Showing posts with label AYCE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AYCE. Show all posts

Kaibo Beach BBQ (Grand Cayman)

Posted on Sunday, May 29, 2016 by
Kaibo beach BBQ

Every Tuesday, Kaibo Restaurant invites you to dine barefoot (most people don’t) on the beach. It’s a beautiful set-up and as the ferry approaches the beach I couldn’t help thinking this is what vacations are all about. Sure, I knew the food wasn’t going to be fantastic, but when you have a setting like this, some flaws can be ignored.


Yet, the food wasn’t bad and the operations well organized. After disembarking the ferry, staff greeted us with treys of rum punch on the beach – a sweet Malibu rum, orange and cranberry juice cocktail. Sipping the drink, we waited a short while before being seated, a rather spacious one for our table of three.

Kaibo was already 80% full by the time we arrived; you don’t have to take the ferry and some stay at places nearby or spend the day at the small but pretty beach before continuing onto dinner. Since people arrived and were seated at different times, there wasn’t a long line-up at the buffet and dishes were hot and available.


There’s plenty of proteins to choose from, I tried everything:
  • The BBQ chicken was moist, brushed in a sweet caramelized glaze.
  • Pick your piece of jerk pork carefully as with various cuts the all-meat ones are tougher. I found a smaller thick piece with the bone-in and that was succulent. Yet, the jerk sauce was too mild and I had to add hot sauce. Kaibo: consider offering warmed jerk sauce on the side as sriracha and Tabasco doesn’t have the same flair.
  • Similarly, even though the Cayman style fish has scotch bonnets in the recipe, the most prominent flavours was from the tomatoes and onions.
The oxtail and goat curry were impressive and had me going back for seconds; paired with rice and beans I was utterly satisfied. The oxtail, stewed in a tomato-based beef sauce, is comforting and the cartilage softened and jellied. Meanwhile, the goat curry was spicy enough and simply melted off the bone.


Aside from the proteins there was a small selection of salads (potato, macaroni and a green salad with a great ginger vinaigrette), buttery corn, chocolate chip cookies and Tortuga Rum cake.


The all-you-can-eat BBQ is CI$25 for adults and CI$12.50 for children aged 3-12, the 30-minute ferry to and from Seven Mile Beach (pick up in Camana Bay) an additional CI$20. I suggest making a reservation as the restaurant was full during an April visit (we were able to secure one the day before).

Throughout dinner, Bonafide played a wonderful mix of Caribbean and top 40 songs, all the while encouraging diners to dance. Shortly after dinner there was a resort-like limbo competition and *shudder* conga line – even the cute children leading the line wasn’t going to persuade me to join the human chain, my friends and I manage to stay out of it and instead entered the bar area to play foosball.


The night ended with dancing on the beach and taking in some beautiful views. The memories of under seasoned jerk and conga lines fade away. After all, how can you visit the Caymans without dining under the stars?

 Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: North Side, Grand Cayman
 Address: 585 Water Cay Road

 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:

CLOSED: Morals Village (Markham)

Posted on Saturday, April 23, 2016 by
Morals Village
If you’ve never tried dining at an all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant, I can best describe the experience through the senses. Starting with the sounds you’ll hear: after settling there’s the frenzied ordering as diners chime out the ingredients they want, “For sure we need beef, wontons, fish balls, shrimp, pork, tofu, udon … oh and some vegetables - watercress and spinach please!”


The staccato ordering will be followed by an impatient hum as individuals wait for everything to arrive and the pot to soup to come to life with the bubbling steam. At Morals Villages, they run as a well-oiled machine. On both visits, as soon as all guests arrived our order was quickly taken, pots whisked out shortly thereafter and given their personal sizes didn’t take long to reach cooking temperature.

With eleven soup bases ($2.50 - $8), some with three levels of spiciness and the split feature ($3.50 for two choices), deciding can be difficult.


Personally, I prefer the neutral ones (such as chicken broth) given you can always add flavours through the plethora of sauces. Which leads me to the varied tastes you’ll experience: the metallic tang from the quickly poached beef; the saltiness of the soy, nuttiness of the sesame paste or spiciness of the sha cha sauce; and you can’t forget the wonderful unami essence of the soup after all the ingredients meld together.


Weekday pricing at Morals is as follows: $25.99 for adults, $19.95 for seniors and $13.95 for those under 13. An extra $2 per person is charged for weekends and holidays. Of course, you also have to add on the price of the soup.

Additionally, there are tons of upgrades such as an extra $3/person to switch from regular rib eye slices to the Angus short rib. Having tried both you can taste the difference from the short rib – the meat more flavourful especially with the ribbon of thin lard running throughout. Yet, it’s not astronomically changed so the regular rib eye tastes perfectly delicious.


