Tsujiri Soba Bar, North York 2nd Fl Cafe

O-Matcha Platter

I finally got to try out Tsujiri's expansion into meals and it was definitely a good experience.  Located on the 2nd floor, the Tsujiri Soba Bar offers a different menu from the main floor drinks and desserts.  Although I enjoyed my meal (the broth was thick and savoury, noodles were al dente), the desserts definitely stand out in front.  My group tried out the O-Matcha dessert platter and the Mochi Mix.

Both desserts were very tasty and were not too sweet which is typical of Asian desserts.  Loved the different textures of each component within the platter and the matcha ice cream had a decent amount of matcha flavour.  The mochi mix also offered a contrast of flavours and textures however, it would be nice have a have slightly larger mochi pieces ;).

We also tried the noodles, below is the Miso Tsuke Soba, Sapporo Style.  Noodles are chilled but the broth warms them up.

Service was excellent and I liked how they offered hot or cold water as we were seated (it was pretty cold that day).  There space is very calming and it wasn't too busy for lunch on the weekend.  Next on my list - the afternoon tea set!

Visited: OCT2018

Tsujiri - North York location

Love this location!

I'm a bit biased though since I'm just a five minute walk away, and although I've moved away, it really is an upgrade from their downtown location.  The design is a bit more stylish and there is more space and seating.  When you're paying premium prices you expect a little more; a place to sit while having your matcha ice cream is much appreciated.  This post is actually long overdue as this was back when it was a balmy 18 degrees and not -30 degrees!  And I contemplated not posting because it just seemed too long ago but it was an enjoyable experience and after reading this blog post from sho & tell where she writes about preserving moments, reflecting on the past as a way to being alert, awake and aware, I decided to post.


If not for pictures, I don't think I would remember much of things that happened.  Also, I think Tsujiri is planning to open a second floor at this location which will likely serve food as there was a bowl of green tea noodles pictured on the sign hinting at the coming addition.  This post would be a good reminder to keep an eye open for this.



On my first visit I picked up a matcha latte.  The matcha was carefully whisked in a bowl with a chasen (bamboo whisk) before adding it to my latte which I appreciated.  It may take a little longer for your order because of this but they are preserving the way matcha is made and taking it a little slower is not a bad thing.  The latte wasn't too sweet nor too bitter, it was a pleasant matcha taste but I think I prefer slightly stronger tasting matcha.

 

On my second visit, my friend had ordered the hot matcha latte and also a matcha daifuku.  I'll only comment on the daifuku though.  The skin is extremely thin, I'm really surprised that it held the contents inside and didn't split open!  It's very soft and I would expect it to be somewhat chewy to be able to hold the filling in but it was on the softer side.  It was filled with matcha powder and a matcha cream filling, actually LOTS of cream filling.  I actually preferred having more mochi rather than cream. Taste was light though, and not extremely sweet which is how some people like it.

I ordered the matcha shaved ice with matcha soft serve. Nicely presented and enjoyed the flavours.  Sharable, but I could definitely finish this on my own!

I've also bought their matcha powder and sencha tea bags.  Both were on the mild side so it'll be nice if they could introduce a stronger tasting matcha. 

Here are some interior shots: 

Seating at the front

Dividing section between ordering area and more quieter seating

Back table and stools, beautifully lit.

Dazzling Cafe in Toronto

For months I could only see a glimpse of the distinct pink and white front signage for Dazzling Cafe from afar but never confirmed what it was till recently.  In Taipei, Dazzling Cafe is well known for it's desserts and specifically honey toast.  When they first opened, line ups would be so long that on my last visit to Taiwan, I didn't attempt to go.  But upon realizing they have opened a Toronto location just down the street from where I am, I decided it was time to try this dessert cafe.

The decor is very cute and feminine; typical of some places in Taiwan where girlfriends love to gather for brunch or dessert.  It definitely makes you feel quite "girly" and although I'm past the age of baby doll dresses and reading ViVi magazine, I still love the dining experience of something so cute.

