The Beaver is a Magestic and Noble Creature

Quick dinner on Friday night was at a place called "The Beaver" on Queen St West out near Gladstone.  It doesn't really have a sign so you have to look out for it.

A quiet and unassuming place, it has some great beers on tap as well as reportedly one of the best pulled pork sandwiches in the city.  So I had it.

Very solid sandwich.  Lets start with the bun which was an egg bread but which they called "rustic".  moving on pulled pork with lettuce and tomato and onion is a new factor for me.  I have never had it with those and it adds an extra element of flavour to it.  There was a creamy hint of sauce on it as well that was hidden throughout which kind of tasted like coleslaw sauce.  Finally the actual pork was quite juicy and the sauce zingy.  All of the hall marks of a great sandwich.  I would maybe rank it 3rd in the city behind (in no particular order) Black Camel and the Stockyards.  Finally it had a nice greens salad that made me feel like I was eating something healthy.

If you are in the 'hood check it out!!

Wedding Eats

Hello,

Sorry about the lower quality picture for this one but my does not have a great camera.
On the Weekend I attended a wedding event in the city of a couple of friends of mine.  Drew and Samira have great taste in food and like to cook.  This is why I chose to attend (not true but it an added benefit).

They made their own food so don't try to out there and find this food.

Quinoa Tacos:
With some veggies and salsa and sour cream.  I am usually not a quinoa fan because i find it dry but this was nice and moist. Adding it with corn tortillas it made a great gluten free meal. YUM

Skewers:
Meat Tortellini with cherry tomato and green bean.  With the honey mustard sauce this was an interesting mix.  I have never thought about mixing these together.  It was simple, it was tasty and it was varied in its texture.  You should try it out at home.

Skewers #2:
Sweet Potato and sausage.  Simple. a good mix.  You can use any type of sauce that you would like.

When going to a wedding you should consider the food and either starve yourself before it or stuff yourself.  Not really words to live but but thats OK.

Cheers,
Duncan

Back with: Tasting the Danforth

Ok so my month layoff was successful.  I was trying to save money and eat in but there is just too much good food out there.

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago because I knew I would want to post it at some point.

One of the greatest thing about living in Toronto is that I am close to and even within walking distance from so many great events.
The closest to my house is always Taste of the Danforth.

Many different flavours.  Many different people.  If you don't like crowds this is not the festival for you.  To start with I think the best parts of the "Taste" go from the stage at Broadview to the Licks Burger at Pape.  Everything beyond there out to Jones Ave is all carnival stuff and that you can get at the Ex.  The people watching is usually best on Sat night, however, we went down on Friday night to avoid the rain that was forecast.  Now to the Food;

Corn.  A staple of "Taste".  I find the best one is beside Marks Work Warehouse just West of Pape.  This one is cooked with the husk still on and peeled back so that you have something to hold on to.  After a slow dip in to some melted butter it's on the the seasoning station.  They have everything from plain salt to Taco seasoning.  I chose some lemon pepper and some salt.  The corn was juicy and, important in walking events, easy to eat.

Calamari.  You can get this almost anywhere along the road here.  It is a constant but the real different maker is what sauce is offered with it.  There is a Thai place around Chester that had a unique sauce that I had never tasted before.  It was a little bit of seafood sauce mixed with something else.  Not sure what it was but it smoothed out the zing of the seafood sauce.  Not the best I have ever had but something different.

Finally I went for some Quail.  Even though I have seen huge spits of it rotating, I have never actually gotten one.  The bird is fairly small and you don't get a ton of meat per fowl.  However, all of the meat is dark (which I love) and it is fairly simple to eat.  I would have quail again but probably if I made it on my own or specifically for me.  En mass it was a little dry.

The funniest thing was a dude who was chopping coconuts and sticking a straw in them.  I did not get a good picture but he was using a meat cleaver and flipping it and the nut up in the air with some tricks.  My hand would be gone if I tried this.

Walk the food talk the food taste the food.  Taste of the Danforth OUT.