El Trompo

El Trompo definitely stands out in the Kensington Market. The burst of red and yellow just screams "Party over here." On the inside you get smacked with bright sunshine yellow walls as well.

To start off me and my cousin wanted to try the guava margarita. Let's just say after a few sips I eventually had to stop since I kept getting a brain freeze. It was thirst quenching but the after effects was not so great.

I had to try the guacamole. It was really really REALLY good.

I kept trying to scoop a big chunk of guacamole onto the corn chip. It was annoying me when I couldn't get a huge portion. Felt like a fat kid trying to get to the cookie jar. I just wanted it all.

Here was the taquito al pastor with pork meat marinated in a traditional sauce served on corn tortillas with pineapple coriander and onion. It was a bit bland at first but once I added the guacamole it was scrumptious. The tacos were actually quite smaller than it looks in the picture. I ate the majority of it since my cousin was saving her stomach to for other goodies in the market.

The guacamole was the star here. I would definitely return for the green mush. As for the tacos maybe try the homemade chorizo next time.

TOTAL BILL $26...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Pita Land

Here's a quick post since I just went for a midnight snack. We were hungry at night but my boyfriend still wanted something healthy to eat even though we had limited choices given the time of our hunger.

He took me to a little sandwich shop located next to a Shell station on the west end. Nothing extravagant or pretty looking about this place. Just a restaurant that makes good food. That's what it's all about.

My boyfriend bought 2 chicken shawarmas and 2 bottled juices. The chicken was moist and juicy. It was a perfect snack. It was filling but not in a disgusted kind of way compared to if you had say a Big Mac. Yuck! Hey I used to eat a lot of those back then when it was Big Mac Mondays or was it Wednesdays. Every single time I had it I would hate myself after. Also within another hour I would be hungry again. But not after this snack. I was good for the night.

Since my boyfriend was a regular here they gave us complimentary lentil soup and samosas. It was yummy but I couldn't finish it since I was already stuffed from the shawarma.

It was perfect midnight snack although others might view this as another meal. Regardless it was cheap and filling. Can't ask for anything more.

TOTAL BILL $17...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Caplansky's Delicatessen

THE CONTENTS OF THIS POST MAY OFFEND SOME READERS. IF YOU DON'T EAT MEAT OR DON'T LIKE MEAT THEN DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT KEEP READING. THE PICTURES ALONE MAY GIVE YOU A HEART ATTACK.

Finally made it to Caplansky's Delicatessen.

After heading to the Bake for Japan event at Cafe Diplomatico and Liberty Noodle, we were famished.

There was a long lineup which took about 10 minutes or so. We thought we were smart arriving at 2pm to avoid the lunch rush guess it's busy no matter what time it was.

One thing I do have to point out that really pissed me off but I didn't find out till after I was able to push my way through to stand beside my friend since I was holding a box of goodies from the bake sale. My friend told me that a child just ran straight to the front of the line and the parents just followed and stood right next to the child. They just bypass everyone else that were lining up using their own child. WTH!!! Nobody even said anything. Umm do they not have any manners? What ever happened to teaching your kids common courtesy? Stupid people. Shame on you for using your kid to avoid lining up. Okay sorry just had to rant about that. Now back to my lunch experience.

Here is a picture of the man himself next to a wall filled with reviews.

Here is the drink menu but we didn't order anything we just wanted FOOD.

They have their own mustard which I used on my pickled tongue sandwich.

Here was the knish which was recommended by a twitter friend. It's a puff pastry filled with smoked meat, potato and spices all swimming in a pool of smoked meat gravy. This was utterly delicious. The pastry was flaky good. The meat filling was juicy and scrumptious. Thanks @MackChiu for the awesome recommendation:)

Here was a side of smoked meat poutine. I think the gravy sauce was identical to the meat sauce in the knish; nonetheless, still meaty good.

Here was the smoked meat hash piled under 2 sunny eggs served with rye toast and a few pieces of fruits. The hash consisted of lean smoked meat, potato, onion and brisket seasoning all griddle fried to perfection. The runny yolk oozing into the pores of the meat hash was a great combination. It tasted so so good. Although here the 2 eggs make it look like some alien head lol or maybe it's just me.

Here was the BBQ beef brisket served with crispy onions and sandwiched in an onion bun. It was monstrous. All you see is a huge pile of meat. It was hard compressing this sandwich and maneuvering it into my mouth. Also even more difficult to eat without creating a mess so let's just say I did not appear very lady-like when chowing down on this sandwich. The strands of meat was tender and juicy and the sauce was dripping down my arms. Very sloppy to eat but very satisfying as well.

Here was the pickled tongue sandwich. OMG!!! The smoked meat was super tender and just melted in your mouth. It was insanely delicious. Simplicity is what sells this sandwich. It's just a mountain of meat on 2 slices of bread with a dab of dijon mustard. Result is one gratifying sandwich.

I dedicate this picture to my friend Vivian. She was petrified of this sandwich lol. The bumpy texture of the skin gave her shivers. Lucky for me I had this sandwich all to myself. It was yummy in my tummy:)

The food here is mind blowing along with mammoth portions. Clearly we underestimated the portions but the owner underestimated me and my friend. He didn't think we could finish it all. Ha! We showed him. He even came to our table at the end of the meal and congratulated us on finishing everything. Also he must've thought we were beasts haha. Never underestimate Asian girls we can eat.

TOTAL BILL $41...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Joey Don Mills

This picture here is actually the ladies washroom facility not the actual restaurant. Pretty neat eh? I showed it to my boyfriend and he said that the men's was dark and cold looking. Then again the women's washroom always appears prettier than the guys. Don't think the guys spend as much time as the ladies do in there (for different reasons not the necessity part hehe) so maybe that's the logic as to why the female facilities always appear nicer than the boys. Any hoot back to the restaurant. Sorry I started with the washroom first haha but I just thought it looked pretty cool.

The reason I wanted to try Joey Don Mills was because I was searching online for a place where I can get a chocolate souffle and I saw a few reviewers recommending this restaurant located at the newly developed outdoor mall Shops at Don Mills. This mall has only been opened since 2009 but in my opinion there's really not much to look at. It's perfect for residents in the neighborhood to stroll around or bring their kids to the little water fountain in the summer but other than that I wouldn't consider it a mall.

We arrived around 1pm and the place was not busy at all. Perfect for us since we were starving. Upon entering the restaurant I was astounded at the size of the place it was enormous. The decor appeared to be quite cold with the gray, black and brown leather. Think it looked like Moxies but for a more older clientele.

I really liked this chandeliar. It was in the stairwell leading to the washroom It was a piece of art but I would imagine difficult to clean.

We started off with the ahi tuna tacos. The tuna was seared rare and was topped on a bunch of sesame ginger and coleslaw accompanied with a wasabi-lime aioli sauce. The tacos were bursting with flavor and I don't think it even needed the aioli. Almost too much flavor where it overpowered the tuna. I almost forgot about the piece of fish if it wasn't for the soft texture. The wasabi-lime sauce was quite bland and didn't really add much to the tacos.

My boyfriend ordered the beef dip sandwich with thinly shaved pieces of tender beef, grilled onions and dijon mustard on an Italian bun served with au jus and a huge bowl of skinny fries. The meat on its own lacked flavor but once dipped in the bowl of sauce ta da that's where all the flavor came from. It was scrumptious but very messy to eat. Even my boyfriend had trouble fitting it into his mouth so he tried to compress it so it would fit.

Here was my meal. This was on my list to try as well. The Atlantic lobster grilled cheese sandwich with brie and cheddar cheese.

At first I was a bit disappointed at the size of the sandwich. It was ONE sandwich but cut into quarters and then piled on top of one another to appear like it's a big portion. I thought I was getting jipped here. But with the richness of the lobster added with the heaviness of the cheese guess the portion was right after all. I was stuffed. It was really cheesy good but so rich. I dipped it in the cocktail sauce which cut the richness a bit but I found it more appetizing when I dipped it in my boyfriend's au jus. Now that made it more tastier.

