PAN Mediterranean Cuisine

Greek food has always been the same experience for me: a plate of souvlaki with a side of salad followed by rice and potatoes. I’m not sure whether this is the staple diet in Greece, but I’ve considered this dining experience rather dull. Combine this with the sudden surge in Greek delivery food and I’m sure you know what I mean. Deciding to try something different this weekend, I went to the Danforth to experience a round of Greek food in Greek town. After browsing the streets for something to catch my eye, OPA! (woohoo!), I spotted something authentic, had a good number of customers, and had what appeared to be a great atmosphere. We settled into Pan, and what a great choice it was.

Atmosphere:
The interior had a nice classic touch to it that was very comfortable with a hint of modern design. Once you enter, you are greeted by a big ball of wax that has accumulated over the years from burning candles. I find it odd that it’s placed as the center piece as you enter, but it does provide to the classic feel I am referring to. The walls are lined with a variety of wine bottles, seemingly tempting you for a sip during your meal. The seating is spaced comfortably and the lighting is appropriate for the mood. For the small size of the restaurant, I felt very welcomed and relaxed while waiting for my meal.

Food:
We began with a dipping sauce called Tirokafteri, a spicy dip of grilled banana peppers and feta, served with their freshly home-made pita bread. The dip was exceptional with the right amount of spicy tang that keeps you wanting to dip more. Moreover, the addition of garlic softened the usual intensity of Feta cheese that can often overwhelm you with familiar gagging sensations resulting from eating too much feta. The fresh and warm pita bread that is covered with olive oil and crushed garlic was outstanding and really helped emphasize their specialty and attention they placed on their variety of dips.

Before finishing the remainder of our dip with a second batch of fresh pita, the main course arrived. We ordered Aioli Lamb Souvlaki (medium to well-done) and Syracusae Smoked Double Pork Chop. The lamb souvlaki was the perfect tenderness even at medium, the possible result of good marinating. It tasted fantastic and was accompanied with hefty portions of your usual salad, potatoes, and rice.

The Syracusae Smoked Pork Chop was definitely the highlight of the night: two thick and tasty portions that were very easily chewed on, as pork chops can be very hard to bite on if they are over cooked. These were then topped over feta cheese scalloped potatoes, truly outdoing themselves with this tasty side dish!

Rating:
What was originally another gamble at Greek food turned out to be a great experience! With endless rows of Greek restaurants that all seemed to serve the same thing on the Danforth, really gave me a fresh new impression on Greek food. Their array of dipping sauces accompanied with fresh pita makes you feel confident that they take their food seriously. Though the usual souvlaki can be tiresome, they made it so well that I can say it’s the best I’ve had since Greco’s in Kingston. And if I haven’t ranted enough about how good the pork chops are, at least try the scalloped potatoes infused with Greek feta goodness! Opa!

Rating: 3 Stars; great service, atmosphere, and great food worth trying!
Price: $$$
Location: 516 Danforth Avenue

Anh Dao - Best Non-Pho Vietnamese Food

A couple of months ago I raved about grilled shrimp that was wrapped in beef. Today I went back for a second helping of grilled shrimp wrapped in beef. This was my third time at Anh Dao, and it's definitely made it on my list of repeat restaurants and my top 5 restaurants to recommend when friends ask "so where should we eat?".


What makes Anh Dao particularly special is it's roll your own salad roll combos. With my mediocre understanding of Vietnamese I believe these dishes in general are called banh hoi. The only difference with each combo is the meat options available, there are the usual grilled meats and kebabs, sugar cane shrimp, and nam nung. And then there's the shrimp wrapped in beef skewers. When I first ordered it I thought it would be a combination of shrimp and beef skewers, but I was delightfully surprised!

Nevertheless, all banh hoi comes with thin vermicelli noodles garnished with green onion, oil, and peanuts, as well as a myriad of vegetables and herbs. And for those not so faint of heart, unassumingly in the corner of the platter is preserved pigs ear. To enjoy all these flavours at once you will need to make a roll with the provided rice paper. Rolling can be quite an art at times, but it seems that the best method to ensure no ripping of the paper is to start with the herbs and lettuce, the softest leaves closest to the paper, then top it off with bean sprouts and cucumber then grilled meat, and on top of that the vermicelli noodles. The idea is to keep the softer and more malleable ingredients touching the paper will the coarser ingredients tucked inside.

