譚仔雲南米線 review

My friend introduced this place to me... I have been seeing their restaurants all over Hong Kong: from Causeway Bay to Mong Kok to Tsim Sha Tsui... it seems that they are everywhere. My friend highly recommended this place to me... at first, I was quite reluctant to try since it was a "dai pai dong"/ cha chan tang type of place... I generally am not a fan to go to these places.

On a side note... (mainly for my Japanese friends/readers), while I was researching about this restaurant, I discovered that Japanese travel guides have mentioned this chain too!

many choices, look at the tasty pictures

They have a diverse menu of noodles and other small dishes. The prices are also very reasonable (note that $7.74 HKD = $1.00 USD).

our meal... for 2

In the end, we got this "Everything Noodle". Their bowls are so big! And their portions are so big... it is so affordable. We also got a side dish of Spicy Chicken wings.

This bowl of noodle only cost $45! The bowl of noodle was more than enough for both of us to share. The broth was very rich, made with various of meats and fish. There were a lot of pig offels inside. This was so filling that we kept fighting to force the other to finish the rest!

hot spicy chicken wings

These hot spicy chicken wings were good... they were considered a bit on the pricy side (I mean... their huge bowl of noodle was only $45 while these chicken wings were $23). The chicken wings were marinaded in SiChuan style spicy sauce. There were about 5 chicken wings.

Iced Lemon Tea

Like most Hong Kong places, their Iced Lemon Tea was served with 4 slices of lemon and a right amount of sugar syrup was added. 

very affordable

I really liked the food I had here. It was very affordable and very tasty. If you are ever very hungry, you should definitely come here to eat. (Thanks Keiko for the recommendation!)

Score: 9/10

Address: 旺角豉油街 50號1樓

Hours: everyday: 11:30-23:10

Nan Wah Restaurant 南華餐廳 review

This post might not appeal to those who are not fans of eating animal organs... so don't say I didn't warn you! This review is about the Nan Wah Restaurant located in Ho Man Tin.

mixed fruit cocktail with Sprite

This drink was surprisingly good... I didn't expect it to taste good... in fact, I wasn't even expecting it to be tasty... if you have a chance, I suggest you try it (or make it at home :P) I think the price was $8 HKD (approximately $1.02 USD).

beef organs $60 HKD

Beef organs $60 HKD (approx. $7.75 USD)

One of my favourite foods in this world are beef organs... I know it doesn't sound too appealing... but trust me... they are good!  They usually consist of: beef liver, beef kidney, beef stomach, beef lungs and beef intestines.

Impressions

• Very filling
• Well seasoned
• intestines were too fatty and oily

I loved how well seasoned and marinated these Beef organs were. Canadian version cannot be compared at all. At first, I was quite surprised that it was quite pricey (as this is only a "casual" cafe)... but after the dish came, I realized the portion was huge! I couldn't finish it... I was a bit disappointed with the intestines as I felt they were slightly too fat and oily.

Score: 8.8/10

Address: 何文田窩打老道67號A地下

(67 Waterloo Road. Shop A G/F Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong ).

永樂園茶餐廳 Wing Lok Yuen Restaurant review

Wing Lok Yuen Restaurant

Wing Lok Yuen has been with many generations of Hong Kongers, my parents always recalls this place whenever they talk about working in Central or when they are eating hotdogs. Wing Lok Yuen is known for their hotdogs because of the special secret sauce they use. 

Atmosphere:

• very casual (& no dress code)
• friendly staff
• helpful staff

Different types of people come to this restaurant anyone from people who wear suits and ties (businessmen... since this IS Central) to tourist to those who just want to get food after hangout with friends. There is such diversity!

I was actually scared of talking to the staff/waiters since 茶餐廳s are known to have bad service... but to my surprise, they were very friendly. They also gave good recommendations and were very helpful.

their famous hotdog

Price: $12 HKD (approx. $1.50 USD) - restaurant price

(if you order from their upstairs take out place, price is $10 HKD ($1.29 USD)

impressions:

• the hotdog is very small (especially compared to the bread)
• the sauce is really good...
• this isn't very filling
• take out and restaurant version taste the same

After you take a bite, you can understand why they are so popular... the sauce is really good!

