Food Delivery: Dim Sum Macaron Set and Sushi Macaron Set from Daan Go Cake Lab

Love dim sum? Love sushi? Love macarons? ME, TOO. As if Daan Go Cake Lab didn't already make the cutest macarons in the game, they decided to make these limited edition ones themed after my favourite foods: DIM SUM AND SUSHI! 

Daan Go Cake Lab Dim Sum Macaron Set

Daan Go Cake Lab Dim Sum Macaron Set

Siu mai — Vietnamese coffee

Phoenix claw — Raspberry

Sesame ball — White sesame

Egg tart — Chocolate crunch

Har gow — Roast milk tea

Mango pudding — Mango

The dim sum set comes in an actual bamboo steamer! The sushi set comes in an actual sushi tray (complete with baran wrapped around the "wasabi")! The moment I saw these, I knew I would not be able to resist. In fact, I immediately logged into their website and put them in my cart for check out. And the best part? I had enough Daan Go points to get $20 off!!!

Daan Go Cake Lab Sushi Macaron Set

Daan Go Cake Lab Sushi Macaron Set

Octopus — Black sesame

Maki — Pistachio

Tamago — Passion fruit

Wasabi — Matcha

Shrimp — Yuzu

Salmon roe — Ovaltine

And lest you think that the increase in cuteness means a decrease in quality, I am here to tell you that the texture of these macarons are PERFECT (the crumb, the bite, and the mouthfeel are truly outstanding — frankly, better than many that I've had at French macaron giant, Ladurée) and the flavours are the most accurate I have ever tasted. Daan Go Cake Lab is known for their infusing Western-style desserts with Asian flavours, so that Vietnamese coffee macaron tastes not just like coffee, but specifically Vietnamese coffee. That roast milk tea? Tastes not just like any tea, but specifically roast milk tea from your local boba shop. After many years, I continue to be impressed with Daan Go Cake Lab, and honestly, it's far more worth it to me to pay for the macarons here than most other patisseries.

Daan Go Cake Lab

Times Square Richmond Hill

550 Highway 7, Building C, Unit 70

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3Z4

(905) 707-9098

Food Delivery: February Macarons from The Social Blend

You know who always gets me the best Valentine's presents? Myself.

The Social Blend February Macarons
The Social Blend February Macarons

Like Christmas, I don't really celebrate this holiday, but a holiday is always an excuse to treat myself to something I wouldn't normally. It's practicing self-love, but like, within reason. As expected planned, I did not ration my Lunar New Year's macarons, so I obviously had to get another box from The Social Blend. (Listen, it's not my fault that Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day fall so close to each other this year. So this is still within reason, okay?) The actual Valentine's Day Box didn't excite me as much as their February exclusive flavours (denoted with an *), so I got a custom box of nine: 

Strawberry Crunch
Double Raspberry
Blueberry Cheesecake
Cherry Blossom*
Chocolate Salted Caramel*
Strawberry Lamington*
Mandarin*
Mixed Berry Pistachio*
White Chocolate Mango*

I just realized Family Day is coming up next Monday and these will definitely get stale by then, so unfortunately, I won't be able to ration these, either...

The Social Blend

130 Eglinton Ave. E.

Toronto, ON M4P 2X9

(416) 484-9919

Food Delivery: Year of the Dragon Lunar New Year Macaron Box from The Social Blend

Happy Year of the Dragon! 🐉 I am starting off the new year with some fat Korean-style macarons, featuring the adorable Lunar New Year Box from The Social Blend:

The Social Blend Lunar New Year Box
The Social Blend Lunar New Year Box

It's been nearly three years since I've ordered macarons from The Social Blend and I forgot just how freaking good they are. (My condo management stated that food cannot be left with concierge, and since I'm at work for 9 - 10 hours a day, I'm just never home to get the delivery, so I had to stop ordering them. But a couple weeks ago, I realized that I could just have them delivered to my office building instead. Not sure why it took me so long to think of this, but I guess better late than never!) 

