Who doesn’t love soup? Especially in the winter and for free. From February 2nd to February 21st, Campbell’s has launched a pop-up soup restaurant, The Cantina, on Queen St W serving up complimentary bowls of 4 soups created by Chef Matt Dean Pettit of Rock Lobster kitchen. In addition to soup, Chef Matt or one of his crew from Rock Lobster will be on-hand at The Cantina from 12pm-1pm and 6pm-7pm sharing tips and tricks to spice up Campbell’s soup products at home.

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

All four soups being served at the Cantina start with a base of Campbell’s soup products. Chef Matt has then added his own flare and interpretation to create delicious soups inspired by the multiculturalism of Toronto. There is also a fully stocked garnish bar, where guests will be able to customize and personalize their bowls.

Every guest will be invited to try out all four soups. They are:
1. Spicy Vegetarian Ramen – light and refreshing
2. Creamy Tomato Black Bean Taco Soup – rich, sweet and tangy, best topped with the deep fried taco bits
3. Thai Chicken & Rice Khao Soi – savoury and spicy, best topped with a fried wonton strips
4. Roasted Beer Can Cream of Chicken Soup – creamy and pleasantly spicy! This was my favourite

At The Cantina, Campbell’s has also set up a social media mosaic wall. Guests will be given a sticker and invited to place it on the wall. For every sticker, Campbell’s will be donating a can of soup to the Daily Bread Food Bank of Toronto. 1 sticker = 1 can of soup, up to 15,000 cans!

Until February 21st, be sure to stop by The Cantina to slurp up some good soup and place a sticker to support a great cause. #WeAllSoupTO

Growing up in Mississauga, I found the selection of Chinese restaurants lacking. When we ate out, my family always ended up at the same two restaurants. Recently, we headed to one of these old favourites only to find it closed for renovations. With no backup plan, we walked straight into the restaurant next door. Overall, Xin Xin BBQ was pretty meh and only managed to reinforce my parent’s faith in their tried and true watering holes.

Atmosphere: Xin Xin BBQ had little decor and was reminiscent of any standard Chinese restaurant. The space was quiet and clean with families enjoying dinner.

Service: Service was fine, but unmemorable. Dishes came out in a timely manner and servers had to be flagged down if needed. We ordered a signature fish soup which arrived in a large stone pot and was set on a portable stove. This was a nice touch, which kept the soup simmering and building flavour throughout the meal.

Food: For 4 people eating at a casual Chinese restaurant, our bill ended up being over $80, a bit on the expensive side. We ordered 4 dishes. A fish soup (market price based on the weight of the fish and type), cold somen noodles with chicken, stir fried lamb slices and beef pot stickers.

The main course was the spicy sour fish soup. We choose green bass over tilapia and was told they only had two, a big one (3 lbs) or an even bigger one. We went with 3 lbs, which was a lot of fish. In addition to fish, the soup was filled with bean sprouts and celery. There was lots of flavour that grew the longer it simmered. Lots of Sichuan peppercorns ensured a strong mala taste. The fish itself was tender and meaty. I would’ve loved the option of fresh greens, like watercress or lettuce, to hot pot in the soup. This was a good dish, but I’m not sold it was $40 good.

The plate of cold somen was a generous portion and well seasoned with peanut and mala sauce. There was not a lot of shredded chicken. Cumin was the main spice of the lamb dish, another spicy one. Thin slices of lamb were used and it was cooked well, but nothing extraordinary.

Our last dish was a dozen beef pot stickers. Each dumpling had a golden, crispy bottoms and the filling was heavily seasoned. I really enjoyed these, but unfortunately they did not sit well with me after dinner, which marred the memory.

Since graduating university, many of my friends have moved out of Toronto. Of those who stayed in the city, a few of us ended up in North York. We met up recently to catch up over some tasty Korean food. Despite the cold weather, I couldn’t visit Cho Sun Ok without ordering a bowl of their famous cold noodles, Mool Naengmyun.

Atmosphere: Walking into a packed restaurant at 7pm on a Friday night, looking for a table of 8 without reservations was risky. Lucky for us, tables cleared quickly and a few members of our party was delayed. While the restaurant stayed busy the entire night, turnaround was quick. Our group of 8 was split between two booths with a partition in the middle. We were confused at first, but then the server slid open a window in the partition that joined the two tables, pretty cool.