For those who really want a feast there are luxury ingredients sold individually such as Alaska snow crab legs ($19 for 8), abalone ($6 each) or fresh oysters ($3 each). The “deal” would be their special platter ($9), which consists of 5 slices of wagyu short rib, 5 slices of Kagoshima pork and 6 tiger shrimp skewers.  

Even the tablescapes at Moral are a sight to behold - the wonderful contrast from the soups and ingredients popping against the black background (see title photo). There’s also the lovely hues from Morals limited dessert menu: green tea ice cream or golden deep fried buns with creamy condensed milk for dipping.  


However, the experience is best described by how you feel at the end: the warm fullness that hugs your body or the dewy glow on the skin from the free facial that occurs throughout the meal. For me, it’s the memories of past experiences that’s the most precious.

Inevitably, it’s my first hot pot encounter that’s the most vivid: seated around the kitchen table with just my parents and immersing food into a simple bone broth. There wasn’t a hundred ingredients to choose from yet the dozen we laid out already seemed like a lot. Indeed, the large shared electric red pot took much longer to heat up than the quick mini induction ones at Morals.

The laid back pace of hot pot makes me remember something that holds true for all dining experiences - it’s not necessarily about what you eat, but who you share it with.  

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 8333 Kennedy Road

 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:



Colette Grand Cafe for Brunch (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, February 06, 2016 by
Brunch at Colette Grand Cafe
After Splendido closed, a place for a luxe brunch also disappeared. But, when a friend suggested visiting Colette Grand Café for a celebration, it was apparent that someone’s filling the void. At $54 a person, the pricing certainly points to luxury; but being a buffet, I had doubts whether the food could be executed with precision.

Colette’s buffet consists of two areas: cold options surrounding the bar and hot foods set up separately further into the dining room. Along the bar, there’s a seafood station, salad bar, antipasto, charcuterie & cheeses and the dessert area.

As a lover of the sea, the shrimp and crab claws peeked my interest; they were already peeled and prepped so eating was a breeze. The accompanying cocktail sauce had a strong horseradish bite and interestingly incorporated some herbs (mint perhaps)? The seafood salad of calamari, imitation crab and shrimp was also refreshing, but a tad sour.  


Within the chafing dishes were breakfast staples - eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and French toast, just a few of the options. When the fried chicken was being replenished, the smell made me take a piece. Thankfully, it tasted as great as it smelt: succulent, crispy and surrounded with a well-seasoned crust. You could make yourself a great chicken and waffles at the restaurant.


The carving station was serving a moist salmon wellington, which had nicely seasoned mushroom and spinach layers, but the pastry too thick and not cooked through so it was left as a clump rather than rising to flakiness. It was still delicious, if you just ate the inside.  


Luckily, the roast beef wasn’t overcooked, but needed a stronger rub given the meat wasn’t served with au jus (there was mustard and horseradish).


Being an upscale French restaurant, Colette’s hot buffet filled with American diner favourites was off-the-mark for me. Why make pancakes when there could have been crepes? Is chicken and waffles really the most appropriate, when mussels and frites more culturally correct?

For a country that is known for their delicious desserts, this was the most disappointing course at brunch. Although everything was beautifully presented, many simply lacked taste. Of the things I tried, the square of green tea cake was passable but the eggy French toast from the breakfast area was much better.


There was a yoghurt parfait that could easily pass as dessert – the dairy thick and creamy, fruit compote sweet enough, and granola buttery and spiced like crumble.

An honourable mention to the bread basket filled with crispy soft baguettes (went perfectly with the selection of soft cheese) and flakey chocolate croissants.


Included with brunch are all non-alcoholic drinks including coffee, tea and juices; these could easily add $7 onto any meal. I rather enjoyed the strawberry and passion fruit juice, which seemed freshly made and free of added sugars.

Overall, Colette is a great atmosphere, especially to celebrate an occasion (there were about five birthdays on our visit). A personalized card and cake lit with an impressive sparkler was a nice gesture. Despite having a constant stream of customers, we weren’t rushed and felt welcomed to sit and chat after the meal (the ideal time to enjoy their selection of Sloane herbal teas).



Service is the one area I’m glad Colette deviates from French origins. Unlike the stereotypical French reputation, the restaurant’s servers were gracious, warm, and friendly.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 550 Wellington Street West

 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:
  • DT Bistro
  • Colette Grand Cafe for dinner (coming tomorrow)

Colette Grand Café - Thompson Toronto Hotel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Kaka All You Can Eat (Markham)

Posted on Saturday, December 12, 2015 by

KAKA All You Can Eat (AYCE) - aburi offerings
All you can eat (“AYCE”), a situation that sounds like bliss, yet often ends in disappointment and guilt. Disappointment because the food is generally satisfactory at best and guilt because I just succumbed to the glutinous monster in me; eating far too much unnecessarily.

