My Personal Brand

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Click this link to check out my personal brand!

It's been a long and tedious process, but it's complete, and I'm feeling pretty proud of it.

Cheers,

StheF

Ethiopian House

If you're in the mood for some ethnic food, but are looking for something new, try Ethiopian House at 4 Irwin Ave. (just south of Yonge and Bloor). The authentic Ethiopian dishes are absolutely delicious, healthy and include many vegetarian options.

When you first arrive and are seated at your table, you'll first notice something sort of strange for a restaurant. There is no cutlery on the tables. That's because this food is meant to be eaten with your hands, and sopped up by the native bread from Ethiopia, known as injera. Injera is a pancake-like bread, made out of teff flour, with a very spongy texture. Rather than using a fork, tear small pieces of injera and soak up the food with it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Because I had never eaten here before, I was very new to the menu, but that was no problem at all. The servers here are very helpful and can guide you in the right direction and are happy to explain anything, depending on what you feel for. We decided to go for the mixed platter of veggies and meat.

For $12.95, this platter comes with dollops of Tibs (pan-fried beef), Tikil Gomon (cabbage & carrots), and Atakelet Wot (string beans, potatoes & cottage cheese). This platter is extremely filling, so be sure to share with someone. Each dollop of veggies or meat has its own distinct and delectable flavour, ranging from sweet and savory, to spicy and rich.

Be sure to stick around for the traditional coffee ceremony at the end of your meal.

Party Size: 2
Price Range: $10-20/person
Visit Again?: Hopefully sooner than later
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
OVERALL: 4/5

Fulfill Your Cravings Any Night of the Week

Surrounded by Yonge Street’s traditional trattorias, Cravings (3393 Yonge Street), an Asian fusion resto, brings modern flare to North Toronto’s Lawrence Park neighbourhood. The menu offers up a delicious, affordable selection of Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes, with a waft of Indian influence, in tapas style, or larger sharing portions.

I went on a Sunday night, which was surprisingly very busy, and I managed to squeeze us in for a 7 p.m. reservation. (Note: Reservations are definitely recommended, if you’re hoping to get a table.) Comfortable, clean and modern, the restaurant consists of a main room, linked by a corridor of five white upholstered booths, to a back room, featuring a sushi bar. Lit throughout with beautiful glass Murano chandeliers (they sure could use a dusting), patrons dine in an intimately pleasant atmosphere.

Because the dishes are so small, we ordered quite a few:

-Gyoza – pan-fried, veal dumplings with sweet soya dip ($7);

-Chicken Thai spring rolls – served with sweet chili dip ($5);

-Hot and sour soup – with tofu, bamboo shoots, egg and black fungus ($5);

-Thai mango salad – mango, red pepper, red onion, carrot, served in Thai fish sauce vinaigrette with a hint of mint ($8);

-Dynamite sushi rolls ($7);

-Spicy tuna sushi rolls ($7);

-Spicy salmon sushi pizza ($9);

-Butterfish sushi ($5);

-Shanghai fried noodles – wheat noodles, chicken, shrimp, stir-fried with Chinese soya sauce ($12);

-Ginger and scallions stir-fry – simple, yet flavourful Chinese traditional dish with the option of chicken, beef, seafood, or vegetables ($11);

-Coconut sticky rice ($3);

-and Steamed Jasmine rice ($2).

If you are looking for a restaurant that serves popular dishes from a variety of Asian countries, this is the place for you. Many of the menu options are familiar, with a few surprises. Everything is very fresh, which is certainly important when it comes to sushi, for example.

The Thai Mango Salad was deliciously sweet and perfectly crunchy. The ginger chicken and scallion dish, however, lacked flavour, and the chef went a little heavy on the cornstarch. The Hot and Sour Soup ranks among the best in the city, boasting great flavours and fresh ingredients, unlike Chinatown, where more often than not, you’re served a bowl of goop. My favourite was the Spicy Salmon Sushi Pizza, which was generously loaded with salmon, wasabi, and tobiko, on a yummy bed of crunchy, deep-fried rice.

Service throughout was friendly and accommodating, but a little too fast for our liking. Piping hot dishes arrived one after the other at a pace that made it difficult for us to keep up, without everything going cold.

The menu is reasonably priced, which makes Cravings a real find in this upscale part of town. Our total came to $92.50 (plus tax, tip, alcohol) for three people.

Overall, I would certainly return to this restaurant, as well as recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, fast and reliable Asian meal in the Yonge-Lawrence area.

It's Always Breakfast Time at Easy Restaurant!

Despite its location, Easy Restaurant, 1645 Queen Street West @ Roncesvalles, is not overrun by the ever-present hipsters that have taken over Queen West. An eclectic mix of people can be seen dining in the classic, cozy diner atmosphere. Small, orange booths line the west wall, while small, wooden tables-for-two line the east. Posters of old action movies hang on the walls, include one of Peter Fonda's famous "Easy Rider," which displays an obvious theme that encompasses the name of the restaurant.


The menu offers a wide array of breakfast food, ranging from more typical breakfast meals (eggs, bacon, etc.) to delicious, and often more lunchy sandwiches (offered on spelt bread - naturally leavened, organic & yeast free), as well as Easy's signature breakfast dish, Huevos Divorciados (2 sunny eggs on a corn tortilla with spicy green & red salsa, re-fried black beans with side guacamole, ancho jam, toasted baguette - with salad or homefries - $12.50).

Out of all the places I've had brunch at in Toronto, Easy has to be one of my favourites. I went on a Sunday afternoon, around 3 p.m., and the place was more or less empty. I liked it like that though, because the service was great and speedy.

After a long deliberation over the amazing choices on the quite extensive menu, I decided, because it was lunch time, I was more in the mood for one of the many sandwich options on the menu. I went for the BBQ Chipotle Chicken on Spelt Toast, which was absolutely mouthwatering, to say the least.

For $11.95, this sandwich comes with sliced avocado, fresh tomato, lettuce with chipotle chicken breast on spelt toast, and chipotle mayonnaise (on the side) - with salad or homefries. I chose to go with the homefries, which were perfectly seasoned, a bit crispy, and truly delectable.

To drink, I had the Classic Smoothie (Easy has three other smoothies to choose from). It was incredibly refreshing and fruity, with strawberries, bananas and OJ.

Overall, I highly recommend Easy Restaurant for breakfast, lunch or brunch. It's open every day from 9-5 p.m., with free wifi from Monday-Friday!

Party Size: 2
Price Range: $10-25/person
Visit Again?: Can't wait
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5