Dining Out: Canada Day Dinner at The Keg

Since my brother and sister-in-law are visiting this weekend and are rarely ever back in Canada to celebrate Canada Day, we decided to have dinner at The Keg, a truly Canadian dining establishment:

Iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese
Escargot in mushroom caps
Baked garlic shrimp with cheese
Fried calamari with jalapeños
Prime rib with red wine herb jus and garlic mashed potatoes

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians and happy long weekend to my fellow North Americans!

The Keg Steakhouse + Bar

162 York Blvd.

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3J6

(905) 882-0500

Dining Out: A Szechuan-Style Feast at Hutaoli

My brother and sister-in-law are visiting for the long weekend, so my brother asked if there were any interesting restaurants I wanted to try and I suggested Hutaoli, a modern Szechuan-style restaurant.

Spicy braised trotters with potatoes
Fried organic cauliflower with Chinese bacon
House special roast chicken with peanuts
7-second spicy stir-fried beef
Szechuan-style smoked duck
Steamed fish with chopped chili peppers

I don't know if it's just that I don't eat a lot of Szechuan food, but everything we ordered tonight was freaking delicious. Like, not a single dud in any of the dishes we ordered. My mouth was on fire for half the dinner, but it was totally worth it. I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this place (to be fair, it does kinda look like a club from the outside, which is maybe why I was hesitant to enter), but I will definitely be back to try their other dishes (and check out the live band, whose covers of Coldplay and Lorde were awesome!).

Hutaoli 胡桃里音乐酒馆

3760 Highway 7, Unit 1

Markham, ON L3R 0N2

(365) 608-5333

Dining Out: A Seafood Feast at Diana's Oyster Bar & Grill

Ever go to a restaurant and just order every single appetizer on the menu?

A variety of fresh East Coast oysters
Market ceviche with tortilla chips
Greek salad with Ontario hot house tomatoes
Saku tuna tartare with avocado crema, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil, and yuca chips
Tiger shrimp cocktail with signature cocktail sauce and lemon
Fried calamari with tzatziki, dill, pickled chili, lemon, and olive oil
Blue crab meat cakes with chipotle aioli and garlic
Fried Leslie Hardy Malpeque oysters, fried onions, cilantro, lime, and aioli
Another platter of East Coast oysters
Oysters Rockefeller with bacon, spinach, and béchamel
Pan-seared day boat scallops with cauliflower purée, garlic, and blistered cherry tomatoes
Broiled West Coast oysters with garlic, cilantro lime aioli, chives, and Granna Padano
Grilled octopus with blistered cherry tomatoes, spinach, and lemon
Grilled calamari with caper beurre blanc
Steamed mussels with white wine, garlic, onions, and butter

My brother and sister-in-law are visiting for a few days, so we made reservations at Diana's Oyster Bar & Grill for tonight's dinner. My brother, whose eating philosophy is, "I'd rather have a bite of 10 different dishes than 10 bites of one dish," wanted a variety of things to share for dinner and decided to order the six of us every appetizer on the menu. We added two orders of fresh oysters, two salads, and two pastas as well, because you know, 13 appetizers might not have been enough. A little unconventional (even our server was like, "Wow, that's a first") and perhaps a little excessive, but GENIUS in execution. 

Ugh, I love it when my brother visits 'cause I know there's going to be good eats of epic proportions.

Diana's Oyster Bar & Grill

7501 Woodbine Ave.

Markham, ON L3R 2W1

(905) 415-7792

Photolog 2021: Day 256 of 365

My brother and sis-in-law's last day here before returning to NYC, which means obligatory dim sum breakfast. (Apparently, dim sum sucks in NYC. According to my brother, even the standard dim sum restaurant here is better than a Michelin-starred one over there.)

