I can’t say I remember much about the Annex Food Hall — I ordered an outta-bounds breakfast hot dog from a place in there during First Lockdown, but that’s about it. So when I heard they were turning the food hall into more of a night market, with an infusion of Asian flavours, I was all over that like white on rice, bro! Superfresh is serving up funky fresh food from across the continent, with six different vendors and a full-service bar… So you KNOW I had to get something from all of them, right?
Now, I wasn’t sure that I could eat a buncha fried chicken along with five other things, so I just went with the skin — we’re talkin’ chicken chicharrones, homies! And man, after all that tasty seasoning on this super-crunchy skin, I think I’m gonna need to get the full chicken from Bao Bird next time I’m here… if the skin was that good, the chicken’s gotta be dynamite!!!
Next up, it’s some funky Japanese-Canadian fusion courtesy of Katsupan. This Japanese Poutine is packin’ curry sauce, scallions and bonito flakes on top of nice ‘n crispy fries — but man, I really wish they used cheese curds instead of shredded cheese here. 😦
But now it’s time for the highlight of the night, son! These Indonesian grilled chicken skewers (Satay Ayam) from Jajan are sooo outta bounds, bro! Chicken is super-tender, and you could put that peanut sauce on a rice-farmer’s hat, and it would still taste good!!!!
Now, it probably goes without saying that when ordering from Big Beef Bowl, you should get a big bowl of hand-pulled noodles, with some beef in there. But since I was eating five other things, I went with an octopus skewer instead — and I wasn’t disappointed. This classic street squid has just the right amount of tenderness, but it was pretty spicy (for a white guy). I’m definitely gonna be feeling it in the morning…
Now this is a dish I’ve never seen before — it’s called Sae Woo Hobak Jeon, a Korean egg fritter with shrimp, zucchini and a side of onions. Funny story, the server tried to take my plate away when I still had two left, cuz he thought it was just the garnish, haha. Hey, it’s no breakfast hot dog, but I wouldn’t mind starting my day with a few of these bad boys!!!
And on that note, it’s time for a couple beers. This Common Good Ronin Rice Lager has a cool backstory, but I don’t really taste the rice, here. It’s pretty much just a basic lager beer…
On the other hand, this Louis Cipher Coconut Lemongrass Thai-PA is kicking it up a notch, injecting some Thai flavours into a stronger beer. Now, they might not have a Thai food stand here, but this one goes pretty good with the chicken satay, bro!
But even after all that commotion back there, we’ve still got room for dessert. The Good Goods seemed to be running low on cheesecake all night — I think I mighta got the last slice of Vanilla Cream, which was the only kind they had left. But man, this cake really kicks Uncle Tetsu’s ass and leaves him out behind a dumpster, son! Gonna see if I can maybe get the chocolate one next time, though…
Burgers, Bacon & Beer 