Matcha Rice Puff — Matcha with Fried Rice Puffs
Firecracker — Grapefruit
Red Money Pocket — Strawberry
Dragon — Oreo
24 — Earl Grey
Golden Dragon Pearl — Salted Caramel Chocolate
Sakura — Cherry Blossom
Mandarin — Mandarin

I should probably ration these but — oh no! — they'll go stale within a few days. So I guess I'll just have to polish these off and get myself another box for Valentine's or Family Day or something...

The Social Blend

130 Eglinton Ave. E.

Toronto, ON M4P 2X9

(416) 484-9919

Food Delivery: Original Brown Katsu from Brown Donkatsu

Original brown katsu

Okay, I don't know if it's because I haven't had tonkatsu in a long time or because I just haven't eaten out in a long time, but the tonkatsu I had for lunch today from Brown Donkatsu was particularly glorious. Like, more delicious than any tonkatsu I've eaten in recent memory. I hadn't eaten there in years so I just got the original with their signature brown sauce (at 0.5 spice level, which was surprisingly quite spicy so level 3 might burn off your tastebuds), and the pork was incredibly tender and juicy, the batter was unbelievably crispy, and each order actually comes with two cutlets so not only is this amazing value, but I also had enough for dinner. Perhaps I will head over to Brown Donkatsu in person next week... (Can you tell that I am trying to make up for three weeks of not being able to eat out?) 

Brown Donkatsu

First Markham Place

3235 Highway 7, Unit 22

Markham, ON L3R 3P3

(905) 944-0990

Food Delivery: Original and Crabmeat Foldable Egg Sandwiches and Chicken Karaage from Tamago Jirou 蛋治郎

I was so excited about all the food adventures I was going to have in the new year... and then I got hit with COVID two weeks ago. I just thought I had a particularly nasty cold but my mom dropped off a box of rapid tests, which I do have some trust issues with, but I took one anyway and wow, did those two lines show up fast. I somehow managed to avoid it for 3 years, so I guess it was finally my turn. Anyway, that was all to preface the fact that I have not gone out to eat since that New Year's hot pot outing three weeks ago. Basically, life has sucked.

Original and crabmeat foldable egg sandwiches
Chicken karaage

Now that I've been back at work for just over a week, I decided to celebrate the return of my tastebuds with my co-worker by ordering lunch from Tamago Jirou. They specialize in "foldable egg sandwiches," so we got two of the crabmeat sandwiches (crabmeat with homemade creamy sauce, spicy mayo, egg, and lettuce) and two orders of the karaage because they were both on BOGO specials, as well as the original sandwich (homemade creamy sauce, egg, teriyaki sauce, onion, corn, and cheese) because it's  their signature dish (and also we were just super hungry and feeling ambitious).

Surprisingly, we both liked the crabmeat sandwiches significantly more the original — the sandwich was loaded with crab meat tossed in a tangy, creamy mayo that had a hint of yuzu which made it fresh and addictive — but the toasty, fluffy bread pockets are positively delightful, and the fillings are abundant. But what really surprised us was how good the karaage was — all dark meat (which I prefer), juicy and tender on the inside, crispy and well-seasoned on the outside, served with a wedge of lemon and the aforementioned yuzu-tinged mayo. An extremely successful first "dining out" meal after COVID. I will absolutely be ordering from Tamago Jirou again because I obviously need to go through their entire sandwich menu now.

Tamago Jirou 蛋治郎

Langham Square

8321 Kennedy Rd., Unit 1070

Markham, ON L3R 5N4

(905) 475-7357

Food Delivery: Puzza Pizza from Scaddabush

Puzza pizza from Scaddabush

Boss is definitely feeling guilty for stressing me out so much this week 'cause he bought me lunch again. Today's choice: the Puzza pizza from Scaddabush! Double-smoked bacon, Pecorino Alfredo sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, roasted mushrooms, mascarpone, and fresh parsley. This pizza was EXCELLENT. You know, I used to think Scaddabush was average at best, but I've actually been quite impressed with them over the past year. I don't know if it's because they really weren't that great before or if I just made the wrong menu choices. Either way, I need to milk the guilt as long as possible. I gotta eat through more cuisines...

