FOOD: Ontario Southwest City Fare // #OSWCityFare #OSWPourAway #OSWDigIn

With beer, wine, cider, food and live music at Wychwood Barns, you can't really go wrong. Last weekend I attended the first Ontario Southwest City Fare hosted by the iYellow Wine Club, a pop up event featuring food and drink from restaurants, breweries and more, all from the region of Southwestern Ontario spanning South Cayuga to London to Chatham-Kent to Windsor. The iYellow Wind Club provided everyone a wine glass, as well as a nifty contraption of a plate (with a hole to hold the wine glass) and we walked around, picking at the 80+ food/beverage items to try. 

I took two guests (my parents)... because I'm cool like that, my dad is a self-proclaimed 'foodie', the parents are kind of funny when they've had a few glasses of wine and beer, plus they graciously provide the internet that I use to upload my mass amounts of blog photos. Speaking of blog photos, I took quite a few at #OSWCityFare... 

trout crudo with trout chicaron // sixthirtynine.com

amsterdam sour cocktails // twistedlemon.ca

pork ravioli // twistedlemon.ca

bacon skewers // smackwaterjacks.ca


bacon skewers // smackwaterjacks.ca


liquid nitrogen ice cream // bacon skewers // smackwaterjacks.ca

beer battered chips // ramblinroad.ca

black bean fudge // cktable.ca


asparagus taste test // kerrfarm.ca, cktable.ca

maple butter tarts // leapingdeer.com

don't count your chickens // bonnieheathlavender.com

aged cheddar // brightcheeseandbutter.com

gouda

lamb merguez // facebook.com/RobbiesGourmetSausages

lime basil chocolate // chocolatea.ca

verde fresco chocolate // chocolatea.ca

sweet potato bread pudding // blueelephant.ca


strawberry beer // blueelephant.ca

meatball tacos // hotpapads.com

smoked beef sandwich // jpsbarbeque.ca

jakeman's maple syrup // themaplestore.com

 chambord raspberry chocoholic marshmallows // theartsandcookerybank.com

Overall, a great couple hours of eating and drinking held in a beautiful space. I was pretty wowed at the fresh, quality products available just a couple hours drive from Toronto. I should probably be a better tourist in my own province. A few of the vendors are actually quite close to Waterloo, ON (where I go to school) and I'm 100% sure that in the near future I'll have to treat my parents to a wine tour or a meal at Six Thirty Nine or the Twisted Lemon out in Southwestern Ontario. 

Have you ever ventured out to Southwestern Ontario? 

sidenote: you can enter to win a $1,500 Dream Foodie Escape at http://www.oswculinary.com/ :) 

I received complimentary tickets to attend this event. 

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FOOD FRIDAY: Korean Side Dish Delivery with Delucious

Banchan is the Korean word for "small side dishes served with rice". If you've ever hung out with me, you'll know that a majority of the time I'm craving food, it's something Korean. In my opinion, Koreans make the best side dishes. 

A cool new delivery service called Delucious started up in Toronto this May and I was offered the opportunity to try it. Someone's Korean mom named Lucy (who has worked at various Korean restaurants) is cooking up Korean food for the GTA. Basically, it's a selection of Korean side dishes delivered to your door. There are two options available. Six 8 oz. side dishes for $17 or six 16 oz. side dishes for $25 (clearly the 16 oz. is a better deal). 

*EDIT: Since receiving the food and writing this review, the website (delucious.ca) is no longer available. So, I have no idea how many more side dish options there are available :( . I would have TOTALLY ordered more but now I've just been inspired to try to make these side dishes on my own! 

Beansprouts // what's usually inside: beansprouts, salt, garlic, green onion, fish sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil

Korean Coleslaw // see kimchi 

Kimchi // what's usually inside: nappa cabbage, salt, sweet rice flour, sugar, water, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, squid, hot pepper flakes, green onion, carrot, radish

Pickled Radish // what's usually inside: daikon, salt, vinegar, chilli flakes, salt, garlic, green onion

Seaweed // what's usually inside: seaweed, onion, garlic, corn syrup, sesame oil, sesame seeds

Spinach // what's usually inside: spinach, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce

In general, Korean food tends to be an acquired taste, often a little to sour or salty for some. I found everything to be pretty darn yummy and very much to my taste preferences. I liked everything with the exception of the Seaweed which I found to be a little fishy (my mom loved it though) and will be testing out a few banchan recipes in the very near future. 

Do you like banchan (Korean side dishes)? 

