fuss-free weekend breakfast.

Weekends are for minimal effort.

belly.

Belly was undoubtedly my favourite restaurant we visited on our West Coast roadtrip. It may, in fact, be one of my favourite restaurants ever. 

roadtrip eats, part II.

Hey there!

Have you recovered from the epic feast for the eyes that was roadtrip eats, part I?

Are you ready for part II?

I hooope so... This one will be a little tamer, I promise.

roadtrip eats, part I.

So I mentioned that I recently went on a roadtrip from Victoria, B.C. down the coast to San Francisco where we pretty much spent the majority of our days driving from one food-serving establishment to the next, right? K. Well, here's the long-promised Part I of the journey that my belly took... through pictures. 

red fish blue fish.

Red Fish Blue Fish is pretty much a Victoria landmark up there with the Parliament buildings as far as I'm concerned. If you live in Victoria and haven't been... What? Get yourself there immediately before they close for the winter season on October 31. If you don't live in Victoria and haven't been... get yourself there immediately before they close for the winter season on October 31. Maybe even arrange a trip around it. Stranger things have been done.

keep on foodtruckin': the food dudes/tiff 2012 edition

I have way more well-written, well-hashed-out future posts in the works than this... but I just thought I should letcha know about the Food Dudes' TIFF foodtruck. Because it was pretty awesome and you can absolutely find it in one spot tonight.

the best barbecued chicken ever.

I know barbecue season may be almost over... (most depressing words I've typed in a long time)... but you absolutely HAVE to make this before it is.

mutsuki-an part II.

Soooo, I've just returned from the most epic food and wine tour/roadtrip of the West Coast imagineable. I am noticeably more "jolly" (not just referring to my mental state). And I have sampled some ridiiiculous treats and restaurants that I can't wait to share with you.

In the meantime, as I'm too much still in "holiday mode" (read: overweight and lazy) to deal with a loading pics situation...

I bring you sushi.

willow's galley.

How ridiculously-good-looking is this burger? 

mango avocado tuna tartare

One of my favourite things about being home in Victoria are the dinner parties that my parents throw. Of course, I also love the ones that my friends throw, but the difference is the food. My parents have a group of friends who love food - making it, eating it and talking about it - and they bring the BEST nibblies to parties. We had a going-away party for some friends departing to Australia last week (complete with blow-up crocodiles floating in the swimming pool) and the good grub and wine was in abundance, bigtime. 

the stockyards part II: burger week.

I can't believe I haven't told you about this burger yet. 

homemade sushi part II: spicy dynamite cones.

I know I've been seriously MIA. Starting today, my food photos and invaaaahhluable insights are all yours again. I've been working on a monster, 350-page (single spaced!) communication plan final project the last two weeks and not sleeping/eating nearly well enough for my liking. Alas, on Friday I handed it in and said goodbye to my post-grad studies at Humber College. And then consumed a lot of glass or two of wine and danced like a maniac to The Backstreet Boys with my classmates. 

Anyways... I come bearing homemade spicy dynamite cones as an apology.

swish by han.

Have you ever eaten somewhere so good that you want to hit the streets outside and usher passersby in because you can't stand to see complete strangers miss out that badly?

That was me this week. Straight up.

fol epi.

This might be weird for some of y'all, but I'm not a huuuge sandwich person. I mean, I don't dislike sandwiches, but usually there's something I'd rather eat. Like a burger (which doesn't really count as a sandwich, does it?) Or sushi. Or... something else. So when, on my last visit to my hometown Victoria, my parents started raving about this Fol Epi place, I wasn't suuuuper stoked. I mean, I usually trust their taste in food (I didn't inherit my passion for sauce from nobody!) but I just wasn't jumping up and down and begging them to go. We went anyways. 

yamato sushi.

So I'm not writing about burgers, sauce or some other artery-clogging indulgence. How weird is this?

(OK, maybe a little sauce. What would a post really be without a mention of it?)

But, like, how beautiful is this sushi? Seriously, I might frame this photo on my wall. 

sesame-crusted tuna with ginger sake cream.

By now, you may have figured out that I'm kiiiind of a sauce person. But what if I told you that I recently sampled what was potentially one of the best sauces I've tasted, like, ever?

thai mango chicken salad with creamy peanut dressing.

Brace yourselves. I'm about to reveal something that may turn your world as you know it upside down. Occasionally, I'll not only eat - but actually looove - a salad. 

crab mac 'n cheese.

You can't reeeally go wrong with an Ina Garten recipe. Especially one that involves pasta, creamy gruyere, breadcrumbs and lobster a crustacean.

My mom and I call this recipe adaptation The Poor Man's Lobster Mac 'n Cheese. And let me tell you, if this name is true, I don't ever need to be rich.

marben.

The amount of burgers on this blog are getting a liiiitttle ridiculous. 

But here's another one and it's one of the best to have ever graced this URL domain.

the stockyards smokehouse & larder.

