Ordering: Tan Da Ban is located in a food court at Shops on Yonge specializing in sheng jian bao, a pan-fried cousin of xiao long bao, that I personally like more. They are on UberEats but do not have their own website or ordering system. I would recommend calling ahead for pickup and to check availability, but not too far in advance. The first time we tried to pick up baos, we arrived just after they opened and someone had ordered an entire batch, meaning over an hour wait for any new orders. On our second successful visit, I was able to order by phone about 20 minutes before we arrived. They were kind enough to warm up our baos again on the pan, but this made the bottoms a bit oily.

Pickup: There is a limited number of above ground parking at Shops on Yonge and it can get busy. Underground parking is available. If you’re able to run in and out with someone waiting in the car, lots of people park in unmarked spots. Being inside a food court, pickup was straightforward and quick.

Food: For the three of us, we ordered 6 pork baos, 6 pork & shrimp baos and a bowl of Beef Soup with Glass Noodles. The bao skins had a great texture, thin and chewy with a perfect crispy bottom. Each bao was filled with a tablespoon of soup and the pork was well seasoned. With the pork & shrimp baos, a whole shrimp topped each meatball filling. Alivia devoured 3 meatballs and 2 crispy bottoms. I could have easily polished off another 6 baos myself. There are 7 different bao fillings on the menu including a vegetarian option. The 100% meat filling baos can be ordered in multiples of 4 or 6 and the chives, egg & shrimp, and veggie baos in multiples of 6 or 8.

The bowl of Beef Soup with Glass Noodles was a nice way to round out our meal but not a necessity. With tofu puffs, thin slices of beef, vermicelli noodles and a clear beef broth, the bowl was light and simple. It did come with a packet of chili oil that was delicious. Super spicy with tons of flavour. I would get the soup again for that chili sauce.

Overall, the sheng jian baos at Tan Da Ban were quite close to my memories of street stalls in Suzhou. If I lived in the condos above, I would be a regular customer.

Piggy’s Restaurant is located on Yonge and one of my favourite Korean BBQ spots in the city. Stephen and I visit whenever I’m craving pork belly and I’ve also brought my parents and brother. The restaurant burns real charcoal under their grills and has special grates for cooking pork or beef. I had the chance to stop by earlier this year to try out a new menu item and indulge in a few of my favourites.

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

One of my favourite things about Piggy’s is their selection of side dishes. That night, there was a dish of marinated pork terrine that I couldn’t get enough of. The slices had a mix of gelatin, lean meat and skin, doused in a spicy, soy sauce. I also liked the lettuce with poppy seed dressing and the pickled jalapenos.

We started with an order of beef, which was marbled and cut in thick slices. The beef cooked quickly on the hot grill and had a great smokey flavour. Next up was seasoned pork belly, thick slices with a beautiful ratio of fat to meat. The grill setup was tilted up, allowing the rendered oil to flow away. A bunch of kimchi is placed on the grill where the oil flows, soaking up flavour and becoming crispy, creating the perfect topping to each pork belly lettuce wrap. Two sauces were provided, a spicy red one, and a salt with sesame oil. Both were tasty.

The new menu item we tried was Spicy Baby Octopus with cheese and corn, cooked at the table over the grill. I really liked how fresh and tender the octopus were and it was a huge platter. The sauce was pretty spicy, which was perfectly complimented by the melted cheese and sweet corn.

Overall dinner at Piggy’s is always fun and satisfying with high quality ingredients and a great drink menu. I would recommend trying the Makgeolli, a unique milky Soju that’s slightly sweet and drank in bowls.

My husband grew up in Markham, went to high school in Markham and went to university in Toronto with a big group of his high school friends. Many of these friends still live in Markham today and whenever there’s a gathering, it’s often uptown. This is even more true now that babies have been added to the guestlist. Last summer, one of our friends who had been working in Hong Kong was back in town visiting, which prompted a large group dinner. His only restaurant request was non-asian. WIth this criteria and the size of our group, we picked Tapagria for dinner based on their positive reviews and tapas style menu. Overall, although atmosphere and service were excellent, I found the food fairly disappointing.

Atmosphere: Our group was set up in the small private room of the restaurant, which was richly decorated, but did not have any natural light. The room had one long table, small chandeliers, a navy and gold brocade wallpaper and white wall moulding. We were separated from the rest of the restaurant and could move around, switch seats and chat without worrying about disturbing other diners. In terms of privacy and a luxe feel, the private room at Tapagria was perfect.

