MeNami - Japanese Udon Noodles

Out of all 3 udons, the salmon creamy udon was definitely my favourite. It had somewhat of an Italian taste (kind of like alfredo pasta) with a pretty flavourful salmon.

Good food and even better company - This place specializes in Japanese udon. However, be warned that it is not Japanese owned. The restaurant is Korean owned but with a Japanese flare - so I guess you can think of it as being fusion.

Makkal Chon

As the Canadian weather becomes more and more unpredictable...the sleet/snow/rain definitely called for some comfort food. It was much needed since I had a long week, and an even longer weekend. However, to distract myself from the cold weather, my friend and I decided to try this Korean restaurant in Scarborough. At 12 pm, there weren't a lot of people but by 1 pm...you best believe you'd be waiting for a spot. 

Hong Kong: Tim Ho Wan

Next stop (not really) Tim Ho Wan! As mentioned previously, we went to a dim sum place but was disappointed that Tim Ho Wan was not at Mong Kok. So we tried again, and went to a different location. I definitely was looking forward to this because it is considered to be the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant you can find.

Nothing too special about the interior of the restaurant. It is just like any other restaurant that you can find in Toronto or Hong Kong. It did have a very roomy feel to it though but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be eating beside a table of strangers. I guess that's just the culture of Hong Kong.

Tim Ho Wan is spread throughout Hong Kong and there are many locations that can be found. We went to the one near Tin Hau Station (I can't tell you exactly where it was because I was guided). Regardless, we were pretty hungry even though it was early and ordered a tonne of food between the 4 of us.

At first, the fish dish that came does not look appetizing at all. But here we are, something that blew my mind away. It was simply delicious! This is the plain old BBQ pork bun but revamped. It had a crispy shell and the same filling that it normally has on the inside. 

There is a the lotus sticky rice, chicken feet and rice rolls. I wasn't a big fan of those, especially the chicken feet because I find anything messy to eat unappealing. The sticky rice was very average (sort of comparable to Fung Shing Restaurant). The rice rolls, I don't remember much about it...so it must have not been that impressive.

The siu mai though, this siu mai...it was pretty good! It is a bit bigger than your average size but for whatever reason it tastes a lot better too! There wasn't anything too special about the ingredients (at least not from my taste bud or through my naked eye) but for some reason they put something in there that I thought tasted pretty awesome! Overall, I'd rate this restaurant a 3.5/5 for the atmosphere and food quality. I loved how it wasn't super packed and you are not elbowing the next person trying to consume your food, but I do feel that some of the food can be a bit more special.

Hong Kong: Fung Shing Restaurant

This restaurant was actually an unplanned adventure in Hong Kong. The one we were originally going to go to was actually Tim Ho Wan in Mong Kok (I will have a post on it later). Since the Mong Kok location was actually closed, no thanks to GoogleMaps, we decided to look for something else. As they say, most of the restaurants are on a higher level floor due to the high rent on ground level.

For someone who doesn't have a very clear understanding of how the roads in Hong Kong work, it could be confusing to get to. There were actually 2 floors that this restaurant occupies. We weren't sure which one we should be going to so went to the 3rd floor like the people who was in the elevator with us. If you are unsure as to where to go, just follow!

Hong Kong: Ho Hung Kee

This was my first Michelin star restaurant (one star). Little did I know that restaurants open a lot later than the ones in Toronto. We got there around 10:30 am but it wasn't opened till 11:30 am. Thankfully, this mall has a lot of floors so we were able to walk around in one of the largest book stores down below! It featured a total of 3-4 floors (can't remember the exact number). Anyways, even before it opened there was a line up of people waiting to get in.

 By the time it was 30 minutes after opening, the place was filled and there was already a line of people waiting to be seated. The interior decorations are absolutely fantastic! Featuring the Tiffany blue with gold accent, it was definitely breath taking. The place was also very clean which can sometimes be rare in Hong Kong. Even though it looks very modern they still managed to keep a touch of tradition by adding the lanterns and vases around the restaurant.

I wouldn't say it was a super big restaurant. There probably was a total of 50 tables, which maybe half of them included booths. Even the table legs were exquisite with the gold accent wrapped around. What fascinated me the most was the service. They were not explicitly amazing, but it definitely was very speedy! We probably sat down, ordered and ate all within 40 minutes. Since there were many staff it was very easy to flag someone down when we needed something.

For a small girl like me, it is very important that the portions are smaller. This was it. This was the perfect portion size for me! It may not be to someone who eats a lot, but the small bowl of noodle goes a long way. We ordered 2 items. The first is beef noodles. I have to say, nothing compares to what I've ever had. The beef was very tender and the texture of it was not ridiculously chewy. 

The soup was filled with MSG, but let's be honest here...that's what make most things taste good to begin with! The noodles were soft enough that didn't make me feel like it wasn't going to digest. I have had noodles before where it was extremely chewy that I thought it was just going to sit there in my stomach. Everything down to the veggies was amazing. I didn't finish the soup, but this small bowl of noodle was just perfect for the first meal of the day.

The second dish is a marinated pork lo mein. So what you do is you mix everything together and (optional) eat it with the soup that is provided. Since I already ordered a soup noodle I didn't really bother with the soup provided. Again, the texture and the right tenderness of the noodles was what made it so good! This was a slightly larger portion than the soup noodles but nonetheless it was still amazing.

This is a picture of the ceiling because I found it very fascinating that they covered the whole restaurant with the same swirly design. Ho Hung Kee was a bit more expensive than the restaurant at Shek O, but it was still worth every penny that we spent! The only complaint I might have is for the service to be better. I felt very rushed when eating our food, but other than that I would rate this 4.7/5 stars! Truly one of the must-try restaurants if you ever go to Hong Kong.

Kinton Ramen (New location at Yonge and Sheppard)

Busy school schedule means no time to go out and eat! This expedition was a bit of a random, which hopefully will explain the lack of quality in these shots (it was shot by my Samsung Galaxy S4). I couldn't get a picture of the front of the store since someone was either cleaning it or repainting the sign...either way it was a little bit awkward. This sign is located on the side of the restaurant and has a whole wall dedicated to their logo, the pig. Just like all the other Kintons, the layout was pretty much the same but this one in North York is much smaller than the one in Toronto.

From the picture above, you can see that that is pretty much it for the restaurant. There's a side of chairs on the other side of the wall and a long bench where we sat. Ramen restaurant seatings are usually fairly uncomfortable and very intimate. We shared the table with 2 other groups on either side of us, pretty much hearing the whole conversation.

I ordered the spicy garlic light broth, pork belly, with an extra egg that costed $1.50. The ramen only came with noodles and one piece of meat which I was fairly disappointed. Maybe this is a new menu they are trying, but I don't remember only receiving broth and noodles at the other locations. To add seaweed, corn, or "Extras" costed $1 - not amused Kinton

For a $1.50 egg it was fully cooked and not soft boiled. You may be able to see that it's a bit "moist" but I accidentally dipped it in the soup base before. The egg was very cold and the soup was very hot so the mix was quite interesting. At least the texture of the noodle was ramen-like.

I know I asked for a light broth...but it was very close to tasteless. Usually if I were to eat at home, I don't like intense flavours so it's safe to say that I have a very bland taste bud. The only thing I can taste was the garlic and perhaps a pinch of salt. The pork shoulder was pretty much all fat rather than a good proportion. We waited for about 10 minutes although there was a line up. The waiters/waitresses seemed like they were overworked and tired that every time they spoke to us it seemed like they were trying to catch their breath (poor things).

Still managed to finish the whole bowl...but the spicy garlic broth, might have to rethink about ordering that again. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if I will ever go to this location again after having to pay a total of $13 with tax for one bowl. The rating for this restaurant would have to be no more than 0/5 stars. Sorry Kinton, I was pretty hungry too so it would've been easy to satisfy my ramen craving.

Mi Ne Sushi

What's a better way to start off the weekend than with a birthday lunch?! At least it wasn't intentional of us to celebrate a birthday. In a few days will be one of my good friend's birthday and we celebrated by going to sushi! Such a shame I didn't get to snap more pictures of the restaurant but we were one of the only ones there when we arrived so it was a bit awkward. Although of course I had to get a picture of the sushi.

 Don't know if you can tell from the pictures but the pieces were super big. I didn't end up finishing everything off of my plate! This is a Spicy Salmon and California maki set lunch. The total came out to be around $12 with tips and tax which is a little more expensive than what I would normally pay for lunch. 

I wouldn't say the flavour of the sushi was particular good and didn't seem to impress me too much. If there was more rice per roll it would've balanced the fillings a little more. Since there was so much filling, it made it difficult to eat (although like they say, the bigger the better!). Service was mediocre, nothing to really complain about. Probably give this about 2/5 stars, not great but not that I wouldn't come again. 

L'Ouvrier/Kitchen Bar

At first we were going to go to another restaurant that was within walking distance. Thinking that restaurants would close their kitchen later than 2 pm we decided to trek there. When we got there unfortunately it was closed! Fortunately down the street there was another restaurant that seemed promising. It was definitely something that was out of my elements but I'm glad we gave it a try. Took a few snaps of the L'Ouvrier close to the Kesington Market. 

Had to take a picture of such a cute little set up! The rest of the decor was very unique to the point where it can be somewhat intimidating.

They had little selection for their brunch menu but for the price that we paid it was pretty worth it. The bill came up to be about $35 including tips and tax. Here is a picture of the smoked brisket sandwich. Wasn't too big of a fan for the mustard but the fries on the other hand was delicious!

 Next up was the wellington beef burger. The patty was very soft! Perhaps some people may not like the texture but it the taste was not as overpowering as you would normally expect from a burger.

I would rate this restaurant to be about 3.7/5 stars. Not quite my favourite but it is definitely something to try if you are around the area. 

And lastly, a furry friend to end off the experience.