The bowl of fries I did not care for since I like my fries crispy and this still needed to be fried a lil bit longer. Huge portion but needed it to be crispy.

Now the star of the meal and the one I've been waiting to try, my molten lava chocolate souffle. We waited around 15 minutes or so for this dessert. Or maybe it was shorter but I was just too impatient. Well when you see this arrive aren't you just ready to dig in?

I pierced into the cake with my fork and this mountain of chocolate sauce came oozing out. OMG! There's a reason why it's called lava cake because the chocolate almost burned my tongue. But it was quickly soothed by the coldness of the vanilla ice cream and the raspberry sauce. This is now my favourite chocolate cake. This was ORGASMIC!!! I mean it's so good you just wanna slap your momma. Okay maybe not lol. But it really is that good.

If anybody plans to try out this souffle let me know and I will be there to eat it err enjoy it with you:)

TOTAL BILL $60...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Dragon Pearl

This is definitely the biggest Chinese buffet I have ever been to. Wait how big is the Mandarin buffet in Brampton? Might be the same size I'm not sure since I have only been there once.

Sorry off track here. Back to the Dragon Pearl.

It's funny you would expect to see a dragon of some sort since the restaurant's name has the word 'Dragon' in it but what I saw at the front of the restaurant was this weird faceless blue creature with may I say some huge pearls hehe playing a guitar. I thought it was placed there by accident or something but after entering the restaurant I found that it was part of the decor. I still don't know what it's suppose to be or how it's related to the Asian theme. Guess that will be a mystery I will never uncover.

Now this definitely goes with the Asian decor. Everybody likes a happy smiling Buddha.

The waiting area was definitely unique. A whole row of statues of animal zodiac signs.

This is my animal, the rooster. Don't get me mad or I will peck at you hehe. Man why couldn't I be something cute like the rabbit or playful like the monkey lol.

Here was something pretty cool. The chef was flinging a single thin strand of noodle continuously into a boiling pot. This picture was the best I could capture since the guy was whipping it so fast that it was just a blur in the snapshot.

Here was the dessert table. I didn't really take any pix of the other stations since there were just too many people wondering about.

I thought the teapot looked nice so I snapped a photo of it. The holder is actually heart-shaped.

A piece of card is placed for each individual at a table so you can only get one serving for whatever is the special of the day. Tonight it was shrimp. On weekends I believe it's lobster. I did not eat the shrimp but my boyfriend found it to be really mush so it wasn't at all appetizing.

Here was my first plate of food. I had grilled pineapple, some stir fried veggies, sushi pizza, sweet potato pancakes and BBQ beef ribs. The best item on this place was the grilled pineapple. It was really juicy and sweet. The remaining items were just mediocre to me nothing that really excited me.

The salmon here was pretty fresh. The crispy salmon skin was horrendous. It just tasted way too fishy for me. The sushi rolls were okay considering it was an AYCE.

Here was my last plate of food. It included black peppered beef, spicy green beans, yam, baked salmon, tofu and some ketchup-flavored noodles which I guess was suppose to be pad thai. The only thing I enjoyed in this round was the yam. Everything else was just eh.

For dessert nothing caught my eye so I settled on this sweet soy/tofu dish. The 3 or 4 spoons of honey I added definitely sweetened it up and made it more enjoyable.

I also had the coffee flavored ice cream sprinkled well more like a huge scoop of cookie crumbs lol. It was just okay as well.

To end the meal can't forget our fortune cookies. I don't remember what mine said but it was one of those that don't make sense lol.

Overall, the buffet was just eh to me. Nothing wow and nothing too horrible. The only points I give is for the decor and the size of the place.

Me and my sister-in-law had differing opinions as to which buffet was better, Dragon Pearl or Mandarin. She thought this place was better than Mandarin. C'mon what other buffet offers all-you-can-eat CRAB LEGS. The only thing I will hand to Dragon Pearl was their sushi bar. It was way better than Mandarin but other than that they can't hold a candle next to Mandarin.

TOTAL BILL $23 (per person)...ONCE IS ENOUGH!!!