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FOOD: Winterlicious 2015 at America in the Trump Tower

There's nothing like being waited on from the 31st floor of the Trump Tower. That's what it's like at America, a contemporary restaurant located at the highest point of Bay and Adelaide. I celebrated my first pay check by taking my parents out for a meal. The great thing is that more is merrier. More people means you can try ALL THE THINGS. The three of us covered off a majority of the menu for a more well-rounded dining experience. 

The ambiance was different for me. We sat window-side table on a couch (which was a little low for the table) overlooking the city. It was oddly comfy and after eating, I wanted to nap in it. The music was cool and upbeat..and metropolitan?  

As for the service, the wait staff were kind. They filled the water often, made jokes with us, and asked us how we were doing during each course. What was a little off-putting was the wait time. Between ordering and getting the appetizer it was a fair 7-10 minutes. But after my palette was piqued and I felt like going in for more, it took an entire HALF AN HOUR before we got hour entrees. It was anti-climatic. I could literally go to a grocery store, come back and make a sandwich in half an hour. Perhaps because the food had to be brought up a set of stairs into the area of the restaurant we were seated in, it took so long... 

Luckily, the food was satisfying enough to make up for the waiting time. 

Pressed BBQ Pork Belly - chow chow apple preserve, sourdough, tasso ham crackling

Thoughts:Yum, yum, yum. The BBQ pork paired so, so well with the tartness of the mustard seed and chow chow apple preserve. My dad and I love ham crackling (AKA deep fried pork skins) dusted with spices, a great addition to the plate. 

Heritage Salmon Poke Cocktail - pineapple, macadamia nut, coffee, coconut

Thoughts: The salmon was fresh, perhaps a little on the cold side for such a cold day. This is literally a cocktail - salmon sitting in pineapple juice. The pineapple juice was too sweet and not acidic enough to complement the salmon, rather they clashed. A discombobulated plate... lacked flavour. 

Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi (vegetarian) - broccoli, smokey blue, mornay sauce, onion rings

Thoughts: I love meat dishes but made the jump to try something vegetarian, as I'm a huge fan of pan fried gnocchi. They were so pillowy and well-seasoned. Plus, broccoli and cheese is always a good combination - the smokey blue cheese worked really well to liven up the broccoli puree. 

Billy Bob's Blackened Catfish - warm spinach salad, nameko mushrooms, sunchoke, sunflower

Thoughts: Cooked to perfection, yet the delicate catfish lacked flavour. The bed of spinach salad, on the other hand, was a really good salad. 

 Wellington County Flat Iron Steak (local) - rancho gordo white bean chili, rutabaga, compressed cucumber

Thoughts: Not the highest quality cut of beef but the meat was medium-rare as requested by my daddio. Well-seasoned and the sweetness of the white bean chili gave the otherwise basic steak a nice twist. 

Granny Apple Sticky Pudding (vegetarian/local) - sourdough & maker's mark burbon pudding, pecan toffee sauce, pretzel ice cream

Thoughts: OMG OMG OMG. Highlight of the entire meal. I still dream about this sticky toffee pudding. It's sweet, rich, and sticky (as the name suggests). there's crunch and richness and creaminess and a little tartness from the apple. I need to learn how to make this myself... 

Cheese (vegetarian) - big ed's gouda, simple accompaniments

Thoughts: Oddly enough, I prefer the "simple accompaniments" over the cheese itself. Rosemary honey and the preserves were yummy in my tummy. 

 Peanut Butter Panna Cotta - toasted marshmallow, allspice peanut brittle 

Thoughts: Not particularly a fan of this panna cotta. Perhaps it was the strange peanut butter texture that altered what might be a panna cotta that I'm used to may have put me off a little. The brittle and toasted marshmallow parts were a little more satisfying.

 Complimentary chocolate covered marshmallow 

Thoughts: The complimentary chocolate covered marshmallows the waiter brought with the bill seemed like an afterthought. The marshmallows were good but became overly sweet with the chocolate covering. 

Overall, a pretty decent meal. I'd give it higher than a 55% (per urbanspoon) but there were some definite highs and lows. If you plan on attending the Winterlicious festivities at America at Trump Hotel this year, I'd definitely recommend the BBQ Pork, Gnocchi, the Sticky Toffee Pudding, as well as a window seat from which you can see Lake Ontario. 

Food PURCHASED BY ME! :) 

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Skoshbox: The Japanese Snackbox Subscription // December 2014

I'm taking pause from the formalities of "FOOD FRIDAY" because food is good every day of the week, especially during the holiday season. I love me a good snacking and Japanese snacks are always welcome in my belly. Japanese snacks are available at Asian food stores in Toronto but I find that the variety just isn't there. So, I've been looking into subscription box options that send Japanese snacks. The only option that I could find that shipped to Canada was SKOSHBOX. 

