I recently went to Isshin again with my homeslice as a means for him to try a new ramen place and to cheer him up after three long weeks of hell. I felt pretty accomplished from seeing his delight in the deliciousness of his meal (he ordered the Spicy Black Tan Tan Ramen, which was pretty good also!) and the excitement he had for wanting to bring our other friends to this magical place as well. After dinner, I thought we'd be getting frozen yogurt because that's usually our tradition, but he had another awesome place in mind.

After meandering through Kensington Market, we finally arrived at Millie Creperie. The logo instantly caught my eye, as it was simple, playful and clean at the same time (oh, and the fact that the font was in Lobster? Instant eye catcher).

Millie was a small little shop with a mix of wooden decor and black tables that oddly reminded me of a combination of IKEA and MUJI (then again, it is a Japanese creperie). I think that impression greatly heightened from the fact that they use iPads instead of clunky cash register machines, making them seem even more sleek and tech-savvy.

I wasn't expecting crêpes that night, but that works just as fine too. The last time I had one was when I was in Las Vegas with my family, which funny enough, was also Nutella Banana flavoured.

What makes this crêpe experience different from most, as you can probably tell, is that it's folded into a cone instead of the conventional method of being laid out on a plate. It makes the experience more whimsical in a way, and it greatly changes the tasting experience too (at least, that's how I found my crêpe.... it may be different with other flavours?). As I started, I was met with an abundance of whipped cream and banana slices. It wasn't until the last third of the crêpe cone that I tasted the undeniable richness that is Nutella. This, along with a recent Bubble Tea flavor from Chatime, reminded me of my love for the heavenly combination of hazelnut and chocolate. I swear, you can't go wrong there!

Before I received my crêpe, I saw that Millie Creperie also served hot/main meal food. A friend of mine saw my instagram and told me that their blood orange sorbet was amazing as well. Looks like I'm going to have to venture back to Kensington Market sometime.... :)

Isshin

Just when you thought that you've tried 90% of the Ramen places in Toronto (and no, I'm not going to go to Momofuku if I went to the one in NYC), a new one pops up...

My boyfriend and I arrived at Isshin's doorstep earlier than expected, on a cold and rainy Saturday. I was standing around silently cursing to myself for my poor choice of attire (I thought the combination of my favourite plaid flannel from Aritzia + a hoodie + my favourite leather jacket would suffice); shivering ever so often waiting to go inside. 15 minutes felt like an eternity, and there weren't many shops around the area to occupy our time with. Fortunately, the Isshin staff had taped their menu on the window, which made the anticipation that much more exciting (or excruciating, since I still had to wait?)

**If you ever do plan on going, please note that their lunch special only occurs during the week!

I think I was on an adventurous streak, because I didn't want to go with the usual Shoyu or Shio Ramen. I saw that they designated their brand symbol to signify recommended choices, so I mentally chose one of the bowls they recommended as I finally headed inside.

The restaurant itself was pretty spacious with lush dark furniture and standard lighting. I would say that Raijin's amount of space is comparable to this, although I still have yet to venture into the back area of the latter. As we were the first ones to arrive, it was pretty quiet. They had only one waitress working that day (I'm not sure about the number of cooks, as the staff would be in the kitchen at the back) so the common Japanese greeting exchanges amongst workers weren't heard. But that's okay. I'm here more for the food if anything.

Even though it's a Saturday, my boyfriend and I still ordered essentially what is the Lunch Special because I was curious what their Takoyaki tasted like and my boyfriend, the Chicken Karaage (of course).

There were about 3 pieces of Chicken Karaage with dipping sauce for $4.80. I think it's a bit pricey for the amount of pieces offered, so at this point you're pretty much paying for the quality of them (which wasn't bad at all — crispy, juicy and not too greasy).

I don't normally order an appetizer for myself to go with my ramen, but I'll make an exception to this one. The last time I had legit Takoyaki was at Guu, about a year ago. I've had the misfortune of having an unintentionally salty version at Bubbletease this year, so that may have attributed to my decision to order here (or just my affinity to balls of fried octopus?).

