For the past few weeks, I’ve had an intense craving for Korean BBQ. At first, we were planning on meeting up with a few friends at Sariwon, but as our party grew, we figured Chako would be a more accommodating venue. AYCE is also never a hard sell for me.

Atmosphere: Our group visited the Chako at East Beaver Creek on a Saturday night and I figured it would be busy. To get ahead of the crowd, we met at 6pm and easily grabbed a table. The large restaurant filled up fast and there was a short line outside when we left 3 hours later. Most of the tables at Chako were occupied by large groups (families, birthday gatherings) and it was boisterous but not loud. The air was filled with the smoke of BBQ, which lingered in my hair and clothing for the rest of the night. If you have plans after dinner, you’ll be bringing the scent of Korean BBQ with you.

Service: For operating an AYCE menu, service was as expected. We didn’t have one dedicated server but was able to flag down anyone when we needed to order more. Our first order of food arrived promptly and the server tried to spread out the trays of meat. We only changed the grill once during dinner and the process was quick and efficient.

Food: I haven’t been to Chako for at least a year and was pleasantly surprised with the updates to their menu. The price for an adult dinner on the weekend was $21.99 (before tax and gratuity vs $19.99 Mon-Thu), which was reasonable for the variety and quality of ingredients we ate. There are more menu items available for the weekend dinner that was worth the added $2.

In addition to Korean BBQ items, Chako offers a selection of sushi rolls, nigiri and Japanese appetizers. In addition to miso soup, rice and salad, the weekend only appetizers were roasted pepper, edamame and seaweed salad. Each portion of wakame salad was small, but we you can order 5 at a time, it wasn’t really an issue. I would skip the miso soup, my bowl was blank and watery. The standard meat selection was sliced beef, pork, chicken, ox tongue and short rib with the weekend menu adding sliced lamb and “Chako select beef”. That night, the select beef were thick, fatty cuts covered with rosemary. This was one the tastiest meats, tender and with lots of flavour. I liked how the sliced beef and lamb were lightly marinated and not soaked in sauce. The quality of the short ribs were also consistent throughout the night.

For seafood, there was shrimp, squid, mussels and white fish with salmon being available at the weekend dinner price. The mussels were from frozen and came topped with minced garlic. The salmon and squid were both fresh and easy to cook. I loved that there were vegetables on the menu, green pepper, red pepper, zucchini, pineapple and button mushrooms on the weekend. The pineapple was a great update and a better dessert than many of their menu options.

We did also try their sushi, with the nigiri out performing the maki. The selection was limited to basic choices like avocado, california and spicy salmon. I found the rice in the maki sticky, and there was too much of it. With the nigiri, the fish was fresh and the ratio of rice to sashimi was much better.

After lots of BBQed meat, there was still room for dessert. Both puddings, red bean and mango, available only for weekend dinner were disappointing and lacked flavour. Of the four choices, I’d stick to the green tea or mango ice cream.

With Easter coming up this weekend, this Leg of Lamb Roast makes a perfect centrepiece for a family meal. It’s amazing how easy the recipe is and how beautiful the lamb turns out with the help of a meat thermometer, which was by far my best kitchen gadget investment of 2014. If you’re looking for a change from turkey, lamb is a great alternative.

Leg of Lamb Roast

2015-04-02 02:37:58

Serves 6

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 30 min

Total Time

1 hr 45 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 30 min

Total Time

1 hr 45 min

Ingredients

1. 1 leg of lamb bone-in (2-3kg)
2. 6 cloves of garlic, minced
3. 2 tbsp olive oil
4. 3 stems of rosemary, fresh or dried
5. salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Let the lamb sit out of the refrigerator to reach room temperature before cooking, place the lamb in a roasting pan on top of a rack
2. Rub the lamb with olive oil and generously season both sides with salt and ground black pepper
3. Broil the lamb until it is seared and browned, then flip and repeat for the other side
4. Set the oven to 325 degrees F and place oven rack in middle of the oven
5. Mince the cloves of garlic, mix with rosemary and pat onto both sides of the lamb
6. Tent the roasting pan loosely with tin foil and roast until desired internal temperature (135 degrees for medium rare - medium, ~1 hour to 1 hour 1/2)
7. Rest the lamb for 15 minutes before carving

