LUXOMME

We met at Finch station, which is 10 minutes from my place and a 20 minute sub from his. It's a perfect place to meet, especially if you don't really know what you're up for that day. There's food, fun, and fantastic times on every block.

 After much deliberating and much persuasion on my end to not go for Taiwanese noodles, we decided to hit up Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu.

Simple, no fuss, and absolutely delicious.

They mainly focus on one thing - soon tofu, and because of that, the process is almost perfected. There's only around 10 options to choose from, depending on what extra ingredients you would like on top of the tofu, which is great for indecisive people like me.

A bibimbap is also served on the menu, but I've never seen a single order come out of the kitchen.

The tofu stew is where it's at.

The banchan (side dishes) as well as the tofu stew arrive quickly at the table, bubbling from the top.

 One thing they do here that sets them apart from many other Korean restaurants is the way they serve their rice. It's presented in a hot stone bowl (the one used usually for bibimbap), and then they scoop out the rice into a separate bowl upon arrival at the table.

Why do they do that? You may ask.

Well, first, not only is the rice served to you fresh and steaming hot. Secondly, they don't scoop out all the rice in the hot stone bowl, They leave a generous layer of rice which has been roasted to the bowl on the bottom, slightly burnt. 

If you've never had the crisp, slightly burnt rice at the bottom of a stone pot, you're probably confused as to what the fuss is about, but anyone who has had hot stone bowl rice knows the best part is at the bottom.

 After scooping out all the rice, they then pour hot water into the bowl - which is lightly flavored by the crisp grains.

 Something also a little different about Buk Chang Dong is how they serve their eggs. Usually soon tofu arrives with an egg already freshly cracked inside, but here, they let you crack your own egg!

Now that the rice is scooped and the egg is cracked, we are ready to dig in!

 Feeling famished, the food was finished before we knew it. 

Deciding we should then maybe do some exercise (to walk off the egg), Nissen and I headed over to Trinity Bellwoods for a light coffee for him and a cider for me. 

We stayed until the sun set, musing about everything that had been going on in our lives. 

A perfect way to end the night.

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For more information and reviews on Buk Chang Dong Soontofu, please visit the following link. 

 

WINTER FAVORITES

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Finally, a share that isn't about food!

But I know you guys all love my food posts. 

It's been a while since I've done a beauty and fashion post because this past while, I've been so swamped with school that I haven't had much time to explore trends or shop online. But the last few weeks, I've had a bit of a breather and with the impending holiday season, I thought it would be time I showed you guys some of the things I've been using on the daily!

There's a few things that I've recently acquired, and some which have been part of my staple routine for the past year (and more). With the changing weather and the upcoming Christmas season, these are a few of the things that will get me through the chilly weather and holiday parties.

My beauty routine has been kept at a minimal pace, but there are still days when I barely have time to put on my socks, let alone my face! Still, I'll whip out my Anastasia Dipbrow, which I rave about to everyone I meet. It glides on easily and is so pigmented that even after a year of use, I've barely used a quarter of a pot.

Other beauty items I've been loving are these Colourpop Ultra Matte Lips which I picked up in Beeper, Bumble, Tulle, and Viper. In my earlier uni days, I loved nothing more than a night out with bold red lips, but the older I get, the more I swing towards neutrals, which are a more subtle glam. The Tarte contour brush also gives me great precision, when I have that extra minute to swipe on some powder. Lastly, I'm still obsessed with this lip balm from Nuxe, which I'm pretty sure was featured in my last "must-haves". Still in love with it.

The best part about holiday parties are of course, dressing up. It's hard with multiple events to find a 10/10 outfit for each one, so an easy way for me switch things up is with a huge necklace and some earrings. The necklace is from Zara and from their Winter collection a few years back, a gem that I've recently discovered, and the earrings are from Hudson's Bay, which I got at such an amazing price that it was basically a steal!

Lastly, to finish off any outfit, perfectly manicured nails courtesy of OPI and a light spritz of YSL Parisienne - which has been my signature scent since Grade 10. I purchased it for my highschool Winter Formal, so there's no way I could go through the holiday season without it.

I am currently in the middle of Christmas shopping, and Winnipeg is having it's first major snow storm today. It blows my mind that we are only three weeks away, and I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it.

Let me know if any of these make it into your party bag this year!

naomi.

A few weeks ago, I was procrastinating on Instagram when a photo popped up of the most delicious brunch spread. 

Going through a brunch phase, I was eager to find out more about this place and found out that Vogue  had recommended as a must try place in the Prairies. They praise it to being a restaurant that is "upping the breakfast game in a bacon-and-egg town" and describes the vibe as being "both a turkish cave and an airy Soho loft"

They weren't lying.

 Taking with me on this adventure is Karen, who maybe loves food as much as I do. 

We had a morning off from classes and was going to get our eyelash extensions done, but I kibosh that plan and convinced her to go for brunch with me.

This girl doesn't need the extensions anyways.

We arrived promptly at 10:30, which is prime brunch time, and pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Karen, who is clearly more on top of the restaurant game than I am, is a frequent here and expertly guided me through the menu. 

"You must try the smoked artic char!" she smiled.

After 15 minutes, we still hadn't made a decision, so she put on her thinking face and before we knew it, food magically appeared on our table!

The first dish that arrived at our table was the Smoked Artic Char [13], which features cubes of cured char on top of a crispy potato cake, garnished with creme fraiche, horseradish and cured dill cucumbers. 

Karen raved about it so much that I had to try it. 

 The second dish was Turkish Eggs [9], which were poached eggs served on a bed of hummus with a side of house-made sourdough bread. Talk about absolute comfort food.

Third dish that came (p.s we're sharing) was what I was most excited about. Coconut chia seed pudding, yoghurt, rose and date syrup, and garnished with raspberries and granola. [7]

Heavenly.

 Karen, being a blogger herself, is a natural when it comes to being in front of the camera and behind. Not only did she patiently wait for me to finish going snap-happy with the food, she helped me arrange it so that I could get optimal lighting.

#brunchdategoals right here.

Famished, we decided to start digging into our food.

Feeling stuffed, satisfied and deliciously happy, this beats going to class any day.

naomi