These guys came out fresh and hot. I made the mistake of eating one right away, haha. So aside from practically burning my mouth with the first one, I did enjoy them. They were a good mixture of savoury, chewy and delightful with a slight crunchiness due to their shell. They were also kind of filling too, since there were five of them and it's fried food. Not bad for $4.20 though.

As for the main course, I ordered their Red Miso Ramen, with less salt and an additional marinated egg. 

This dish blew me out of the water, hands down. With other ramen bowls (except for Raijin's clear chicken broth based bowls), most are rich, creamy/fatty(?) and full of pork flavour. This one... it's wasn't super rich, and definitely not creamy. It was reminiscent of the way my mom cooks her tomato, beef and potato soup back at home but not exactly either. 

The Red Miso broth had a plethora of vegetables, from carrot bits, bean sprouts, green onion, black wood ear mushrooms and chives. This added to the broth flavour and subdued the pork essence, which I appreciated (not that I don't like pork broth, but I find it particularly appropriate for this bowl). 

As for the pork, it was very soft and easy to chew. Not an overwhelming pork taste, but with enough flavour. I approve.

*Has a Ratatouille moment*

What's interesting about the ramen noodles themselves is that they weren't just savoury; they had a slight tinge of sweetness to it unlike any other. My boyfriend picked up from his bowl first, but it's more apparent in mine. 

My boyfriend opted for the Tonkotsu Shoyu "Roasted Garlic" Ramen, with less salt and an additional topping of sesame seeds.

I didn't have the whole bowl of his ramen, but he chose a more traditional/run-of-the-mill flavour. I don't recall the Garlic Oil flavouring jumping out to me, though that could also be due to my own ramen bowl taking up most of my sensory attention :P

One distinctive quality about Isshin (aside from their special recommendations being thebomb.com) is that for their sesame seed topping, you have the option of grinding them. Often times additional toppings just come in a bowl and that's it, no extra effort or interaction from the customer. This gesture also adds plus points in consideration, as grinding ingredients tends to bring out more of the flavour into whatever mixture they're added to. 

They're also quite generous with their extra noodles too. It was essentially another half a bowl, which made it worthwhile.

Both my boyfriend and I were quite satiated to say the least.

I immediately raved about this place to Jem, so I'm excited to go again, see his reaction(s) to my recommendations and possibly try their other bowls :)

NYC: Day One Part 2

So where were we? Right, the ROW NYC Hotel...

The hotel room itself was quaint, modern and obviously appealed to the graphic designer in me (notice the window blinds' phrases in Helvetica?).

Even the packaging of the bath accessories looked pretty modern.

After settling down, we headed over to the Intrepid Air, Space and Sea Museum.

I found it pretty cool that the museum was situated right inside the ship, allowing visitors to see what the interior looked like without it being altered too much (except for the Hangar deck, that was obviously changed to curate more items in a more museum-like aesthetic). Being an aircraft carrier, it also showcased numerous fighter planes on its Flight deck and even had room for a space shuttle pavilion...

The exhibit reminded me very much of the movie Gravity that I watched late last year, especially when I saw the capsule in the last photo. It's bizarre to think that some of the specimens were actually once in outer space before it was put on display there, and technology as simple as eye glasses would require some alterations to make it suitable for space use.

We also went inside the Growler submarine since we were ahead of schedule (and we wanted to avoid the rain!). It was quite cramped in there, even for someone who isn't claustrophobic. I was fascinated by the numerous dials and machinery in each compartment, as well as the layout of the whole submarine. I just wouldn't be able to live in one like the soldiers did back then though.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before meeting up with my boyfriend's friend again for dinner. Our meal that night was Ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I still have yet to try the branch in Toronto, but at least I can now compare the two if I ever go.

It was quite crowded by the time the three of us arrived. I think it was worth the wait — not that we waited too long. The interior was not that big in the first place, and if I'm not mistaken, the place was a combination of the noodle bar and the milk bar. Once seated (we waited around 15 minutes I think?), the three of us ordered the Momofuku Ramen, which consists of Ramen noodles, a poached egg, pork belly, green onion and fish slices. The quality of the noodles were comparable to the ones from Santouka back at home and the taste was too. The only major difference I found between the two Ramen places was that the pork belly from Momofuku didn't quite melt in my mouth like the kind Santouka has. I'm not super picky about the malleability of the meat, but it is a nice quality to have. Other than that, the price is around the same value if you compare USD to CAD dollars, and the quantity is roughly the same too (though I think Momofuku has SLIGHTLY more noodles). Oh, I almost forgot... at Momofuku, you don't have the option of asking for less salt on your noodles. At first I wasn't looking forward to my noodles after hearing that, but upon initial taste impression, the noodles weren't salty at all! If I remember correctly, I don't think you can add extra noodles either. Wait, I lied. Yes you can; it must be the fact that they took awhile to bring the extra noodles that I forgot, haha.

