Tag Archives: Food in Toronto

Monday’s Munchies: Chocolate Croissant at Marche

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Those of you celebrating Eid, I hope you had a great weekend celebrating with your family and friends. I had a jam-packed weekend that was full of fun and lots of junk food (ofcourse).

Today, I’m going to share one of my favourite chocolatey indulgences when I’m on the go. If you’ve never had it – you definitely need to try it. This yummy treat is a Chocolate Croissant from Marche – that’s right, a simple croissant. It’s fluffy, light, buttery and has just the right amount of chocolatey goodness.

 

And the best part? After 4:30pm (or 5pm), this delish munchie is 50% off at most Marche locations in the PATH.

Food in Toronto: Oliver & Bonacini – Review

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Yesterday, I posted about my mumma wanting me to learn how to cook. Today, I decided to write a review of a restaurant – eating is much more up my element than cooking.

I have only been to Oliver & Bonacini 2 times in my life – over the span of around 1 year – and only to the Yonge & Front location. I’m reviewing the food I had on my most recent visit, December 2011. So here goes – a review of Oliver & Bonacini for vegetarians…

Location
Situated just a short walk from Union station, it’s perfect for people who aren’t too familiar with Toronto. It’s a great central location for everyone in the East and West ends of the city.

Atmosphere
It’s a trendy, modern and cozy space. I really like the decor and the ambiance is great – it’s not too loud but not eerily quiet. The crowd is somewhere between business and business casual; you see guys in suits but also the group of friends/family celebrating a birthday/night out.

Service
Both times that I have been there, the servers have been very attentive and polite. The first time I was there, we were a group of 4 and we were a party of around 15 the second time. Both times, my diet coke/water was refilled even before I finished my glass – I never had to think about asking.

Food
Overall, I was pretty satisfied both times. The details on what I ordered most recently:

Portobello Burger with a side of sweet potato fries
Fire roasted red peppers, oven dried Roma tomatoes, pickled eggplant, basil pesto, garlic & oregano goat cheese

  • Extremely flavourful – veggie burgers are often tasteless and dry or taste like foot. Not this one – I loved the zing of the roasted red peppers and the tangyness of the pickled eggplant. Yum!
  • Portion size – don’t you just hate paying $15 for a burger only to find that it’s the size of a cucumber? Luckily, the portions at O&B are anything but dainty. The burger was extremely satisfying – SO glad I wore tights that day! Everyone on my table echoed the same thing – the portions were generous.
  • Sweet Potato Fries: yum, yum, yum! These are delish – made to perfection – and the spicy tomato mayo makes the whole thing dangerously addictive.

Portobello Mushroom with sweet potato fries. SO yummylicious and filling

Dessert: Chocolate Marquise – Milk chocolate torte with hazelnut praline crunch

  • Chocoaholics – this is for you.
  • Just the right amount of crunch and softness
  • For your reference: there is a strong taste of Ferrero Rocherness – because of the hazelnut

p.s. The first time I was there, they had a “special” dessert which was just as divine. I don’t remember the name of this dessert but it was a fried donut (looked like a timbit), served with chocolate and crushed hazelnut to roll it in. Yeah, are you drooling yet?

Chocolate Marquise

That's Tiramisu behind the Chocolate Marquise

Pointers For Vegetarians/Pescetarians/Weight Watchers:

  • The Mushroom Soup is a great option – according to their menu, it has no cream or butter
  • Portobello Mushroom is a must try
  • I wish there were more veggie-friendly pasta dishes – I sure wish the Gnocchi was veg friendly!
  • I think you can ask for substitutions to some of their menu items – i.e. ask for no chicken/beef etc

While I did love my burger (I can taste it as I write this post – that’s pretty good, isn’t it?), I wish they had more veggie-friendly options. Other than the burger, nothing else really appealed to me on that menu since I don’t eat chicken/beef…

I would definitely recommend the Portobello burger and the outrageously yummy desserts!

p.s. the bread they put on the tables is delish aswell – super soft and hot. Add a dollop of butter and nom nom nom!

