning seafood market with an array of delectable fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables and many other delicious things. The market opens daily from 5am (6am during winter) until noon and is conveniently located close to JR Hakodate Station. The narrow lanes, congested alleys, vast sheds and crowded stalls are bustling with activity.

I’d recommend getting up early to enjoy the bustling morning atmosphere and try the mouth-watering kaisen don (seafood rice bowl) to start your day. Seafood rice bowl is a bowl of steaming rice topped with freshly-caught seafood.

Kikuyo Shokudo Honten（きくよ食堂)

Kikuyo Shokudo (きくよ食堂) is a long established restaurant at Hakodate morning market. The menu offers a vast variety of different seafood combinations for kaisen don and come in two sizes, full portion or half portion. We tried the kaisen don in half portion with four types of seafood consisting of uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), crab and hotate (scallop) for 1680 yen and two types of seafood with hotate and amaebi (shrimp) for 1380 yen. The set comes with pickles and miso soup. The ingredients used for the kaisen don were fresh but the taste of the seafood was just average. The uni had a nice fragrance to it and the scallop were sweet. However, the crab meat didn’t have much taste in them.

Gano Katsu Ika Tsuribori (元祖活いか釣り堀)

Hakodate is famous for its fresh, delicious seafood, and squid in particular, and it doesn’t get any fresher than squid you catch yourself. One of the famous activities in the market is fishing for live squid. Experience the thrill of squid fishing from the fish tank in the market and enjoy your freshly caught squid a few minutes later served as sashimi. Fresh squid sashimi is tender and has a chewy texture. The natural sweetness of the beautifully transparent flesh is a real taste sensation.

Uni Murakami

Uni Murakami is a restaurant that specialize in uni. It is operated directly by a uni processing plant and the key selling point is their preservative free uni. This restaurant was one of the two restaurants we tried at the Hakodate morning market. We tried the small size uni bowl trio with uni, salmon and ikura for 2160 yen. The prices here is more expensive than Kikuyo Shokudo, however the seafood served is definitely of higher quality. The uni was creamy, sweet, and melt in mouth with no foul aftertaste. The fresh quality of it can be seen by its plump shape and vibrant color. Definitely the best uni we tried at the market.

HAKODATE MORNING MARKET
Address: Japan, 〒040-0063 Hokkaido Prefecture, Hakodate, 若松町9−19
Website: www.hakodate-asaichi.com

Food

TORONTO: PIANO PIANO

Piano Piano is a charming Italian restaurant on Harbord Street. The interior of the restaurant feels spacious and sophisticated. The decor is very artsy with a mixture of gold, black and bold floral accents.

Our party of two each got the lunch special which includes your choice of any appetizer, any pizza or pasta and soft serve ice cream for $24 CAD. The lunch special is a good deal and the portions are quite generous.

For appetizer, we decided on Calamari Fritti (lemon, chili, parsley), and Smoked Burrata (endive, grapes, raisin, garlic, brown butter, toast). The Calamari Fritter was the most tender I’ve ever had. It was lightly battered and perfectly seasoned.

The Smoked Burrata was perfect, firm exterior with a gooey creamy center. The sweetness of the grapes and raisins softened the hit from the roasted garlic and complimented well with the burrata.

For entrees, we had the Egg Yolk Raviolo (spinach, ricotta, parmigiano, brown butter), and Mushroom Cavatelli (truffled scented oyster mushroom, parmigiano). The Egg Yolk Raviolo was recommended by our waiter and was beautiful in presentation. The oversize ravioli is packed with green spinach, ricotta and a duck egg yolk, which oozes out as your knife cuts through the pasta. The spinach and ricotta sauce lacked flavor but the yolk adds a heavenly silkiness to the filling that blended in beautifully with the al dente pasta. We also found the pasta to be a bit too hard around the edges for our liking.

The Mushroom Cavatelli was extremely fragrant and the smell of truffles very much dominated the senses. The cavatelli has a firm texture and the parmigiano adds salty creaminess to the hearty dish. However, because all the other dishes were so well seasoned, this creamy dish was less prominent in flavor profile. It kind of felt flat for me.

For Dessert, there is a choice between double espresso or soft serve ice cream. Skip the ice cream and go for the double espresso. Overall, this restaurant is well worth a visit for their great lunch special which is available 7 days a week between 11am-3pm.

PIANO PIANO
Address: 88 Harbord St, Toronto, ON M5S 1G5
Website: http://www.pianopianotherestaurant.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pianopianotherestaurant/

Food

TORONTO: OMAKASE AT JAPANGO

Japango is a small Japanese restaurant located on Elizabeth Street. The small space has extremely narrow layout and doesn’t seat many people. All the tables are so close together that it feels cramped.

Our party of two made reservations for omakase dinner. Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it up to you”. The intriguing thing about omakase is that you don’t know exactly what you will be getting. Omakase at Japango is priced at $120 CAD per person which is a higher price point than most Japanese restaurant. I had anticipated high quality sushi and sashimi from the price.

Oyster Shooter
Wakame Salad

Appetizer started with the oyster shooter that consisted of a small oyster, uni, ikura (salmon roe), raw quail egg and scallions. The shooter is an interesting combination of slippery-ness with a bit of crunch from the ikura and some resistance from the oyster. Next came the wakame (seaweed) salad with cucumber, crab meat and cherry tomatoes served in a vinegar dressing.

Manilla Clams with Sake

The next course was manilla clams with sake. The clams were fresh and I could taste the sake in the broth.

Blowtorched Wagyu Beef

Next came the blowtorched wagyu beef. The wagyu beef is thinly sliced and blowtorched for a smoky flavor. The succulent wagyu had high marbling content and melted in my mouth. It’s probably the best dish of the entire omakase.

Sashimi
Black Cod & Scallop

A sashimi platter was brought in front of us next which included salmon, o-toro (tuna), hamachi, saba (makerel), and uni from Japan. Japango went a little extra by garnishing the o-toro with edible gold leaf flakes. The sashimi was good until I tasted fish scales in my mouth from the saba. I mentioned it to the server when she cleared my plate and received an apology.

The next course is black cod misoyaki and scallop on half shell. The black cod misoyaki was tender and soft but the flavor was a little too sweet for my liking. The scallop on half shell had shimeji mushroom cooked in a buttery soyu sauce. The scallop was overcooked, salty and rubbery. Not the quality you would expect from an expensive omakase. Both me and my friend had one bite of the scallop and couldn’t eat more of it. We suspected that one of the factors for the overcooked texture is to cover up the freshness of the scallop. We ended up asking the server to take away the dish and serve the next course as it was unedible for us.

Next came the nigiri sushi platter, the quality were decent but I’ve had better at other Japanese restaurant. The uni served this time were from Boston instead of Japan.

The restaurant brought us another dish to compensate for the scallop. Aji Furani is horse mackerel that is coated in breadcrumbs and fried to a golden brown. Served with tartar sauce and garnished with ikura, the flavor of the mackerel is quite mild and the texture is firm and dense.

Matcha Tiramisu

For dessert, matcha tiramisu was served. It’s a classic tiramisu dessert with Japanese twist. The tiramisu was creamy but could not taste any matcha flavor.

I’m not usually the type of person to leave a negative review seeing that I am in no way a professional food critic. I don’t believe it’s fair for me to bash on a restaurant if the food wasn’t to my taste. But my experience at Japango was less than satisfactory. Moreover, I question the value of the meal considering how I’ve eaten some fine Omakase in town. I had anticipated high quality sushi and sashimi from the price. But the price does not match quality of food served. I would not recommend coming to Japango for Omakase.

Japango
Address: 122 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G 1P5
Website: https://japango.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/japango122/

Travel

LOCAL CAFES IN SAPPORO (HOKKAIDO)

ATELIER Morihiko

Sandwich and Coffee Set (680 yen)

Address: 12-4-182 Minami 1 Jonishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-0061, Hokkaido

The Morihiko coffee company has several cafes located throughout Sapporo, all with a different decor. Atelier Morihiko is located in a quiet neighborhood close to Odori Park. The interior features high ceiling, white walls and vintage furnitures. The atmosphere is calm and relaxing with warm soft lighting. You can choose to be seated at the window side tables, the large communal table in the centre, or the counter to watch the coffee being brewed.

We were seated at the window side table facing the street where the only tram line in the city runs through. The menu consists of cakes and coffee as well as sandwiches for breakfast. We ordered two sandwich and coffee set (one sweet and one savory) available from 8:00am-11:00am. The sweet sandwich and coffee set for 680 yen is a popular menu item because of its pretty presentation. It is wrapped in wax paper and topped with savory roasted pistachios and raspberry. The bread is both moist and sweet and matches well with the richness of the fresh cream inside.

In the morning, only hand drip coffee is served. Don’t expect to get cappuccino or latte. Coffee beans are freshly grind to order and use Nel drip brewing method with cotton flannel filters. You can order different types of coffee such as MORI no SHIZUKU, Morihiko French blend, and Morihiko mild blend. We ordered the Morihiko mild blend and liked that it does not have astringent taste and is pleasant on the tongue and palate.

Baristart

Address: 4-8 Minami 1-Jo Nishi, Chuo-ku | 1F Freeden Bldg, 060-0061, Hokkaido

Baristart Coffee is a tiny coffee shop best for a to-go coffee. Seating is limited to a small counter with four seats or an outdoor bench. What makes this place unique is that they serve lattes made with milk from various regions of Hokkaido each with their own flavour profile. There are three kind of milk to choose from, Hakodate Holstein, Tokachi Jersey and Biei Jersey milk. The lattes vary in the level of richness and taste depending on the kind of milk used. I highly recommend the Tokachi Jersey cow as it was sweet and rich. The milk was dense but I could still taste various flavours of coffee inside. Lattes are quite pricey but you are paying for their specialty milk. Great spot to drop in for a morning coffee or mid-day caffeine fix.

Food

HONG KONG: AFTERNOON TEA AT MADAME FU

Reminiscing of French salon, Madame Fu is located inside the former Central Police Station compound, Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts. Occupying the entire third floor of the beautifully restored colonial building, the space offers different lavishly decorated rooms each decked out with a distinct identity, including The Grand Cafe, The Pink Room, The Red & Blue Verandah, and The Library.

The Red & Blue Verandah

The Red & Blue Verandah is very picturesque with its velvet coaches, stunning lamps crafted out of vintage Hermes scarves and views of the Tai Kwun courtyard. The ambience of the restaurant allude exclusivity and elegance.

The Pink Room

The restaurant is the perfect example of east meet west serving food that is a contemporary take on Chinese cuisine. The menu range from lunch and afternoon tea, light bites, dinner and weekend brunch. All rooms serve the same food and drink menus. We were seated at The Pink Room and tried the afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is priced at $250 HKD for one and $450 HKD for two. The Pink Room is the perfect spot for instagrammers and fashion bloggers with its colorful millennial pink banquette, artfully distressed walls and velvet cushions.

The Afternoon Tea was served on three-tiered stand and consisted of prawn and smoked salmon open faced sandwiches on the bottom layer; a lemon meringue tart, tang yuan (sweet rice balls with black sesame filling) and tapioca pudding on the second; and chocolate tart and fruit tart on the top. The afternoon tea set also includes a dim sum of the day, and we tried the har gow (shrimp dumplings). The dim sum was brought to the table in a traditional steamer basket to keep it warm.

The heritage environment, artistic decor and ambience is great for afternoon tea but the quality of food was very average. Nonetheless, a visit to this restaurant is still a unique and worthwhile experience.

Madame Fu
Address: 3/F, Block three, Tai Kwun, No. 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Website: https://www.madamefu.com.hk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madamefugrandcafe/

Travel

CAFE HOPPING IN MONTREAL

One of the things I always enjoy when travelling to Montreal is the never ending list of cute cafes to visit. Montreal really know what it’s doing when it comes to a good cafe scene. If you’re like me, and nothing makes you happier than visiting cute coffee shops, check out some of my recommendations below.

Cafe Leaves

Address: 2051 Rue de la Montagne, Montreal, QC H3G 1Z8

Everything in this cafe is vegan friendly. They serve up all kinds of concoctions, from espresso drinks to matcha lattes, caffeinated or not, you can choose your type of plant milk. Their almond, soy, and coconut are free of charge. They also have oat milk and others that are available for a small extra charge. The ambience is very calm and casual with all sorts of cactus and succulents around. Seating is very limited but there is tons of natural light that enters, making the space seem larger than it is.

Cafe Sfouf

Address: 1250 Ontario St E, Montreal, QC H2L 3G2

Cafe Sfouf is a lovely lebanese cafe located in Gay Village. The ambience is rustic and cozy with superb natural lighting from the large garage door windows. The first thing that caught my eye was the plant wall which is very cute and instagrammable. The cafe is also family friendly with a kid’s corner. The menu at Cafe Sfouf is simple, you can choose from coffee, hot drinks, homemade cakes, and savory or sweet open-face sandwiches. Every drink comes with a Sfouf cake which is a yellow turmeric cake that is very famous in Lebanon and the middle east.

Cafe OSMO

Address: 51 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, QC H2X 1X2

Cafe Osmo is a minimalist cafe serving local coffee beans, pastries and salads. The interior is furnished with wooden tables and acapulco chairs in white and turquoise. The space is big and industrial with high windows to let in lots of natural light. It is a community space with relaxing atmosphere that is perfect for studying or working while enjoying good food and coffee.

Tommy Cafe

Address: 200 Notre-Dame St W, Montreal, QC H2Y 1T3

Tommy Cafe is one of the most popular cafe in Montreal with its picturesque decor. This quaint cafe has unique multi-level seating with beautiful Victorian architecture and intricate mouldings all along the walls and ceilings. This pretty space also has mirrored walls that makes the space look larger than it is. The atmosphere of this cafe is very inviting and it’s a charming spot for a drink.

Crew Collective & Cafe

Address: 360 St Jacques St, Montreal, QC H2Y 1P5

Crew Collective & Cafe is a hybrid coffee shop and co-working space in Montreal which uses the bones of an old historical bank for its space. The architecture here is pretty spectacular, fancy columns, and high ceilings with intricate, ornate decor. The ambience of the cafe is warm and inviting with natural light entering from huge round top arch windows. This cafe is the perfect space to work with meeting rooms that can be rented. It also serves up gourmet food, pastries, and coffee.

Food

TORONTO: RH COURTYARD CAFE

RH Courtyard Cafe is a beautifully decorated cafe within an upscale furniture store inside Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The ambiance is the best part about dining here. The interior is stunning with natural lighting and elegant settings that makes you feel like you’re inside a Parisian cafe. The extravagant space with beautiful statement-making chandeliers and greenery is a treasure cove for an instagram photo.

The menu offers standard Canadian fare like lobster rolls, scrambled eggs, and burgers. The food is a bit pricey for what it is but you’re paying for the experience. We ordered the RH Scramble and lobster roll.

RH Scramble ($14 CAD)
Interior

The RH Scramble consisted of slow scrambled eggs topped with snipped chives, sourdough, and half a avocado. The scramble eggs were delicious and I loved how creamy and moist they were. The sourdough and avocado were nothing special.

The lobster roll had some sizable chunks of lobster meat nestled inside a lightly toasted split-top bun. The bun was crispy on the sides but barely buttery. The lobster meat is slightly overcooked and lacked seasoning. Nothing to say about the fries but I did like the garlic aioli that came on the side.

The food won’t blow you away, but you wouldn’t expect it to be as it’s not a specialty restaurant. You’re mostly there to enjoy the ambience. Because the RH Courtyard Cafe doesn’t take reservations, if you go during meal time, be prepared to wait at least 45 mins.

RH Courtyard Cafe
Address: 3401 Dufferin St, Toronto, ON M6A 2T9
(Located in Yorkdale, Restoration Hardware)
Website: https://www.restorationhardware.com/content/category.jsp?context=TorontoCafe