LUXOMME

YUTAKA

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Izzy and I are inviting you to join us on our lovely day out in Toronto. 

This is a first of three posts which I've collected over our day out in #the6ix when she dropped by for a visit (after ghosting me for 3 years). Yes, I'm calling her out.

We first bonded 6 years ago one chilly night at the Queen's Taiwanese Student Association hotpot event where I adamantly insisted that she was Korean (she is not), and since then she has been the instigator of all my terrible habits (online shopping being the least of them). We don't see each other much - or at all - because she's busy being a boss pharmacist in the US, and I'm in Winnipeg being me, but sometimes she'll grace me with a message and let me know she's back up north. 

Marking our 6th year of friendship (which she doesn't know we celebrated), we spent the day downtown wandering the streets of Toronto getting lost, getting frustrated at google maps, and getting ourselves into situations where we eat a lot more food than we should.

Yutaka was one of these places. 

Originally wanting to go to Japango, which is just around the corner from Yutaka, we ended up at the latter when the former couldn't accommodate us. Feeling upset, those emotions quickly turned into excitement when we saw their daily menu - which has a very generous selection of specials. 

After deliberating over what to order, I decided on the nabeyaki udon and her the chirashi with a side of amberjack sashimi. 

My udon arrived at the table first, piping hot with a egg that has a perfectly runny yolk. Her dinner came a few moments later. An array of fresh and colorful sashimi laid gently on a bed of lightly vinegar sushi rice. 

Not only was everything fresh and flavorful, portions were also generous and extremely filling. We had plans for ice cream afterwards and ALMOST ended up not making them because our meals were so huge. 

It's hard to find a decent nabeyaki that comes with good quality ingredients, but Yutaka really hit the spot, and if Izzy's smiles and complete silence during the meal say anything about how delicious her meal was, it's definitely a place you don't want to miss. 

Located a hop skip from Eaton's Center, it's the perfect stop after a long day of shopping. The restaurant is large and spacious and seating is generous (just like their meals) so that you have plenty of room to set your retail damage down as you enjoy a delicious meal.

naomi

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For more information and reviews on Yutaka, please visit the following link;

 

So this Summer, I've been feeling very unmotivated to blog as of late, mainly because I haven't done anything really blog-worthy that I haven't already posted about before. Or rather, I've been feeling very unmotivated to drag my large camera around everywhere I go and risk everyone complaining about me "paparazzi-ing" them all meal. 

Since I've been spending my entire Summer in Toronto, my routine has been a little different than what it's like during the academic year. It's a welcome change of pace, and also an opportunity to get together with friends whom I haven't had that much of a chance to see since I've left Queen's.

People are often confused at why I spend so much time in Toronto, and it's difficult to explain my situation because it's not very typical. This Summer however, I had a focused project. 

For the last three months, I've been working on renovating a condo here, which has been an endless wheel of learning, coupled with the biggest headache ever. 

Thankfully, it's coming to an end.

To celebrate (and also to escape the fumes of sawdust), I texted these lovely girls and basically begged them to have dinner with me. (Mainly because I missed them and because they handle my paparazzi-ing really well)

Let me distract you with this picture of this deep fried ika [7] while you try to figure out who these two lovely ladies are. This dish which was the perfect start to our evening. Juicy tender pieces of squid which are coated in a very delicate batter. 

MeNami is a Japanese restaurant that specializes in udon, but also serves a variety of tapas. Located in a very convenient location (Finch and Yonge), it's extremely accessible, but difficult to snag a table simply because it's so popular. 

One thing that I love about the menu at MeNami is how simple but thoughtful each item is. They're also not trying to do ten different things at once like some other restaurants, but have decided to focus on udon and tapas - not udon, tapas, sushi, and korean food etc. 

Udon and tapas are also the perfect complement to each other.

When the udon finally arrives (we all got the same thing), the girls were lovely enough to entertain my blogging needs. Not only were they patient enough to let me take a million pictures of the food even though they were famished, they even re-arranged everything so that it was instaworthy.

If that's not true friendship, I don't know what is.

10 minutes later, I was done and it was time to eat!

Except.... 

We weren't really quite sure what to do or where to begin.

The Original Kama Udon [7.95] comes chilled on a bamboo mat accompanied with a side of green onions, wasabi, grated daikon and a bowl of udon sauce.

Let's do a quick udon quiz.

