Review - Lone Star

Sorry for the two months without any posts - we are back now and posting all the pictures that we put off for the past while!

We decided to take a quick visit to Kingston in the summer, and decided to visit some of the restaurants that we had grown to miss after not being in Kingston for almost a year. One of these first stops was Lone Star - which had a huge burrito which I enjoyed. For those that haven't heard of this chain - it basically offers Southern/Mexican food and has a number of locations I believe. However, that being said despite being a chain - they have excellent freshly made tortilla chips as well as huge portions.

M's Huge Burrito

Y's Taco Salad

Verdict:

You don't come to Lone Star if you want a great gourmet meal - but if you want a meal to really fill you up that tastes pretty good - this is the place for you. After washing down our meal with a margarita for Y and a XL Corona for M - we left full and satisfied.

Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$ (Around $45 for both of us with drinks)

Back In Action!

Sorry for the hiatus, being in the last year of university, we've been consumed with projects after projects, meetings after meetings, then the dreaded midterms. But not to worry, we have visited many places in Kingston and will be reviewing them one by one.

Review: Ostermalm Food Hall

Before heading to the Vast Museum to see the infamous Viking boat, we trekked off to see the world largest food hall - Salluhall. Stepping in, it reminded me a lot of Granville island in Vancouver. The food hall contained many shops from delis to meat shops to pastry shops. Being there on a weekday, we noticed that many business people around the area trickled in as lunch time came around. After having spent a long while deciding on which store to eat at, we opted for a traditional Swedish lunch. Being a seafood lover, I ordered the Open faced shrimp sandwich on Danish bread. This dish was sort of like a sandwich, however, the top piece of the toast was not there. Fried Herring with Mash Potatoes and Lingonberries was what M decided to have. Unlike at restaurants, at Salluhall, one orders from the vendor and self seats at one of the many cafeteria style tables. It felt quite cozy as you can hear others chatting away.

Outside the Food Hall

Inside the Food Hall

Cheese store inside the Hall

Open Faced Shrimp Sandwich on Danish Bread

Fried Herring with Mashed Potatoes and Lingonberries

Closeup of Lingonberries

Two Tarts from the Food Hall

Verdict:
Trekking out to the Ostermalm Food Hall was a great experience, all the vendors here carry top quality produce and the atmosphere is great! Unlike many of the other popular "tourist" locations in Sweden, the Food Hall remains a relatively popular place for locals to go and the food here is amazing. If you are out looking for a souvenir for a foodie friend back home or just looking for a quick bite to eat, the Food Hall is a great place to start looking.

Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$ (Around $35USD for both of us)

Seafood Chowder

We've been digging through our pictures and realized that we had a number of cooking attempts that we had forgotten about. The first of these was our attempt at making seafood chowder. After picking a relatively basic recipe, we set out to go to Carrefour (the local grocery store in Toulouse) to hunt down the ingredients. Using our basic knowledge of the French language we managed to scrape together most of the ingredients (crossing our fingers for some of the items that we had bought hoping they were the right ones).

Another note, we must apologize for the quality of the pictures the lighting was not the greatest and we had the bare minimum of equipment in the kitchen!!

Ingredients
A few strips of bacon cut up
1-2 Tablespoons of Butter
2 Large Onions
Seafood (shrimp, mussels, small scallops, unknown fish (make sure to pick a firm one))
2-3 Large Potatoes
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Teaspoon Thyme
4 Cups Half-Half
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Thyme

Steps
1. In a large pot fry the bacon
2. Mix in the butter and onions till soft
3. Add 2-3 cups of seafood stock
4. Mix in flour slowly
5. Add potatoes, thyme and salt and pepper. Cook till potatoes are soft
6. Add seafood and simmer for 10 minutes
7. Mix in the cream and heat (don't boil)
8. Enjoy!

This was based off a recipe we found on the internet but we were forced to make a few adjustments with the ingredients we could find.

Seafood Chowder

Verdict:
A simple recipe that turned out great! Not much more to say!!

London in a Nutshell

Before heading to Dublin for St. Patrick's day, a couple of friends and I stopped in London for a brief visit. Of course, visiting means tasting the food this culture had to offer. So, our first stop, even before we went shopping, was at a fish and chip place near Oxford St. I have to say, after that meal, my expectations for fish and chips have gone up. For high tea, we decided to stick with the recommendation the concierge had given us - St. Jame's Restaurant. Another phenomenal experience. There was so much offered that all three of us had a take home box after a two and a half hour eating session.


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Delicious golden fish with chips and peas - Yum!

Indulging

Lovely plates and cup in the colour of a Tiffany's box

There's a saying that the Brits don't have good food. I beg to differ. I highly recommend the St. Jame's Restaurant if price is not a concern.

Address:
181 Piccadilly
London W1, United Kingdom
020 7734 8040

Review: S/S Stockholm Brunch Cruise

The city of Stockholm is made up of numerous archipelagos, thus there is inevitably a large harbour. In order to better explore the city, M and I decided to take a day cruise that sailed around the different islands of Stockholm. Coincidentally, to our delight, the price of a ticket to the S/S Stockholm included a Swedish brunch buffet.

Having purchased the tickets in advance, we were offered prime seating - on the upper deck by the window. The 3 hour trip allowed us to realize vast beauty of Stockholm. Not only does this city have the latest fashion and technology, but one can also find nature and tranquility.

Being able to taste Swedish food while touring the different islands was definitely a treat. The cruise offered a variety of breakfast and lunch items.

The Buffet

Another shot of the buffet

Overall:
For any tourist going to Stockholm this is a great way to see the islands in a comfortable way. Book in advance to ensure you have a good seat and you will be able to enjoy a great scenic view while having a relatively tasty buffet.

Rating: 3/5
Price: $$

Review: Esperanto

Being placed as the 72nd best restaurant in the world by S.Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants 2008, as well as being recognized as the best restaurant in Sweden by The Whiteguide 2008 & 2009, we had big expectations for this restaurant. After a creative meal full of excitement, we came to the conclusion that Esperanto is everything we expected and more.

Unlike other restaurants, Esperanto only offers two fixed menus: a 5 course and an 8 course one. We opted for the latter as the dishes offered more suited our liking.

The overall experience was phenomenal. From the moment we stepped into the building, we were greeted by a doorman who offered to take our jackets and led us to a waiting lounge. There, we were presented a drink menu. However, having had drinks prior to coming to the restaurant, we politely declined. The waiter then asked if we'd like to order wine for our meal. Being fairly new to wine pairing we asked for his suggestion. He was very knowledgeable and picked one that fitted all our criteria. To our surprise, it was not the most expensive bottle on the menu - rather, it was more fairly priced.

The waiter then led us into the dim dining room, where on the right, part of the kitchen was exposed and we saw the head chef, Sayan Isaksson, plating the delicious dishes.



Dried Salmon Skin - "unreal"


Fennel Mayo to go with the Salmon Skin


Octopus Macaroon - surprisingly good


White Asparagus with Frozen Herbs


Chicken Skin with a Layer of Vinegar Gel


Frozen Ingrid Marie apples with warm pickled oyster from Grebbestad, caviar and oyster yoghurt


In the mood for spring concerning fresh garlic - potato with broccoli; whipped goat cheese, and sweet wild grass from a Swedish Island

Green Grass Drink that came with the dish


Turbot skirt with crème de Breton - also came with assorted seafood

King crab with scallops, black lemon and crab paste

Tartar of lamb in lambjus and caramelized onion with Jerusalem artichoke


Cod with confit of its roe, egg yolk 64.4 degrees with warm fennel


Pork, Foie Gras, potato puree Epoisses and green leaves


Avocado pudding with soy milk, sweetened steam bun oriental style filled with macadamia nut and miso paste

Raspberries filled with creme; Chocolate with Cherry Filling; Hazelnut with chocolate cake; Almond Paste Square; Traditional Swedish Chew Bag

Overall: Worth every penny! Each dish provided a different kind of explosion of flavor in your mouth. With the attentive staff, this meal fulfilled not only the taste buds, but it also provided our eyes with entertainment. Highly recommended if you are ever in Stockholm.

Rating: 5/5
Price: $$$$$

Review: Gondolen

Again, Y and I entrusted our dining options to the internet. After reading numerous reviews on Stockholm dining and where to eat, it seemed that the general online consensus was that Gondolen, a restaurant just a few minutes walk from Gamla Stan (Old Town) was a top restaurant which not only had great food but a great view. After eating there, it seemed that all they had was the latter.

Upon arrival our hopes were high, we had arrived over half an hour early for our reservation, but they accommodated us even though they seemed relatively busy. Despite no one bringing us to our table (which one would expect even at a lower-end family restaurant), we were given a nice spot at the window for two and it had an excellent view of the Old Town.

However, after taking in the view, things only went downhill. Our waiter was boring and seemed quite rude - one of our worst waiters in Europe. After taking our order and nothing else, he appeared once to serve bread and water and like a vanishing act, we would not see him for the rest of our meal other than to serve our dishes.

We decided on their lunch menu, which included 3 mini-appetizers, a main course and dessert. I went with the veal while Y went with the catfish. The appetizers were relatively tasty, although they were nothing special. They included a mini crab cake, smoked salmon and duck liver. Our main courses were quite unsatisfactory, the veal tasted rubbery and the catfish lacked flavor. Following suit with the rest of the meal, the desserts were just plain boring.

The view

Mini Appetizers

Catfish with beet root creme,
serrano crisp and shell fish pasta

Grilled medallions of veal with yellow beet root crisp,
cep mushroom risotto and marsala wine gravy

Chocolate Cake with Wildberry filling; Mini Berry Cake

Verdict:
One word can sum up our experience at Gondolen: overrated. What was touted to us as one of the top restaurants in Stockholm with great food and a great view came up short. While the view was impressive, it seemed that not only the food, but the service was lackluster. The waitstaff seemed to be lacking basic training, such as how to seat customers, checking on bread and water as well as general serving skills (unable to serve our table without knocking things over). If you want the view, go to Gondolen for the drinks - don't bother with their food.

Price: $$$ (100USD lunch for two)
Rating: 1/5

Gondolen
Stadsgårdshamnen 6
Stockholm, Sverige‎
08-641 70 90‎

Review: Buona Sera

It was finally that time - Y decided to visit me in Stockholm after months on exchange. After a tiring first night where we didn't really get a chance to eat out - I brought Y to my go-to place in Stockholm for a quick bite - Buona Sera. I stumbled upon this place earlier in February and have been a regular ever since. The restaurant itself is pretty small, but the pizzas are immense (each one taking up over half the table).

I ordered my usual, the Funghi (tomato sauce, cheese and mushrooms) and Y had a seafood pizza with shrimp and mussels on it.

Our method of eating the huge pizza (start from the middle)

M motoring through his pizza

Y's dismal performance

Verdict:
Buona Sera was an excellent little pizza restaurant. Not only were the prices excellent for Stockholm (only 70-80kr for a pizza), but the pizzas were all huge, delicious and freshly made. A little ways away from the normal tourist areas in Stockholm, but only 1-2 minutes from the nearest subway station. We definitely think that if you are in Stockholm and looking for something other than traditional Swedish food this is the place to go!

Price: $
Rating: 4.5/5

Pizzeria Buona Sera
Kungstensgatan 35
113 59
Stockholm

Review: La Braisière

Time flew by and it was already the last day of M's last Toulouse visit. We had made plans to go out for a nice meal. However, we overlooked the detail that it was Sunday, in Europe this means the majority of stores and restaurants remained closed. After a frantic hour of researching online, we decided to give la Braisière a try. This restaurant is a famous grill house. We've learned from past experience to always make a reservation and this worked out to our benefit. As we arrived at the restaurant just after 19:00, it was packed. The patio was lively and the inside of the restaurant was filled with the scent of smokey barbecue (in the most delicious way!)

Wine here was not very expensive (14 euros) and it was very tasty indeed. After the wine tour in Bordeaux, M and I are more picky with the wine we drink. We were pleasantly surprised when we sipped on the wine from La Clap.

For appetizer, M ordered his new favourite food: smoke salmon and said the quality of the fish was quite good. However, the condiments were missing some essential herbs. I, on the other hand, ordered the mussels and thought they were delicious. They were baked to perfection with a home made sauce out of seaweed.

As mentioned before, it was M's last day in France and we thought it'd be nice to order some traditional French main dishes. So, we both had duck - duck confit cassoulet and magret de canard.

Cassoulet is a famous dish in southern France with 3 main ingredients: beans, meat (duck or pork) and sausage. The cassoulet at La Braisière was not only tasty, but it was also very hearty and filling. The confit de canard went great with the beans.