After you create your roll, dip it into the provide sauce. Yummy. The best part about this meal is that you can ditch the stuff you don't like and only roll in the stuff you do like. Although some people may be intimidated by the herbs, they are worth a try. Tasting them on their own doesn't do it justice, in order to fully appreciate it, you must roll it into your roll.

For a meal this interactive using your hands is the way to go (just don't forget to wash before and after your meal). To top it all off, I recommend a carbonated beverage, such as their lime soda or preserved lime or plum soda. If anything a coke will be just as refreshing.

A Note About the Rice Paper
Sometimes the rice paper comes out dry and you will have to soak it yourself in the provided warm water. Do not over-soak your sheet as it will become useless and mushy. Just wet all areas of the paper and place on your plate, it will gradually soak in and create a nice soft rollable sheet. If the rice paper arrives pre-soaked, be careful when you separate the sheets as they are prone to tearing.

Atmosphere
Unfortunately the restaurant is a bit of a dive, though is quite clean. There's nothing to write home about in this sense.

Rating: 3 Stars - extra points for interactiveness and creativity
Price: $ - Cheap (for 2, $30 including beverages)
Location: Spadina at Nassau (S. of College)

Xinjiang Restaurant - the "not-so-Chinese" food

If you've ever been to China, you should have noticed the food stalls selling street meat on a stick, also known as a lamb kabobs. In the streets of Beijing, a typical kabob would cost about 0.50 Yuan, or about 0.10 CAD, and it was often accompanied by bottles of Tsing Tao beer. As good as those memories were, it's been impossible to find this kind of food that comes from the Xinjiang province in China, a province that borders Central Asia and is known for its Uyghur people and for its "not-so-Chinese" food.

There is now a place where you can sample this "not-so-Chinese" food at a restaurant with a to-the-point name called Xinjiang Restaurant. The place serves Central Asian/Chinese cuisine that resembles more on the Chinese side while serving Halal meat.

Atmosphere:
Upon entering the restaurant, the carpets on the walls and Islamic caligraphy art will strike as an oddity. And though this is a Xinjiang thing, I would consider this tacky at best, as the decorations don't do the real thing justice. The tables are rather small and arranged so tightly with other tables to be considered uncomfortable. The lighting is rather dim and the ventilation a little stuffy due to the overwhelming combination of scents from neighbouring dishes.

Food:
If you can't take the heat, this is probably not the best place for you. The food is fantasticly hot with a side of numbing sensation steming from the "mala" spice (literally meanining numbing-hottness). For the more adventurous, try the lamb kabobs and chicken wings with the numbing-hot spice, though no spice is also optional. Other Xinjiang specialities that the restaurant does quit well include "Da Pan Ji" (Big Pan Chicken), Na'an bread covered with meat, and the Xinjiang pulled noodles that's found in a variety of dishes. Though these dishes are all very spicy, the numbing-hot sensation is truely unique and a must-try. The food is great, comes in big portions, and I consider it authentic, bearing in mind that this is the only restaurant that serves this in Toronto. Drink lots of water and don't mind the oil.

Rating:
Xinjiang food is awesome and this restauarant does a pretty good job with the food. If you don't mind the tackiness, remember that you are coming for the food and not for the atmosphere. I give this restaurant 2.5 stars - a mix between memorable dishes and dishes worth a try. A special trip for a late night snack to sample the lamb kabobs and wings is well worth it.

Rating: 2.5 Stars - offers memorable dishes
Price: $$ - Moderate
Location: Steeles Avenue @ Ferrier Street, Metro Square

Motimahal

Motimahal
1422 Gerrard St E
416-461-3111

This evening, I had the chance to head over to Little India to satisfy my craving for some affordable, and tasty Indian food. Located in the East end of the city on Gerard between Coxwell and Greenwood, sits a pocket full of Indian stores and restaurants known as Little India.

We (Nancy and I), decided to head over to Motimahal for some typical Indian cuisine you would find in and around the area of New Delhi. We had come here a couple weeks earlier for a quick take out snack and were not disappointed. I ordered a gobi paratha (cauliflower stuffed pancake) and Nancy had Papri chaat (deep fried dough with a wide variety of sauces and flavours - sweet, salty, sour, spicy) which were both delicious and tasty.

Takout Snack Review:
For the paratha, it was made fresh to order, with tons of fragrant cauliflower. The smell was so strong and pungent that it started seeping through the takeout bag as we were walking back to my car. And the taste did not disappoint - hot, fresh, chewy, delicious gobi paratha - almost the same as the ones I used to get for 10 rupees outside my flat when I was living in New Delhi. The spicy sauce that was also included finished the dish off nicely giving it that bit of spice so common in the local food.

The chaat looked and smelled exactly like I remember getting it from the street vendors back in India. And while I didn't try it this time (it's not my favourite dish), I would guess that it was delicious.

It was with these expectations that we decided to go back to try out some more offerings from Motimahal.

Atmosphere:
For the most part, the restaurant is pretty dingy and not exactly the cleanest. The lights were a little dim, the floors are sticky and grimy, a fruit fly paid our table a visit, and they only have plastic utensils. I should also mention that this restaurant is a cafeteria style restaurant - you go up to the cash, place your order, and they call you when it's ready for you to pick up. The limited service that they have was quite poor tonight; and apparantly the restaurant is quite popular as a wide range of people go there to eat including young families, couples, and singles.

Dinner Review:
Enough about the decor and ambiance - on to the food! For dinner, both of us ordered the meat-thali which is a large plate with a variety of stuff on it. We opted for the butter chicken, which came with 2 pieces of naan, veg biryani, salad (pickled onions and carrots), a lentil dish, and a dish of your choice. I opted for the mutter paneer (peas and tofu) while Nancy had a cauliflower dish which was probably gobi masala. To put it bluntly, the food was terrible.

The chicken came out cold (colder than room temperature, but not quite refrigerator cold), the butter sauce had almost a bile flavour to it and was completely inedible. To be fair, the mutter paneer, veg biryani, and plain naan were solid. The lentils and salad - average, nothing special and nothing to write home about. I was also a disappointed that the meal didn't come with a papadam (I believe most places usually include it with the thali), and the paneer in the mutter paneer was sorely lacking in quantity.

As you can tell, the meal was extremely disappointing, especially after the delicious snacks we got a couple weeks ago. I'll give the Motimahal the benefit of the doubt by saying it was an off night for them, or it could be the case where only certain things are worth ordering from their menu.

Rating
Overall, I would give this restaurant 1 star - which may be a little harsh - though it fits the description of "a fair place not worth rushing back to but may have something interesting." I won't be making a special trip down here anytime soon, but if I do end up in the area, I would consider another gobi paratha - but that's probably the only thing I would consider.

Restauran Malaysia

Is it possible to find a good Malaysian restaurant outside the country? No.... but one certainly comes close in Toronto and that's Restauran Malaysia. What surmounts as an unoriginal name spelled correctly in Bahasa Malaysia for "restaurant", Restauran Malaysia offers an authentic variety of Malaysian cuisine and packs a punch of flavor. Though bearing some close resemblance to Thai, Malaysian cuisine is much different and can be a refreshing change from the Thai obsession in Toronto. Yes, other countries have green, red, and yellow curries. You are best to try and sure to realize that Malaysian curry is awesome.

The interior of the restaurant gives a modern twist to most other Malaysian restaurants where the decor can be excruciatingly tacky. Instead, a more trendy style reminiscent of the modernity of Spring Rolls while incorporating imitation Malaysian themes in a dark earthy tone. The tables are comfortably large, though large groups are often limited to the few round tables at the restaurants. It is recommended that you go in groups no larger than 4, as it is easiest to get seats this way.

