Yung Sing Chinese Bakery - OUT OF BUSINESS

Tucked away on Baldwin Street is a little gem of a Chinese bakery called Yung Sing. The place is family owned and operated and has been in business for at least 35 years, which is how long my Chinese wife Annie has been going there.

What keeps her coming back long after she left the neighbourhood is the fabulous custard egg tart called Dan Tat. Dan Tat, when done well, has a moist, almost runny custard filling that has just the right amount of sweetness, supported by a very flakey and tender crust. Too often, Dan Tat that is found in Dim Sum places or lesser bakeries is overcooked, resulting in a custard that is too firm and a pastry that is hard and dry - not so at Yung Sing. If you time it just right at Yung Sing, it will still be warm from the oven. Whenever we approach the bakery, Annie would quicken her pace and scoot ahead of me in excitement and anticipation of the treat to come.



Apart from the Dan Tat, Yung Sing also has a selection of delicious deep-fried treats such as shrimp wontons, Fun Gok (shrimp, pork, and water chestnut), and Woo Gok (taro paste with a flakey breading). All have generous amounts of filling and are not too greasy. Also available are Chinese buns well-stuffed with things like curry chicken, barbequed pork, ham and egg, or beef, and they are much better quality and larger than most. One makes a great snack. A limited number of cook-to-order dishes are posted on a chalkboard menu, including the Dim Sum favourites, Ha Gow and Sui Mai.

All of these delicacies are offered at incredibly cheap prices, many for less than a dollar. You can also get refillable cups of Chinese tea for 50 cents. Make sure that you go early, as most of the good stuff sells out fast and we have been disappointed
more than once when we arrived in the middle of the afternoon. This will also help you avoid the lineups which can get quite long around lunch time.

What makes Yung Sing stand out is the fact that all of their goods are freshly prepared, daily, on-site. As they start to run out of Fun Gok for example, the person behind the counter will yell downstairs to the chef to make sure that more is on its way.It's a great place to get a snack or a cheap light lunch, but be prepared that you may have to stand in line for a few minutes. Yung Sing is a take-out place, but during warm weather they have a picnic table on the front lawn.

Yung Sing Chinese Bakery
22 Baldwin Street
416 979-2832

Artisan Breads by Thuet at All The Best Fine Foods

Yesterday, I dropped into the bakery section of All The Best Fine Foods, one of the set of gourmet shops on Yonge St. south of Summerhill which is affectionately known as the "Five Thieves". On display in the window front is a large sign indicating that special breads were now being supplied by Marc Thuet (former chef at Centro Grill and Wine Bar and The Fifth, and now proud owner of his own self named Thuet Restaurant).

They had some of his breads available for sampling and they were moist and tasty. But the item that left me wanting for more was an Alsacian "Stollen" loaf. A stollen is a light and airy bread-like fruitcake, usually eaten during Christmas Season. This one contained marzipan and very lightly candied fruit, almonds and spices and was sprinkled with icing sugar. It was not too sweet and was absolutely delicious! I had my wallet out ready to buy some when I learned that it was currently only being offered as a promotional teaser, but would be available for sale shortly. Then Marc Thuet himself arrived at the shop to inspect the display, so I got to tell him how much I liked his version of the stollen. Can't wait until I can buy some!

Pumpkin Pie in a Mug at Starbucks

Let me warn coffee lovers up front - I am not now nor have I ever been a regular coffee drinker. It's not that I dislike it, I just never acquired the habit of needing my daily fix. This puts me in a distinct minority, as most of the people I know drink it by the potfulls and are loyal to their favourite cafe (Starbucks, Second Cup, Tim Horton's etc.). This means that I am not a coffee purist, so judge my opinion accordingly.

I recently wandered into a Starbucks for my monthly cup of joe, and noticed that they had something called the Pumpkin Latte on the menu. I have loved pumpkin pie since I was a kid, and as an adult I have also grown fond of pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin soup, and other inventions starring my favourite orange vegetable. Choosing the Pumpkin Latte was therefore a foregone conclusion.