After a decently satisfying dinner, we parted ways. My boyfriend and I decided to work out at the small gym at our hotel after dinner, just because we knew to keep ourselves in check since we're not done with our food adventures in NYC :P

And that was Day 1! Hope you enjoyed following along with my adventure so far as much as I have. Day 2 shall be coming soon :)

K&B Sushi

Warning: You may begin to salivate after viewing these photos, especially if you're a huge sushi fan :)

I think half the fun of blogging (for me at least) is the processing of the photography that accompanies each post. With this one specifically, yes, it makes me kind of crave my all-time favorite Green Dragon roll again, but sushi is one of those things where it's best for me to have only once in awhile, for me to truly appreciate the wonderful taste it exudes.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I had lunch with a close friend of mine, Jem, whom I shared many good and bad memories back in university. I barely get to see this guy due to differing work locations, and despite living in the same city, we're both often tossed around by busy schedules. It was nice to see him after a month or so, because the last time I saw him, we were having a belated birthday celebration for me. With this guy, sushi and food photography is a big thing for him, so I'm grateful that there's a level of understanding for the extra shots of food I ended up taking :P

And onto the food!

Normally at an AYCE sushi joint, you would just get the traditional miso soup. At K&B? You have the choice to choose unconventional options such as the corn and egg white soup above. Loved this type of soup growing up so of course I chose this one!

Jem was raving about this dish even before we stepped in, haha. Stir Fried Udon noodle mixed with vegetables and chicken. A bit salty for my personal preferences, but aside from that, still pretty tasty! 

Chicken Katsu. No, we didn't order two, haha. Crispy and not too dry, so it's what you would expect (clearly I'm not a Chicken Katsu connoisseur...).

From left to right on the plate: Green Dragon Roll, Eel Skin roll, and Dynamite roll. Maybe I got lucky that day and landed with extra smooth avocado for the Green Dragon roll, or maybe K&B has the expertise to execute a better quality in their avocado based sushi compared to other AYCE places. Either way, I had never experienced the sensation of melt-in-your-mouth-smooth avocado on sushi before, so K&B already landed itself to be a place I'd consider for AYCE the next time if I ever got the chance.

When it comes to sushi, I'm open to try new pieces I have not yet tried before. I was completely fine with the Eel skin order, even though I would normally order pieces that are BBQ Eel. As I've learned that day, those two things may originate from the same animal, but the way it tastes is quite different. Not that I didn't enjoy it, it was certainly different than I had expected. The skin has a slight leathery texture that I was unfamiliar with, so I'd have to say that my preference still lies with barbecued eel as opposed to just its skin.

From left to right on plate: Spicy Avocado Roll???; Avocado and Cucumber Roll.

... Can you tell that I'm a huge fan of avocado yet? :)

Crab Meat Handroll, Shrimp Tempura and Salmon Teriyaki

Left to right on plate: Red Dragon Roll, combination of Crunchy Spicy Salmon Roll and Philadelphia Roll, and... I forgot what the last grouping was because Jem ate all of them. I have a feeling they were spicy rolls too, which would explain why I didn't touch any of them.

The Philadelphia Roll was another menu item I had never had before. The fact that it had "Philadelphia" cheese to begin with was a new taste experience. Not bad, but I would've preferred less cheese. Personal preference of mine, most definitely. 

Chicken Teriyaki Roll! Reminds me of the gigantic ones from Sushi One :) I liked these ones too. The Chicken Teriyaki wasn't too salty, and they weren't too big for my mouth to engulf in one bite.

Gotta close off with some green tea ice cream for dessert. Of course, Jem being Jem, would have mango ice cream :P