To prepare for the meal, order a cup of Teh Tarik (literally translated as "pulled tea"), a Malaysian version of the Hong Kong milk tea. Though similar, the tea is literally pulled in the air for mixing, giving it a frothy and rich texture. This drink is offered in hot or cold version, but this drink is best experienced hot to maximize the flavor and texture. You may enjoy it cold in the summer, as true Malaysians enjoy it out on the scorching streets. This drink is made very well here, as they use similar ingredients (steeped tea, condensed milk, evaporated milk) and a technique similar to how it is done back home. The pulling technique isn't as spectacular and seems more like pouring. So please visit this link to see how Teh Tarik is really pulled.

Follow this with a few roti canai and the accompanying chicken curry sauce for dipping. Similar to the Indian roti, Malaysian roti is much fluffier, flakier, and crunchier. Again, the roti is close but is not offered in the same varieties as Roti Bomb, Roti Tissue, and the likes in Malaysia.

Recommendations for main dishes from best to great include: Penang Chow Kuai Tiew, Mee Goreng, Beef Rendang, Malaysian yellow chicken curry, Wonton Ho, Mee Xiam, and Nasi Lemak. Though these dishes do not give true credit to the variety, tastes, and accuracies of real Malaysian cuisine, they give you a sample for what Malaysian food is really like. The portion sizes are full, so order one dish per person and share it among the table (ex: at least 3 main dishes for a table of 4).

I give props to Restauran Malaysia for the great food while frowning at the unsightly Thai dishes found throughout the menu. If possible, avoid these and stay true to the Malaysian experience. The service is also mediocre and the place can be very loud when fully packed. Waiting in line can also be a horrible experience, so avoid the peek hours and go on Sunday nights, before 6, or after 8 as they do not take reservations. Another consideration is that the food is Halal, as Asian restaurants don't offer this.

Overall, this is a great restaurant and one which I frequent often. So see you there!

Rating: 3 Stars - Superior experience that offers memorable dishes and/or accompanied by good atmosphere and/or service
Price: $$$ - Moderate

Nando's Flame-Grilled Chicken

Famous for its flame-grilled chicken, Nando's is a great alternative to our accustomed Swiss Chalet here in Canada. Perhaps most unique is the Peri Peri sauce which accompanies the chicken, made from the African Bird's Eye Chili which was introduced to Portuguese colonists a long time ago.

Upon your visit, you'll notice the fast-food style service where you can order a variety of chicken dishes right from the front counter. Once you've ordered, you will have to seat yourself and wait for the chicken to come running from the grill. And though some will consider the Peri Peri sauce very spicy, the milder version is a must try. Alternatively, one can also try the garlic sauce.

One can expect the service and dining experience to be a little off, but that's pretty much in line with most fast-food joints. If your up for the spice challenge, give it a try by ordering a round of chicken, chicken kabobs, wings, and a side of Peri Peri fries. Oh, and don't forget to get a kick from the sauce!

Rating: 2 stars - a dish worth trying
Price: $$

The Unofficial Food Trotting Critic's Guidelines

After writing an exhaustive summary of the Association of Food Journalist Food Critic's Guidelines, I decided to publish my very own guideline - The Food Trotting Critic's Guidelines!

You may also want to create your own guidelines for your dining experiences so that you can truly capture the moment. With all the foods in the world, following them and writing about it will help shed some light into all the foods you eat. With the amount of food I eat, it's hard to remember the tastes of each bite. What better way then to document this using a standard guideline for consistency!

As an official Food Trotting critic, here are my general guidelines:

- Use general ethical norms when writing reviews
- Remain anonymous for an accurate customer experience
- Several visits are preferred but not required (I'm not rich)
- Order famous and popular dishes
- Sample appetizers and main courses only (I'm not a desert lover)
- Focus on a variety of ethnic foods, price ranges, and locations
- Take pictures using food photography methods (I'll have to research this)
- Follow the Food Trotting star ratings system:

4 stars: World-class experience that is truly extraordinary
3 stars: Superior experience that offers memorable dishes and/or accompanied by good atmosphere and/or service
2 stars: A sold place with generally appealing cooking and/or a famous dish worth a try
1 star: A fair place not worth rushing back to but may have something interesting
0 stars: Poor and Below-average restaurants

Hua $ang Seafood Restaurant

Hua Sang Seafood Restaurant
41-43 Baldwin Street, Toronto

Yes, that's Sang with a dollar sign ($). And just in case you didn't notice it the first time, you're reminded by the dollar sign that accompanies the business card. Though the tackiness is taken to a new level, Hua Sang definitely achieves with their famous seafood dishes.

