Chipotle Mexican Grill

I have a confession: I am a tiny bit obsessed with avocados.

I, Mandy, love avocados. And guacamole (which shall be affectionately called "guac" from hereon)

This past Thursday, I hit up Chipotles with an old friend for a quick get-together lunch.

And boy was it good.

They only accept cash or credit cards! No debit!

Chipotle is a chain that specializes in Mexican "grill" food; ie. burritos. At Chipotle, you can basically get any variation of burritos; in a bowl (without the tortilla wrap), as a salad (for the health conscious) and they also have sofritas and chips w/guac. I'm drooling as I type this. I'm someone who will probably walk a mile on my hands for some good Mexican food.

Location:
The location we went to was the one near Eatons Centre (Yonge & Dundas). Very easily accessible by TTC or walking.

Decor:
The joint was cozy and set up like a fast food assembly line with minimal decor; wooden picnic tables/benches and wooden high stools.

Service:
The line was quite long when we went (around 12:30pm - prime lunch time) but it moved fairly quickly. The staff were friendly and one actually went around offering samples of their tofu sofritas! One thing I didn't quite like was how loud it was. It was kind of hard trying to order as it's an assembly line and you kinda have to shout and tiptoe (in my vertically-challenge case) over the tall glass barrier in order for the employee to hear your request of toppings. I felt like it was really rushed and I actually forgot to add corn to my burrito bowl. :(

Mmmmm! Chicken burrito bowl with guacamole

All mixed up!

Food:
Amazing. That's it. That's all I'll write. No I'm kidding. It was very yummy. I got the chicken burrito bowl with guacamole and it was a big bowl of creamy goodness. LOVE LOVE LOVE the guac. The chicken was flavourful and juicy (although I felt like there wasn't enough). It was a very good portion and we were both stuffed by the time we chowed down our burrito bowls. We also tried the tofu sofrita samples an employee was handing out and it was surprisingly quite yummy! Might try that on my next visit.

This is the free sample of tofu sofrita that was handed out. It was really yummy!

Price:
Fairly priced since the bowls are very filling. The burrito bowl was $8.99 but the guacamole (very big scoop) is an extra $2+ so the total came to around $12~ with tax. Not bad for a yummy and filling lunch!

Verdict?
I will definitely be back! If you love Mexican food or some good guac, definitely drop by a Chipotle!

- M.

Aka Teppan

So the new hype around Markhan recently is that the infamous foodcourt chain from Asia, Pepper Lunch, has arrived!

I'm pretty sure this is NOT a franchise of the actual Pepper Lunch but it's the closest thing we have here!

I first tried Pepper Lunch in Mongkok in Hong Kong. It was a food court restaurant that served meals on hot plates or "Teppanyaki".

Aka Teppan follows this trend.

Location:

It's located at First Markhan Place on HWY7 and Woodbine. Fairly accessible by YRT or driving and not difficult to find.

Decor:

The decor was clean and simple with white tables, white walls with a few posters of their specials and when we were there, they were playing Avril Lavigne songs lol. Later the music changed to canto pop.

Food:

They had many different Teppanyaki options, the two main being pasta or rice. Different kinds of meat were available such as beef, duck breast, salmon or chicken.

I ordered the Atlantic Salmon Teppanyaki with rice while Angela ordered the Supreme beef with rice.

The food came on hot plates with the meat surrounding a little mount of rice and we were advised to mix quickly to cook the meat. As we broke apart the rice, we discovered there was a clump of butter and terriyaki sauce inside.

The food was very flavourful and had lots of pepper - very reminiscent of Pepper Lunch indeed. I must say it's the closest I've tried in Toronto to the original Pepper Lunch! However, we found ourselves quite thirsty after the meal.

Sevice: 

We were seated promptly and served tea. Although as we left there was a small crowd waiting for tables. The servers could all speak English. One thing I didn't quite like was that the food came individually so one person could be awkwardly waiting for their food while watching their friend devour their dish.

Price:

It was fairly reasonable for a lunch. Both of our dishes were $8.99+tax.

Verdict:

I'd definitely come back to try their pasta Teppanyaki! If you're a fan of Pepper Lunch, definitely come try Aka if you're ever in the area!

-M