French Corner Bakery & Patisserie

My food partner in crime at work is on maternity leave, meaning I haven’t been out looking for new places to try.  I can’t remember why I Googled for a bakery near work, but I did, and I’m glad I did.  This cute little bakery I supposed to have really good pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants).  However, by the time I went (lunch time), they were sold out already.  I bought a dozen macarons because they looked good, and a piece of tomato focaccia for lunch. 

The focaccia was delicious.  Lots of fresh tomato flavor.  And it was huge!  I was so stuffed after.  I would love to try more of their breads from this bakery one day.

The macarons, while they looked good, was just ok.  The macaron shell was a little tough, while the insides remained chewy.  The fillings were good and tasted of what it was supposed to taste of, with none of that artificial flavorings.  The price was less than $2 each from what I remember.  So its cheap and good enough for a macaron craving fix.

Tomato Foccacia

Macarons

French Corner Bakery & Patisserie

1224 Dundas Street W.,

Mississauga, ON,

L5C 4G7

Hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00am - 7:00pm

            Sunday 8:00am - 5:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/FrenchCornerCafeBakeryAndPatisserie

Inatei Japanese Cuisine

Inatei, a restaurant that I have always been curious about.  It’s been opened in Richmond Hill for quite a few years, and I have visited other restaurants in the same plaza.  One thing that held me back was the fact that I have a lot of friends who have tried it, and just say, it pretty expensive.  They mention nothing of the food quality, but just that it’s pretty expensive.

One day, I had a craving for Japanese food, and I never really crave Japanese food! Plus we had to meet up for some friends who we haven’t seen in a long time.  It was decided that we would dig a little deeper into our pockets and try Inatei.

Since there were 5 of us, we got to try a good variety of dishes.  We ordered a chirashi, sashimi ‘boat’, sushi ‘boat’, tempura don, chicken katsu curry, kaarage, pork katsu don, spider roll, crab meat chawanmushi.  The fish looked fresh, and I didn’t detect any sort of fishy smell.  The other diners with me seemed to enjoy the fish.  The cooked dishes, meaning the katsus, tasted pretty good, nothing too spectacular, but can there be outstanding katsus?  If there are, please let me know!  From reviews that I read, their spider roll was worth ordering.  It was larger than other sushi restaurants, and you can see pieces of soft shell crab, not just deep fried soft shelled crab crumbs.  The chawanmushi was very good.  The egg was soft and silky, and there were chunks of real crab meat, no imitation stuff.  When we asked for the bill, the waitress brought over a shot glass filled with a lychee pudding.  It was very creamy and tasty, with a piece of canned lychee at the bottom too.

Overall, I’m not too sure that Inatei is worth the extra money to go to.  I would much rather to go Le Café Michi instead.  Lower price point and the food just as good!

 

Chirashi

Sashimi Platter

Sushi & Maki Platter

Tempura Don

Curry Chicken Katsu

Karaage

Pork Katsu Don

Spider Roll

Crab Chawanmushi

Lychee Dessert

Inatei Japanese Cuisine

9021 Leslie Street,

Richmond Hill, ON

L4B 0B2

905-881-9500

Hours: Monday - Sunday 11:30am - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 10:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/InateiJapaneseCuisine

Olde Yorke Fish & Chips

My parents aren’t very keen on food of any ethnicity aside from Chinese.  To them, Chinese food offers the best value, large portions, at good prices.  I took my parents and my grandma to Olde Yorke Fish and Chips many years ago.  Years later, they still talk about how good the fish and chips there were, even my grandma!  They also remember how this place does not take reservations, and my husband (then boyfriend) had to line up for over an hour to get us a table. 

This year for Father’s day, I decided to bring them back here for dinner.  My parents and grandma happily said yes.  We ordered halibut and chips, cod and chips, and for me, clam strips and a side salad.  I think the reason why my parents love this place so much is because of their portion sizes.  The fish is quite large and fresh tasting (or I was told at least).

The key to not having to wait a super long time is to come and start lining up around 5pm.  Once 530pm rolls around, the lineup snakes out the door and sometimes around the corner.

 

Onion Rings

Halibut & Chips

Cod & Chips

Clam Strips & Side Salad

Olde Yorke Fish & Chips

96 Laird Dr.,

East York, ON

416-696-9670

Hours: Monday - Saturday 11:00am - 9:00pm

http://www.oldeyorkefishandchips.com

Sonoya Japanese Noodle House

I love noodles!  Doesn't matter if it's fried, or in soup, but preferably in soup.  It’s my comfort food.   But finding a good ramen place that is not MSG laden is quite hard to find when you’re out of the downtown core of Toronto.  I found Sonoya by chance.  I had made plans to go to Nak Won at First Markham for dinner.  I wasn’t able to get a spot near Nak Won, so I had to park all the way on the other side of First Markham Place.  That’s when I spotted Sonoya with their grand opening sign and congratulatory flowers.  Good thing my friend was flexible and we popped in to Sonoya instead.  As it turns out, after doing some google research, Sonoya is a sister restaurant to Kenzo (Yonge & Steeles location, I don’t think it has any relations to the other Kenzo shops).

First visit to any ramen place, I always order the tonkotsu ramen.  I want to see if they can get this basic broth right to see if it’s worth coming back again.  My friend ordered the king ramen.  I’m not too sure what the difference in the broth for the king ramen is, to me it looked like there were just a larger variety and quantity of toppings on top of the noodles.

The tonkotsu broth was thick and creamy, and just the right amount of salt for me.  But I think for others, it may be a little bland on the bland side.  The chasiu were thick cuts, and not much fat layered in between which probably caused the pork to be quite dry.   I wouldn’t recommend ordering extra chasiu on your ramen unless you like dry pork.  The noodles itself were quite tasty, just the right amount of chewiness.

Overall, a decent ramen shop to satisfy a ramen craving.  But if you’re willing to make the trek downtown, I would suggest doing that instead.

Tonkotsu

King Ramen

Sonoya Japanese Noodle House

3235 Highway 7 E, Unit 22

Markham, ON

905-944-0990

Hours: Monday - Saturday 11:30am - 10:30pm

            Sunday 11:30am - 9:30pm

http://www.kenzoramen.com