Dessert Kitchen

I was asked once upon a time whether I ate at any of the many dessert restaurants in around town or did I just ate at regular meal restaurants.  Well in short I do eat at dessert restaurants and it was actually very recently that I went and tried out Dessert Kitchen in Markham, Ontario.  This place had been there for about a year now and is located in a small plaza tucked underneath some newly built commercial buildings.  It can be somewhat difficult to locate as it's not quite visible on a major street and unless you knew where it was, locating it could be somewhat of a problem.

When we got there, there were a few tables still available for us.  For some of my friends, it was their second or third time there but for yours truly, it was actually my first time there.  The place looked pretty clean and was populated with many young adults just chilling and enjoying their desserts for the night.  They had menus posted on their walls and a fancier paper version menu at the table.  Since we had just come off having a rather large dinner earlier in the evening, we decided to try a couple of their specialties and a couple of their more simpler desserts.  For that evening, we decided to go with their Taste of Uji, A Creme Brulee, A Peanut Tong Yuan and a Green Tea Molten.

Taste Of Uji

The Taste of Uji was the first to land on our table.  It looked somewhat exotic or as exotic as one could be with green tea "noodles" mixed with red bean and in coconut sauce or milk.  The dish could be served hot or cold although on that particular evening we decided to go with the cold.  Despite the coconut flavored milk or sauce, it was not an overly sweet dessert as the green tea noodles lacked some flavor to it and the red beans were just red beans.  Most of the taste actually came from the coconut sauce itself.  It was a good dessert nonetheless, however a bit more stronger on the flavor would have been nice.

Creme Brulee

The Creme Brulee appeared to be a little more burnt than one would like when it came out of the kitchen. The bottom side of it was crispy and yellow, while the top side of it was unfortunately burnt black.  I know for some, the burnt sugary part of the creme brulee might not be the most appealing part.  We just pushed that part of the creme brulee away.  The under side of the crispy layer however was pretty smooth.  Despite the amount of sugar on the creme brulee, it too was not as sweet as some of the other creme brulees I have had before.

Peanut Tong Yuan

The Peanut Tong Yuan was pretty good but again the ginger soup base was not overly sweet.  The peanut pasting on the inside was perfect.  What I liked was that the whole dish was pretty hot inside and out including the peanut stuffing on the inside.  It's a simple dish to make that usually requires no magic hands to make however the soup base did taste a bit diluted which was a little disappointing to me.

Green Tea Molten

The Green Tea Molten was the last to arrive and this was probably the best of the bunch on that particular evening.  Cutting into the cake, the green tea oozed beautifully out the cake.  It was nice and hot and had that rich green look to it.  The interior was smooth, sweet and not chunky at all.  It certainly earned high marks for hitting everything perfectly on that evening.

Overall, all the desserts were pretty decent. Some of the comments I made about the sweetness could be construed as personal preference.  For me, I like my desserts sweeter and to me the desserts outside of the green tea molten were a tad bit bland.  For those, who prefer a lesser sweet tasting dessert, then they would certainly love this place.  The dessert restaurant was pretty much filled to capacity around 9 pm that night and by 10 pm, people were unfortunately lined up all the way outside the door on a cold winter evening. Despite the long lineups out the door, the staff never came by to rush us out the door.  Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Dessert Kitchen
3623 Highway 7 East
Unit 106
Markham, Ontario

905-604-6300

Vince Seafood Restaurant

When one is driving down a busy stretch in Markham Ontario and looks out their window and sees Vince Seafood Restaurant, it is difficult to imagine that people would correlate it as a dim sum place.  This restaurant at this location had gone through a few ownership changes and at first glance, it appeared that the latest changes revolved it being a seafood restaurant as the name would suggest.  However upon further review, not only is it a seafood restaurant at night, but it also doubles up as a dim sum restaurant during the morning.

Siu Mei

We approached the restaurant recently on a Friday morning and was amazed to see that it was actually lined up outside the door.  We were surprised that we actually had to wait approximately ten minutes before we were given our seats.  It was surprising to see how many people actually didn't have to work on Fridays but that would be another story to be discussed.