I've been to this restaurant about three times now, venturing out from as far as Mississauga just to dirty my fingers ripping apart the skeletal remains of my lobster. While I devoured, I couldn't help but remember that Simpsons episode where Homer ate his pet lobster Pinchy, enjoying every bite while crying. Reflecting shortly, I begin to personify my lobster and also name him Pinchy.

For those familiar with the typical Chinese-style lobster that is stir fried with green onions, ginger and plenty of garlic, Hua Sang does this differently by making this dish exceptionally unique. The lobster is first fried with a special coating that really locks in the rich seafood flavor. This is followed by a stir fry with green onions, ginger, and garlic. The lobster is left quiet dry and becomes almost crispy when the meat is eaten with the special coating and spice mix. Other mentionables include the Dungeness crab cooked in their various methods reminiscent of Asia and clams in black bean sauce.

Don't let the dollar signs fool you! With a full house on weekends and a price range penniless students can even afford, this is definitely one of Toronto's best kept secret and one of the best lobsters you've ever had. So sorry Pinchy......

Rating: 2 stars
Price: $$ - cheap

Nam Neung Rolls with Red Tofu Peanut Sauce

Tonight I had dinner at Diane's house - increasingly she's been having more ethnic food in her diet (and by ethnic, I mean Asian). On the menu for this evening was nam neung rice rolls with a red tofu peanut sauce. This dish is Vietnamese intertwined with Thai influences. Nam neung is Vietnamese style 'meatball' that is rolls into sausage shapes.

In the rolls we put in lettuce, a variety of herbs, cucumber, green mango, and vermicelli. The dipping sauce for this meal I found to be quite robust and heavy on its own, but when eaten with the rolls, the myriad of fresh and crisp vegetables balanced out the weight of the sauce, but still retained the robust peanut flavour. The sauce had minute amounts of spiciness that helped further enhanced the overall bite.

The sourness of green mango truly balanced out the warmth and slight greasiness of the nam neung, while the lettuce and cucumber gave it extra crunch, and the herbs added fresh fragrance. And certainly the vermicelli helped make this meal truly filling.

Unfortunately I don't know where to get this meal other than at Diane's house, making this meal positively unique. To top it off: the nam neung was homemade!

So You Think You Can Food Critique

To further legitimize what little authority I have in the food critique world, I decided to do some research into the necessary qualifications required to become one. Shockingly, there really isn't any requirements at all! You obviously need to know a little something about food, but most importantly, you must be able to communicate your sensations to an audience.

Considering that I almost failed high school English and never learned what a thesis was or let alone write an essay, this will definitely be a personal challenge. Besides, I don't think my style of writing is in any way entertaining. Do one-liner work emails count?

Pardon the digression. Just as I was about to lose hope, I inadvertently discovered the Association of Food Journalists - a network of "journalists who devote most of their working time to planning and writing food copy for news media worldwide". After a bit of browsing, I found the AFJ's Food Critic's Guidelines. Jackpot! Though these guidelines aren't enforced in any way, it does serve its purpose by providing me with a starting point. To be exhaustive, I'll attempt to summarize the guidelines while providing the link here:

Ethics
Restaurant reviewing should abide by standards of journalism. Though I think general ethical standards would suffice.

Anonymity
Apparently you should remain as anonymous as possible. And here I was thinking that I'd become famous and would be invited to feasts of free food! Wishful thinking.... which will still come true, less the review.

