We took it easy the next morning after Niagara Falls and started off with continental breakfast down in the hotel lobby.
A balanced breakfast definitely includes pain au chocolat don't you think?
Before our lunch plans, we explored Chinatown some more and then checked out Graffiti Alley. It's exactly what it sounds like. An alley stretch filled top to bottom with street art and murals.
Just minutes away from Graffiti Alley was where we had lunch. Raku is a Japanese udon restaurant based in New York City. Its Toronto location sits on busy Queen Street W, but past its curtain, it's a calm, minimal space with lots of natural wood tones. Specializing in udon, you'll find plenty of cold and hot noodle options.
It was a really nice day out so we all chose a cold udon option. LT and KE both chose the ja ja ($20.00). Chilled noodles with spicy miso pork, cucumber, tomato, and a poached egg.
I decided to get the zaru ($14.00) with a side of shrimp tempura ($7.00). The zaru udon is chilled noodles served with a light soy dipping sauce. It also comes with extra toppings like green onion, mushroom, wasabi, and quail egg. The noodles are thinner than I'm used to but they were perfectly cooked with a slight chew. The dipping sauce was also flavourful and not too salty. I wasn't a huge fan of their shrimp tempura though. It was crispy but felt doughy at the same time.
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Strolling further down Queen Street W, we popped into Nadege Patisserie for a quick break. There was a ton of goodies in their display cases. Tempting viennoiserie, cakes, macarons, and chocolates. I had my eye on their adorable mini canele (3 pieces for $4.00). These had a slight crisp on the outside but mostly soft. Not a bad snack.
The next stop on our unintentional dessert crawl was Bang Bang Ice Cream. I've been wanting to go to this ice cream shop for ages. They're known for their creative ice cream flavours (almost 30 different options!) which you can get sandwiched between cookies, egg waffles, cinnamon buns, etc. The sky's the limit!
My order (bottom) was a half sammie ($5.70) with burnt toffee and lychee rosewater raspberry ice cream in between an old fashioned oat cookie. The oat cookie had a good chew, with bits of raisins and dates throughout. The burnt toffee ice cream is a fior di latte (sweet cream) base with chunks of sponge toffee and saucy burnt sugar. I like how they describe it on the menu as a "sweetie" because that it was. It was really good but be prepared for a sugar rush! My favourite out of the two was definitely the lychee rosewater raspberry. The lychee flavour was super prominent and the raspberry curd was a nice balanced pairing.
We took a Lyft back to Uncle Tetsu downtown to pick up some souvenirs! Uncle Tetsu is our mom's favourite Japanese cheesecake so we had to pick up one for her. They also make cheese tarts and madeleines. The smell in the bakery is pretty intoxicating.
After a quick rest back at the hotel, we headed to Koreatown on Bloor St. You'll see lots of Korean restaurants and businesses line this popular street.
Before dinner, we stopped into Hodo Kwaja for their freshly prepared walnut cakes. These little walnut-shaped cakes are filled with your choice of red bean or mashed potatoes mixed with brown sugar. The mashed potato is reminiscent of chestnuts since it's more sweet than savoury. I did prefer the red bean flavour more though. This huge box of 66 pieces ($27.00) was perfect to split among relatives back home.
For dinner, we had a Korean BBQ feast at Daldongnae, a local chain with 9 locations in the GTA and 2 locations in Quebec. The restaurant is a cool vibe with each table having a built-in grill. Meat is ordered a la carte (minimum of 2 orders) and comes with a bunch of sides including corn cheese, egg, lettuce, and side dishes.
I can't remember exactly which cuts we ordered but I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. None of the meats are marinated but they do give you a few different options to sauce it up. As for the banchan, my favourite was surprisingly the potato salad. It was creamy and sweet.
It seemed like a shame to end our night so soon so we headed to Snakes & Lattes just a couple of blocks down. It's a board game cafe where you pay a cover charge to play any board or card game that they have on hand. If you order a drink or food item, the cover charge is halved so it's a no brainer to order something. Some fun times were had!
- CT
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