Showing posts with label late night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late night. Show all posts

CLOSED: Krazy Corean (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2016 by
Krazy Corean
With a name that would irk any editor, Krazy Corean is increasing the diversity in Little Italy with their menu of Korean offerings. Their signage introduces the cuisine as fusion: although there are several blended plates, the restaurant serves a number of traditional offerings as well. Don’t worry, there’s nothing particularly “crazy” about the food, unless you count the baskets of complimentary freshly made buttery popcorn, served in lieu of bread, wild.


Of all the dishes we tried, the bul-na ($10) (bulgogi nachos) was the most crazy fusion dish. In place of typical chewy rice cakes were crispy thin warm tortilla chips. On the side, a decent pile of well-seasoned bulgogi (thinly shaved beef marinated in a sweet soy sauce), onion, broccoli and jalapeno, smothered in cheese.


The dish needed more sauce and I could have done without the small broccoli florets, which was a strange combination with nachos (bell peppers may be a better choice). Personally, I would rather have the toppings covering the tortillas to allow the flavours to meld together. There’s something about the process of searching for a chip that has the best combination of toppings that’s so satisfying – it’s almost like a treasure hunt. However, the dish is perfect for individuals who hate soggy chips and will allow people to customize the toppings on each tortilla.

Although not overly battered, the Korean style chicken wings ($8) had a nice crunch and were smothered in a tasty sweet and slightly spicy sauce. For the price, there was a fair amount of wings and each piece a decent meaty size. Pine nuts, crushed peanuts and green onion slivers top the wings providing added crunch and flavours.


I love ssam and Krazy Corean’s kalbi version ($14) was satisfying. The marinated BBQ beef short ribs were served with plenty of leaf lettuce and boiled cabbage for wrapping. Ideally, with all the vegetables, the kalbi pieces could be cut larger – two was too much to hold in the wrap but one became somewhat lost amongst the foliage. On the side, slivers of jalapeno and garlic, spicy kimchi and ssam-jang (a sweet and spicy sauce) to add into the wraps – their kimchi was crunchy and delicious. 


 Although Krazy Corean isn’t a Japanese restaurant, I thoroughly enjoyed their volcano roll ($13); my favourite dish of the evening. Inside the maki was a plethora of delicious ingredients including shrimp tempura, crab meat, avocado and cucumber. To further augment the roll, the rice was wrapped with salmon and scallop that’s then blow torched to char the protein's fat. Even the garnishes, fried lotus root slices, were fantastic … we finished every last piece.


Despite the narrow store frontage, their dining room is well laid out and the tables easily convertible to accommodate large groups. Being opened until 2am makes the restaurant popular with the late night crowd looking for drinks. Their Tokyo iced tea ($9) is a good choice; made with rum, gin, vodka, trip sec, melon liquor, lemon juice and sprite it doesn't taste alcoholic until you give it time to settle.

 Overall, if you’re looking for outrageous creations, Krazy Corean still has a ways to go. But, for reasonably priced dishes and fairly price cocktails, it’s a good choice in Little Italy. Who knows after a few Tokyo iced teas, maybe you’ll make the restaurant live up to its name after all.


Overall mark - 7 out of 10*
Disclaimer: The above meal was complimentary. Rest assured, as stated in the mission statement, I will always provide my honest opinion.
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 598 College Street

 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:



Sushi Toni (San Francisco)

Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2016 by
It’s not always easy to find a restaurant opened past 11pm, which is exactly the predicament we found ourselves in one night in San Francisco. Luckily, a quick search in the area brought us recommendations to visit Sushi Toni, not exactly hidden, but wouldn’t be a restaurant we’d stumble upon either.  

Sushi Toni San Francisco

Toni’s maki are the best options on the menu, especially for sharing amongst a few people. Pictured from top to bottom:
  • If you’re in the mood for something light and refreshing, the 49ers roll ($11.50) is a great choice with the sisho leaf and lemon adding a strong citrusy zing to the salmon and tobiko.
  • The red dragon ($11.50) was my favourite of the night consisting of vibrant tuna, crab and avocado topped with sweet and salty eel sauce, sesame and green onions. Overall, there was a good balance of flavours without detracting from the fish.
  • Luckily, without the same tragic ending as the story, the Romeo and Juliet ($12.50) was another delicious find. Substituting soy bean paper for seaweed, the roll combines salmon and scallop with creamy avocado, pops of tobiko and a bit of sweetness from the eel sauce.
The crunch roll ($9.50) didn’t live up to its name unless you count the pile of tempura bits on top. Nonetheless, it was passable incorporating spicy tuna and shrimp tempura wrapped in soy bean paper. Drizzling spicy mayo on top would help to wake up the somewhat bland dish.


Certainly, the rolls were much better than the other items we tried. The miso soup ($2), although hot, was lacking in supplementary ingredients. While the chicken don buri ($11.50) was extremely bland and in desperate need of more teriyaki sauce on top of the baked chicken, vegetables and egg.