Review: Prairie Girl Bakery

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I love dessert. Besides my younger sister, I don’t think I know anyone who loves dessert as much as I do.

So when a bakery opened up in close proximity to my work, I was esctatic. It would literally take me less than 2 minutes to grab some baked goods for myself when I was having a rough day – awesomeness!

I must add that I am not a huge cupcake lover. I love cake but I really don’t like icing – it’s just not my thing. Mainly, I get grossed out by icing unless it’s chocolate (I generally scrape off most of the chocolate icing too – shocking, I know!).

When Prairie Girl Bakery opened a few months ago, I was slightly disappointed that it carried only cupcakes. But hey, I’m willing to try almost any type of dessert :) So here’s what I think:

  • Location: I’m pretty sure this is the only bakery in the financial district in Toronto. It’s a perfect location because it is sure to receive large orders from companies for meetings and corporate events.
  • The Bakery: The store is nice – clean, bright and all the cupcake flavours are visible through a glass display
  • Advertising: I think the owner has done a great job of advertising. The menu has all the cake and icing flavours listed clearly on on side – the other side has pictures of each of the cupcakes. The bakery is also very tech-savy – you can follow it on twitter and facebook

The first time I tried Prairie Girl Bakery, I got the Chocolate Chocolate cupcake – chocolate cake with chocolate icing. The chocolate cake was really moist, not too crumbly and light. The cake portion could definitely stand on its own as a good chocolate cake. The chocolate frosting (yes, I did have some) was light and not gritty (yeay!).

I love peanut butter (love is not a strong enough word for my obsession with PB), so I decided to try the peanut butter icing today. I couldn’t decide if I should get a chocolate or banana cupcake base. Since I have already tried the chocolate cupcake, I opted to get banana this time (I do love banana bread). The banana cupcake was similar to the chocolate cake – very moist and light. The banana flavour was slightly more subtle than I like but I assume a stronger banana taste would appeal to less people. Similar to the chocolate frosting, the peanut butter was good. The only negative feedback I have, is that the icing was a tad bit sweeter than I was expecting. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood when I first bit into the Banana Peanut Butter cupcake – I took half of the cupcake home and it didn’t taste as sweet as earlier in the day.

The icing is always swirled on generously. So much so that it made the cupcake top heavy – after I had a bite, the cupcake could barely stand upright! I definitely would prefer a little less icing. All of the cupcakes are made fresh daily, once a day. The baking is done in the morning so once they sell out, they don’t make new batches.

My Banana Peanut Butter Cupcake - they come in individual boxes and with a fork!

Picture Perfect

A closer look at the banana cake

In addition to the above flavours I have also tried:

  • Buttermilk Cupcake with Vanilla Bean Butter Icing and Toasted Coconut – SO good! Even though I mostly prefer chocolate-based cakes, the vanilla cupcakes at Prairie girl are scrumptious. So soft, moist and fluffy – the cupcake practically melts in your mouth. The coconut flavour was just perfect – not too strong nor too subtle. There was a slight lemony-flavour which balanced everything nicely
  • Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing – The red velvet cupcake is delicious. I’ll be honest, I dislike cream cheese ALOT so I haven’t tried it – I ate around the frosting.

I have heard that the Strawberry Butter Icing is divine – apparently it has pieces of real strawberry!

The cupcakes are slightly pricier than I’m used to – $2.95 ($3.33 after taxes) for a regular size and the mini’s are $1.75 (before tax). The regular size is definitely a better value for the price – it is humongous.

The bakery is easily accessible through different mediums – you can order in-store, over the phone or online. Delivery is available for downtown Toronto locations.

Advice: if you’re planning to eat the cupcakes a few days after you purchased them, freeze them! Sounds weird, but the girls at the bakery told me that they taste just fine if you freeze it and then leave it out at room temperature to “defrost.”

I really wish I liked cupcakes more because the cupcakes at Prairie Girl Bakery are pretty awesome. Check it out if you’re in the area :)

Cupcakes displayed at Prairie Girl Bakery. Picture via Blogto.com

The two sizes offered at the bakery. Picture via Blogto.com

Have a great weekend everyone! :)