Goldstone Noodle - Toronto, Ontario

Talk about comfort food! This is the place to come to in Toronto for congee and fried doughnut (yau ja gwai). The fried doughnut sticks is a staple item when it comes to pairing it with congee in the mornings. There is no oily or greasy feeling when biting into the fried sticks. It's the perfect amount of chewy and crunch without being over fried. They have a man at the front of the restaurant everyday frying these up non-stop so they are as fresh as fresh can be!

 

The congee is always consistent.  Meaning tons of quality ingredients and the way congee should be, not too thick and glutenous but not thin and watery.   I have had the "teng jai juk" on more than one occasion.  It has mostly squid and tripe along with some ground beef bits topped with peanuts and lettuce.   The other alternative if you want something a bit lighter is the fish slice congee. 

My eating partner and I decided to have some BBQ as well as it was coming out fresh.   Roasted pork and BBQ pork on rice was added to our "breakfast".   There was no way we were finishing but we made the attempt.  The BBQ pork was too salty for my liking and the roasted pork was too fatty and salty for my taste buds.   All and all I would likely skip out on the BBQ here if you don't like extreme salt and fat.   That said, they do sell a lot so it certainly isn't bad BBQ and I am sure it would taste better in a soup noodle.

Wash everything down with a cold lemon tea on the way out and breakfast / brunch was a success!  Let's just say I walked 45 minutes in rain for congee and fried sticks the next day!

Miku - Vancouver, BC

Back from Vancouver again!   Had my fill of ramen and some other usual spots.  I did not realize I was there for the "Dine Out" Vancouver event that select restaurants participate in.   Miku was a restaurant I wanted to try out before even realizing about the event.   With the dine out event they created a menu to showcase their best so you could get a taste of everything from appetizer to dessert.

For $38.00 dollars you will get the set menu:


Appetizer:  tofu & tomato caprese, nori tempura battered crispy ebi and pork belly and aburi soy daikon.

Main: aburi salmon oshi, aburi ebi oshi, aburi saba oshi, oxford roll, hamachi aburi, ebi aburi, bincho aburi, maguro zuke, kanpachi zuke, salmon zuke - added some sockeye salmon sashimi! 

Dessert: green tea eclair, yuzu orange sorbet and orange vanilla sauce.

Let's talk about the sushi!  I was really excited to get a chance to eat some aburi sushi (roasted sushi, flame, usually half raw, half cooked).   I had some amazing aburi sushi at this little shop in Tokyo and I was hoping this would bring back some memories at least.   It certainly brought back some memories and even flavours.   By the time I ate the aburi sushi it cooled off too much.  They did push the envelope with some interesting flavour combinations from lime zest to jalapenos.   That said, the sushi is good but certainly did not exceed my expectations for a place that is marketing itself to be the best in the city.

Flipping back now, the appetizer was really really good!  The pork belly melted in my mouth, the crispy ebi had the perfect amount of heat, the tofu and tomato combination was refreshing.  

The dessert was equally good and well thought out.  Different textures, sweet to tangy, it was all very good, very sexy and a nice way to finish off the set menu.

I will say the service was top notch and seamless.  My partner and I had some sake and to our surprise  we were able to select our own cup!  Overall it was a positive experience for sure.  I would recommend people to try it out at lunch to see if it meets your expectations before committing to the dinner menu.