Au Pied de Cochon: Cabane à Sucre

Our lack of posts in April is partially due to my being out of town most weekends that month. While quite a bit north east of Toronto, one of the most memorable meals in April was in Montreal, at Au Pied de Cochon’s Cabane à Sucre. Thanks to P, T, and R, I was able to visit the only-if-you-can-score-a-reservation sugar shack, a 30 minute drive out of Montreal.

Maple Cocktails: Whiskey sodas, daiquiri and coffee
Our reservation was for 11:30 on a Saturday morning, the perfect time to start with drinks! P and I opted for the “Soda Jello” which were whiskey sodas with cubes of maple jelly floating in the bottom. They came with optional glasses of chipped ice, to dilute as desired. Our table also ordered a maple daiquiri and a maple alcoholic coffee drink, both of  which were delicious as well.

All meals should begin with with a dessert tower!
At Au Pied de Cochon (APDC), the meal begins with an impressive dessert tower. Stacked on a tin can and pieces of a sizable tree trunk are bite-sized desserts that serve as awesomely excessive amuse-bouche.

Top Tier of the Dessert Tower
The top tier includes maple syrup spun into cotton candy, with maple glazed doughnut holes underneath. Also on the tier were maple sponge candy, cones of maple taffy and chocolate dipped marshmallow-maple cookies. My favourite item on this layer was the cotton candy, partially because they also doubled as tasty facial hair. Underneath the top layer of wood, a creme caramel made with maple syrup is balanced on top of the tin can.

Bottom Tier of the Dessert Tower
The bottom tier had shots of maple syrup diluted with Jack Daniels, maple popcorn cones, croissant aux amandes, canelés and a yogurt maple jello cube. I disliked the tartness of the yogurt in the jello cubes, but it most likely helped those who were overwhelmed by the sweetness (and amount) of maple syrup so far. For those who weren’t, a jug of APDC’s homemade maple syrup was available for adding to anything you liked.

The four main courses… just kidding, these are just the appetizers!
Next, our four appetizers are served all at once – fried duck legs, smoked salmon and foie gras pancake, pork rinds “salad”, and veal brain omelette.

The Duck Legs
The duck legs were deep fried and coated in a maple barbeque sauce. As the “simplest” dish, with each leg shared by two people, these were devoured quickly upon arrival.

Only a Smoked Salmon and Foie Gras Pancake
Topped with baked beans, ricotta cheese, maple smoked salmon, and lumps of foie gras and served in a skillet, this pancake was a delicious combination of flavours united by maple syrup.

This is a salad, really!
The next appetizer was a dish of pork rinds and crispy strips of fried pig ears served on a bed of duck hearts and greens. Although presented as a salad, the main feature of this dish were definitely the addictive pork rinds, with the vinegary greens at the bottom to help cut through the delicious fat overload.

The Brains Omelette
More of a frittata than an omelette, this skillet of eggs, bacon and brains was my favourite dish out of the appetizers. Above a layer of scalloped potatoes were fluffy eggs, stuffed with mozzarella, topped with tender chunks of maple smoked bacon and lumps of creamy veal brains. While possibly the easiest dish to recreate at home, this rich dish of eggs and bacon was cooked perfectly and I couldn’t help but have extra helpings, even though pacing ourselves was important, as the main courses had yet to arrive.

Pineapple Ham with Potatoes
The first main dish that arrived was a roast ham topped with a pineapple ring and maraschino cherry, brushed with maple syrup, and served with buttery potatoes.

Green Beans and Almonds
Served alongside the ham were green beans in a maple sauce, with slivered almonds. Although a nice side to accompany the ham, I felt our beans were slightly overcooked, and  sweeter than expected.

Stuffed Chicken with Lobster Sauce
Our last savoury dish was this slightly gruesome looking piece of chicken. Stuffed with lobster and foie gras, the chicken was served with a rich lobster sauce. While I liked each part individually, I didn’t quite feel that stuffing everything together created a sum that was greater than its parts.

