Girls in NYC 2013

My wonderful maid of honour and bridesmaids helped me plan my bachelorette trip and there's no better destination, nowhere more fitting than a trip to NYC.  I'm so glad that all three of them flew down and we spent all weekend doing some of the things that I love best: eat, drink and shop!

First it was a trip to Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets, in the snow!  I don't think I've ever seen Woodbury this dead, but the snow is not an obstacle for hard-core shoppers like me and my girls.

I think on this trip, every girl spent more than they had anticipated due to my influence - I apologize to the husbands.

Kingyo Izakaya, what a waste of my time!

Last month, we visited Kingyo Izakaya which recently opened up in Cabbage Town.  When we were in Vancouver last October, Sato san from Octopus Garden had recommended that we give Kingyo a try when they open up in Toronto, but boy were we disappointed!
First of all, we waited nearly an hour for a table.  Even those with reservations were kept waiting when clearly tables were available, but the hostess just wouldn't seat us.

Then, after we got a seat, our food took over an hour to come.  We actually had to complain to the waitress before they brought us our food.  The prices were definitely high for the quality and quantity of food that you are getting.  We also had bones in our sashimi!  Bones!  What a waste of our time and such a disappointing meal.  Never again will we set foot in Kingyo.

Winter in Winnipeg 2013

It was a long, cold and snowy winter in Winnipeg.  With the temperature dipping down to below -40 degrees Celsius, it was some of the coldest weather that I've ever experienced in my 20+ years in Canada.  It was cold enough for snow sculptures and skating along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.

Birthday Dinners 2013

Another birthday means I am getting another year older.  This year, I celebrated with my dear friends at three different restaurants.
We had heard a lot about Yours Truly and finally got a chance to try out their prix fixe menu.  We were presented with a menu of 8 ingredients to choose from.  $55 gets you 4 courses.  Between all of us, we were able to try all the dishes.

Holiday Meals 2012

Over the holidays, we visited quite a few new restaurants in the GTA.  Here are the ones we went to.
Ursa was listed as Canada's 3rd best new restaurant according to enRoute Magazine.  We wanted to order the duck egg appetizer but they didn't have it, so we just go the beet salad with chicken liver.  The dish was just ok.  It was definitely not the best beet salad I've had and I thought it could've used more liver pate.  For mains, we got a halibut with sea urchin foam sauce and a beef tenderloin.  The fish and meat tasted pretty good, but the veggies were really bitter, and the portions were way too small.  We were left still unsatisfied after our meal, so we ended up having to go grab a bowl of ramen!

So, we ended up going to the new Santouka Ramen and had ourselves a trusty bowl of chashu ramen!

The County General was another restaurant that I had been wanting to try ever since I walked by it back in the summer.  This is a cute little restaurant and they had a pretty cool bar with different kinds of bourbons and rums.  We ordered the chicken thigh sandwich and the Croque Madame.  They were both very tasty.  The only complaint was that the fries and ketchup were a bit too salty, but I would definitely return to this one.

Wedding Shopping in Hong Kong and a Side Trip to Macau

Spent part of November and December 2012 in Hong Kong doing a lot of wedding shopping.  I managed to get a Chinese dress in Shenzhen and an evening gown in Prince Edward.  I also got my wedding invitations printed and bought a whole bunch of little things needed for the wedding.  Of course, I always save time for good food and also took a side trip to Macau.  Speaking of weddings, look at this teddy bear themed wedding that I ran into at the Intercontinental Hotel during my trip.

Here are some highlights of the food I had in Hong Kong.

BDay Celebration at Cafe Boulud

We celebrated our friend Henrick's birthday at Cafe Boulud inside the Four Seasons Hotel today.  Considering this is Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud's first restaurant in Canada, we had high hopes, perhaps a little too high.  Our server was great, knowledgeable and attentive, and we were off to a great start with great appetizers.  I ordered the crispy duck egg with wild mushrooms.  The duck egg was crispy on the outside and runny on the inside.

Our meal broke down a bit during the main course.  Our friend had ordered the veal but then she was brought the lamb.  The waiter let us keep the lamb while she waited for her veal dish.  The veal dish came within 5min, but it turned out to be a little under-cooked, so she had to send it back.  By the time they brought back the veal loin, it was a bit over-cooked.  The waiter and manager were very apologetic by this time.  Meanwhile, I dug into my halibut and it's not as moist as I would've liked and it wasn't seared to the crispiness that I would've liked.  2hung got the beef duo of strip loin and short rib.  The short rib was a little dry.  We were kind of disappointed with how the main courses turned out and the manager made sure that we didn't get charged for the lamb and veal.

Dessert turned out to be much better. We ordered the caramelized gala apple and chocolate mousse cake.  The waiter also made sure that we weren't charged for the dessert either.  It was a shame because we really liked the appetizers and the service was great at this restaurant, but the main courses were just ok.