Service: For large groups, an automatic gratuity of 18% is included in the bill. A few servers took care of our group and were all friendly and professional. As people trickled into the room, everyone’s drink orders were taken and we separated our order into four groups. The restaurant was very accommodating for separate bills and keep trying of complicated orders. I did find that dishes arrived from the kitchen in batches, which led to people who ordered similar items eating first while others waited.

Food: The Hubs and I decided to order a few Tapas dishes just for the two of us, which in hindsight limited the number of dishes we could try. For the two of us, we ordered 5 dishes that totaled to $60/person and was not filling. A few of these dishes had more expensive ingredients but I wasn’t quite satisfied with quality or quantity for the price.

From the Pintxos section of the menu, we tried the Smoked Eggplant ($5), a spread served on two slices of baguette. I liked the flavour of the eggplant and the textures. Next to arrive was the seared Foie Gras ($22). For the price, the piece of foie gras was a good portion and excellently seared. At this point, I still had high hopes for dinner after the first two bites, but we hit a few speed bumps with our seafood dishes. Both the Scallop Ceviche ($16) and Octopus Leg ($15) were disappointing from portion size to flavour. The scallops were sliced paper thin and lightly seasoned with olive oil and spices. I couldn’t really taste the scallop, there was so little with each bite. As for the octopus, the texture was gummy and inconsistent. I’ve tried similar dishes at other Spanish restaurants in Toronto that were better executed.

Our last dish was the Roasted Bone Marrow ($18) and this was my favourite plate of the night. There was a good amount of marrow in each bone and served on a bed of crostini. I would’ve liked a little bowl of sea salt to season each bite myself.

While we skipped out on the Paella, which takes 45 minutes to prepare, there were orders at our table and I got to try a few bites. Of what I tasted, I found the seasoning heavy handed. Another dish my friends ordered that looked good was the Artisanal Meat Board. I do think I would’ve enjoyed dinner more if we had ordered different menu items, but from this experience alone, I wasn’t a fan.

With over 40 locations in Western Canada, Ontario’s sole Fatburger opened this summer in Thornhill. The Hubby saw a Groupon for the burger chain that enticed us to make the trek north (a whole 15 minute drive).

Atmosphere: Fatburger had the decor of an old school diner, red leather chairs included. Each table was stocked with condiments and a napkin dispenser. Top 40 music played on the speakers and many of the diners were families.

Service: For a fast casual restaurant, I was impressed by the service and efficiency. After placing our order at the counter, we grabbed a seat and our tray was delivered to us. While we ate, I noticed the manager was constantly cleaning tables, tucking in chairs, and putting things away.

Food: The Groupon we had was for two original Fatburgers, which have a 6 oz patty. To mine, I added the optional toppings of caramelized onions, pickles and banana peppers. The Hubby chose the onion ring, which made his burger true to the name. I liked how they served the burger stacked, ready to be squished.

Overall, I found the burger to be pretty good. The toasted bun was soft and light and the patty, while thin was juicy. The selection of complimentary toppings was wide and had a good variety. My only criticism was that pieces of my iceberg was bitter. Some leaves close to the root were included. Also, the small portion of fries was disappointing.

Fatburger has specialty burgers on their menu like Hawaiian and California, which differentiates them from similar burger joints.

Lately, The Hubby and I have been getting lazier about going downtown for dinner, especially when it’s just the two of us on a regular night. This means we’ve been venturing north more often for food. All the free parking is also pretty appealing. Hub Sushi was on of the Thornhill restaurants we discovered and one of my new favourites.

Atmosphere: I called Hub Sushi just before leaving our condo to make a reservation for that night (in 30 minutes). When we arrived, the restaurant was half full and I figured the reservation wasn’t needed. By the middle of our meal though, there a queue out the door and I was glad we got our table early. The restaurant was compact and artfully decorated with lots of greenery and cute knick knacks. It felt like I was in an Asian cafe more than a Japanese restaurant.

Service: The only disappointing point about dinner was how understaffed the restaurant was. With a full restaurant, there were two girls running around taking care of all the tables. While not quite as bad at Akane, it was a slow ordeal to place our order and have our tea refilled. I watched the girl with the teapot going from table to table, running out of tea halfway and then get flagged down for something else. All of dishes arrive at once and it was a challenge to fit every dish on the table. One more server would’ve helped the pace of service greatly.