 Skoshbox is a "taste of Japan at your doorstep". From $10 USD or $18.99 CAD, Skoshbox offers an assortment of mystery candies and snacks monthly. If you're crazy about the snacks you try in the box, there's also an online webstore for featured snacks organized by type and month. SO... here's the box: 

Caramel Pie Pretz, Super Mario Galaxy Gum, Calpis Masrshmallow, Seaweed Wrapped Rice Cracker, Potato Ring Snack, Cola Bubble Gum Balls, Vegetable Salad Umaibo, Super Soda Hard Candy 

Isn't the packaging so on point? The minimalist cardboard with the paper crane logo just gets me. I'm a sucker for white tissue paper and stickers with logos plus graphic oriental patterns, so I'm kind of dying in awe from the box, the description card, and the overall look of the box. Furthermore, the simple Skoshbox complements the bold, graphic packaging of Japanese snacks. 

More importantly than the packaging is the food inside. I tasted the snacks with the boyfriend (who is also an avid lover of snacks and nomnomnoms), so opinions are a combo of his and my own. The box contained 8 snacks - a mix of sweet and salty.

My rating scale is as follows:

 (>'-')> <('-'<) ^(' - ')^ (worthy of dance party) 

^u^ (pretty yummy) 

-_- (indifferent, borderline dislike) 

 Let's see what's inside...

Caramel Pie Pretz ($3.99 for 1) (>'-')> <('-'<) ^(' - ')^ 

NOM NOM NOM. If you're familiar with the traditional salt and vegetable flavoured Pretz in the green packaging but would prefer something a little sweeter, these are perfection. The texture is like a crispy pie crust and it tastes like caramel and cinnamon. This one's definitely my favourite out of the box. WOULD EAT AGAIN. 

Super Mario Galaxy Gum ($3.99 for 10) -_-

Supposedly, this gum is supposed to be soda flavoured. I found that the only appealing thing about it was the packaging. Other than that, it tasted nothing like soda (more like a hint of sugar) and lacked flavour. Furthermore, the little flavour that it did have disappeared within a 5 minute time period. Boring... 

Calpis Masrshmallow ($4.99 for 4) (>'-')> <('-'<) ^(' - ')^ 

These are pretty much a marshmallow filled with fruit gummy. The marshmallows are light and fluffy, while the fruit jelly reminds me of Welch's fruit snacks. The boyf mentioned that he's had them before, so they're probably available somewhere close. Yum! 

Seaweed Wrapped Rice Cracker ($4.99 for 11)  ^u^

I've had these previously. In a nutshell, it's a hard cracker wrapped in seaweed. Similar snacks are available at Costco for a much lesser price, but a great snack nonetheless. 

Poteko Salted Potato Ring Snack ($4.99 for 4)  ^u^

These taste exactly like potato chips. They're slightly less salty than their larger North American counterparts, but equally as tasty. 

Marukawa Cola Bubble Gum Balls  ($3.99 for 10) -_-

Slightly more flavourful than the Super Mario gum, these tasted quite like Coca Cola but lost flavour after 10 minutes. The gum was quite light and not chewy enough for my preferences.

Vegetable Salad Umaibo ($12.99 for 30) ^u^

My grandma used to feed me Umaibo, which is a savoury snack made with corn. These tasted less like "vegetable salad" and more like sour cream and onion rings sans the sour cream and onion. The packaging is so fun and kidish that I couldn't resist feeling a little nostalgic. 

Super Soda Hard Candy  ($4.99 for 22) ^u^

A surprising last treat, these Super Soda Hard Candies should really be called Super SOUR Hard Candies. The initial shock of the sour coating was unexpected. The sour lasts about 30 seconds but is sweet after the coating is penetrated. The underlying candy is sweet and long-lasting. These remind me a lot of Warheads, which are also ridiculously low on the pH scale. 

Overall, I think Skoshbox is a great assortment of sweet and salty snacks and candies from Japan. Although I'm not a fan of the gums, the other snacks were pretty stellar and I might have to make it my quest to find the Caramel Pie Pretz somewhere in Toronto. $18.99 is a bit pricey for what Canadians will get in the box, but if you're absolutely DYING to try some snacks, it may be worth it. For Americans, the $10/month for a year subscription makes a great gift for the food lover. 

Have you tried any of these? Do you like Japanese snacks? 

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