Monthly Archives: April 2018

Gone Country @ the ballpark with a pulled pork, cheese curd, waffle sammy!!!

Yesterday was Country Day at the Rogers Centre, which means I showed up bright and early…at 2 pm. You had a plaid-sleeved, long-sleeve Blue Jays t-shirt giveaway, my Alberta bros in High Valley bustin’ out some Alan Jackson and Joe Diffie tunes, and all the cheerleaders were dressed up like rootin’, tootin’ cowgirls. For a minute there, I almost forgot I was in Toronto!

Of course, I wasn’t just there to hoedown, bro! When I heard they were serving up some new culinary creations for the 2018 season, you KNOW I was gonna dive right in. And while the beef brisket sandwich and the Korean BBQ tacos sounded tasty, I knew there was only one Flavourtown rockstar headed straight down my piehole–the Log Cabin Sandwich:

This gay Republican’s wet dream comes fully loaded with pulled pork, baked beans and cheese curds on a savoury rosemary waffle. Now, the waffle was nice and fluffy, and the pulled pork was on point…but the beans had no flavour and the cheese curds were cold as ice, ice baby. There was no gravy or sauce on this sammy, but once the pulled pork warmed the cheese up a bit, it came together pretty good. So, I wouldn’t call this dish a home run, but it was more like a Teoscar Hernandez triple off the top of the wall, maybe?

Of course, after pounding all that pork, you KNOW I still had room for dessert, bro! Now, this churro poutine has about as much in common with actual poutine as Guy Fieri does with Guy Lafleur…but if you wanna slam six churros with a scoop of ice cream, you definitely can’t go wrong here!

Seafood linguine en estie @ Estia

Now, I might eat a lot of pasta–dude, this is body by mac ‘n cheese, bro!–but I don’t eat seafood all that often. Don’t get me wrong, I loves me some crispy calamari just as much as the next Guy, but when it comes to shellfish, like clams and mussels and shrimp (oh my!), I definitely don’t do those every day. But now we’re hanging out at Estia, this uptown funky Italian/Greek joint at Av & Dav, and I’m about to dive face first into a big pile of seafood linguine:

Dude, this is like a culinary pool party in Flavourtown! And the gang’s all here–you’ve got baby clams, mussels of love and some nice ‘n juicy shrimp, on a bed of noodles with tomato sauce. There is nothing wrong with that at all, bro! But what makes it is the squid:

Dude, if you thought that squid only came in rings, battered and deep-fried, you’re all wrong, Pete Tong! These tasty little tentacles are nice and chewy, swimming in sauce and headed straight down my piehole. Surf’s up, bro!!!!

Well, I’ll be an Irishman’s breakfast!

You know what we don’t do enough of on Triple B? Diners, dude! So, we’re hanging out at the George Street Diner, this funky little joint that’s so authentic, it’s been in a buncha movies, like The F Word, with Harry Potter. And the menu is full of real-deal, comfort food, too–all for less than 15 bucks!

Now when I’m thinking diner classics, you can’t go wrong with an all-day breakfast. They do up a Canadian breakfast with eggs, bacon, fries, beans and toast…but they also kick it up a notch for the Irish breakfast, with your choice of peameal, ham or sausage, along with Irish soda bread. Of course, you KNOW I went with the back bacon, bro!!!!

There’s just so much goodness in this bite, right here. You’ve got some tang from the beans, a nice scrambled egg and a thick piece of peameal. Throw in some tomato, and you’re good to go, bro! But what really makes it is the Irish soda bread:

This ain’t no dry white toast, Blues Bro! This thick, bubbly bread is richer than most, and goes great with melted butter–I most definitely didn’t need no jam! Sheeet son, put me some eggs, cheese and some of that peameal in between, and you’ve got yourself a super-tasty sandwich in Flavourtown!

Real-deal Cajun BBQ…deep in the heart of Mississauga!

Now, with all the awesome-sauce BBQ joints right here in The Big Smoke, I wouldn’t normally go all the way out to Mississauga for some slow-cooked southern comfort food. But when I heard RD’s Southern BBQ was serving it up Cajun style, then I had to come check it out!

Now, this place has all kinds of ragin’ Cajun classics, like po’boys, red beans and rice, gumbo and even etouffee…but they also have Cajun BBQ, which I didn’t even know was a thing. I was gonna start with some rib tips, but they were all sold out, so I went with hush puppies instead:

These goodness gracious great balls of corn were a lot better than the ones I had in Nashville, which were a little overdone. You still got the nice texture of the cornbread, with some actual chunks of corn, which was a nice touch. And that sauce on the side was legit!

Now, I don’t normally put BBQ sauce anywhere near my brisket, but with the way they cooked it, the sauce was the boss. The thinly sliced, lean brisket probably tasted better with the sauce than without. And their medium sauce has more kick to it than you might expect!

Now, the beef brisket platter comes with your choice of a quarter chicken, jumbo wings or Creole shrimp. These wings were alright, but maybe not as jumbo as I expected. If I’m ever back here again, I think I’ll go with the Creole shrimp…

…oh, and beef ribs. I am definitely ordering the baby back beef ribs next time!

Antler’s wild game burger is a vegan’s worst nightmare!

So, we’re hanging out at Antler Kitchen & Bar, this cozy, locally sourced wild game joint that got hit with a bunch of vegan protesters a couple weeks back. Now it’s pretty hard to get a table, but there were no angry vegans when we stopped by to feast on their meaty delicacies last night.

So, we’re starting off with some wild boar spring rolls, son! These deep-fried orbs of deliciousness were super hot and crispy, with a whole buncha seasoned boar meat. I could probably slam eight or nine of these, but I wanted to save room for the main course:

This wild game burger is a mixture of wild boar, bison and deer–and it’s even got a duck-egg aioli on top. So many living creatures gave their lives for this dish…and dude, it’s magically delicious! It’s like a really good thick, juicy burger, straight from the forest, with all the magic. This is actually the best burger I’ve had in a little while, bro!!!

And because I haven’t consumed enough creatures already, I wished it all down with a tallboy of Big Rock Grasshopper, my go-to craft beer from Calgary. Maybe a pint of Warthog Ale mighta been more appropriate?

Pizza slice and Italian beer @ Sud Forno

So, we’re hanging out at Sud Forno, this funky Italian cafeteria on Yonge St. This place has counters stocked with soup, salads, sammies and desserts…but you know me, I headed straight down to the pizza aisle, bro!!!

This here’s the Spicy Cacciafore, with some hot soppressata and mushrooms on a crispy crust. I don’t like how they sliced it so that you get soppressata on one side and mushrooms on the other, making me take one bite out of each piece instead of scarfing a whole slice at once. But other than that, it was pretty tasty. At six bucks a slice, it’s a step up from Pizza Pizza, that’s for sure!

Now, you KNOW if I’m eating pizza, then I’m also drinking beer. And this Italian cafeteria is serving up Italian beer from Birra Menabrea, straight outta Italy. Their Bionda is light and crisp, with a slightly malty finish. Pretty sure I could pound six or seven of these…but then I’d hafta polish off a whole pie!!!

Get you some dim sum, son!

Now, I don’t always get out of bed before noon on weekends–unless there’s brunch involved. Whether we’re talking crepes, skillets or waffles, I love the smell of some real-deal brunchfast in the morning. Especially if I don’t hafta cook it. In an ideal world, people would just walk around with carts of food, and ask me what I wanna eat…like they do at Dim Sum King, this funky all-day dim sum joint in Downtown Chinatown!

And man, this place has everything–dumplings, steamed pork buns, peel-and-eat shrimp, beef short ribs…even roast duck, bro! If you ever wanted to stuff your face full of Chinese food for like 20 bucks a head, bring the whole family for this festival of funk in Flavourtown!!!!

So, we’re starting off with some crispy shrimp wontons, topped with donkey sauce. Dude, this is body by crispy shrimp wontons, topped with donkey sauce!!!

Speaking of shrimp, this shrimp dumpling is about to go straight down my piehole!!!!

