Over Easy

the big breakfast

Brunch has always been a favourite of mine (assuming that I actually wake up for it), and Over Easy is a popular location located on Bloor between St.George and Avenue. Being close to the UofT campus and Yorkville, I noticed a lot of students and business people upon walking in. Also, realizing that it IS located on Bloor and close to Yorkville, I did expect the prices to be higher (which I was correct). The menu includes your typical breakfast/brunch dishes along with a few different ones, which you will read in a moment.

I ordered the big breakfast ($10.99 + tax), which consists of 3 eggs (any style), 3 sausages, homes fries, baked beans, pancake and 2 slices of bread. This may sound a lot but I must say, I wasn’t stuffed when I finished my meal. Taste-wise, it was only average in my opinion, having the same quality as any other brunch places around town. One thing I thought was different, though, was the baked beans, an odd addition to a brunch meal. My girlfriend ordered the skillet ($9.99 + tax) and this was something different that you don’t really see in other places. This dish contains green peppers, onions, sausages, mushrooms, potatoes and cheese mixed together into a plate topped off with 2 sunny side up eggs. Somewhat out of the ordinary, this dish tasted… funny… is what I would describe it. To me, it tasted like an oriental dish with its green peppers and onions and mushrooms, but yet, there are sunny side up eggs and cheese. However, overall, my girlfriend thought that it tasted weird but for those who are willing to try, this might be good.

Over Easy is a decent brunch place if you are ever in the area. Actually, there isn’t a lot of restaurants along that strip of Bloor to begin with, making Over Easy the ONLY brunch place in the area, unless you include the uber-expensive Yorkville restaurants. With your choices being limited, Over Easy does become a nice place to have brunch with your friends and family.

the skillet

Over Easy
208 Bloor St. W.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Update: I realized that I'm quite unfamiliar with the brunch scene as numerous other places also serve baked beans and the skillet. Oh well, mistake learned.

Ali Baba's

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Buy 1 get 1 free falafels on tuesdays

Ali Baba's has a few locations around Toronto but I usually go to the one at Church/Dundas close to the south side of Ryerson. They have a different special for every day of the week that you can see here with Tuesdays being the best in my opinion. Buy 1 get 1 free falafel wraps/sandwiches for $3.99 + tax...hard to beat that value and they taste decent too. Nothing too special though and this is more of a value pick more than anything. Individually they're kind of small and wouldn't be worth it if you were only getting one but with 2 of them you'll be full for under $5.

Overall Ali Baba's isn't bad but really only worth it if you get the daily special....so if you don't like the special that day then I say go somewhere else.

Ali Baba's
229 Church St.
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Ho-Shim

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chicken teriyaki

In the PATH by First Canadian Place is Ho-Shim right beside/connected to Acko Lounge. Offering a small menu of takeout japanese and korean food, everything there pretty much follows the formula of meat + rice + sides in a box.

I ordered the chicken teriyaki and tempura combo ($5.99 + tax) which was a heavy box of food but after opening it up and moving all the tempura to one side I found they only gave me 2 pieces of chicken! The quality of the chicken was actually pretty good thought and so was the shrimp tempura but the vegetable tempura were cut too thick and wasn't quite cooked all the way through. For the sides I got the standard noodles and coleslaw which were alright but could have used a bit more flavour...and of course the rice tasted like rice. Justin/facebook group manager/important businessman opted for the regular chicken teriyaki ($4.99 + tax) with some broccoli as his side but at least he got a proper amount of chicken.

(and no theories on why you might have gotten more...jerk lol)

2 PIECES OF CHICKEN???

Ho-Shim (in the PATH)
100 King St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Stix n Stones Bar and Grill

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buffalo chicken fingers

Been a little while but anyway....an important business meeting to conduct some big business led me to Stix n Stones Bar and Grill by King & Spadina. It's pretty much like an upscale looking sports bar...so I guess it's like what you'd expect a sports bar to look like in King West. The food isn't any different though and it's more or less the same old stuff. Service was also kind of slow and a little unorganized...just a hunch here but I'm guessing some of these waitresses were probably hired for reasons other than their amazing waitressesing abilities.

I got the buffalo chicken fingers ($11.99 + tax/tip) which were pretty much in line with my expectations...5 farily big chicken fingers and fries but nothing too special. Everyone else also played it safe and ordered the classic burger with bacon ($?.?? + tax/tip) - ok, classic cheesebuger (just imagine the same picture with cheese instead of bacon), and chicken fingers ($10.99 + tax/tip). I'd actually prefer the regular chicken fingers as the hot sauce on mine caused them to lose their crispiness and it was just generic hot sauce anyway. The lattice/waffle fries were an extra $1.20...but everyone else was doing it so yea, somehow we all ended up getting them...good ol peer pressure though they were pretty decent.

