Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe - Quick stop in Little Italy (Toronto, ONT)

Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe

Just after finishing out Buffalo Wings at Duff's Famous Wings, we were in the mood for some dessert to round out the afternoon. Sicilian Sidewalk caught our eyes, especially their dessert menu. To those that know me well, I have quite a sweet tooth, but maybe not quite as profound as HC of LA & OC Foodie.

Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe - Menu

After given the menu, we decided on a dessert for the each of us....

Pistachio Nut w/ a shot of Canadian Rye

A nice dessert with a subtle taste of pistachio, quite nice. Not overly sweet, though I just had a taste of the dessert. I didn't partake in a shot in the afternoon, but my friend didn't particualy like that shot of Rye.

Bacio & Nocciola Gelato

Another friend went with 2 flavors of gelato. First flavor was the bacio, which is named after a Chocolate-Hazelnut candy from Perugia, Italy. Quite nice, not as intense as nutella, but delicious on its own right. The second flavor was the nocciola, a creamy Italian hazelnut flavor. Very good, though both flavor has some similarities as both were hazelnut based.

Creme Brulee Cheesecake w/Pistachio gelato a la mode

I went with two of my favorites: Cheesecake and creme brulee, the best of both words. I wish the creme brulee flavor was stronger as the dessert was dominated by the flavors of the cheesecake. Though delicious, I was hoping for something more unique. The pistachio gelato was great, though I am a fan of the pistachio nut, so try this flavor if you're a fan like me!

Little Italy

After dessert, we ended up walking around the streets of Little Italy and explored more of the city. Quite a pleasant afternoon, which always made better with some sweets in our stomach!

Final Rating 7.5 out of 10

712 College Street
Toronto, ON M6G, Canada
(416) 531-7755

Duff's Famous Wings - Not just a beer Homer Simpson drinks. Doh! (Toronto, ONT)

Duff's Famous Wings

As my friends and I trekked around the streets of Toronto after a brief and uneventful trip to Chinatown, we stumbled upon Duff's Famous Wings, a buffalo wing restaurant first made famous in Buffalo, NY. Since that was on our list of restaurant to eat during our upcoming driving route to Montreal, we decided to just try it now since we weren't full from our disappointing dim sum experience.

Wing Staple: Celery Sticks w/bleu cheese and ranch dipping sauces

Large Pitcher of "pop." We're just hardcore like that!

20 Pieces of Buffalo Wings (Left: Medium, Right: Mild-Medium), and an order of Fries

Since Duff's was just a snack, we decided to go with their buffalo wings combo deal (20 wings + fries + large pitcher of "pop" for 26.25 CAD). Since none of us were in the beer drinking mood, we went with good ol' Coca Cola, though the Canucks prefer to call it "pop." When I hear the word "pop" the music video of "Pop! Goes my Heart" comes to mind:



So I digress.....

The celery sticks were crunchy and went well with sauces provided. The fries were nothing out of the ordinary, thus we didn't really finish those. The main attraction were the wings and we went 50/50 in terms of the spice levels. We had a half order of medium spice and half an order of mild-medium. The sauces at Duff's Famous Wings ranges from mild to the hottest level of armageddon. Since the three of us had plenty of travels ahead of us, we went with the safer options.

The buffalo wings were flavorful, moist, and packed a decent amount of heat. However, I'm not sure if it stood out from any wings I could have found here in Los Angeles. Should I have gone to the original store in Buffalo, NY? Frankly, I'm not sure if it'll be worth the trip to eat buffalo wings in Buffalo, but it'll be an experience. Even though the wings at Duff's didn't stand out, it wasn't at all disappointing. Besides, we were satisfied from the food and we're off exploring for some tasty dessert in Little Italy! (To be posted next!)

As Homer Simpson always says "Mmmmm....(Duff) Beer."

Final Rating 7 out of 10

Duff's Famous Wings
558 College Street
Toronto, ONT
(416) 963-4446
www.duffsfamouswings.ca

Bright Pearl - Ehhhh, not a bright idea to dine here! (Toronto, ONT)

Bright Pearl in Toronto Chinatown

After realizing the day before that we landed in Toronto in the mist of a long holiday weekend, we were faced with closed shops and restaurants. So much for breakfast at St. Lawrence Market, thus it's we had to alter our itinerary and head towards Chinatown. Hey, as we all know, Chinese people never close their shops for major holidays. As predicted, Chinatown was packed with people and we were ready to get some grub. What's better than some dim sum, right?

O~ Canada

One shocking display that I was met with upon arrival, and sadly didn't take a picture of was 3-4 people cooking various dishes on portable stoves in the lobby. I mean, WTF?? We were too hungry to worry about that as our hostess led us to our table, and it was time to eat!