Chairs with bunny ears :)

We had gone for dinner despite knowing the food options were not going to be plenty nor were portions going to be large.  I figured we'd make up the calories with dessert!  :)

Ordered popcorn chicken, came heavily seasoned with five spice powder and pepper, not bad.

I had the bacon and poached egg pasta which looked and tasted good but portions were small for North America.  Very normal for Taiwan though.  You also don't get much in the way of bacon but the egg was poached well.  The pasta wasn't very heavy, if you're used to rich sauces you may not enjoy it as it was more light and pleasant.

My partner had the pork jowl baked rice.  Tasted good as well but very small portions.

We each got a milk tea which tasted fine, nothing spectacular though.  We did ask for reduced sugar and ice.  Too bad they didn't have any special set meals where the drink is at a discount.

Dessert...

Hazelnut chocolate honey toast was a mountain of bread, ice cream and whipped cream.  It was good but definitely lacked enough ice cream and had too much whipped cream to really make it an extraordinary dessert.  And I think I was disappointed that the ice cream was vanilla.  They cut the inside of the toast into cubes and the hazelnut choocalate part was a small amount of nutella piped into each cube.  In the end, we had quite a bit of the toast shell left over.  If they made this with even just one more scoop of ice cream it'd be much better.

Service was great which always makes the experience better.  They have a small upper level and I noticed a few high chairs were available for those bringing little ones.  Overall, it is expensive for what you get, but I'd consider coming back again for a bubble tea and/or dessert with friends.


Dazzling Cafe

37 Sheppard Avenue E
Toronto, ON M2N 7K1

T:  647-723-7300

http://dazzlingcafecanada.com/

Saturday Dinette on a Sunday and a Dried Date Tasting

An extended breakfast or brunch with one (or a number) of close friends is one of life's little pleasures.  It's definitely important once people settle down and have children.  One of my friends commented that after people start to have children, the likelihood that you'll see your closest friends may be once every 2 months.  I kinda didn't think that was true, but when I really start to think about it, it is not too far off sadly.  Of course there are times where it's once a month, but that means only 6-12 times a year! Anyway, makes getting together with close friends even more of a treasured moment.

This past Sunday, we got together for breakfast at Saturday Dinette and I was really impressed.  Got there just after they opened at 9 am and was greeted warmly.  Space is small and tables near the front are for parties of two, but there were slightly larger tables at the back.  Decor was comfortable and some might say a little retro, but I think it's like walking into a friend's kitchen who likes to cook and has a casual and cool style.  They describe themselves as a modern diner which is a very good description.

Menu is not too large, but there are enough choices and it has a very good mix of options, several jumped out at me.

I finally decided on the "Shrooms on Toast" and my friend ordered the "Herbed Poached Eggs".  They do have items that are more "meaty" and several add-on options, but we were happy with our choices.

I ordered an Apple on the Green tea and here they use Pluck Teas.  As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a local tea company and I've been seeing this brand in a lot of places I have recently gone to. Loved the little tea cup!!  I don't have tea cups like these but I'm tempted to start collecting a mismatch of these English style tea cups.  The french press idea is nice, but the only thing about that is that the tea leaves end up sitting in water still.  So in the end, I tasted green tea but not much apple.

Now onto the food.  First off, I must say presentation was great!

Herbed Poached Eggs

'Shrooms on Toast

The egg was perfectly done, whites were cooked well and egg yolk oozed out once you poked at it.  The mushrooms were aplenty and I liked the addition of ricotta cheese which was hidden under the egg.

Here's look at the inside, bar counter...

Besides having great food, the owner/chef Suzanne Barr has also established a social program called the Dinettes to train and employ young women from the YWCA which you can read about here. Definitely recommend this place not only for the food quality and service, but this initiative that gives back to the community!

After our breakfast, we still had time and lots to chat about so went for a coffee a few doors down.  It seemed like it was a new-ish coffee place to the area, called Hailed Coffee.  Decor was minimalistic and staff were friendly.

My Americano was pretty good, medium-thick mouthfeel and flavour was okay.  I can't really comment since I don't drink much coffee these days and was having decaf.  But they do offer the basics at decent prices and an interesting add-on called their "hailed syrup" which is cardamom flavoured.  But, my mind was on something else, the dried dates display.

