Ham and Leek tart anyone?

My boyfriend's friend and girlfriend flew in from Kelowna for a wedding in the city. We had been asked to go out that night for bowling with them but the attendance stats looked pretty low. I had gone over to my boyfriend's place later that night and were very indecisive of where we wanted to eat (we weren't gonna cook or do any dishes). My boyfriend then called his friend and asked if he had eaten. Apparently, they have not eaten and were highly interested in grabbing a bite to eat. I suggested to meet downtown since it's the midpoint for all of us. And then I suggested Moriarty's Bistro and Wine bar.

This place is relatively new, opening earlier this year. It used to be called Ching's Dim Sum Bar, an upscale Asian dining experience that turned into a club at night. It's located on Rice Howard Way, right beside Sherlock Holmes Pub (Moriarty was the archenemy of Sherlocke in the fictional novel of Sherlocke Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). Moriarty's is also owned by the same owners as Sherlocke Holmes and the Rose and Crown Pub. Glass windows and large glass door encase this small bistro. Inside is quite contemporary. Dim lighting with black decor: black chairs and tables, black rabbit table lamps and black cushioning on the wall. Perhaps it's a little too dark? But that's not the point...I'm only here to try the food!

I decided to order a mimosa, which is essentially orange juice and champagne mixed together. Eick. It wasn't good. The orange juice wasn't sweet and the champagne was strong; perhaps I was too hungry so I felt like I got drunk rather too quickly.  I scan through the menu deciding what to order. I remember reading in another blog about the ham and leek tart.  Ham and leek tart? Mmmm. That actually sounds yummy. I like ham and I just LOVE leeks. And a tart? That could be interesting. I ask the waitress when she comes to take our orders how the tarts are. She points out the "M" indicates their signature dishes. The "M" was beside the dish I wanted to order: the ham and leek tart. Tada! Exactly what I wanted. The waitress also describes the tart pastry as being very light, not heavy like pastry usually is.

My dish comes. Piled high with layers of leeks, I can see the house-smoked ham underneath. I cannot wait and dive into my first bite of the tart. Mmmmmmmmmm.

This is good stuff! I mean, really good stuff! I can taste the base of the tart, shaped like a large rectangular pizza, is spread with seedy dijon mustard. Then there's the ham, the leeks and the parmesan cheese. There's quite a bit of pepper for seasoning on the leeks which makes it, I think, even tastier. Gosh, this is really good I thought to be myself. I would come back only for this (I apologize for the dark photos as I only had my phone camera with me).

Surprisingly my boyfriend and I had room for dessert. The other party bailed on dessert as they were too full. Without thinking, my boyfriend and I chose the Root Beer Creme Brulee as this was one of their signature dishes. Whoa! Interesting flavours in my mouth. I could taste the subtle flavour of the root beer come through in my mouth in the brulee. It was accompanied by vanilla ice cream. This is a nice top off for dinner.

Root Beer Creme Brulee

So...in response to my post title: me please!

Famous, greasy donairs in Halifax.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

I am sure most Canadians now know that Nova Scotia, specifically Halifax has the best donairs in the country. They have a large population of people who speak Lebanese who have immigrated here from Lebanon years ago. Donairs originate from Lebanon and is probably one of their most celebrated foods. Donairs consist of marinated and seasoned beef meat that's been processed to look like a huge log. They are then put on a large, rotating roaster lengthwise and kept on low heat to keep the meat at a warm and consistent temperature. They are wrapped in pita bread, topped with onions, tomatoes and of course the signature donair sauce. This sauce has a mayonnaise texture, but is a lot sweeter and has a special spice to it, which of course give the donairs it's signature taste.

My boyfriend and I were heading to Wolfville and I wanted to stop by Halifax because I've never been. We only had about an hour to kill so unfortunately, we didn't make it to down town Halifax. But not to worry. There were little donair joints in and around town. We set our GPS to the closest King of Donair. We followed and it led us to one in a shopping centre (hey, didn't Trailer Park Boys film part of an episode in King of Donair?)

I was only interested in getting a donair and nothing else. They separate the donairs by pound a price. 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, etc. We shared the 1/2 lb for $6.99 with the works on it (onions, tomatoes). It ended up being a little over $8 because of the darn HST. We sat down by, in what I think, the world's largest portable fan. This thing was massive and awesome for a beautiful day like this in Halifax. And then our donair was ready. Holy man is that loads of greasy meat. And then some. Topped with tomatoes and onions and that special sauce. Wow, that really does have a lot of flavour to it. The meat was salty and spicy. Tomatoes and onions always taste good, but the combination of the sweetness from the sauce helps balance out the saltiness of the meat.

It was pretty good. Wayyyyy too greasy though. I don't know if I'll rave about it because I've had donairs that my mom has made and they are honestly tasty, minus the extra 1/2 lb meat on top. But at least I can say I've tried a super greasy and somewhat satifisfying-for-the-tastebuds donair the Haligonians rave about.

Verdict: pretty scrumptious

http://www.kingofdonair.ca/

Seafood, seafood, seafood...at Water-Prince Corner Shop.

Charlottetown Waterfront, Prince Edward Island


During my time here in Charlottetown, we have driven by this corner shop a few times, peeking in the large windows as they were just gearing down for the night. Interesting place I thought, a corner shop? I wonder what they sell. I recall my boyfriend's mom mentioning that when Live with Regis and Kelly was filmed here, Kelly ate at a seafood joint and just raved about it (of course she'll rave about it-she's on live television).


Tonight was one of the last nights my boyfriend and I would spend in Charlottetown, because we were going to drive over to Nova Scotia for a wedding, and the following morning we'd be leavin' on a jet plane back to good ol' Edmonton. We ventured to two places before settling on a restaurant for dinner. Claddagh Oyster House was the first one we came across. Located in a historic building, this is one of the pricier restaurants. All I wanted for supper was some fish 'n' chips and some famous Malpeque oysters. This restaurant was too pricey, so we walked across the street. The Gahan House and Oyster Bar, located in a historic building, is known for their brown bag fish and chips, as well as their in-house brewed ale. I really wanted to eat here, but the waitress told us it will be a  45 minute wait. No way are we going to wait for 45 minutes.


We then walked back to the direction of our car, heading towards the wharf. My boyfriend then mentioned we should check out the place Kelly dined at while she was here to film Regis and Kelly. Given that the next day was Saucer and Cup day, a provincial holiday on the Island, there would probably be a line up at this restaurant as well. We arrived at the corner and saw several people waiting outside. Turns out they were just waiting on the corner. Thank goodness! Perhaps we can finally have a bite to eat? Sure enough, the waitress seated us outside on the side of the street, our table equipped with plastic patio furniture and an umbrella!

Mmmm seafood platter.

I knew exactly what I wanted. I had already tried all the fresh seafood I've been wanting to here, all but fresh Malpeque oysters. So my boyfriend and I shared that, as well as the seafood platter. It consisted of: 1/2 a lobster, P.E.I blue mussels, fried scallops, and fresh cut french fries. Oooh boy this should be good. Surprisingly, the Malpeque oysters did not have that much flavour other than sweet; perhaps they were too small. I drizzled it with a bit of cocktail sauce and squeezed fresh lemon juice. Delish. Next up came our platter. I had the lobster because my boyfriend detests lobster. Dipped it in vinegar. Oooh boy. Yum. The fried scallops were pretty good. Crispy, light batter, dipped in cocktail sauce. The mussels were sweet and fresh as usual. The fries sure tasted like they were freshly cut and fried.


Seafood isn't exactly filling, so that left room in our stomachs for dessert. "Strawberry shortcake!" I say. The strawberry shortcake here is a lot different than the kind out here. It's so much better than the ones out here. They are homemade and they actually use fresh strawberries. The "cake" part is actually bannock (native Indians make this, it's like a scone), cut in half and filled with strawberries and topped with more strawberries and topped with whipped cream. Typically, strawberry syrup is drizzled over it, but this version there wasn't leaving the bannock a bit too dry to swallow. Other than that, we inhaled it in 3 minutes.


