Saturday, November 30, 2013

Chicken Noodle Soup at Wild Earth

Chicken Noodle Soup by raise my voice
Chicken Noodle Soup, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

Chicken noodle soup is an excellent comfort food after being outside on a chilly day. The version I had today at the Laurier location of Wild Earth was hearty and full of chunks of chicken, colourful rotini, vegetables, and seasonings. It was definitely not a traditional chicken noodle soup.

Breakfast for Lunch: De Dutch

I finally made it to De Dutch for lunch today. The huge menu includes an entire pages of options for pannekoek, a large pancake with various toppings. However, I opted for one of the simpler two-egg breakfasts, in this case eggs over easy with smoked salmon, toast, hash browns, and fruit. The portion size was excellent, and the quality of the smoked salmon was especially good. My eggs were done to perfection, and the bread was also excellent. I found the hash browns a little small to collect easily with my fork, but this is a minor point. Paired with a mimosa, this was a lovely brunch.

Friday, November 22, 2013

A Naanolicious Marathon

Due to various circumstances, I found myself dining at Naanolicious numerous times in the last week or so. Here is a look at some of the dishes I tried.

Dal Fries

I have had the butter chicken fries numerous times, so I wanted a different version of the restaurant's take on poutine. Dal, with its creamy lentil base, is one of my favourite Indian dishes, and it was wonderful on the fries. Frankly, I could just go for a bowl of dal with some naan bread, and I believe there is a dish along those lines on the menu.

Veggie Korma Fries

The next day, I went for a serving of vegetable korma fries. The creamy curry sauce was the base for the vegetables and paneer cheese, which I adore. Very flavourful! And, it went well with the buttered naan I ordered on the side.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I tried one of these stuffed mushroom caps ("Mystical Mushrooms), which was a flavour burst. The crunchy coating was made from lentils, with a garlic and cream cheese filling surrounding the mushroom. More than one would have been a little too rich for me.

Tandoori Chicken

The Tandoori chicken was permeated with flavour - I just wish the pieces were a little bigger! I paired with it with the Aloo Tikki, fried potato cakes literally drowned in chutneys and yogurt. The flavour of the cakes themselves, while delicate, still came through, and they also remained crispy.

Craisin Paapri

Craisin Paapri is a cold dish that makes an excellent snack. It is almost like a chickpea salad. The chickpeas are served amongst a flavourful combination of chutneys, yogurt, spices, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, crunchy samosa chips, and finished with a generous portion of craisins (dried cranberries) on top. This would have gone well with a naan, to scoop up all of the goodness.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Breakfast for Lunch: Blue Plate Breakfast at Blue Plate Diner

Big Breakfast by raise my voice
Big Breakfast, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

It has been a while since I had brunch at Blue Plate Diner, something which was rectified this weekend. I had the Blue Plate Breakfast which has always been my choice, with two eggs, potatoes, toast, and veggie sausage. The potatoes were different from the house made hash browns of the past, and while the eggs used to be advertised on the menu as Hutterite eggs, they were just simple states as eggs, so I am assuming that has changed as well. The veggie sausage has turned into a huge link of slightly sweet soy goodness, and was the star of the meal.