food panda

Nota Bene After a few subpar meals in Toronto, I was beginning to second guess my reservation at Nota Bene, the lone restaurant I booked ahead of time prior to my trip. After reading about Nota Bene on Chowhound , I decided to book a dinner there for our last night in Toronto, and I'm glad I went with my gut. Bread Service Upon seating, we were handed our menus and also served with two types of bread along with a bowl of olive oil. Streetcar - Orange Infused Dark Rum, Lemon Juice, Bitters Ice Wine Martini - Vanilla Vodka, Ice Wine, Agave Nectar, Citrus Twist Toronto Mule - Vanilla Vokda, Ginger Float, Ginger Lime Juice, Bitters As we started to look over the menu, we ordered up a round of cocktails. My friends went with the Streetcar and the Ice Wine Martini. The Streetcar was definitely the strongest of the three drinks, but I enjoyed the orange infused rum liqueur basis in the drink. Despite the stiffness of the drink, it was quite enjoyable. The Ice Wine Martini probably needed ...

Carousel Bakery After a good experience at the St. Lawrence Market the previous day for breakfast, my friends and I decided to make a last trip here before we head out to Montreal the following day. After hearing about this Peameal , which is basically an unsmoked bacon rolled in cornmeal, I wanted to give it a try! Peameal Bacon on a Soft Country Bun My friend went for the original Peameal Bacon sandwich on a soft country bun. It was good, but I mean, it is bacon, how can it not?! Even though it's just the bread and the peameal bacon, the bacon itself was quite juicy, though I would probably enjoyed a light aioli or some sort of sauce to add more moisture. Big Hog While my friend went with the normal Peameal sandwich, I went with the Big Hog, well, probably because I'm a fat ass! LOL! In the Big Hog, it's the basic Peameal shown above, but with the inclusion of a fried egg and a slice of of what I believe, American cheese. For me, I enjoyed the additions of the fried egg ...

Rodney's Oyster House After our failed attempt on our first day to visit Rodney's Oyster house due to the Victoria's Holiday weekend, we decided to return after our meal at Acqua as a late night snack since it opens until 1AM. I'll apologize ahead of time as I lost my little "cheat sheet" for the variety of oysters served at Rodney's, as this will mostly be a picture post. Various Sauces for the Oysters Here are the various sauces that could be used for the oysters, though we mainly just used the lemon provided. At first, I was planning to just snack one an oyster or two, but we ended up running an oyster "gamut" a la kevinEats style. (Though if I was running a kevinEats style, I would not have lost my notes taken that night! LOL) Here was the first plate of oyster we ordered, including the favorite of the night, the Kumamoto oysters. The Kumamoto, as always, tended to have more flavor I enjoy usually from an oyster. Boylan Ginger Ale While I w...

Entrance for Acqua After our little trip to the National Hockey Hall of Fame , it was time for an early dinner, and prior to the trip, I read about this restaurant that was located in the building next to the Hockey Hall of Fame, so I figured we'd give it a shot! Top: Vodka Tonic, Left: Stella Artois, Right: Cranberry Juice Since we arrived a bit early, we sat down at the empty bar and ordered some drinks. I went with my always safe Vodka Tonic, while my buddies went with a Stella on tap and a cool glass of Cranberry Juice. You're too hardcore Benny, with that cranberry juice! LOL Bread Bowl Upon being seated, we were presented with a bread bowl. The bread itself wasn't worthy of much discussion, but we quite enjoyed sesame crisps and the breadsticks. Personally, I have an affinity towards warm bread and slightly soften butter. Lukewarm bread and hard butter just don't quite "cut" it for me. Crispy Sweetbreads - dijon, tarragon mayo We started off with two ap...