Monthly Archives: March 2022

The biggest osso buco I’ve ever eaten @ Eataly

Now, we’re no strangers to osso buco here on Triple B — whether they’ve serving it up on a patio in Yorkville or way west on King West. But when I heard that Trattoria Milano, this funky little joint inside of Eataly, had an osso buco so big, it was enough food for four people… you KNOW I had to check it out, bro!!!!!!

But first, we’re chowing down on some deep-fried meatballs. These mondeghili are a Milanese specialty, and I gotta say, these were some of the most tender balls I’ve ever put in my mouth. Stay away from that candied fruit though — that yellow stuff was surprisingly, ridiculously spicy!!!!

But now it’s time for the main event…

I gotta say, I was expecting this meat to be super, fall-apart tender like a lamb shank — or some of the other osso buco I’ve had before. It was a little tougher, and I definitely needed a fork and knife here, but it was still pretty tasty. Oh, and while this dish was supposed to be for four, it only took three members of the Triple B Krew to polish if off, son!!!!!!

And you KNOW we still had room for dessert…

Now, their tiramisu was pretty small, and they put in a mason jar like some friggin’ trendy hipsters. But it was still very, very good — rich ‘n creamy with just enough of a coffee kick. And hey, since Eataly is a grocery store, you can also buy a full-sized one to take home…as long as you finish eating before they close. (My bad, bro!)

And since this blog ain’t Burgers, Bacon & Burgundy, we’re drinking the closest thing to wine…that’s still a beer. Vine Song 1 is an Italian grape ale saison from Indie Alehouse that they sell downstairs, and it’s definitely got that sour tartness of white wine, while being a little more hangover friendly at 8% alcohol. Dude, Imma hafta bring a couple of these next time I go to a wine and cheese soiree!!!

Brunchin’ on a back bacon ‘n lobster benny, bro!!!

Now, I don’t always get up in time for brunch, so when I do, it’s gotta be something funkalicious. Like, we’re hanging out at MARBL, this funky joint on King West, where they’re serving up four kinds of eggs benny — you can get ’em with back bacon, salmon, lobster or crab. Or you can do what I did, and order a lobster benny with a side of back bacon…then get them to put it on top:

OK, first of all, this lobster is just too legit to quit. Nice, fresh chunks that are so good, you don’t even need the bacon. But it does add a nice extra touch, along with the creaminess of the egg and the hollandaise. My only complaint is that the English muffin doesn’t hold up to all this deliciousness — it’s pretty much just a sad, soggy, bread vessel. But man, toast that baby up a bit and this dish is a 10/10, son!!!!

Now, apparently they make a mean mimosa at this place, but since the name of this blog ain’t Burgers, Bacon and Bubbly, I had to ask about the beer selection — which is all the way down at the bottom of Page 13 of their wine list. And there really isn’t anything special here; Bud Light, Peroni, Stella, Corona and Guinness. Well, even though it comes from a can and was served in a chilled glass, I still had to go with the ol’ Irish breakfast smoothie. It was only after I got the bill that I realized they were charging 12 bucks a can for the good stuff — three dollars more than any other beer, bro! Next time, I might hafta stick with orange juice….

….NOT!!!!

This five-spice pigeon is #SquabGoals

Right here in Toronto you can find pretty much any kind of food under the sun (as long as you’re not looking for, like, Icelandic rotten shark or something). And hey, if it’s funky, we’ll find it. So we’re hanging out at Sash, this fancy place just steps from Summerhill station, where they’re serving up something I’ve only ever seen in the wild. We’re talking squab, a baby pigeon that has yet to crank up the Foo Fighters and learn to fly, bro! But more on that in a sec…

When I saw the Seared Foie Gras Club on the menu, the first thing I asked was “Does it come with bacon?” It does not, nor is it even really a sandwich — although there is a little piece of brioche toast on top, so there’s that. Instead you get super-tender duck liver served with blueberries and a side of sage, which I don’t think you’re supposed to eat? I also did not pick this up with my fingers, but I gotta say, it’s one of the best sammies I’ve ever ate with a knife and fork!!!

But now it’s time for the main event! This baby bird kinda reminds me of quail, with the little legs that you nibble on, but the meat is more like a cross between duck and rabbit, and it’s cooked medium rare like a steak. It’s also a lot more gamey than any of those other creatures, except maybe rabbit. I thought it was pretty tasty, but… probably not something I’d go outta my way to eat again?