Scaddabush

155 York Boulevard

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3B4

(905) 709-4280

Food Delivery: Pearl Sushi Set from Pearl Sushi

Sashimi/nigiri/sushi set from Pearl Sushi
My boss offered to buy me lunch today because it's been quite stressful at the office lately and I think he just felt guilty, so I decided to Uber Eats a fancy little sushi/sashimi set because he said I could get whatever I wanted, and it was so satisfying that I think I might try to make my boss feel guilty more often. (Also because I totally will not spend $40+ on a takeout lunch just for myself, so when boss doesn't give me a spend cap, I gotta take advantage...)

Pearl Sushi

10066 Bayview Ave., Unit 1

Richmond Hill, ON L4C 2K9

(905) 770-2222

Food Delivery: Firenze Pizza from Nonna's Oven

Firenze Pizza

My boss decided to treat us to our choice of lunch at work today, so all of us decided to get pizza from Nonna's Oven, which I have been wanting to try it for some time. Each of us picked a 14" traditional thin crust gourmet pizza — I chose the Firenze, which is a focaccia pizza topped with mozzarella, sliced potato, caramelized onions, goat cheese, whole black olives, oregano, olive oil, and rosemary. It was FANTASTIC. Great crust with a good amount of chew but perfectly crispy edges, fresh ingredients in generous portions, and an excellent topping to crust ratio. Plus I have enough left over for dinner, too, so I don't have to cook tonight! I will absolutely be coming back here for my next pizza craving.

Nonna's Oven

1285 Elgin Mills Rd. E., Unit 8

Richmond Hill, ON L4S 0B5

(905) 770-6800

Food Delivery: Primeburger from Fresh Burger

Primeburger with all the fixings

It's Fri-yay, which means lunch delivery at work! We were craving burgers, so Caitlin insisted that we get burgers from Fresh Burger, which Linh and I had never tried before. I got the Primeburger, the 6 oz. version of the original Freshburger: a 100% Canadian Angus beef patty, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, Freshburger sauce, pickles, and onions. And I gotta say, it's giving Burger's Priest a run for its money. Granted, Burger's Priest has a one-up in variety — and the fact that they have deep-fried cheese-filled portobello mushrooms available à la Shake Shack — but comparing original cheeseburger to original cheeseburger, I wouldn't know the difference. Fresh Burger is also way cheaper. And has more convenient locations. (As in, there's one that is 5 minutes from work, and another that's 10 minutes from my condo.) If we're comparing quality and value, Freshburger is already winning.

We also got a poutine and the California-style fries, which is a play on In-and-Out's Animal-style fries — fries topped with Freshburger sauce (a variation of Thousand Island dressing), chopped caramelized onions, and a slice of American cheese on top — and I don't know if it's the Canadian in us or just the general superiority of gravy and cheese curds, but we all agreed: the poutine was infinitely better. 

Fresh Burger

9206 Leslie St., Unit 4

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 2N8

(905) 597-7224

Photolog 2021: Day 217 of 365

Beef and bean chili with sour cream and spiced tortilla chips
Tonight's dinner, featuring another Hello Fresh kit: Beef and bean chili with sour cream and spiced tortilla chips! Clearly, I was in a Tex-Mex mood when I ordered my meals for this particular delivery. I used the wrong cheese (I switched the cheese from my taco meal kit with this one by accident) but man, this chili was fucking AMAZING. This was my first time making chili and it was way easier than I expected, actually. I don't know how authentic it is, granted, but still, it was legit restaurant-quality. I would 100% make this again. And add more cheese, obviously.

Photolog 2021: Day 215 of 365

Pork tacos with pico de gallo
I obviously had to save this particular Hello Fresh meal kit for today because it's TACO TUESDAY! Thus, I made pork tacos with pico de gallo. It was supposed to be paired with avocado salad, but it was literally just avocado and spring mix with some lime juice, so I just added the avocado into the tacos and ate the spring mix separately with some homemade balsamic dressing. But anyway, it was simple and DELICIOUS and super easy to replicate. Only thing to improve this is maybe the addition of sour cream and some hot sauce. Think I might try it with chorizo next time, too.