Because you can never get enough shrimp, we’ve got peel-and-eat garlic shrimp, shrimp-stuffed jalapeno peppers, and some sticky rice (with no shrimp).

You get your balls to the wall, man… We’re talking steamed beef meatballs, bro!

Of course, you can’t have dim sum without dumplings. Siu mai, har gow… pas le temps de niaiser!

This place also has not one, but two kinds of pork buns. Me, I like mine steamed…

Now, it’s time for the piece de resistance. This Peking Duck is cooked perfectly, nice and fatty with a crispy skin. And not too many bones, either!

Now, after all that dim sum, you’d think I wouldn’t have room for dessert…but this piece of pan-fried water chestnut cake oughtta do’er.

Why Waffle Double Down when you can Waffle Quadruple Down?

Now, you KNOW I love chicken and waffles bro, and I’ve definitely scarfed down my share of KFC Double Downs back in the day, so when I heard KFC was combining these two things, I was all over that like a fat kid on a quadruple chicken, double waffle sandwich:

OK, so there’s no way I’m shoving this all down my piehole at once, even with my patented Guy Fieri hunch. But even when eaten separately, that’s more fried chicken than you can shake a fried sticken at!

OK, now let’s break it down. These puppies are made to order, so the chicken is super hot and crispy. The waffle is really legit–nice and fluffy–and then you’ve got this sweet, sticky maple aioli oozing out from the inside. I gotta say, this sandwich is pretty outta bounds, but what’s missing here is some bacon, bro! White Brick Kitchen knows what’s up!!!

But that’s not to say I’m NOT going to eat at least seven more of these. Dude, this is body by fried chicken and waffles!!!!!!

$33 freeky Greek feast @ Pan on the Danforth

Everybody in Toronto knows that the Danforth is the place to go if you want some real-deal Greek food. And I’m definitely no stranger to the area. Whether it’s the BBQ quail and Greek fries at Astoria, the four-pack of lamb chops at Mezes, or the bitter balls at Borrel…OK, so that last one’s Dutch, but my point is there is plenty of great grub in Greektown.

Now, I’ve heard that one of the best, most authentic Greek joints in this city is Pan on the Danforth, but I’d never been there before. It can be hard to get a table sometimes, cuz they’re packing ’em in for their Panlicious Dinner–three courses for 33 bucks, bro!!!

So, we’re starting off with some lightly breaded, deep-fried calamari, so hot you gotta wait a couple minutes before you pick ’em up. Lemme tell ya, there are few things I love more than deep-fried squid, and these squid are too legit to quit!

But you know that was just the first course in Flavourtown! We’re moving on to the braised lamb shank, which is my go-to at Jimmy the Greek…but this one’s, like, 10 times better! The melt-in-your-mouth meat falls off the bone and slides straight down my piehole, while the orzo pasta in a tomato broth is like risotto gone “Opa!” (Smashing plates not included.)

Now, I kinda hate to admit this, but I actually did NOT have room for dessert. So I had to get this piece of Greek ravani cake to go. The sweet semolina with syrup on top, some chopped almonds and blueberries still tasted good for breakfast the next day, though!!!

Beef brisket for brunch, bro!!!

So, we’re hanging out at Smith, this funky little joint up around Church and Wellesley. Even though the name of this place doesn’t really stand out, they sure pack ’em in on the weekends for brunch, with dishes like pistachio waffles, huevos rancheros, smoked salmon benedict, and this meaty monstrosity in Flavourtown, the beef brisket hash:

OK, let’s break it down. What you’ve got are big, meaty chunks of braised brisket, marinated for two days, on a bed of potatoes with poached eggs, cheddar cheese and pico de gallo. This place takes Denny’s and kicks it up about three notches! The beef is super tender, you’ve got a little yolk porn going on, and the potatoes are big ‘n hearty–I even had to cut some of ’em in half!

Now, just cuz we’re eating brunch, doesn’t mean I don’t still have room for dessert. Especially when they’ve got these homemade doughnuts…Dude, this is body by homemade doughnuts! These Timbits on steroids are topped with apple cinnamon sugar, and come with a side of lemon cream–I’d put that on a flip-flop!!!

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