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Hime Sushi

March 15, 2014

The boyfriend and I came here one evening during a break between my classes. We were looking for some fast, delicious, fresh tasting sushi and after wanting to try this place for a few months, we decided to actually go.

I’m glad we went because Hime Sushi serves up some really fresh and delicious sashimi, as well as other dishes. I think their sashimi was the star of the show, but their specialty rolls were delicious too.

Hime Sushi is really easy to miss when you’re driving by. The outside of the restaurant doesn’t really stand out, we were both surprised when we found out it was by Broadway and Main because we drive by this area multiple times a week, yet we’ve never noticed it until we street-viewed (is that even a verb?) it.

Trying to take a picture of the outside was also quite difficult to catch everything, but I tried my best.

It wasn’t too busy when we first arrived. The servers were polite, attentive, and friendly. Hime Sushi also starts you off with a small plate of chilled edamame beans. I looove edamame beans so we were off to a great start.
The first dish that came was our tuna and salmon sashimi. I’ve read on Urbanspoon that they have really fresh and juicy sashimi, so it was time to test that out.

And boy, was their sashimi ever delicious! It was really fresh, juicy, and sweet – all great components to delicious sashimi. Yum! I noticed their slices of sashimi were a bit smaller than usual, but the freshness of the sashimi made up for it.
Of course, you can’t go to a new restaurant without trying their specialty rolls. This was there ocean red roll which consists of spicy tuna and green onion in the inside, with wild sockeye salmon on top. It came drizzled with hot sauce.

Again, we really enjoyed this due to the quality and freshness of the sashimi. I found myself finishing off every little detail of this roll because it was so good!
Some standard rolls, starting with the salmon and avocado. This was really good due to the freshness of the salmon and avocado. Not only is their sashimi fresh, but avocado as well! The second one was the negitoro (tuna and onion) roll. We enjoyed this one too.
We ended up ordering a second time since I wasn’t completely full yet. I love tobiko. This was their tobiko roll, which I loved. Their sushi rice was really flavourful and sweet, with the right texture and the tobiko was also really crunchy.

All in all, we thoroughly loved our visit to Hime Sushi even though their portions were smaller than we were used to. Hime Sushi uses really fresh ingredients, and you can totally taste it in their dishes. I am in love with their sashimi and sushi rice. Their service was also really friendly and prompt too. We allocated one hour to eat since I had to go back to class, but we ended up finishing our meal in under 40 minutes.

-Carmen

Dream Sushi

March 6, 2014

Hi everyone,

The boyfriend, his little brother, and I were in the neighborhood last week and were craving some sushi, so we decided to check out Dream Sushi after reading some positive reviews on Urbanspoon.

I’ve been here once a few years ago, but I don’t remember anything from my visit. However, we had a pleasant and satisfying visit at Dream Sushi and would probably come back here again if we were in the area!
So, with all the crappy and rainy weather we had recently, I didn’t get a chance to take a decent picture. Here is one I found of Google with credit to Sherman’s Food Adventures (http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com/).

It is pretty small inside, even though it’s cozy. Their walls are filled with different comments from customers on brightly coloured paper, which I thought looked pretty cool since I’ve never seen a restaurant completely fill up their walls like that.

This place is also Chinese-owned, I’m assuming with all the Cantonese I heard from all the staff.
The first thing we ordered was the salmon sashimi ($9.50). It tasted really fresh and juicy. As you can tell from the picture, the slices were pretty thick and decent too.

It came under a bed of shredded daikon. I would definitely order this again, with how fresh it tasted!
This was the paparazzi roll ($8.95), which was comprised of spicy tuna, cucumber, avocado, fried yam crisps (? I think, not too sure but it was crispy) with seared tuna tataki, spicy mayo, onions, and sesame on top. This was AMAZING.

I loved how all the ingredients tasted so perfectly with each other. This roll was made with a lot of care, quality, and detail as you can tell with the garnishing on top. It also tasted really fresh, and there was a slight crunch inside. The sashimi in this dish was also very fresh tasting as well. I would highly recommend trying this dish! YUM!
Last but not least, we ordered some regular rolls. I’ll start with the california roll ($3.50). This tasted like a regular california roll, but the avocado was really fresh.

Most restaurants either add cucumber OR avocado, but they included both in their roll. I also liked how there was sesame on top, it was a great addition to detail and made a somewhat-boring roll look more interesting. Look at those sesame seeds!
The other roll we ordered was the negitoro roll ($2.75). Nothing special about this roll, we all enjoyed it and didn’t really have any complaints. We also ordered a chopped scallop roll ($3.75). Again, nothing too special about this roll either. The last roll was the smoked salmon roll ($3.75). We were a bit disappointed with this roll because we thought it would taste better than it actually did, but maybe we had high expectations due to the other dishes.

