Wanda's

I'm back! I know I haven't posted anything for a while, but I'm officially done with being a lazy bum and will return to blogging regularly (besides, I have so many pictures from Winterlicious!) 

As some of you may have read, I blogged about the amaaaazing Belgian waffles I ate in Belgium. After I came back from the trip, my friend told me to give Wanda's a try. So I did! It has become my favourite favourite Belgian waffle place in Toronto ever since! The follow are photos I took on one of my many visits to Wanda's. (Sorry for the crappy quality, all photos from this blog is taken from my phone).

In my opinion, although the food is quite authentic, but it's not nearly up to par (will explain later in the post).

My berries and banana crêpe. Yeah personally, I like their crêpes much more than their waffles.

As you can see, the prices is not too shabby. The portions are quite good too, as you will see........

Now.

My crêpe. It has everything that should be in a crêpe. The crêpe skin is fresh, warm, soft and thin. Most of all, what differentiates a good crêpe from a bad crêpe is the batter. The ingredients inside are pretty much standardized (you have your normal ham & cheese, nutella and fruits etc) but you'll notice some crêpe skin has more air bubbles than others. The smoother & thinner the crêpe skin, the more experienced the person making your crêpes.

This is a standard crêpe you'll see in the streets of Paris.

This is the waffle, with chocolate and nutella syrup and strawberries. If you haven't been to Belgium yet, trying Wanda's waffles is a good way to introduce you to Belgian food culture. Wanda's has a great structure for a good waffle, what it's missing is that "secret ingredient". That is the sugar glaze over the waffle. Don't undermine the power of sugar, it makes a significant difference. But all in all, the waffle was very good.

This is a croque-monsieur. A very French fast food item made with hot ham and cheese (usually Emmental or Gruyère - both Swiss cheese). This one also has tomatoes and a dill pickle. The pickle is for those softies who feel sick after a sandwich filled with cheese and ham (just kidding! even if you don't like cheese, I still <3 you :) This is a very good sandwich, it is like a grilled cheese sandwich in a more epic level. It gives you this warm fuzzy feeling inside, especially during winter. :)

Overall Review:
Food: 9/10
The only thing I'm a bit iffy about is the fact that they put such emphasis on Belgian waffles, but it's just not quite the same as the Belgian waffles in Belgium. But everything else tastes mouthwatering.

Ambiance: 6/10
Simplicity is their main feature, can't really critique much.

Service: 7/10
Again, this is a café, not a restaurant, so I can't really critique it. It's more like you pay, grab your food and go. Not much interaction.

Price: 9/10
Pretty good, especially since it's able to make me relatively full. But I'm not a really big eater, so for those who are, then I don't know.

Final Verdict: 8/10
Worth visiting if you have a sweet tooth like me. After all, I've been coming to this place for a few years now. :)

Address:
599 Yonge St
Toronto, ON M4Y 1Z8


View Larger Map

For more locations, visit: www.wandasbelgianwaffles.com

Smells Delicious!

Warning: The following entry may not be suitable for all viewers and may gross you out (if you're squeamish). Reader's discretion is advise. 

So I've heard about this restaurant while I was in Hong Kong, and I just had to hunt it down and try it! 

I've been to themed restaurants before, but none went all out like this one. 

Some people may find it gross to eat at a toilet themed restaurant, but I find it grossly amusing. I mean, not everyone can drink out of cups shaped like urinals haha.

Yeup. Chocolate ice cream.

That's where we were seated.

Someone's chicken and cheese spaghetti. Not flavoured enough. You can barely taste the cheese, and the cheese texture is awfully similar to the Kraft Dinner mix. Bleh.

My cousin's meal. It didn't actually stink fyi. I just made him pose this way :P

My meal. Seafood hot pot in Hokkaido milk broth. It sounded so good, and it has all kinds of shell fish and other seafood. But the broth totally ruined it. It's way too overreduced. The broth tastes like super concentrated milk powder. It tastes extremely unnatural and borderline dessert like. "Dessert" just doesn't go well with seafood nor hot pot.

Yeup, eating out of a toilet bowl haha.

I mean, I had to. :P

Where we eat.

It's a real toilet!

Also where we eat.

                                      

What's inside the table.

Oh such classy décor right? haha

Yeah.. they went all out.

Where we eat.

So on each table, there's this tiny sticker saying: urination prohibited, customers may be held accountable for any damage to the toilets. This totally made my day haha.