Overall, this restaurant was pretty good. Cute location. There isn't really a secret to seafood, as long as it fresh. Although, they charge a decent price for bulk lobster and mussels; I brought some home for my family. $1.69/lb of mussels and $8.99/lb cooked lobster.$12 for packing to bring it on the plane.
Verdict: scrumptious!
http://www.waterprincelobster.ca/

Teriyaki Corner on Ellerslie & 91st

Mom and I were cruisin' down Ellerslie and 91st one day and decided to check out the Summerside corner of Ellerslie. Good Earth Coffeehouse had opened, so we decided to see what else was open. Sure enough, more restaurants were down the stip mall, there was a Vietnamese Pho Noodle Place, but it wasn't opened yet. There was also a place serving East Indian Cuisine, but also wasn't opened yet. The last one on the block: Teriyaki Corner. Teriyaki Corner? I think I've been in one before, but did not get a chance to eat because they were closing for the night. It was located in the west end, near Lewis Estates.


My mom and I were getting hungry as we were doing our "wondering shopping" after work. We decide to go inside. Hmmm. Interesting. There are two seats (one when you first enter, the other in the dining room) that are held up by thick ropes to mimic swings.
The cashier greets us (who is also the co-owner). I look at the menu. "Whhooooa" i thought to myself, there's a lot on the menu! The cashier/owner was very nice; he gave us a pamphlet menu to look at and asked us what we would like to try. There's a variety of rice bowls, maki, sashimi, udon and even bubble tea on the menu. You can also choose if you want a mini size of it, or the full size, which I think is quite cute. After looking at the menu with wandering eyes for 5 minutes, my mom and I settle on the "mini" pork cutlet bowl, and the dragon eyes roll. The dragon eyes roll is a play on Mikado's famous Dragon roll. It contains a spicy cooked tuna roll, wrapped around one more layer of rice and seaweed. The outside is then coated in a thin tempura batter. But that isn't the star of the show. The star is definitely the creamy spicy sauce. Man, have they got it bang on! For those of you who've tried this Dragon roll and it's sauce at Mikado...they've got it. The secret is out!


As for the mini pork cutlet rice bowl, it wasn't too bad. I didn't expect the cutlet to be fried; there were marinated cold bean sprouts and edamame beans, topped with their Teriyaki sauce. It was pretty good, but nothing I haven't tasted.


This cute little fast-food sushi joint is definitely worthwhile to try. Tokyo Express has been around for a while and to be quite frank, ain't that great. Teriyaki Corner's choice for quality of food is better than TE. Loyal fans of TE, move over and make room for Teriyaki Corner. Hiiiiiiiii yyyyyahhhh.
Verdict: scrumptious!
http://teriyakicorner.com/

Where great food meets art, jewellery, scenery and beautiful flowers

Brackley Beach, Prince Edward Island


This was one of the first days where my boyfriend and I explored the Island on our own.  His parents had shown me around because they had taken some time off as well. First on our itinerary that day was The Dunes. The Dunes is a popular attraction located in Brackley, PEI. The Dunes is an art gallery filled with art from Island artists. It also has eclectic jewlery, furniture, a beautiful garden out back, and not to mention a superb cafe serving up delicious fare. Not too far down the road is Brackley Beach, a popular tourist beach. 


We had planned on having lunch here and skipped out on breakfast, so by the time we arrived, we were starving. The lunch line was about a 30-minute wait, but it wasn't so bad because there was alot of interesting stuff to see!We were given a buzzer until our table was ready, but the buzzer didn't go off. We checked the status of our table and sure enough, we were next in line! Perfect timing.


We got seated upstairs beside the window that looked out to the garden. I was excited! Great view and the food on the menu sounded yummy. When I'm out this far in Atlantic Canada, how could I not have seafood chowder? I mean, that's one of my favourite soups.

Atlantic seafood chowder-tomato based.

So for starters, seafood chowder it was. My boyfriend ordered roasted red pepper and coconut, the soup of the day. Maaaaaaan was my chowder one of the best I've tried! It was tomato based, which I prefer because it's less filling and less fattening than the roux-based chowder soup (flour and butter and cream). Mussels, small chunks of halibut and salmon, topped with a red-pepper rouille, this soup was a meal on it's own. I stole a bite of my boyfriend's soup- it wasn't as tasty as mine, duh!


