Tag Archives: seafood

Shut the back door Lobster Thermidor @ Honest Weight

Now, we’re no strangers to lobster here on Triple B. But of all the different lobsters I’ve devoured, I don’t think I’ve ever had Lobster Thermidor before. This culinary classic takes the lobster out of the shell, cooks it in wine sauce, and puts it back where it came from, topped with breadcrumbs and cheese. So when I heard it was the daily special at Honest Weight, this funky seafood joint in The Junction, you KNOW I had to check it out, bro!!!!

But first, we’re starting off with some seared scallops, son! These crispy little critters were cooked perfectly, not too soft or too chewy, served on top of an asparagus puree. You cuss, I cuss, we all cuss for asparagus!!!!

But now it’s time for the main event. This lobster is soft like butter — you can just pull it apart with a fork, no knife needed. Served with a side of super-legit smashed potatoes and enough asparagus for three lifetimes. After tonight, this is body by asparagus, whether I like it or not…

But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert, bro! This caramel crunch cake crunches it up a notch with baked meringue and marscapone, topped with caramel and pecans. I’m just glad they didn’t put any asparagus in this one…

Funky seafood feast @ Season Six!

So, we’re hanging out at Season Six, this funky little joint on Ossington, just south of Dundas and right next to the Rotate This record store. Man, I think the last time I ate here, it was at a joint called Rashers that only served bacon sandwiches. Kinda sad that place didn’t stick around… but Season Six is pretty funkalicious in its own right.

We’re starting off with a pile of grilled garlic shrimp with great green globs of chimmichurri. Shrimp are cooked perfectly, with a nice char and some good grill marks. Not a bad first round in Flavourtown…

But now it’s time for the main event. We’re talking sea scallop fettuccine, with a creamy pumpkin brown butter, some nice chunks of pancetta and roasted Brussels sprouts. Cuz the only time I’ll eat Brussels sprouts is when you serve ’em up with Italian bacon, son! Pasta is super-rich, scallops are nice and tender — I would definitely eat this again!

Washed it all down with a couple Nordic Pale Ales from local brewing bros at Woodhouse. Light and fruity, at 5.2%, with enough hops that you’re drinking an IPA, but not enough to get the gas face. I think I’ll have another three…

Seafood Tower of Power @ The Chase!!!

Now, you don’t really see a lotta seafood towers on Triple B. I mean, most places that serve seafood towers are steakhouses…and whenever I’m at a steakhouse, I’m eating steak and taking names, son! But now we’re hanging out at The Chase, this funky seafood joint just offa Yonge St, and this place specializes in seafood, so that means it’s gotta be good right?

And here on Triple B, it’s always go big or go home. So when there are three different seafood towers to choose from, we had to go for the biggest, baddest one of them all. They called this the Diamond, and it’s like a double black diamond skiing straight down my lobster hole. You KNOW the picture’s only begun, bro!!!!!!!!

This Tower of Power in Flavourtown comes with everything you see here — times five. You’ve got a B-52 chilled rock lobster, snow crab legs, shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, yellowfin tuna sashimi, rock shrimp salad and an east coast/west coast oyster rivalry going on (I liked the ones from PEI). About the only thing missing are some scallops…

…which is why I made them my main meal. This might be the purdiest plate of scallops I’ve ever seen, served with roasted sunchokes and crispy chicken skin — dude, the crispy chicken skin is what makes it! But the scallops are cooked perfectly, buttery soft and tender. Now, if they could just put these on the new Double Diamond tower next time we swing by, that would be perfection on a platter, bro!!!!

Now, this Nordic pale ale doesn’t hail from Scandinavia — it’s coming straight outta Ottawa, which is probably close enough in wintertime. Whitewater Brewing’s North Meets South is hoppy, juicy, but not too heavy, at just 4.6%. Dude, this beer checks Bud Light into the boards and gives it a facewash, bro!!!!!!!!!!

But even after all those crustaceans back there, we’ve still got room for dessert. And when it comes to dessert, whenever I see something called Chocolate on the dessert menu, it’s guaranteed to be heading straight down my piehole. This one was a little too funky to be considered funkalicious, though. You’ve got a dark chocolate tart with pistachios, cream and mint, and then there’s a scoop of blood orange sorbet on the side. Hey, I like Terry’s Chocolate Orange as much as the next fat guy, but this dish just didn’t do it for me. I shouldda gone with the sticky toffee pudding instead… 😦

Eating all the non-spicy things @ Mimi Chinese

Dude, Mimi Chinese has been known as one of the fanciest, funkiest Chinese food places in the city ever since it opened — they’re pretty fly for a white guy, bro! And while my philosophy on food is sharing means you couldn’t finish it yourself, and you weren’t trying hard enough… when it comes to Chinese, you’re really supposed to order more than one thing. I mean, that’s why they put the spinning wheel in the middle of the table, right?

Now, Mimi’s menu has all sorts of spicy Sichuan dishes that would send this white guy straight to the Poo Ping Palace, so we’re gonna avoid the $110 Chef’s Menu that gives you a little bit of everything, and stick to the non-spicy stuff. But that still gives you plenty of options here — and you end up spending a lot less per person in the process!

Round 1 is all about seafood, with scallops, seabream and shrimp toast (oh my!) along with some pork and scallion dumplings, just to switch things up a bit. The standout has gotta be the shrimp toast, though — you’ve got some greasy greasy frybread stuffed with big chunks of shrimp, topped with sesame seeds and served with a side of hot mustard (I stayed away from the hot stuff).

But now we’re about to kick it up a notch with char siu pork, stuffed chicken wings and a four-foot belt noodle, which they cut into pieces at the table. The noodle wasn’t spicy, but the the chili oil on top made my tongue tingle (in a good way). And man, if they ever had 25 cent wing night, I’d be there all night long for those wings stuffed with rice and mushrooms, son!!!!

This Greatest Hits album in Flavourtown keeps going with some black pepper beef, braised eggplant with garlic sauce (Yu Xiang Qie Zi) and a Supreme Fried Rice that’s packing shrimp, scallops, eggs and Chinese sausage. But the star of the show has gotta be the beef, bro! You’ve got an 18 oz boneless ribeye, chopped up into little pieces, cooked in black pepper sauce and topped with onions. This dish alone will cost ya a cool hundred, but split six ways, it’s only $16.34. 😉

But you KNOW the Triple B Road Krew has always got room for dessert, bro! And we’re ordering everything on the dessert menu — mango pudding, steamed cake with custard and black sesame ice cream. Now, none of these desserts would go in my all-time top 10, but when you pour the custard onto the cake, then I eat them both up!!!!!!!!!

These fguys also own Sunnys Chinese in Kensington Market, and how’s this for cold tea? Their Sunny G ginger sour is perfect with Chinese food — light, tart and refreshing. The ginger is definitely there, but unlike when you accidentally eat a whole piece of ginger in a beef hot pot, it’s not overpowering at all. Now put that in your lunchbox and drink it, son!!!!!!

Crab cakes, nduja and clams — oh my!!!

Now, I don’t always eat seafood, but when I do, you KNOW it’s gotta be funkalicious, bro! So we’re hanging out at Pink Sky, this funky seafood joint on King West, where I had a legit lobster mac ‘n cheese last year. But if there’s one thing I learned from the last time we were here, it’s that eating only one thing isn’t gonna be enough food for me. So that’s why I made sure to order at least three things this time around…

We’re starting off with a couple crab cakes, coming in hot ‘n crispy, straight outta fryer, on a whole bed of tartar sauce. These crab boys weren’t as good as the ones down the street, but they’re still pretty tasty.

But now it’s time for the main event. We’re talkin’ steamed clams in a spicy broth with couscous, nduja sausage and a peck of piquillo peppers. Now, the first few clams up top weren’t very spicy, but once you get into that broth, with a few little bites of nduja, it really kicks things up a notch!!!!