Notes

1. The lamb will continue to cook a bit once out of the oven. For best results, remove from the oven when the internal temperature is a 5-10 degrees lower than desired.
2. The pictures lef of lamb was taken out of the oven at an internal temperature of 135 degrees

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Step by Step Photos

Assemble ingredients, let lamb sit until at room temperature

Rub both sides with olive oil, season with salt and pepper

Broil each side until browned

Mince garlic and mix with rosemary

Pat garlic and rosemary onto both sides of the lamb

Insert meat thermometer, tent pan with tin foil and roast at 325 degrees F for ~ 1 hour

Let lamb sit for 15 minutes before carving

My last stop for winterlicious this year was dinner at Cluny Bistro. Unfortunately, our original party of 4 dwindled down to just 2 with scheduling conflicts and last minute colds. The girls missed out. We’ll have to reschedule a return visit to the beautiful restaurant as Cluny delivered my favourite winterlicious meal this year.

Atmosphere: Cluny was a beautiful restaurant, from their customized plates, Parisian decor and open seafood bar. Attention to detail in the space was stunning. Every surface from the blue and white tiled floor to the intricate wood ceiling was used to transport you away from Toronto. While the distillery district was quiet on the Tuesday night, Cluny’s dining room was filled. There were many large tables to accommodate groups larger than 8, all situated in private alcoves.

Service: Somehow, I managed to get on the streetcar going the wrong direction on my way to dinner. This meant I was a little late and didn’t get a chance to let the hostess know our headcount had changed. They were very accommodating and didn’t mind that the two of us took up a table for four. Our server was friendly and relaxed. Each dish arrived quickly and plates were cleared off. The entire meal was comfortable and we were well taken care of.

Food: For appetizers, I tried the Tomato and Saffron Braised Calamari while my friend had the Spice Roasted Pumpkin Bisque. She enjoyed her soup and commented on it’s rich flavour. I thought my calamari had a great saffron flavour but the squid was too braised for my taste. It wasn’t rubbery, but it was too soft and didn’t have any chew left in the meat.

We both chose the Beer Braised Beef Cheeks for our entree and the Roasted Hazelnut Profiteroles for dessert. Here I really enjoyed how tender and soft the beef cheeks were. The meat fell apart on the fork and was lightly seasoned. The portion size was quite generous and I enjoyed the choice of a clear broth over something creamier. This was a great dish, hearty but light.

One of my favourite things in the world is cream puffs. The giant box from Costco, a single meal. When I’m in Japan, the one souvenir I get from Muji are their cream puffs. My second favourite thing is hazelnut. I can eat spoonfuls of Nutella and a box of Ferrero Rochers myself. So the combination of these two ingredients, executed in perfectly sent me to dessert heaven. Each plate was served with a shot of warm melted chocolate and I used every last drop. There was no restraint. The profiteroles were light, flakey and airy and filled with a light hazelnut mousse.

Cluny would be the perfect venue was a romantic date, special occasion, large celebration or private event. The space is lovely and the food delectable.

Globe Bistro is an established restaurant in Greektown that offers a menu focused on local ingredients. Although I had made reservations during summerlicious, only myself and one other person ordered off the set menu. Everyone else opted for the Swine and Dine.

Atmosphere: The decor was modern contemporary. Two large art pieces decorated the formal dining area and wooden sculptures filled the remaining wall space. Our group of seven was seated comfortably for a late lunch and quiet background music allowed for easy conversation.