What I got could only be described as pumpkin pie in a mug. All the flavours were there; pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and of course coffee. This qualified as "comfort food" as it instantly took me back to memories of Thanksgiving dinners with the family. I ordered my latte with whipped cream on top, just as I do with the real thing.

Organic Ice Cream in Kensington Market

Let's assume that you have a craving for ice cream, but you're an adult. Most ice cream vendors tend to sell overly sweet concoctions that appeal to the average 10 year old. These often have some ungodly additions such as sprinkles or even gummi bears.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon an organic ice cream parlour located inside Sanci Tropical Foods in Kensington Market. Without a kid in sight, I was able to examine the rather unusual flavours. These included Ginger chai, Vanilla cardamom (East Indian spice), Chocolate ginger with chocolate chips and Rose petal vanilla. For a real kick, I sampled the Chocolate Doo Dah, which combines chocolate, coffee, and cayenne pepper. What I first tasted was a pleasant chocolate flavour, followed by a strong coffee hit, and just when I started to think that the cayenne was absent; that's when the heat kicked in with a vengeance. They also make savoury ice creams such as Blue Goat, which combines blue cheese with goat cream and sun-dried tomato. Savoury ice creams were popular during the Victorian era, and I have seen some in Italy.


For those who are less adventuresome, don't worry; they also have less scary flavours such as Dutch chocolate and Tempo, with consists of green tea, white chocolate and raspberry. The organic, homemade ice cream is available in small, medium and large containers, where the containers are the old fashioned cardboard Chinese chop-suey takeout boxes. Two scoops in a small container costs $3.50.

So go to the market, enjoy the ice cream, but leave the kids at home and don't ask for sprinkles.


Sanci Tropical Foods
66 Kensington Avenue,
Toronto, ON M5T 2K1
Tel. : 416-593-9265

Takara - Japanese Dining - OUT OF BUSINESS

While not in the same league as the high end Japanese restaurants like Hiro Sushi or Edo, Takara is one of the better mid-range Japanese restaurants that I’ve been to. It offers an impressively large selection of menu items at fairly reasonable prices. Choices range from sushi, sashimi, bento boxes, hot appetizers and complete dinners including teriyaki and tempura courses, soup and salad.


I've been to some places where the sushi is one big rice ball with a miniscule portion of fish. Takara's sushi contains significantly more topping than rice. They offer all the traditional types sushi including nigiri (oval shaped rice with topping), maki (rolls), hand rolls, as well as 22 house specialty rolls. These are the ones I usually get, as I now find the traditional types of sushi boring in comparison. My favorites are the Gold Dragon Roll (Deep fried shrimp, cucumber, avocado, tobiko and salmon; 6 pieces for $7.95), Spicy Tuna Roll (Tuna, green onions, tempura butter and some spice that has a kick to it - $5.95), and the Spider Roll (Soft Shell Crab and cucumber- $9.95).

Takara offers free deliver for orders over $25. Better yet, you get a 15% discount on pick-up orders over $5, which is great for me since I live across the street from the restaurant. Considering I'm also saving on the 15% tip for a sit-down dinner,
this is a 30% savings overall.

On the weekend, they offer an all you can eat 'buffet' for $11.95 at lunch and $19.95 for dinner. You order the choices of from a menu and get freshly prepared food, rather than normal buffets where serve yourself from pre-cooked food getting cold and dry sitting in serving trays under hot lights. The buffet includes sushi, tempura and many other appetizers. While it is 'all you can eat', you must eat all that your order or you will be charged full regular price for any dish not fully consumed.

Takara Sushi Japanese Restaurant
416-921-3388
1502 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON M4T 1Z6

Perigee - The Ultimate Tasting Menu Experience - OUT OF BUSINESS

I love the concept of tasting menus. Since I like variety, I’ve always preferred eating small portions of many different items to eating a large portion of a single item. This is also what compels me to try to sample whatever my husband Rich has ordered, much to his consternation. We’ve had many the fork duels as I try to sneak a taste and he tries to parry my advances. A restaurant which offers a tasting menu appeals to both of us. It lets me try a little bit of many dishes and if we get the same menu, I don’t need to poach from Rich’s plate. At the same time, each dish is freshly cooked just for us and served to us by a waiter, unlike the buffet where you don’t know how long the food has been sitting there and you have to get it yourself.

Perigee, a restaurant in the Distillery District, is the ultimate tasting menu experience. Many of the seats, including the ones we got, surround the enormous open kitchen, full of gleaming stainless steel appliances. Watching the group of six chefs scurry around preparing the various dishes is like having a front row seat to the TV show “The Iron Chef”.

Perigee’s tasting menu is chef’s choice. You indicate whether you want 5, 6 or 7 courses and tell the waiter what ingredients you explicitly don’t want included, and then the chefs take it from there. This gives you a great element of surprise and anticipation as you don’t know what you will get next. We decided to go for broke and selected the 7 course menu. I said I didn’t like any hard beans (navy, lima, kidney , ... yuck) and Rich didn’t like liver. We were open to anything else. Rich then elected to have the wine pairings, where they match wines with the courses.



We started with the most delicious selection of breads and breadsticks, served with a homemade butter, and a duck pate spread.  One of the criteria I use to judge a restaurant is by the quality of the bread. Unfortunately I pigged out on the bread with still 7 courses to go!



Next came what is called the “Amuse Bouche”, French for amusing the palette. It’s usually a little mini taste of some delicacy that is offered fancier restaurants in addition to your meal. I got the avocado and lobster taco with tomato and leek while Rich got a mushroom consume with truffled cream froth served in a mini cappuccino cup. Mushroom is just about my favorite food in the world, so you know that I needed to have a little taste. Poor Rich … Perigee is so inventive that we were going to get different dishes for each course! Rather than not needing to taste his meal, I was going to need 7 tastes! Note that we’ve eaten two pre-courses now, and still have not started in on the 7 courses yet. I was going to be in trouble as I was already starting to feel a little bit full!

The courses started to come after this. We waited anxiously before each one arrived, watching the chefs preparing different dishes and wondering if they would be for us. We craned our necks to follow the path of the waiter, disappointed when he walked by us to place the scrumptious looking concoctions on another table. When our courses arrived, the head chef would lean over the kitchen wall and describe in detail what each creation consisted of. It was fun to eavesdrop on our neighbouring diners to find out what they were being served, which was different from what we got.

The food kept coming and coming … it seemed like it would never end! In addition to our 7 courses, we also got a “Mezzo” palete cleanser, a “Pre-dessert” and at the very end, a post dessert of chocolate truffles and petit fours. Including the bread and amuse bouche, that made 12 items for each of us! Here is what we had:



Appetizers:
1. Baramuda fish (like Mahi mahi), fingerling potato, tomato & leeks w saffron sauce
Marinated octopus salad w melon & seaweed sauce
Wine: Boigner
2. Goat cheese souffle w pumpkin & sesame seeds and port reduction, asaparagus & leek salad
Duck & Ham tart with peach and cranberry chutney
Wine: Pinot Gris



3. Corn crusted squid with lemon/basil orzo, olives/onions/tomato sauce
Chunk lobster meat w roasted garlic & caramel, basil crisps, fennel/apple curry, basil/lemongrass sauce
Wine: Chardonnay

4. Veal sweetbreads w rutabagen, bitter greens, fried sage, toasted hazelnuts & dried sherry sauce
Veal sweetbreads w almond meat & sour cherry sauce
Wine: Pinot

Mezzo
Melon & peach w cherry sauce
Cucumber/mint tapioca


Main

5. Beef tenderloin, seared fois gras w cherry sauce, seared greens, potato chive rosti
Wild bison, wilted brussel sprouts, cornelle of goat cheese, apple
Wine: Zinfindel
Cheese

6. Piavey - Parmesan like with jello, poach pear
Belsum - Cow's milk cheese with proscuitto & melon
Wine: Late Harvest Riesling



Pre Dessert:
Strawberry sorbet w lichee/plum sauce
Chocolate mouse funnel cake (whip cream & cookie crisp)
Wine: Boetchilus

Dessert:

7.Ganache of chocolate mousse with toffee crunch topping & phyllo wrap, english cream and berry sauce
Orchard berry crumble with cream of wheat sauce and flaky cheese twist

Post Dessert:
Chocolate Truffles and Petit Fours



It costs $110 per person for the 7 course tasting menu, not including the wine pairings so this is not something you would go to every weekend. But for a special occasion or if you want to make an impression on that special someone, this is definitely worth a try Hey, my birthday is coming up ... maybe it’s time to hint about going again. But next time, I’m going for the 5 course only... I couldn’t eat that much food again if I tried! My stomach hurts again just thinking about it.

