Located at the South Side of King Street West – we never fail to visit Rodney’s when we are in Toronto.   A dozen of oysters with a dash of Tabasco sauce and a squeeze of lemon – that is the start of our evening before we headed towards Massey Hall.  And all throughout the show – I was thinking of the 12 succulent oysters that I had greedily slurped.  I wanted to go back for more – but my tummy just didn’t think I could stomach it.  Another time – another day – Rodney!

Trips to Vancouver usually amazes me how many new restaurants are opened – since the last time we were there – and we do go to Vancouver very often at that.  Recently there – we were introduced to some fine dining around Vancouver – by some business associate of the spouse – and food was indeed awesome.  With so many restaurants popping up like popcorn in Vancouver,  I too want to own a  restaurant supplies company in Vancouver, I bet I will make some good money.

This was a Japanese restaurant that we had gone to – I can’t remember the name – but it was at West Broadway – and it was pretty good and will try this restaurant again in the near future.

More sashimi – for us during the evening.

We had also visited a new Chinese restaurant that sold roasted pig – I haven’t had this for a long time now.

Some fried crab noodles for the table.

And for dessert – mini egg tarts.  Yummy to the max.  I do love going to Vancouver – they have so many nice and great restaurants there – I would love to live there when the spouse retires.

So I learned that there is a re-franchise opportunity in town – after receiving a flyer at home about it.  Tempted as I might be – do I really want to fork out $60K from my own pocket and be tied down to a business – I asked myself?  If I was a lot younger – I’m sure I would love to take up the challenge.  Now if I was in United States – I can also look at credit card factoring for small business venture – for they do help young entrepreneurs with realizing their dreams.

I talked to the spouse about it – and he too think that when we are a little older after he has retired – it might be a good opportunity to look for a franchise like the meat shop.  Especially for someone who travels as much as he does – he doubt he can just sit home and do nothing.   Looking at the stimulus funding available – it’s very tempting, for one can get up to as much as $250K – now that would be nice.  A lot of money to think about – but I think if you had some money to back you up on a new venture – you will have more freedom to hire and expand your inventory quickly.  Something to seriously think about in a few years down the road.

Why are they called Belgian fries when they are serving Poutine – I asked the spouse when we were in Vancouver earlier this year.  We all know that Poutine is a Canadian dish and I think only the Canadian loves them.   I could never stomach poutine – just looking at it makes me feel queasy – but when you are in Rome – you do what the Roman does right?  so I ate Poutine – at Belgian Place.  But I don’t think it’s owned by a Belgian person – but rumor has it that they have changed hands  many times.  I didn’t finished my poutine of course – but they weren’t bad at all -  the deluxe that my spouse had – had some kind of meat and bacon in them.  So give it a try – if you are in Vancouver, Commercial Drive.

]]> http://www.locombia.org/2011/10/commercial-drive-vancouver/feed/ 0 http://www.locombia.org/2011/10/demonstrable-talent/ http://www.locombia.org/2011/10/demonstrable-talent/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:09:52 +0000 Chilli Padi http://www.locombia.org/?p=1279

Usually we dined at Pete’s Place at the Grand Hyatt because we have a long time friend who works there as the Sommelier – in fact, we met him when he was working in Paris in a tiny cafe there while he did his course in Hospitality industry.  Although his interest was in food and wants a Chef or Head Cook Jobs for the future – he ended up being so interested in wine that he is now a Sommelier in the Grand Hyatt.   But during his off days, we prefer to go to small cafes out of the city and play catch up.

This chic cafe was recently opened but the chef was definitely talented because we had the most tasteful dessert one can find – and it’s so reasonably priced that we’ve decided to make our weekly rest and relax session here.   The coffee, a mexican brand was pretty strong but I loved my coffee this way. I’ve always kept in contact with the people I used to work with in the hospitality industry and am glad that I keep in touch with them because they know exactly where to bring you for the best kind of dessert.

We don’t get many talented chefs or pâtissier around town but in the city, where jobs are a plenty – and if you know your way around – you can get very good desserts and food.  So if you have a friend in the hospitality industry – keep in touch with them – you never know when you will find a gem like I did every now and then.

]]> http://www.locombia.org/2011/10/demonstrable-talent/feed/ 0 http://www.locombia.org/2011/08/perfect-oysters/ http://www.locombia.org/2011/08/perfect-oysters/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:20:53 +0000 Chilli Padi http://www.locombia.org/?p=1200

While I loved the raw oysters from Canada – I also loved Oysters omelet from home and really – nothing beats having some in the evening for dinner.   So since I can’t find any here – I decided to get some fresh oysters from the Farmer’s Market and fry some on my own – I mean  – it’s just omelet with oysters right?   But not really – I soon realized because you need some kind of flour to go with the omelet and then you also need the right kind of chilli sauce.  When we were on a trip to Toronto last week – the spouse brought me to Markham to try some and they were awesome.   And since I don’t get it often – I had been eating this for a week – so now I am seriously bloated and had put on weight – so I’m looking  apidexin for weight loss that a friend had recommended.

Normally, this is the way I loved to eat oysters – and I can eat at least 10 of them in a buffet.

Love my Japanese rice – it’s called Chirashi Rice – one can easily make this at home too – but I ate at my favorite sushi place in town – inaguku.   They always give me lots of rice – I can’t finished it at all – and if the spouse was around – he would share it with me – but if I am alone like today – I rarely finish it – and sometimes they get so worried that I may not have found the food good at all – but I just don’t eat a lot.  There are different kind of chirashi rice you can make or taste in a restaurant or home – and they always turn up good.   I love any kind of Japanese food – when I was young – I thought I would married a Japanese man – hahah!  only to find out that they are really not my type.  So what is my type?  the big, strong and friendly type? but for now – I’m happy with my Japanese food and no Japanese man please.

Many a times – since moving to the West – I would settle for any kind of Japanese – but not anymore.  If I had to eat mediocre Japanese food – I rather not eat any.  So when I came across this little restaurant just an hour away from our town – I had to drive all the way there to have my good Japanese food.   Not many people in the West here knows how to appreciate Japanese food – I find that they loved the greasy food best but once in a while – you come across someone who can appreciate the same kind of food as you do – and you grab ahold of them and never let go of your foodie companion.  I’m glad to let you all know that I’ve found some really good friends who would share my passion for food, and like good friends – we get a long really well – all in the name of good food.  I never eat bad Japanese no more.

We had wanted to do Korean – but decided against it and went to Minato instead.  Catching up was awesome especially with a good bowl of ramen on a cold rainy day.  While the girlfriend had a beer to go with her Japanese sushi – I had some green tea – it was a blissful lunch and even though I don’t have lunch with my girlfriends as often as I want to – we are happy to be able to meet up whenever we can.  We just settled into our own life – that sometimes we just need to take a break from our daily routine and see old friends and chat.  Catching up is always great with these old friends.

I was introduced to this restaurant 5 yrs ago – and was happy to see that they were still opened for business – in fact they have expanded.  Food was awesome ! and service phenomenal!  this is comfort food to me and my spouse knows how much I love a good Shanghai dinner – so when we were in Vancouver recently – we headed straight from the airport to here.

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