» Lee Restaurant & SpiritHouse

 

Microsoft GNO's are officially becoming a monthly event.

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For dinner, we headed to Lee Restaurant, by none other but Susur Lee.

I've been hearing soo many good things about it from various people, so we decided to check it out.

Finding the restaurant was a little difficult, as the exterior looked quite sketch.. But once you're inside, it's a whole other ambiance. (I'm really all about the ambiance now eh?)

We decided to order dishes and just share it.

First up, the Singaporean-style Slaw.

 What better way to describe what this special dish is except by Susur Lee himself.

"Singapore Slaw features 19 different ingredients including edible pansies, daikon, tropical ginger, pickled onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, daikon sprouts, cilantro sprouts, toasted sesame seeds, red onion, rice vermicelli, crushed roasted peanuts, fennel and hazelnuts. It’s crowned with a birds nest of taro and tossed with salted plum dressing."

In addition to explaining to us exactly what was in the dish (which they do it for everything you order), they tossed it right in front of us to ensure it was fresh.

 And here is the aftermath. 

We got the Slaw with a side of Salmon Sashimi (it's a good choice, btw) for extra texture.

However, I did not enjoy with this dish as I thought I would have! Maybe it's because soo many people hyped it up for me, but after eating a couple bites, it just didn't taste as good. I feel like it was because it was a little too saucy, and the sauce was really sweet.

Next we got the Lump Crab Cake, which is a spiced tamarind, papaya & celery salad that is mashed into a ball, served with smoked chili mayo on the side.

I was expecting a lot more than just 1 serving, especially since it was quite pricey. It was quite bland if you didn't have some of the mayo with it. This was my least favorite dish of the night.

Last but definitely not least, the Peking & Char Sui Duck.

 Hands down, the best dish. By far. EVER.

I'm Asian so it's probably in my blood to love Peking Duck. But this?! NUMS. I can't even think about it too much right now or else my stomach will grumble. Am I being a little over dramatic? Yeah, probably but it was honestly amazing.

For those that don't know what Peking Duck is.. You basically have a thin crepe-like dough where you put the duck and all the other ingredients into. Then you drizzle some of the oyster sauce on top and wrap it up. *drools*

I don't remember what each ingredient was.. But not like that matters. You can't recreate this dish anywhere.

So please do yourself a favor and head over to Lee to try this dish out.

Unreal.

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After dinner, we decided to head over to Bier Markt since it was right across the street. Fortunately it was really packed, so we got to adventure off to SpiritHouse.

Not much to say about this place because I don't know too much but I would definitely come here again.

Mojito

Mixed Berry Bellinis

 It was really busy as well (given it was a Friday night and it was getting a little late), so we didn't even have seats at the bar! Sadtimes. So we just stayed there for a while to talk and I just had a great time listening and talking about random things with my girls.

And to end off the night, we would obviously decide to go to Starbucks. Back to my building on King and Yonge we go, since I knew my Starbucks (yes... It is my Starbucks) was still open.

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Ahh just writing this post makes me miss them already. What a great night!!! Can't wait for our next GNO with these girls. Definitely have a soft spot for them. Xo

sincerely,

kn

» Swedish House Mafia #onelasttour

We came.

We raved.

We loved.

Swedish House Mafia
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This is an overdue post but on February 23rd (wow, it's been 3 weeks.. Oops), I went to my first ever 'concert' at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. (Okay.. It wasn't even really a concert :P)
People have been nagging me about going since tickets came out last year but I wasn't really into house music at the time, but now when I think back.. WHY wasn't I?!

 

Scared of not getting a good spot/waiting in super long lines, we got to ACC at around 5:30pm and waited to get in. GOOD THING we did because we ended up getting a sweeeet spot right smack in the middle of the entire floor. Not super close, but far enough to see the entire stage/set.

Opening: Otto Knows

Un.Real.Night.
Such an amazing time!!!

After being in the crowd for a good 4 hours, we decided to go sit down at the 100 level.

I actually preferred this view more :P probably because I could actually see... LOL

So many people!

 

Balloons!

LOVE.

Canada pride!!! :)

sincerely,

kn

» Marina Bay Sands

When I went to Singapore two years ago, I stayed at this magnificent hotel.

Such an amazing city, and the view from the top of the hotel definitely helped.

This.

The Skypark, located on the 57th floor of this hotel, was to die for. It is one of the top ten hotel rooftop pools in the world. The infinity pool and the view during the day and at night was unbelievable.

Even on a cloudy day, it was still an amazing view...

Better :)

These city lights...