I think the sauce contains: mustard, mayonnaise, sandwich spread, condense milk, ... something else... I tried mixing the sauce myself and it was something "similar" but not exactly what they served... so if you are around Central, definitely give this place a try (prices are certainly reasonable!)

I found the hotdog to be too small... you can hardly taste it (especially when the bread is so much bigger than the hot dog sausage).

Score: 8/10

Cold Lemon Tea

I forgot the exact price, but it was around $10 HKD (approx. $1.29 USD)

Every restaurant's drinks should be easily distinguishable... and I feel that their Iced Lemon Tea was very unique. I liked the blend of different tea leaves they used to create this special heavy tea taste. Just like other Hong Kong cafe's, they had included the standard 4 slices of lemon. It quenches your thirst and it tastes good! I also liked how they used shaved ice, making the ice easier to melt. The amount of sugar added was just perfect too!

Score: 9.5/10

Wing Lok Yuen's HK Milk Tea

after a sip, I could understand why they were given an award for their milk tea... first, it tastes different from the other places and second it is very smooth. You can tell that they made it.

they won HK's best milk tea in 2010

sugar packet with address

The also had their own sugar packets.

I love this place! I do regret not being able to try more menu items though. I would definitely be visiting this place again soon!

Score: 9.5/10
Website: no website

沾仔記 Tsim Chai Kee Noodle review

storefront of Tsim Chai Kee Noodle

Chinese name is: 沾仔記

How to locate:

If you are taking the escalator up Central, when you see Wellington Street, get off and it is just across the street from the escalator.

If you were to ask anyone in Hong Kong (especially in Central) about a good noodle place recommendation, Tsim CHai Kee Noodle will definitely be mentioned as one of those places. 

Tsim Chai Kee has received over 6 Michelin Stars.

tidy and simple presentation

Environment and Service:

• very friendly very casual
• the staff were very approachable, it was almost without effort to get their attention
• it was easy to carry a simple conversation with them (however, keep in mind, they only speak Cantonese).
• shop was extremely clean and tidy

Busyness

• I wouldn't recommend you to visit this place during lunch or dinner hours, I have heard there are huge lines (I visited this place at 3-4pm and I was able to find a good booth seat)

close up of partial menu

Their menu is available in Chinese, English and Japanese.  They do not have a big selection for you to choose from. But that is never a concern for me... I always think that Quality is better than Quantity. I would rather you serve one good dish than several bad dishes.

A quick glance at their menu and you will be surprised at their prices! How can you find such affordable Wonton noodles in Central?

King Prawn Wonton Noodle $26 HKD

King Prawn Wonton Noodle $26 HKD (approx. $3.50 USD)

One of the things I had to get was their famous Wonton noodles.  authentic Wonton noodles
impressions:

• noodles were incredibly fresh and chewy
• broth was extremely well made
• wontons were extremely juicy
• wontons had a perfect pork/pawn ratio
• wontons were huge
• extremely filling

This bowl of wonton noodles is delicious and extremely filling. I walked in hungry and was so full after finishing this bowl. The noodles and broth were authentic. Extremely delicious, The noodles were very fresh and chewy (or bouncy). I can say that these are the best wonton noodles I have ever had. You can tell that the chef has put lots of effort to making the noodles to a perfect chewiness.

The wonton broth was another element which I had appreciated. The broth is also one of the best wonton broths I have ever had. I couldn't figure out what ingredients they had used but I could tell they used lots of fresh ingredients... most importantly, there was no MSG used.

The wontons were huge, they were each filled with a large prawn and pork. They were extremely juicy and tasty. When the server came, I was a bit disappointed to see only 3, but after finishing this bowl of Wonton noodles, I realized that 3 was more than enough!

