vickichowder: DOWNTOWN

EGG SLUT, DOWNTOWN LA

, by vickichowder

KING CRAB OYSTER BAR, KITCHENER WATERLOO

We had our eyes on the groupon for this restaurant for a while, after looking at the menu and only really wanting the hot crab dip.

Hot/warm cheesy dips always pull me in - it's something ridiculously easy to make, but so decadent and rich that I don't have the guts to not make a large portion at home and eat it all in one sitting (hence baked bries are only concentrated towards the holiday season so I only get fat off bries once a year).

Warm bread with olive oil, balsamic, sun dried tomato

Originally we were to order a bunch of appetizers so we can try more dishes without filling up on the heavy carbs from entrees (potatoes, pasta, rice).

But there wasn't a great choice of apps (they're highlights are the seafood entrees and shucked or grilled oysters, which we didn't order).

Artichoke and crab dip with an unnecessary layer of breadcrumbs on top. Micro-greens were also unnecessary. The baguette was over-toasted, and too hard, considering the thickness of each slice (too thick!). If each slice was thinner then it would be okay. Or keep it the same thickness and toast it 30s less. Would've also been better if this bread wasn't so similar to the bread from the bread basket. Bad

And we ended up with a lobster + mac and cheese

Lobster was saved by garlic butter, which stayed warm and melted over a tea light. They didn't pre-crack the claw (which is usually hammered for diners to easily pull out the meat in one fell swoop). Lobster was just boiled and cut in half. Nothing not doable at home. Veggies were blanched and only tasted good when dipped in the garlic butter or mac and cheese sauce (then again, everything tastes good in mac and cheese sauce or butter). Bad

The breadcrumbs make an appearance again, on the truffled mac and cheese. They used penne, so there was a nice layer of sauce coating the outside, and a pocket of sauce stored inside. Very convinced that the truffle is coming from truffled cheese. But who knows, I didn't bother asking either. Only dish on which I didn't get let down. Okay

Small-sized restaurant with a door that lets the cold draft in unless you sit in the farthest corner opposite to the entrance.

Tables for 2 are conservatively sized (unless you can ask to sit at a 4-seat table), and dress code is casual.

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It's an open concept kitchen so you get to see the chefs in action. You also get to see the wait staff lined up against the kitchen counter every 5 minutes or so to wait on the dishes.

As it is a seafood restaurant perhaps you say that I should give it a shot and go back for their oysters and fish. But for the price they serve everything at, it isn't worth it unless the meal was 50% off'd with the groupon.

P/S

Perhaps my most prominent eating habit is the necessity to have dessert after a savoury meal. So after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I need to end it off with something on the sweeter side.

Usually this means I cut a fresh fruit (there was a time when oranges were so on sale and so in season that I had 2-3 oranges a day for over a week). But in Waterloo, we live a dangerously close proximity to McDonald's = dangerously accessible after-meal soft-serve

And after having soft serve too often, I would like to declare my hypothesis:

The male workers serve more soft serve than the female workers

At least at this location. Proof:

The height of the ice cream above the cone spanned my outstretched hand, from pinky to thumb.

Dear readers, what is your eating habit?

, by vickichowder

ABALONE

JABISTRO, TORONTO

For my birthday we went to JaBistro...

And ordered ahi tuna, chopped up with spicy mayo, green onions, micro sprouts, salmon roe, uni

Eaten with some crispy seaweed.

This was on the daily special. Was very much like spicy tuna, but made elegant and with the uni and roe. And I just have to comment that the rectangular bamboo board is actually the same one from Dollarama. I don't know about the box though.

Lobster miso. Who knew miso could taste so good. They dislodged most of the lobster claw meat while keeping it pretty in the shell so it was easy to pick out and eat. It's a rather large bowl of soup when you compare it to the ones you typically get from the black-outside-red-inside-with-lid bowls of miso everywhere else. There were probably 2-3 bowls of the small ones in this one large bowl.