Multiple Visits
Two to three visits are recommended. Food, service, and atmosphere can vary throughout the week. This makes sense to me, as a Saturday will be a different experience from a Monday. These multiple visits allow the critic to observe and gain a better experience of the restaurant. Try a weekend and weekday.

Ordering
Try to sample a full range of items from appetizer, main course, and desert. Of course going by yourself limits the variety one can taste. So go with friends! What a better way to enjoy and critic food then with your friends. Order dishes with varying cooking methods, styles, and ingredients. Don't forget to order what the restaurant is famous for! Order different dishes on repeated visits while repeating a previous order to experience consistency.

Payment
Don't accept free meals. How rediculous......

Variety
Try to review the full range of possible restaurants from prices, ethnic styles, and neighborhoods.

New Restaurants
Try a new restaurant a month after it is established. This allows the restaurant to settle in and give it time to perfect everything. This makes a lot of sense and I have rarely considered this. It's only reasonable, and to be fair, they deserve the time as a new business.

Ratings
Its always been difficult for me to value a restaurant in terms of stars. But the below seems to do a great job. I'll try! (These are all taken from the AFJ)

FOUR STARS: (Extraordinary) Transcendent. A one-of-a-kind, world-class experience.
THREE STARS: (Excellent) Superior. Memorable, high-quality menus frequently accompanied by exciting environs and/or savvy service.
TWO STARS: (Good) Solid places that beckon with generally appealing cooking.
ONE STAR: (Fair) Just OK. A place not worth rushing back to. But, it might have something worth recommending: A view, a single dish, friendly service, lively scene.
NO STAR: (Poor) Below-average restaurants.

Changes
Restaurants can get better or worst from its fame. I especially hate it when restaurants go downhill once they've become established. Nothing ticks me off than a restaurant that takes advantage of their customers and ignore the importance of quality.

Negative Reviews
Try to keep negative reviews fair. Some of these restaurants can be a person's lively hood. So please be considerate and ensure that you've sampled many items on their menu to make a fair judgment.

Fact Checking
Ensure all facts are correct like any good journalist.

Well, these are the guidelines. Hope this will take your food trotting experiences to the next level!!!!

Posting Backlog!

So it's been a week or so since my last posting. And since then, I have been to numerous restaurants and have yet to trot about it! This is bad start.......

To that end, I will attempt to cover the following dining experiences:

Ambassador Chinese Cuisine
Nando's
Restauran Malaysia
Hua Sang Seafood Restaurant
Bahn Mi Factory
Jaadu
Dao Vien Pho

Crap.... I didn't realize I've eaten out so much this week! I'm even sure that I'm missing a few from that list. Well, I guess I have quiet a bit to write over the next couple of days!

Note: Never order two dishes and attempt to eat both. Yes, it can be done. And Yes, I finished both plates completely!

Caribbean Bistro

Caribbean Bistro
2439 Yonge Street, Toronto

Ever since coming back from St-Lucia, my curiosity for Caribbean food was heightened. Sure, I ate mostly at touristy venues, but I still took my chances by asking the locals to buy me food. Yes - while most tourists are asking for the freshest "herbs", I was asking for authentic local food! I'm sure you can already imagine, to their dismay, a very perplexing high look on their faces. In any case, they scattered off and quickly returned with curry fried king fish and jerk chicken, accompanied with a side of root vegetables (which I postulate as arrow root, plantains, sweet potatoes, and taro) and curried vegetables. The spices they used for this food was so unique, I simply wanted more! Though they say it's a mix of Creole, French, and West Indian influences, I really didn't see how the French fit it. I mean, they were by no means considered small portioned.

So on to the Caribbean Bistro, where I wanted to revisit the pallets I experienced on my vacation. I've already had their Roti Chicken from a previous time, something which I highly recommend but bears no comparison to the Malaysian counterpart. Today I ordered their Jerk Chicken and I was unfortunately disappointed by its lack of spice! Though their hot sauce is home-made, it also failed kill the tongue in comparison to my Baron branded hot sauce from St-Lucia. Would I return? Yes, for their Chicken Roti and because I walk past it every day after work.

Price: $$$
Rating: YY