Fresh Minced Fish Ball Noodle $26 HKD

Fresh Minced Fish Ball Noodle $26 HKD (approx. $3.50 USD)

impressions:

• noodles were incredibly fresh and chewy
• broth was extremely well made and delicious
• fish balls were huge
• fish balls were made from extremely fresh fish

This bowl of noodles and broth was the same that were used for their wonton noodles, (I guess I do not need to talk about how much I liked it again).

The fish balls were huge, they were the size of my fists. There were only 2, but 2 is more than enough. These fish balls were made from fresh fish and it was properly marinated with the appropriate amount of salt and other ingredients.

I have read many reviewers online who claimed that these fish balls were not "chewy or bouncy" enough, but they should keep in mind that these are not supposed to be "bouncy or chewy", this type of "fish balls" should be quite soft... that's why they are so large. In Chinese, you can distinguish whether a fish ball should be chewy or bouncy by the name but unfortunately you can't in English.魚蛋 (yu dan) should be chewy and bouncy while 鯪魚球 (lang yu kau) should not be. These are  鯪魚球 noodles and should not be bouncy or chewy.

Drinks:

all drinks were $8(HKD) <-- Approx. $1.05 USD

I ordered drinks but I didn't get to take a picture of it, as I was busy chatting with some of their staff.

I wouldn't suggest you to get their Lemon Tea, as it isn't "Lemon Tea" but a box version of Vita's Lemon Tea. (the server was nice enough to warn us in advance)

However, I would suggest you to order their cold Soy milk drink. They would serve you a 500 ml bottle of Soy Milk... totally worth the price! I can't remember the brand of the soy milk, but I remember checking that the ingredients were very natural, just soy, sugar and water.

Verdict:

This place had me talking for days! I loved their broth and noodles and wonton. It is the best Wonton Noodles I have ever had... I guess there is a reason how this place was able to survive for so long (I do not know the exact date, but when my parents were working (and still in their twenties) this place was already quite famous. If that is not convincing enough, their 6 Michelin stars will show you just how well known they are, and how good their wonton noodles taste. I would highly recommend their Wonton Noodles!

Contact Info & Hours:
Address: 98 Wellington Street, Central
Phone:2850 6471

Hours: Mon.-Sun. 09:00-22:00

Score: 10/10
Website: no website

Viêt Kitchen restaurant review

wall decoration at Viêt Kitchen 

I was intrigued by this wall decoration... these were faces made out of Vietnamese straw hats and other straw accessories.

food menu

drinks menu

iced tea $38 (approx. $4.XX USD)

The food group I was hanging out with warned me to not get their iced coffee because it tasted like "free coffee"... so I got their iced tea instead.

Impressions:

• nicely flavoured
• lots of fresh mint tea leaves
• lots of lime
• not very sweet

Roasted Duck Spring Rolls $78 (approx. $10 USD)

impressions:

• expensive
• light and tasty
• it was necessary to dip the Spring rolls in sauce
• duck meat added a lovely touch

Like everyone else at our table, I found that these spring rolls were very expensive.... they were very tasty but we cringed at the price.

Chicken Wings $78 (approx. $10 USD)

I find that the appetizers served here have too little quantity.

Impressions:

• crispy
• each is only half a chicken wing
• sweet and savoury sauce
• nice added touch of hot peppers (not overwhelming at all)

These were one of our obsessions... in fact, we had to order it twice despite consciously aware of the price. These were extremely delicious and addicting... I highly recommend it if you are planning to give this place a visit.

Roasted Duck Pho $88 (approx. $12 USD)

I ordered this because it was the Chef's special.

impressions:

• too oily
• roasted duck reminded me of Chinese BBQ roasted duck
• large quantity of pho

I was slightly disappointed in this pho... I found it too oily... there was nothing special about the broth and because of the exceptionally good taste of the duck meat Spring Rolls... I had high hopes for this dish... the spring rolls were good, but the pho was not.

score: 7/10
website: http://www.vietkitchenhk.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vietkitchen.hk
address: The Nexxus Building 盈置大廈 G/F (41 Connaught Road, Central)

Pho Dau Bo Vietnamese Restaurant (vegan edition) review

Pho Dau Bo Vietnamese Restaurant has won several awards including being voted as Hamilton's #1 Vietnamese Restaurant. They have more than 10 restaurants around Toronto (GTA).