They had a range of different types of dates (7 in total) and we decided to try them all.  It's too bad that after ordering I realized that by ordering them all, we weren't certain which one was which and had to go by picture as I took some closer pics with my phone and referred to them while we ate.

The dates paired really well with coffee! I think they would be a great alternative to a baked treat.  We liked (I think) the SAFAWI date because it was a chewier and denser date, kinda like a caramel.  The Saggie was the lightest coloured one and tasted okay but probably my least favourite since the texture of half the date was a bit like crystalized honey.

Besides coffee and dates, they offer a number of croissants, cookies, and biscottis...and Pluck Teas.  Would recommend trying this place out as it seems like it would be welcome in the neighborhood.

The inside...

A wonderful morning!!


Saturday Dinette

807 Gerrard Street E
Toronto, ON M4M 1Y6

http://www.saturdaydinette.com/

T: 416-465-5959

Hailed Coffee

801 Gerrard St. E

Toronto, ON M4M 1Y5

http://www.hailed.ca/#our-story

T: 647-352-4040

Light Cafe - Offering Light Meals, Desserts and Coffee/Tea on Baldwin St.

A clean and modern space, Light Cafe 路燈咖啡 will appeal to those looking for a light meal or leisure chat with friends over waffles and coffee or tea.  Light Cafe is originally from Taiwan and I believe this is their first branch outside of Taiwan.  Gosh, how I miss cafes in Taiwan!!

You'll notice quite a bit of detail went towards the atmosphere, menu, and food presentation.  Especially important in this age of social media, pictures are worth a thousand words.  Typically, cafes like these have average food (of course there are some exceptions that also have stellar food) but the draw for people is the food presentation and the space is usually a haven for a girls get-together. Not to say guys don't go, but walk into a cafe like this in Taiwan and the majority of patrons are groups of females.  However, if it's near a university than there will be a more balanced ratio, but I would say girls still out number guys.

Anyway back to my meal.  I was by myself on a Monday and ordered the smoked duck salad and an iced Southbrook berry herbal tea. Although I thought about ordering one of their sandwiches, the smoked duck is not too common in a salad and I had quite a bit of bread for breakfast so a salad it was.  The salad was very fresh and paired with their yuzu salad dressing, it added just the right amount of zing.  But, I would have liked a little more butternut squash or tomatoes or both to make it a little more like an entree salad.  Overall, a good salad.  But to be honest, I was still hungry afterwards...I think I would have even settled for just a slice of buttered toast with my salad.

The berry tea was also very nice; both in taste and presentation.  A nice berry taste, not too sweet, no artificial aftertaste and quite refreshing. I also liked how they presented the tea with frozen berries and apple slices...makes the price of the tea a little more worth it.  If I were to say anything negative, it would be that there was a ton of ice in the drink!

It's interesting that the cafe decided to use Pluck Teas which is a local purveyor of tea rather than Taiwanese tea.  I've heard about Pluck Teas, but have not purchased or tried any of their teas until now.  Pluck Teas tries to separate themselves by stating that they use local ingredients in their tea blends.  Of course the tea leaves are from overseas, but the added ingredients could be local depending on the blend.  On their website, they list whether they use local product or not however in a blend with 6 ingredients, I'm not sure if all are local when they say local.  I've noticed Pluck Teas showing up in a lot of places now and I think it definitely owes to the personal touch of the founder...definitely look out for this tea company!

Quite spacious

Looking out through their front window.

In terms of value, I would say that is where the salad was lacking.  It was over $10 and in a city like Toronto where you have lots of great options for salads (e.g. IQ foods for a quick lunch option), it's a bit steep for what you get.  Especially when most of the salad is actually spinach and mixed greens. Despite this, Light Cafe is definitely worth a second visit to try their sandwiches which looked very appetizing, and their waffles and ice cream!  Oh, and bring CASH, they don't accept anything else.