Nonetheless, Sushi Toni’s maki were satisfying and there were many other tasty sounding versions on the menu. Moreover, service was warm and welcoming despite the late hour we entered. Thank you for sedating our hunger late into the evening. 

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: San Francisco, USA
 Address: 733 Bush Street

 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:

Sushi Toni Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


CLOSED: Let's Be Frank (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2015 by


While the gourmet burger craze has swept the city over the last five years, it's only recently the haute hot dog options are starting to pop up. Beside El Mocombo, on the diverse Spadina stretch, is Let’s Be Frank - a cheerful combination of restaurant, bar and overall cool place to hang out (Bring Your Own Vinyl Tuesdays for the music lovers perhaps).

Their location is ideal for the late night crowd (they’re opened past 2pm). So, when you’re feeling the munchies and want it paired with a tall pint of beer, Let’s Be Frank is there. For those who need a stronger drink, cocktails are also available. The Sour Dog ($7.99) is an easy drinking, eye puckering concoction of gin, lemon juice and syrup, whimsically garnished with a sour key.


With over a dozen options on the menu deciding on what to eat may be difficult. Luckily, they offer almost all their dogs in three sizes (3.5” slider, 6” regular and 8” big dog) so you can taste from the plain naked dog to the generously dressed pulled pork po’boy.

The pulled pork ($3.99/$7.95/$8.95) is a meat lover’s friend with the juicy frank topped with more meat, zingy BBQ sauce (care of Dine Alone Foods), tangy coleslaw and some hickory sticks to add some crunch. I’d suggest trying this with the “bed of fries instead of a bun” option, which you can do with any of their dogs for free. For those who want to skip carbs or meat, you can also substitute the bun with romaine lettuce and the beef frank with a veggie wiener instead.


A favourite of owners Christa and Julie (and me) is the Katsu Dog ($3.49/$6.95/$7.95) where the crunch from the deep fried panko coated dog goes so well with the soft bun, sweet katsu sauce, wasabi mayo and fresh green onions. It’s satisfying but not overly heavy feeling, although I would have liked more wasabi incorporated into the mayo as the slider didn’t provide that heat as expected.


The corn dog ($2.49/$4.99/$5.99) is where you can savour the succulent Nathan’s Famous beef frank in its fully glory. Simply covered in a corn batter and deep fried it's covered with a liberal squeeze of the slightly spicy BBQ sauce. Our table saw possibilities of combining the katsu and corn dog. Just imagine having the crunchy panko fried frank as the base, a smear of thicker gooey mac n’ cheese in the middle and then covered with the sweet corn dog coating. What an amazing texture combination that frank would be!


If you have a sweet tooth, Frank also offers the Ivana Banana dessert dog ($4.49) where a deep fried banana stands in for the wiener and it’s covered with gooey peanut butter, Nutella and a light jelly. Although I’m not a fan of the peanut butter and jelly combination, this was actually quite nice. But, the banana itself could be larger to stand up against all the condiments.


Some snacks you could have include the hot dog “wings” ($5.99 for 6 pieces) which are bite sized deep fried hot dogs tossed in buffalo sauce and served with a thick blue cheese dip and veggie sticks. For me, these were a tad salty given the hot dog is already so flavourful and perhaps served full size on bread may be better.


Let’s Be Frank also offers various sides to round out the meal. Of course, the tried and true fries are available. But, there’s also a saucy mac n’ cheese or hot dog gravy poutine (both $4.99 for small and $6.99 for large) for those who want something more substantial.


What impressed me most was hearing about the perseverance Christa, Julie and Simon had with starting Let’s Be Frank. The partners dreamt of a place where they and their friends could meet-up for drinks. But, they wanted to serve no-fuss food as well and what could be more fun than hot dogs?

Mac Daddy ($4.49/$8.95/$9.95)
Although it only opened in late 2014, this business was a five year endeavour all starting with a catastrophic festival attempt (think no tent in pouring rain, dropped chili with no backup and tons of unused food at the end of the night). But, like true entrepreneurs they learned from this experience and went on to do more festivals, purchased a food truck and did a pop-up restaurant before settling in their permanent location.

To top it all off, they all had regular full-time jobs (Simon has now since quit his to focus on Frank)! I can only imagine the dedication and hard work required to put in 50+ hour weeks and then start prepping for busy weekend festivals right afterwards. As an aside, the best part of attending media events (other than sampling food of course) is hearing about each restaurant’s history and meeting the people behind the brand. I have the utmost respect for restaurateurs as it’s definitely an industry that takes dedication and skill to be successful in.

Korean BBQ dog ($3.99/$7.95/$8.95)

So will the haute dog trend start in Toronto next? Only time will tell, but until then, I’m sure there’s a contingent of people who don’t care and just like wrapping their hands around a big juicy frank.

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10
Disclaimer: The above meal was complementary, but rest assured as noted in my mission statement, I will always provide my honest opinion.
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 460 Spadina Avenue

Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog

____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!




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