(Wey says: those waitresses were hired for 2 very big reasons)

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classic burger with bacon / chicken fingers

Stix n Stones Bar and Grill
401 King St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Tai Ping Hsiang

Fried pork chop rice w/ “four seasons” beans, marinated pork and fried tofu

Aside from the conquest of finding the best beef noodle soup, you might remember that at MyAmazingFoodBlog, there is also a search for the best fried pork chop rice. I dethroned Chin Yuan Pai Ku awhile ago, so the next contender is Tai Ping Hsiang which coincidentally, it’s right beside Chin Yuan Pai Ku. Several times (three to be exact) I drove past this place looking to give it a shot, but it was closed every time. When I finally got the chance to go when it was opened I understood why. The place is extremely small, with only 4 tables and works mainly on takeouts. They also have limited daily ingredients and will close early if everything is sold out before closing (they usually close at 9 but I went at 8:00-8:30 before and they were closed).

Onto the fried pork chop rice ($6.25 + tax), which spoiling it for you guys, is the current champion of fried pork chop rice. The best part is that it comes with 3 side dishes of your choosing (there’s about 9 different side dishes ranging from boiled vegetables to marinated meat). The fried pork chop itself was not greasy nor dry, a true achievement comparing with other restaurants. It wasn’t thin as well so I would consider it a decent quality for fried pork chops. On the other hand, the rice portions is rather low so expect to finish the rice before the meat (especially for you, Gabe). Other than that, I have nothing to complain about this place.

All in all, Tai Ping Hsiang is definitely worth going and I encourage everyone to give it a try. Other than the fried pork chop rice there are also numerous other Taiwanese dishes (popcorn chicken for one) which seems to be pretty good. Be prepare to go early though or else you might not be able to enjoy it.

another closer look

Tai Ping Hsiang
3636 Steeles Ave E
Markham, ON
RATING:

Chicken & Noodles Chinese Restaurant

Noodle in spicy peanut butter soup/ Fried slice glutinous cake/ Taiwanese A Choy

The search for the best beef noodle soup in Toronto continues as I ventured into this place Jon’s dad recommended before. Located at the intersection of Glen Watford and Sheppard, Chicken & Noodles Chinese Restaurant first surprised me by its name. Considering that it’s called “chicken & noodles”, how would the beef noodle taste good? I would say that from the name, the chicken would be better tasting.

Still, I sat down and ordered a variety of dishes. One thing to note about this place is that the dishes were quite inexpensive, cheaper than your average Chinese restaurant. The noodle in spicy peanut butter soup ($3.50 + tax) is what I ordered aside from the beef noodle soup while my girlfriend ordered the fried slice glutinous cake ($5.95 + tax) and Taiwanese A Choy ($6.95 + tax). The peanut butter soup was decent, but I would prefer if the soup was thicker. On the other hand, the glutinous cake was quite chewy and to my liking. The Taiwanese A Choy was the least favourite, mainly due to the fact that the A Choy wasn’t authentic Taiwanese A Choy to begin with (according to my girlfriend) and it was overcooked.

At last, beef noodle soup

Finally, the beef noodle soup ($4.95 + tax). To be honest, the beef noodle soup was not good. The only decent thing about this dish is the beef, which was very tender (possibly because it was beef shank). The noodles, however, tasted like udon and the texture is below average comparing with other noodles. To top it off, there weren’t a lot of pieces of beef, disproportioning the ratio.

So, if you’re in the area and looking for something cheap but average, give Chicken & Noodle Chinese Restaurant a try. You get what you paid for, and for sure I’ll be looking somewhere else to satisfy my taste buds.

Chicken & Noodle Chinese Restaurant
1 Glen Watford Drive
Scarborough, ON
RATING:

Kathy's Corner

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2 half eaten 1/4 chicken leg dinners...gonna have to use your imagination for this one

Hunger got the best of me this time so you're gonna have to use a little imagination for the pictures.....so uhh just imagine the chicken, rice, and potatoes from picture 1 with the salad from picture 2 all in one box... and yea that's what it should look like.

But anyway, Kathy's Corner, at Mutual/Dundas and close to the south end of campus for any Ryerson students. They don't offer alot here, it's pretty much chicken and....well actually it's just chicken. There aren't many seats either but the chicken is good and the food is cheap...good enough for me!

I got the 1/4 chicken leg dinner ($5.00 + tax) which is salad, rice, potatoes, and a chicken leg. The chicken is always moist, always tasty, I don't think I've had a bad piece of chicken here. Everything else, the rice, potatoes, and salad, are all pretty no frills (kind of like the restaurant) but they taste decent enough and for $5.65 it's a solid box of food.

damn trees...

Kathy's Corner
139 Dundas St. E
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Yummy BBQ

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Yummy BBQ Special / kalbi

Meat meat meat meat meat meat...Yummy BBQ is a korean restaurant just south of yonge / wellesley. There's only one reason why I come here and that's for their Yummy BBQ special which is pretty much everything off the menu all on one plate. Maybe not as intimidating as it sounds it's still quite a bit of food.

The Yummy BBQ Special (11.99 + tax/tip) is meat, and meat, with more meat. Actually it's short ribs, BBQ chicken, bulgogi, zucchini tempura, 2 fried dumplings, macaroni salad, and 2 bosoms of rice...and there's usually coleslaw too which missing that day. The meat was tender and flavourful...and well everything after that was kind of a meaty blur but it all tasted pretty good. Even if just the novelty of eating a few days worth of meat in one meal, I'd recommend it.

