[North York] Han Ba Tang

Location Review
4862 Yonge St
Toronto, Ontario
(416) 5 46-8218

Just when you thought the Yonge and Sheppard area in North York already had enough Korean restaurants, along comes Han Ba Tang (@han_ba_tang), the newest addition to the block. With a name that translates from its native language as "one full round", Han Ban Tang's restaurant owner aims to combine her decade long experience in authentic Korean cuisine, with modern culinary ideas. She refers to her cuisine as "young fusion Korean" and maintains a menu which she constantly revises in hopes to inspire appreciation of the Korean cuisine from a younger population. Young or old, Han Ba Tang's deep background story, warm hospitality, innovative dishes, and original drink menu will easily win over many a crowd.

Han Ba Tang

[Toronto] The Happy Hooker

Location Review
887 Dundas Street W
Toronto, Ontario
(416)603-4665
Website


If you did an internet search for "The Happy Hooker", you might get some pretty risqué search returns. Don't worry, today's restaurant review is more than suitable for work. Some time ago in February, I was invited to a media tasting at The Happy Hooker (@happyhookertdot). Captained by Attilio Pugliese (@attilio25), this affordable seafood haven opened just under a year ago, celebrating its one-year anniversary this Wednesday March 5. In celebration, the establishment has been offering many promotions this week, including FREE fish and chips on anniversary day. Definitely check out their Twitter and Facebook pages for more details!

Okay, now back to the food.

The Happy Hooker

[Santa Barbara] La Super-Rica Taqueria

Location Review
622 North Milpas Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
(805) 963-4940

For anyone thinking of doing the Pacific Coast Highway drive in California, Santa Barbara is a must see destination. Aside from the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse being a beautiful landmark of architecture with an amazing view a top the tower, it also has some of the best Mexican food! A quick search on Google returned top Mexican restaurants and eateries, and so one afternoon Rob and I picked out La Super-Rica to try out. I mean when Julia Child proclaims this to be her favourite Santa Barbara spot, there's really no reason not to.

La Super-Rica Taqueria

[Missisauga] &Company Resto Bar

Location Review
295 Enfield Place
Mississauga, Ontario
Phone:718-858-4300
Menu




Being a girl with no business far from Toronto, its not very often that i woiod venture too far outside the heart of the city. Unless there is some thing really special. So what was I doing out west in Mississauga on a Friday night? Well, that was just it; there was definitely something special here. Located just outside Square One shopping mall, is one of the few night clubs in Missausagea &Company Resto Bar. When I found out from Lien (@LienValesquez) that they had just a day ago revamped their menu for then summer, I decided to take a look and was impressed. Some interesting options, reasonable prices, Added to the fact that on Friday nights they have burlesque dancers to entertain you while you eat, and a dance floor to transition into a nightclub after dark, I didn't see why I wouldn't make the short trip out for an experience.

&Company Resto Bar

[Toronto] The Black Hoof

Location Review:
938 Dundas St. W.
Toronto, ON
416-551-8854


So I haven't been very diligent in the past month with this blog, and as a result I've had a backlog of restaurants to write up. So much that I ended up visiting the restaurant of today's review:  The Black Hoof (@theblackhoof) twice before I got a chance to review it. But the good news is, that is a good indication of how much I liked it.

When I went to Chicago, I visited a restaurant named The Purple Pig. My brother in law Nelson mentioned that it reminded him of  The Black Hoof, with both restaurants serving the most obscure parts of the animal. It's pretty ironic how these internal organs and far-fetched body parts which I thought only Chinese cultures would consume are so mainstream in Western cuisine now a days. But when you have someone like Jenn Agg (@theblackhoof) behind the restaurant and Brandon Olsen as head chef (@King_of_ginger), it's no wonder how the most obscure ingredients can become such a culinary delight. It's also been highly regarded as one of the best restaurants in Toronto!

So anyways, for simplicity's sake I've just decided to dump both of my visits into one post.

[Toronto] Banh Mi Boys

Review Location:
392 Queen Street W
Toronto, ON M5V 2A9

Homepage

Continuing on my first food crawl with Andrew (@_aneb), Justine (@foodigatorJ), and Chieu (@chieunghi), we ventured to Banh Mi Boys (@banhmiboys), after having stuffed our faces at El Trompo Taco Bar.

[Toronto] Swish by Han

Location Review:
38 Wellington Street E.
Toronto, Ontario

Swish by Han Menu

On a chilly night, Vicky (@kiki_BFF) and Justine (@foodigatorJ ), and I headed out to Swish By Han (@Swish_by_Han) to try out their food. I actually have never heard of this place, so I probably never would've stumbled upon this place if it weren't for their suggestion. It wasn't even until I sat down at the restaurant and looked at the menu that I knew they served Korean food. The eclectic dining room decor and dimly lit ambiance is very atypical of most stereotypical Korean restaurants. And the food? While they do serve some what of a fusion style Korean, it was 2 thumbs up for me!