But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert — and with just four things on the dessert menu, it’s basically a no-brainer. We’re going with the chocolate olive oil cake, with toasted almond ice cream. Now, I couldn’t tell that there was olive oil in here, but the cake was nice ‘n moist, with plenty of chocolate to go around. If I could get that in King’s Cake size, that would be amazeballs, bro!!!!

Classic seafood combo @ Pearl Diver

Now, although they’ve got some pretty good fish on the West Coast, I feel like the East Coast is the best coast for seafood — especially when it comes to the chicken of the sea. So we’re hanging out at the Pearl Diver, this funky little joint on Adelaide, and starting off with some lobster sliders:

Now, these buns are pretty basic, but they let the lobster do the talking. And between the two of em, you get about as much lobster meat as some of the lobster rolls I’ve had — for the fairly reasonable price (for lobster) of 26 dollars.

But you KNOW that’s just an appetizer, bro! Now we’re diving in to some fish ‘n chips. Fish is nice and fresh, with enough breading to not be too healthy, but still not too heavy. Fries are thin and salty, and taste better with ketchup.

Now, the last time we were here, they had some really good beers — and that has not changed at all. Like this Sawdust City Little Norway Pilsner, which goes great with seafood, and has a nice little crisp finish.

And they’re still bringing a whole buncha Belgian beers across the pond that you probably won’t find anywhere else. Like Orval, a hazy trappiste pale ale clocking in just shy of 7%. Not as heavy as a tripel or quadrupel…but definitely more of a dessert beer.

And speaking of dessert, this was one of the top five sticky toffee puddings I’ve ever had. It’s super moist, with just enough richness from the caramel sauce. Honestly, it takes Gordon Ramsey’s sticky toffee pudding (that I had in Vegas), puts it between two pieces of bread, and calls it an idiot sandwich, bro!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whole lotta seafood @ Ivar’s Salmon House

Now, you can’t go to Seattle and not eat seafood. That would be like going to Texas and not eating BBQ, or going to Nashville and not eating hot chicken. So we’re hanging out at Ivar’s Salmon House, this funky little seafood joint that’s right on the water — not the Pacific, but Lake Union…which does flow into the Pacific, though.

Now, this place is an offshoot of famous local chain Ivar’s House of Clams, so you KNOW we gotta start off with a bowl of clam chowder, bro! This creamy, New England-style soup has some nice little pieces of potatoes, but when you get a chunk of those chewy clams, that right there is the ticket!!!

But now it’s time for the main event! This Taste of the Northwest platter combines salmon, halibut and scallops for a triple threat in Flavourtown…

We’re starting off with salmon, which was nice n juicy, with a hint of lemon at the end.

Cod was so tender you could cut it with a fork… a nice, flaky piece of fish.

But the scallops are the star of the show. Super soft and tender, they melt in your mouth like butter! I would totally polish off a whole plate of these bad boys!!!!!

And their beer selection is just as fresh and local as the seafood. This here’s a Scuttlebutt Hefeweizen, brewed in nearby Everett, Washington. Nice and smooth with a slight citrusy aftertaste — reminds me of Big Rock Grasshopper, the brew I was raised on (which you can’t find in Toronto anymore, but that’s another story…)

But now we’re kicking it up a couple notches with Bad Jimmy’s Habanero Amber. This rich, red beer has a nice flavour profile — but I can’t really taste the habanero though. It’s definitely not spicy, bro, maybe just a bit of an aftertaste when you drink it on its own.