On the other hand, their chocolate souffle is definitely worth ordering again! It takes them 15 minutes to make it, as they warm it up in the oven so it’s nice and hot, oozing with chocolatey goodness, and more than enough butterscotch and chocolate sauce to go around. I would put this right up there with any “warm/molten chocolate lava cake” I’ve ever had, bro!!!!!!!!!

Holy chicken mole & guacamole!!!

Don’t get me wrong, this is body by tacos bro (especially Doritos Locos Tacos)…but there’s more to Mexican food than just tacos. We’re hanging out at Barrio Cerveceria, this funky joint on Queen St East. And yes, I did go for tacos last time I was here — almost 5 years ago — but I decided to go with something totally different this time.

Dude, this Mole Poblano is soooo outta bounds, bro! You’ve got a fistful of chicken, served in a thick, brown sauce that’s a little sweet, and more than a little spicy — let’s just say they put the Poblano in Mole Poblano… And there’s enough sauce on this plate that I could take a bath AND fill up the Camaro with it!!!!

Now, I thought I’d be getting mucho mas guacamole for 16 bucks — but at least the chip-to-dip ratio was on point, with enough nachos for all the guac…and I didn’t even hafta double dip the chip, George Bro-stanza!!!!!

Now, for a place with Cerveza in its name, I was disappointed that they didn’t have any beers on tap. When we were there, the only options were Corona, Negra Modelo or the house lager. I gotta say, though, a couple Negra Modelos took some of the edge off that Mole Poblano, hermano!!!!

A feast from the Middle East that’s closer to the heart…

Here on Triple B, we’re no strangers to shawarma, and you KNOW this is body by brisket, bro… so when I heard about Fet Zun, this funky little joint on Dupont just a few steps from the subway, we totally had to check it out. This place is serving up a signature Fet Zun Feast with Tahini, Labneh, Whipped Feta, Charred Eggplant, Chirchi, Chopped Salad, Pickles, Olives, Hummus, Chicken Shawarma, Brisket Shawarma, Charred Broccoli, French Fries AND Saffron Rice — shut the front, back and side doors, son!!!!!

Now, it’s hard to pick a favourite among so many great dips, but the real star of the show here has gotta be the bread. It’s baked fresh and hot to order, and just pulls apart like putty. Man, I could eat this bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner…but I gotta save room for the good stuff, bro!

On this side, we’ve got a whole pile of brisket, with onions and pickles, some nice saffron rice and charred broccoli. I didn’t have any broccoli, though… Why eat broccoli when you can eat brisket????

At the same time, they’ve also serving up chicken shawarma, with a nice variety of sauces and pickles, alongside a big bunch of crispy, salty fries. I think I ate about half of these fries by myself, bro…

This is pretty much the perfect plate right here. You’ve got two kinds of meat, some fries, rice and pretty much no vegetables (unless a pickle counts). I managed to polish off two plates like this — and still had room for dessert!!!

Dessert isn’t officially part of the Fet Zun Feast, but they do give you two desserts to choose from…so we ordered both. On the right, you’ve got knafeh, a Middle Eastern dessert made with phyllo pastry, stuffed with ricotta and topped with orange blossoms and pistachios. And on the left hand side, they’re funking it up a notch with a halvah cheesecake, a creamy take on a sesame cake with a pistachio crust and all kinds of shaved coconut on top. I liked this one a lot more than the knafeh.

We’re pairing this food from across the pond with a true Canadian classic — Henderson’s Rush Canadian Golden Ale. I hadn’t had the chance to try this beer before, so when I saw they were serving it up here (for a couple bucks more than the other beers), I had to check it out. To be honest, I think this beer has even less flavour than Molson Canadian — it’s kinda like drinking Kokanee, or even Coors Light. As far as Rush albums go, this one is less 2112, more Signals, bro…

5 course tasting menu…at a BBQ joint!!!???

Now, The Carbon Bar has gotta be the swankiest BBQ joint I’ve ever set foot in. Forget picnic tables, butcher paper and lining up to the counter, this place looks more like some fancy nightclub. But that don’t mean the food ain’t legit — I ordered some real-deal ribs from them during second (or was it third?) lockdown, and even made a couple of their meal kits at home when I had to isolate while awaiting COVID test results after coming back to Canada. (Fuck, I’m glad that shit’s almost over!) So when I heard they were serving up a five-course tasting menu for the reasonable price of 75 dollars, I was all over that like beef on brisket. Dude, that’s like 200 less than I paid at Don Alfonso, bro…

Now, this may only count as one course, but we’ve actually got three appys here: mozzarella sticks, shishito peppers and KFC — that’s Korean Fried Cauliflower, son! The KFC was nice ‘n crispy, and they added some chili flakes to the shishitos to give ’em a nice little kick. Believe it or not, but the non-vegan mozza sticks were my least favourite thing here…

Course number two is also a two-for-one, as they put down some shrimp ceviche and pulled pork tacos at the same time. I’m pretty sure this is the exact same pulled pork taco kit I made at home a couple months back…except that they fried the tortillas, while I put them in the microwave. Carbon Bar 1, Greedo Catucci 0.

Next up was a fish course, which you definitely don’t see at yer average BBQ joint. We only got one piece of salmon per person, but that’s OK with me, since I was saving room for the Pitmaster Platter anyways:

Now, The Carbon Bar definitely deserves credit for giving their Pitmaster Platter an Extreme Makeover: Flavourtown Edition since I first set foot in here back in 2016. Y’see, six years ago they only gave you three meats — brisket, ribs and fried chicken — and there was hardly enough food to go around. But since then, they’ve upped the ante with smoked sausage and smoked turkey (which is exclusive to the tasting menu; the regular platter comes with pulled pork). Sure, they’ve raised the price to $38 a person for the platter alone, but I actually think that’s a steal, son. Just compare this sad little plate of food from 2016 to the following meaty monstrosity:

And that’s not even all of it — there was enough food left over for me to go back for seconds! But you KNOW I still had room for dessert, bro…

OK, so these weren’t all just for me — everybody got a lil’ taste. We’ve got mini chocolate brownies, caramel fudge… but what makes it are the bourbon truffle skulls, bro!!!!!

Dude, this might be the most badass dessert I’ve ever seen. You want my skull? You can’t have it, bro!!!!!

Now, this might already be the longest review in Triple B history, but you’re gonna wanna stick around for a few beers, cuz they’ve partnered with Blood Brothers Brewing to really kick their beer game up a notch…

We’re starting off with an Autopop Cherry Sour, the only one of these three beers I’ve had before (it was in a smaller can, though). This one’s a nice way to ease you in, cuz it’s only 4% and tastes more like cherry soda.

Now, I was trying to hold off on the heavy stout until the meat platter arrived, but the problem is, I drink beer too fast. So I polished off this Amaretto coffee stout, Under a House in Northern Italy, with the tacos and ceviche. Maybe not the best pairing… but dude, I could drink this with a flip-flop, and it would still taste good!!!!!!!

But we’re saving the most funkalicious (funkaliciousist?) for last with this Ajji Majji nitro sour. This beer smells like vanilla and tastes like peaches — I dunno how they do it, but they sure do it good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Royale Cheeseburger is part of a balanced breakfast.

Now, I’m a pretty big fan of Reign, the fancy restaurant inside the Royal York Hotel. At this place, we’ve chowed down on wild boar, a badass bison chateaubriand… man, I even ordered takeout from them on Valentines Day! So when I heard they were open for brunch, I figured I should probably check it out. Of course, here on Triple B, brunch doesn’t mean avocado toast, or a seasonal salad or something. Instead, we’re going for their signature Royale Cheeseburger — it even has a fried egg on top!!!

OK, so I had to pay extra to add the egg (7 bucks, as it turns out), but this still makes for the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time. You’ve got a thick ‘n juicy patty, topped with white cheddar, some nice, thick bacon, lettuce, tomato and pickles, on a brioche bun. The egg just kicks it up a notch!

Fries are also on point, fresh-cut and chewy. They only give you this tiny little thing of ketchup, though — please sir, can I have some more???

Since the Royal York is right across the street from the Union Pearson Express train, it only makes sense that they’ve got Henderson’s Pearson Express IPA on tap. I remember their beer selection being much better the last couple times we were here, but hey, the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad, so I had one more for dessert…

These tiny octopus tacos are packing some really big flavours…

March 12, 2022
greedocatucci
0 comments
Asian fusion, bokkeum, DaiLo Toronto, duck, octopus, octopus taco, tacos

You know me, this is body by tacos, bro! You could put pretty much anything in a taco (except maybe chapulines) and I’d eat it — so when I heard that DaiLo, this funky Asian fusion joint in Little Italy, was serving up crispy octopus tacos, I was all over that like Ringo, bro!!!!

Now, I don’t just have big hands — these tacos were pretty tiny! I ate ’em in two bites each…but they were some of the best four bites of food I’ve had this year. Not only is there crispy octopus in here, but it’s paired with braised pork belly, for a bit of sticky sweetness. Plus there’s a couple crunchy onions, a sambal donkey sauce, and then — get this — the shell is not a tortilla, it’s made of jicama! Let’s just say I liked this dish a lot better than the time I had jicama pretending to be a fish burger…

But four bites and 19 bucks later, you KNOW I’m still hungry like the wolf, bro!!! So it’s time for this funky cross between French and Korean — Smoked Duck Bokkeum. Now, bokkeum is like a Korean stir-fry, usually made with pork, squid or even octopus (I had to look that up). But I don’t think it normally looks like this — I mean, the only rice on this worn-out plank of wood is sprinkled on top for decoration. What you’ve got here instead is duck breast and purple potato salad, along with a few pickled veggies:

Still, I gotta say, that duck was super-tasty, melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the purple taters added a nice touch. Hey, it’s no Pekin Duck for one… but it’s gotta be the second-best duck dish I’ve had since the pandemic started!!!!

Now, when I’m at a funky joint like this, I gotta go with the funkiest beer on tap — which would happen to be a Blood Orange Shapeshifter sour IPA from Halo Brewery. If not for the fizzy head, I wouldn’t even know this was a beer — it tastes just like an Italian soda or orange Jarritos. Which didn’t stop me from pounding 3-4 of these…

Fried chicken and mushrooms and shrimp… Omai!!!

We’re no strangers to izakayas here on Triple B, and you can find these funky little Japanese joints all over this city! So, we’re hanging out at Omai, this cozy little spot in Baldwin Village, with just a handful of tables and a sushi counter. And while they do serve sushi here, you KNOW I’m heading straight for the fried section of the menu, bro!!!

We’re starting off with some butternut squash croquettes, coming in hot from the fryer. Now, I’ve had a few croquettes in my time, but these might be the first ones that were stuffed with veggies, son! They also add in some Oka cheese, which makes ‘er nice ‘n creamy…

Man, I don’t think I’ve had fried shrimp since that one time, at Red Lobster… But there’s nothing wrong with these Panko Fried Shrimp, with a chive donkey sauce and some pickled radishes on the side. I could all-you-can-eat these any day, bro!!!

Dude, I’m totally trippin’ over these fried oyster mushrooms, son! Warm and delicious, with a shrimp-flavoured donkey sauce — I’d put that on a flip-flop!!!!

But now it’s time for the main event: Japanese style chicken karaage, served at face-melting temperatures, with some gochujang and more donkey sauce on the side — dude, this is body by donkey sauce! I actually had to wait a bit for the chicken to cool down, but the wait was well worth it!!!

Of course, nothing goes better with Japanese bar food than beer from Godspeed, our local Japanese-inspired craft brewery. This Yuzu Citrus Saison actually tastes more like a wheat beer than a sour, and is super-crushable at a shade over 4%. I definitely pounded more than one of these!!!!

But even after all that deep-fried deliciousness, you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert, bro! The one dessert on the menu at Omai is a Basque Cheesecake, topped with pears, and infused with matcha. Not what I would expect to find at an izakaya…but it was still pretty tasty!

Fried chicken n waffles? We gotchu, FAM!

Now, back in the day when I used to hang out at The Big Bop, this hard rock bar at Queen and Bathurst (which is now a furniture store), there was this little dive across the street called Michael’s Tavern. No, not a funky little dive — but a straight up dive bar with some really sketchy characters. Only good thing about it was the beer was cheaper than across the street…

But you can’t buy beer at the Crate and Barrel, and just like The Big Bop, Michael’s Tavern is no more. Instead, they’ve got this funky little joint called Food Art Music in that spot serving up comfort food classics like these chicken and waffles:

OK, now let’s break it down. Chicken is boneless, like a tender, but it’s dark meat, with a bit of a kick. Waffles are nice and fluffy, Belgian style, with some fresh berries so you can call it breakfast. Maybe not the best chicken n waffles I’ve ever had, but it beats the heck outta anything they were serving up at Michael’s Tavern, bro!!!!

In the beer department, this place isn’t much of an upgrade over Michael’s, though. Just your standard macrobrews from Molson, Coors, Heineken and Corona. I actually ordered a couple PBRs, y’know, for old time’s sake…

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