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?