Dessert: Maple Syrup and Angel Food Cake
Served in a bell jar full of dry ice, the Angel Food cake frosted with maple syrup was the surprisingly light dessert brought out to end the meal. Maple taffy, traditionally made by pouring maple syrup onto fresh snow to chill, and eaten using popsicle sticks, was served alongside the cake. At APDC, the maple taffy is taken to the next level with the brilliant idea of chilling the syrup in soft serve instead.

Overall, APDC’s sugar shack serves up awesomely excessive feasts of meat and maple syrup in a cheery log cabin out in rural Quebec. It was a quintessential Canadian experience – all that was missing was a campfire. On the way out we also noticed some interesting details in the kitchen – a 69 APDC jersey, a taxidermied wolf on the wall, and a chef’s table!

–
Saturday Morning, April 20, 2013.
Au Pied de Cochon: Cabane à Sucre
11382 Rang de la Fresnière
St-Benoît de Mirabel, Québec

Auberge Du Pommier

The fact that Toronto is obsessed with food is not a huge surprise. However, the trend is that the food itself triumphs over all else. This has resulted in restaurants with no space, no reservations, and often with no service. While we don’t disagree on the importance of food over ambiance, waiting in line to be cramped into ridiculously small restaurants or events gets tiring.

Luckily, Toronto is still home to true fine dining establishments, one of which is Auberge du Pommier. Typically out of our budget, and not being a fan of ‘licious crowds, we continually passed over this little house in North York. However, when we learned our friend E would be leaving the team at Auberge, we decided it was definitely time for a visit.

Our meal began with olives and bread (which I’m sure you can imagine without a photo.) The bread available that night included an apple sourdough, french baguette, and whole wheat, provided throughout the meal by a friendly server. A tasty ricotta-like cheese with honey and black pepper was provided alongside instead of butter.

Cuisses de Grenouille – tempura of Everglades frog legs, dill coulis, amandine rémoulade

The next dish appeared to be an adorable pear, but was actually a delicately fried frog leg atop an almond studded mayo sauce, surrounded by dabs of dill puree. Often presented as a gift from the chef, it was a delicious and memorable first dish.

Foie Gras – mousse of foie gras, white soy gelee, black sesame Genoise, Meyer lemon curd

The first course listed on the Menu Gourmand is the foie gras dish – a grande finale plate presented at the Canadian Culinary Championships (which chef Marc St. Jacques won). Cake-like in appearance, the foie gras mousse is sandwiched between a black sesame base, and soy jelly top. Combined with the tart lemon curd, shiso leaves, and crunchy sesame puffs, this dish was an interesting combination of flavours and textures, and paired well with the Albert Mann Auxerrois.

St. Jacques – seared sea scallop, sea urchin spaghettini, black truffle

Next on the menu was the fanciest pasta I’ve ever had, and my favourite dish of the night. A rich bundle of spaghettini was topped with uni, paired with a perfectly seared scallop, and sprinkled with truffle and a dab of lime curd.

Caille – roasted Nippissing quail, glazed cucumber, green olives, Cara Cara orange aigre-doux

This dish featured a fully de-boned quail reformed into a ball, and a single quail leg. I really appreciated the detail in the accompaniment to the meat – the little scoops of cucumber, slivers of olive and segments of orange. M joked that the dish was a very fancy take on orange chicken. I think at this point we switched to a Mission Hill Reserve Shiraz.

Palate Cleanser – apple, celery, fennel panna cotta

Next we were presented with a palate cleanser. Cubed apple, celery, fennel and apple jelly topped a panna cotta. While the fruit and vegetables were refreshing, we found the panna cotta a touch heavy for a palate cleanser.

Porcelet – St-Canut suckling pig, black cardamom-carrot puree, charred pineapple, baby carrots, pineapple vinegar

The last savoury dish of the night was tender suckling pig, served with carrot puree, cubes of charred pineapple, baby carrots, and a ladle of pineapple vinegar. While the flavours of the dish were perfect and the jus extremely rich, P disliked the texture of her meat.

Chocolate Napoleon – chocolate & hazelnut wafers, caramel cream, dark chocolate croquette, chocolate gelato

As a lover of chocolate, I was eagerly awaiting dessert. What arrived definitely exceeded my expectations. While the gelato and “cake” were good, the best part was definitely the dark chocolate croquette, lightly fried with a touch of salt, and the innards semi-liquid perfection.

Blood orange jelly, with black sesame, creme brulee and lemon macarons

After coffee and tea, we were presented with some final sweets – blood orange jellies and macarons. The macarons came in flavours we all loved – lemon, creme brulee and black sesame, creating a dilemma as to how we could each taste all of the flavours. Overall, I felt that the macarons were quite sweet, but served as a nice tie-in with the citrus and black sesame from the beginning of the meal.

As Auberge du Pommier was nearing the end of service that night, E invited us for a tour of the kitchen. It was a great to have a chance to peek behind the scenes, in the fridges, and prep areas, as well as to meet the chef himself, Marc St. Jacques!

Auberge du Pommier is definitely a restaurant worth returning to, especially for special occasions. The excellent food and service will guarantee a memorable night!

–
Friday Evening, March 15, 2013.
Auberge du Pommier
4150 Yonge St, Toronto

Shiso Tree Cafe (Revisited)

Having not been to Shiso in over a year (gasp!) we headed over on a quiet Thursday evening. Since our last visit, Shiso Tree Cafe has updated their menu selection, with a few new appetizers as well as a revamp of their pasta selection (see the new menu here and here).

Smoked Salmon Hors D’Oeuvres 8
We started with one of their new appetizers, a fairly simple dish of garlic toast points topped with Japanese mayo, smoked salmon, ikura (salmon roe), caviar (sturgeon roe) and dill. The neatly presented combination of savoury seafood and buttery toast is a nice alternative to their fries.

Shiso Tree Salad
Pasta dishes are served with a salad, and a piece of garlic toast. The salad consisted of mesclun, iceberg lettuce, some shredded carrots, and their homemade wafu dressing.

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup
All their pasta dishes can be made to a set meal. $3 will add the soup of the day, and $8 will add soup and cake. P opted for the soup and cake combo, with the soup of the day being a creamy garlic potato soup. Served in a cup, it was good, but required some skill to share politely (which we sadly lack).

Bolognese Bacon Sausage Pasta, with Garlic Toast 13
Their pasta selection has been recategorized into Wafu, Tomato and Cream & Rose. The condensed menu still includes the majority of the previous pasta’s ingredients, but offered fewer combinations. Craving something meaty that night, I ordered the Bolognese bacon sausage pasta – why order simple Bolognese, when you can add bacon and sausage? The pasta was finished in a red wine & beef jus reduction which added some extra depth to the dish.

Shrimp Okonomiyaki Pasta, with Garlic Toast 14
Topped with four plump shrimp, P’s pasta was sautéed with bacon, onions and garlic, and topped with homemade steak sauce, Japanese mayo, and bonito flakes.

Bakery Nakamura’s Tiramisu Cake
One of the benefits of arriving earlier in the evening to Shiso is getting first pick of the dessert selection! As part of the pasta set, the cakes available that night were tiramisu, rare cheesecake, red bean green tea cake, strawberry mango shortcake and choux pastry puff. P chose the tiramisu cake, which had a notable coffee flavour.

Black Sesame Crème Brûlée 6
I chose not to have a pasta set, as their specialty desserts are not the cakes, which are supplied by the Nakamura bakery next door. Having tried both the matcha azuki sundae, and green tea brûlée, the remaining options were either a pineapple crêpe or the black sesame brûlée. As a fan of black sesame, the brûlée did not disappoint! A crispy sugary shell gave way to a black sesame custard, with a thicker layer of sesame paste on the bottom.

Overall, Shiso remains an excellent choice for a different kind of Japanese meal!

–
Thursday Evening, January 10, 2013.
Shiso Tree Cafe
3160 Steeles Ave E, Markham

Pita Golden Pocket

While Mozy’s has the best shawarma, it’s sadly unfeasible to drive to Waterloo for lunch. Luckily I was introduced to Pita Golden Pocket (PGP) by co-workers, who are fervent fans of the shawarma at this restaurant hidden in the dingy strip malls of Vaughan.

