27.12.12

Arepa

http://www.arepacafe.ca/

Living in the Bathurst/Queen area, we are walking around the block quite a lot. A byproduct of these promenades is a mental map of local food places we definitely need to visit. Every now and then, the list of candidates gets too long so we are urged to drop an item off it.
One of these places was Arepa – a Venezuelan eatery specializing in, getting it straight from the name, arepas. When Ma Cherie’s grandpa decided to visit us in downtown, we thought it would be a great place to take him to.


APPEARANCE
from a foreign land, the transparent bottle does not reveal any detail and the label is intriguing and somewhat confusing (we'll see)
We walked by numerous times. First guess was Crepo… Ma Cherie loved the typeface, but we were pretty certain it was a breakfast place serving crepes. A downside of an interesting sign is in its obscurity - interesting although a bit confusing, especially when arepas are not that popular downtown. Other than that, bright windows with a lot of light inside were very welcoming on the chilly evening.

NOSE
a quick pour into the glass forms some foam blocking the view, still obscure and difficult to make out the details; smells like a true thirst cruncher though
We entered to some lounge music and a friendly, young waiter who was eager to educate us about arepas – a traditional Venezuelan corn bread used for sandwiches. Learning something new made me excited about the place. One wall was lined with flour packs and some words in decorative typefaces, looking very authentic. Ma Cheri was very happy to see restaurants experiment with type. The bathroom sign was made of bright and happy squares, with white "banos" letters on top. We also really liked the brick walls, tall ceiling and candle-like lights.

SWIRL
bubbles are rising from the glass’s bottom, a slight bitterness smell is coming through
After the presentation about arepas, we dived into the menu. A nicely laid out piece of laminated paper was a but busy but easy to read. We both made excellent choices, at least we were assured of that by our waiter. Pabellon Veggie Arepa for Ma Cherie and La Pelua Arepa for myself paired with two local beers sounded great to us as well. We both went with Mill Street beers – a tankhouse ale and an organic. There were quite a few menu choices available, and almost all of them sounded equally intriguing.

PALATE
malty with a hint of wheat, bitter foam
The sandwiches and beer came within 10 minutes, an excellent turnaround! We did not quite know what to expect  but were pleasantly surprised. Ma Cherie’s Pabellon Veggie was very stuffed with beans, avocado, plantain, topped with mozzarella - quite the challenge to eat. My La Pelua was on a drier side at the beginning, but near the end it was soaked in juicy sauces (to make up for it). On the side of mine was a green pepper and garlic mayo sauce, and like all dishes it came with a radish-coleslaw mix.
Our waiter left us three bottled sauces, about one of which we were warned about as being very hot. The beers we ordered were only half pints so they were gone in no time. Eating was more fun after downing both glasses anyway so no regrets there. The arepas were remarkably filling despite being the size of an English muffin at most.

FINISH
filling and creamy while appearing lighter and less engaging from a first sight
A great place for a quick dinner or a lunch! Not much of a romantic night, but there is some soul to it. We liked it very much, definitely in the spirit of this neighborhood – original, welcoming and a bit rebellious.

Overall, an unfiltered Ale beer. 

Arepa Cafe on Urbanspoon

9.12.12

Yamato

http://yamato.sites.toronto.com/


Cheri's sister gave us a gift certificate for Yamato months ago, but we were waiting for the right time. And so we finally made a reservation, over 6 months later. 

APPEARANCE
dark and ruby, very thick
From the outside, Yamato is written in well spaced Trajan Pro, Japanese characters below it, all knocked out from a purple background with small fans, floating like parachutes above. Walking down to the entrance, you can feel the warmth behind the black framed glass - incandescent paper lights, beige fan pattens on the walls and birch furniture.
 
SWIRL
long legs with higher than average viscosity
This warm space welcoming from the front is actually just the walk-in area, which doesn't seem anything more than a regular sushi place. The host welcomed us and as we informed him of our reservation he walked us to the back and then to the left. On the way, we saw some ikebana arrangements, and it got very dark as we crossed a descending corridor to the second room.
Once inside this dining room, you feel like you are part of the show - dark marble walls, mirrors around, open concept room, big tables with hot plates and plenty of space. People are expecting something, not to mention the numerous kids there and the noise level going out the roof. Some tables had a chef, like our other half, but many were waiting.

NOSE
sweet and sour, very fruity
As we sat we were given their menu - gold, textured, old-looking hard cover with 1 asymmetric flap. On the table lay fan-folded white cloths covering the chopsticks underneath. Inside the menu there are white laminated pages, not the perfect match with those lovely covers.
I picked their Sake Teppanyaki Dinner, which Cheri asked for their New York Sirloin Dinner. Out of curiosity, he had to check what was the Kobe Style Beef market price. We were betting if around under $60, we should try. It turned out to be over $200 - perhaps another time. Our waitress asked if we would like egg on our grilled veggies, and we should've said yes. 
Weeding through the many sakes offered, we asked our waitress for help. After some thinking and confusion, we refined our question - "Which one would Japanese people pick?" She pointed at the Shirakawago Sasa (Nigori Unfiltered Sake) but, I swear, she felt like she's doing something illegal.


PALATE
despite the color, surprising refreshing
The Shirakawago Sasa cake in a blue bottle, served in an ice container- just like any quality sake should be enjoyed - chilled. It was smooth and creamy, not particularly fragrant, perhaps a bit near the end.
We few minutes later we got our clear, onion, miso-based soup, followed by their green salad with a sweet, house dressing.. Now we were getting anxious. Is our show coming? All 7 of us filled our table, and now we were watching the chef on the other side of table clean up. Quickly after our chef came out, dragging a little cart  of raw food. As if somebody was listening to our surprised conversation that chefs are rather international - ours was Japanese. He started off with the veggies cut right in front of us - his knifes looked like pleasure to play with. He put in the salt and pepper with hits, a rather loud melody. As we noticed later on, the egg is the ultimate thing to play with. Some chefs let it bounce in their hat, while ours made it jump a few times and landed it right on the edge of his spatula - to be broken in half. Then he added the rice and served it for the lucky people who picked that option. We got our rice in a bowl on the side. Another trick he did was making a mountain of onion rings and lighting them on fire. To be honest, I felt old to be there or rather lacking a child. Chefs kept on looking at the kids' expressions, parents being often more excited than the kids. I was happy to see a table full of adults, on the other side. Overall, a good vibe though, I can't deny.

FINISH
an intriguing aftertaste, unexpectedly crisp
Food presentation of our plates was not a main concern of theirs, but the flavours really made up for that. My Salmon was very tender and smooth, probably one of the freshest I've had. Cheri's sirloin was a bit dry but still rare inside, not my type a thing. He didn't mind it, but no doubt the Sake salmon was great choice. 
I don't think dessert was an option, but either way we were pretty filled. 
It was quite the experience overall, definitely a very unique night for us.

A delicate Japanese plum wine.
Yamato Japanese on Urbanspoon

6.12.12

Fressen

http://www.fressenrestaurant.com/fressen/

We passed by Fressen a few times, walking on Queen. The long warm lamps look great from the outside. Based on that, we made a reservation a day ahead to bring my grandparents who were visiting.


APPEARANCE

lively, golden-yellow
From the outside, white frames with a well-lit blank top banner. The inside is glowing with warm orange light, looking perfectly cozy with the brick walls.

NOSE

aroma of honey and peach
Once inside, the long lights and candles here and there fit in nicely. They went great with the wooden tables and chairs. The room is long and has a second part a few stairs up, followed by the kitchen in the middle back under a circular arc.

SWIRL
blossom, fig, apricot
We sat down and as I requested we got a round table near the middle. The waitress lady was interesting - light hair, black summer dress and tattoos. She was happy and calm. Cheri and I were the once picking all the dishes. They all sounded great. She came by a few times to check on us, if we are ready. We wanted to get a bottle of a white wine, but weren't sure what to go with. I asked for her opinion on their first chardonnay. I was expecting the usual "Its alright" but she instead said she wold definitely not recommend it. Instead she pointed us to the Ontario Calamus White '10. She said it's mainly a riesling grape. Once we tried it, I was more than happy we listened to her, it was a great choice - crispy, pear and a bit on the sweet side - yummy and light!

PALATE

rich notes of honeycomb
a perfect combo of crisp refreshing and sweet addiction 
- very well balanced
Ok, food. To start we asked for their Fava Bean Smash, Chickpea and Avocado and their Beet and Mandarin Orange Salad. Followed by Spinach Blini and Tempeh Fish Styx, the latter she recommended as part of their specials.
We then realized, there would be no meat in our food. My grandparents are a bit of carnivores, but had nothing against some "dieting".With all the cold tapas, we got some fresh poppy-seed bread. Plates were small, but nicely arranged. Let me start off by saying everything was great, they really made them all very unique with all the spices and herbs.  My grandparents were big fans of the Beet Salad with balsamic vinegar, a good contrast to the Fava Beans. I quite enjoyed the Chickpea Avocado Salad - dry chickpeas went great with buttery avocado all surrounded by spinach, cucumber, tomatoes and lemon dressing.The Spinach Blini Appetizers were nothing like the russian blini, which my grandpa had craved. It was rather more like a mexican dish - green, poppyseed pita bread, topped with spicy avocado-corn salsa. The Tempeh Fish Styx were great - 3 fried sticks with a side of a refreshing cucumber-tahini salsa. Unexpectedly great! After all the awesome tasting, everyone was getting rather full, so decided to get pretty much the rest of the appetizers - Jicama & Mango, Mixed Leaves and Babaganoush. 





FINISH

long, rich finish
The soft chatter from the few tables on the side kept up the warm ambience thought. They had plenty of worthwhile entrees for the adventurous vegetarian few. Perhaps another day.

Overall.. a lively Late-Harvest Riesling 

Fressen on Urbanspoon