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.