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.

Sunrise House

Once again, we find ourselves at a Korean Restaurant on a cold day in Toronto.  This time, we went to Sunrise House found in Koreatown on Bloor.

Decor
The walls were painted in a shade of lime green, perfectly matching our St. Patty's Day's outfits.  The restaurant immediately gave us a nice and cozy atmosphere as there were many cute miniature figures around the room.  There were about six tables that seated 4 to 6 people and two smaller tables on the side that only seated two.

Food
We almost instantly decide to order the Pork Bone Soup for two as this is usually the case at every Korean restaurant we go to (we're an old fashion couple). Just like every other Korean restaurant, they serve us six side dishes that includes japchae, bean sprouts, spicy pickled tofu and cucumbers, kimchi, pickled seaweed, and potatoes.  I enjoyed the dishes that were not spicy the most as they had great flavours.

The pork bone soup hot pot came in a wok placed on top of a gas stove.  We were not impressed by this dish.  The meat on the pork bones were under seasoned and the soup was just spicy.  It seemed like the soup was just chili powder mixed with water.  It didn't seem salty nor loaded with MSG.  Also, we expected that there would be korean rice cakes or mandu (Korea dumplings) included.

Service
When we arrived, we were the only customers and were greeted with a warm welcome.  However, the restaurant filled up quickly as it supper time.  They graciously refilled our sides when requested.  We had to ask twice for our tea to be refilled but since the restaurant was packed at the time, we understand that they forgot as there were multiple requests.

Price
The pork bone soup (gamjatang) for two was $14.99 and with tax, it was $16.95.  Note that Sunrise House only accepts cash.

Verdict
Sunrise House has 4 out of 5 stars on yelp.  I expected more, especially as gamjatang is a staple Korean dish.  We would not recommend coming here for the Pork Bone Soup.

Ruelo Patisserie

We decided to be fancy ladies this past Friday and went for afternoon high tea! How posh!

Reality: we actually bought a Groupon (like the poor savvy students we are) for Ruelo Patisserie's newest location, located on McNicoll near Victoria Park.

Location
The location is REALLY new. As in we can still smell the paint on the walls - almost. It was kind of difficult trying to find the location as it was in the middle of an industrial area, surrounded by packing/shipping warehouses. We actually had to do a u-turn to find the location.

Decor
Since this recently opened, the furnishing was quite bare. Simple purple couches and tables with large windows that let in a lot of natural light (great for taking photos!). They didn't even have a chance to lay out the macaron mountain/pile when we were there. The fridge at the front was empty actually.

Food
Our tray was a typical 3-tiers with the bottom layer being savoury mini sandwiches & prosciutto, followed by the middle tier filled with scones and a tiny little bowl of jam and butter and the top tier had cakes and creme brulee. It was an appealing presentation. Everything was very dainty! #girlymoment

Nomnomnoms

Hits included the mango & shrimp sandwich, smoked salmon sandwich, custard twist & scones and the matcha mousse cake.

The bottom tier of savoury mini sandwiches

Middle tier had warm scones and a custard twist

Top tier had macarons, mini cakes and creme brulee

The creme brulee was a bit too watery/runny and the prosciutto was quite oily. We would've also liked for there to be a bit more butter for our scones (we like our lard! haha).

Tea
We loved the large selection of tea. We were offered either a choice of Kusmi tea or coffee. Being the insomniacs that we are, both of us chose herbal teas.

The zen blend was quite good, with strong hints of citrus and a rooibos base. The detox green tea had a very strong green tea presence so if you don't like strong teas or the matcha taste, don't go for it!

The teas came in little individual diffusers good for one cup.

Service
There was only one waitress on duty when we arrived (in fact, we were the only ones there for a good half hour or so before another couple finally showed up). She was great; very courteous and polite.

Price
Our groupon was $27.50 for 2, taxes and gratuities extra. Over all, it was good value for the amount of food we got. We left with full bellies (or until after we hit the gym).

Verdict
Definitely worth visiting for the price we paid because the food was beautifully presented and tasted good.  I'm not really sure if it's worth a visit for its full price.