I have tried their Pho, but was not impressed... so I was slightly reluctant when my friend suggested us to eat here.

My friend came to visit me in Toronto, and because he preferred a vegetarian meal, we decided to go to Vietnamese, we went to Pho Dau Bo. To be honest, I was nervous, I have never had a full Vegetarian meal... but... To my surprise... I was actually full... and I liked it!

Vegetarian Edition

Avocado Milkshakes

805.♦ SINH TỖ BÔ - Avocado Milkshake $3.50

Avocado milkshakes are one of my favourite drinks, so this was a must get item when I am in a Vietnamese place.

Impressions:

• very thick
• very tasty
• lots of avocado

I was impressed with this Avocado milkshake, it was very thick and contained lots of avocado. The taste was richly avocado... I highly recommend getting this milkshake at this place as it is much more tastier compared to other places.

Fried Bean Curd/Tempura Bean Curd

Fried Bean Curd/Tempura Bean Curd $8.00

ok... so my friend and I both forgot the exact name of this dish... but it is somewhere along the lines of Fried/Tempura Bean Curd. I couldn't even find it on their online menu!...


Impressions:

• very crispy
• tasted like fish cakes
• a bit on the pricey side

When I first took a bite out of this Fried/Tempura Bean Curd, I was surprised. It tasted like fish cakes. I had to reconfirm with my friend that this was Bean Curd. The Sweet, Sour and Hot sauce really enhances the flavour. I would recommend this dish but I do find it quite pricey... $8.00 for only 2 bean curd patties...

vegetable fried singapore noodle

Vegetable Fried Singapore Noodles $8.50

Again, my friend and I forgot the actual menu name but it is along the lines of Singapore Vegetarian fried noodles. I don't understand why this isn't on their online menu... or if it was only exclusively served at their Markham/Lawrence location.

Impressions:

• lovely sauce
• fried tofus made dish very tasty
• loved the broccoli
• noodles were drenched in a perfect amount of sauce
• noodles were fried to a perfect crispiness

I loved these fried noodles and I didn't miss any of the meat ingredients usually present in fried noodles. I wasn't sure why this was "Singaporean" style because I didn't taste any "Singapore" flavours (e.g. spiciness, hot spiciness, herbs, etc). The sauce tasted like the usual Cantonese Fried Noodles you can get at most restaurants (minus the meat). The fried tofus were cooked and drenched with an appropriate amount of sauce. The fried noodles were all crispy and well made. I recommend this dish if you aren't a big fan of heavy flavoured dishes.

Spring Rolls with Mung

602. GỎI CUỖN CHAY - $7.25
Vegetarian Fresh Rolls with Mung

Impressions:

• Spring rolls were nicely fried/baked
• found mung a bit dull

I liked the Spring Rolls but they were slightly a bit too hard. Nonetheless, they were not oily. This might not be speicifc to this dish, I found the mung to be dull... all they provided was fish sauce to drench the Mung in... and nothing else... I would have liked it if they provided some stir fried veggies or tofu so that the mung wouldn't be too ... "dull". Other than the Mung, I liked this dish... (in other words, I liked the Spring Rolls)


Score: 9/10
Website: http://www.pho-daubo.ca/

Ga Bin Korean Restaurant review

photo source: www.gtarestaurantguide.com

I have been recommended to go to this Korean Restaurant for ages and after years, I have finally had the chance to drop by. With growing Korean restaurant chains in Toronto, I find it more and more difficult to find authentic family style Korean restaurants around. It was packed when I gave this place a visit.

look at these side dishes!

I was really impressed with their side dishes... both quantity and quality wise. They tasted very authentic and homemade. There were 8 side dishes.

