Satay Sate

I'm not familiar with Indonesian food at all.  I think the closest encounter to Indonesian food was on a cruise ship many many years ago.  I ordered some noodle or fried rice dish (its been that long, that I can't even remember) for my main for dinner.  I just remember it tasting good.  I'm sure though that it probably wasn't very authentic, and probably no where near what the dish would taste like in Indonesia, but nevertheless I enjoyed it.  So when a friend recommended Satay Sate, I dragged the hubby to try them out.

We went for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon.  The place is small, but there is seating, all bar height seating.  I actually hate that kind of seating, but that's just because I'm short.  Service wise, its almost cafeteria style.  You order and pay at the cash, and they bring out your food when it's ready.  The visit started off not that great.  There was a group of people in front of us that couldn't figure out what to order.  And I was hungry.  I've become one of those people that get HANGRY.....so I was not happy.  I have to admit, this was not the fault of the restaurant.  So at this point, I was quite annoyed already, and finally it was our turn to order.  We ordered the nasi goreng, and the beef satay.  Unfortunately this took a long time too because the cashier was new.  She didn't know how to put in the order.....ughh......

Back to the more important topic, the actual food.  Our food arrived relatively quickly.   And it smelled so good!  My nasi goreng was like a garlic fried rice, topped with a fried egg, pieces of chicken and a cucumber salad.  It was delicious.  The rice was fried well, with lots of garlic flavour.  I just wish the chicken was mixed into the fried rice.  My other complaint would be the the rice got increasingly spicy as I ate it.  It would have been nice if there was a warning about the level of spiciness, or if there was the possibility of customizing how spicy the dish would be.

Nasi Goreng

The beef satay, there were 2 skewers drizzled with a peanut sauce, served with a side salad and some coconut rice.  We've never had coconut rice before, but the hubby loved it.  He asked if we could try and make coconut rice at home.  Now I just need to find a recipe.  The beef satay was just ok.  The beef was tender, but almost like it was tenderized with something.  The downside of the beef was that it was pretty stuck onto the bamboo skewer.  We tried taking it off with a fork but it was so stuck we couldn't, so we had to pull off pieces with our teeth.  It was almost dangerous to eat!

Beef Satay

As for how authentic it is, I have no clue.  I would definitely go back and try some of their other dishes.  If you hate bar height seating as much as I do, get takeout.

Satay Sate
5025 Yonge St.,
North York, ON
M2N 5P2

Phone:  (647) 351-7283

Hours:  Monday - Sunday 1100a - 900p

http://www.sataysate.com

Adamson Barbecue

Now this trip has been a long time waiting.  Ever since it opened I have wanted to try.  But their hours made it really difficult.  When they first opened, they were only open weekdays for the lunch hour, when pretty much everyone has to work.  Super glad they're now open on Saturdays.  I know it's been a while, but finally made the time.

As I've heard the lineups can be pretty long, especially on a Saturday, the plan was to drop off the hubby so he can wait in line and make the purchase, while I hang out with a friend nearby.  And then friend's hubby picks up my hubby.  We thought we got there early enough, before they even opened their doors.  But we were wrong.  There was a long line already, and apparently that long line snaked inside.  So I think my hubby lined up for 45 mins to 1 hour for our BBQ eats.  Usually a good sign if lines are that long.  And since they have been been around for quite a while, they aren't just a fad and that there's repeat customers.  The boys picked up 2 two meat combos (ribs, pulled pork, and maple coffee sausage), some brisket and a slice of coconut cream pie.  Each meal came with a slice of white bread, 2 sides, and some pickles & onions.  

Pulled pork, tender, smokey, and juicy.  One of the better pulled porks I've ever had.  Although my friend said he liked another place better, but it was definitely up there.  Ribs, I thought were just ok, but I think its because I'm not a huge fan of ribs in general.  Smokey and again tender, but not fall off the bone.  It came off the bone easily but not fall off the bone, which I prefer anyways.  If it falls off the bone too easily, to me it feels like you would be missing out on actual rib eating!  Sausage was smokey, and had a bit of sweetness, but I didn't taste any coffee.  The best part of the meal, the brisket.  My mouth is salivating just thinking about it.  Super tender and very moist.  No visible gristle or fat, but i'm sure the brisket was very well marbled since the butcher paper that was wrapped around the brisket was nice and shiny.  This is definitely a must get.  The slices of bread that we got with the meal, just take it and wipe off the fat on the butcher paper.  It's better than buttering your bread, seriously!  It might not sound so appealing I know, even borderline disgusting, but just do it.  You will think, why didn't I think of this earlier!  Because I thought that, I wasn't the one that thought of doing it first.