The portion of the magret de canard was large. It was a simple yet delicious dish.

Each table was also served a green salad and potato cubes. M fell in love with the potato cubes (I'm not a big fan of them). According to him, these cubes were fried to the perfect state. The outside crispiness to the inside softness ratio was divine. He would come back again just for these potatoes.

We finished off the meal with a creme brulee to share. As you know, the French are experts at dessert and this place was no exception.

Verdict:
One of the best restaurants we've been in Toulouse. The price value was good and there's a large selection on the menu. Would definitely revisit again and recommend to others.

Rating: 4/5

Price: $$$

La Braisière
42, Rue Pharaon, 31000 Toulouse
+(33)5 61 52 37 13

Review: Warsaw Intercontinental Brunch Buffet

After reading many reviews (yet again) we found the best Brunch in Warsaw to be at the Intercontinental (where we were staying. According to the internet, not only was the hotel a great deal, but they also served up a mean brunch buffet.

Upon arriving at the hotel, we called the front desk asking for a table at the brunch buffet, unfortunately they told us that they were all out of tables at the normal buffet, but we could get seats at the secondary restaurant. We were a little uncertain what this meant in terms of the buffet, but we really wanted to give it a try so we accepted their offer. Upon arriving we quickly asked the waitress if there were any extra tables in the main room just to test our luck - and to our surprise there were!

We didn't have a flight till later that afternoon so we decided that we would spend as much time in the buffet as possible. To start, we ordered champagne and orange juice, as not only was the buffet all-you-can-eat but it was also all-you-can-drink. After receiving our drinks, we scouted out the appetizers. Our plate included smoked salmon, clams, a crab-claw dish, and salad among other things. However, the main courses were not nearly as good and we barely tried any of them as they just didn't look as appetizing. Y did try the stir-fry station and she thought it was ___.

After loitering around the appetizers and main courses for two hours we moved on to dessert. However, at this point we were relatively full and we only managed to sample a few of them including some chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, fruit tarts and a bit of ice cream.

One of the multiple dessert tables

Appetizer Table

Verdict:
The brunch was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Most of the food was fresh and relatively well prepared, and the chefs constantly made sure that no dish ran out at any given time. However, we found the main courses to be a little bland and uninspired (as well as not looking too appetizing!), but the appetizers and dessert made up for this.

We would definitely recommend that you come here for a try when you are in Warsaw.

Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$$ ($50/person for brunch)

Review: Papaya

After doing a lot of research to pick Dom Polski, Y and I decided that we wanted to try something different that was not necessarily Polish. Both of us enjoy fusion food, so, after reading around online and picking through many Polish-only websites, we found that Papaya seemed to be generally accepted as one of the best fusion restaurants in Warsaw.

We had a late reservation - arriving at 10 pm - we were probably the last table of the night to be seated. Unfortunately, the table we were given was relatively dark and as a result, the pictures did not turn out as well as we hoped (they are rather blurry).

Taking a quick look at the menu, we realized that the restaurant was more of a Japanese/Thai restaurant than anything that resembled fusion. However, this did not phase us as we were hungry. We decided to order three appetizers to split: the deep-fried calamari, the crab cakes, and the salmon tataki. After much thought, Y decided on a safe favorite - pad thai; and I had the Kobe beef steak, hoping that Kobe beef in Poland was of the same quality as everywhere else in the world.

Salmon Tataki

Deep Fried Calamari

Crab Cakes (started eating them already!)

Y's Pad Thai

Kobe Beef Steak

Verdict:
Overall, we thought that the restaurant was a relatively safe choice - the food was what we expected but did not blow us away. We found both the Calamari and the Crab Cakes to be good (but again, not amazing), but the Salmon Tataki seemed to be lacking a bit in the flavor department. Our main courses again were both very generic, the Pad Thai was sub-par (way too sweet) and the Kobe beef was tender, but was not up to the same quality of Kobe (Wagyu) beef that you could find in Toronto. We did not order dessert as we were stuffed after appetizer and main course. To conclude, Papaya is a place to go to if you want Asian food. However, we feel that there would probably be cheaper places with the same quality of food - we would recommend that those visiting Warsaw for only a few days look elsewhere.

Rating: 2.5/5
Price: $$

Papaya

Foksal 16
00-372 Warszawa
Polska‎
22 826 11 99‎