Do we

A) Dump all the noodles in the sauce

B) Dump all the sauce onto the noodles

C) Just eat the noodles and forget about the sauce?!

Thankfully, our waiter, seeing our confused faces, so graciously explained the proper way which was neither A, B, nor C.

Oops.

For those of you who have never had cold tanuki udon before, the appropriate way is to first take the green onions, grated daikon and wasabi and add it to the udon sauce, to taste. 

Then you're supposed to use your chopsticks to pick up a bite of udon. 

Dip it into the sauce. 

Gently lift it out and wait a moment to allow the excess sauce to drain away.

And then consume!

Why didn't we think of that.

As for these mystery girls who were such a good sport for me and my camera, they're my lovely housemates from way way back.  You'll see them pop up in many of my posts over the years, because they're very photographable and also because they don't sit and complain about my camera the entire meal. 

Very important quality when choosing dinner-mates. 

  

EL CATRIN

Okay. Before we begin, can I just say hello! I'm back!

I feel like all of my posts have started like this lately....but, I promise I have a good excuse.

I've had a lovely start to the Summer so far, and I'm finally back home for a week before I'm heading off again. It's been nice to have some time away from the norm. The only downside is that I don't get to see some lovely people as often to as I would like!

But that's nothing a dinner can't fix.

There were a few people I wanted to see while I was in town, and lucky for me, my wish was granted! Jin and Anna suggested we head over to El Catrin, which seems to be the new hot spot in town. Delighted at the chance to try something new, I quickly called to make reservations, but was told that due to their popularity, I would have to go stand in line and cross my fingers that they would grant me a table.

So stand in the line I did, with fingers tightly crossed.

Actually, I lied. I made Tiffany stand in line.

Thankfully, the wait wasn't too bad (30 mins), and we even arrived at 6pm on a Friday! Thumbs up to El Catrin for speedy service. We were seated on their patio, which is gorgeous most likely thanks to their interior designer. Everything from the lights down to the chairs was perfectly themed.

Famished, we ordered a large guacamole [15.50] to share (a must) and some individual tacos for ourselves. They come in groups of three, and I opted for a vegetarian one called Cazador [13.95] - in an attempt to try veganism which absolutely will not last. Others went for the more appealing Gobernado [16.95], which is stuffed to the brim with lobster and shrimp and Cochinita Pabil [15.95], a delightful mixture of pulled pork and black bean puree. Kaien got the Costilla Corta [16.95], a braised beef, which he reports as being delicious, but the portion was tiny and definitely more tapas sized than entree. Either that, or their regular clientele normally has the appetite of an ant.

Highlights of the dinner was seeing everyone and also trying out El Catrin's special hot sauce - which is about as spicy as it gets. I like spice, I LOVE spice, but even watching Jin scoop that stuff onto her tacos made me sweat a little.

In a good way though.

I'm a sucker for routine and definitely a little resistant to change, but El Catrin was a pleasant surprise. Tucked into the Distillery district in Toronto, there are no direct subway stations - but it's a brisk 30 minute walk from Dundas. Alternatively, there are also streetcars which I've heard are very efficient! Not that I would know because I'm completely streetcar illiterate.

It's been odd not seeing everyone every single day of the week, so any time that we are able to sit together, laugh over a meal, and share in an evening is something that I always look forward to.

Can't wait to share more Summer nights with you.

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One thing about having friends a flights distance away is that it can be hard to get together, so when I texted Nissen super last minute that I was dropping by for the weekend, I wasn't expecting him to be able to make time for me.

But not only did he make time, he (and my lovely friend Tiffany) also introduced me to this lovely little coffee shop right in the heart of downtown Toronto.

For those of you who are familiar with the area, you'll know of Eaton's Center - which is basically a wonderland for shopaholics. 

Dineen Coffee Co. (the name of this delicious little shop) is a brisk walk from Eaton's Center and perfect for a little R&R between the shopping and the bag carrying.

Fueling up on caffeine, he ordered a coffee, I a macchiato, and our third date a strong shot of espresso.

We ended off our lovely get-together with warm conversations between light sips of coffee. 

For those of you looking for a quiet place to relax after a long day, or perhaps a place just to escape, Dineen is the perfect combination of local coffee store and luxury boutique. If you are coming from Eaton's, the closest exit is the one near the Apple store. It's got a hearty spread of baked goods and a wide variety of drinks to satisfy your caffeine addition.

The perfect little get-away in the heart of Toronto.