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: