getting figgy with it

I wish this market is around the corner from my house.

feeding frenzy

Banh mi with five spice pork belly - $5.99

Bánh mì, a Vietnamese word meaning bread, but is more commonly used to mean a type of sandwich consisting of Vietnamese baguette filled with your choice of meat and vegies.

sweet and glazed

Many American food chains have tried to crack the Australian market, and many have failed. Considering how alike our tastes are in junk food, it’s quite surprising. Case in point, Krispy Kreme was in the brink of exiting Australia in 2010 due to bankruptcy much to the horror of doughnut fanatics all over Australia.

louisiana's finest

My first encounter with Popeye’s was at the Hong Kong International Airport of all places. I circled the shop a few times, but I never did end up entering, there were too many other good options. Ever since then, I’ve been slightly obsessed with trying to get my hands on their supposedly delicious fried chickens. I mean if it’s good enough for Queen Bey, who am I to dispute?

man doo hyang yukgaejang

The title of this post may seem a bit nonsensical to you, like a jumble of random Korean words I pulled out of a hat, but it's not. Let me explain. Man Doo Hyang is a Korean restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario. And yukgaejang is Korean for spicy beef soup, which was what I ordered when I was in said restaurant.

You might have remembered that I previously raved about another Korean restaurant in Ontario. Man Doo Hyang is somehow of a different calibre to that one. Man Doo Hyang is more of a family oriented restaurant. When we were having dinner in the early afternoon, it was filled to the brim with Korean families, with lots of kids running around and such. But service was by no means inattentive, of course the waiter bell on the tables did help to move service along.

maki maki all-you-can-eat

My previous experience with all-you-can-eat sushi is minimal. The best I've had was in Western Australia at a restaurant called Shimizu. Although I found that Shimizu was not as good as Maki Maki.

There are a few reasons why I liked Maki Maki more than Shimizu. Maki Maki had a lot more variety in their dishes. The dishes were also prepared fresh when we order. When we were there for lunch, there were probably four other tables with customers, but it was not bustling busy. Service was efficient and courteous.

helen's fish & chips

When I found Helen's Fish & Chips, I had been in Canada for 3 months. And in that time, I had not found any fish & chips shop that's worth going back to. So when we did find Helen's, it was like finding a long lost brother.

We got the seafood platter, which had a few pieces of halibut, prawns, scallops, chips, salad, lemon and tartar sauce. All the seafood was moist and fresh (not fishy at all!). The batter was light, not gluggy, nicely crispy and had no burning oil taste. The chips had the skin on, ie. they were the wedges kind. I'm not a fan of wedges, but I didn't mind this one. It satisfied almost everything I want in fish & chips. Helen's is definitely a fish & chips shop I will be going back to.

Seafood platter - $13.25

The shop's located in the river mouth of Lake Ontario. The view of the water from the shop was a killer. The shop itself was clean, if not somewhat disheveled. It was a family-run restaurant after all. They had their menu written with chalk on blackboards. It's all part of the charm.



Helen's Fish & Chips
111 Lakeshore Road West
Mississauga, ON
Open Sunday-Thursday 7.30am-8pm, Friday-Saturday 7.30am-9pm (Spring & Summer hours)

mosley street grill burger

One windy sunny day in spring, we went to Wasaga Beach, about 133 km North of Toronto. I was sorely disappointed of course, being used to the white sandy beaches of Australia. I have said to my Torontonian friends, and I would say it again, Wasaga Beach is not a beach. It's more like a mud shore surrounding a huge lake. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on them since they are land locked and nowhere near a real beach.

After a full one hour of dipping our toes in the freezing water, we decided to grab a quick and greasy fast food. But, I saw the Mosley Street Grill out of the corner of my eye and decided to try that instead.

wild wing maverick combo

The Wild Wing restaurant was more like a sports bar than a restaurant. On the walls were LCD TVs tuned in to various types of sport. It was overrun by college kids type. From its name, I was imagining an over-the-top cowboy theme. But, although there were a few pictures here and there in that flavour, it was not too overboard.

Myself, my husband and a friend went there for dinner. I suggested the Maverick combo, a set of 50 pieces of chicken wings in 3 different seasonings. These two guys almost chickened out though, pardon the pun, they thought 50 pieces were too many. Lucky I didn't let them deter me.

