SWEET O’CLOCK FOOD MENU

Back in July last year, I was invited to check out a new Taiwanese dessert shop in North York, Sweet O’clock. With a wide selection of desserts and bubble teas, I really enjoyed their specialty taro balls, the flavour of the fresh ingredients used and generous portion sizes. Since then, I’ve stopped by several times to indulge my sweet tooth after a meal. When Sweet O’clock invited me back to try out their new food menu, I was excited to taste the new additions.

Disclaimer: All food and drinks reviewed below were provided complimentary. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

I visited Sweet O’clock with a friend who recently moved to North York. After studying the extensive menu, we decided to stick to the more simple “Taiwanese” dishes, the ones I would likely order myself for a quick, well-priced dinner, or snack along with bubble tea/dessert.

For drinks, my friend ordered the herbal jelly wintermelon tea and I tried the mango pomelo juice. Both drinks were refreshingly, lightly sweetened with subtle but strong flavours. Not a bit artificial tasting. From the appetizer page, we chose the Taiwanese style popcorn chicken (only $6.99 for a huge plate), and grilled scallop skewers ($5.99 for 2). Marinated with five spice powder before frying, the seasoned chicken was addictive. Served with mayo, each piece of dark meat was coated in a thin batter and the plate was garnished with deep fried basil leaves. The scallop skewers, brushed with a sweet soy sauce, also included green peppers and fish cakes. I liked the char on fish cakes but found the scallops dry.

Sticking to our theme, we ordered the Taiwanese Style Fried Pork Chop and Taiwanese Sausage and Minced Pork Rice Bowl for our mains. The pork chop dinner plate was served with a cup of rice, some veggies, pickled radish salad and slices of spiced, pressed tofu. I found this plate was super satisfying and the pork chop was crispy and light. The food was homey, comforting and filling. I felt the same way about the meaty rice bowl, that had plenty of minced pork fried with preserved vegetables, slices of sausage and marinated tofu.

No visit to Sweet O’clock would be complete without dessert. Even though I was full from dinner, I made room to try two of their new dessert items, the Matcha Snowflake and Mud Pie. The snowflake was made up with layers of matched flavoured shaved ice, topped with red bean, pineapple jelly and a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream. Again, a large portion. I would recommend splitting this with a friend (or two). The shaved ice had a rice matcha flavour and melted on contact. The Mud Pie was close to a deconstructed tiramisu with bonus banana slices. While I liked the flavours, I had to make sure each spoonful had a bit of cookie or banana, otherwise the abundant cream was overwhelming. Overall, a neat interpretation.

Sweet O’clock’s new food menu is more reason for me to keep visiting and enjoy a full meal with them. There was a whole page of appetizers, skewers, Japanese bento boxes, noodle bowls and rice dishes. Prices ranged across the board from $5.99 deep fried squid balls to $17.99 steamed garlic shrimp.