There is our pretty platter being made by the very energetic chef

We were debating whether to get the $50 platter or $100 platter. According to our very informative server, the difference is quality and selection. So of course we dived in on the $100 platter, adding also the lobster platter (at market price) (which included the lobster miso soup).

Wagyu skewer and clusters of lobster sashimi up at the very top

Wagyu was all that we had hoped it to be: the well marbling of fat was cooked very slightly, keeping the meat soft and melt-in-the-mouth (when you put it in your mouth).

The lobster was very crisp, and like the shrimp, creamy. We had lobster sashimi at Guu Sakabar, and I liked that one more. It was blanched very slightly, then cold shocked, making the lobster meat so much softer and creamier than just, plain raw.

Salmon, hidden under the swirl of daikon skin, with very distinct near-the-belly layers of fat, was not particularly better than the sashimi grade salmon you can get at the fish market on certain days.

The piece (or was it 2) of geoduck was amazing. Crisp and crunchy, and very creamy as you laid it on the tongue.

The uni was the same uni from most Japanese restaurants (they took it out of the very distinct sectioned white container I had once ordered from the Japanese food wholesaler). Had I expected more? Yes of course. For a 100$ platter I expected a bit more.

We had three types of tuna: lean, medium fatty, and full fatty (left to right, increasing in lightness of pink). We ate them in that order, savouring the fattest for the last. Yes, it really was the best piece of tuna I've ever had.

Above the tuna, underneath the swirl of daikon (which I think serves very little aesthetic purpose) is kanpachi, or amberjack. The entire slice was creamy and full of flavour, especially in the red colored flesh.

The scallop was cut in half lengthwise (semi circle), was not fresh (i.e. previously frozen) and still had the extraneous piece of muscle clinging to the side (which they should have removed). Last week we bought fresh scallops from the fish market to eat raw, and it was better than Jabistro's.

In there somewhere was also a slice of abalone. Abalone is best when raw or very slightly blanched. They served it raw here and it was indeed good.

On the right, is the shrimp head with the creamy delicious head innards, and an extremely sweet and clear tasting raw shrimp meat (not in the picture)

Then is hamachi (translucent and pink) and sea bream (with dark skin still on). Hamachi or yellowtail, was not exceptionally different from other places, but sea bream, what is usually not available at many Japanese restaurants, was delicious here. The chef scored the skin and torched only the skin, contributing to an almost smoky smell. It has a very distinct mild taste and a meaty texture.

What did I not like about this sashimi platter?
The excessive use of cucumbers scattered all throughout and touching my fish.

Ok yes, maybe it makes everything look better (gives the platter more dimension) but I'm not a big fan of having the taste of cucumber on the pieces of fish that are touching it.

I ordered the JaBistro slipper, which had a cherry that piqued my interest. My friend got the green tea mojito. Both were very refreshing.

The matcha brownie was amazing. I don't even like brownies but this was an exception. Very dense but not too chewy, they gave us 3 or 4? pieces of very strongly concentrated matcha cake. It was not crumbly, and almost creamy in texture. Sitting on top of a bed of a crisp cookie and pistachio crumbs was your typical matcha ice cream (I want to say it is the one and only Hime one), accompanied by blueberries and strawberry quarters (you know, when they cut a strawberry down the tip into 4).

Yes, and that is chocolate sauce and matcha powder circling the edge of the plate. Being a person who doesn't like chocolate that much enjoyed the little bit of chocolate here very much.

Let me borrow your hands for a sec so I can give this *four thumbs up*

Those knives, are so beautiful and could easily cost more than my tuition *drools*

Along with our receipt came a chocolate for each of us. And because you're at JaBistro, you don't just get any after dinner candy but Valrhona dark chocolate. They are famous for being camel-toe-shaped.

It's on urbanspoon!

Zomato as well!

It was dark and you can only see my silhouette, right by the fish's mouth *points*

P/S

At Trader Joe's (during our Washington trip) we found a hybrid fruit:

We were going to buy some (actually it was only me that was going to buy one out of curiosity, but we ended up buying brie instead (again it was just me that wanted to buy the brie.

