Tag Archives: pork chop

Big portions of pork and potatoes at a small plates place!

Now, if I told you there’s a joint called Henry’s on Queen West, you might think it’s a funky dive bar — or maybe even a plumbing company. But it’s actually this nice little wine bar that doesn’t even serve beer… although the plumbing in their bathroom is pretty nice. And when it comes to food, they’re all about the small plates. I mean, this is a little dish called Bubba’s Hot Fried Chicken:

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And hey, there’s nothing wrong with this — except for the fact you only get two small pieces of chicken. Nice ‘n crunchy with a bit of a kick, not nearly Nashville hot, but slightly more than sports bar spicy. Dude, I could eat a whole basket of these, and still have room for dessert! Luckily, there are a couple of dishes here that’ll feed 2-3 people… or just one hungry citizen of Flavourtown. Here’s how you hack the menu:

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Say hello to my not-so-little friend, Pastrami Spiced Pork Chop. This may not taste just like Katz’s Deli, but the pork is nice ‘n tender, and they give you about a dozen pieces, so there’s plenty to go around.

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We’re pairing the pork with a side of Ontario smashed potatoes — I would smash these all day, bros! Taters are hot and crispy, swimming in hot sauce and sabayon (don’t call it hollandaise, son!) Who needs fries when you’ve got these bad boys????

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Now, speaking of menu hacks… When they told me the pork was served in a dark lager sauce, I was like “Dude, you’ve got beer in the pork, but none in the fridge!?” Well, they did not have any in the fridge, but they found this Czechvar Dark Lager in the cellar, and since it wasn’t very cold, they put it in an ice bucket, which really did the trick. You KNOW there’s somethin’ ’bout a beer sittin’ on ice after a long hard day makes it taste just right, bro!!!!!!!!!!!

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But even after scarfing down the biggest meal in Henry’s history, we’ve still got room for dessert. And since there’s no secret King’s Cake on the menu, we ordered both the desserts they’ve got, cuz they’re still pretty small. Like this ube cream puff, topped with toasted coconut. It’s like Profiteroles Gone Wild in Flavourtown!!!!

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We’ve also got this chocolate tart with hazelnut and passionfruit. Now this dessert was more like chocolate mousse in a half shell — while the malted chocolate mousse I had the other day was really just a chocolate bar. So I guess if I want chocolate cake in Toronto these days, I gotta order a chocolate cream pie to get it or something???

I’ll be porking my troubles away with this pork chop…

Right now, the Raptors are only allowing 500 fans inside Scotiabank Arena, making it the toughest ticket in town. But it’s much easier to get a seat at Aria Ristorante, this funky Italian joint that’s so close to the arena, you can watch the game on the giant screen in Jurassic Park, son!!!

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The price of admission starts at 25 dollars for Il Frito, a tasty plate of fried calamari and shrimp, served with a smoked tartar sauce. I’m not used to eating shrimp with their heads on, but like John Daly says, just grip it and rip it, bro!!!!!

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But now it’s time for the main event. We’re talking 12 ounces of Berkshire pork chop tomahawk, with swiss chard, smoky bacon and sour cherries. Dude, this pork is cooked to perfection, and when you get a little bite of bacon in there, too, that’s the ticket — although it still won’t get you into the game, bro. 😦 😦 😦

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Just as the Raptors are putting a hurtin’ on the Atlanta Hawks, we’re putting the finishing touches on this meal with a real-deal tiramisu, topped with chunks of chocolate, and three fully intact ladyfingers out back. For dessert, it was either this or cannoli — I think I made the right choice. 😛

 

 

 

PATIO LIT EATS: XXL pork chop? Don’t mind if I do…

Now, it’s probably safe to say that patio season in Toronto is pretty much over, with rain in the forecast for the next few days and the temperature dropping below 20 by the end of the week. (Hey, at least we’re allowed to eat inside now!) But before it gets too cold to eat out in the street, we’re hitting up one last patio at Domaine MaMo on Mount Pleasant, where half the menu is French food, and the other half Italian — it’s all written in English, though. And while they’ve got six kinds of pasta and eight different pizzas to choose from, I think I’m gonna stick to the French side of the menu…

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They call this dish panisse, and what we’ve got are some thick-cut chickpea fries, crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside, with a little olive tapenade and some harissa hot sauce for dipping. Now, you’re probably supposed to eat these with a fork and knife, but the only time I use a fork to eat fries is when I’m chowing down on some poutine, son!!!