Egg Tart

Once we got our seats our sever would ask what time of teas we would like and unlike some Chinese restaurants where pushing carts and yelling out the food name would be the norm, at this place, the food was ordered through a tick box on a sheet of paper.  Since there were only three of us, we decided to go with some of the more traditional items including Shrimp Dumplings, Turnip Cake, Egg Tarts, Siu Meis and Baked BBQ Pork Buns.

Baked BBQ Pork Buns

Looking at the food as they arrived one by one, we could tell that the portions were a decent size and that each item looked colorful.  I have had dim sum many times before and sometimes the food that comes out lacks color which sometimes could mean that the chefs in the back may have skimmed back on some of the ingredients.  As we were about to start, we could see the manager had in his hands a tray full of their Special Signature Item at the restaurant.  These were Deep Fried Taros which were basically taros that were sliced up into rectangular blocks and coated with sugar.  At first I was too sure what to make of it but it was their specialty dish and it appeared many of the diners were clamming for it.  Taking a bite, it was naturally sweet on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. It was like eating a hash brown except it was more like eating fried yams because of the sweetness to it.  The sugar layer was relatively thin so it provided just enough sweetness to it but at the same time not make one feel like they were eating a spoonful of sugar.  I actually liked the dish as it certainly was unique and provided a nice alternative for a dessert.

Deep Fried Taro Dessert

Overall, we all had a decent time there.  It was really inexpensive and the food was acceptable although some did say that the price was probably just a tad higher than some of the other dim sum restaurants in the neighborhood.  The rest of the dim sums were average. As colorful as they were, there really wasn't anything spectacular to them.  They tasted exactly as they would with no special flavors or seasoning to them.  The place appeared to be clean and the waiters and waitresses made sure that our teacup was always filled to the max.  Tax and tip included came out to be about $30.00 for about 8 dishes as each dim sum was about $2.80 to $3.00 each although the prices do drop at different hours of the day.  I have never tried their dinner menu yet so I might go back in the future and give that a whirl.  Overall, I give it a 3.25 out of 5.

Vince Seafood Restaurant
1661 Denison Street
Markham, Ontario

(905) 604-8218

Ambiyan Restaurant and Bar

Boosted by a strong craving of good Indian food, we were recommended and introduced to a place on Main Street in Unionville, Ontario to give that restaurant’s fine dining cuisine a try. Its location is right in the middle of a popular tourist attraction in Markham, Ontario where thousands of people flock to every year.  Ambiyan Indian Restaurant has been there for quite some time and its expertise in traditional and modern Indian dishes makes it one of the more unique and sought restaurants to go to. 

Caesar Salad

We converged on a weekend evening with a couple of our other friends.  The restaurant had its lights nicely dimmed to give it that romantic feel.  There was a bar at the entrance of the restaurant, an outdoor patio and a dining room area.  The restaurant had about 20 tables altogether. 

Chicken Pakora

We had reservations for the evening and our waiter promptly showed us to our tables.  Although this was not our first time in an Indian restaurant, we asked the waiter what were some of their more favorite dishes there.  The waiter mentioned that a few of them and after a while we settled on about 5-6 dishes which included: the Chicken Pakora ($11.00), Butter Chicken ($18.00), Masala Lime Lamb ($20.00), Caesar Salad and Saag Paneer ($15.00).  We went with the Caesar simply because of our dishes had curry in it and because we weren’t too sure how spicy some of their dishes were and with my little one tagging along, it was best that we had something that my daughter could have without worrying whether it would be too spicy for her. 

The dishes all arrived together within 20 minutes of ordering it.  The Chicken Pakora was closest to me so I went for it first.  The chicken was lightly battered in chickpeas and deep fried into cubes and then they were served with tamarind chutney.  The chicken itself was not really hot in temperature nor in spiciness.  The chickpeas certainly gave it a more distinct flavor otherwise the chicken would have tasted like ordinary chicken nuggets.    It was a nice appetizer to start off with.  There was enough so that each person at the table could have one of. 

