The Fry

So it's basically summer, the NBA Finals are on, the World Cup is on, the US Open is on and it's hot outside. Hot, muggy and often rainy. So what can you eat? The patio is sort of off limits, the bars are an option but the food is usually not great. I still want to watch the games though so what can I do? Enter The Fry! Newly opened at Yonge and Sheppard (in the old Armando's) the Fry has expanded down from Yonge and Cummer, offering Korean style fried chicken, soups, alcohol and TVs. Best of all is they generally offer all of those things in the form of combos. Fried chicken and beer in a frozen mug? Garlic and soy sauce fried chicken and soju? Spicy rice cakes, fried chicken and a Coke in a frozen mug? All with a side of special World Cup friendly hours? That's a recipe for success in my mind.

Delicious, golden, juicy, crispy chicken

The chicken was freshly fried, juicy and crispy. The chicken came out golden brown and not the dirty brown indicative of a slacking kitchen not changing the fryer oil. The service was friendly and fluently English despite only having one waitress for the packed resto - perhaps less attentive than normal but we had enough napkins and drink so not much more attention was necessary for the devouring of fried chicken.

Pickled cabbage, salad,
macaroni salad

Spicy rice cakes with cheese,
chicken and cabbage

Garlic soy sauce fried chicken

The bill came to about $55 for three of us. We ordered a half and half combo of garlic and soy fried chicken and original fried chicken along with a spicy rice cake and chicken dish (which was delicious). We had the usual palette cooling side dishes of pickled radish, salad and (maybe not so usual) macaroni salad. We also had one I've never seen before - seared corn with some kind of buttery, mayonaisse-y, cream sauce on it which was actually delicious. The right amount of sweet and salty without being overly greasy or heavy. With the aforementioned drinks in frozen mugs, we were very full but very happy by the end of the meal so I'd say the price was reasonable.

All in all, it was a great experience and I'd definitely expect to be back there soon!

Peace,
B.

Recipe #1 - Pork Pork Pork Night!

For the Urban Foodie's first recipe, I give you Samgyeopsal (삼겹살)! We like to call it PorkPorkPork since Samgyeopsal (Korean) translates directly to 삼 -Three 겹 - Layered 살 - Flesh. Why Three Layered Flesh you ask? Because the main ingredient in this meal consists of this: 

That, my friends, is one layer of fatty meat, one layer of meaty fat and one layer of pure fatty goodness. Are you grossed out? If you are, first of all, this blog might not be for you! Second though, stick with me because the finished product looks something like this: 

Do I have you back? Excellent. So here's the deal, this is a Korean dish that requires a minimum of two eaters but is a great example of the more the merrier. This past Easter Monday, the Urban Foodie, the Pineapple Princess, myself and ten of our friends got together for one such meal. 

Things you'll need: 

- Pork belly (two people per pack)

- Green onions (two people per bunch)

- Perilla Leaves (two people per pack) (Find at any Korean supermarket) 

- Red chili powder (a few teaspoons)

- Garlic (as much as you want)

- Sesame Oil (a few teaspoons)

- Soybean Paste (quite a bit) (Find at any Korean supermarket)

- Kimchi (as much as you want)

- Rice (half a cup to one cup per person)

- Red leaf lettuce (two people per head)

- Alcohol (Is it Friday or Saturday? A lot. Any other day? Are you employed? Yes? Maybe a little less, friend.)

- Newspaper (Do you like mopping greasy floors? No? A lot then.)

- One each of these for every five people or so:

Why one of those strange cooking tops? You see that hole in the middle? It drains to that hole in the side giving you these: 

 

You see that cup there? That's triple-distilled pork fat bro. You get about one of those cups per two packs of meat. 

So I mean, at this point, the recipe may look a little daunting. You seem to require a lot of ingredients and no shortage of equipment to get this done. Don't be afraid though! It's really quite simple. Basically, this is how it goes down: 

1. Shred onions and Perilla leaves and mix in a bowl with chili powder (it makes things spicy right? so if you can't handle the spicy, don't add so much!) and some sesame oil to make it all stick together.

2. That's really all there is to it. Everything else you just straight up throw on the grill and leave it until it's either crispy and beautiful or browned and aromatic. Ie. sliced garlic, kimchi, porkporkpork (cut these to 1.5-2 inch sections with scissors), and any other veggies you want. 

3. Then you take your leaf of lettuce (I generally halve it so I can stuff it in my mouth better), add some rice to it, throw some of that green onion/perilla leaf salad on it, throw your cooked stuff on it, add a dollop of soybean paste and some sesame oil (if it's your thing), wrap that thing up and scarf it down. Easy as pie. And you all know that I love pie. 

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you can't accomplish step 3 anymore. 

A few P.S. items: 

- If you're going to use the table top stove, you should put newspaper underneath it and on the floor because the grease flies everywhere. That green tablecloth? That went in the garbage after the meal. 

- If you don't have all of this stuff, no big deal. Just cook the meat in a pot (pot>skillet because it'll keep more grease in) and empty the grease after each round!

Lastly, if you don't want your house doused in vaporized grease and smelling of porkporkpork for days, do it at a friend's house. That's what friends are for ;). 

TL;DR

PorkPorkPork goooood. Easy to make. Make it. Eat it with friends. Be happy. 

OH! P.P.S.

Everybody knows what a Jager-bomb is by this point right? Drop a shot of Jager into a glass of beer or Red Bull, throw back and enjoy that weird sense of up and down at the same time? Well, along with this meal most of my friends enjoyed a beer or three. Many Koreans would also enjoy it with a few glasses of Soju (소주). Do you see where I'm going with this? Drop a shot of Soju (purchase at your local LCBO) into a glass of beer and throw back (Fridays and Saturdays only!). For extra fun, balance shot on top of glass between two chop sticks, have one person scream SOJU! and everyone else scream BOMB! as they pound the table with their fists. Repeat until shot bombs into your beer and then throw back (Still only for Fridays and Saturdays!). Now you're ready. Get your porkporkpork on. 

Wanda's Pie in the Sky

My first foray into the world of Urban Foodie was spent in the Kensington Market blocks of downtown Toronto.

Tucked just behind the core of Chinatown, this little neighborhood offers a sweet escape to serenity. Away from the rushed service and corporate lunchers, Kensington is only steps away from Downtown's hustle and bustle but on a sunny Easter Monday afternoon, there was almost no place better to kick back and relax with friends.

Wanda's Pie in the Sky is just one of those places. Located in the heart of Kensington, I stopped by for a slice and a coffee after lunching on some fish and chips with the Urban Foodie. They do all kinds of pies here but are famous for the chocolate pecan and strawberry rhubarb. I'd had both on previous visits so I opted for a slice of fresh blueberry pie. As usual, the service was great and a friendly waitress brought me my dessert after it has been warmed to gooey perfection in the oven.

At about $8.00 and change for a slice of pie and a coffee, Wanda's isn't a donut and a double-double but it's by no means breaking the bank either. What it is, is a friendly place to sit back with some friends, enjoy the rich character of the store and neighborhood, gaze at some of the beautiful artwork they have up (and for sale) and scarf down a perfectly toasted, not too sweet, perfectly sized, freshly made slice of mama's own with one of the top 3 crusts I've ever had.

The only thing missing from my experience at Wanda's Pie in the Sky was the option to render my pie a la mode. It wasn't necessarily lacking from my snack but who can resist oven fresh pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?! Anyways, I've left that as a suggestion and will get back to all of you with the response.

All in all a great afternoon. We even met Argus Filch (of Harry Potter fame) or more recently Walder Frey (of Game of Thrones fame)! David Bradley was also chilling at Wanda's with his family as he's in town filming a new TV series about vampires called The Strain (premiers July on FX). As if my eloquent praise of this establishment was not enough, actors hang out here!!!

TL;DR (too long; didn't read)
Had a slice of blueberry pie and a coffee.
Filling was fresh and delicious - a tad sour
Crust was perfect
Service was great
Atmosphere was excellent
Met Argus Filch

Two New Authors Join the Urban Foodie Team!

Please welcome Pineapple Princess and Bensjammin to the Urban Foodie Team!

Pineapple Princess will be blogging about the ins and outs of the Calgary culinary scene.

As with the Urban Foodie, Bensjammin is based in Toronto.  Not only will Bensjammin review restaurants around the city, but he will also share his experiences with existing homemade food recipes and share his own unique ones too!

They will be an integral part of the team - stay tuned!