Pork Bone Soup $9.99

Pork Bone Soup

Impressions:

• perfectly seasoned
• meat was tasty
• loved the soup flavour

The pork bone soup was absolutely delicious. It was perfectly seasoned, not too hot or too mild... unlike other Korean Pork Bone Soups I have tried, the meat and the bones still had a strong meaty taste as opposed to the others I have tried where they tasted none other than meat and bones which have been used to make soup with.

I was really impressed with the serving size as well.

I highly recommend it!

Green Onion Seafood Pancake $8.99

Green Onion Seafood Pancake

First off... this pancake is smaller in size compared with Korean pancakes in other places (but it surely is cheaper... so I guess it is fair).

impressions:

• lots of green onion
• lots of squid
• some oyster
• a bit thinner than the other pancakes (from other places)

lots of squid and green onion

This pancake was very crispy and very well moist inside. I found the amount of green onion a bit overwhelming. I really impressed with the amount of squid and the occasional oyster bit. I found the pancake to be slightly thinner than other seafood pancakes I have tasted in the past... Other than that, a great Seafood Pancake!

Verdict/Conclusion:
I enjoyed this dining experience and will definitely be coming back often! I really enjoyed the side dishes they offered and I find the food to be quite tasty... service was not bad but I would have hoped it would be slightly easier to get their attention.

Score: 9/10
website: no website

Uoshiki Sushi Japanese restaurant 四季魚 review

Maki and Sushi set

Today's my birthday, so I will make this review slightly shorter (but I promise I will write it so that everything is covered). There is a Chinese/Japanese name for this restaurant: 四季魚.

This is an All You Can Eat place, but they have a regular dine in menu available. I was introduced to this place by my friend. Since we were planning for a quick dinner, we decided to just order from their regular menu.

Discounts:

If you pay with cash, they will give you a 10% discount.

Food:

Like most Japanese places, each entree comes with a Miso Soup and Salad. The dish looks small, but it's actually quite filling. I almost couldn't finish this plate.... I found that both the maki hand rolls and sushi were both well made. The fish was quite fresh (this was quite surprising for me). (I forgot the exact price for this item... I think it was around $7.99 - $8.99).

Mango Yogurt - Complementary dessert

Mango Yogurt (Complementary Dessert):

I was really happy they provided a complementary dessert, they have a list of items you can choose from, so I got Mango Yogurt. Mango Yogurt was good...

Service:

The service was quite decent... and they were quite attentive.

Verdict:
I will be returning to this place because it is affordable (quality and quantity matches its price). I'm not sure if I will try their All You Can Eat (I am not a big fan of AYCE). But I was definitely impressed by the quality and quantity.

score: 7.5/10
website: no website

Song Cook Korean restaurant review

There are so many great Korean restaurants at Yonge and Steeles, one of my good friends introduced me to this place...

Service was fair, the waiter was nice and provided enough utensils for us but the kitchen was quite slow. (I actually thought the waiter looks a bit like Lee Min-Ho ^____^).

The interior was very "Korean". There were 2 sides: one side where you had to remove your shoes and sit in "booths" and another where you sat in normal chairs... since we were a large group, we were escorted to a room which looked like a small hut.

The food was generally good. Below is my 2 cents (with some description) of the food items we ordered.

HaeMulPaJan Seafood pancake $17.99

A Seafood and green onion pancake with vegetables is a bit expensive compared to other Korean places but it was really good.

Impressions:

• Very crispy
• Thick
• Large
• Lots of octopus
• Octopus/squid was slightly over cooked

see the thickness of the HaeMulPaJan

This picture does not show exactly how much more thick this pancake (HaeMulPaJan) actually is (I tried to take a better picture but I was at an awkward angle).

I enjoyed taking a bite out of the crispy outer layer and getting the savoury chewy inner layer. The inner was very well moistened... there was a lot of seafood!! My only complaint is that the squid and octopus was slightly overcooked... so it made them a bit hard to chew through....

