Kim's Ichiban 金一番 review

I didn't take the picture, this picture is taken from: http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/kims-ichiban-richmond-hill

Kim's Ichiban 金一番 (sushi take-out)

Location: 550 Hwy 7 E., Unit 99 Bldg. E., Richmond Hill (in Time Square plaza)
Phone: (905) 881 2583
Hours: Monday 12:30PM - 9:00PM // Tuesday - Sunday 10:00AM - 9:30PM
Menu:

Went to Kim's Ichiban to get sushi take-out for dinner tonight. Their fish are so fresh & yummy!

Sashimi Party Tray (small) $20
- on the menu, it says the small sashimi tray can serve 1-2 guests
- the sashimi are so fresh!!!
- the slice are thick, yummy
- a lot of different kind of sashimi!! - red tuna, salmon, butterfish, red snapper.... and more
- Sashimi party tray (medium) - serve 3-4 guests $30
- Sashimi party tray (large) - serve 4-6 guests $50
- Sashimi party tray (extra large) $70

Sushi Party Tray (medium) $30
- on the menu, it says the medium sushi party tray can serve 3-4 guests
- around 30 sushi & 12 rolls
- the sashimi are so fresh and fatty! YUMMY! =D
- the fish on top of the sushi is sliced very thick! YUMMY!
- a lot of varieties of sushi! salmon, red tuna, eel, butterfish, octopus.. and more
- the California rolls are good, but the other roll with cooked tuna in it doesn't taste that good =/
- the sushi party tray DOES NOT come with those 2 uni sushi (I ordered it on the side - it's $5.50 for 1 order of uni sushi (1 order = 2 pieces of sushi)
- Sushi party tray (large) - serve 4-6 guests $50
- Sushi party tray (extra large) $70

Chapchae / Chapjae - Korean noodle $0 FREE
- I was surprised there were so many boxes and I asked what is it & the boss told me it's a bonus for me, I didn't open it until I got home - It's ChapChae!!! One of my favourite food!!
- it's a cold dish, it's sooo yummy!!!!
- It has a little sweet taste! & a bit of sesame oil and sesame in it, SO YUMMY =D

Grace

Sano Sushi 佐野 review

Sano Sushi 佐野 (all you can eat)

Location: 8143 Yonge Street, Thornhill
Phone: (905) 771 9861
Price: (lunch) $12.95 // (dinner) $20.95 (15% off if you pay by cash, don't know when the offer is going to end though, call before you go)
More info: http://www.sanosushi.com/
1st visit: http://grace510.blogspot.com/2012/01/sano-sushi-review.html
2nd visit: http://grace510.blogspot.com/2012/02/sano-sushi-review-2nd-visit.html
3rd visit: I didn't take any pictures / write any post..
4th visit: http://grace510.blogspot.ca/2012/02/sano-sushi-review-4th-visit.html
Went Sano Sushi again last night. It's probably my 6th time..
The boss made us a very nice starter!!! =)


Grace

Guu Izakaya 居酒屋 review

Guu Izakaya 居酒屋

Location: 398 Church Street, Toronto
Phone: (416) 977 0999 (DOES NOT TAKE RESERVATIONS)
Hours: Monday - Friday: 5:00PM - 11:30PM // Saturday & Sunday: 4:00PM - 11:30PM
More info: http://guu-izakaya.com/toronto/
Menu: http://guu-izakaya.com/under/menu/TorontoFoodMenu.pdf

Guu is one of my favourite Japanese Izakaya! The place so lively and nice. The food are SOOOO YUMMY =D ! Gotta try this out if you haven't been there!

Gyu Carpaccio $6.5 - seared beef sashimi with ponzu, wasabi mayo, & garlic chips
- this is SO GOOD! MUST TRY!
- the beef sashimi is so fresh!
- it taste so good with the sauce & garlic chips!

Salmon tataki (or Aburi Salmon) $6.8 - seared B.C. salmon sashimi with ponzu, wasabi mayo & garlic chips
- I have tried a lot of salmon tataki before, Guu's salmon tataki is one of my favourite one
- this is also a MUST TRY!

Kakimayo $7.2 - baked B.C. oyster with mushrooms, spinach, & garlic mayo topped with cheese
- AGAIN, SO GOOD! The melting cheese, the fresh oyster, the mushroom. OMG! MUST TRY!

Takoyaki $5 - deep fried octopus balls with tonkatsu sauce & karashi mayo
- it's pretty good! but nothing really special.

Oden Udon - Udon in soup with egg, tofu, radish... (forgot how much it is)
- the soup base is so good!!!
- the udon is so far the best udon I had in Toronto. It's not just another udon. Guu's udon is so chewy, so yummy!!!!!

Yaki Udon $7.8 - pan fried udon noodles with beef, mushrooms, & scallop
- again, the udon itself is so good!
- this taste so good!!

Place:
- SO so SO CROWDED! always full of people! always long line ups! So you better show up as early as you can (last time I went at 6PM and I waited for more than 1 hour to get seated..)
- there is a parking lot right across the street (i think the parking machine only take credit cards)

Food:
- everything is so good!
- MUST TRY: Gyu Carpaccio (beef sashimi), Salmon tataki (aburi salmon), and the Kakimayo (baked oyster)

Service:
- there are alot of servers working. They are all so friendly & attentive!

Grace

News: You've got mail - from beyond the grave 美漢收已死老友電郵

AHHHHH~ scary news that I have came across today!!! It's SO SCARY! 睇完呢篇新聞都毛管棟!!

【明報專訊】美國一名男子去年因病猝逝，事後5個月，多名親友卻離奇收到他「發出」的電郵，問候各人近况，連死後發生的事情似乎亦瞭如指掌。其家人聲稱並不知道他的電郵密碼，亦不相信其電郵帳號遭黑客入侵，令事件更形詭秘。

疑發出「黃泉電郵」的美國賓夕法尼亞男子弗勒澤（Jack Froese）去年6月因心律失調猝死，終年32歲。

其中一名收到電郵的，是其多年好友哈特（Tim Hart），他稱去年11月收到弗勒澤的電郵，主旨是「我正看着你」，信中說：「你聽到嗎？我正在你家裏。去清理你他媽的閣樓！」哈特稱當時極震驚，因為 弗勒澤死前不久曾與哈特兩個人到過閣樓，當時弗勒澤嘲笑那裏亂七八糟又滿是塵埃。事後哈特曾回覆電郵，但沒有回音。

弗勒澤的表弟亦在去年11月收到弗勒澤 的電郵，問候其剛在一周前弄傷的足踝，又請他轉告另一朋友因電郵失靈，因此無法與其聯絡。

電郵的來源至今仍是個謎，不過親友都不打算找出真相，視電郵為來自弗勒澤的禮物。

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E7%BE%8E%E6%BC%A2%E6%94%B6%E5%B7%B2%E6%AD%BB%E8%80%81%E5%8F%8B%E9%9B%BB%E9%83%B5-211852902.html

You've got mail - from beyond the grave

When Tim Hart received an email from a dead man, the only thing he could think of doing was to send a reply. He hasn’t heard anything back, writes BRIAN BOYD

A FEW MONTHS AGO, Tim Hart received an email from his best friend, Jack Froese. The two, both from Pennsylvania in the US, had been having a running mock argument about the dirt and mess that had accumulated in Hart’s attic. Froese’s email from last November to his friend read: “Did you hear me? I’m at your home. Clean your f***ing attic!!”.

Upon receipt of the email, Hart suddenly felt very sick and turned ghost white. Froese had died suddenly five months before the email was sent.

“I was sitting on my couch and going through emails on my phone and it popped up as sender Jack Froese,” Hart told BBC News. “I read it – it was very quick and short but to a point that only Jack and I could relate to”.

When he calmed down enough after receiving the email from a dead friend, the only thing Hart could think of doing was to send a reply. He still hasn’t heard anything back.

Two other friends and Froese’s cousin, Jimmy McGraw, also reported receiving emails from beyond the grave. With emotions ranging from anger and shock to an eerie feeling that somehow their friend was still watching them, they got in touch with Froese’s family to tell them what had happened.

Froese’s family haven’t received any emails – they were sent only to the dead man’s two close friends and his cousin. His mother, Patty, said she realised the emails “made some people happy, but they upset some people”.

Froese was just 32 when he died suddenly from heart arrhythmia. His friends could only conclude that someone had hacked into Froese’s email account to send the messages – as some sort of bizarre prank. But whoever did this – or simply just knew the password that Froese used – would have to have known some very personal details that were referred to in the mystery emails — and Froese’s friends say this is impossible.

It is remarkably easy to send emails when you’re dead. There’s a service called Dead Man’s Switch (deadmansswitch.net) which allows you to send a series of staggered messages for months after your death.

You write them up beforehand and then a programme allows your email account to send them out at intervals of one week/one month/three months, etc.

However, if you don’t tell people that you have registered with the site and that they will be receiving emails from you after your death, the effect can be a little disconcerting.

As the Dead Man’s Switch page explains to potential users: “Bad things happen. Sometimes they happen to you. If something does happen, you might wish there was something you had told the people around you . . .

“You write a few emails and choose the recipients. These emails are stored securely, so no one except the intended recipient will ever read them.”

The site gets in touch with users every so often “to make sure you are fine”. If they don’t receive a reply from you after 60 days, they start sending out your “dead” emails at the time intervals you previously specified.

Case closed then it seems for the mysterious emails from beyond the grave incident in Pennsylvania. Froese could have been a user of the Dead Man’s Switch or another similar site, but neglected to tell his best friends that they would be receiving emails from him after his death.

But in the spirit of the great TV detective Lieutenant Columbo — there’s just one more thing. Froese’s cousin, Jimmy McGraw, says one of the emails he received read: “Hey Jim, how ya doing? I knew you were gonna break your ankle, tried to warn you. Gotta be careful.”

But McGraw broke his ankle five months after the death of his cousin.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0317/1224313455080.html

Grace

Double Filet-O-Fish (McDonald's)

This is probably my 4th Double Filet-O-Fish this year. It comes out every year as a seasonal promotion. But I didn't pay attention which months it comes out..

I LOVE the fried fish filet and the sauce in it! It's so YUMMY =D
Go try it out before it stops the promotion!

More info: http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en/promotions/double_filet_o_fish.html

Grace

Double Ming Chinese Dessert 圓明圓 review

Double Ming Chinese Dessert 圓明圓

Location: 4186-4188 Finch Avenue E., Unit 23A, Scarborough (Finch Avenue E & Midland Avenue)
Phone: (416) 335 0200
Hours: Monday CLOSED, Tuesdays - Thursdays & Sundays: 3PM - 1AM, Fridays - Saturdays: 3PM - 1:30AM

Double Ming has always been my favourite Chinese dessert place! However, it's pretty far from where I live, so I rarely go there =/ But tonight I happened to be eating in that area (Made in China Hot Pot: this hot pot place is pretty good!! =D) so I went to Double Ming for dessert after dinner..

Boiled papaya with white fungus 冰糖雪耳燉木瓜 (with coconut milk or milk. 加椰汁或鮮奶) $4.5
- here, we didn't pick coconut milk or milk, just plain boiled papaya with white fungus

Fresh mango with sweet sago 芒果西米露 $5.75
- it's not on the menu they gave you, it's on the wall
- I always ordered this when I come here, but feels like the quality is going down =(
- it's sort of tasteless...
- however, the mango is still good, sweet & yummy!

Sago soup with taro and coconut juice 椰汁芋頭西米露 $4
- we ordered a hot one, it's pretty good! =D

Grace

Home of Hot-Taste review

Home of Hot-Taste

Location: 5 Glen Cameron Road, Thornhill (Yonge Street & Clark Avenue)
Phone: (905) 881 0230

Haven't had Korean food for quite some time, probably 2, 3 months..
So I decided to go to a new Korean restaurant tonight- Home of Hot-Taste.

I have never been there but I have heard some good comments about them!
It turns out the place is a modern Korean restaurant not those tradition Korean place, the food there is not typical Korean food (I don't see pork bone soup or any of those tradition Korean dishes) instead they are mostly CHICKEN - whole chicken, half chicken, chicken wings...

The free appetizers (salad & pickled carrot)

Fried rice with oyster, kimchi, and vegetables $6.99
- I LOVE IT! =D
- even it says spicy on the menu, it's NOT THAT SPICY, just a little little bit spicy =) *ps. I can't really take the heat, but I can still eat it.
- for the non-oyster people, you can't really taste the oyster, so don't be too worry about the oyster
- the portion is pretty small
- AGAIN, absolutely LOVE IT! =D

Blazing fire chicken with sausage $15.99
- it's quite funny to see sausage at a Korean restaurant.. I have never seen any sausage dishes at Korean's
- the sausage is barbequed, it's pretty good!
- the chicken is spicy, NOT SUPER SPICY, but spicy.
- the chicken is not bad, NOT too dry

Crispy spicy chicken wings (small) $7.99 - There are 8 pieces.
- you can choose to get chicken wings (large) for $13.99 /or/ half chicken for $8.99 /or/ whole chicken for $16.99
- it's GOOD! it's crispy and well-sauced! YUMMY!!!
- it's also NOT that spicy even though the name said its spicy. It's kinda spicy & sweet! =)
- the wings are NOT dry, it's good!! =D

I think I will visit again! =)

Grace

A La Kitchen 阿拉 review

A La Kitchen 阿拉

Location: 21 Fairburn Drive, Unit #18, Markham (behind the First Markham Place)
Phone: (905) 946 7990

Went to A La for dinner tonight at around 8:30PM. There weren't too much people (guess it's cuz it's Tuesday & its late)

Yellow fish soup with Shanghai vegetable 薺菜黃魚羹 $9.99 (regular size - serve around 7-8 people)
- It's was not bad..

Green Onion cake 蔥油餅 $2.99
- it's not bad.

Steamed pork dumplings 南翔小籠包 (4 for $3.80)
we had 2 orders (8 dumplings).
- it was alright
- the meat inside was so-so

Pan-fried pork dumplings 鮮肉鍋貼 (4 for $3.80)
we had 2 orders (8 dumplings).
- it's pretty good

Fried egg white & broccoli 賽螃蟹 $12.99
- this is so good, I LOVE IT =D
- the dish was finished in a few minutes! Wish the portion was bigger!!
(I love to add some vinegar to it, it taste even better!!)

Braised minced pork balls with vegetable 菜芯獅子頭 $10.99
- the sauce is pretty good!
- the pork ball is yummy!

Fish fillet with sweet sour sauce 糖醋魚片 $10.99
- pretty good, but wish it's a little bit more sweet & sour
- portion is pretty small =/

Braised chicken with green onion (comes with 6 pieces of "pancakes") 木須雞 (配6片"薄餅") $10.99
- the "pancakes".... are just the one served with peking duck.. so thin and small =.="""
- the chicken was okay

Fried shanghai noodle 上海粗炒 $7.99
- it's a bit too oily.. other than that it's okay

Deep fried red bean pancakes 豆沙窩餅 $4.50
- it's not that good..
- too little red bean inside..

Deep fried egg white ball with mashed sesame 高力芝麻 (4 for $5.99)
I have tried deep fried egg white ball with mashed red bean 高力豆沙 before, but this is my first time eating deep fried egg white ball with mashed sesame 高力芝麻! They look the same, just different in the inside.
- I actually like deep fried egg white ball with mashed sesame better than mashed red bean!
- the deep fried egg white ball taste really good, strong flavour of egg and the texture is so soft & spongy 好有蛋味! 好鬆軟!
- MUST TRY! =) ** remember its with mashed sesame, not the one with mashed red bean oh**


Grace