Inatei 稻亭 (2nd visit)

Date: Jan 2010
Location: 9021 Leslie St., Unit 7&8, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 0B2

This is my second visit to Inatei within a month. Inatei is definitely one of my favorite Japanese Restaurants. Inatei distinct themselves by serving seasonal and special sashimi such as Hiarme (Fluke or 左口魚) and real white tuna. The waiter said they only serve real white tuna (Albacore), not butter fish (Escolar). Most importantly, their sashimi are always fresh and tasty. Oh! one more thing, I just can't resist their dessert which is different on a daily basis. Their sushi & sashimi lunch is $13.99 and Salmon Don is $10.99.

Let's talk about some of the sushi I tasted this time. Hirame has a very firm texture. It looks like the meat is taken from the fish's fin area. Because the meats are small and 2 of them are needed to top the sushi. The real White Tuna sushi has a totally different texture than butterfish. The meat is softer and less oily than butterfish and it is more refreshing. Kazunoko is Herring roe which has a bright yellow colour and it is very crispy!

Sushi & sashimi with California roll

 From L to R: Hirame, Salmon, White Tuna, Prawn, Kazunoko (Herring roe), Arctic Surf Clam

Salmon and Tuna Sashimi

Salmon sashimi don

Very fresh and fatty Salmon
I found the rice more tasty than last visit because it is firmer

Milk tea pudding

Very smooth and milky pudding. Yum!
I love the syrup container so cute! 

Ding Tai Fung Shanghai Restaurant 鼎泰豐

Date: January 2010

Location: 3235 Hwy 7 E Unit #18B, Markham, ON L3R 3P3

My C.C. and I were working busy til 8:00pm tonight so we decide to have dinner together. We chose 鼎泰豐 - Ding Tai Fung Shanghai Restaurant. For those who are not familiar about Shanghai Cuisine, here is the link for explanation. I had visit 鼎泰豐 Ding Tai Fung many times and I found their food to be okay. Their 蟹粉小籠包 Steam Crab Meat and Pork Dumpling are one of the best in town and it is also my favorite. However their other dishes are average depending on what you order. I am not very happy with my meal as I had try better dishes from this restaurant before. In terms of pricing, it is not expensive the whole meal only  cost $25 including tax and gratuities. The dumpling cost ~$7.99, noodle ~$6.5, and the beef roll is ~$5.49.

 蟹粉小籠包 Steam Crab Meat and Pork Dumpling

One order comes with 6 dumpling
The outer layers of the dumpling is very thin. you can see the soup waggly around 

The dumplings are very juicy but a bit oily too
All the crab meat is in the middle of the dumpling

炸醬麵 Noodles mixed in broad-bean sauce

  Surprisingly they use beef instead of pork which most other Shanghai Cuisine used
I don't found this noodle as tasty as I though because it is not spicy enough and the beef are too dry

牛肉卷 Beef Roll

Their beef roll is average and the whole dish is too dry
I feel the beef is not marinated enough as compare with Asian Legend
It has lot of raw green onion which I don't like

Inatei 稻亭

Date: Jan 1010

Location: 9021 Leslie St., Unit 7&8, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 0B2

I read some good reviews for Inatei Japenese Cuisine and I finally get to try out their food. They have a lunch menu with sushi, sashimi, bento, ramen which comes with miso shop, salad and dessert. My C.C. and I order a chirashi ($12.99) and a tonkatsu + sushi bento ($13.99).

The overall quality of the food are great as fishes were fresh and fatty. Their menu is a bit more expensive than the others. However,  fishes were fresh and tasteful so it is worth the price. For example, the shiitake mushrooms which came with the chirashi were marinated just right and not too salty. That's tell me the chef paid attention to all the ingredients in a dishes. This is also the reason why I love their food.

However, I overheard the next table said their sea weed was not crispy. I didn't order any sushi myself so I could not compare. Their cheese cake dessert was extremely delicious. The owner said they hire a chef to make desserts everyday with are different everyday. On the day of my visit, they prepared Tofu and Avocardo cheese cake.