Dear Readers, where will you be eating for your birthday?

, by vickichowder

BAR

SAKE SUSHI BAR, KOREATOWN, TORONTO

Little did I know of just how good this place was because it was bustling with many people even though it was only Thursday (mid)night!

*Click* it's on Urbanspoon!

Did you say 'say'k or 'sah'kay? (It's the latter, by the way)

This bar is rather small, but they've thoughtfully partitioned off some side-by-side tables with linens, to add to the cosiness of the entire place. I suppose the single tealight on each table is supposed to supply to that atmosphere, but it just seemed like a nuisance during our meal.

What's that side dish there in the back? Omurice!

The menus are made for quick decisions as it is divided into 3 (or was it 4?) combo sections, where A is the cheapest, and C (or D) costs the most. Each combo comes with your choice of 5 beers or 1 bottle of soju. We got two combos, both with 5 beers and ordered sake and soju additionally.

Side dishes galore~

Briefly upon placing our order, the lovely waitress comes and brings us a variety of side dishes, which can very well be a meal on its own: a large bowl of iceberg salad with a spicy gojujang-like dressing, another salad topped with sashimi, CHIPS (which are really good, even though I typically don't like to eat chips), soup (I didn't have any), a rice bowl topped with sashimi and seaweed, and lastly, corn niblets topped with cheese that's served on a sizzling plate *two thumbs up*

They make sure you get your vitamins

I believe there were more side dishes, oh yes, and skewered grilled shrimp with the head intact so you can suck the brain and all the good stuff in the head. And a plate of fruits consisting on strawberry, pineapple, and banana. If at anytime, you'd like more side dishes, they'll be glad to give you more (: And throughout the night they just tend to keep giving you more plates of food you never ordered or had the intention of ordering *yay*

Now to the food we ordered from the combo - though the pictures I took do not do justice to the taste, you'll have to just believe me that it all tastes really good (and is perfect midnight food for blowing your mind yet its not rich or greasy: perfect for making you want to eat more)

Spicy chicken with onions, and other veggies

The first that came was the spicy chicken, served on a sizzling plate. If you can't eat spicy food, don't order this. Nothing special, but it was a good kick amongst all the not-at-all-to-a-little-bit-spicy side dishes.

We forgot to squeeze the lemon!

The second is the calamari sashimi, served on a bed of shredded daikon radish with a sesame soy seasoning and lots lots of sesame seeds. No one really touched the ginger or wasabi, so I ended up consuming nearly all of it, as it tastes really good with the daikon.

Getting a shot just after the table leaves

We had a great night/morning there, and the waitresses were all very friendly and willing to provide you with more on-the-house dishes throughout your meal! But the best part is just how cheap the entire bill came to be. Amongst six very full and satisfied people, the cost was about $13 per head.

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

Although there's still a week or so of school left, my mind has been in summer mode for the past month or so *gasp*

Still, I must muster up my effort to study in order to get through these last days, while thinking of the good food I'll get to enjoy once again when I go back home:

I eat dimsum quite often, and each time I have to get these two plates:
(left) a crispy chewy glutinous pastry encasing a sweet and salty meat filling
(right) egg tarts

School isn't even over yet and I'm already thinking about all the things that I'll be doing when I'll be free! - places to eat, things to make (to eat of course), people to catch up with (or eating a meal with people you haven't seen in awhile), and other activities regarding food and its consumption.

What are you looking forward to this spring/summer time?

, by vickichowder

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EGG SLUT, DOWNTOWN LA

KING CRAB OYSTER BAR, KITCHENER WATERLOO

JABISTRO, TORONTO

SAKE SUSHI BAR, KOREATOWN, TORONTO

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EGG SLUT, DOWNTOWN LA

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JABISTRO, TORONTO

SAKE SUSHI BAR, KOREATOWN, TORONTO

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