Friends got the kalbi (8.75 + tax/tip) - good, kimchi fried rice (6.00 + tax/tip) - ok, and the lunch special which was just some stir-fried meat and vegetables (4.?? + tax/tip) - bad. So overall as a restaurant it's a little all over the place and you have to pick wisely...but I guess that's why we're here.

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lunch special / kimchi fried rice

Yummy BBQ
522 Yonge St
Toronto, ON
RATING: some good, some bad, so overall a

Daybreak

Eggs Benedict/Mushroom-Chicken Crepe

Jon recommended this place to me one day when I was feeling for brunch. Located in the southeast corner of Church and Carlton, this restaurant offers decent food at an above average portion for a breakfast joint. Just to note about this particular place is that it seems to be independently owned (not a franchise like Cora’s or Sunset Grill) and EVERY dish you order (aside from pancakes) comes with two complementary pancakes (thumbs up for that!).

Feeling hungry as I walked in, I decided to order the Eggs Benedict (recommended by Jon at $8.95 + tax) while my girlfriend ordered the Mushroom-Chicken Crepe ($9.95 + tax). The eggs benedict was average, as I have tried better ones elsewhere (more on that later). It came with fries as a side dish, but that was dry and I didn’t really like it. My girlfriend’s crepe was very creamy, with bits of mushrooms, chicken and vegetables. I personally liked the creamy taste of the crepe, but my girlfriend thinks that it’s too creamy and it was a bit cold. Otherwise, the taste was good for the crepe.

So, if you’re ever in the area, give this place a try. However, a Cora’s opened up closed to it recently on Carlton. The choice is yours.

Daybreak
399 Church St.
Toronto, ON
RATING: Breaking the rules for this one… between and

Pita Q

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beef shawarma

Pita Q at the corner of Bloor/Spadina is your pretty typical shawarma place, beef/chicken/falafel, reasonably priced, and close to the north west part campus if you go to UofT. Met up with my friend Gabe and split their 2 shawarma deal.

2 shawarmas for uhh well it works out to be $9.00 incl tax...so $4.50 each, not bad. I got the beef and he got the chicken. The beef was ok...well actually it was ok for a beef shawarma but that's not saying very much as most places do a pretty bad beef shawarma so I set the bar pretty low. Topping selection was decent but I found it to assembled kind of top heavy with all the meat at the top and all the toppings at the bottom. So overall...taste wise it was ok, portion size a little small, but it does cost less than $5 so at least that's a plus there.

Pita Q
750 Spadina Ave (at Bloor)
Toronto, ON
RATING:

Nguyen Huong

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Banh mi, Viet subs, ambiguous meat buns...whatever you want to call it, they're one of the best meals $1.75 can buy and Nguyen Huong is the best place to get them at. Located in chinatown just north of dundas/spadina, just look for the yellow sign. Better than Mcdonalds, better than street meet, better than alot of things...if you're on a budget or just plain cheap, this is the ultimate cheap lunch.

Banh mi ($1.75 no tax) comes in spicy or non spicy. I usually get the non spicy and it's what I got that day. Inside there's pickled radish, pickled carrots, pâté, cilantro, some sort of special butter and uhh the meat! But if you're wondering what kind of meat it is, I don't know...I'm not even 100% sure what animal it comes from (though I'm pretty sure it's all pig) but trust me it tastes delicious. They were a little skimpy on the meat though and it's usually packed with alot more.

Cheap, tasty, unidentifiable meat? If that's not a winning combination I don't know what is...side note, I practically lived off these for a week once and I'm still not sick of them, in fact that was one of the greatest weeks ever.

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banh mi

Nguyen Huong
322 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON
RATING: the very prestigious

Famous BBQ Express

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bulgogi / chicken on a bun

Famous BBQ Express (Queen/Peter)...where else can you get bulgogi, souvlaki, burgers, and chicken all in one place? Food might not be of the highest quality but you sure do get alot of it and the service is always friendly. Probably the best way to describe the food Famous BBQ Express is a pile of meat sitting on top of an even bigger pile of starch...kind of like a starchy mountain with meaty snowcap.

That day I got the bulgogi ($7.99 + tax). Salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, fries, rice, meat all on one plate. That's right, 3 kinds of starch...not quite sure what the logic there is but it does fill you up. The salad, coleslaw, and pasta salad are nothing special, the fries I'm pretty sure are from Costco, rice is rice, and the bulgogi was like a poor man's version of bulgogi at best...but still, it doesn't taste bad and at least you'll walk away full...that is assuming you can still walk after that.

Friends all opted for one of the specials, chicken on a bun ($5.99 + tax) which wasn't very good as the chicken was apparently very dry. I've had a similar experience with their steak on a bun so I'd recommend sticking with one of their starchy mountains.

Famous BBQ Express
385 Queen St. W
Toronto, ON
RATING: