Loka, Toronto

If you’ve followed Loka’s story from the beginning, you’d feel quite emotional when walking into their brick and mortar location at 620 Queen Street West. Chef Dave Mottershall began this venture as the infamous @chef_rouge on Instagram posting incredibly appetizing food porn for his many,many followers. His pop-up at Hi-Lo on Queen East was such …

Big Crow Restaurant, Toronto

Finding Big Crow for the first time may be a challenge but once you see it, it truly cannot be unseen… or forgotten. Head just west of Dupont and Davenport, locate Rose & Sons restaurant and follow your nose down the alleyway to its backyard sister. A big A-frame shaded patio  will welcome you, flanked …

The Tempered Room, Toronto

What is your perfect dessert?   I know, such a loaded question for anyone with a sweet tooth since this choice is dependent on the circumstances around this item’s consumption… is it a hot summer day? a palate cleanser? a meal replacement? a post breakup remedy?… Regardless, for me, it involves butter, vanilla, cream and …

Nana Restaurant Toronto

Located at 785 Queen Street W. (in the Trinity Bellwoods neighborhood), Nana sparked a lot of excitement when its doors opened almost a year ago. Being the younger sister restaurant of one of my favourite places in the city, Khao San Road, my initial dining experience here felt a lot like meeting my significant other’s …

Khao San Road – Toronto

If I needed to pick my favourite restaurant in Toronto for 2014, Khao San Road (Adelaide and Peter) would definitely be the one! The food is amazing, the vibe is so much fun, the restaurant as a whole is unpretentious (a rarity in our foodie town) and did I mention that the food rocks?! I …

Sea Witch Fish & Chip Toronto

Having a British heritage (not me, but my partner in crime) means that you inherently crave fish and chips on a regular basis and not just any ol’ fried piece of fish will do. There are a few great places around town, located in obscure strip malls in and around the suburbs of Toronto that …

Brunch at the Whippoorwill, Toronto

Happy 2014 to all our readers and welcome back. A short regroup and here we are, writing about what’s important: food and especially where to eat it in Toronto. Our last meal out on the town was just yesterday morning and it honestly was so disappointing that we rushed over to our computers to do …

de Mello Palheta Coffee – Toronto

Located in uptown Toronto, just north of Yonge and Eglinton, this little coffee shop and roaster has been making quite the stir in the neighbourhood. With it’s modern decor and shelves littered with interesting brewing equipment, walking into this shop feels more like a research lab than a cafe. They’ve only been open for a …

Sushi 930 – Toronto

Located just outside the trendy Liberty Village, Sushi 930 (930 King Street West), is a great little place for a quick dinner or lunch. It may not be worth going out of your way for this Japanese fare but if you’re in the area, don’t be shy. The fish is fresh, the rolls  beautifully rolled …

The food of Croatia

To be perfectly honest, while travelling the coast of Croatia from one end to the other, we didn’t really have a chance to experience any real Croatian food because we didn’t find any restaurants offering it. That’s not to say that there weren’t any restaurants, quite the contrary actually, but none that would offer something …

A journey around Toronto’s pastry world (1)

So it’s Saturday afternoon, the sky is grey and depressing, our stomachs are growling so what are we to do?!?! Well, most people would make lunch, but here at Notes On a Meal, we don’t find that to be enough so we embark on a French pastry shop journey. Equipped with a sneaky camera (well, …

Sugar, part 3

From a culinary perspective, sugar is a very important ingredient so understanding how it reacts while being heated, melted, dissolved, etc is very crucial. One of the most integral parts of this is an understanding of what happens in a simple sugar and water solution. In this case, the sugar molecules have a tendency to …

What is a macaron?

So all week I’ve been posting about these wonderful little desserts but I haven’t even answered the most basic of questions: What is a macaron? Before I get into details, I would like to point out that we are talking about French macarons as opposed to the North American coconut counterparts…. those are spelled with …

The Grizzly Project, Barcelona

This is a very interesting clip on the design and making of a chocolate grizzly bear by the Barcelona Pastry Guild School for the World Chocolate Masters competition this year. Enjoy!    

Whole wheat, banana berry muffins

Simple and very very healthy, possibly also somewhat tasty, these muffins are a great way to start the day. Should mention that they are egg free and can very easily become dairy free or gluten free. I made mine with wheat germ, blueberries, dried currants and coconut but the possibilities are endless as long as …