Ever have one of those days when you want to just ditch every responsibility life has so rudely placed on your plate and hole up in a car listening to old school hip hop and eating fried chicken?

Thought so.

the works.

 I rarely write about chain restaurants on this blog, and I'm not quite sure why. It may be that I'm overcompensating for how low-brow the majority of my life/hobbies are (Real Housewives of Vancouver, anyone?) by acting decidedly snooty. It may be that I figure most of you have visited them already. Or it may be that my heart is two sizes too small...

Moving on. 

My recent trip to The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro in London was so delicious I just couldn't keep it from y'all. The Works has a handful of locations across Ontario, and are in the process of opening a few spots in Toronto (yippee!) They also have a menu with over 70 crazy burger combinations. Insanity. 

Needless to say I did my research beforehand, or else my decision-time would have been record-makingly long. 

It may have been that the bf and I had consumed one beer too many the night before and not eaten anything that day - plus WALKED to the restaurant which looked deceivingly close on Google maps - but my burger, the Three Ring Binder (above) hit. tha. spot.

A fresh ground beef patty, topped with gouda cheese, chipotle mayo, fried mushrooms and three big, crunchy, juicy onion rings. I'm gonna say this might be one of the more perfect topping combinations to ever be invented. I've scrolled my page down as I type so I don't have to even look at the picture, which is making my tummy grumble. It was pretty freakin' awesome. 

The bite that I tried of The Urban burger (avocado, grilled eggplant, salsa loco and feta cheese) at the top of this post did not disappoint, either.

Once The Works arrives to Toronto, it's pretty inevitable that someday, somehow I will have made my way through the entire menu. I'm giving myself a month, maybe two. 

Anyone care to place a wager?

come and get it.

I'd been salivating over Come and Get It's menu for weeks.

relish.

Peanut butter, bacon and cream cheese on a burger.

I had to do it.

I really did.

homemade fish tacos.

Oh, hey guys!

Remember me?

I've been so busy with this gosh darn program that all of my other hobbies have, shamefully, kind of... taken a back seat. Other than my weekly Bachelor viewing and de-stressing with wine and girlfriends. Oh, and consuming a delicious meal every now and then. 

Like these homemade fish tacos.

shrimp sunomono salad.

Shrimp sunomono salad from Azuma Sushi, Victoria, B.C.

burger's priest: round two.

 I should have probably just realized I was fooling no one and made this a strictly-burger blog. They're clearly what I eat for breakfast lunch and dinner every single waking day of my life. 

Treated my Valentine to Burger's Priest last week. Aren't I romantic?

We tried the new Yonge and Lawrence location - much more accessible, equally lined-up - and I braved The Priest; a cheeseburger topped with their "option" patty, which is a portabello mushroom stuffed with more cheese and deep-fried.

It was lot of cheese. And a lot of amazing. Maybe even too much amazing.
If that's possible.

Although I still prefer my original Burger's Priest order of the High Priest, I'd settle for one of these puppies any day of the week. 

mildred's temple kitchen.

When life gets a little crazy, I find that there are few things that make me feel better than eating a good meal and drinking wine with my best friends. Bonus points if this occurs in the middle of the day (such a novelty!)  

mcrae's.

Two-dollar tacos at Mcrae's, Victoria, B.C.

rol san.

I love dim sum.

ivar's clam chowder.

Ivar's clam chowder (best in the world!!!), crackers and cold beer 

on the Washington State Ferry to Seattle, Washington. 

the big chill.

Polar Paws ice cream (strawberry-filled white chocolate truffles, pieces of dark chocolate and a raspberry jam swirl in white chocolate ice cream) at The Big Chill, Toronto, ON. 

the fish store.

Sometimes a good sandwich is hard to come by.

sushi 67.

There are few activities that bring a smile to my face quite like treating myself to some funky sushi.

the village patisserie.

Roasted yam salad with feta, scallions and toasted walnuts from the Village Patisserie, Victoria, B.C.

grand electric.

When I read that Grand Electric was serving up delicious tacos to the soundtrack of some well-selected hip hop beats I kinda fell in love before I even visited...

the pink bicycle.

The Pink Bike Cheeseburger with Vancouver Island naturally raised Hereford SpringFord Farm beef, smoked cheddar and pink bike sauce at The Pink Bicycle, Victoria, B.C.

homemade sushi.

Something both extremely momentous and slightly dangerous happened on Friday night. 

haro's.

Smoked seafood chowder with crispy bacon and chili oil at Haro's Restaurant & Bar in Sidney, B.C.

bin 4 burger lounge.

 

Now, you know I love me a good burger.

yoshi sushi.

YO.

Wanna drool over some sushi pics? 

saigon night.

ohmygodthisislikemyfavouritemealever.

tulio ristorante.

Tulio Ristorante has been a Seattle family staple for Italian for years.

spicy tuna sashimi.

Spicy tuna sashimi at Azuma Sushi, Victoria, B.C.