Union Station Food Market Review - Fresh Off The Boat

The outdoor food market at Union station is open and now there are more walk-able food options for me to enjoy on my lunch hour! JOY!

I made my first trip today and after a quick perusal of the options and layout, set my sights on "Fresh Off The Boat", here's how it went down:

Menu selection: Very limited*, there's a lobster roll with small fries and broccoli coleslaw for $15, and a large fries with snow crab for $15.  For $20 you can get a lobster roll and smaller snow crab fries as a combo. 

*A small menu is not a negative for me, I've always felt that if there are only a couple things on there, it means they're doing those few things right :)

Line up/Wait time:  I waited about 2 minutes to order and 10 to get my meal

My order: I went with the Lobster Roll and standard sides - slaw and fries for $15 (No tax when you pay cash).

The Lobster Roll: Smallish, but enough for me, I saw some people around me were a bit disappointed that their lunch didn't look like the demos on display at the counter, but I didn't feel ripped-off.  This is pretty much lobster meat and bread with sparse sauce and chives, so if you're looking to cover the flavour of the lobster or have a more "lobster salad type thing" this may not be for you - I found it to be quite tasty and fulfilling with the sides.  It's also all claw meat which is what I expect in rolls.

The Broccoli Slaw: AMAZING - I love broccoli but have never had it slawed, what a revelation.  It's a creamy base, not vinegar, which is my preference as well.

The Fries:  Very nice, fresh, crispy and well seasoned, I'd put them on par with any chip truck - well done.

Value for the price: Very good, again I'm not a BIG eater, so this was more than enough for me for lunch - plus two sides makes it a decent deal for the area.

Overall it was a good meal and I'll be back - I def want to try those snow crab fries. :)

Cooking adventures: December 2014 - February 2015

Hello again all,

Thank-you for the outpouring of support on my latest blog from yesterday - my traffic went through the roof!  Metrics! Cool!

As promised, I have more news to share and even a new recipe (on the way), but it's not a step by step - so I'll just post it here in the blog section and maybe I'll do a step by step for the recipes page  another time - that blog post will follow this one.

So, onto some culinary adventures from the last three months:

New Years 2015

Continuing the tradition my family started when I was little, I had some close friends over for lobster dinner on New Years Eve - what a treat.  Here are a couple pics of me preparing the critters and my table. Sides were home made mac and cheese (recipe here: cookalongwithkate.squarespace.com/#/mac-and-squeeze-with-spicy-cajun-shrimp/) and asparagus.  Dessert was a chocolate mousse (recipe to be posted).

Lobsters are pretty easy to cook, but I thought I'd post some knowledge that my friends and I learned the night of, when one of our buddies unfortunately checked out before dinner time (he died).  So, what do you do when one of your lobsters dies before you cook them?  Well if you catch it early enough - he died within a half hour of checking on him and his friends - wrap the sucker in a plastic bag and keep it in the freezer until you are ready to eat him, so we did just that and everything was alright.  PS: you can/should only keep a dead uncooked lobster frozen for 24 hours max before you cook it.

Roux

Later on in January, I tried out a new restaurant here in Toronto with my partner in foodie adventures, Scott: Roux.  Roux is a New Orleans inspired restaurant located in the Junction.  They have a small menu, and everything on it is done right, including the cocktails - I sampled a blackberry mojito, it was amazing.  I had the scallops and creamy grits for my main (pictured below) which was delicious and modestly priced given the excellent quality of the shellfish.  Starters included fresh shucked oysters and duck spring rolls and Scott had the special which was a strip loin steak and Cajun shrimp skewer - it was awesome, I highly recommend it!  

Valentines Day 2015

As per amazing-I-have-the-best-boyfriend-ever tradition, Scott took me out for a lovely meal - and it was also a new restaurant for both of us; Bestellen.  Located on College West and known for their meat, Bestellen was hosting a special prix fixe Valentine's dinner with two seatings.  Scott and I got pretty much the same options and we also opted for the wine pairings with the meal.  Below are some images of the meal - sorry they're so dark, it was "romantic" in the restaurant.

The meal:

- Amuse bouche:  Gazpacho with olive oil dust and sweet rolls with herb infused olive oil

- Appetizer: Beef Carpaccio with blood orange (this came with a wine pairing)

- 1st course: Rabbit Ravioli (another wine pairing)

- 2nd course: Beef Shortribs (this also came with a wine pairing)

- Pre-dessert amuse bouche:  Homemade "pop rocks" again with blood orange (lol, they loved the blood orange that night)

- Dessert: Chocolate mousse with hazelnuts and blood orange (this came with a bourbon cocktail pairing)

Jamaican Vacation - Caribbean Lobster!

While vacationing in Jamaica this spring, my partner in crime and I ate Caribbean  lobsters after a lovely snorkeling adventure in a glass bottom boat.  After checking out the sea life in the reefs, we headed to the beaches of Booby Kay island to enjoy some fresh lobsters and cold Red Stripe beers.  We picked our lobsters from a trap in the ocean and they were cleaved in half and thrown on a BBQ pit with lots of savory butter sauce.

Best meal of the whole trip!