Fried Tofu (炸豆腐)



Glutenous Rice (糯米雞)



Jellyfish (海蜇皮)



BBQ Bun (叉燒包)



Shrimp Dumplings (蝦餃)



Siu Mai (燒賣)



MaLai Cake (馬來糕)

One thing I noticed immediately about the Bright Pearl was that it was lacking Chinese people, as most of the crowd were mostly Caucasian. Now, even though I'm used to hordes of Chinese folks fighting in line with me at dim sum, I was way too hungry to care at this point. I wish my intuition got the better of me. Of all the dishes shown above, nothing was memorable, in fact, some were pretty bad. The Ma Lai cake was dry, the fried tofu was quite bland, the glutenous rice was probably the WORST version I've ever had (WTF was with that presentation?)! I could probably find faults with all of the dishes shown. What's even more astounding was the final tab presented to us at the end. Our 7 dishes cost more than 40CAD, which with tax/tip ended up being about 15CAD (~$13/person). For subpar, tasteless dim sum, that was definitely a ripoff. In fact, the dim sum here couldn't even compared to the shack in the San Gabriel Valley called Dim Sum Express.

I really hate to bag this place and sound like a heinous food blogger, thus I had reservations about blogging this place, but our experience was quite bad. Even with 3 hungry stomachs going in, none of the dishes satisfied us. It was quite disappointing, along with the rest of the Chinatown in Toronto. The streets might be large and clean, but when the food was piss poor, who cares about cleanliness? Bright Pearl, and Toronto Chinatown, you might have been open, but you truly failed me!

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 (AVOID!)

Bright Pearl Seafood
346 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON M5T 2G2, Canada
(416) 979-1103

FoodDigger Dinner @ Ludobites at Royal/T (Culver City)

Ludobites @ Royal/T

Ah....has it only been three months when Ludo Lefebvre swept both the women AND men in Los Angeles off their feet with his ingenious and unique portrayal of his French cooking techniques at Ludobites Breadbar? Well, luckily for both you and me, Chef Ludo has returned, and this time at the Japanese cosplay cafe Royal/T in Culver City. The Ludobites at Royal/T event will occur for 13 days beginning on December 2nd, but luckily for me, I was able to try out new menu before its open to the general public, courtesy of FoodDigger!

Various shots for In Bed Together at Royal/T

Marshal of FoodDigger

Before the meal starts, Marshal of FoodDigger gave us a few words of wisdom and various updates involving FoodDigger. Again, as discussed in my previous FoodDigger dinner at Bond Street, FlavorMatch is something everyone should take a look at!

FoodDigger Ludobites dinner for 12/1/09



The coolest French Chef and Head of House duo, ever!



Best thing EVER for us bloggers. Thanks Krissy!

Before the meal starts, we were lucky enough to see Chef Ludo in action

1. Scallops Brown Butter, Pineapple, Black Powder

A wonderful preparation of scallops. Slighted "cooked" scallops topped with pineapples, "black powder," which was actually squid ink powder, in wonderful brown butter. Simple, yet complex. Refreshing, yet flavorful. The meal was off to a great start!

2. Bread Soup with Gruyere Marshmallow

When I saw the dish on the menu, I had no idea what to expect, and what I received was a creamy, yet nutty (slightly charred tasting) soup. Very, very nice. In addition, I truly enjoyed the perfectly cooked poached egg. The gruyere marshmallow added a nice texture and a temperature contrast to the warm soup. Quite an unique dish.

3. Foie Gras Beignet, Celery Roots Remoulade

2 oz of Hudson Valley foie gras packed into a beignet (pretty much fried dough). What an utterly, sinful goodness! The celery roots remoulade was a refreshing complement to the heavy, creamy taste of the foie. One warning I'll state though, I'd suggest you share this dish with another dining partner as it almost did me in on course 3! Nevertheless, I loved it!

4. Squid, Chorizo Oil, Kimchi Puree & Red Onions

Fantastic idea to follow this dish after the foie gras. The squid was tender, delicious with great complements of flavors from the chorizo oil, kimchi puree, and the pickled red onions. The eggplant skin added a nice touch to the dish. Very nice!

5. Veal, Udon, Kombo Dashi, Mushrooms,& Sesame Seed Miso

Since Royal/T is a Japanese themed cafe, Ludo decided to add a touch of Asian to his cooking repertoire. In this case, a veal udon soup dish with the essence of kombo (kelp, large dried seaweed) broth. Generally, veal could be a hit or miss for me, but the veal here was cooked perfectly. The kombo broth was quite nice with the udon and enoki mushroom and it all meshed very well. The sesame seed miso I used after finishing the udon and veal, and it added an interesting flavor to the dish. I can't say I'm in love with the miso, but some people may prefer to add it to the broth.