Perigee
55 Mill Street, The Distillery District
The Cannery Building #59, 2nd Floor
416 364-1397

Ethiopian Dining

Toronto is a marvelous city for trying foods and eating experiences from different countries.  For several years now, my husband and I have been trying to seek out as many unique dining opportunities, in as many different ethnic foods as we can find.  One that especially falls into this category is our attempt at dining Ethiopian style at Ethiopian House.

It was a briskly cold and windy evening when we arrived at Ethiopian House.  Luckily inside, the place was warm and toasty, with delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen.  The restaurant was decorated in vibrant cheery colours and the walls were full of African art and artifacts, including some stunning portraits of proud and majestic looking African women in full tribal garb.  

The menu is predominantly beef based, although there are vegetarian options, and on the weekend, there is a chicken based dish. We each ordered a combo meal consisting of two beef dishes.  Both orders came on a large communal platter covered with a brightly covered straw hat as a lid. The lid was removed to find small mounds of the beef dishes we each ordered. It is up to social etiquette to ensure you only eat from your share of the mounds. Or if you are eating with your husband, it takes vigilance to make sure he doesn't stray into your territory!

The first dish called Tibs consists of pan fried beef sautéed with onions, garlic, green peppers, tomatoes and awaze, a paste made from small hot red peppers, cardamom and cloves. The Kitfo Special consisted of steak tartar (a minced beef) with warm Ethiopian butter that has ginger, garlic, onions and spices added to it. The meat courses are served on top of a platter of injera, which is a flat crepe-like bread which is soft and spongy. In the middle of the platter was a mound of crumbled cottage cheese combined with shredded lettuce and tomato pieces, which helped to cut the heat of the spicy beef mixtures.



The unique part of this dining experience was the way the food is supposed to be consumed. There are no utensils on the table and you are not expected to use any. Ethiopian dining is done by eating with your hands. An extra bowl of the injera bread is brought with the platter. You rip off a bite-sized piece of the bread and use it to scoop up the beef, vegetables and cheese, and stuff it all into your mouth. The Ethiopian tradition is to only do this scooping with your right hand, even
if you are left handed. There are rumours about the reason for this right hand rule, involving the traditional use for the left hand, but I won't mention that here. Washing hands is required both before and after the meal for obvious reasons. This was a fun and unique dining experience, where you were engulfed in a foreign culture while eating food which was flavourful and tasty. It is also reassuring when trying out an ethnic restaurant to see it patronized by people of that ethnicity. This definitely seemed the case at this restaurant.

As it says on the sign outside the restaurant, Melkam Megib - Bon Appetite!



Ethiopian House
4 Irwin Ave (Yonge 2 blocks north of Wellesley)
416 923-5438

Rahier - French Patisserie Reminiscent of Paris

A few years ago when we moved to midtown, we found a wonderful French patiserrie called Rahier which was reputed to sell “authentic” French pastries rivaling those found in Paris.  Some of their best sellers include the chocolate croissant (pain de chocolat) and the citrus brioche.  Another of my favorites is the pistachio danish.




Rahier opens at 8am on the weekends.  It is so popular that in the nicer weather, there is often a lineup forming outside the closed shop from around 7:45am.  I used to arrive at the place some time after 10am to ask for some of the favorites, only to be given a look of pity and the words Oh no, we've sold out of those long ago.  I've since learned that you show up early or don't bother.