SamGehTang (Full) $17.99

details:
SamGehTang

(Full) $17.99

Ginseng chicken soup with dates, chestnuts, yellow root and pine nuts with rice

This was a very disappointing dish.... for $17.99 (full), the serving size was very small... we shared it among 6 people... we each barely got a bowl full of this.... (as shown in the picture... this is what my "full" bowl looked like).

Impressions

• Very plain
• Tasted like water
• Largely any ingredients
• Contained pine nuts and dates
• No ginseng 
• Small amount
• Not worth

If that was not bad enough, the soup was practically tasteless, almost like water... none of the ingredients' flavours came out... (If we didn't find the ingredients like: dates, chestnuts and pine nuts at the bottom of the bowl, we wouldn't have known they were really there). There was also no ginseng... or any ginseng flavour... this was extremely disappointing.

KalBiJim (s) $13.99

Details:

This is a dish which is delicately marinated fall-off-the-bone steamed beef ribs with carrots and radish

These KalbiJim braised ribs were so tasty (especially after that horrible ginseng chicken soup). These ribs were stewed to perfection, the meat falls off the bone by just touching it with your chopsticks.

impressions:

• Very savoury
• Meat was well marinated slightly sweet and salty
• Very tender my chopsticks tried to pick the meat up and it all fell apart

The meat was very tender and infused with all the ingredients... the carrots and radishes were so well done too... they were soaked in the broth. It tasted really home made too!

Jajang Myun $7.99

details:

This is one of their popular noodle dishes made with ground beef, veggies and black bean sauce

impressions:

• Lots of black pepper
• Lots of sauce
• Sweet tasting

There is definitely a reason why this is such a popular dish... it is so good! The black pepper empowers the experience of the taste so well, the noodles are cooked to a perfect chewy texture. The bean paste sauce is infused with lots of sweetness and the black pepper's "spiciness" makes it a really great experience to eat. 

wasabi sauce

There was a complimentary Wasabi sauce... I'm not sure which dish is this for... but we were all interested in it... (it is quite good)

Five Spices Jokbal $23.00

Description
Five Spices Jokbal

Tender seasoned pork hock, served with sliced garlic, peppers and dipping sauce $23.99

Impressions:

• Large amount
• Made very well

By the end of all those items, we were already full... so when this came, we were absolutely shocked at how huge the dish looked. The serving size of this dish was really huge! There were garlic clove slices and green hot peppers to complement this dish.

We didn't try to pair this with garlic clove slices or the green hot peppers, instead, we tried to pair it with the wasabi sauce, and it tasted quite good (we weren't sure if they were supposed to be paired together, but we tried dipping in what other sauces on the table).

One thing is, if you are dining at this restaurant, they give you all the sauces you need for your entire meal before hand, so what we had to do each time was experiment and guess which should be dipped in what.

The meat was really well made, they gave us different types of the pork feet.

radish

Loved this radish, it was complementary, and it was really tasty.

Verdict:
This was quite a good dining experience, I thought the food was a little pricey compared to other Korean places though... I would avoid the Ginseng Chicken soup (SamGehTang) next time for sure, but will definitely order the other items, especially the JaJang Myun!

score: 8/10

address: 72 Steeles Avenue West #6 Thornhill, Ontario 

phone number: (647) 678-8000

website: http://www.songcooks.com/

Shiso clam vongolé Pasta @Shiso Tree Cafe JTown Review

Shiso Tree Menu

please click here for my review about the restaurant and Smoked Salmon a la Red Wine pasta

Shiso Tree is a Japanese-Italian Fusion restaurant. It is famous for their Italian pastas with a mix of Japanese culture. Before I talk about this dish, I want to mention about how much I like this restaurant, the atmosphere is very casual yet elegant, there is a mix of Japanese in its simple interior design. Every time I go, there is Jazz music playing softly in the background.