Butter Chicken

One can not go into an Indian restaurant and not order Buttered Chicken.  I think it’s a staple and a dish that I always must try at every Indian restaurant I go to.  The chicken in this case was made and immersed into tomato cream sauce.  The sauce was not spicy at all which to me was a little disappointing.  I was hoping for a little bit more zip in it.  It lacked that wow factor as I often allude to.  It wasn’t bad at all truthfully although the adjective I would use to describe such a dish would be safe.   Perhaps a touch of coconut milk or some gourmet spices to really enhance the taste would have been welcomed.  The buttered chicken tasted decent but just lacked pizzazz.

Masala Lime Lamb

The Masala Lime Lamb on the other hand was probably my favorite dish for the evening.  The lamb was cooked and served in a masala and lime curry sauce.  The curry sauce was nice and creamy, not spicy at all and mixed well with the lamb.  The aroma of the curry certainly provided a mouth-watering attraction to this dish.  The lamb meat itself was nicely cooked and the flavors of the curry did not overwhelm the taste of the actual lamb meat.   The dish was pretty decent and I would recommend it to any lamb lovers who are out there.

Saag Paneer

Since the Caesar Salad went to my daughter, we decided to go with the Saag Paneer which was basically pureed spinach cooked in paneer cubes.  The puree was very smooth where one could barely see the most tiniest parts of the spinach leaves.  We couldn’t actually see the paneer itself although he could definitely taste it.  One could eat as is or eat with a piece of naan.  Again there was a tiny bit of spiciness to it but not enough to cause one to be diving for the water pitcher.  It tasted great and added that bit of uniqueness of what the Indian culture is all about.

Desert

Service was pretty good as there were two waiters who kept an eye on us the entire time.  I personally thought that some of the dishes could have had more flavor to them by adding more of their cultural spices to them.  I have been to many Indian restaurants before where dishes certainly provided a major kick to them.  All the dishes that were served tonight I must say only had a mild spiciness to them.  Having said that, I wouldn’t mind heading back again but this time, I would ask the chef to really give me a good bang for the dollar.  Overall, I give it a 3.75 out of 5. 

Ambiyan Restaurant and Bar

149 Main Street

Unionville, Ontario

905 480-0094

Deer Garden Signatures

One of the places that we have frequented a bit in the past has had an ownership or name change three times in the past couple of years.  Although the food was pretty good each and every single time we went there and the lineups were often all the way out the door, it was difficult to figure out why there were so many changes relative to this place.  The restaurant, Deer Garden Signatures, located in the north end of Scarborough, had been known as Amigo Restaurant and the Fish Soup Supreme prior to the most recent name change.  We drove by the place recently and noticed the change so we decided to go in and check out the "new" place. 

When we got in, we were fortunately and lucky to get a booth by the side.  It was the weekend and it was high noon and the place was starting to fill up.  Had we been late for another ten minutes, we probably would have had to wait in line for an extra 15 minutes. 

As we sat down, the menu's concept actually looked somewhat similar to Fish Food Supreme's menu.  However, what we could tell was that there were a few more soup bases to choose from and that it not only had seafood and fish-based soup noodles, but that it also had a vegetarian and more meats as a side soup noodle dishes to choose from.  For a price of $8.75, one had the right to choose one soup base, one type of noodles from glass noodles to instant noodles, and two types of toppings for their bowl. 

I went with a fish soup base despite all the new meat soup bases, with glass noodles, some tripe and fish balls.  The noodles also came with mushroom, some vegetables and tofu as well.  Needless to say the bowl was loaded and rather big by the time it arrived at our tables.  I was quite pleased with the quantity of the food because most people will agree that for almost nine dollars for a bowl of noodles is a tad bit pricey.  As for the quality, the noodles and its sides were all quite delicious.  The soup base was nice and hot and the noodles were pretty fresh and plentiful.  The soup seasoning might have been a tad heavy on the MSG side but it was still tolerable however the flavor was probably enhanced inadvertently with all the meat and fish additions. The meat were all perfectly cooked and not overcooked as were the very tasty fish balls.  I could see why so many people would want to come here and eat because on a cold, winter afternoon, this bowl of noodles will certainly fill you up. 

It was certainly a pleasant meal to have.  The meal also come with a drink but as usual, it's a dollar more for a cold drink to go with your meal.  Needless to say, with so many sides, soup bases, types of noodles to choose from, it would be impossible for them not to find a combination that one would like.  I certainly hope that this place sticks around for a while because they sure delivered a good bowl of noodles.  Although some will find it a bit pricey, judging by the lineup, I don't think you will find too many complainers.  Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5. 
 