Last year, my husband Rich and I finally visited Paris.  We made a point to visit as many patisseries as we find, and we found them everywhere.  One of the oldest and most famous in Paris is called Stroher, in the Les Halles district. We tried the pain de chocolat there and in many other patisseries and had mixed emotions to discover that Rahier really did measure up. On the one hand, having traveled all the way to Paris, we were hoping to find a special treat. But on the other hand, there are worse things than having authentic Parisan style pastries right in your home town.

Recently we've discovered the Rahier cookies and are  now addicted to those as well. The delicious mini bite-sized cookies come in many varieties. My favorites include the florentine, the lemon shortbread covered with chocolate, and the pistachio cream in an almond meringue. A box of cookies make a wonderful hostess gift, if you can stop from "sampling" them before you have to give them away.



Rahier Patisserie Inc.
416-482-0917
1586 Bayview Ave.
Toronto, Ont M4G 3B7

T&T - A new Chinese Grocery Shopping Experience

In the past, Chinese grocery stores that I've visited have been disorganized, dirty and difficult to navigate since all the signs are in Chinese and the employees don't speak English. Trying to identify exotic vegetables or seafood by sight alone
can be quite challenging.

One day, my husband Rich was in one of these supermarkets waiting to get some fresh fish.  The woman ahead of him, accompanied by
her young son, was ordering a live eel.  Now if you've never seen live eels in a tank, it is quite a sight.  
They are large suckers that look like giant snakes swimming in the water.  The woman pointed to the eel she wanted and the fish vendor
extracted it from the tank and started to put it into a plastic bag.  Suddenly the wiggling eel slipped out of the man's hands and
made a break for the nearest sewer drain.  To the horror of Rich, the woman and small boy, the fish vendor pounced on the eel,
picked it up by the tail and whacked it several times against the floor until it stopped moving.  He then calmly put the eel in the bag
and handed it to the speechless woman.

After these past experiences, we were thrilled when a gigantic new Chinese grocery store called T&T opened in at the corner of Warden and Steeles in Markham (near where I used to live and where my parents still live close to). It is unique in several ways. First of all, English is prevalent on all the signage and many of the employees speak English. This is essential for Rich and I, since Rich is Caucasian and although I am Chinese, I can only speak limited Cantonese. I also can only recognize a couple of written symbols (such as Horse, the literal translation of my last name, which is luckily and despite possible myths, is not a very useful word to be able to recognize in a Chinese grocery store).





Despite its size, T&T is also once of the cleanest grocery stores of any type (not just Chinese) that I've ever been in. Aisle after aisle, the floors are sparkling and litter-free. There are several aisles of North American products that you would find at the local Dominions or Loblaws, but obviously the Asian specialty products are the reason to visit. In this store, the selection is astounding. How many varieties of soya sauce or Chinese tea does one need to choose from? There are literally entire walls devoted to each of these products. In contrast, there were only two brands of cheese .. unlike the grocery store I visited recently in Paris, France where there was an entire wall full of cheeses. It is interesting to note the cultural differences reflected in the products. This is also reflected in the price of products. A large bag of dried porcini mushrooms costs about $1.99. A bag about 1/10 the size would cost over $6 at a North American store.




You can find some very exotic foods in this store, especially in the Seafood, Fruits and Vegetable sections. The photo above of the "Golden Cauliflowers" has not been touched up.. they were really that bright yellow hue!



In addition to the grocery shopping, T&T is also a haven for Chinese style "fast food" dining. There are food stalls selling Sushi, Dim Sum, Cooked Dishes, BBQ meats, pastries. Take note of the sales clerk behind the fast food counter in the bottom right photo. Obviously the community of Chinese restaurants and food chains are still heavily influenced by the affects of the SARS outbreak.



And finally, where else can you find TWELVE checkout lines all in action at the same time? T&T is also open at amazing hours
(something like 8am - midnight 7 days week including most statutory holidays). I just wish they'd open closer to where I now live,
downtown somewhere on the subway line!

Eating Dim Sum with my White Guy Husband

Going to a Chinese restaurant with my Chinese parents is always a bit of an adventure for Rich, my Caucasian husband. Since my father doesn't walk that well anymore, Rich drops us off at the door to get a table while he parks the car. He always complains that trying to find me in the sea of Chinese people is like trying to find a tree in the forest. Funny, but I don't have the same problem finding him .. he's the one that's a foot taller than everyone else in the restaurant.