When the positive comments from fellow bloggers started emerging about KAKA, the monster started stirring. There was the warning that KAKA was pricier than others: dinner is $27.99 for weekdays and $31.99 on the weekend, while lunches $27.99 on weekends and a la carte during weekdays. However, with the higher prices also came better quality and fancier options not found at other AYCE establishments.

For example, their aburi sushi offerings, where pieces are lightly blow torched and adorned with garnishes. The salmon with jalapeno is always a good choice, given the fish oils lends itself to being heated; the beef tataki with the citrusy sweet grated daikon (?) was tasty as well.


The oshi or pressed versions were equally appealing, both the tuna with marinated shiitaki and shrimp with pesto were flavourful. However, the rice to toppings ratio in the oshizushi leans much heavier towards the carbs side.


Relying on the technological age, each table is equipped with an iPad for self-ordering. No longer will you need to flag someone down, have them frantically write on slips of papers and risk having dishes go missing. Additionally, with the exception of some desserts, the menu also includes pictures to help you decipher differences. Best of all, you order by piece, which helps satisfies the table while keeping down wastage.

A large number of maki rolls graced our table that evening, some better than others. Aside from the beef tataki roll, I found the typical spicy salmon and dynamite versions more suited for me as the others tended to include sweet and tangy sauces on them. 

Kaka AYCE

My first experience with sashimi was at an AYCE restaurant and made me detest the unadorned raw fish: cut too thick and simply felt cold and fleshy. At KAKA, the ingredient’s quality and preparation is much better - the platter of salmon, tuna, tai (snapper) and hokkigai (surf clam) was nicely presented and delicious. They even offered beef tataki, slices of lightly seared meat with a ponzu soy sauce. 


Other notable dishes include the spring egg: slowly poached so the yolk’s left runny and runs into the slightly sweet miso broth. The simmered seaweed pieces were a smart addition to add some contrast to the silky egg.


The shrimp skewer was hot and cooked nicely so the shrimp retained its natural sweetness, much better than the pork belly, which I found rather plain.


Juicy and well marinated, the deep fried Asian-spiced quail was delicious and worth ordering.


Although the noodles could be cooked less, KAKA’s beef ramen was a satisfying way to end the meal. Still a sizeable portion, the broth was piping hot and it had tons of other ingredients including a slice of fish cake, seaweed and green onions.


Not everything was good, some of the grilled dishes were cooked much too long and became dry: enoki beef roll and grilled salmon neck. Moreover, the saba (mackerel) released an unpleasant odour when cut into (although tasted fine).


The salmon belly teriyaki and grilled beef ribs are better options, having enough fat to help retain moisture.


For a vegetable dish, the grilled eggplant (which has a creamy sauce in the centre) is quite nice. It’s just too difficult to share as cutting it into pieces with chopsticks is impossible.


The baked mussels or oyster with cheese were both nicely flavoured but could have been hotter as the cheese was somewhat congealed by the time it was presented.


For the starters, the lobster bisque is decent with its thicker consistency and even a single bite of lobster added for good measure.


Finally, their fried options are also good interpretations, hot and crispy without too much excess oiliness. Things like the gyoza, pork cutlet, calamari, shrimp tempura and scallop tempura, hit the spot for a bit of crunch.


KAKA doesn’t skimp on the desserts either, with enough options to make choosing difficult. However, many, although listed on the menu, are actually not available by the time you attempt to order. Both the mango lychee slush and green tea crème brulee were delicious – the slush cool and refreshing after having so much hot food and the green tea creamy and well balanced. The sole dessert that didn’t impress the table was the lavender chocolate pots, which had an after taste reminiscent of soap.


Even during our Monday visit, the restaurant was packed. So, our table wasn’t ready by the reserved time and they did get behind at clearing away empty dishes. Nonetheless, the food came out quickly (either eat fast or order in small batches) and service was still friendly (at least they made sure to address that they would be back to clear the dishes).

Their popularity means you have to make reservations, often far in advance. For me, indulging in AYCE is generally a short-term decision, as I have to have the craving to consume copious amounts of food. Of course, I could always just eat a “normal” amount, but somehow in the heat of the moment when everything is presented the Hulk in me comes out. And have you tried to silence the Hulk before? Good luck.


Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Markham, Canada
 Address: 3235 Highway 7 East (at First Markham Place)

 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!


Kaka Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato



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