This weekend was definitely a food-filled one, starting from Friday dinner all the way through to our nephew’s 1st birthday party on Sunday, where there were a lot of good eats! That’s maybe while I’m feeling a bit sluggish and lazy today, so I apologize for babbling (more than usual) in this post 😉
Matt had seen positive reviews for Zen Japanese Restaurant, but we weren’t able to make reservations the two prior times we tried. We didn’t really think about it again until we saw a photo of delicious-looking sashimi on my close friend J’s Instagram account, which piqued our interest to go again!
So on Friday, we headed to Scarborough with our good friends D and K to give it a try. The place is incredibly small, but all the best places seem to be! Matt and I shared the grilled ika, omakase sashimi, and Tokujyo Zushi, all of which were really fresh and very yummy. The fresh scallops were definitely the winner!
We also had their homemade mandarin pie, which was surprisingly light and delicious. I am also a sucker for Asahi Black, so whenever it’s available, it’s on my must-order list!
Cha Time
One of my coworkers mentioned bubble tea that day, which got me craving taro milk tea. So after Zen, we headed to the Cha Time at Yonge and Finch, where the line was out the door! Luckily, the wait wasn’t too long, and we managed to get a table. It was pretty insane that there was a steady stream of customers while we were there… at $5 a pop on average, they’re probably earning a killing! Interestingly, they have a bunch of locations around the world, and a few locations have popped up in Toronto/the GTA.
Matt ordered the roasted milk tea with grass jelly, while I had the taro milk tea with tapioca. Matt’s was good, but I wish I could say the same for mine! The powder wasn’t mixed in well, so it just tasted really powdery. It was also way too sweet! They do give you a lot of options (more or less ice, % of sweetness, etc.), so if I ever do give it a second chance, I may opt for a less-sweet, tapioca-less version of what I had.
The Fuzz Box
As I mentioned in this post, there are a few places in Toronto that sell Halifax-style donairs. The Fuzz Box is one of them, so Matt and I went to go try with a big group of our friends. In terms of how it compared to Hopgood’s Foodliner, I think that you get a lot more bang for your buck at The Fuzz Box (which, in case you’re wondering, is inspired by the name of the owner’s band), and I could see people going there after a night of drinking or for a quick inexpensive meal. Although the ones at Hopgood’s were smaller and more expensive, I personally liked them better. I found them less greasy and not as oversauced, but I definitely still think that the donairs from both places were good in their own ways. I would go back to both!
