Showing posts with label sausage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sausage. Show all posts

CLOSED: Pick 6ix (Toronto)


Pick 6ix is Drake’s latest hospitality venture in collaboration with Montreal’s Chef Antonio Park. Having lived in South America, Canada, and Japan and coming from a Korean background, you can see Chef Park’s multi-cultural influences on the restaurant’s menu. In a single dinner I sampled dishes from all the countries!

He seems proficient in creating recipes from each of the geographies as the three stand-out dishes, for me, varied from Korea, Argentina, and Japan. The best was the 8-hour braised kalbi style short rib ($38), which I’d expect from Chef Park’s background. The slightly sweet soy marinade is bang on in terms of flavours and thickened to form a glaze on the meaty rib. It was moist and tender, but you could still taste the beef.


Pick 6ix’s beef empanadas ($18) reminds me of a meatier Jamaican patty in an empanada shell. The filling is lightly flavoured with Argentinian spices and goes especially well with the chimichurri sauce, which adds a tangy herby bite.


The spicy salmon maki ($12) was simple but delicious: the rice thinly layered and brimming with salmon with a significant dollop of spicy kewpie on top. So flavourful that you wouldn’t need the house-made low-sodium soy sauce.


Although the soft-shell crab maki ($18) was still good, I would have thought there would be greater interest with so many ingredients - avocado, tobiko, mizuna (a Japanese mustard green), and pickled radish. In reality, all I could taste were the leafy greens until the soft-shell crab kicked in, at the end.


The fried rice ($26) combines the Chinese staple where the chicken and shrimp is presented almost teppanyaki style, layered on top. Everything arrives in a hot stone bowl with a fried egg and sauce drizzled over top, a nod to bibimbap. It was decent and a good option if you just want a main meal.


We didn’t know what to expect with the choripan asiatico ($18) but all the dishes elements – sausage, guacamole, kimchi, mustard slaw, salsa creola and crispy shallots – sounded enticing. Look out traditional American hot dog, the choripan asiatico is an extreme version of one. Through all the crunchy textures the spicy sausage heat shone through, the heat further amplified by the gochujang spiked ketchup accompanying the fries. It is a rather heavy sandwich, so this is best for sharing.


The pork gyozas ($16) were fine but seemingly plain compared to the other dishes. While the meat filling was tasty enough, it could have incorporated an unusual element (perhaps kimchi) to give it more interest. Moreover, they’d be even better if they were pan fried (instead of deep fried) as I love the contrast between the chewy dough and crispy crust, a small nit-picky personal preference.


Although beef carpaccio ($19) is known for being thinly sliced beef, it would help if the kitchen overlaid the slices for this dish as with the dwarf peaches, olives, puffed quinoa, crispy wild rice, carrots, and plum emulsion the beef became lost; all I could taste was crispy rice with sauce. Overall, aside from this one miss, the other dishes were as I expected: good interpretations that were satisfying but not out-of-this-world.


Similarly, the décor was swanky, as anticipated, in a cool retro way. While the furnishings look great, the tables aren’t exactly designed for dining – the large booth style ones along the sides makes sharing plates difficult and the small ones in the centre have so little room that sharing would be impossible. Oh well, maybe none of that matters… after all, the city loves Drake.


Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 33 Yonge Street


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____________________________
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!

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Door FiftyFive (Mississauga)


I wouldn’t call Door FiftyFive a speakeasy as their flashy sign and large frontage isn’t exactly discrete. Still, inside the bar, the dark environment and caged whisky selection excites your senses to want a drink … or two … or five. Without a host at the door, feel free to find an available table and even though their website notes they don’t take reservations, plenty of the larger tables were held so try calling if your party is six plus.


The boss platter ($60) was an easy decision and despite noting it serves two, this dish featuring a selection of meats can easily satisfy four.


The menu explains that Door FiftyFive’s offerings are Southern comfort food incorporating Mediterranean spices and uses a combination of cherry and maple wood chips to smoke meats for hours. Truthfully, I couldn’t decipher the Mediterranean twist and the smoking properties were light (you won’t experience thick barque rings). Nonetheless, the pork ribs smelled intoxicating and were good. A thin layer of tangy North Carolina style BBQ sauce tops them, there’s extra on the side if you need more.

While the brisket has an unappetizing looking layer of fat in the middle, it does make for a succulent piece of meat. The rub could be stronger as the meat itself was rather bland. Not being a huge fan of vinegar based BBQ sauces, I used the pesto type one instead and that also didn’t quite work with the brisket. It did however go nicely with the beef short ribs, cutting against the greasiness; they were tender and nicely cooked.

The fried chicken was surprisingly juicy for being pieces of boneless white meat. The breading was a tad thick, resulting in certain bites that had no chicken and could be salty yet provided tons of crunch. Gravy accompanied the platter but I found the fried chicken flavourful enough on its own.

A score of other items were included in the boss: a rich lean boar smoked sausage, nachos with a fantastic thick zesty chilli, crunchy pickled vegetables, not overly creamy Southern coleslaw and thyme fries (a potato and sweet potato mix). All delicious and provided crunchy, sour and bright contrasts against the heavier meats.

There was one thing missing that we wanted … mac ‘n’ cheese! So, a side of return of the Mack ($9) was required, chocked full of large chunks of maple boar bacon with a Tex Mex cheese base so it had a hint of spiciness. The dish is rather saucy and covered with a thick layer of gooey cheddar so best for sharing.


Door FiftyFive certainly caters to drinkers; they have everything to do with liberations that your heart desires. The selection of cocktails can take a while to make, but all things further than a simple cranberry vodka does. The botanical bliss ($14) sounded delicious with its gin base flavoured with elderflower liqueur, lavender bitters, lemon, Prosecco and syrup. Overall, I liked that it wasn’t sweet and refreshing, but found the mint sprig overpowering (the bits of crush mint were enough) as its infusion ended up overpowering the botanical properties, which are typically strong flavours in their own.

If you prefer alcohol neat, the bar has a selection of bourbon and whiskey flights and of course beer as well. And if waiting to get a beer sounds taxing, try securing one of the tables with its own tap – simply provide the restaurant with your credit card and keep filling to your heart’s content (you’ll be charged based on the amount dispensed).

Whether you want to drink like a Boss or eat like one, if you’re in the Port Credit area, Door FiftyFive is an interesting place to check out. 

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Mississauga, Canada
 Address: 55 Lakeshore Road East

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:


Door FiftyFive Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato