Planta Queen

Continuing on my eating tour, my sister recommended Planta. On Queen St. West. I’m interested in expanding my vegetarian repertoire. Planta Queen surpassed my expectations. They serve vegan food.

We started off with the spinach and shiitake, and potato truffle dumplings. I loved the richness of the black bean sauce that came with the spinach and shiitake dumplings. The potato truffle was very good, but I’m not a fan of truffle flavour. Next up was the spring rolls which had a very meaty taste even though there was no meat in it. The dosa with coconut lentil curry was sublime. I need to make that curry. The dan dan noodles had plenty of peanut flavour to go with the kamut. The Shanghai slaw reminded me of papaya salad with a chill bite and undertones of lemongrass.

This is vegan food that does not try to pretend that it’s meat is on another level. All their dishes had such rich flavours that you never knew that the meat was missing.

The bussing was lightening quick. No sooner had we plucked the last morsel off our plate did it get picked up. The service was really good.

Oh yes, the washroom decor was interesting. Whomever would have thought washroom photos belonged in a food blog.

SOOS

I’m making what seems to be my annual trip to Toronto, the land of good eats. My sister suggested Malaysian, as she knows of my fondness for Pan-Asian food. SOOS fit the bill. It’s one of many restaurants that adds to the eclectic vibe of Ossington Street.

We started with the prawn crackers with peanut sauce. The star of the dish was definitely the peanut sauce. Next up was the murtabak. It was an Indian pancake stuffed with curry chicken. The garlic sauce was delicious and had overtones of tzatziki,. and went well with the side of curry gravy.

The classic char kway teow came bursting onto my taste buds with some fiery wok hay. The depth of flavour imparted by a seasoned wok was carried by the charred noodles. The laksa was a nice, spicy finish to the meal. I’ve never had laksa leaf, also known as Vietnamese coriander. It was a nice addition to the soup. Lemongrass and a rich curry broth was a good combination.

Service was attentive and the food came out fairly quickly. I would love to go back and try more of the menu.

Amato Gelato 15th Anniversary Celebration

I like, write in this blog twice a year. At least, that’s what happened last year. I’m dusting off my keyboard because I’m attending a foodie event.

I thank Amato Gelato for taking the time to check out my blog. Being a part time food blogger, it’s not easy to network.

I’m a regular at my neighbourhood frozen treat joints. My kids have their favourite flavours; green tea and anything chocolate. Amato has 72 flavours, which is the largest frozen treat offering that I have seen anywhere. Besides their gelato, they have an updated menu with new items such as affogato. More on that later. A few little known facts. They supply to restaurants. They just recently renovated and are celebrating their 15h anniversary. They bring in their baked goods (frozen) from Italy.

I met some well known food bloggers and instagrammers in the YYC food scene. Also some friends and neighbours. I admire that Amato truly is part of the community. Onto the delicious offerings. Sadly, I made the mistake of eating dinner with my kids (so that they would eat their dinner) before coming here. The pastries from Italy were delicious. They had a variety of offerings from their new menu including pizza which I didn’t get a chance to sample. The affogato was heavenly. Well rounded expresso with notes of caramel and chocolate. Followed by a smooth, rich finish of vanilla cream. The event finished with a nice swag bag including a choice of one of their gelato pints.

I love local. I love community. I love family friendly, and dessert.