Service: For the majority of our meal, service was standard, professional and friendly. It was only near the end, when we were ready to get our bill when we ran into a long wait. The dining area had cleared out and it took a good 10 minutes to flag down a server.

Food: After perusing the $20 summerlicious and weekend brunch menu, the majority of our party was swayed by The Swine and Dine. I stuck to set menu, because I knew I could eat off the Fiance’s plate and because I wanted dessert. Globe Bistro did offer to add any summerlicious dessert items to a regular order for just $8.

For my lunch, I chose the Tuna Crudo, Fried Chicken Thighs and Chocolate Ice Cream Cake. Two triangles of tuna were served with pressed watermelon, raw watercress and radish garnish. The dish was light and summery. Raw watercress has a great nutty flavour and went well with the watermelon and fish. When the fried chicken arrived, I was disappointed with the simple presentation. The colours were flat and the garnish was minimal. Digging into the dish, my opinion didn’t improve much. I liked the use of dark meat and the chicken was flavourful and tender, just a bit oily. The popcorn grits however, I didn’t enjoy. The texture was porridgey and thick while I prefer grits to be smoother. Dessert was a highlight with a combination of hazelnuts and chocolate, one of my favourites.

Onto the Swine and Dine, which was the better choice looking back. The dish was made up of 3 eggs, cooked any way, potato hash and pork 7 ways including sausage, bacon and pork belly. Portions were generous, well priced and every component was delicious. I loved the variety on the plate and exploring each piece. My favourite was the pork belly, soft, and perfect caramelized fat. This was a great plate, perfect for an indulgent brunch (or recovery after a night out).

Recently opened in Scarborough, Xiao Long Bao is a Shanghai dim sum restaurant from the same owners as Ding Tai Fung in Markham.

Atmosphere: Compared to Ding Tai Fung, the restaurant is much bigger with plentiful seating and spaced out tables. The interior felt modern with an exposed ceiling, light wood flooring and lots of natural light from the full glass store front. There is a window into the kitchen where chefs prepare fresh baos but it’s situated at the back of the restaurant and only a few tables can actually see the action.

Service: We booked a table for an early lunch and there were plenty of options to choose from when we arrived. The restaurant was about 80% full as we were leaving. Our table was right next to the service counter so it was really easy to flag someone down when we needed to. The majority of the dishes arrived very quickly from the kitchen, not at all staggered and then we had to wait on the rice cakes. Generally, I would say the service was standard to just above par for an Asian family restaurant.

Food: A lot of the dishes were very similar to their counterparts at Ding Tai Fung. From our order, I really liked the xiao long baos, the key of the meal, and didn’t love a few of the stir fries, not as important. We ordered one tray each of the three xiao long bao flavours, normal pork ($5.99), crab ($7.99) and scallop ($7.99). Each tray had 6 baos. The skins were thin and chewy. The filling was savoury and soupy. You could really taste the crab but not so much the scallops. I would be happy to eat just these for a meal.

For the rest of our meal, we ordered fresh snow pea tips, Kung Pao chicken, Taiwanese beef noodle soup, wrapped Chinese meat pancake, scrambled egg whites with fish and stir fried rice cakes. Half of the dishes were great, the other half mediocre. The snow pea tips were fresh, tender, a good portion size but a touch oily. The noodles in the beef soup were handmade and had a great texture while the soup was pretty standard. My favourite dish would be the scrambled egg whites that were fluffy, light, not too salty and had great natural flavours.

As for the three remaining dishes, again, they were fine but not amazing. Personally, I don’t love Kung Pao chicken so my opinion on the dish is biased to begin with. The wrapped meat pancake was bland and the stir fried rice cakes were just okay. This was the last dish to arrive and everyone was already full, so the bulk of the dish was packed away.

While overall I had a good meal, I’m eager to see how the restaurant matures. I find with most Chinese restaurants, it takes a few visits to find the gems amongst a typically vast menu and Xiao Long Bao is no different. Hands down though, I’ll be back for their namesake.