Deer Garden Signatures
Unit 125 633 Silver Star Blvd
Scarborough, Ontario

416-609-2888

Uoshiki Sushi

There were so many new restaurants that opened up at the northwest side of Midland and Finch Avenue that it making it hard to keep up with all of them.  One of the ones that caught my eye ever since it opened up was Uoshiki Sushi.  Having eaten at so many all you can eat Japanese sushi restaurants in the past few years, this one sure had its work cut out for them.

As usual, prior to going to the place, I placed a reservation with the restaurant.  There were the five of us including my little one and we decided to go on a Friday evening.  We got there right at 7:00 pm that evening and were given our table immediately.  The place was nicely decorated with bold black and red colors encompassing the restaurant.  Their menu was on an Ipad where one could easily click and select the foods they want.  Since it was a Friday evening, the price they charged us was about $29.99 per adult. 

Seared Scallops on Cold Tofu

With the extra price one pays for being there on the weekend, they give you a choice of four special items in which you could two of them as part of your extra value items.  All of the extra special items were available which was comforting to hear.  That evening I chose to go with their Seared Scallops on Cold Tofu and Uni Shoots.  Both the uni shoots and the scallops were an excellent choice.  The uni shoots came with a quail egg in it which made the shoot extra tasty.  The scallops were nicely decorated with a cold piece of tofu on the bottom and some red roe on top.  Appearance wise, both dishes would have easily passed as a delicate dish in a high class restaurant.

Sashimi Platter

The sashimi was satisfactory.  There was an extra "bounce" in some of the sashimi that we had order which led us to believe that the sashimi had been kept in the fridge for more than a couple of days.  The good thing was that any sashimi we had ordered was available.  The portions were decent and much of the pieces were thinly sliced. 

Uoshiki Special Sushi Rolls

One of the more interesting items that we had ordered was their signature Uoshiki Special.  A combination of barbeque eel, tempura shrimp, mango, avocado and cucumbers were wrapped with rice paper.  Then a couple of them were squirted with what I think was mango sauce and maybe a cherry sauce.  Both sauces were rather sweet.  The pieces were large and two of them came with four pieces while the other one had eight pieces each.  The rolls were decent in that they were very filling.  The sweetness of the rolls were certainly different as I certainly was not use to it.  The pieces were cold and because of the sweetness of them all, it almost tasted more of a desert than as an actual sushi roll.  The other problem with such a large filling dish was that it left little space for some of their other items.  My advice would be they should reduce the quantity to just one piece of roll per person or reduce the size of each of the pieces given. 

We tried many of their items on their menu including noodles, tempuras, sushi rolls, and vegetables .  We had three solid refills that evening and we all came out pretty full.  One of the things I really appreciated was that I think it was the first time an all you can eat restaurant had given us everything that we had ordered.  The food was decent although to be honest with you, there wasn't anything spectacular outside of their specialty extra dishes.  If you look at their menu online, they tend to use the more common fish for most of their sashimi dishes.  The staff was pretty courteous although they did at one point encourage us to finish more of our food as too much was still left on the table upon checkout.  It wouldn't have been a problem had the Uoshiki Special not be given to us as those portions were just huge and almost kept from finishing most of our other dishes.  Having said that, they really never gave one a reason to never go back, so chances are, a re-visit is probably in the offering.  Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5. 

Uoshiki Sushi
3250 Midland Avenue
Scarborough, Ontario

http://www.cgi-solutions.net/uoshikiSushi/?page_id=7
416-901-8865

Red Wine Tavern

Looking for a great place to sit, chat and have a great dinner after a long day at the office then look no further than Red Wine Tavern located right in the heart of downtown Toronto.  This two story restaurant provides a great atmosphere for any occasion and with plenty of space and tables, one could stand at the bar to have a drink or two or sit down at one of their many tables and enjoy an amazing meal. 

We had a company function during the day and decided to have dinner at this restaurant.  We were given a set menu where we were allowed to choose one appetizer, one entree and one dinner from a list of three of four dishes per section.  On that particular evening, I went with the Baby Kale and Quinoa Salad, Crispy Roasted Chicken and Flourless Chocolate Cake. 

