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.

Merry me Berry

Hello.

Brunch on Sunday is such a cliche but I still love the idea of waking up late and then eating a large meal in which I can combine many types of food.

Emily and I went to one called Merry Berry yesterday on Parliament just south of Wellesley.

This place is cute.  It has a homey feel inside with great wall paintings and bench seating all around the outside.  The Patio is like sitting in a small backyard in the city with some great wire tables.  All of the servers and people who work here are amazing and some of the most pleasant people I have ever met.

Now onto the food.

We shared a couple of things starting with the coleslaw.  This was probably the best slaw I have ever had.  It was a mix of red and green cabbage with nuts, green apple, shaved beets, and shavings of veggie chips with a honey mustard dressing.  It was unique and amazing.

MMMMMMMMM platter.  It started with a fruit cup which was pretty standard.  Then moving on to a grilled cheese with some sort of grain mustard sauce included as well as spring onion on multi-grain bread.  I am going to start doing this at home as it is very tasty.  A warm bran muffin with fruit in it is the next stop which brought some great density to the meal.  And to finish it off we had an egg bake with potatoes, chiriso, veggies, and other in it.  this was the perfect meal mix as it included everything you wanted in breakfast and lunch together.

Decent pricing as for 21 bucks we were both stuffed.

I will be going back here to try many many different things.

Burgers Priest

Hello.

So I am on a weight loss challenge so I have not been eating out at all and I am happy to report that i am down about 12 lbs in 3 weeks.

However, before I started I did have one of the largest hilarious burgers ever from Burgers Priest.

Laid out above are the burgers that we got and i will have to say it was ridiculous.

BEFORE YOU GO TO BURGERS PRIEST GO ONLINE AND LOOK AT THE SECRET MENU.
Just google "burgers priest secret menu".

Lets start with the chili cheese fries.  I had a couple of those and they were quite meaty but make sure you eat them 1st as the soggyness of the fries could get too much.

On to the burger.

I ate something called the Armageddon Vatican style (all off the secret menu).

The Armageddon goes a little something like this. Cheeseburger, The Option (Deep fried mushroom cap stuffed with cheese), another Option, then another cheese burger.

Vatican style is in stead of a bun it was 2 grilled cheese sandwiches.

This was so much cheese it was amazing.  I would suggest not getting any sides if you get this.  each bite had to be less than the whole size because you could not fit your mouth on it.  I would for sure get it again.

This is a great place but is a little expensive.  The burgers are great but not huge.  Mine was understandably expensive at about $20 bucks maybe.  Just be careful because the secret menu has no prices.

Eat and love it.

Easy Peasy

Easy Restaurant

I needed some brunch and was in the west end so we pulled up to a retro themed spot called Easy.
There were amazing posters of some classic car movies on the wall in this small, intimate establishment.  A Mexican inspired menu was the perfect fit for me on this morning.

On to the food.
I had a Breakfast Burrito and my brunch companion had the taco salad.

Starting with the description;
Re-fried black beans, scrambled eggs, chipotle salsa, monterey jack, coriander and caramelized onions, baked in a whole-wheat tortilla with side guacamole – with salad.

Sounds good doesn't it.  Well it was. The guac was a great mix of a cool smooth flavour along side the bite of the jack cheese and the sweet taste of the onions.  They also give you a ton of it which is rare for guac providers in this city.  I also got a great smoothie that was dominated by the banana and strawberry flavour.  The salad could have had a few more extras on it.  It was only greens and balsamic and could have had some punch to it.

The Taco Salad;
Fried corn tortillas, black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, guacamole, monterey jack, and spicy green salsa dressing.

This worked really well as a combo.  The salsa and the fried tortillas were a great mix.  What I would change would be the amount of chick peas as they were a small bit overwhelming and there were a bunch left at the end.  I would get this though.

I want to come back here and check out some of the other items.

EAT IT!!

TFC Takes the........... Upgraded Chip Butty?

Good Day!!

Have you ever gone to a sporting event and said, "I have a great idea for some food that should be sold here for me to consume right now"?  No?  Well I have.  MLSE (Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment) has been fairly slow at adding and changing around food in their venues.  I mean sure they have some interesting stuff in the ACC for Leafs and Raptors games but how long did that take to come about.

With TFC and BMO Field they were able to make a fresh start and try out some new things.  They had a couple of interesting moves when it came to food such as the introduction of the "Chip Butty", a sandwich that is filled with.... you guessed it FRIES.  This is itself was only OK and I thought of some inclusions that could make it better.  Well this year they stepped it up.

NEW FOOD:

Taco Stand-  Did not have this but looked pretty good

New Chip Butties- They have really expanded these with a Poutine, Garlic, chicken and chip versions.

                             - I decided to try a variation on the chicken and chip with asking for buffalo chicken  and chip.  It was good and the mesh of flavours was perfect for a cold day. However, it was a little too starchy with all the bread all in there.

Improved Pulled Pork- Had a bite of the new pulled pork and it was very juicy for something I imagine was mass produced.  I would have this again.

Perogies- Not sure if these were here before but they were actually my favourite.  They were crispy on the outside and warm/soft on the inside.  They also come in a convenient tray that was easy to eat from with is key for a sporting event.

Hot Dogs Galore-  So many new kinds of Hotdogs that I will have to wait and try them a different day.
                           -  Southern Pulled pork, chili and cheese, poutine, BLT and beef brisket.
                           - I was lost in the choices


So if you have to buy some over priced food at the game, there are now some at least interesting choices to try out.

EAT!!!!!!