Tag Archives: mussels

Wolves in the Taproom @ Folly Brewpub

We’re back in Toronto now, and with all this talk of Omicron variant and new COVID restrictions, I could use a beer…or 10. So we’re hanging out at Folly Brewpub, this funky little joint at College and Dovercourt that’s serving up nine different beers brewed in house, along with a food menu that ranges from Italian to German. Shut the front, back and side doors, son!!!!

Speaking of German, we’re starting off with a Trust No One Lichtenhainer, which just happens to be what it says on my lower back tattoo. This wheat beer has a nice smokey smell and more of a sour, citrusy taste. I don’t know how they brew it, but they sure brew it good, Bro Scratch Fever!!!

We’re pairing that with a classic Italian app — arancini. These creamy little rice balls are deep-fried to perfection, with a piece of cheese in the middle, and they soak up all the sauce on the place, son!

Now, when I saw this next beer on their list, I knew I totally had to try it. This is Wolves in the Taproom, named after my second-favourite atmospheric blackened shoegaze band. (Deafhaven FTW, bro!) Although it’s an amber, they brew it with Belgian yeast to give it a nice, chocolately flavour. I could pound, like, 16 of these!!!!

Did I mention that the food here is pretty funky? They’re actually serving up three different kinds of mussels — Provincial, Calabrese and Thai. (All that’s missing are some mussels from Brussels, bro!) Me, I went with the Thai ones, served in a curry coconut milk broth. Now, the ones on top aren’t too spicy, but when you get to the bottom, and they’re swimming in that broth, you definitely get a nice little kick…

But you KNOW I’ve still got room for dessert, bro…and by dessert, I mean another beer. How About Some Coffee is a nice, heavy coffee stout with a creamy head. It only comes in bottles — but on the plus side, you can buy ’em to take home, so I think I might just do that. 😉

This crème brûlée is an appetizer, NOT a dessert. Whoa…

Now, when it comes to French food, crème brûlée is one of the things I judge a restaurant on. I mean, if you can’t get that right, do you even know français, bro? But of course, it always comes at the end of the meal…until now. We’re hanging out at Peter Pan Bistro, this funky joint on Queen Street West, where they are serving up this truffle crème brûlée — as an appetizer. Fermez toutes les portes!!!!

While this is a (mostly) savoury dish, I swear the first thing you taste is that caramelized sugar on top. You do get some of the truffle aftertaste, though, along with a hit of pickled mushrooms — and it goes great on the toast that comes on the side. The crème-to-toast ratio is almost 2-to-1 though, so it looks like I’m gonna hafta lick the knife…

But like the title says, that was just an appetizer — now it’s time for the main course. These mussels are NOT from Brussels, but rather the Salt Spring Islands, in B.C. They’re served in a bouillabaisse broth with potatoes and chunks of corn on the cob. Oh, and a side of fries, with both ketchup and mayo. Nothing wrong with that at all — except that 5-6 of my mussels didn’t even open, bro. 😦

Now, when a funky joint is serving up crème brûlée as a starter, I dunno how they can even do dessert, bro. It turns out their dessert menu is only two things, so I decided to have a couple beers instead — starting with this Burdock Vermont Blonde, which they actually had on tap. Easily crushable at 4.5% and not too hoppy, it sure beats having Molson Canadian on tap, bro!!!

And now we’re bringing on another NEIPA, with this Jutsu from Bellwoods. It’s definitely heavier and hazier, but still not too, too hoppy. I could probably crush another 10 of these… and still have room for dessert?

GRAND REOPENING: Who needs Canoe when you’ve got CANO?

Now, one place that hasn’t been able to reopen at all during the pandemic is Canoe, the fancy-smancy, fine-dining restaurant at the top of the TD Tower. I mean, you can’t really put a patio up on the 54th floor…although I would totally check it out if they did. But in the meantime, the similarly named, yet totally different CANO Restaurant on St. Clair West is packing ’em in on their front and back patios, bro! The only time we could even get a table was at 6 o’clock, making this place almost as hard to book as Canoe during Winterlicious…

So, we’re starting off with the Cozze al Bianco — I would sooo vada a bordo for these, bro! The mussels from PEI-ussels are cooked in a white wine and garlic sauce, with shallots, chili flake and cherry tomatoes. Plus, you’ve got these thin slices of Focaccia on the side to soak up the sauce… Dude, you could put that on a flip-flop, and it would still taste good!!!!

Up next, we’ve got Vitello alla Griglia, a grilled veal chop with smashed potatoes, wild mushrooms and broccolini. This dish tastes almost as good as it looks, son! The only problem was the piece of meat was too thin for them to cook it medium rare, and I thought it was a little overdone. I mean, I’ve definitely had a better veal chop at Blu Ristorante, pre-pandemic… but man, this was some of the best broccolini I’ve ever tasted (by default, almost, but still…)

Now here’s a beer I’ve never seen ’round here before. This Birrificio Otus Pilsner is coming straight outta Italia, where it won a bronze medal for German and Bohemian pilsners at the 2019 Birra Dell’anno Awards. And I gotta say, it’s got everything you want in a pils — a nice crispness, not too malty, pairs well with Italian food. It’s also 12 bucks a bottle, but hey, it’s not like you can get it at the LCBO, so, y’know, when in Rome, bro!!!!