(And yes, all these photos are actually taken by me using a real camera :P)

Ahhhh I'm missing it so badly :(

I can't wait to go back to Asia again!!

Hopefully it is soon.

sincerely,

kn

» Birthday @ The David Duncan House

For my belated birthday dinner & Valentine's dinner, my family and I headed to The David Duncan House :)

The whole set-up of this restaurant is really interesting and unique, because this was (as the name of the restaurant says) someone's house before. The restaurant still looks like a house and the decor/interior designing is of the late 1800's. It was such a gorgeous little place!

Since it was Valentines day, it was quite packed with a lot of couples, families and groups of friends. The atmosphere was very warm and cozy as well.

And since it was quite a top-notch restaurant, we weren't allowed to take photos with flash or else it would disturb the other guests..
So please don't mind my dark slash blurry photos!

And now onto the food...

» PATH adventures: Z-teca

While trying to find new places to go for lunch at work, I stumbled upon this site: The Best of the PATH. Out of that list, I have already tried half of them so I decided to try out this Mexican joint, z-teca!

I mean, they do pride themselves in serving "gourmet burritos" hahah how could I say no?!

Since I had a busy day at work, I didn't want to eat something messy slash I wanted something easy to eat while working. I opted for the burrito bowl and uhm....hello.

It came with rice as the base, with all the toppings you would normally find in a burrito (plus they had corn... An automatic +1 for me). For the meat, I chose the Beef Barbacoa, which is a very flavorful meat cooked in their Mexican ways...haha.

This was probably one of the best burrito-type dishes I've ever had (from a fast food stand).

My Mexican food cravings have been satisfied, to say the least :)

Definitely going to come back again to try their tacos!!

sincerely,

kn

» VIP Status @ The Tale of Cherry Noir

On February 7th, I attended my first exclusive party.

Although there was a huge snowstorm warning, that didn't stop me from heading over to Thompson Hotel for the official launch of Grey Goose Cherry Noir.

Cherry Noir is their first new flavor in about 5 years, and although it sounds kind of gross, I was rather excited to try it. I know I know, for those who know me, I'm really biased. Especially since Grey Goose has always been my favorite vodka, and go-to choice of alcohol since day 1. :)

I didn't really know what to expect, but once I arrived, I knew it'd be an unforgettable night. The ambiance, choice of decoration, gorgeous vampire-like models, diamond-shaped drink tickets, chandeliers, red and black color scheme, Instaprint station from New York... I knew I was in for an unique experience.

» Bymark

After going to Bymark for drinks (when I decided to get an "Avocado Margarita"), and where I fell in love with their upstairs lounge, I really wanted to go for dinner.

My friend told me about how the famous Canadian chef, Mark McEwan, owned Bymark... I automatically thought that was so cool. Although I didn't know who he was until I googled, I was already enticed.

Overall, I had a great food experience at Bymark. I was quite adventurous (or so I'd like to tell myself) and the restaurant setting was really relaxing and romantical. :)

We sat in one of these little side booths :)

For starters, we got bread.. With.. Drumroll please. BUTTER! Yes!!! Finally I get to eat butter with bread, and not be a weirdo! I missed it so dearly because in Europe, people just eat bread.. With no butter. I never understood it. I can finally feel comfortable eating bread again!

Appetizer:

Lamb Sausage & Roasted Variegated Carrots

minted ricotta, blood orange segments & dill vinagrette

Parsnip Purée with Spot Prawns

chili & coriander cress

Main:

Cobia Filet

crusted w/ bread crumbs & rosemary, roasted sunchokes, preserved lemon, sweet onion espuma

Braised Veal Tortellini

celery root purée, gorgonzola, walnut & mâche

Dessert:

Chocolate Mousse w/ Earl Grey Shortbread

and mixed berry coulis

Pumpkin Spice Cake w/ Caramel Ice Cream

and salted caramel sauce

The appetizer I had was just veggies, so it wasn't really anything special.

However, the main course? Amazing. The fish was made so well. It wasn't dry, and it went well with the sauce and salad. The breadcrumbs were an amazing touch and added to the texture. I think that's what made it so good!!
And my dessert, the chocolate mousse, BOMB. I haven't had good chocolate mousse in so long!

I definitely recommend this restaurant! Here are the details:

Bymark

Address: 66 Wellington St W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3

Phone: (416) 777-1144

But although I really liked my dinner, I wasn't even close to being full (this shows how much I eat...). After eating here, I actually went home to eat dinner LOL :)

sincerely,

kn

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Here is a sneak peak for my next post: Grey Goose Cherry Noir official launch party :)

Can anyone say... Yum? :)