I got myself the Honey Garlic & BBQ, my husband got the Dry Cajun and I think Timo got the Ring of Fire. We also ordered a side of Original Fries.

Original Fries - $4.99

chako bbq

After our first failed attempt at having the all-you-can-eat barbecue at Chako, we made sure that this time we came in early and arrived just before their lunch hour opening time. It's actually pretty great coming so early, food arrived in a matter of minutes, the waitperson was attentive and not frantic.

We ordered everything in the menu in our first order, then the second and subsequent orders we only got things that we liked. I liked the pork short ribs, whereas my husband liked the beef. The meats came marinated, but somehow the marinade of one dish was a bit similar in taste to another. So, it was a bit monotone on the palate.

destiny crispy chicken with honey

Crispy chicken with honey black pepper - $8.99

We were in Vaughan looking at properties and we got so carried away that we forgot to have lunch. Initially we wanted to go to Chako Barbecue Izakaya and have a big all-you-can-eat feed, but when we got there it was already 2.30pm (their lunch service stops at 3pm). So, we ended up next door at Destiny Asian Fusion.

charles inn dining room english style breakfast

The morning after our intimate civil ceremony, we had breakfast at the Charles Inn Dining Room. As a guest in the inn, we received the standard complimentary breakfast, which included bagels, cerals, etc. Every guests were also served a breakfast platter, which had yummy strawberry muesli yoghurt, cuts of cheeses, croissant & pain au chocolat, and smoked salmon with capers. All very yummy and got my taste buds going.

charles inn dining room roasted breast of magret duck

We recently had our civil ceremony in this beautiful British inn called the Charles Inn. We had the place virtually to ourselves as it was the low season. The hotel staff was attentive, courteous and friendly. Eventhough the weather wasn't on our side (it was pouring buckets), I couldn't have asked for a better day.

We were so pre-occupied the whole day that we went straight to dinner without having lunch. We were starving. Luckily, we were the first to arrive for dinner. The waiter was attentive, prompt and cheerful, he took the time to explain everything to us.

The Charles Inn Dining Room, like the rest of the hotel, was decorated in this tasteful, elegant way, with crystal chandeliers hanging on the ceiling.

congee dynasty shredded chicken & duck with egg super bowl congee

I've tried Congee Wong a few times before and found the food to be great but service poor. This time, I tried Congee Dynasty because it's close by. Similar to Congee Wong, Congee Dynasty's food is hearty and its portion huge.


Our shredded chicken & duck with egg super bowl congee came quite promptly. I loved the roast duck in the congee, making it something special. It was just the two of us eating and when we were finished we had two container-full of congee left, and we are no lightweights either. I was not exaggerating when I said the portion is huge.

kachi gamjatang

Kimchi stew with pork and tofu - $6.95

Hot stone pot bibimbap with bulgogi - $8.95

The first time I went to KaChi, I had the kimchi stew with pork and tofu, not knowing that KaChi is famous for its gamjatang. The tofu stew was pretty darn spicy, but spicy in a painfully good way.

My husband had the hot stone bibimbap with bulgogi, which had fresh vegetables, mushrooms and deliciously marinated beef. Since he is a lightweight in the chilli eating department, even more leightweight than I am, the bibimbap was perfect for him. He got greedy that day and ordered some dumplings, which he then couldn't finish.

penrose fish & chips

My husband has searched far and wide for great tasting fish and chips in Ontario, but he has not found any that compared to the Australian fish and chips. I thought I might help him find one and suggested the Penrose fish and chips.

The shop was small and quaint. It's the type of shop that has been in the neighbourhood forever, owned by the family from one generation to the next. The wall was covered with pictures of the area in the 1940s, there was old newspaper clippings and fishing paraphernalia. The proprietor was courteous and efficient.


All that quaintness and niceness, however, cannot compensate the fact that the fish and chips was sub-par. It was not that the fish was not fresh, because I think it was. It was the oil. I think they've used it too many times or that they didn't have good control of the oil temperature, which made the fish and chips taste like burnt oil. I was very disappointed. We promised oursleves to give them one more try, hoping that this was just a one time thing.

Halibut & Chips - $9.50

Dad's Root Beer - $1.75

Penrose Fish & Chips
600 Mount Pleasant Rd
Toronto ON
Open Tuesday-Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday 11am-6.30pm