Wei’s Taiwanese Foods

Wei’s Taiwanese Foods restaurant is a small primarily take-out restaurant that has opened quietly for the past few years in a small Scarborough plaza.  It specializes in good portion rice combinations and soups for a really affordable price.  One of my friends stumbled upon the restaurant when they were looking for some take out one evening and told us that the food at this place wasn’t that bad.  The only problem was that the place was tucked behind some other restaurants and in the corner of a small plaza and would be difficult to spot for any passer-bys. 

Crispy Chicken Rice Combination

Upon entering the restaurant, don’t expect anything fancy in there.  There are only two tables and what looked like about 5 chairs altogether.  Scanning their menu, they offered a variety of rice “lunch boxes” for the price of $5.25 per combo.  Once you pick your combo, you can also add another 2 or 3 sides to your dish to complete your set.  A complimentary soup also came along with your rice combo. 

For me, I went with their crispy chicken rice combination.  For the sides, I went with a hard boiled egg, some broccoli and eggplant.  The lady behind the counter really piled on the sides and the rice.  One thing I was concerned about was the flimsiness of the container.  The plastic was very thin and with so much rice, chicken and vegetables piled into the container, they actually placed an elastic band around the container to keep the lid from flying off. 

Tomato and Egg Rice Combination

Once we got home, I was actually quite surprised by the taste of the chicken.  The chicken was still very crispy and the amount of chicken present was more than proportional to the amount of rice and did I say there was like almost two bowls of rice there.  The eggplant and the broccoli were boiled almost as pure as it could be with little to no sauce added to them.  There was however quite a bit of oil on the bottom of the eggplant.  So much so that I used the white rice and the chicken and mixed the oil with it.  The overall taste of it all was actually pretty good but it made the meal a little bit more greasier which may or may not be a turn off for some.  My wife ordered the tomato and egg combination which she chose beans and eggplant as a side.  It was less oily but just as filing due to the amount of sides added to the dish. 

Overall, for the price one pays, it was certainly well worth the price.  Even if it was greasier with the excess oil, the taste was still actually respectable.  One was certainly quite full after eating the meal.  I think what I like the most was that with every bite, you were wanting more and more and even though I didn’t think I was going to finish the dish, you end up somehow finishing it.  I actually had the fried pork chops combo a few days later and that was just as good as the crispy fried chicken.  They can easily substitute any home cook lunch or dinner so if you’re lazy and you don’t want to cook then Wei’s Taiwanese Foods restaurant might be an affordable alternative for the night.  Overall, I give them a 3.75 out of 5. 

Wei’s Taiwanese Foods

2578 Birchmount Road

Scarborough, Ontario

416-754-4605

Milestones Bar and Grill Empress Walk

A couple of weeks ago we headed out to Milestones Bar and Grill to get some chow.  We frequent the one in Scarborough quite often however this was the first time I had been to the one located on Yonge Streeet.  When we got there, we noticed that it was actually a two-floor restaurant.  The bar for the most part was located on the lower floor while diners could eat in the upstairs.

We got there roughly around 7:00pm that evening and the place was pretty busy.  The waiter was pretty good in that he had prepared the place for not one but two kids and the other kid had come in on his stroller.  He gave us the menus and we proceeded to order off the menu.  For this evening, the six of us went to share their signature Famous Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip and I decided to go with their new Crispy Haddock and Frites.

Famous Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

 I was actually looking forward to the meal however about 5 minutes in, the waiter came back and told me that they had sold on the haddock.  A little disappointed, I went and ordered their other new product the Fire-Grilled Salmon.  Thinking that I had finally settled down on the meal, the waiter once again came back and told me that the special rice it came with actually was all gone and asked if me if I was willing to settle for some white jasmine rice instead.  Although there were other options given, I settled for the rice wondering if this would be the last change that was going to be made.

The nachos arrived first and it looked pretty good.  The dip itself was nice and creamy and the nachos were nice and hot and crispy.  Of note, rather than giving us potato nachos, they actually served us with sweet potato chips instead.  The hot spinach was not spicy hot at all and the whole dish was actually a nice dish to start off with for everyone involved including the kids. 