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Greek land, sea & air platter from Soulas

Now, when it comes to Greek food, sometimes you just want a gyro and a whole pile of fries — and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. But for something a little more upscale, one of my go-to spots on the Danforth is Soulas Modern Greek Cuisine. I’ve still got one more 40% off code from Uber Eats, and I wanted to make the most of it, so I ordered up their Mermaid Platter. We’re talking calamari, jumbo shrimp, mussels, lamb chops and chicken, served on a whole pile of rice, potatoes and veggies, for 69 bucks. It’s enough food to feed a family of four…or one Hungry, Hungry Hippo in Flavourtown!

Shrimp are nice ‘n juicy, slide right outta the shell. Can’t complain at all, but they’re only like the third best piece of seafood on this platter…

Mussels were nice ‘n tender, steamed to perfection. They give you at least a dozen, which is a decent-sized dish on its own, but only part of a much bigger platter…

Well, you know I like my calamari fried, but these grilled calamaris were still pretty good. Probably the chewiest thing on this platter, but they still come apart pretty easy with a knife and fork. Add a little squeeze of lemon, maybe a dab of tzatziki, and you’re cooking with olive oil, bro!!!

This grilled chicken might not come on a skewer, but it’s still got the same flavour profile as a good souvlaki. Goes great with some of those roasted potatoes — and dude, there were a lotta roasted potatoes on here!!!

But the star of the show has gotta be the lamb chops, two to an order, grilled to perfection. I could probably slam at least seven of these — y’know, if I didn’t have all that other stuff to eat…

Now, there really wasn’t too much meat and seafood, but the rest of this container was completely full of rice ‘n potatoes and vegetables… dude, that’s gotta be the most veggies I’ve ever eaten at once! I will admit that I barely put a dent in the pile of pita bread — you don’t fill up on bread, bro! But hey, I can always have it as a snack for later!!!

Washed it all down with a Trans Human State pilsner from my bros at Blood Brothers Brewing. It’s got the crispness of a good Greek beer, but maybe just a little more fruity…not that there’s anything wrong with that!

Pounding two pounds of mussels @ Midi Bistro, bro!

Now, I don’t always eat mussels, but when I do, it’s go big or go home. Whether it’s as a starter, a main meal or part of a massive feast, I can swallow several of these slippery suckers any day of the week! So, we’re hanging out at Midi Bistro, this funky little French joint about a block north of Dundas, where they’re serving up a redonkulous 12 different kinds of mussels to choose from. While you can get a pound of these bad boys for 17 bucks, you can add a second pound for just seven dollars more. That’s like a double dog discount in Flavourtown!!!!

I ordered mine Quebec style, which means they’re served with goat cheese, shallots, parsley and a Blanche de Chambly beer broth. That broth goes great with bread, bro! You don’t really taste the booze, but the mussels are cooked perfectly, not too firm or too chewy. Comes with a side of fries, which were a lot like McDonald’s, except maybe not as salty. And when you order two pounds, the mussel-to-fry ratio is about three-to-one — I actually needed a refill on the fry front!

Now, even if they didn’t really have that wheat-beer flavour, I still wasn’t gonna wash down these mussels with more Blanche de Chambly. (They have it in bottles, but not on tap.) Instead I went with a Granville Island Pale Ale, which was neither pale, nor particularly hoppy. It tasted more like a milder red ale…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

WINTERLICIOUS 2020: Veal chop ‘n mussels @ Cafe La Gaffe

Now, when it comes to Winterlicious, some places don’t give you too many options to choose from. Usually, you get to pick from 3-4 different dishes for each course. But at Cafe La Gaffe, this funky little joint in Baldwin Village, their Licious menu has 6 different appys, 12(!) mains and four different options for dessert. With so many possibilities, it’s hard to narrow it down…but just about everybody went with the PEI mussels to start:

Dude, these mussels from Charlottussels were off the hussels! Nicely steamed in a tomato and chili pepper broth, with a few onions and peppers, and a couple pieces of bread to soak up the sauce. Man, you could put this broth on a flip-flop, and it would still taste good!!!!

Now, it’s time for the main event! You’ve got a 12 oz, bone-in veal chop with a whole smorgasbord of veggies — mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and beets! Man, I didn’t eat this many vegetables the last time I went to a vegan restaurant! But at least there is plenty of meat to go around, too…

For dessert, I tried their lavaless lava cake (where’s the ooze, bro?) and had a bite of the creme brulee, but the go-to dessert has gotta be the raspberry cheesecake. Nice and creamy with a crunchy cracker crust, and just enough raspberry sauce on top — I could finish at least three of these!!!!