Who needs a menu, when there’s a rotating spit of chicken?
PGP’s menu is displayed prominently above the counter, offering selections ranging from Caesar salad to “schintzel”. Despite their variety of offerings, I have only ever seen a customer order a non-shawarma option once (soup and a falafel wrap). The standard order at PGP is their chicken shawarma, in a wrap or on a plate.

PGP’s Shawarma: Mounds of meat, vegetables, and sauce, ready to be wrapped
Similar to Burger Priest and (former) Goody’s burgers, there are different approaches to shawarma. Mozy’s full flavour is fairly minimalist, focusing on a few ingredients. PGP’s shawarma takes the opposite approach, with a wide selection of available toppings which they mound generously into each wrap, resulting in a shawarma the size of a large burrito (or which my co-workers describe as “the size of your arm!”).

Sliced in half for easy sharing
With their mountain of meat, PGP’s variety of pickles, peppers, lettuce, onions and tomato are a must to balance out their meat-heavy wrap. The sauces available are garlic sauce, hummus, homemade hot sauce, and a “mango” sauce. Their hot sauce adds flavour as well as spice, and 3 lines are recommended for a decently spicy wrap. Their mango sauce is an interesting blend of (what we guess is) sour mango, mustard and curry spices, and should not be missed. Some even prefer to get the mango sauce on the side as a dipping sauce!

Neatly dissected shawarma, mango sauce, and a sample of pita chips
PGP’s hefty shawarama is well worth the 7.99 cost, for the fresh ingredients and friendly service at this mom and pop shop. In addition to the tasty food, small things make PGP stand out – giving out samples of chicken to the lunch rush line, and providing a tab for easy unravelling of the shawarma. Unfortunately, the family run PGP are only open Monday to Friday, but are definitely worth the trek on a day off.

Many thanks to P for taking all the photos (I was too busy eating)!

–
Visited numerous times over 2012.
Pita Golden Pocket
2104 Highway 7 W, Vaughan

Mozy’s Shawarma

Although there are many variations, shawarma at its simplest is a wrap stuffed full of delicious meat shavings. Somehow, I failed to have any shawarma in Ottawa (despite spending months there), where you can spot at least one shawarma place on any street corner. Thankfully, in Waterloo I did not make the same mistake, as Mozy’s Shawarma is the best shawarma.

Mozy’s Full Flavour Shawarma & Falafels
Since wraps are the ultimate student-friendly portable meal, there are more pita/wrap/shawarma places than you can count in Waterloo. Mozy’s stands out, through their attention to detail. Passing by on University, Mozy’s attracts attention by placing their accent-lit rotating spit of chicken as close to the window as possible. Inside, at the far end of the counter, is the fairly simple menu along with a register with a small customer-facing screen, allowing you to ensure your order is correct.

Mozy’s Spice: sriracha!
The correct order at Mozy’s is the full flavoured shawarma. They have a regular shawarma that many do order, but it will dilute your enjoyment of meat shavings with tomatoes and lettuce. (Seriously though, there’s nothing wrong with the regular shawarma, you’ll just be missing out!) The full flavoured shawarma is created by first rubbing the pita on the rotating spit to absorb the juices of the roasting meat, then toasting said pita, before mounding it with chicken, hummus, pickles, and fries. Next, the option is given for spicy or not spicy, to which the answer should (almost) always be spicy. Mozy’s uses sriracha. The whole process can be watched through mozy’s excessively large sneeze guards (think of the plastic shielding found at hockey rinks above the boards).

Sproll’s Fine German Cheesecake (not actually available at Mozy’s)
Mozy’s also makes good falafels, with a light lemony flavour. Only on our most recent visit in September did we finally try them, as we could never trade a shawarma wrap for a falafel wrap. Of course, the solution is to get both, with falafel as a side order! Mozy’s also has baklava for sale, but we’ve never tried it due to the high probability of having raided the Sproll’s Fine German Bakery’s stall at the Kitchener’s Farmers Market for all their remaining cheesecake!

Mozy’s Shawarma is definitely worth trying, and we have actually driven all the way back to Waterloo just for their shawarma.

–
Visited numerous times in 2011 and 2012.
Mozy’s Shawarma
247 King Street N, Waterloo

Sproll’s Fine German Bakery
300 Trillium Dr, Kitchener

Shogun Ramen

Sansotei! Santouka! Kinton! Kenzo! There are plenty of ramen choices in Toronto nowadays (and we’ve tried them all, we’ll get to writing about them eventually…). However, working uptown makes it unfeasible to have lunch at any of these ramen places. Sure, there are Niwatei, Ippudo, and Yokozuna, but none are particularly outstanding (Ajisen and Jyuban don’t even count). We were excited to hear that Shogun Ramen had opened not downtown, but in Richmond Hill.

Shogun Ramen’s Tonkotsu 9.95
Shogun’s menu is simple with only 6 noodle options. The usual tonkotsu, miso, shio and shoyu ramen are accompanied by a spicy seafood “Karashi Champon” and a mixed seafood udon, “Woolmen”. P and I both opted to try their Tonkotsu, which arrived with an egg, cha siu, wood ear, pickled bamboo, bok choy, pickled ginger and a garnish of spring onions. Shichimi, or Japanese Seven Spice was provided with the noodles.

Shogun’s Noodles
I finally remembered to take a photo of noodles prior to inhaling the bowl of ramen! Shogun’s Tonkotsu is a creamy broth, tasty enough on its own, but cannot match Sansotei’s in richness. Their noodles are straight , and while not quite as al dente as Kinton’s, still possess a decent bite to them. Both components are good enough on their own, and combine to make decent bowl of ramen, placing Shogun on par with Kenzo.

Shogun’s after-noodle snacks aka the cheeseless cheese plate?
After finishing our ramen, we were presented with a small plate of mildly sweet seaweed crackers. This was a nice touch, considering most ramen places don’t have any sort of dessert (although Sansotei offers ice cream mochi).

Shogun’s Interior: Bonus points for showing the food network instead of music videos or sports!
Overall, Shogun is worth a visit if you happen to be in the area, but not quite worth trekking out to, especially with all the ramen options downtown.

-
Thursday Afternoon, November 29, 2012.
Shogun Ramen
10097 Yonge St, Richmond Hill

Jumbo Burger

Jumbo Burger (pretty much the whole place)
Jumbo Burger is physically opposite to northeast of the city, located on the west end of the Junction. We headed across the city for a glimpse of the CP Holiday Train, and followed our noses to Jumbo Burger. A mom and pop burger joint straight out of the ’60s, they have their fair share of die-hard fans, as evidenced by (commenters online and) a steady stream of customers while we where there.

Jumbo Burger’s Menu
Their burger offerings are fairly standard, with burgers, cheeseburgers and banquet (bacon & cheese) burgers. They also offer a breakfast menu, fish and chips, and chicken dinners.

Jumbo’s Cheeseburger 3.95
We went with the double burger and cheeseburger, with a double order of onion rings. The fluffy buns were toasted on the griddle, and slathered with your choice of condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish, tomatoes, pickles and onion). Topped with a slice of yellow cheese, my cheeseburger was juicy, and everything you’d expect from a greasy spoon burger.

Jumbo’s Onion Rings 2.95
The real highlight of the meal was the onion rings – large, crunchy rings that shattered as you took a bite. Their batter was free of the lumps too often found in onion rings – turning them into strange savoury donuts. I would strongly recommend you get a drink to go with these rings (we had a mental lapse and didn’t), as you will need it afterwards.

Do you like orange?
I would go back to Jumbo Burger if I was in the area, definitely choosing them over the McDonald’s in the Walmart around the corner. However, it’s probably not the best idea to have that many onion rings more than once a month!

-
Saturday Afternoon, December 1, 2012.
Jumbo Burger
685 Runnymede Rd, Toronto