Dumpling-sized review-: dim sum on the Danforth

Is it possible to be in love with a dumpling? I may just be. I dream about going to this place every week. My second time there, another person who was also sitting by himself looked up from his food and said, "Isn't this place amazing? I've never been here before, and I have to come back." He lives in the west end, and coming to the Danforth is pretty out of the way for him. But let me says this: it is worth every minute of sitting on transit, to enjoy the beautiful restaurant-made delights. These dumplings do not look like they came out of a box or frozen junk, and I would lay money on it that they don't. And what's more, they have a clearly laid out vegetarian menu, and the guy working the counter when I was there checked if anything had egg for me. Nope! I had sticky rice in lotus leaves, fried tofu, and several kinds of scrumptious dumplings. The service was basic, the decor was nothing to write home about, but the food was delicious, and fast, and an incredible price.  If you're in Toronto, go to Ha Gow Dim Sum, near Donlands and the Danforth. And if you don't live in Toronto, come visit, and we can get dumplings!

(Road) Avocado part 3: Polenta and Zen: Zen Kitchen in Ottawa

Remember I said I don't travel for work very often? Well, when I do it's in the summer. So in August I found myself in Ottawa for a day. Anyone in Ontario will know Ottawa isn't usually a day trip form Toronto, but my event got cancelled, and I found making the trip in order to attend the meeting that I had scheduled simply to coincide with my now-cancelled event.

My train left before many people are even out of bed, so we pulled in to Ottawa a little after eleven. I made my way downtown and stopped in to a vegan restaurant so I could get myself a delicious lunch before my meeting. And yes, yes--it was delicious.

The restaurant was Zen Kitchen in Ottawa. As you can tell from the first photo, even the ambiance was lovely. I had already checked out the menu when I was looking online before my trip, so I had settled on the Reuben sandwich with polenta fries.

I've made Reubens myself, at home (thank to Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day) but it appealed to me the most, and frankly I can always use tips on making a better Reuben. However, there was no way in vegan hell I was leaving that restaurant without trying polenta fries. And I'm glad I got to try these little golden morsels of fried polenta goodness--there were honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten! I told the waitress I'd seen recipe for polenta fries online, but admitted it was probably the deep-frying that made the difference. Yes, she confirmed, they were indeed deep-fried. Of course they were! Anything deep-fried instantly pleases my ridiculously trashy taste buds. I finished the Reuben and the polenta fries (mental note--buy industrial deep fryer and 8 gallons of vegetable oil; make polenta fries) with a happy tummy.

I had ordered tea, since I recently thought for reasons too banal to get into that I should give up coffee but I still want to enjoy a hot beverage a dozen times a day. Even my tea was lovely--the teapot itself was adorable enough that I couldn't resist taking a photo of that too.

For my evening train ride home, I got the mac and cheese and a side salad to go. I enjoyed it thoroughly but didn't dare take a photo--there were fried onion bits on top of the mac that looking like dead worms by the time I opened the container. Not photogenic at all, but mighy delicious! And they saved me from having a bag of chips for dinner at the train station.

So if you're ever in Ottawa, go to Zen Kitchen! Get the polenta fries, and maybe the chef can hook you up with an industrial deep fryer (and me too).

(Road) Avocado, Part 1: Veg Out in London, ON

 Sometimes I have to travel for work. It's not that often, and since I work fore a charity, it's really not glamourous. I tend to stay with colleagues or family when possible, and these exotic locations include Kirkfield, Ontario, and Fort Erie, Ontario. Yeah, it's mostly Ontario! So when I had to go London, (yes, Ontario) in June, the colleague who offered to host me suggested we go to the vegan place for dinner Friday night. Um, doubletake what? We invited our other London colleagues but only one could join us--the one who made bacon jokes the whole time, unlike my host who seems to eat meatless a lot anyway. And I thanked her for her hospitality with a half-dozen triple-chocolate cherry biscotti, so I'm glad she wasn't too put off by vegan food to enjoy them! She emailed when she got back into town the following weekend and told me she and her husband were thoroughly enjoying them.
And I was glad, because I had thoroughly enjoyed Veg Out. The menu was varied enough to be enticing, with a mix of comfort food--chili cheese fries--and healthy food, like soba bowl with veggies.  For dinner, I absolutely had to get the crispy cremini and shiitake mushroom appetizer (pictured): I love mushrooms and anything deep-fried just has ny name on it. And yes, it was just as delicious as I thought it would be! I also got the bacon-mushroom melt, and whether it's because I didn't take picture or because it wasn't spectacular, I don't really remember it. But I was excited enough to also go back for dinner the next day!

I was there for a late dinner the next day, after the work event that I actually went to London for. I got the mushroom appetizer again, with a satisfying soy latte and this time the "fish" and chips (pictured). It was just as amazing as I hoped it would be! Almost creepily-similar battered and deep fried "fish", sinful fries and fresh and crunchy cole slaw. And I got a slice of the vegan cheesecake to go, for my train home ride to Toronto. All in all a wonderful and delicious trip to London!

Vegan's in the name

I got a last-minute invitation to something tonight, but I realized we were going a few blocks away from a vegan place I love, so I was excited for the invitation but also for the amazing dinner that was sure to follow. One of the friends who also got the last-minute invitation decided to join me. (The picture is of her dinner, since I always get the same burrito and frankly, neither a whole burrito nor a half-eaten burrito are particularly photogenic.) The restaurant is Hot Beans, in my beloved Toronto’s Kensington Market. Part of what I love about this restaurant—and the other one from the same owners, Hogtown* Vegan—is that vegan is in the name. I also love restaurants like Fresh because there isn’t the same emphasis on the fact that mostly-vegan food. Its brand is more about being natural/healthy/often organic. Those types of restaurants are omni-friendly because they’re not so in-your-face about being vegan, it’s just delicious food that happens to be veg. But Hogtown Vegan and HotBeans Vegan are letting you know—this food is vegan and it’s effing delicious so just eat it already!
 
*I know, it’s a weird nickname for a vegan resto. “Hogtown” is an old nickname for Toronto. Supposedly, pigs used to run in the streets a couple hundred years ago. I think it was shocking to the old-worlders who moved here back in the day to see how primitive it was here. Sheesh, with pigs running in the streets!