Memphis Fire Barbeque - Glorious Fatty Southern Food

When I was in Toronto for work, my friends brought me all the way to Hamilton for some delicious Southern Food.

Memphis Fire Barbeque was featured on "You Gotta Eat Here!" and is located far away from really anything, so if you do happen to eat here, it's because you knew about it and purposely made the trek out here.

Their side dishes looked freakin amazing. If I could I would've chosen three to four sides with my meal.

For the meat, you can choose to have it in a sandwich or platter. The prices are reasonable, especially when the entrees come with a choice of two sides.

 My friends said their milkshakes were out of this world and is a must have when eating at Memphis. It was a hard choice between all their flavours but I had to go with their Black Forest Cake Shake.

It's made with chocolate ice-cream, sour cherries, hot fudge, and brownie crumbles. Boy was this delicious. So creamy and tastes like cherry chocolate ice-cream. Two thumbs up!

Rack of Ribs with a side of fries and mac n'cheese.

Being the gluttonous human beings that we are, we also got two side orders of meat. One was pulled pork and one was beef brisket. They were only about 3 bucks each!

Baby Back Ribs with a side of mac n' cheese and chili. The mac 'n cheese was so creamy and wonderful, while the chili packed a huge punch of flavour.

 Baby Back Ribs with baked beans (which had brisket bits in it) and collard greens. It was my first time trying collard greens and I must say, they were very good. I'm glad it wasn't cooked to a pulp where it just became a big mush. Instead, the leafy greens held its shape and was a nice 'clean' side against all the other carby and fatty sides.

Look at that meaty goodness.

 John Catucci was right. You DO have to eat here! If you're into Southern food at all and like big hearty portions for dinner, this is the place to be. It's well worth the drive, and the Southern hospitality will make you feel at home in no time.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$$

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!


                              Eating barbeque meat like

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Momofuku Noodle Bar - Crack Pie Tastes Like Crack.

I've always wanted to try Momofuku, the famous restaurant chain owned by chef-founder David Chang. They're only in New York, Sydney and Toronto so I knew I HAD to try it when I went to T-Dot for a business trip. 

I went to the Noodle Bar and Milk Bar because I mainly wanted to try their 'famous' ramen.

In Toronto, they have something equivalent of our "Dine Out Vancouver" where restaurants participate in a month long prix fix menu program called Winterlicious. What a weird name eh? Haha. My colleague and I opted for that and the menu was $25 for three courses.

They're all about the communal tables at Momofuku. I ordered a Thomas Lavers Ginger Beer and it was spectacular. Really gingery and really potent if you like the kick.

I didn't order the Chicken Meatball Bun but my colleague insisted that it was good. It had kind of a spicy Thai chili sauce going on.

I went with their signature Pork Belly Bao and it came with two THICK fat pieces of pork belly inside a steamed bao. There was such much fat it dripped down my wrist! That's when you know it's a good burger.

Their Dan Dan Mien consists of ramen, spicy pork, scallop XO sauce, and peanuts. I like lots of broth with my ramen (I drink it all!) so I was glad I didn't choose this.

I instead went with the Winter Ramen which had smoked chicken, kale, squash, and egg. This was definitely a fusion ramen. A very poshy one too.

I think I'm too used to authentic tonkotsu ramen so I didn't love this as much as I wanted to. The grilled onions tasted a little out of place but everything else was great. Loved the addition of kale too (my favourite green as of now).

I didn't get to taste the brownie topped chocolate mousse but I heard it was delicious.

For my dessert I chose the soft serve ice-cream. Even though you can't see the colour difference, this was actually half Cereal Milk, half Fried Apple Pie. Boy was this delicious. I would come back to Momofuku just for this.

You know you're gluttonous when you continue to shop for food after being stuffed to the brim. That's what I did. I shopped at the Momofuku Milk Bar upstairs to grab some snacks to bring back to the hotel.

Their famous "Compost Cookie".

Apparently this "Corn Cookie" is also really popular.

I ended up choose the compost cookie and crack pie. You cannot go to the Milk Bar without trying these to signature items!!

Their signature Crack Pie is essentially a pie made of eggs, flour, sugar, butter and cream. It's ridiculous. I honestly didn't expect it to be so freaking delicious. Before I could think twice about how many calories I was putting into my body, the whole pie was gone. True story.

The compost cookie on the other hand was okay but I didn't understand the hype.

The Momofuku Noodle Bar and Milk Bar is worth checking out if you are visiting Toronto. If you can't make it for a meal, at least buy the crack pie!! You won't regret it.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


                       me after inhaling dat crack pie

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Mangia & Bevi (Toronto) - Authentic and Incredibly Delicious Pasta and Pizza

When I was training for my job in Toronto, my coworker's wife suggested we go to Mangia &Bevi, an authentic Italian Bistro rated highly on Yelp and Urbanspoon.

 

The place was really hard to find so you might need a GPS if you want to try this restaurant out. 

Nice old bread basket with olive oil/balsamic vinegar to dip.

My coworker got a glass of Stella Artois after a long day. Smooth, crisp, Stella never fails to be the beer of choice.

I can't recall all the condiments they served alongside our dinner but there was ample amounts of Parmesan and dried red chili fakes.

The Carpaccio ($16) consisted of raw beef tenderloin, arugula, lemon, parmigiano shavings, and truffle oil. 

The Antipasto Misto ($15) had a variety of cold cuts, cheeses, and olives. Nice refreshing appetizer.

For my entree, I went with the daily special of Orecchiette Rompipasta ($18) and what sold me was the description. "Fresh pasta with shallots, garlic, chillies, organic red chicory, speck, walnuts and Fontina cheese in a white wine/butter sauce. Does that not sound mouthwatering already?!

The fresh pasta was everything I hoped it would be. Al dente, chewy, and soaked in the white wine/butter sauce. It was divine. The only mishap for me was the additional kale or veggie that they put into the dish because it was quite bitter.

The Pomodoro ($14) was light, refreshing, and my coworker really liked it.

I had a bite of the Burina ($17) which had tomato sauce, mozzarella, sausages, pancetta, garlic, and chili flakes, and it was delicious thought a little too spicy. This is a great sharing pizza but maybe not for one person to consume.

I was so jealous when I saw this because the Ragu ($17) looked absolutely amazing! The pasta was completely covered in their homemade bolognese veal and pork sauce and boy was it delicious.

The simple Pomodoro ($14) consisted of tomato sauce, garlic, and basil.

Boy, if you can only get one thing from this restaurant, get the Prosciutto & Funghi Pizza ($15) and add an egg for +$1. The end result is a yolky creamy egg sauce that will coat your entire pizza in deliciousness. Must get item for sure.

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price $$$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!

 

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Kumo Sushi Japanese Restaurant (Toronto)- Le Bella Roll

When I went to Toronto, I didn't think I was going to experience really good sushi because Vancouver is just a gold mine for fresh, great quality seafood.

My coworker is originally from Toronto and she brought us to her favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner one night.

Kumo Sushi is not in the downtown core and it actually took us a pretty long time to find it. What a hole in the wall! The exterior looks dull and nothing special, but the place was full for most of the night which makes me think it is a local favourite.

We actually asked the servers to give us whatever they wanted because we had such a hard time making a decision. The Deep Fried Hamachi was delightful and drowned in mayo and a special sauce.

Their gyoza looked pretty standard.

This is called Beef Negimaki ($6.95) and it was super interesting! It was essentially beef wrapped around tons of green onions so I really enjoyed it but if you don't like green onion, don't get this.

This Bella Roll is my coworker's favourite item and after tasting it, I absolutely agree. It is for sure up there with the salmon aburi from Miku. You can't really see it but they torched some of the mayo on top which added a real smokey flavor to it.

The Sushi Tiramisu was an interesting item but it wasn't my favourite of the bunch.

If I'm not mistaken, this is called the Etobicoke Roll which consisted of a shrimp tempura, salmon, avocado, imitation crab, tuna, spinach, and fried tempura bits.

This roll is essentially the same roll as before except with a few changes. No spinach or tempura bits, but it was still mega delicious.

This spicy avocado California roll was hot hot hot! Pretty good.

 This roll consists of avocado, tuna, and cucumber, topped with salmon, avocado, and a special sauce.

We ended our meal with some fried bananas and ice cream mochi. Obviously we inhaled that in a second so there's no need to tell you we loved it.

All in all, Kumo Sushi is a wonderful sushi joint in Toronto and is as good as and better than some of the Japanese restaurants in Vancouver. I highly recommend checking this place out for their Bella Roll.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!

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