Sides that we got to try was cole slaw, potato salad, and beans.  Coleslaw was nice, light, and refreshing.  I liked how the dressing wasn't overly heavy and creamy.  Potato salad was good, surprisingly light for what is normally such a heavy and filling dish.  The beans I wasn't such a fan of, it tasted mostly of bbq sauce with beans mixed in it.  I prefer beans that are more tomatoey, and kind of sweet.  Sounds bad, but the kind of beans that come out of a can.  Guess thats more nostalgic than anything, my  mom used to buy those for us as kids.

Last but not least, the coconut cream pie.  So creamy, custardy, coconutty deliciousness.  And thats all I'll say about the pie, I'll leave it for your imagine how delicious the pie was.

Adamson Barbecue

Adamson Barbecue
176 Wicksteed Ave,
Toronto, ON
M4G 2B6

Phone: (647) 559-2080

Hours:  Monday CLOSED
             Tuesday - Saturday 1100a - 200p (or until sold out)
             Sunday CLOSED

http://adamsonbarbecue.com

Douce France

I have been looking for the best croissant in town for a very long time.  A lot of the times the croissants I come across are just too bready.  I've never made croissants, and not sure if I would want to try since it involves so much work, so I'm just not sure why some would turn out bready.  Is it the flour?  Is it because the dough hasn't relaxed enough?  Other times, the croissants just don't have that rich buttery flavour.  And when I mean rich buttery flavour, it doesn't mean that the croissant has to be leaking out butter and covering my hands and mouth with greasiness.

I recall reading about Douce France a while ago, not necessarily for their croissants, but for their chocolates.  But within that article I recall (the many things that I don't remember nowadays but I remember random things that I should be saving that brain space for more important things) that Douce France made croissants too.  So while I was running errands in the area, I made the hubby go in and pick up some croissants to try.  These croissants were amazing!  Light and flakey and full of buttery goodness!  I'm pretty sure that it partly had to do with them being fresh from the oven as well.    I wish that I lived closer so I could eat these croissants whenever I wanted.  But I'm sure my pants love that I live that far away.

Croissant

Douce France
2471 Yonge Street,

Toronto, ON 

M4P 2H6

Phone:  (647) 348-7661

Hours:  Monday CLOSED

             Tuesday - Friday 830a - 700p

             Saturday 830a - 630p

             Sunday 830a - 600p

http://www.doucefrance.ca

Dragon Boat Fusion Cuisine

I have heard many good things about Dragon Boat.  My mom has told me that people line up outside the restaurant before the 9am opening time so they can get a table.  I also have a coworker that takes a day off of work every month, and makes the drive from Mississauga to eat dimsum because it's that much better than the dimsum in Mississauga.  Although to be honest, that really isn't saying much because I've tried the 'best dimsum restaurant in Mississauga', and found it mediocre at best.  In any case, we had a friend visiting from Hong Kong and she wanted to have dimsum, so we figured that it would be a good of a time as any to try them out.  However, I didn't make it to the restaurant.  So this review is based on take out, and comments from my friend and hubby that did eat at the restaurant.

Parking there is apparently atrocious.  But there are 2 people in reflective vests that guide you to park.  Inside the restaurant, before 11am (not sure if it's that you have to order before 11am, or you pay the bill before 11am), it's cheaper.  Not 100% sure of the pricing per dish, because hubby got seated at 1110a.

Dishes ordered include steamed shrimp dumpling, steamed assorted mushroom & vegetable dumpling, steamed pork dumpling, steamed angus beef rice roll, steamed rice roll with fried dough, deep fried octopus tentacles, steamed salty egg yolk cream bun, and  steamed egg yolk paste layer cake.  The general consensus was that everything had a lot of MSG in it.  We were all very thirsty after.  In terms of the steamed dumplings, the skins on the dumplings were very thick.  So thick to the point we questioned whether the dumplings have been cooked through.  Friend took a bite and couldn't stomach the rest.  I found the shrimp to be very fishy smelling.  Steamed rice rolls were good.  Nothing particularly special about it.  Octopus tentacles were good, no mushy pieces.  Steamed salty egg yolk cream bun looked deflated.  But i'm not sure if it deflated because of the time it took to get to me.  Steamed egg yolk paste layer cake.  This I liked, but I think I liked it because of a nostalgia factor.  Not many restaurants make this dessert anymore because of the amount of work involved.

Overall, I would skip this restaurant, and head to any other restaurant for dimsum.  There's better ones out there.

Dragon Boat Fusion Cuisine
60 East Beaver Creek Road, Suite 4-6,
Richmond Hill, ON
L4B 4A7

Phone: (905) 731-3718

Hours:  Monday - Sunday 900a - 1030p

http://www.dragonboatfusioncuisine.com/#myCarousel