Take Out: Key Lime Pie Ice Cream at Kawartha Dairy

The weather is finally warming up, so what's the perfect way to celebrate actual spring weather? Ice cream. (Obviously.) With my new favourite flavour, too: Key Lime Pie at Kawartha Dairy. It tastes exactly like its namesake. It's the perfect mix of sweet and tart; it's creamy but citrusy without veering into sorbet territory, and there's bits of graham cracker in there to give it a nice chew. And if you actually go to a Kawartha Dairy store, the "baby" size is like a large at Baskin Robbins so it's a pretty incredible value for $6. (No, really, this cup is huge. It can feed two people. Or one ice cream fiend, a.k.a. me.) Yes, I know that I can go to my local supermarket and get a tub of Kawartha Dairy ice cream to eat at home, but it's never the same as going out for ice cream, is it?

Kawartha Dairy

5 Alexander Rd.

Newmarket, ON L3Y 3J2

(905) 953-2881

Take Out: Cappuccino Cake from Paris Baguette

Cappuccino Cake

Okay, so Minji bought the Cappuccino Cake (mocha cake filled with mocha buttercream, coated in chocolate, and topped with buttercream and caramel) from Paris Baguette to celebrate Daniel's birthday today at work and dare I say, it might just be my new favourite cake...? Now that they've finally come to Canada and are opening more locations, I will need to look into more desserts from Paris Baguette... You know, for research.

A Friend's Baby Shower: 3:15 Cake from Daan Go Cake Lab

My friend Minji's baby shower was today!

3:15 Cake from Daan Go Cake Lab

We hosted it in the party room in my building because it was the most central location for everyone invited, but between liaising with concierge, decorating, and meeting and socializing with over 20 new people, I kinda forgot to take photos. But there was a tasty spread of Korean food (two kinds of japchae, bulgogi and rice, gimbap, Korean-style potato salad, etc.), baby games (don't say the word "baby," guess what's in the baby food, etc.), a whole lot of mingling, and the incredible 3:15 cake from Daan Go Cake Lab (which contains Hong Kong milk tea mousse, Vietnamese coffee and evaporated milk crémeux, and the most incredible Ovaltine "pineapple bun" crumb crunch) which was as delicious as it looks.

Loot bag goodies

We even got little loot bags to take home that included the most adorable towel shaped like a bear, a bag of caramel popcorn, and a little trinket box filled with Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Hi-Chew candies. SO FREAKING CUTE.

Congratulations to my very good friends, Minji and Daniel. You're going to be amazing parents!

Take Out: Apple Cider, Tanghulu, and Churros at Holiday Fair in the Square

After our downtown adventure, Minji, Daniel, and I went to check out the Holiday Fair in the Square.

Tanghulu
Churros
Custard bungeoppang

It was... disappointing. We dropped by to see what kind of sweet treats we could get, and though Minji picked up a couple boxes of baklava and Turkish delight to bring home, we only got some apple cider, a skewer of tanghulu, and a couple of churros. There were no funnel cakes, no cookies, no crazy holiday-themed hot chocolates. Maybe it's because we went on a Friday, but there were only about 10 food stalls in total, so I'm guessing they open way more stalls on Saturday and Sunday. Either way, we ended up having to make up for the lack of food variety by getting some custard bungeoppang up the street. 

Sigh. This is what we get for not wanting to pay the admission fee for the Winter Village.

Holiday Fair in the Square

Mel Lastman Square

5100 Yonge St.

North York, ON M2N 5V7

(416) 338-3343

Take Out: Snow Skin Mooncake Set 2024 from Daan Go Cake Lab

For Mid-Autumn Festival this year, I decided to go to Daan Go Cake Lab for their Snow Skin Mooncakes again because, frankly, they are tastier, prettier, and more unique than those plebe lotus seed paste mooncakes. (I had said last year that I hoped these would be released again this year, so I'm glad they were popular enough for a comeback!)

Snow Skin Mooncake Set Box — Artwork by Kimiko Nogomi

Snow Skin Mooncake Set Box

Snow Skin Mooncake Set

Snow Skin Mooncake Set

This year, we have two returning flavours and two new ones:

• Pistachio Raspberry (new): Pistachio pastry cream with a raspberry gel centre and raspberry pistachio croquantine
• Salted Duck Egg: Salted duck egg pastry cream with a salted duck egg lava centre and white chocolate coconut crisp
• Passion Fruit Cheesecake (new): Cheesecake filling with a passion fruit gel centre and white chocolate graham crumble
• Jamocha Nut: Chocolate pastry filling with an almond lava centre and milk chocolate almond crumble (a.k.a. the GOAT of mooncakes)

Snow Skin Mooncake — Pistachio Raspberry

Snow Skin Mooncake — Pistachio Raspberry (Inside)

Snow Skin Mooncake — Salted Duck Egg

Snow Skin Mooncake — Salted Duck Egg (Inside)

Snow Skin Mooncake — Passion Fruit Cheesecake

Snow Skin Mooncake — Passion Fruit Cheesecake (Inside)

Snow Skin Mooncake — Jamocha Nut

Snow Skin Mooncake — Jamocha Nut (Inside)

Regardless of where your mooncakes are from, I hope everyone has a delightfully food-filled Mid-Autumn Festival!

Daan Go Cake Lab

Times Square Richmond Hill

550 Highway 7, Building C, Unit 70

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3Z4

(905) 707-9098

Canadian National Exhibition: Summer 2024

Over the course of nine hours at the CNE (by far the longest I have ever spent there), Minji, Daniel, and I managed to go through all the exhibitions, play roulette at the casino, buy some air plants (me) and an Italian squeegee kit (them), and eat all the extraordinarily overpriced junk food we wanted to try this year:

Dilly Ranch Twisted Pickle

Tanghulu Mochi Doughnut

Wasabi Soft Serve Ice Cream

Fruity Pebbles Fried Chicken with Lime Dipping Sauce

Ruffles All Dressed Fried Chicken with Dill Pickle Dipping Sauce

Fried Soft Shell Crab "Kaarage" with Sriracha Mayo

Crème Brûlée Soft Serve Chimney Cone

Deep-Fried Pickle Oreos

Ube Sesame Corn

Deep-Fried Pickles

Deep-Fried Hickory Corn Ribs

Deep-Fried Cheese Curds and Curly Fries

Winners for me were the twisted pickle (so good, we almost got two), the Fruity Pebbles fried chicken (especially with the lime dip — a perfect combination of sweet, salty, and tangy), the soft shell crab (amazing texture and flavour — if it wasn't $20 each, we would've gotten another one), and the Tiny Tom's doughnuts (a classic for a reason; and did you really go to the CNE if you didn't get some Tiny Tom's doughnuts?). The most disappointing was the tanghulu mochi doughnut (sickly sweet, and I thought the fruit would be more incorporated into the doughnut somehow rather than just a skewer sitting on top), the Ruffles All Dressed fried chicken (the fried chicken was decent enough, but we could barely taste the All Dressed chips), the crème brûlée soft serve Chimney Cone (the burnt sugar and custard were just sitting on top so once you get past that top layer, it's just vanilla soft serve), and the deep-fried pickle Oreos (even the thick layer of sweet deep-fried dough could not hide the fact that pickles and Oreos just do not go together). 

And in case you're wondering, all of this cost $90.34 per person (not including entry tickets and parking). I wasn't kidding when I said "extraordinarily overpriced," because we could each have had a pretty lavish steak dinner for the cost of all this junk food. I guess we really made up for not going during the pandemic years. On another note, thank you to the guy at "Fool the Guesser" who thought I was still 27. At least Minji's $10 didn't go to waste and she got a stuffed frog plushie out of it. 

Canadian National Exhibition

Exhibition Place

210 Princes' Blvd.

Toronto, ON M6K 3C3

(416) 263-3330

Take Out: Pistachio and Hazelnut Gelato at Love Gelato

Pistachio and hazelnut gelato

Went to Love Gelato (because spring means gelatoice cream frozen dessert season has begun) after work and got a double-cup of my favourite pistachio and hazelnut — my forever couple.

Love Gelato

116 Main St. Markham N.

Markham, ON L3P 1Y1

(905) 201-2918

Tokyo 2024 Travel Log: Day 4 — Asakusa (Okuyama Oimari) Street Food Tour

Did you think I would go to Asakusa and not do a street food tour?

Kare pan from Giraffa

Oden from Kimizuka Shokudo

Roasted pork taiyaki from Edo Taiyaki

Crème brûlée custard cream sweet potato from Imo Pippi

Uji matcha chocolate crunch crêpe from from Kotobuki-sei-an

Mushroom cream stew bun with bacon and corn from Komugi no Dorei

Assorted baby castella from Mochinyan-Yaki

Okuyama Oimari

Okuyama Oimari

Not a single flop here. In fact, we went back to Giraffa for a second kare pan. (And we would've gotten another bun from Komugi no Dorei if they weren't already sold out of everything.) My biggest tip is to skip the insanity that is Nakamise-dori and go straight to the back streets for food. We went to Okuyama Oimari and didn't feel the need to go anywhere else for all of our street food eats.

Giraffa（ジラッファ)

2 Chome−3−26 君塚ビル

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

+81-3-6802-8175

Kimizuka Shokudo

2 Chome−3−26 君塚ビル

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

+81-3-3841-5686

Edo Taiyaki

2 Chome-5-5

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

+81-3-6826-9520

Imo Pippi

2 Chome-3-24

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

+81-3-3841-7027

Kotobuki-sei-an

2-Chome-7-21

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

Komugi no Dorei

2 Chome−7−19 高橋ビル 101

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

+81-3-5246-4449

Mochinyan-Yaki

2 Chome-3-25

Asakusa, Taito City

Tokyo, Japan 〒111-0032 

Osaka 2024 Travel Log: Day 3 — Dotonbori Street Food Tour

We fought our way through crowds and spent way too much time waiting in queues, but it wouldn't be a trip to Osaka without a plethora of street food:

Original takoyaki

A variety platter of takoyaki

Mitarashi dango

10 yen cheese coin pancake

Sweet potato taiyaki

Melonpan with strawberry ice cream

Ichigodaifuku with strawberry cream and matcha cream

Sweet corn with strawberry soft serve

Not a single disappointing item. ONLY DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF BECAUSE I COULDN'T FIT ANYMORE IN. 

Dotonbori

Chome Dotonbori, Chuo Ward

Osaka, Japan 〒542-0071

+81-06-6211-4542

Hong Kong 2024 Travel Log: Day 3 — Original Egg Waffle from The Best Pancake

After spending the afternoon exploring K11 MUSEA (where we walked about 8,000 steps because that mall is gigantic), we were feeling a little peckish, so we did what anyone would do: get egg waffles! 

Original egg waffle

We saw this sliver of a shop (no, really, this unit could only fit the one owner and his three waffle irons) with a small line-up outside of it, and knew it would be the most legit place in the area to get them. Fresh and hot, fluffy on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside... The perfect cheap afternoon snack. Our only regret was not getting another one.

The Best Pancake

8-12E Carnarvon Rd., Shop G, Portion A

Tsim Tsa Tsui, Kowloon

Hong Kong