Noodle King

The other day I ventured downtown to have lunch with my wife.  I don't work downtown but I was there on business and had about thirty minutes to eat.  She says there's a pretty good noodle place downtown where a lot of people go to especially if they want noodles and they want it fast.  It is located in the under path near the Sheraton Hotel on Queen Street. 

When we got there it was the heart of lunch time and there were about ten people in line.  There were two people at the booths but they were working fast.  I went with a duck noodle soup.  The guy behind the counter grabbed a piece and chopped it up lightning fast, then he scooped up some noodles that were already in the pot and soup and voila it was done. 

Overall the soup based was a little bland.  It was a general soup with green onions in it however it tasted somewhat water down.  The noodles were soft and cooked well.  There were no areas of uncooked noodles.  The duck meat however was tough as nails, a product of either being overcooked or being left in the heating container a little too long.  Taste wise it was satisfactory but when you're dressed up and not wanting to use your hands to separate the meat, then this certainly turned out to be a challenge.  The whole meal itself was about seven dollars.  People will argue that is what you get at a place like this. There really is no time to make it a perfect duck noodle soup.  What you see is what you get.  Personally it was satisfactory and it filled the stomach but certainly it was not the best duck noodle soup I have ever tasted.  I would give it a 3 out of 5. 

Noodle King
123 Queen St W
Toronto, ON M5H 3M9
(416) 861-9398

Tekka Japanese Restaurant

A couple of nights ago we had a chance to visit Tekka Japanese Restaurant located in east North York just across the street from Fairview Mall Drive.  This restaurant is somewhat new and when we got there, the restaurant was empty but it filled up rather quickly shortly thereafter. 

When we got there we actually had a $40.00 coupon which was actually printed from the previous year.  Since the coupon did not have an expiry date we figured what a great time to use it, however when we presented it, the waiter said it was not valid because the coupon could not be applied to the "all you can eat" menu.  He was telling us that they would be losing money and that it could only be applied to the a la carte menu.  After five minutes of going back and forth they finally relented and allowed us to use it. 

The all you can eat menu on this weekend was $21.95/ person however they added an an extra dollar so we could have some of their other special items including the uni sushi. 

Beef and Chicken

Salmon Belly

Shrimp Tempura

Rather than going through every single item that we had ordered as there was plenty, I will again just highlight the good and the bad.  With respect to the good, the pan seared eggplant and salmon belly were pretty good.  Both dishes were able to capture the items' true taste and then each dish was further enhanced with some extra flavoring. The eggplant layers were skinned and "floated" and "waved" while sitting on its hot plate.  The salmon belly were quite fatty but tasty and did not have that deep ocean taste to it.  Both dishes were above average. 

A couple of dishes that I thought could have used some improvements were the bean sprouts and the cook beef.  The cooked bean sprouts, although plenty, were a little bland and somewhat difficult to eat.  I am not too sure whether it was because it was received by us at the end of all our meals or whether it was just plain bad but what you see in the picture was pretty much what was thrown out at the end of the day.  Although there were six adults at the table, none of us felt the bean sprouts met the minimal standard.  Despite mixed with carrots and cucumbers, the dish lacked appeal, taste and that desire to want more.  The other dish that did not make the cut I thought would have been the cooked beef.  It was way over cooked and was quite difficult to chew and eat.  This dish also lacked taste to it and personally was probably my least favourite of the night.

Sushi and Sashimi Boat

Egg plant

Bean Sprouts

The boat contained many of the sushi, sashimi and hand rolls that we had ordered for the evening.  Despite the numerous pieces on this boat, personally there wasn't really anything that would make it a wow factor.  Even the uni sushi rolls lacked that wow factor.  The rolls, sushi and sashimi were satisfactory at best as there was again certainly nothing to brag about.

We ordered tempura, hand rolls and desert as well and despite ordering a ton of food tonight there really wasn't anything spectacular about the overall food.  I had read a lot of reviews about this place before attending and although there were a lot of positive reviews, I have to admit I was probably a little disappointed tonight simply because I personally thought it really did not meet my expectations.  To make matters worse some of the fish were very poorly cut to the point where we were grabbing two or three pieces of sashimi at a time.  My suggestion is that one should either stick with the a la carte menu or better yet, go on a weeknight and get a better deal for its all you can eat.  For this night, I give it a 3 out of 5. 

Tekka Japanese Restaurant
107 Parkway Forest Drive  Toronto, ON M2J 1L9, Canada

(416) 496-2685

Navigator of the Seas - Day 6 - The Last Meal

As always, all good things must come to an end and after a one week cruise, sadly this was the case as well but not before we were given one more good meal from the Navigators.  As always we ended up ordering multiple dishes however on this evening, I went with the Onion Soup and Shrimp Mahi Mahi Tempura for starters, Grilled NY Strip Steak and Key Lime Pie for desert.

Onion Soup

 The onion soup was delicious.  With a piece of cheese on top, the soup was comparable to some of the best I have tasted in the past in 5 star restaurants.  The soup was as advertised.
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Shrimp and Mahi Mahi Tempura

 The tempura was a little disappointing. I am not too sure if it was because I am biased the Japanese style tempura but this meal is far different than the tempuras of what I have had before.  For starters, the tempura for the mahi mahi was soft and almost soggy.  The shrimp itself was not even fried and yes there was definitely no wasabi either. As well, the sauce was chill lime plum sauce which made this dish quite sweet. 

Grilled NY Strip Steak

 The grilled steak I have to admit was nicely done.  I asked for medium rare and got medium rare.  The steak was soft and not too chewy and easy to cut.  The yellow sauce was Gorgonzola butter which gave the steak extra flavor with the black peppered that was already sprinkled onto the steak.  A good dish to have especially for any meat lover.

Key Lime Pie

 The key lime pie was good.  It was sweet and had a strong lime flavor taste to it.  It was again as advertised.  The waitress was so good to us she ended up giving us every dessert that was on the menu for all of us.  There was ice cream, cheese cakes, chocolate mousse and other pies on the table.  We were definitely packing in the calories on this evening.  Overall on this final night we all had a great time.  The food was reasonable tonight.although one had to say the tempura could have been better, however the staff had been excellent throughout the week.  We had a great time and we will miss the staff.. Tonight's final meal I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Navigator of the Seas - Day 4

We spent Day 3 eating buffet upstairs to the restaurant just to take a mini reprieve from the place but by Day 4 we were right back at it.  This time we went back with some over the top orders.  On this evening I went with the Creamed Wild Mushroom in Pastry, Seafood Salad, Double Duck Consomme for starters and Fisherman's Plate for entree

Creamed Wild Mushroom in Pastry

 The mushroom pastry arrived first and it was acceptable.  Personally I thought that the dish could have gone without the pastry part.  The mushrooms themselves were tasty but the addition of the pastry made it a little drier to consume.  The cream and herbs added to the mushroom blended well and gave the mushroom an excellent taste however the pastry could have been left out as it wasn't really needed to enhance the meal.

Double Duck Consomme

 The double duck consomme was surprisingly very good.  I was questioning how good this soup was going to be because of the potential amount of fat content that could be in this duck soup.  However with some carrots, mushrooms and cucumbers, the duck soup was not salty or fatty at all. It was quite "pure" and duck tasting and it made it a very good appetizer.

Seafood Salad

 The seafood salad was very good.  The shrimp and smoke salmon were fresh and the vegetables leaves were all very crispy.  There was a bit of spicy ginger mayonnaise salad dressing on the side which made this dish extra tasty and yummy.  It was not so creamy that it made the salad heavy and as a result, made this a very nice dish that complemented the duck consomme very well. 

The Fisherman's Plate

The Fisherman's Plate consisted of shrimp and one broiled lobster tail.  It also had some broccoli and baby carrots to compliment the dish.  The lobster was mixed with garlic and it was absolutely amazing.  It was so good a few of us order two or three tails each.  You will certainly get your money's worth for this evening food.  It was highly recommended and a must have if you ever set sail on the Navigator.

Overall, compared to the second night it was certainly night and day.  The meals were superb and well worth the time, wait and money.  Other than the pastry dish, all the other dishes were amazing.  Very happy with the night's end.  For it I give it a  4.5 out of 5.

Navigator of the Seas - Day 2

Day 2 on the Navigator of the Seas was a day of more great food.  We ordered more of their great food on this cruise liner just to see what this ship’s best foods were.  On the second night, I went with one appetizer and three entrees.  I went with the Lobster Bisque followed by the Prime Rib, Fillet of Atlantic Salmon and Black Angus Top Sirloin. 

 The lobster bisque was pretty good.  Although there were very little to no lobster meat in it, the soup definitely had a strong lobster flavor.  There was also a tinge of butter flavor to it as well.  The bisque was not too frothy but not too creamy either.  It was one of those perfect in-betweeners.

The Prime Rib itself was good however on this evening they went with a ham gravy sauce to go with the prime rib.  The problem was that ham gravy was very strong in ham flavored however it made the rib taste a little bitter.  The ham tasting gravy contrasted the prime rib a little too much and actually robbed the prime rib of its good taste.  An onion gravy sauce would have much better for the prime rib. 

The Fillet of Atlantic Salmon was pretty good as well however I found it just to be a tad too dry for my liking.  The fish we had the night before was juicier and softer and personally I liked that more than the Atlantic Salmon.  The overall meat of the salmon was dry tasting and as a result it made the meat more chewier.  If they had seared just the outside and left the inside more softer, it would have made a wonderful fillet of an Atlantic Salmon. 

Lobster Bisque

Fillet of Atlantic Salmon

Prime Ribs

Black Angus Top Sirloin

 The Black Angus Top Sirloin was a mothball of a meat.  The sirloin was a little difficult to cut and was just like a giant meatball.  The meat was a little chewy as well.  The tomatoes and the cucumbers were nicely done and so was the mash potatoes, however it just seemed like 4 different items that were all thrown onto a plate yet none of the 4 really matched up really well with the other food on the plate. 

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the second night’s dinner. We ended up in the buffet restaurant afterwards and also had room service later in the evening.  The food was either all a little too dry or the combination just wasn’t right.  On this night, I give it a 2.5 out of 5.  

Navigator of the Seas - Day 1

I went on a cruise to beautiful Florida, Cayman Islands and Mexico this past week to catch some sun and grab some delicious food.  For this week, I will just do a quick run down of the foods we ate while on the Navigator of the Seas.  While I was away my site eclipsed the 5000 hit mark.  Thank you everyone for reading and supporting my blog.

On the first day, we were introduced to a 3 course meal.  All our meals were of that type however with time, you will see we were allowed to order multiple meals and almost turn it into a 5-6 course meal. 

For those who have never cruised, this ship and the Mariners of the Seas are sister ships and their menus are identical.  I had the pleasure to sit on the latter a few years ago so I was already familiar with their menu. 

On the first night I decided to go with a Chilled Watermelon Gazpacho and a Vidalia Onion Tart to start and, a Filet of Atlantic Cod.  The watermelon soup arrived first and it was very delicious.  This dish was both salty and sweet which provided a nice contrast.  There were also diced celery and cucumbers in the soup which made it extra delicious.  

Chilled Watermelon Gazpacho

The onion tart was okay.  It was a little “cheesy” to my liking.  It’s sautéed with red peppers however the combination of cheese and onions was a tad thick for my liking.  I was only able to finish half the dish. 

Vidalia Onion Tart

 The entrée was my filet of Atlantic Cod.  The fish was beautifully filet and it tasted wonderful.  It was very fresh and one can definitely taste the sweetness of the fish.  I thoroughly enjoyed this dish as it was very “pure” tasting.  The fish was mixed with fried onions and melted butter and combined with some vegetables.  It was definitely a complete meal. 

Filet of Atlantic Cod

Overall the soup and fish were amazing!! The onion tart could have been better.  With this combination I give the first meal’s night a 4 out of 5.  Tomorrow’s blog, day 2 on the seas!!

Bowl Kee

Tonight we had a chance to celebrate a friend's birthday by taking her out to a 10-course meal at Bowl Kee which is located at Mong Kok Plaza in Markham.  We had made reservations for thirteen of us and our table was ready for us when we arrived.  When ordering the meal, they will also ask ahead of time if you are ordering the bowl rice because it takes 20 minutes to cook.

First thing to arrive was a seafood soup and it was delicious.  Mixed with a little corn starch, this was a delightful appetizer as it really prepared us for the rest of the meals.

Next to arrive was the crab and it was pretty good.  Mixed with lots of small fish, it was baked with what appears to be breaded spices.  As a result, the dish itself was pretty spicy.  If we had ordered some rice to go with it, it would have helped taken the edge off a little bit but since we order big bowls of baked rice, there was no sense in ordering any white rice.   

Spicy Crab

Chicken

The chicken was next to arrive and it too was very good.  The chicken came with its own sauce.  Not entirely sure the actual make up of the sauce but it was like a mixture of "hoi nam" sauce and "u lo" sauce.  The meat was very juicy and one of the better chickens I have tasted. 

Rice with Dry Hard Sausage

 

Next came the two bowls of rice.  One had the dry hard sausage in it and the other one had salty fish.  The bowls of rice were huge but then again it suppose to serve 15 people.  Both bowls were quite tasty.  Only small problem was that the salty fish one was suppose to come with soya sauce and it wasn't until 1/2 way through that the waitresses realized that they had forgotten to give us the soya sauce.  Near the end, they would take the bowls back and fill it with hot water.  This is to get the rest of the rice off of it so that none would go to waste.

Next came a couple of vegetarian dishes. (not pictured)  Laced with XO sauce, the dishes were quite spicy but still very tasty.   

Broccoli/Mushroom in Seafood Sauce

Also to arrive was the broccoli and mushroom covered in seafood sauce.  It was well done and not over the top.  The creamy sauce gave the entire dish good flavor. 

Fish

One of the last dishes to arrive was the fish.  The steamed fish was properly made and actually tasted pretty good.  The meat was nice and did not have that sewage - ocean taste to it. 

We also ordered a dish of sweet and sour pork (not pictured) and we got red bean jellos for dessert.  Overall it was a good night.  The waitresses were present and near and kept an eye on us the whole time.  With the exception of the chicken, every dish came out hot!!  I would say it is one of the better places I have eaten and certain would entertain a second visit.  There is also a mall for you to go to before or after dinner as well.  A great night all in all. I give this place a 4 out of 5. 

Bowl Kee
8360 Kennedy Road  Markham, ON
905 948 1249

Turtle Jack's

Today I had a chance to have lunch with a friend over at Turtle Jacks up in the Richmond Hill area.  It serves many of your traditional bar food but it boasts that alltheir foods are perfectly seared in some of their best original sauces. 

I decided to go with the Ribs and Wings this afternoon.  I was thinking of the some fish or even some of the pastas but I thought I would go with a more meaty dish at the advice of the waitress. 

I wanted the wings done mild and their ribs to be done in their original Turtle Jack Sauce.  The dish at $22.99 also comes with 2 sides of your choosing.  I chose the soup of the day which today was Italian Wedding soup.  I also order fries as I was told that the fries are sprinkled with special spices to give it a unique taste. 

Rib and Wings

There were about 6 bones to the mini rack of ribs.  I have to admit the sauce was amazing.    The meat just fell off the bone and each piece of meat was quite juicy.  The wings were just as good.  The mild sauce was exactly as advertised. It was hardly spicy at all but it had a great BBQ taste to it.  The Italian wedding soup tasted very similar to Campbell’s version of its Italian soup.  Right to the noodles and to the meatballs, it would not surprise me if that was indeed where it came from.  The taste was almost exactly the same and if I was to guess, I would say it was from Campbell’s.  The fries were sprinkled with a bit of what appeared to be an onion/salt spice. It gave the fries a bit of an extra zing to them. 

Overall, it was a great place to be.  The place was packed for lunch on a weekday which only goes to show hot popular this place is.  With a long island ice tea to go with the meal, it certainly made this a very satisfying meal.  The food and service was great.  Overall I give this place a 4.5 out of 5. 

Turtle Jack’s

10 Vogell Road
Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 3K4
Tel: 905-770-1729

Casa Victoria Fine Dining

As I write the review of my next restaurant, it is great sadness that Scarborough lost one of its staples in Chicken Noodles Restaurant.  This was a place I had eaten many many times and after twenty years, the bosses decided that it was time to close the door for good.  It will be a place that I will sure miss as the staff was very good to me and their food was excellent. 

Moving forward this past weekend we had a chance to have dim sum up in the Markham area at Casa Victoria Fine Dining.  This restaurant has many other sister restaurants including one is Scarborough and one in the downtown area.  Known for their expensive but delightful food we ventured out as a group of 12 to have dim sum this past weekend. 

Fried Rolls Wrapped in Rice Noodles

 Now dim sum more or less tastes the same.  The best way to blog about it is to talk about some of the more unique dishes and just rate the overall experience.  Aside from the usual shrimp dumpling, meatballs, chicken feet, fried turnips and BBQ buns, we also order 3 unique dishes. 

Fried Eggplant

The first one was a fried eggplant.  Cut into a large C shape and sprinkled with green and red peppers it certainly was an interesting dish.  The eggplant dish actually tasted like a yam or cauliflower tempura.  It was crispy but not extremely oily.  It was an alright dish to have.

Shrimp Rice Noodle

 Another unique dish we had was the fried rolls wrapped in rice noodles aka “ja leung”.  Casa also places a vegetable inside the roll to give it that extra uniqueness.  One also adds some sweet soya sauce to give it some flavor.  The rolls were not crunchy overall as I think the vegetable made the crispy roll a little soggy.  Personally although I could respect the uniqueness of the dish, I personally think that they could have done it without the vegetable.  I like the fried roll wrapped in rice noodles dipped in peanut and soya sauce.  I think this is far more tastier than how they had it done. 

As I said before, all the other dishes were pretty much compatible with dishes from other restaurants.  To me there is nothing more special about their dim sum than other place’s dim sum.  Price wise, yes it is a little bit more expensive.  Given the same types of food and without a great deal of “uniqueness” in its dim sum, it is somewhat hard to justify the slightly higher prices in comparison to its competitors.  The food was descent however it was certainly no different than any other dim sum place.  Out of the 12 of us, we ate 45 plates amongst the 15 different dishes that we ordered.  Overall I give it a 3.25 out of 5. 

Casa Victoria Fine Dining

8601 Warden Avenue #4
Markham, ON
(905) 948-1618

Syogun Japanese Cuisine

We were in the mood for some sushi the other night so we decided to go order some take out sushi.  Since we were in the Markham area, we decided to go Syogan Sushi.  This place is located beside a Costco on Woodbine Avenue just south of Highway 7.  We had been there before to dine in and have ordered takeout a couple times before so we knew we could trust this place. 

We placed our order for a 6:15 p.m. pick up and when we got there, it was ready for pickup.  We went with the large order which was $85.00.  We were told them there was suppose to be 85 pieces or so altogether however after doing a count there was over a 100 pieces.  The sushi chef had crammed every square inch of space with sushi, sashimi and maki.  

Large sushi and sashimi platter

The sushi was quite good.  What I liked about it was that the fish tasted quite fresh.  The fish did not taste frozen and certainly did not come straight from the fridge.  Although there were really no specialty rolls, it had contained your usual salmon, tuna, butterfish sashimi and dragon, avocado and shrimp rolls.  The rice was perfectly made within the sushi.  The rice was not mushy or too wet and was certainly not something that had been sitting out for quite some time.

Overall it was a good experience.  There was plenty of free parking and if you do choose to eat in, the staff here are wonderful from my previous experience.  It is a pretty decent place if you do choose to go out for sushi up in the Markham area.  For this, I give this a 3.5 out of 5. 

Syogun Japanese Cuisine

8261 Woodbine Avenue Markham, ON L3R 8Z5

(905) 305-8990