Cheap Eats Toronto restaurant guide blog

Happy Pi Day!

Yes it’s Pi Day again.   A great day to celebrate for both mathies and foodies alike.  (Luckily, I'm both so I get an extra big helping!)

I’m hoping to indulge in a pie with every meal today.  Of course, I’ll stretch my definition a little so I’m not just eating big slices of yumminess, lard and sugar for each meal. (Though that sounds pretty tasty too!) I’m going to be flexible and include things like turnovers, tarts, pizza pie, empanada… essentially anything with a pastry crust and a filling, or “Pi” in it’s name will suffice.

Maybe even dinner at Pi-Tom’s would be fitting.

What kind of pie is your favourite? Sweet or savoury, fruit or cream pies, quiche or tourtiere?

photo credit by sgoralnick

What To Drink On Canada Day

Whether you'll be at the cottage, watching waterfront fireworks or just barbecuing in the backyard, it's time to hit the LCBO to stock up for tomorrow's Canada Day celebrations. 

To help you out with your shopping list, we decided to whip together a list of:

6 Great Canada Day Drinks:

1. Bloody Caesar
   - a truly Canadian drink. Invented in Calgary in 1969 (!) by Walter Chell, and then perpetuated in 2002 by Mott's designing pre-mixed Clamato juice just for this purpose. You can't even get a Caesar (unless it's with grated parm) anywhere but here, though there is something called a "Clam digger" which is similar.  There's currently a petition to make it Canada's Official National Cocktail.
2. Steamwhistle 
   – a refreshing pilsner with a crisp, clean finish from right here in Toronto, Steamwhistle is a nod to Canada and Toronto on this day celebrating us.
3. Malivoire's Chardonnay Musqué
   - made at an eco-friendly winery in Beamsville, this light, sweet, effervescent wine is a big favourite in my house. With hints of fruit - apple, peach, melon - it is great slightly chilled for sipping on a warm afternoon or for before dinner bubbles.
   Now available (yay!) in the LCBO/Vintages unfortunately only in 1/2 bottles
4. Molson Canadian – while drinking Canadian doesn't give the nod to the increasing interest in microbrews and more complex flavours, it does say CANADIAN on the bottle and thus satisfies the most literal interpretation of a drink that says “I am Canadian”.  And besides, who doesn't love the I Am Canadian ads?
5. Canadian Club - with it's "Damn Right Your Dad Drank It" ads, it carries both the nostalgic and literal requirements to be a good Canada Day tipple. Drink it straight, on ice, or with a splash of ginger ale.
6. Canada Dry Gingerale - speaking of ginger ale, why not splash in a bit more Canadiana? Canada Dry has been the ginger ale of choice in my house since we moved from the Maritimes and couldn't get Sussex anymore.

Of course, you can also check out the list of beer Toronto is drinking on our #TObeers poll here

This post was inspired by SueB24 who asked why we didn't have a Can-con equivalent to Slashdot’s All-American Wines to Celebrate July 4.

Happy Pi Day!

March 14th is Pi Day (www.piday.org) and it’s a great day to celebrate for mathies and foodies alike.  (Luckily, I'm both so I get an extra big helping!)

Whether you're into sweet or savoury pies, fruit or cream pies, quiche or tourtiere, today you have an excellent excuse for another slice.  And if you are super keen, you could always calculate the volume of your favourite slice.

What is your favourite pie?  A la mode or straight up?

photo credit by sgoralnick

Today is Mardi Gras!

Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent.  Traditionally, a number of Christian denominations give up lard, flour, sugar, eggs (and more) for Lent.  In an effort to get all the rich foods out of the kitchen before Lent begins, Fat Tuesday became the day that all these delicacies get used up to make pancakes for Pancake Tuesday or paczki or donuts for Paczki Day. 

These days, it’s often a day to search out the cities best pancakes and donuts.

Since Sarah introduced us to paczki in the first edition of CheapEats, it has become a Fat Tuesday tradition here too: "...paczki, a traditional Polish treat. These soft, sweet doughnuts are filled with jam, cheese or poppy seed and almond, and are truly addictive" 

We’re especially fond of the Paczki from Granowska's in Roncesvalles Village. They even have mini-Paczki.  My favourites are the ones filled with rose petal (rosepetle) jam, but they often sell out first, especially on Paczki Day.

What are you going to eat on Fat Tuesday:  Pancakes or Paczki?

National Pupusa Day - almost

As I was preparing a detailed and lengthy post for today's National Pupusa Day, I realized that it was not an annual El Salvadorian holiday on November 13th but actually an annual El Salvadorian holiday every second Sunday of November. Ack! 