SUMMERLICIOUS 2019: East Coast meets Far East @ Aviv

So, we’re hanging out at Aviv, this funky little joint on Dupont, right next to the Psycho Therapy Training Centre. Gimme gimme shock treatment, bro!!! Now, this place mixes Italian with Middle Eastern, with some crazy dishes that will blow your mind…like these PEI mussels with kimchi, gochujang and Chinese sausage:

OK, now let’s break it down. The mussels are nicely steamed, you’ve got a bit of kick from the jalapeno, a little funk from the sausage, some crunchy bean sprouts…but what makes it is the kimchi. That’s some killer kimchi, dude!!!

Now, for the main event, we’ve got some tender pork tenderloin swimming in a mango-lime sauce, with sweet potatoes, collard greens and french fries. OK, so the fries aren’t normally part of this dish, but this is body by french fried potaters, bro!!!

Sadly, their desserts were so small that I had to eat two of them. The lemon cheesecake was pretty tasty, but as for the flourless chocolate cake…let’s just say it needs flour!!!

I washed this all down with a Moroccan Brown Ale from Spearhead Brewing, which they’ve got on tap. Just look at that creamy head — mmm, creamy head…

Duck confit on a bun for this funky French brunch!!!

Now, I don’t really celebrate Easter — I pretty much eat Peeps 24/7, bro!!! — but I’ll take any excuse to go for brunch that I can get. So, we’re hanging out at Le Paradis, this funky French bistro that’s kinda in the middle of nowhere, on Bedford north of Davenport. This place has got everything on their brunch menu from steak tartare to eggs benny to a raclette cheeseburger — although I see they’ve omitted the beer-braised lamb, which makes me a sad lambda. But we’re still eatin’ good in this neighbourhood!!!

We’re starting off with moules a la marinière, these PEI mussels steamed with white wine, garlic and onions. Dude, who needs muscles from Brussels when you can have mussels from Charlottetown???

But you know that was just a light snack in Flavourtown, so now we’re moving on to the main event — a duck confit sammy on a ciabatta with a fried egg on top! It’s like if Italy was facing off against France in the kitchen, and they both laid an egg — which sounds kinda like a soccer game, eh? The duck is nice and tender, you’ve got the crunchiness of the ciabatta, and then that egg oozing all over the place… Man, I’d actually sit through a soccer game if you fed me a few of these!!!

Now, here’s where we kick brunch up a notch with a pint of Averbode Abbey Ale, this Belgian brew from the 14th century. Well, OK, I don’t think this one was actually brewed in the 1300’s — that would be some pretty skunky beer, bro! But I gotta say, it was a nice, fruity, brunchy beer with a deceptively strong 7.5% kick. I’m not drunk or anything, but I might have led the resto in a round of “Frère Jacques” — sonnez les matines, son!!!

Smashing Spanish tapas @ Bar Isabel

Now, I’m not really the biggest fan of tapas — if I gotta share food, it means that someone else isn’t getting very much. Flavourtown is all about survival of the fattest, bro! But I heard there’s this funky little joint on College with some crazy craft beers and a solid selection of seafood, chorizo and potatoes…which are a few of my favourite things, so you know I had to check it out! Bienvenidos a Bar Isabel!!!

So, we’re starting out with some mussels from, well, probably not Brussels, but Barcelona, I guess? One thing I know is that these mussels escabeche are pretty Van Damme delicious! It’s a dish served cold, with a tangy sauce, and some little onions and peppers for that extra roundhouse kick!!!

Now, if you’re serving up a dish that translates to brave potatoes, then you KNOW I’m gonna hafta take the plunge. These patatas bravas are coming in hot out of the oven, smothered in sour cream and hot sauce, and topped with green onions and cilantro. I could eat this all day, bro — but I still gotta save room for chorizo!

These snack-sized sausages were pretty much on point. Cooked to the right temperature, with a bit of sweet, a bit of heat, and that good ol’ garlicky aftertaste that’s like a breath mint in Flavourtown. This is one sausagefest you don’t wanna miss!!!

Of course, when it comes to this Spanish feast, I’m skipping right past the vino and heading straight to the craft beer, bro! This ice cold bottle of Er Boqueron is imported from Spain, and brewed with Mediterranean sea water for a crisp, refreshing taste. This is one cerveza that makes that joke about having sex in a canoe seem like not such a bad thing after all…

This cider walks right through the door, bro!

Now, I don’t always drink cider, but when I do, it’s named after my second-favourite Perry Farrell band (Pornos for Pyros FTW, bro!) like this one, Jane’s Addiction from Brickworks Ciderhouse on Queen St:

Dude, this dry perry with wildflower honey is like a Ritual de lo Habitual in Flavourtown! Not too sweet, not too bitter, it finds the right mix between dry and fruity–kinda like the lyrics of “Ain’t No Right.”

Of course, you KNOW I’m not gonna pound some Jane’s Addictions with a cucumber salad, bro! Instead, I’m stage-diving face first into these Blue Cheese Cider Mussels, with apple cider blue cheese cream, bacon and a side of apple cider vinegar fries. Now, I’ve chowed down on some funky fries before, but apple cider vinegar fries??? Shut the back door!!!!

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