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And now it’s time for the main event. I gotta say, this Porc XXL is really just a Medium compared to this pork chop I had a few years ago or even this one. But what it might be slightly lacking in size, it more than makes up for in flavour. Nice, tender meat with a crispy breading and just a touch of lemon. There’s even more olive tapenade on the side, bro! But we’re also kicking it up a notch with some meli melo, a mix of seasonal mushrooms with garlic, herbs and cheese. You could put that on a sandale de plage, and it would still taste good!!!

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Now, for dessert, I gotta say, I’m a little disappointed that they don’t do tiramisu or creme brulee — or even some funky combination of them both. Instead, we’ve got profiteroles…but these are not your typical profiteroles, with chocolate sauce on top and vanilla gelato on the inside instead of cream. I would still crush, like, 16 of these — but they only come 3 to an order, bro…

PATIO LIT EATS: Crushing a 14 oz pork chop @ Cabana Waterfront Patio

Now, because nobody is allowed to go clubbing anytime soon, Cabana Pool Bar on Polson St had to switch up its business model — bringing in food from O&B for its new venture, Cabana Waterfront Patio. Dude, you can’t get any closer to the lake than this place…unless you’re on a boat, bro!

And when it comes to food, they’re not just serving up burgers and fries. Instead they’ve got fresh summer eats like grilled octopus, Miami short ribs, and this hunka, hunka burning meat — the 14 oz BBQ pork chop:

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Now, this is not the biggest pork chop I’ve ever slammed, but it might be the second biggest. Meat is nice and tender, with some good grill marks. You’ve got a nice Napa cabbage slaw, some tangy pineapple salsa…but what makes it are the garlic buns, son!

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These little two-bite flavour nuggets are melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness. You KNOW I don’t want none unless you’ve got buns, hun!!!!

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Now, the name of this blog isn’t Burgers, Bacon and Fruity Drinks, but I had to make an exception here. What we’ve got is a Frozen Jack Honey Lemonade, with ginger syrup, lemon juice and Jack Daniels if you please… The only downside to this drink is that it started melting before I could finish it!!!

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Of course, even after pulverizing that pork chop, you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert! We’re talking frozen key lime pie on a stick, dipped in chocolate, on a bed of whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Shut the port, aft AND starboard doors, Sailor Bro!!!

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I’m about to go all Asterix and Obelix on this wild boar, bro!!!!

Man, the last time I had wild boar, I think I got it on sale at Loblaws. And while that sanglier was super-legit, I knew I could probably do better if I didn’t have to cook it. So when I heard that Reign, this new funky joint in the Royal York Hotel, had a wild boar chop on the menu, I was all over that like Getafix on a pot of magic potion, son!!!!

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Man, this was probably the best pork chop I’ve had since that one at Hogtown Smoke that’s not even on the menu anymore! This lil’ piggy is cooked to a perfect medium, and it’s going wee wee wee all the way straight down my piehole! You’ve also got some fingerling potaters and green onions, nothing too fancy. There are not enough veggies here to steal the show from the meat, which is just the way it should be!

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Washed it all down with a Royal York Apiary Ale, this beer brewed with honey from the roof of the hotel — it don’t get more locavore than that, bro!!!

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Of course, you KNOW we still had room for dessert! This chocolate coffee tart was like Pies Gone Wild — you’ve got all kinds of chocolately goodness, with espresso, a white chocolate ganache and some crunchy toffee — I would put that on a flip-flop!!!!

SUMMERLICIOUS 2018: Pork ‘n beers @ Wickson Social

Happy Summerlicious, dude! This time of year, a whole buncha restaurants all over this city are serving up three course dinners for as little as 33 bucks. If there’s one thing I like more than eating, it’s scoring a great deal on some sweet eats, so you know I’m all over this like Donkey Kong on a beer bong, bro!!!!