6. Wild Striped Bass, Garden Vegetables, Aioli

With any fish dish, it has to be cooked well. And in this case, it was on the spot. However, to me, the star(s) of the dish were actually the various garden vegetables presented on the dish. Colorful and tasty, it balanced the taste of the fish quite well.

7. Marinated Hanger Steak, Crunchy Escargot, Baby Corn, Bok Choy & Black Olive Mole

I really loved this dish. First of all, the steak, cooked perfectly to my liking, a perfect medium rare. The bok choy and the wonderfully grilled baby corn enhanced this dish, however the black olive mole was the star. I really enjoyed the mole that Chef Ludo learned from Javier's mom that I used it fairly liberally on the hanger steak (and this from a guy that doesn't like black olives). Finally, the crunchy escargot had a distinct flavor. I'm not sure I like the escargot cooked in this method, but it was definitely inventive!

8. Fourme d' Ambert Tourte, Red Pears, Honey Balsamic

As we rolled onto the cheese course, we were presented with a tart made with one of more ancient cheese, the Fourme d'Ambert. It was the first time I've had this particular cheese and I definitely enjoyed it. In fact, I thought it was thoroughly stuffed from the previous 7 course, I had to skip this dish. I was wrong. I gobbled up the tart without hesitation. In addition, the pear soaked in beet juice was a nice finish to the cheese course. Delicious!

9. Chocolate Cake, Coconut Sorbet, Caramel Coffee

I was afraid this would be a heavy dessert, but it was not. The coconut sorbet washed down the chocolate quite nicely, but it was the pink peppercorn that enhanced the chocolate immensely. This was quite a surprise, a good one at that.

After the meal we were able to chat with Chef Ludo and Krissy about the meal, the future of Ludobites amongst the many topics. What makes Chef Ludo popular is not just his awesome preparation of French cuisine, but it's also his welcoming personality, and eagerness to learn cuisines from other cultures. I wish Ludo and Krissy nothing but the best of luck in the next 13 days at Royal/T, but I have no doubt it'll be a successful run. I'm ready for a permanent location of Ludobites, let's hope we can make it happen in 2010!

Again, thanks to FoodDigger and its team for hosting such a fantastic dinner for us, and Brian and Will for a wonderful wine pairing as usual. Great work to Chef Ludo, Krissy, and the rest of the Ludobites team for a wonderful experience. Bon Appetit. Au Revoir!

Ludobites @ Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.559.6300
Official Website

December Update

Howdy ya'll! As we approach the holiday season and onward towards 2010, here's what we have to look forward to in the greater Los Angeles area, along with the sin city of Las Vegas:

Eat My Blog (From Gastronomyblog)

An idea generated by Cathy of Gastronomyblog, Eat My Blog will be a bake sale located at Zeke's Smokehouse in West Hollywood. Baked goods from the various recipe, restaurant bloggers in the Los Angeles will be on full display. To those of us, like myself that lack talent behind a stove and oven, get your butt to the event this upcoming Saturday and support the bloggers and their baked good. The most important thing I should note, all the proceeds will benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. During this holiday season, let's help out fellow men and women in need!

Eat My Blog Held @ Zeke's Smokehouse
December 5th, 2009 10AM - 4PM
7100 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA

For more information, visit the Official Website

Ludobites @ Royal T

Another event I'm pretty stoked about is the return of Ludobites, this time at Royal T in Culver City. I was first WOWed by Chef Ludo Lefebvre during my first dinner hosted by FoodDigger earlier this summer located at the Bread Bar. Since then, and 5-6 visits later (I'll eventually compile the various pictures for one big Ludobites post), the only thing I hope will be for Ludo to find a permanent location for his restaurant. Until then, for the next 13 days, go out and try what Ludo has in store for you. There is a complete revamp of the old menu, and after experiencing the new menu tonight, hosted by FoodDigger, I have nothing but great things to say about the new menu. I'll have a full report in my blog tomorrow of the pre-Grand opening dinner. Until then, for more information:

Official Website

8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

Bon Appetit



Finally, located at the new City Center in Las Vegas, the famed French Chef Pierre Gagnaire will be opening his restaurant Twist at the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel. This upcoming weekend is the opening weekend and Kevin of kevinEats will be hitting up the famed French chef's first restaurant in the United States. In addition, two weeks from now, Kevin will also be trying out the new Bar Masa, owned by the famous Chef Masayoshi Takayama. Looking forward to these upcoming reviews Kevin!