Also, if you're a coffee fan, they also have some interesting coffee options.  Their Light Cafe Special coffee and the cotton candy coffee (the online menu offers a picture of these items) are definitely worth a look!

Light Cafe 路燈咖啡
23 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1L1
647-347-3883
http://lightcafe.ca/

Cafe Fiorentina - Low Key Brunch on the Danforth

Brunch is one of those meals that you can spend hours chatting and whiling away the time with your close friends or significant other (which I love); unfortunately quite a luxury these days.  However, the thing I dislike about brunch is the long wait if you don't get up early enough to snag a table.  So, I set out to find a place that offered great food, takes reservations, and also is convenient to get to.

Cafe Fiorentina popped up.  Now, convenience is subject to where you live, but for me it was a lot more convenient to get here than to Queen West where a lot of the popular brunch places are located.  It's close to the DVP if driving and right near Broadview Station if taking public transportation (but recently they posted that they are moving more east, closer to Chester Station).  Reservations are only taken for their first seating at 10am.

Another thing worth noting is that they aim to create and cook food that uses local produce, humanly raised animals, sustainable seafood and heritage eggs.  I'm not too concerned with these things when choosing a place to eat, but I do think it's important to think about these things and while they aim to maintain these values, their menu is simple with unique touches and quite reasonably priced.

One of my friends ordered the french toast (decadent, the toast tastes like creamy custard)...

Another, the quiche (which was very light and fluffy!)...

And the duck eggs benedict which was served with tuna instead of the usual peameal bacon.

I had the Croque Madame which was very delicious; bread was nice, thick and crispy with ham and Gruyere cheese and sunny-side up eggs.

We all chose salad as our side but they also offer potatoes.

At the back there is a table of baked goods but they were selling fast throughout the morning so I would advise going early!

They have a small display of pastries which I considered but then I saw...

...these beignets and couldn't resist.  Essentially they are like donuts, but I was just drawn to them for some reason.  Also picked up a croissant which was well made too, buttery and flaky and a very good size!

At home, I enjoyed the light fluffy dough filled with a rhubarb strawberry filling.

Loved this place for the food and the comfortable feel of the place and staff.  I also hear that they do a wonderful prix-fix dinner.  Hoping to check out their new location in the fall and hope they maintain the cozy feel!
很愛這個餐廳/咖啡店 的餐和舒服的感覺.  聽說他們也有很棒的 prix-fix 晚餐.  希望秋天可以到訪他們的新店, 也他們能保持舒適的feel!

Cafe Fiorentina

new location to be open in the Fall of 2016

463 Danforth Ave.

Toronto, ON

http://cafefiorentina.com/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

BB Cafe - Pomegranate Cake and Persian tea

BB Cafe is a Persian cafe offering Persian desserts and teas as well as light lunch options like salads, crepes, and stuffed waffles.  It definitely has that 'home-y' kind of feel to it.  With two locations, both along Yonge St., the original in North York and their second in Richmond Hill, this place has been on my radar for quite some time and finally I decided to check them out...in February (yes, it's long overdue!).  Updating this blog hasn't really been a priority but I thought this place deserved a mention.

We checked out the Richmond Hill cafe and grabbed a table on the second floor, pretty nice.

I ordered the traditional Persian black tea and a slice of pomegranate cake.  The tea was nicely presented and was a light black tea, similar tasting to a Ceylon (Sri Lankan) tea.  You drop a sugar cube into your cup and it slowly dissolves providing a nice level of sweetness, even as you pour more tea into your cup.  The pomegranate cake was a huge slice!  The flavours were mild but you could taste the tart taste of pomegranate and there were pomegranate seeds within the cake.  The glaze on top of the cake was a little too thick though.

My partner had an iced tea and house-made pistachio ice cream.

Just a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.  I think I would come back to try their crepes or stuffed waffles if I was in the area again. 如果我們再來這區, 我會試試他們的可麗餅或鬆餅(窩夫).

Main floor seating

Upper level seating

BB Cafe 

10067 Yonge Street
Richmond Hill, ON L4C 1T9

905-237-6565
http://bbcafe.ca/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!