My boyfriend ordered the pasta of the day: pancetta and spinach pasta, while I had ordered the turkey burger with fresh greens, and lemon preserve artichoke salad for the main course. I wasn't even sure if I could fit that in as I was full from the chowder.  But knowing me, I'll chow it down! The burger wasn't too bad; the meat was a little dry probably because it was lean and it was seasoned with curry (which I didn't realize when I ordered). It was tasty, but I much liked the chowder before. The small portion of the lemon preserve artichoke salad was something else. The subtle taste of the lemon preserve, combined with the tartness of the lemon paired with almonds, was a new taste for me. And I absolutely adored it. I kept in mind that I'll have to make it when I get home.  My boyfriend's pasta dish was also very tasty; quite creamy but the smoky flavour of the pancetta went well with the spinach. I snagged bites here and there. ;-)


No room for dessert here. But there was definitely room for a nice little walk around the garden. Next time I come to Prince Edward Island, I am going to make another stop here for sure.
Verdict: so-darn-scrumptious!
http://www.dunesgallery.com/

Lobster dinner in a church basement. Yes, I did say church. And basement.

New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island

This is probably going to be one of the most memorable suppers I've ever had while on vacation, especially in the Maritimes. My first ever visit to the Maritimes and my first ever dinner in a church basement. It's totally not what you think it is. The food, service and setting make this traditional lobster dinner a must since it's humble beginnings in 1964.


After a long day spent at the Anne of Green Gables historic museum, we topped off the day with a traditional lobster dinner. It was me, my boyfriend and his parents. Although this isn't my very first lobster experience, it's my first eating-in-a-church setting. The church is sort of in the middle of nowhere; nestled between scenic rolling hills, it's no wonder P.E.I is known for it's beauty.

You can't leave P.E.I without having this memorable meal.

All entree's are served as a five course meal. And there was quite a bit to choose from, like surf 'n' turf, island beef, shrimp, and of course, lobster. I knew what I wanted; the 1 lb lobster. Why wouldn't I? That's what I was here for! Here's the breakdown of my 5 course dinner:

• Seafood chowder
• Caesar salad
• Fresh PEI blue mussels
• 1lb lobster; cracked with side potatoe and roasted veggies
• lemon meringue pie.

All that for $31.99. What a bargain. I think it came with a beverage too, but I didn't take notice until after we were finished.


The seafood was fresh and just perfect the way it was served, without seasoning. Although I've now learned that vinegar makes a great accompaniment to lobster (give it a try sometime). It enhances the aste in a way and compliments it in a savoury way.

I am totally in love with P.E.I. Not only are the surroundings beautiful, but the food is truly phenomenal because they have abundant farmland, surrounded my ocean waters filled with tasty seafood treasures.


Verdict: sooooooo scrumpidly-uptious!


http://www.lobstersuppers.com/

Chicken feet at dim sum + boyfriend = one time experience only.

For those of you who are familiar with the widely popular ritual of dim sum, there can be many scrumptious dishes, scrumptious dishes you don't know what exactly-they-are, and not-so-scrumptious dishes that do not look appealing at all.


I'll take my boyfriend's experience this past weekend for example. I've already taken him a few times for dim sum and he for the most part, enjoys the food served. Fresh pineapple buns, siu mai, dumplings, daikon cakes and beef tripe.  All except one dish I coerced him to try (with the help of my cousin, which says that it'll make his skin nicer...haha) :chicken feet! I told him the way it should be eaten, the skin and tendons. It sounded rather disturbing to him, but somehow he agreed to try it. "Yer supposed to suck on the bones and spit 'em out on yer plate. Nice, heh?" Well, it's true. That's how we Chinese folk eat 'em. But I certainly do not eat it on a regular basis as it's quite fattening.


After that, it was written on his face that he wouldn't do it again. But, hah! I got him to do it the first and last time.


So, that's it for this entry. Wasn't about me trying a new thing, but rather my boyfriend trying a new thing. But seeing his facial expression was totally a new experience for me!
:-)
Verdict: not-so-scrumptious for him