Baked BBQ pork puff pastries
Bean curd rolls with shrimp and pork in abalone sauce
Sticky rice with convoy and chicken in lotus leaf
Steamed pork dumplings with fish roe
Homestyle egg and pork rice noodle roll
Deep-fried sesame balls with salted egg yolk
Steamed jumbo shrimp dumplings
Braised Chinese turnip and beef offal
We had a feast. Baked BBQ pork puff pastries, bean curd roll with shrimp and pork in abalone sauce, sticky rice with convoy and chicken in lotus leaf, steamed pork dumplings with fish roe (siu mai), homestyle egg and pork rice noodle roll, deep-fried sesame ball with salted egg yolk, steamed jumbo shrimp dumplings (har gow), Chinese turnip and beef offal, and black sesame mochi (not pictured because one was eaten before I even got to photograph it). I only had 3 hours of sleep because our reservation was for 10:00AM (my brother and sis-in-law had to get to the airport for 12:30PM), but I guess my new motto is, "Will always wake up for dim sum."

Casa Victoria

8601 Warden Ave., Unit 4-6

Markham, ON L3R 0B5

(905) 948-1618

Photolog 2021: Day 254 of 365

As my brother and sis-in-law are visiting this weekend, we obviously had to have an obligatory fancy Chinese multi-course dinner. The restaurant of choice for tonight was Yu Seafood. As its name implies, the restaurant specializes in seafood of all types, prepared in a multitude of ways. 

Assorted fresh sashimi platter
Steamed bass with wood ear mushrooms in ginger soy sauce
Wok-fried Cantonese-style ginger scallion lobster
Deep-fried chili garlic king crab legs
Steamed black truffle king crab legs
Sautéed Chinese snow pea leaves with red dates
Mango jelly and almond cookies
And it is by far the fanciest dinner I've had in nearly two years. We started off with a selection of fresh sashimi, followed by steamed bass with wood ear mushrooms and ginger soy sauce; a giant Cantonese-style wok-fried ginger scallion lobster; king crab prepared two ways: deep-fried with garlic and chili, and steamed with black truffle; sautéed Chinese snow pea leaves with red dates; and finally, for dessert, mango jelly and warm almond cookies (there was also the customary sweet red bean soup, but I didn't have any and it's not photogenic, so I didn't bother taking a photo of it). And I just gotta say, EVERYTHING WAS SO FUCKING DELICIOUS. The lobster, of course, is a classic favourite, the crowd-pleaser. But the garlic chili crab legs were INSPIRED. I may have eaten like, 10 of them. Entirely worth the calories, cholesterol, and sodium overload. I may need to eat salad for the next week, but IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Yu Seafood (渔膳房)

270 West Beaver Creek Rd.

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3Y9

(905) 881-1688

Photolog 2019: Day 236 of 365

Assorted sashimi platter with octopus, fluke, mackerel, shrimp, salmon, and tuna
Lobster stir-fried with garlic and noodle fish
Dungeness crab with garlic
Steamed green bass with soy sauce
Lobster tomalley stir-fried rice
Almond cookies and mango pudding
Fruit platter
Had a phenomenal seafood feast for our fam jam this evening at Yu Seafood. Started off with a beautiful sashimi platter, then headed into a massive 8-pound lobster stir-fried with garlic and noodle fish, two steamed Dungeness crabs with garlic, a steamed green bass with soy sauce, and a pyramid of lobster tomalley stir-fried rice, before finishing off with almond cookies, mango pudding, and a fruit platter for dessert. Housed in a huge, elegant, modern space. Great service, too. Even provided plastic gloves in a fancy silver box for eating the seafood with your hands. Only downside is that they don't take credit cards, which is somewhat inconvenient for those like my brother and sister-in-law, who are visiting from another country (their menu is on the pricier side and they can't expect everyone to always be carrying cash). Still, we all thought it was a great meal with a good value for the price. Would definitely come back again for special occasion dinners.

Photolog 2019: Day 206 of 365

Peking duck
Peking duck lettuce wraps
Deep fried minced shrimp balls
Pork and dried shiitake mushroom soup
Chicken and squid stir-fry with sugar snap peas
Chinese crispy skin chicken
Grouper fish cooked two ways with snow peas
Ginger scallion lobster
Almond cookies and lychee jelly with goji berries
Fam jam at our go-to Chinese fine dining restaurant this evening. My cousin Bella is visiting from Hong Kong for the first time in years (I haven't seen her in about a decade) along with her son, her boyfriend, and his family, so they hosted a massive dinner for all the Canadian relatives. From Peking duck to lobster to almond cookies for dessert, we had a total of 10 courses in the span of three hours. Talk about an indulgent cheat day!