Impressions:

• Great atmosphere for chatting and hanging out
• service is good
• great pasta, great salad
• skip the soup

When the weather starts to warm up, I find myself longing to come to Shiso Tree @ JTown. It seems to be a very Spring/Summery place to visit with its Japanese/modern decorations and natural lighting and "light food". For this particular visit, I had ordered Shiso Clam Vongolé Pasta from their Wafu Pasta selection.

Shiso Tree complimentary salad

Salad:

With every Pasta set, they provide Garlic Toast and a Wafu Salad. As I mentioned in my previous Shiso tree post, The Wafu salad dressing, it is one of the best tasting salad dressings I have ever tried in a Japanese restaurant. If you visit this place, you cannot miss it. I'm not an expert in salad dressings, so based on my limited understanding and trusty taste buds I would say it tastes like  a clam/mussel soup base combined with soy sauce and sesame oil).

Shiso clam vongolé – white wine, olive oil, garlic, bacon, tomato, fresh Manila clams & shiso

Pasta:

Now, for the dish, Since I always get Smoked Salmon a la Red Wine pasta, I decided to try something new... I mean... life is about trying new things and having different experiences, no? I decided to give the Shiso clam vongolé a try. It consists of White Wine, Olive Oil, Garlic, Bacon, Tomato, Fresh Manila clams and Shiso. This pasta was from their Wafu pasta category. (Wafu can be translated to touch of Japanese)

The price was $15, I think it was because of the amount of clams they had. I mentioned that their prices may be startling at first, but when you finish your meal you will be happy you decided to eat here. This dish added Shiso shavings, I think they taste a bit like lemon/lime leaves. But... to be honest, other than the unique herbiness of Shiso and clams, I found it troublesome to distinguish this dish from the Smoked Salmon a la Red Wine Pasta. They seem to taste very similar. It was still good... but I was looking forward to something different.

This was a well made dish, but I think it would be better if they could make the different pastas taste more different so each dish can preserve its uniqueness. I will continue to visit this place and try their new dishes in hopes of finding something that tastes really different yet as delicious!

the soup we decided to pay extra for

Soup:

I did not enjoy the soup, it was very average. I was thinking it would be something that would "wow" me, but it was none other than an ordinary tomato, beef- soup based beef brisket vegetable soup. The taste was very ordinary, I was quite disappointed. The presentation was interesting, but the soup was very average.

Verdict:

The Pasta and atmosphere are what attracts me to this restaurant, I really love their salad. However, I do not recommend you paying extra to try their soup, it is not worth it.

address: 3160 Steeles Ave E #1, Markham, ON L3R
score: 8.5/10

website: http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/shiso-tree-cafe-markham

Kenzo Ramen @ Bloor review

Kenzo Ramen

impressions:

• seating is very uncomfortable
• casual atmosphere
• not suitable for "long lengthy conversations" 
• service is so-so

The King of Kings Ramen with extra noodles

What this is: 
Spicy Netsu ramen with five toppings of roasted pork, sliced egg, fish cake, fresh seaweed and dried seaweed. Season topping: marianted bamboo shoot.

Tastes:
I haven't tried this but my friend likes it. He thought it was a bit pricey... but he thought it was extremely delicious. My friend did comment that he thought the $1.50 for extra noodles was extremely reasonable.

Tonkotsu Ramen

What this is:

Tonkotsu Ramen, Hakata style pork bone soup ramen

Tastes:

Every time I'm here, I usually get this Tonkotsu Ramen because it seems to be the most basic, simple and . Simplicity is always what I like to get. The pork bone soup is really good, it is milky and savoury.

 I found myself thinking about heading over to Kenzo's to get this Ramen every time it gets cold. I love the authentic ramen taste they have, topped with pork slices and fish cake. However, I think they can ease up on the green onions though. I literally had green onion breath (apparently it exists) after this. I was impressed and thought it was really nice they served seasoning with the ramen. It was no needed but nice to have.

The bowls don't look big, but there is a lot... my friend and I are always so full after (of course, he got extra noodles, but he says it is extremely filling) and I always struggle to finish one bowl.

7.5/10

website: http://www.kenzoramen.ca/index.php