Service: At many Asian restaurants, service can be lackluster. I’m used to being semi-ignored and most restaurants favour efficiency over friendliness. At Cho Sun Ok, I felt welcome and taken care of. Our large group was accommodated, it was easy to order refills on side dishes and servers came by to refill tea without prompting.

Food: When our group was deciding on a restaurant for dinner, someone suggested “the place with really good cold noodles”. I couldn’t not order it. The Fiance obliged and agreed to split a bowl of Soondae Gook (sausage and pig organ stew) and Mool Naengmyun with me even though I had the sniffles. True love right?

We also ordered a side of Galbi with the cold noodles. The two pieces arrived on a separate place along with scissors. The meat was tender, well seasoned and lean.

My stew was served with a bowl of rice and was very satisfying. The opaque broth was rich and had a great depth in flavour from the organ meats (ear, tongue, stomach) and sausage. All of the meats were thinly sliced and cooked to a tender texture. This was the kind of stew I would crave. Salty, spicy and meaty. On the opposite spectrum of cravings, the Naengmyun in slush was refreshing, mild and wonderfully light. The thin arrowroot noodles were chewy and I liked the sweet crisp slices of pear in the soup. The level of spice was present but not overwhelming. We didn’t use any of the mustard of vinegar as there was no need.

Writing this review makes me want to go back to Cho Sun Ok tonight. If you’re going, I’d recommend bringing someone who’s willing to share because it’s hard to pick just one item for dinner.

With the weather cooling down and fall just around the corner, I am craving hearty soups. With perfect timing, the 7th annual Soupalicious Toronto festival will be held on Sunday September the 28th from noon to 3pm. Over 30 Toronto chefs, restaurants and food groups will be gathering at the Artscape Wychwood Barn to showcase their best soup recipes.

The event is presented by the Plant a Grow, Grow a Row program that encourages communities to plant, grow and donate fresh vegetables back to their community. I love how the event promotes contributing to your community. Ingredient donations from local Ontario producers are provided to the soup makers and will be featured in all of their creations. The event is also zero waste and will only be using compost-able utensils and napkins.

Some of the mouth watering soups that I’m looking forward to slurping include:

• Mushroom Soup from Aria Ristorante
• Cheddar and Ale Soup with Pretzel Croutons from Cheesewerks 
• Portuguese Caldo Verde from No. 7 Hot Sauce
• Mock Turtle Soup from Southern Accent

Advance tickets are now on sale at http://www.soupalicious.ca/ for $15, which includes entry and 10 free soup tastings. Additional tastings are $1.50 each at the door. Tickets will be $22 at the door, so buying ahead of time is a great deal. Family pass, student, senior and child discounted ticket prices are also available.

The original recipe called for 6 cups of broth, we only have 4 so we substituted with 2 cups of water. This was not the best idea and at first the soup was too watery and didn’t come together. We ended up having to simmer the soup on the stove top for an extra hour. The original recipe also called for a cup of yogurt, which would also have helped thicken the soup. Without the yogurt, 4 cups of broth is enough liquid for a nice thick soup.

Curry Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

2014-06-26 18:53:36

Serves 8

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 10 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 10 min

Ingredients

1. 1 butternut squash
2. 2 large or 3 medium onions
3. 1 head of garlic
4. 4 cups beef broth
5. 1 bayleaf
6. 1 tsp brown sugar
7. 1 tsp curry powder
8. 1/2 tsp dried oregano
9. 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
10. 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut open the butternut squash and remove the seeds. Peel the onions and quarter. Cut off the top of the whole head of garlic, wrap in aluminum foil and place along with vegetables on a baking sheet. Bake for 45-60 mins or until the squash can be pierced with a fork. Our squash was a touch under ripe and we roasted the vegetables for 80 mins.
3. Remove the flesh of the squash and add to a blender or food processor. The cloves of garlic should squeeze out of each sleeve easily, add to the squash along with the roasted onions. Puree the ingredients until smooth, if needed add in 1/4 cup of broth at this point to help the blending process. Transfer all the contents to a large pot.
4. To the soup, add the remaining broth, bay leaf, brown sugar, curry, dried oregano, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Adapted from allrecipes.com

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

Step by Step Photos

Assemble ingredients

Roast vegetables

Puree the vegetables and simmer on stove top to finish