So, we’re hanging out at The Wickson Social, this funky little joint just a drunken stumble from Yonge and Wellesley. This place has all kindsa craft beers on tap and in bottles ‘n cans, but when it comes to the Summerlicious menu, it’s all about the pork:

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Dude, you can’t stop this pork hock! And they put it in a paté? No way! This terrine on toast is like a fancy-schmancy breakfast in Flavourtown!

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And hey, because Summerlicious deserves a nice summer beer, we’re starting things off with this tasty witbier from New Limburg. Hey, if it comes in a goblet, then it’s gotta be good, bro!

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We started off with pork…and now it’s time for more pork. They brine this baby for 48 hours before tossing it on the grill, then throwing it down with some spinach, dumplings and yam purée. Dude, this is body by yam purée!!!

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But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert, bro! This wasn’t the best tiramisu I’ve ever had, but it sure paired nicely with this Stationmaster Stout from Junction Craft Brewing. Imma chugga-chugga choo-choo this brewski, bro!!!!

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Tackling a 22 oz pork chop @ Hogtown Smoke!

So we’re hanging out at Hogtown Smoke, this funky BBQ joint that just opened up a new can of kickass in downtown Toronto. The original smokehouse was a little hole in the wall, but the new place is pretty massive, with a great layout, and plenty of big screens to watch Tom Brady matriculate the football. Man, I would go back here just to watch the game, even if the food wasn’t so righteously funkalicious!

But yeah, they feed you pretty good, too. Last time I was at Hogtown Smoke, I polished off a massive pile of Kitchen Sink Fries, and still had room for a beef rib. So you know I was about to dive head first into their new menu, bro!!!

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These jalapeno poppers were poppin’, son! They take a whole jalapeno pepper, stuff it with cheese, then wrap it in bacon. Dude, you could wrap a flip-flop in bacon, and it would still taste good!

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But one does not simply enter Hogtown Smoke and order only one appetizer, so you know I shoved this Super Bowl of burnt ends straight down my piehole! But that’s still just a second breakfast in Flavourtown…

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Now, I’ve scarfed down a couple steaks that were even meatier (although I didn’t finish one of them), but this was probably the biggest piece of pork I’ve ever pounded. You’ve got 22 ounces of Heritage Berkshire pork, super tender and juicy, with roasted potatoes, greens and pink celery, and then a red-pepper puree. The veggies alone were enough to feed a vegan family, but you KNOW this was just another light snack in Downtown Flavourtown!!!!

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(I will admit that I did NOT have room for dessert afterwards…)

I dunno bro, but I don’t think we’re in Little India anymore…

So, we’re hanging out at Lake Inez, this brand-new craft-beer Asian-fusion sharing-plates place on Gerrard St, over by Coxwell. Now most joints in this part of town are Lahore Tikka This, Chicken Masala That, Hanging Out Second Avenue Eating Chicken Vindaloo…but this place, this place is totally different. You almost wouldn’t know it’s there—they’ve only got a small sign on the door—and you definitely don’t see it coming, but they’ve really some funky dishes, dude!

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Now, I don’t always eat sunchokes, but when I do, I load ‘em up with bacon, green onions and sour cream—baked potato style, bro! The texture is sorta like a potato skin, but they’ve got a nice smokiness, grilled up over Japanese charcoal ‘n all. Pretty sure I could slam 16 of these…but then I wouldn’t have room for the main course!

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Now, they call this a Large Sharing Plate, but it’s really just a light snack in Flavourtown. This Vietnamese-style pork chop comes in about 17 pieces, and it’s topped with a caramelized fish sauce, crunchy cashews, and a pineapple/cucumber salsa. It’s pretty different from any pork dish I’ve ever eaten—that flavour profile is honky tonk redonkadonk—but you know I’d eat it off a flip-flop if we weren’t in the middle of January!

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Of course, you can’t go to a place that has 18 local craft beers on tap and drink only water, so when visiting Lake Inez, I drink Lake Effect IPA from Great Lakes Brewery. This one packs a punch, at 7%, but it actually wasn’t very bitter, especially for an IPA. Lemme tell ya, it sure tastes nice with a pile of pork and a side of sunchokes, son!

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