Prior to our meal, we were given five, yes five, different types of finger foods including prosciutto, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeses, meat skewers with yogurt sauce and some sort of seafood sandwiches. We were amazed at the quality and the amount of finger foods just prior to dinner time.  The finger foods were absolutely amazing and to be honest with you, they could have fed us this all night and many of us would have been completely satisfied.   

My salad arrived shortly afterwards.  Upon first glance I was really surprised as to the size of the salad.  I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it especially after being fed so much already.  The salad however was super tasty.  Mixed with a little bit of lemon juice and a bit of mustard sauce, it provided the perfect pizazz to this salad.  There was plenty of quinoa and the greens were just lightly but perfectly dressed so that it provided a perfect balance with each bite and yet not be completely overwhelmed by it all.  The salad also contained small bits of cheese which really provided even more flavor to the salad.

Baby Kale and Quinoa Salad

The Crispy Roasted Chicken came next and at first glance, it too was rather large.  I knew for sure I was not going to be able to finish it no matter how good it was.  The chicken was roasted to perfection on the outside where the skin was nice and crispy.  The meat on the inside was tender and juicy and mixed with the sage and onion jus on the outside, the chicken sure did not disappoint.  I actually had struggled between the steak, the fish and the chicken and when the waiter came around, he highly recommended the chicken.  There were also some wild mushrooms and asparagus on the bottom of the chicken to provide the ideal compliment to the chicken. 

Crispy Roasted Chicken

 The showstopper for the evening however had to have been the dessert and for that evening I went with the Flourless Chocolate Cake.  I am not a huge fan of dessert but I have never ever tasted a more amazing dark chocolate cake in my life.  The chocolate cake itself was like chocolate pudding except it was thick, so unbelievably rich and amazingly sweet.  The only problem was that it was hard to eat more than a third of it.  It was shared amongst my peers because there was no way, no matter how good it was, that I could finish it on my own.  The slices of the banana were also unforgettable.  They were coated with a little bit of sugar and hardened on top just like a creme brulee and made this banana more desirable than any other bananas that I have ever tried before.  A definite must have to share if you do come by and have desert at this place. 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

It was a spectacular night with all the food and the atmosphere was buzzing all night.  They even had a live DJ spinning tunes on the ground floor to keep the party moving.  There were many people on hand that evening and making reservations is a must if you were to attend this restaurant.  I will not forget the night and would not hesitate one second to invite some friends down to this restaurant to share a drink or dinner.  The food was great, the waiters and waitresses were efficient and the atmosphere was perfect.  With such a great night, this to me was a no-brainer as it was a solid 5 out of 5 in my mind.

Red Wine Tavern
77 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, Ontario

416-862-7337

Globe Bistro

A recent search on the internet revealed a coupon to Globe Bistro which is considered one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Toronto.  With its 5 out of 5 rating on TripAdvisor.ca, the restaurant boasts some of the best meals in the city.  The coupon that we found online allowed us to take part in their tasting menu for about 25% off.  It included a six course meal which ranged from sirloin steak to fish to a couple of appetizers.  A few of my friends had been here before and forewarned us that as good as their food, the amount of time spent at the restaurant could take upwards to three hours.  I said if the food was good then extra time spent waiting for the meal would be well worth the price.

We made reservations for the evening and were given a seat in the back of the restaurant since there were about eight of us. Looking around, the interior of the restaurant was nicely decorated with beautifully lit dim lighting giving it a modern romantic feel to it.  Since it was tasting meal, there really was no need to look at their menu as their meals were set.  With the coupon this evening, each individual was charged $45.00 per person.  We also got a bottle of red wine to go with our dinner as most of their wines are half price off on Sunday evenings.

The first meal to arrive was this Crouton Pate Spread on a small piece of toast.  There were eight pieces, one for each person at the table.  The portions were quite small and unfortunately many of us were pretty hungry.   The bite size appetizer was good however a bigger portion of it would have been better.