So I wish you all a happy-belated Día Nacional de la Pupusa and encourage you all to go out and find yourself a pupusa to celebrate with.

I'm still fairly new to pupusa, having been introduced to them at Perola a couple of years ago by Jeff during one of our food crawls through Kensington.  I'm delighted that even though it shut down after Irma retired it has been revived by these new pupusa ladies.

Perola is still my favourite place to go for hot pupusa on a cold Sunday afternoon but I'm looking for more places to try this tasty treat. Especially now they are only serving them Saturday & Sunday.

I've been told, and am waiting for details on, a "fantastic pupusa place" on Kennedy between Lawrence and Ellesmere.  I'd love to hear about any other spots you might know.

I have to find a couple of places to eat my shame away from missing Día Nacional de la Pupusa.

It's National Grilled Cheese Day

Logan Grill(ed) Cheese -- Thanks to
Charlatan001 for use of the photo.

While I can't find an official website confirming this, Natalie MacLean's Nat Decants newsletter tells me it is so, and Natalie is rarely wrong.

Besides, it's never a bad day for a Grilled Cheese Sandwich whether you eat it with tomato soup, top it with crumbled bacon or dip it in ketchup.

What's your Grilled Cheese Style?

Technorati Tags: national grilled cheese day, grilled cheese, charlatan001, natalie maclean

Romance CheapEats Style

Keith asked: Is it really possible to have a quality or romantic experience inexpensively?

Certainly!  

There are plenty of romantic and interesting spots where with a little planning or attention to ordering, you can have a great romantic experience with good service and ambiance without breaking the bank. 

Some Quick Tips?

• Cocktails at home - markups are big on booze, so keep your restaurant drinking to a minimum.  Have a cocktail or a glass of wine at home before heading out.  Even better, setup an intimate corner at home to have your dessert & liqueurs and let the evening progress from there. 
• Share your food - appetizers and desserts are perfect sharing courses and sharing is always a great way to get close and isn't getting close the main objective of romance. 
• Show some flair – know a quiet but not so fancy spot with great food… bring your own candles and linen. Hey, the restaurant might even let you set it up in advance if you are really going all out. I have a friend who proposed in a burger joint.
• Get into the mood – cluttered chic and twinkle lights may not be your idea of classy, but boho  spots can be a lot of fun if you relax and embrace the environment. Cuddle in to avoid that spring poking out of the couch and enjoy your calamari.

I polled the rest of the CheapEats team for more tips on how they do romance on the cheap...

Paczki Day

Did you know that Fat Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, is also known as Paczki Day?  Though in some places, it's celebrated on Fat Thursday instead.

The idea being that making these little balls of loveliness use up all the extra "sugar, lard, eggs and fruit in the house, which are forbidden during Lent."  [Wikipedia]

Though you don't have to make them yourself if you want to celebrate Paczki Day.  We swung by Granowska's in Roncesvalles Village and picked up the mini-paczki (in the photo) filled with a fantastic plum filling and a couple of full sized paczki filled with rose petal (rosepetle) jam.

Sarah's description is bang on "...paczki, a traditional Polish treat. These soft, sweet doughnuts are filled with jam, cheese or poppy seed and almond, and are truly addictive"

Addictive is right! I'm already scheming my next visit to Granowska's.  

 

Technorati Tags: paczki day, fat tuesday, granowska's, paczki, SR, cheapeatstoronto, ceto, roncesvalles village

Diwali - Eid Street Celebration

Gerrard India Bazaar celebrates Diwali and Eid every year in the Bazaar. This year these two important holidays happen to occur at the same time of the year.

To celebrate the holidays, the Gerrard India Bazaar has planned Diwali-Eid celebrations for 2pm-10pm from Friday October 20th to Sunday October 22nd.

Gerrard Street from Greenwood to Coxwell will be filled with lights and music, food and shopping. A large movie screen on the south side of Hiawatha Street, screening Bollywood songs.. Henna artists will be on hand along Gerrard St, as will sweet tables where Surati Sweet Mart will be distributing 6000 laddu free. The entire neighbourhood will be adorned with lights welcoming the Festival of Lights.

It Makes Thanksgiving...

Yes, Thanksgiving is just days away and I'm already salivating.  Turkey - yum!  Cranberry sauce - extra yum!  Potatoes - yum!  Apple in any and all forms - yum yum yum!

What makes Thanksgiving really Thanksgiving for you?

Online Poll Using WebSurveyor

Not cooking, but still hankerin' for a turkey dinner, check out Andrew Currie's Turkey Smackdown.