Aside from being rushed, our server was friendly and had lots of smiles when we saw her. I also liked how they had a photo album of each menu item that accompanied the menu. There was also an offer of free mochi ice cream if you posted a photo on social media using their hashtag.

Food: When it comes down to it, I’m a sucker for good quality food at a good price. Despite service hiccups, if the food was awesome and I think it was a good deal, I’ll be back; and the sushi at Hub Sushi did win me over.

The Hubby and I chose to order the Dinner for Two ($39) , which came with 10 pcs of sushi, 10 pcs of sashimi, tempura and our choice of a special roll. We also added on a wakame salad. I was impressed with the quality and selection of fish. The sashimi slices were thick, buttery and sweet. There was salmon belly, seared tuna, red snapper, mackerel and shrimp. Considering the price, this was a steal. I would’ve valued just this plate at $30 easy.

The wakame salad was served on a bed of greens drizzled with a citrus dressing followed by a basket of tempura arranged in a dim sum steamer. Hub Sushi plated their dishes with some care and I appreciated the sentiment. Given our small table, the salad plate took up a lot of real estate. I found the salad up to par and the tempura disappointing. The batter had a strong oil flavour and wasn’t light or crispy.

Being a great blogger, I can’t recall the exact sushi roll we chose but there was a fried element (soft shell crab), tobiko and avocado. Each bite was delicious with lots of flavour and a great balance of crunchiness and creaminess. Overall, Hub Sushi is a great spot for sushi North of the city.

A month before our wedding, I was hit with a huge craving for KFC (Korean Fried Chicken). Fried chicken wasn’t really part of “wedding diet”, but my appetite is stronger than my self control. It helps (or not) that The Hubby also can’t resist fried goodness. So we drove up to Home of Hot Taste for a weekend dinner.

Atmosphere: Walking up to the restaurant, The Hubby was worried. “Are you sure this place does KFC? There’s lots of ads for other Korean dishes”. I assured him we were at the right place. The restaurant was casual and had lots of high, private booths, perfect alcoves for binging on chicken and beer. While we ate, quite a few customers came by to pick up take-out orders. I could see the space filled with families for dinner and shifting to a younger crowd, later at night.

Service: One downside of high booth walls was how hidden we were. If the server wasn’t paying 100% attention, it was sometimes hard to get his attention. Other than this, we were seated quickly, food arrived hot and service was standard. A few weeks later two of our friends stopped by. They tried to order the spicy chicken with the sauce on the side, they meant to order the regular chicken with the sauce on the side. Rather than correcting them or giving them options, the server said the spicy chicken was as is. This may have been a language issue but it would’ve been nice for the server to be flexible, offer ideas, or different menu options if their order didn’t make sense.

Food: For the two of us, we ordered a whole order of Original Fried Chicken with a side of Spicy, Sweet Sauce. I really wanted to try one of their Blazing Fire plates but the price and portion size would’ve been too much food for two people, especially as The Hubby didn’t want anything spicy. The side dishes also looked like full plates, so we just stuck with chicken.

Only two side dishes were served, an iceberg salad and pickled radish. On the menu it listed the cost of ordering additional side dishes ($0.50 for radish). This was a little disappointing, but again not the reason we were at the restaurant.

Our platter of fried chicken arrived with a cup of seasoning (salt, pepper, etc) and spicy sauce. That sauce, holy cow that was spicy. I was glad we ordered the original flavour and I could control the heat myself. Even then, a few drops was fire and my lips were burning. Drenched in the sauce, each bite would have been a challenge to eat.

The chicken itself was juicy, tender and thoroughly cooked. I loved the pieces of dark meat. The batter was light, crispy and not at all oily. I wish the breast pieces were chopped smaller so there would be more delicious batter. Based on chicken alone, Home of Hot Taste and The Fry are pretty close to par. However, Home of Hot Taste does deliver more taste bud scorching and a larger variety of menu items.

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.

The Fiancé has raved about Piggy’s for the past year, it being his go to bro date venue. After a long Friday at work neither of us wanted to cook. So when he suggested dinner at Piggy’s, I had my jacket on and was out the door before actually replying yes.

Atmosphere: Pulling into the parking lot of the strip mall, Piggy’s was easy to find with its adorable blushing mascot. Each table is equipped with an inset grill and overhead venting system. The booths were comfortable and spaced out. It does get smokey and the smell of BBQ does soak into your clothing. We arrived pretty early, 6pm on a Friday night and the restaurant was just starting to fill up mostly with couples and families.

Service: After being seated by the hostess, we were given a few minutes with the menu before our server arrived. She was very friendly, always had a smile and was happy to answer our questions. Since we ordered a meal that is grilled on the table, service also includes the cooking and prep of the meal. Our side dishes arrived quickly and the server arranged the many dishes to fit comfortably on the table. Once the pork belly started cooking, there was a lag between when our server came to check up on us and the meat was crisping up very quickly. I would’ve loved a little more attention at this point or some clear directions.

Food: For all the BBQ meals, a minimum order of 2 is required. This makes it hard to try multiple items with only two people because the portion size is plenty. We ordered two orders of the Mook Eun Gi Oh Gyeop Sal, marinated pork belly with kimchi, along with a fried rice and a bowl of multigrain rice. Each order of rice comes with a small stone bowl of soybean soup. With the BBQ meal, lettuce wraps, marinated onions and spicy red sauce is served along with the usual side dishes of kimchi, mashed potatoes, pickled daikon, pickled cucumbers, salad and marinated bean sprouts. I really liked the spicy, marinated lettuce and the sesame seed dressing on the salad.

The Fiancé’s fried rice was also tasty and had lots of kimchi flavour. I had our serving of soy bean stew and really enjoyed it. You could clearly taste the soy beans in the broth and there were plentiful vegetables cooked in it. The slices of pork belly were good quality, thick cut and lightly seasoned. I loved how the kimchi was cooked at the bottom of the grill, letting them soak up the juices from the pork. Our server came back to flip the strips of meat and cut them into bite size pieces. Each piece was crispy and tasted great on it’s own or dipped in the red sauce and wrapped in lettuce. My favourite accompaniment was actually the marinated onions slices, which added a nice acidity to each bite.

Overall, the BBQ was tasty and great quality, I really enjoyed the variety and quantity of the side dishes and I can’t wait to come back with a bigger party to try more menu items.

Song Cook’s is one of my favourite Korean restaurants in “Toronto”. Even though I live in North York and have a plentiful selection of Korean options near me, I will happily go North to visit Song Cook’s whenever the suggestion is made. Their menu has a wide assortment of dishes outside the typical Pork Bone Soup, Tofu Stews and BiBimBap. 

Atmosphere:  The restaurant is very spacious and great for large groups. I’ve had parties of 18 people and the restaurant was great with setting us up in a private area with large tables. There is also a dining area where you can sit on the floor without shoes if you don’t have bad knees. The decor uses a lot of different woods and the serving ware consists of beautiful clay plates with the stone pots alongside stone pots and sizzling plates.

Service: Every time I’ve visited Song Cook’s, the service has always been top notch. Food arrives quickly, it’s easy to flag someone down and everyone seems genuinely happy to be at their job. I’ve asked a lot of questions about their menu, and someone always patiently explains the dish to me. They’re also able to provide separate bills for large groups. 

Food: I’ve tried a few types of ordering at this restaurant, sharing mains, ordering entrees and also their set course. On my most recent visit, half of our party arrived and were starving so we decided to order a few entrees to share. When everyone else arrived, we ordered more, more than enough and we still finished everything.

I really like the kimchi that Song Cook’s provides as a side dish. They actually provide scissors and tongs for you to cut up the pieces of cabbage and radish yourself as the full leaves are served.

We started with the JokBal, which is thinly sliced pork leg served with three different sauces (a peanut, a seafood one and a spicy red one), raw sliced hot peppers and garlic. The meat was really tender, and the fat and skin was glazed and a great chewy texture. Next was the seafood pancake that was full of fillings and had a great crisp on the surfaces. Every Korean meal has to have some kind of stew, usually my favourite part, and we ordered the dumpling and rice cake stew to share. The service was great and brought a ladle and individual bowls automatically. The dumplings weren’t overcooked or soggy and the homemade skins made a big difference.

One of the dishes that is most well known at Song Cook’s is their “black” noodles, or JaJangMyun, which is a mixture of black bean sauce, vegetables and ground beef. I love the texture of the homemade noodles used in the dish, thick and round but with a texture more like udon than rice or flour noodles. On top of this, we finished off with the TangSuYuk, a Korean-style sweet and sour pork. The pork is battered and fried, there is a lot of vegetables in the dish but the sauce can be a little overwhelming. If there’s a piece left soaking, it will be very sweet.

All of the food and our bill came to only $20 per person. With so many menu options that are different from a usual Korean restaurant Toronto, I highly recommend trying something new.