Crouton Pate Spread on Toast

Next to arrive was the Celery and SunChoke Puree Soup.  The soup was presented nicely with a simple and clean look to it.  The soup itself was very smooth which many people at the table were able to take notice of it.  The taste was unfortunately a little bit heavy on the salty side. Although I am personally immune to such saltiness, many of the people were saying that the soup was too salty for them.  The taste was however not all salty all the way to the end.  As one got to the bottom of the bowl, the soup actually became sweeter so that it actually ended up being a sweet and salty soup.  An interesting combination of tastes giving it a very unique flavor however the majority of the people at the table found the soup to be too salty for them.

Celery and SunChoke Puree Soup

The Greens arrived next which basically consisted of cauliflower, raisins, quinoa and frisee all mixed into one. The salad was a little dry as there was little to no salad dressing in it.  Eating quinoa dry is sometimes a little bit rough for the throat.  With little to no dressing in it, the only moisture coming from this salad were from the raisins. 

The waitress then came back and told us the next dish was "a break dish" in that it was to give us a break prior to the entree meal.  I wasn't too sure what that meant when all that was served up to that point were the soup and the salad.  As many of us were pretty hungry up to that point, the last thing we wanted was a break.  The dish they brought out to us was a small scoop of  Niagara Cherry Sorbet Ice Cream.The ice cream was good but real food would have been greatly appreciated. 

Niagara Cherry Sorbet Ice Cream

The entrees finally arrived.  First to arrive was a Lake Erie Pickerel which was a piece of pickerel immersed into a crab chili broth.  The fish itself was very fresh and tasty.  The soup itself was very similar to a tom yom soup in that it had the sourness of the vinegar in the soup mixed with a bit of chili spice gave it a spicy and sour taste to it.  Personally, I would have separated the two in that the soup practically overwhelmed the great sweet taste of the fish. Others around the table mentioned that the two went well together.  Either way, this was probably one of the better dishes of the night no matter how it was served.

The meat entree of the evening was the Foie Gras Puree mixed with Sirloin Steak.  The foie gras puree sauce I have to admit was very good however it was more or less a substitute for the lack of gravy or sauce for the dish.  My steak was made to well done even though it would have been better if was served medium rare or rare for that matter.  The pieces were rather small and there were only four pieces available.  What made it more difficult in addition to chewiness well done of the meat was that the meat was lukewarm at best.  I thought it was just my dish but none of my colleagues steaks were hot.  A little disappointed in that it sure looked good when it came out and considering it took almost half an hour for it to arrive after the last dish, I was expecting the quality to be better.

Foie Gras Puree mixed with Sirloin Steak

The next two to arrive were desserts. The first one to arrive was Cheese Mixed with Fresh Honey and Nuts.  The cheese was pretty decent however what really made this dish stand out was the fresh sweet honey.  The honey was pure, very sweet and had everyone lick their spoons clean.  The rest of the dish I found was unremarkable.  There were some nuts, a few slices of apple and that was about it.  If they had just served the honey, I think most people would have been satisfied with it.

Cheese Mixed with Fresh Honey and Nuts

Last was the White Chocolate Lavendar Mousse in Dry Meringue with Saskatchewan Berries Sauce.  This dessert was pretty decent in that the sweetness of the berries sauce mixed with the dry meringue and white chocolate lavendar mousse really had a bit of a wow factor to it.  This dessert was probably my favorite dish of the evening.  My only complaint was that all the dishes were somewhat disporportionate.  Some had bigger pieces of meringue, some had more pieces, some had way more berries sauce and some had considerably less. 

The problem I had with the entire meal was that the portions were extremely small and for the amount of money paid person, some felt that it was hard to get equal value for the amount of food tasted.  It was not overly filling and I'm sure some of my friends went out for late evening snacks afterwards.  The portions were all quite small and yet it still took two and half hours from start to finish for the 6 courses to arrive at the table.  Pictures of their actual meal look stunning on their website and I could only hope that the food is much better there and have bigger proportions.  I loved the second dessert and that was about it.  I was a little disappointed partly because I had high expectations.  Thank goodness for the Groupon discount coupon.  It would have been harder to stomach if we had paid full price for it.  For me, I would give my experience a 3.25 out of 5.

Globe Bistro

124 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M4K 1N1 (416) 466-2000