Overall review:
Food: 4/10
They're very lazy with their food and you can tell. There was either not enough or too much flavour, and they focused too much on the presentation that they compromised their food. I don't like to use this word unless I feel strongly about it, but the food is amateur.

Ambiance: 10/10
What can I say? They went all out to make their food and décor fit the toilet theme.

Service: 6/10
Passed, but not great.

Price: 5/10
Overpriced for the quality of food. But you're paying more for the experience than the food.

Final Verdict:
4/10 If you're going for the food. Like I said, it's overpriced and amateur.
9/10 If you're going for the experience. This is definitely one of the most memorable restaurants I've been to. If you want to have a good laugh with friends, then I highly suggest paying this restaurant a visit!

Address:
There are many locations across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. If you're interested, you can find a location near you in the following website.

http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/store.asp

Krazy for Koreans Pt. 7

So over the Christmas break, my friend brought me to this Korean restaurant "Home of Hot-Taste" and it's surprisingly close to campus. I also eat at restaurants around this street all the time, so I couldn't believe I've never seen this place!

Ddeokbokki (Korean rice cakes). The sauce is runnier than the usual ddeokbokki but the flavours are not compromised. If anything, the sweetness of the gochujang sauce is even stronger than the ones I've had in other Korean restaurants. If you go to this restaurant, definitely give this a try! If you go during lunch time, they have this under their lunch special menu (which is even cheaper than usual).

Rice and seafood stew. First time I've seen this on a menu.

What it is is sheets of dried rice mixed in a very delicious seafood stew with vegetables. This is the perfect dish to have during a cold day because it will literally warm you up from inside out. The flavours of the seafood and the soup base is absorbed by the veggies and the rice cakes. The hardness of the rice sheets and the silky broth seem to work in harmony. All in all, the flavours are there, and the textures give this seemingly simple dish that interesting element.

Overall Review:
Food: 9/10
I like what I've tried so far. One thing that disappointed me is that they used frozen seafood for the broth. You can taste the difference. The soup lacks that freshness because of it.

Ambiance: 6/10
A lazy attempt in decorating the place (and you can tell). Either commit to it or don't do it at all; but don't do half the work.

Service: 7/10
There's one waiter overseeing the whole restaurant right in the middle of lunch time. The service was slow because of that, but I don't blame the waiter. The waiter is actually pretty nice once he got around to help us.

Price: 9.5/10
Pretty dang cheap. We paid $10/person (and we gave him more tips than needed already). We also couldn't finish the food because we were stuffed!

Final Verdict: 8.75/10
I will definitely be a frequent visitor since the food is pretty good and mostly because it's so dang close to campus!

Address:

710 Yonge St
Toronto, ON M4Y
Neighbourhood: Downtown Core

(416) 975-0000


View Larger Map

Alimentaires Nostalgique Partie Cinq

Another lazy blog entry. 

Destination: Paris. Who knew a photo taken a few years ago would be so fitting for my blog?

Enjoying some froyo (frozen yogurt) in Paris.

After the froyo and then some more gelato. Lemon and mango.

Mussels and escargots. I mean, c'mon, we're in France!

Best mussels I've had in my life! After 3 years, I still remember the name of the shop! If any of you plan on going to Paris, remember to visit Chez Léon near Galeries Lafayette.

Salmon.

Some fish. (Yeah, I'm deep within my lazy mode at the moment).

Cheese mussels from Chez Léon. Such a heavenly combination..

More escargots. C'mon, we were in Paris!

Pear tart.

Ps, I promise I write a real entry soon!

Alimentaires Nostalgique Partie Quatre

So a reader asked me continually to update my blog more often and post more pictures. But I'm kinda exhausted, so this will be another photo blog and not a review. 

The following is taken in Brussels, Belgium a few years ago. (Yeah, I haven't really had time to try new restaurants lately..)

Belgium's famous fries with honey and mayonnaise dipping sauce.

Belgium's famous mussels in white wine sauce.

A Belgian dish called Crevette Tomate (shrimp tomatoes). Yeah chefs from different countries try to replicate this, but it is never the same. The secret? The shrimps they use can only be found in Belgium.

The famous Belgian waffle. Don't believe it when stores in Canada or the States call their waffles "authentic Belgian waffles." Trust me, I've tried many stores in North America, and I still haven't found a store that's truly authentic.

Difference? All the Belgian waffles are honey/sugar glazed.

Waffle with mango gelato and chocolate syrup.