Rich didn't know much about eating Chinese food before he met me. He tells the story of when he and his parents went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant for the first time. Not realizing that the style of dining involves ordering dishes to share amongst the table, they each made their pick. For a long while they each ate in silence, each facing their plate full of sauted chicken pieces, wondering where the vegetables and potatoes were.

Currently the best dim sum places are not in downtown Toronto, but instead up in Markham, where there is a large Chinese population. Dim Sum consists of eating a variety of shrimp, beef, pork and chicken dumplings served in small portions(usually 3-4 pieces per dish).

There are two types of Dim Sum restaurants, those where you order your dishes from a menu, and those where the food comes rolling through the restaurant on carts. We went to the second type since it's more fun. Strategy is required since you never know in which order the items will come out. Do you wait for your favorites or order whatever comes first because you are starving?

The other problem with the carts is that it is not always obvious what is being offered, since the food is often hidden away in covered bamboo steamer baskets while their descriptions are called out in Cantonese. If you flag down the server, she will show you the contents of the container, but if she doesn't speak English, you may still have to take a chance with the generic looking dumplings.

Most restaurants have the old stand-bys:
- Ha Gow - shrimp dumplings in a thin flour wrap; the best ones also have bamboo shoots in them
- Sui Mai - pork and shrimp dumplings - these are Rich's favourites, so if the rest of the family wants some, we know best to order our own
- Churng Fun - long noodle shaped wrap containing either shrimp or beef or pork, served in a sweet soya sauce.
- Minced beef balls with green onion served with worchestershire sauce

We usually look for restaurants that have a greater variety of choices. Some items that may not be found at all Dim Sum restaurants include deep fried squid, steamed chinese vegetables with oyster sauce, mini quail.




Drinking Chinese tea is large part of the experience. In fact, the Cantonese phrase for going out for Dim Sum ("Yum Cha") literally translates to "Drink Tea". The signal to the waiter to request for a refill of your teapot is to remove the lid and balance it on the top of the pot. They will spot this from afar and come to refill it. The traditional signal to thank someone for pouring more tea for you into your cup is to tap the table with two fingers. Somehow, Rich has morphed this tradition into a signal into a "give me more tea, woman!" demand, which I ignore until he actually vocalizes the request.

The first time I took Rich for Dim Sum, I got him to eat all sorts of strange and exotic "delicacies" such as chicken feet and tripe. He got wise when he realized that I wouldn't go near that stuff. Now he's smart enough to know what he likes and can even order some of them by name in Cantonese. Unfortunately even if he pronounces the words perfectly, he is often not understood because the servers are trying to figure out what english words match the weird sounds he was making. And there are some words and sounds that he will never be able to articulate ... so he needs to stay away from ordering beef because slightly mispronounced, he ends up saying dog. One Chinese phrase he has down pat is "Check Please", which he doesn't mind saying since Chinese meals in general are relatively cheap. So he always insists on paying the Dim Sum bill, telling my parents that they can pick it up next time when we go for the French restaurant meal.

One secret to picking a good Dim Sum place is to follow the crowd. The Chinese community must have some sort of ESP in relaying to each other the popular restaurants because they are usually packed and lineups are usually involved if you don't get there early enough. Dim Sum starts as early as 7am in some restaurants and by noon, you can expect to wait in line for some time. We usually try to get there by 10:30am to minimize the wait. And if Rich is one of the only white guy you see in the place, you know you have the real deal, as opposed to a "Canadianized" Chinese
restaurant. He'll be easy to spot ... he's the one a foot taller than everyone else.

Our current favourite dim sum place is Far Honey & Garlic Cuisine. They offer a fabulous dish of battered fish for a mere $2.50, as well as a Churng Fun with white fish. And best of all, they even take reservations!

Far Honey & Garlic Cuisine
1661 Dennison St. (Unit T1) - corner of Dennison & Kennedy Road
Markham, Ontario
(905) 470-7730