In conclusion, we enjoyed our visit to Dream Sushi. All of their sashimi is extremely fresh, and they prepare all their rolls with detail and quality. Service was attentive as well. They weren’t overly friendly or anything, but they made our visit pleasant and were quick to come to our table, and refilled our drinks without asking.

Thai’s Saigon Bistro

March 2, 2014

Whenever I am craving hearty, delicious, and authentic pho, my mind and tummy travels to Saigon Bistro. I love Saigon Bistro because their pho broth is lighter, and less salty than other places.

Their pho really reminds of authentic home cooking, and the vegetables served here are really fresh and crunchy. I never leave this place feeling bloated and gross due to their light but delicious broth. Not only is their broth healthier, the owner of the restaurant is an extremely friendly and cheerful Vietnamese man!

Let’s get the review started:
This is one of the pho dishes that I normally get, pho tai nam gan sach (rice noodle with beef flank, rare beef, tendon, and tripe) $6.75 for small. I normally ask for extra tripe and no tendon, and the owner is glad to accommodate my requests.

As you can tell from the picture, the broth is pretty light in colour and clear. Although the broth is lighter, the flavour of the pho itself isn’t sacrificed. It really reminds me of home cooked pho due to its light but delicious flavour- really only a broth that a mom/grandmother could perfect! But somehow, they accomplish it!

The noodles are also cooked perfectly, and do not clump together.
This is the nuong cuon (salad roll with grilled pork) ($3.50). This dish is pretty tasty due to the marinated and grilled pork. The wrap also isn’t that sticky, so pretty easy to eat.

There is also vermicelli and lettuce inside the wrap. In addition, the roll comes with a peanut butter (I think there’s also Hoisin sauce in it?) dipping sauce which complements the flavour.
This is the salad roll with shrimp & ham, goi cuon ($2.95 for 1 roll, $5.50 for 2 rolls). Nothing too special about this dish, but I love ordering it when I’m not that full yet and want something light.

All the vegetables taste really fresh and crunchy. I find that their slice of ham isn’t as big as other restaurants.
This is the banh mi thit nuong ($4) grilled pork with vegetables and hot pepper, toasted on a french bun. The bread is super crunchy on the outside, but soft in the inside. I love this sub because there is an equal amount of meat to vegetable. The vegetables, again, also taste really fresh (Look at that fresh, yummy cilantro!). I normally dip every bite into hot sauce and it’s delicious!

-Carmen

Trilussa Pizza & Pane

March 1, 2014

While browsing on Urbanspoon, I came across Trilussa Pizza & Pane. I knew I had to visit this place due to it’s 97% rating and 271 (and counting!) votes! And boy, am I glad I discovered this place!

Their pizza dough is made fresh everyday with quality ingredients. Luckily enough, I made a reservation just in case it would be busy. To our shock, when we arrived, they were completelyout of pizza dough and actually saved us the last two pieces of dough! I’m pretty sure they only stayed open to serve us, or they could have just used their dough and close early, but nope, they actually waited for us!

Talk about great service. Although it was our first time here, the workers made us feel right at home and made conversation with us while we enjoyed their fresh, and authentic Roman pizza. I felt as if we were regulars here and had a really great experience.

The exterior of the restaurant doesn’t really stand out from the rest of the numerous restaurants along Main Street. Half my childhood was spent around the Little Riley/Main Street area and I was really shocked I’ve never noticed this place until I came in. Right away, we noticed a cute little handwritten sign that apologized to customers that there was no more dough. When we walked in, they knew my name right away and said, “Carmennnn! Hey!” like I was a old pal.

The interior of Trilussa is very cozy and warm. On one end they have the pizza bar, espresso machine, and till, and the other side consists of the booths. There were little coat hangers on each booth which was a nice and convenient detail to this place. Trilussa is pretty small, but very comfortable.
You can see the oven in the back that is used to cook each order individually, which adds to the freshness. Normally, the area with the glass pane would be lined up with pizza waiting to be cooked (if they had dough left!).

We patiently sat, with our tummies rumbling while the oven brought the anticipated pizza to life. Overall, it took about 8 minutes for our pizzas to be done cooking. They only have two ovens, so I wonder how they manage when it gets busy! I would imagine that there are really long wait times during peak.
Behold! Our pizza! It came on a pretty long wooden paddle, I wonder how many unfortunate people have had their pizzas knocked off the table by other customers. We ordered the Milano (prosciutto cotto & mozzarella) and Garbatella (sausage & mozzarella).