I asked the waiter and he mentioned that Inatei offers Omakase with a base price of $60 and it is subject to change based on the seasonal ingredients. It must be reserved one day in advance so the chef can select and prepare the perfect meal.

Miso soup & Salad

Their salad was made from finely chopped cabbage which tasted like coleslaw

Chirashi

Great selection of different fishy: salmon, tuna, saba & saba with yellow fish eggs, hamachi, buri, shrimp, octopus, real crab meat, eggs and marinated shiitake mushroom

The rice was flavourfuI. I found it a bit too soft but C.C. said it was alright

 

松 Matsu Bento

Tonkatsu was crispy yet not dry and the orange was sweet

The salmon was fatty and tuna is very fishy unlike those from other restaurant

The salmon ongiris has the right texture and not salty. Excellent!

Tofu Cheese Cake

Very yummy cheese cake with a sponge like bottom

Beautiful design and good for large party

 

Danny's Fish & Chips

Date: January 2010

Location: 4721 Hwy 7, Markham, ON L3R 1M7

I don't usually have fish and chips for lunch but Danny's Fish and Chips is the place I love. Their fillet were not greasy and perfectly breaded. Each meal was prepared fresh after order has been placed. I tried their fries before and they were perfectly cooked, not soggy. There is always a special menu for $5.99 with a choice of (1) Catfish (2) Tilapia (3) Pollock-2 fillets, all comes with the "chips". Fries can be substitute by onion rings with extra $1. I ordered their Pollock and Tilapia before. My C.C. loves the Tilapia. This time I wanted to try their Cod fish with garden salad for $8.95. Another good thing about Danny's Fish and Chips is, you can have all you can drink coffee.

Open Clean Kitchen

Lot of people came in for lunch and ordered take-out

Dinning Area

Cod & Garden salad with Italian sauce

Cod fillet tasted firmer than Tilapia (it comes with 3 individual fires. Ha Ha)

Tilapia & Onion rings

It has a strong fishy taste, perfect for fish lover!
I found their onion rings better than the fries

Miyabi 雅

Date: January 2010
Location: 280 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B4

I never know there is a Japanese operated Japanese restaurant in Jubilee Square until my C.C. bought me there. It is a medium size restaurant with two traditional tatami party rooms and shoes must be off. They offer food similar to J-town and the price are similar too. However they have Japanese style hot pot which smelt very good although I did not order it. Miyabi also have Japanese magazines for customer to read. My C.C. and I were still full so we only ordered Tannin Don (牛肉丼) and Nabe yaki undo (Hot-pot Undo).

  Miso Soup

Surprisingly delicious and not salty at all. A very tasty bowl of soup

 
Nabe yaki undo

Fluffy, and crispy tempura shrimp. Very fresh!

I love the poach egg, because it is a real 溏心蛋 (runny yolk with harden crust)

  
Tannin Don

 A bit salty but still tasty

Japanese Magazine

My favourite Japanese drama - Nodame Cantabile 

Can't wait for the movie to come out

 

The Old Curiosity Tea Shop (2nd visit)

Date: January 2010
Location: 91 Main Street Markham North Markham, ON L3P 1X7
Website: www.cuppa.ca

 
I just love the Old Curiosity Tea Shop so much that I revisited it again. We almost didn't get a table as we didn't reserve. This place was packed with customers again,, so I guess I better reserved a table next time. For this visit, I ordered from their regular menu and ordered the Steak, steak and kidney pie and baked beans & Shepherd's Pie. These two dishes are cooked fresh as we order them and it usually takes approx 20-25min. 

We also order 2 pots of tea. Their teas are truely excellent and the finest I have even encounter. It is only $3.85/pot which is cheaper than a lot of bubble tea. This time we ordered their Ice Wine tea and Prince of Wales tea. The Ice Wine tea has a sweet aroma while the Prince of Wales has a strong earthy scent.

The Old Curiosity Tea Shop is now open most Sunday from 11:00 until 4:00 which features their special menu e.g. Quiche, and Battenburg cake which is not found on the regular menu. I guess I will visit the store again later on a Sunday afternoon.

Side Salad with English Salad Cream imported from England

The English salad cream tasted like the sauce in fillet-o-fish

The waiter mention a Canadian version of the cream can be found in Loblaw

Steak, steak and kidney pie and baked beans

 Chunks of meat in gravy with a flaky top crust with imported English baked beans

The baked beans tasted a lot better than those from a can

Chunks of meat are delicious and not dry at all

Shepherd's pie

Delicious mince beef with vegetables, topped with creamy mashed potatoes

I love the crusted mashed potatoes very delicious

The fillings were hot and the last bite was still warm

Ice Wine Tea 

Ice Wine tea is a blend of black tea with an unique sweet taste

It is good to drink alone or with milk and sugar

Prince of Wales Tea

 A Royal blend of black tea and the owner added in some green tea leafs

It tastes best with mike and sugar because of its complex flavour

Tableware

Strainer used to separate tea leafs

A teapot and a beautiful tea cup for lady because I can use my little fingers to hold the cup

Milk Container

Forks and Beautiful Napkin

Decorations in the shop

Beautiful tea ports on the wall

Wallpapers are elegant

Fireplace with tableware for sale on top

I love the roses on the beam and beautiful molding on the ceiling

That's the table I want to sit in front of the window

Cora's Breakfast & Lunch

Date: July 2009

Location: 3760 Hwy 7 Unit 2, Markham, ON L3R 0N2

Website: www.chezcora.com

This place is packed with people on a weekday morning at 10am. The restaurant is decorated with giant hand printed fruits posted on the wall. All of the meal comes with large quantity of fruits which is something I love. We ordered the Cora's special and Benet Dictine. Their fruits are fresh and I like the Benedict as I can choose how well the pouch egg is cooked.

Cora's special

The bacon is crispy yet not dry. I love their sausage. The pancake underneath the ham is a bit oily

Benet Dictine

Love the smooth Hollandaise sauce

Plateful of fruits and potato

Ruelo Patisserie

Date: January 2010

Location: 550 Highway 7 East, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3Z4

Website: www.ruelo.com

I always want to find a pastry store which sell macrons in the uptown area. Luckly, I found Ruelo Patisserie and their macrons are delicious. From now on, I don't have to travel all the way to mid-town when I have a craving for macrons. The store is operated by Chinese yet the chef was studied in France. Ruelo Patisserie also features afternoon high tea for $9.99 per person. Their high tea tray has three different layers with sandwiches, tea biscuits and some sweets. After I found out about their afternoon high tea, I immediately reserved a table and brought my C.C. with me to try it out. Originally, I thought each of us will receive a high tea tray but it turned out only one tray is served for the two of us. I found that to be a bit pricey.

The sandwiches were very refreshing . My favorite sandwiches is the smoke salmon sandwiches with a tiny bit of lemon on it. Their tea biscuits were crispy, however the blueberry jam they served is not homemade and it was from a jar. I was a bit disappointed with the jam. I enjoyed their sweet the most. Creme brulee and macrons are the best after all. We also side ordered a blueberry cheesecake and some extra macrons. Out of all the macrons, my favorite one is  wasabi grapefurit. On my first bite, I tasted wasabi then the flavour of grapefurit slowly came out. These two different flavours was balanced very well together.

Raspberry Green Tea

The tea pot has a button on the lid. When pressed, tea will passed through the filter into the pot

Jasmine Flower Tea

High tea tray for two people

 This is not enough for two people and it is a bit pricey

First layer

Smoke salmon and ham & egg salad sandwiches

Second layer

Tea biscuits with butter and blueberry jam

Third layer

Mini creme brulee and my favorite walnut macrons

Side Orders

Blueberry cheesecake & wasabi grapefruit macrons

Caramel macron (too sweet) and Ruelo macron (chocolate hazelnut fillings)