Review: Menchie’s

4.5 bites out of 5

This post is kind of bitter-sweet, being that the location where Menchie’s is now used to be where T-Cafe sat in the annex. The once dank spot against the exposed brick wall where I used to study while eating tapas is now dressed with photos of celebrities eating their frozen yogurt concoctions. It’s incredibly tacky, but I also happen to love tackiness.

Menchie’s is a popular chain American chain which originated from the west coast (where they love their frozen yogurt) and has been spreading throughout the states like wildfire. Much like a few other popular frozen dessert chains from the states, Menchie’s has now hit Canada, opening up in the Annex neighbourhood, which is already saturated by excellent dessert places such as Greg’s and Future’s.

The unique thing about Menchie’s is that you get to concoct your own yogurt creation and can do whatever you like with it. First, you start off by grabbing a cup (or a waffle cone in a cup which is $1.00 extra) and you head right over to the yogurt machines. There’s a huge variety of flavors. Some of which I never knew existed in frozen yogurt form. For example, there’s banana bread yogurt, and cookie batter too. Plus they have the usual choices, strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. For my own experiment, I decided to try regular tart and tart apple flavors as my yogurt base. After you’re done filling your cup, you can shift on over to the toppings base, and feel free to go wild. There’s all the staples of toppings such as chocolate chips, peanuts, and a variety of fruit, plus there’s some unique ones too such as klodhoppers. Next to the fruit, there’s a few choices of syrup, but seeing as how my creation was already filled with a bunch of random toppings, I thought none of the sauces would go too well with the mix.

My cup, which was about half filled, came to $4.00. Your creation is weighted upon completion and you’re charged 49cents an ounce, plus taxes. Apparently the cups can hold 16 ounces of yogurt, and since the yogurt appeared to be the most heaviest ingredient, just be careful how much you fill up. I can easily see someone going crazy and end up spending $20 on one cup.

not the most appetizing looking thing, but it was good!

Thanks to the huge variety of yogurt flavours and toppings, I definitely see myself returning to Menchie’s in the future. I can’t wait to try a pina colada frozen yogurt mixed with oreos and mangoes.

The Double Down is officially headed here

In the artery-clogging news section today, KFC has announced that their double down sandwich is headed to Canada starting October 18th but thankfully only for a limited time.

In case you’ve been living in a forest where all the food available is healthy, green, and organic, the KFC double down sandwich has been drawing controversy in the States where it’s nearly 600 calories of lard chock full of hypertension inducing sodium has been chowed down in the millions within just a month of launching the food item. The sandwich, “aimed at working class consumers” who want more bang for their buck, substitutes two pieces of deep fried breaded chicken as the bun and contains cheese and bacon in the middle.

I’m not surprised we’re getting it here, considering the deep fried butter balls at the CNE were such a hit. Though I was in the States during the launch of double down last April and didn’t bother to give it a try, I think I’ll be willing to take one for the team when it comes out in less than two weeks.

The sandwich arrives on October 18th and will thankfully be gone by November 14th. No word yet on the cost of it here, but in the US the sandwich goes for $5.95 alone, or $6.99 in a combo.

Source

Review: Dr. Generosity

Dr. Generosity’s would probably not be the first place you’d want to go to for Sunday brunch if you had a hangover. The place was packed of families with small children this morning. However, if you don’t mind the whining children, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how good Dr. G’s brunch is.

Each plate ranges from $10 to $12 (with the Steak being the only one that’s $15) and they also have a children’s selection for $7 a plate. We ordered Lisa’s Bloor West Village Special, Dr. G’s “Huevos Rancheros”, and the Classic Eggs Benedict. My first comment about the menu was that both the French Toast and Waffles came with meat in which Sara’s response was “Because he’s Dr. Generosity”.

One of the cool things, which also probably makes this a happening weekend brunch spot for families, is that all the tables are covered in brown drawing paper with a cup of crayons, much like Jack Astors. Unlike Jack Astors, you may want to refrain your friends from drawing male genitalia all over the table as this is a family restaurant. Another great thing about what’s on the tables is the big set of toast spreads: jam, marmalade, honey, and peanut butter.