I fell in love at first bite. The crust was thin and very crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy inside. The mozzarella was very stringy and rich. The pizza had a bit of oil on it which didn’t really bother me, because I knew from their sign (scroll up) that it was extra virgin olive oil. This was enough for two people and we left extremely full and happy.
Here is the closeup of the Milano. You could have more toppings but we opted for mushrooms only. I wished that there was a bit more proscuitto, but the freshness and quality of their ingredients make up for it (quality over quantity!). I preferred this dish over the Garbetella because it had more meat on it.
Here is the Garbetella. Again, I wished that this had more sausage pieces on it. However, you can see the generous portion of stringy, melted cheese.

After doing some background research, I found out that the owner of Trilussa was born and raised in Rome, Italy which explains why the pizza tastes as lovely and authentic as it does. Normally, I would that really bloated and gross feeling after eating pizza, but due to the freshness of their ingredients, I felt great! I would love to come back to Trilussa, so glad I discovered this little gem.

-Carmen

Suika – Japanese izakaya & tapa bar

February 26, 2014

Hi everyone!

Hands down, Suika is my absolute favourite place to go in this city for Japanese tapas. I love that Suika is super authentic, has amazing quality & preparation, great service, and a lovely atmosphere. I have a positive dining experience every time I come here, and this time was no different.

Back in December, Suika was offering a 10 course (plus dessert, so eleven) set meal for $25 a person. When I saw this offer, I immediately jumped on it and asked three other friends to come with me, since they suggested a party of four.

Without the set course menu, we calculated that each person would have had to pay at least $50 each, so it was definitely an amazing opportunity to enjoy some authentic Japanese food without breaking the bank.

Each plate of food comes with inclusions that complement each other really well, I don’t know how they come up with these recipes but I am truly in awe with how everything is perfectly prepared here.
I love this sake bottle chandelier! It looms above the restaurant, making this restaurant so unique.Little details like this go noticed and appreciated.
3 kinds of appetizer – I believe it was taro, kimchi tofu, and vegetables. At first, we all thought the tomato was salmon which was disappointing, but oh well! Can’t really complain when you’re already getting a good deal. I enjoyed the taro root dish most, it was really flavourful and crunchy.
Beef tataki- super fresh, and well seasoned! The veggies on top, lemon, and horseradish really brought out the flavours and sauces of the dish.
Sashimi salad- This was SO GOOD. Everything was mixed perfectly and complemented each other so well. There were also some tobiko in it, to add some flair and crunch. We cleaned off every piece of green on this plate, that was how delicious it was.
Chicken karaage- This dish was too oily for me, so I avoided it. My friends thought that this dish was pretty oily too, so they used a napkin to dab some oil off. It came with a small bowl of dipping salt. (Pic taken by my friend)
This was some sort of salad, I can’t remember exactly the name of it. I just remember it was very delicious. (Pic taken by my friend)Ebi mayo- delicious! The mayo wasn’t too rich, from what I remember it was also a bit sweet. Lightly fried and well seasoned. We wished there was more because it was sooo good!
Salmon battera- Essentially their take on a regular salmon roll. From what I remember, the salmon was lightly flamed, giving it a smoky flavour. Salmon was also very juicy, the rice was soft, and the vegetables complemented the flavours perfectly.
Kimchi yaki udon – The noodles were cooked very well- very soft and chewy. Although I’m not a big fan of kimchi, I really enjoyed this dish due to the sauce they add on the noodles, plus the fresh onion they add on top.
Beef short rib- THIS WAS SO GOOD. It was marinated in some kind of BBQ sauce. Heaven in every bite. It was extremely soft, tender, and juicy. I’m pretty sure we had a hard time trying to share this dish as we all wanted it to ourselves 🙂
Kakuni bibimbap. We forgot to take a picture of this, so I got it off their website. We really enjoyed this rice dish cooked in a stone bowl, there was a lot of tender and juicy meat inside. There was a really rich and aromatic flavour to this.
Matcha creme brulee for dessert! Hands down, my favourite dessert ever. This even beats out cheesecake. It is a slice of matcha ice cream, but frozen enough so that you have to kind of cut into it with your spoon. The crunchy part is caramelized sugar, with a side of fresh whip and a slice of strawberry. (Pic taken by my friend)

Needless to say, we all left very full and satisfied, I was left with an extremely joyous feeling in my tummy. If you’re planning on coming to Suika on a weekend, you should make a reservation or you’re going to be waiting awhile. I’ve tried coming here without one, and they usually ask you to be done within a certain time because they need to prepare for a reservation.

Service here is really friendly and accommodating, servers are really knowledgeable about the dishes. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it! Suika, if you’re reading this, sponsor me!!! (Joking… maybe #whynot )

Thanks for reading!