Photolog 2021: Day 210 of 365

Tonight's dinner, a.k.a. this week's first Hello Fresh kit: Spanish chorizo burger with chimichurri salad, feta aioli, and sweet potato wedges. Firstly, the burger was excellent. I mean, it's hard to fuck up a burger (and I'm saying this as someone who made her first burger last month), but it had amazing flavours — the savoury heat of the chorizo, the creamy tang of the feta aioli, and the tartness of the salad complimented each other beautifully.

Spanish chorizo burger with chimichurri salad, feta aioli, and sweet potato wedges

I was, however, confused by the "chimichurri salad" because it doesn't taste anything like chimichurri. I'm pretty sure chimichurri requires garlic, shallots, and chiles, and while there were jalapeño peppers, the salad didn't resemble chimichurri in the slightest. It just tasted like vinegar and parsley and spring mix. So that was a little misleading. And it takes away from the "Spanish" part of the burger. Also, the sweet potato wedges were decent, but kind of... boring? Uninspired? Or maybe I'm just picking all the kits that have baked wedges and I just need to get more variety. I wanted something crispier. You know, like a fry. Maybe I'll cut up my leftover wedges (for tomorrow's dinner) into smaller sticks and re-bake them. Anyway, I would definitely make the burger again, but I'd definitely look up a more authentic chimichurri recipe for it next time.

Photolog 2021: Day 204 of 365

Chorizo poutine with spring mix salad
Made the final kit from my latest Hello Fresh box for dinner: Chorizo Poutine with Fresh Salad. Okay, this was actually pretty tasty, but I gotta say, baked potato wedges DO NOT REPLACE FRIES. Like, it would've been so much better even with frozen fries. So would I remake this? Mmm, probably not. Not because it wasn't good or it's hard to make, but because I just don't know where to get fresh cheese curds.

Photolog 2021: Day 202 of 365

Cheesy Creamy Cauliflower Rigatoni
I get my Hello Fresh boxes every other week (getting them weekly would just be too expensive for my budget) so I've been saving some of the meals for this week. For tonight's dinner, I made the Cheesy Creamy Cauliflower Rigatoni, and it is officially in my Top 3 of Hello Fresh recipes so far. First of all, it's easy to prep and only takes about half an hour to make from start to finish. Secondly, it tastes like bacon. So much so that I completely forgot that this dish is actually vegetarian. Now, granted, there is also butter, sour cream, and cheddar cheese in it, so it's not exactly low in fat, but I think the addition of so much cauliflower and baby spinach kinda evens it out. (Right?) Anyway, it was delicious and I get to eat it for tomorrow's dinner, too. I will definitely be making this one again.

Photolog 2021: Day 182 of 365

Cooked the last kit from my first Hello Fresh box for tonight's (and tomorrow's) dinner: Prime rib cheeseburgers with grilled onion jam and herby garlic hash. Okay, so when I was picking out my meals for this box, I totally did not read that this recipe requires a grill, which I definitely do not have. So I had to make quite a few adjustments, with cooking the burgers in a frying pan and the onion jam and the hash in the convection oven. Which, of course, doubled the cooking time. So I was kinda mad at myself the entire time for not realizing before ordering that this recipe uses only a grill for cooking.

Prime rib cheeseburger with grilled onion jam

Still, the burgers still came out INSANELY GOOD — ultra flavourful and juicy, almost melt-in-your-mouth — especially with the balsamic onion jam, which adds an amazing, sweet, tangy dimension to the beef. The hash could've been excellent except that the veggies were super undercooked in the convection oven and I am not into crunchy potatoes, so it actually ended up taking 40 minutes in the oven and then 5 minutes in the microwave (because I am impatient and said, "FUCK IT, MICROWAVE TO THE RESCUE") to make them soft. (At least I learned what thyme tastes like. And looks like. I guess I have just never needed to use thyme. Or any other herb that isn't already in a bottle. Oh, and I cut a bell pepper for the first time in my life! Look at me becoming a chef!) 

Thus, I have learned my lesson. I will be more vigilant in reading the recipes when choosing my Hello Fresh meals. And also, I bought an adorable, single-serving grill from Amazon. For all my future grilling-in-an-apartment needs.

And that, friends, is how I spent my stat day off. HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!