Now while that seafood trio was pretty tasty, it wasn’t a particularly large portion — so you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert. We’re talking house-made key lime pie, nice and tart with a crunchy graham cracker crust and a bit of whipped cream on top. Again, it was pretty tasty, but a little on the small side. I *might* hafta stop for pizza on the way home…

This Atlantic cod tajine didn’t actually come in a tajine. (Apparently, they were all out of tajines…)

I first had tajine at Sultan’s Tent, this funky Moroccan joint near St. Lawrence Market, and it was pretty legit. So now we’re hanging out at Luma, this seafood joint in the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre, and I see they have an Atlantic cod tajine on the menu (although they spell it “tagine”), so I figure I should probably check it out…right after I go to town on this grilled octopus:

They say it’s just a starter, but this could probably be a meal in itself — if you’re on, like, a Mediterranean diet or something. Octopus was just tender enough, not too chewy, on a bed of spinach, with some tomatoes and black olives for an extra little kick. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Now, when I saw the tajine come out to other tables in the proper clay pot, I thought this was gonna be good. But then they serve mine on a great big plate, like we’re at a French restaurant or something. Well, it turns out this place only has six main courses to choose from, and they happened to have a run on tajines before we got there, so they musta figured that if they brought it out on a plate, the white guy probably wouldn’t notice. WRONG!

But hey, the flavours of this dish were still on point. Nice, flaky fish, with a tangy sauce and just a little bit of heat that kinda sneaks up on ya. This might actually be the best tajine I’ve ever been served on a plate! 😛

Goin’ all Guy Fieri on fish and pasta @ Fieramosca!!!

May 20, 2022
greedocatucci
0 comments
Fieramosca, Italian food, pasta, seafood, tagliatelle, tiramisu

Dude, you KNOW this is body by Italian food, bro! So when I heard about Fieramosca Trattoria, this funky little joint on a side street just a meatball’s throw away from St. George, I definitely had to check it out! This place has been dishing out Italian classics since 1980, so you know it’s gotta be good. And while there’s no shortage of pizza, pasta and meat dishes on the menu — they’ve even got not one, not two, but three different versions of veal scaloppini –we decided to go with the Grigliata Mista di Pesce, aka grilled seafood platter:

You won’t miss Meat Mountain when you’ve got this smorgasbord of seafood, son! There’s three different kinds of fish here — salmon, halibut AND sea bream — plus calamari and tiger shrimp, along with a whole lotta potatoes, peppers, green beans and two baby carrots. Dude, this is enough food to feed at least two people…and since I actually shared this dish, I still had room for pasta:

I am sooooo trippin’ balls over this mushroom tagliatelle, bro! You’ve got three kinds of shrooms — oyster, porcini AND shitake — on top of thick, chewy noodles in a white wine cream sauce. Shut the front, back and side doors!!!!!!!!

But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert, bro! This leaning tower of tiramisu tastes just like Nonna makes it — except maybe for that chocolate sauce swirl around the outside. But that didn’t stop me from scarfing it all down, son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oodles of octopus @Joso’s

Restaurants are now back to full capacity in Toronto, so we’re hanging out at Joso’s, this legendary local Italian seafood joint at Av & Dav dating back to 1967, son! This place is one of Drake’s favourite restaurants, so you know it’s gotta be good — he’s even got his own special chair upstairs — but we had actually never been here before despite living in Toronto for quite a while. Time to check this one off the bucket list, John Bro-tucci!!!!

Now, Joso’s doesn’t actually have an appetizer section on its menu, but that doesn’t mean you can’t order some mains as starters — at main course prices, mind you. These Grilled Gamberoni come four to an order, some decent-sized prawns cut in half and served in the shell with lemon, garlic and a bit of butter. Can’t go wrong with any of that, son!

But one of the main draws at this place, aside from the market-priced whole fish, is this dish — Octopus Schiavona. Schia-what-now? I have eaten octopus more than a few times before, but never served like this, steamed and thinly sliced with olive oil, capers and olives. It’s almost more like octopus poke, but with a prettier presentation. And I can’t really complain about the portion size…

Now, if I’m eating at an Italian joint, you KNOW I’m gonna be judging them on their tiramisu — and this one totally passed the test! It was super moist, almost creamy even, with a nice dusting of cocoa poweder. Only questionable thing was the whipped cream on the side… I didn’t have to eat it, but I couldn’t just leave it sitting there, y’know?

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