Lisa’s Special contains kielbasa which is type of polish sausage that’s full of flavor (unlike the typical english sausages you get with brunch). They’re diced and mixed in the with the scrambled eggs and cream cheese. This is such an excellent dish as every bite is a bit different from the next. One bite you’ll get a full burst of some nice cream cheese while the next one may contain the nice smokey flavor of the sausage.

All of the meals we ordered came with home fries on the side. These home fries get a good high score in my book, though not as great as the tulips since they don’t have too many crispy bits, but they’re nice and flavoured. They’re also really soft on the inside too which ranks them in my top 5 for favourite home fries.

I did not hear a single complaint from Sara or Antony regarding their meals so the Rancheros and Eggs Benedict appear to be great choices as well. Sara especially enjoyed the clear glass mugs that they serve their tea and coffee in. One of the great things about the tea is that it comes steeped so you don’t have to wait for it to be ready when it comes to your table.

I highly recommend Dr. Generosity’s for brunch if you’re in the High Park Bloor West area. The prices aren’t too over the top, the service is efficient and friendly even during peak times, and above all the food is excellent.

Foodventures: CNE 2010

Let me make it clear right away; I did not try the deep fried butter balls nor will you find any photos of them on here. I understand the fascination of being able to fry a ball of fat within fat but the idea makes my stomach churn.

Fried butter balls aside, the CNE always dishes out some amazing food choices yearly. We’ve now come to expect the beaver tail, the tiny tom donuts, and now the hamburger in a bag to tickle our taste buds at the end of every summer. An interesting new addition (though not necessarily new to this year) is the taco in a bag, which much like the hamburger in a bag, is ground beef, tomatoes, salsa and other taco condiments mixed around in a bag of doritos.

The Food building itself has a lot of history within it’s walls. It’s one of the few buildings that has been around for decades which hasn’t changed too much. It’s a practical use of space, but at the same time, you’ll spend almost as much time trying to find a seat to sit than you will figuring out what to eat from the dozens of food vendors in there.

The most interesting addition to the Food building this year is the Mac & Cheesery. For less than $8, you’re given 5 different choices of how you want to eat your mac & cheese, from a breakfast plate with eggs and bacon up to an interesting but classic hot doc mac. Not to out perform the deep fried butter balls, the Mac & Cheesery also offers Deep Fried Mac “N” Cheese for just $5 bucks. And if you’re like my good friend Ashley who raves for a good grilled cheese, they also offer a few different Grilled Cheese platters starting at $6 bucks. Sadly, they only offer potato chips with the grilled cheeses as opposed to actual fries.

Aside from the Mac & Cheesery, all our old favorites are there from the Montreal smoked meat delis to the chinese food options. Bouchards Poutinery has returned (though I can’t remember if they were under a different name last year) with all their interesting poutine options. I do have to say that I miss the big chocolate and candy stand they used to have in the centre of the food building where for a mere $8, you could get a bag full of your favorite convenience store candies worth about $20.

One interesting thing I’ve been noticing over the years is the prominence of Coca-Cola’s branding over the fair grounds. It seems like all the food vendors have to agree to only sell Coke products which is too bad because I’m more of a Pepsi guy.

Outside of the food building, there are a few great and interesting options around the fair grounds. Most of them appear to be inside the trade buildings with my personal favorite being the British food stand. They always seem to have the most interesting potato chips there.. Prawn Cocktail chips, anyone?

One interesting stand that I found would have to be the Animal Fudge Apple stand which contained a huge case filled with different fudge coated candy apples shaped in some of our favorite animals such as pandas, pigs, frogs, and monkeys.

If you’ve been to the CNE last year, then I can’t say you’ll be seeing anything different and new this year. Though I head to the CNE yearly to try and recapture a piece of nostalgia, the fact is it’s changed from what it was 20, 30, even 80 years ago, and many of my fellow peers agree that it will never be what it used to be.

Made to keep your kids warm and safe at night? Um, no.

Thankfully though, a lot of my nostalgia of the CNE revolves around such foods as the Tiny Tom Donuts, and I’m grateful that they will always be there year after year (even if I didn’t buy them this year). If you haven’t been to the CNE before, then it might be worth your $15 to go and check it out, otherwise I’d spend the entrance fee on a good meal at Kensington Market which has more cultural market appeal without the admission cost.