The Slow-Roasted AAA Prime Rib AAA

My fire-grilled salmon arrived soon afterwards and I could tell it looked for a better lack of word, unattractive.  Taste wise it was exactly as it looked, quite plain.  I actually thought the salmon was way too dry and with the white rice staring at you and with no real sauce to really mix the rice and salmon together, I thought overall it was a healthy dish to have but not really worth the price to sit down and have.  On the contrary, my friend ordered the Chili Crusted Tilapia and this was very, very good.  My wife herself actually ordered The Slow-Roasted AAA Prime Rib AAA and that too was also acceptable and very juicy.   The waiter did not really offer me a second choice so I was stuck with the salmon and rice.  He did offer an explanation in that the ice storm and lack of electricity the week before depleted some of their supplies.  Although that may very well have been the case, there are numerous ways where one can mix the rice and salmon together and make it very juicy and tasty.  The meal they served was so plain that I didn't even bother taking a picture of it.

The staff was quite nice to us and coming from Toronto, I could understand some of the challenges that they have faced especially in light of the recent lack of electricity in parts of the city.  However having said that, I expected a little creativity especially if one is offering me different choices outside of what was on their menu.  Just serving me white rice and a slab of salmon was about as simple as it could be and they still charged me $24.00 for it.  I'm not usually one to complain to the staff as I always say how you serve it the first time especially in the restaurant business should already be your best shot.  One should never let the customer dictate what is good and what is not.  Honestly, if you ever try Milestones, go with some of their other dishes as they seem to be more acceptable and more bang for your buck.  If you had what I had, you will wonder why you left the house in the first place.  Overall, my personal experience of Milestones was a 2.75 out of 5.

Milestones Bar and Grill Empress Walk

5095 Yonge St
Toronto, ON
(416) 225-2552

Ninja Sushi

Well, first of all happy new year to all my fellow readers.  It's been two years since I've had this blog up and running and I hope to keep on writing for a long, long time.  I hope to see more restaurants this year and try out more exotic and interesting foods across Toronto and its Greater Toronto area and I hope that you do the same as well.  Having said that, let's get on with the show.

I have driven past Ninja Sushi many times before but I have never actually ordered or eaten anything from this place.  The other day as I was surfing on the internet I noticed that a fellow blogger had named it one of the top ten take out sushi places in Toronto.   Having seen that, and the fact that I was looking for a new sushi place to try out, I decided to give it a go.  I gave them a call earlier in the afternoon and told them I needed a small sushi and sashimi tray within the hour and surprisingly they were able to oblige.  Normally most places required at least two to three hours notice however these guys said “yup, no problem.”

For those who have no idea where this place is, it’s actually located in Bamburgh mall in the same plaza island as that of McDonalds.  I got to the place within the hour and noticed that there were only two tables available for eating. The chef told me they were more known for take out which was why they didn’t have as many seats available. 

Salmon Shushi

I got my food and for about 45 pieces or so, the total came out to be a reasonable 35 dollars plus tax. Looking at the tray, it had your usual salmon, tuna, butterfish, white fish, fried shrimp sushi, egg sushi, vegetarian sushi and eel sushi. 

One thing I could tell was that the shrimp was freshly battered as you could smell the aroma coming out of the sealed tray.   The sushi pieces were still warm and many of the fish were nice and soft and really didn’t have any of that frozen texture or taste to it.  As a matter of fact, most of the sushi and sashimi were warm which also added to the notion that most of the fish were quite fresh and had not been kept in storage for a long period of time.  That's usually a sign that turnover is quite frequent here which allows more fresher fish to be served.  

Small Sushi and Sashimi Platter

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprise at the quality of the sushi and the sashimi.  As well, the chef also gave me six extra pieces of salmon sushi in a separate container.  I don’t know if it was bonus or part of the deal as the tray was over flowing with sushi and sashimi already.  If there was one type of sushi that wasn’t as good, it would have to be the shrimp sushi.  The shrimps were a little soft and mushy and didn't seemed as fresh as the rest of the fish.  However, although there was no particular wow factor with the selection of the fish, it was still in my mind, a good deal with good quality fish.

Overall for the price and the amount of fish one gets along with its quality, I thought the place was actually not that bad when compared to some of the other places that I had been to.  Other than the shrimp sushi, everything came as advertised.  One thing of note is that parking in that plaza can be a major headache.  My suggestion is that if you are just going to this sushi place for pick up, it might be wise just to park your car in the church parking lot across the street and then walk across.  It will be much faster, closer and one does not have to wait for an eternity to find a parking spot.  For Ninja Sushi, I give it a 3.75 out of 5. 

Ninja Sushi
395 Bamburgh Cir, Toronto, ON

(416) 756-4904