Labour Day Weekend: O-Town in T.O.

>>> Labour Day Weekend Gastronomy <<<

Starting from top left going clockwise:

@ Owl of Minerva w/ our Pork Bone Soup / Korean Spicy Rice Cake from Toronto a la Cart / Walking from our delicious meal from Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu restaurant / Toronto a La Cart (Korean) / Ladies from Toronto a la Cart /

Us getting free diet coke on Queen Street West

Finally. Some familiar faces. A bunch of friends were down in Toronto this past weekend. One group found living arrangements near my area, so they were able to come pick me and go everywhere throughout the weekend. We ate out most of the time.. so I guess this post will mainly be about food - in particular mainly Korean food, since my place is considered to be in the uptown Koreatown.

Friday:
Ate at Owl of Minerva - Pork Bone Soup for $7! If some of you haven't been to Korean restaurants, they actually have a little service button at each table to notify servers that customers are ready. I haven't ever used it. It doesn't feel very polite to me, but I guess it's part of their customs.

Saturday:
Went to a Russian foodmarket. Had some delicious freshly cut ham and cheese with bread and delicious Russian pastries. Why did I have Russian food? Well, it turns out that my friend's friend (who is now my friend too!) is my neighbor in the other building. I told him I was moving to this area, and he was looking for a place near here too, so he was lucky to find a condo in the next building over (which is connected by a hallway, so I don't even have to leave outside). Sweet. Asset: he has an iron! :)

Sunday:
Frankie Tomatto - AYCE Italian Restaurant with a Leaning Tower of Pisa replica on the exterior decor. You should check out the website. The picture is literally what the restaurant looks like.

Thai Paradise - We had my friend's birthday dinner here. I have to say.. my thai fried rice wasn't that good. Apparently, Asians use the "old rice" to make fried rice, since the taste is covered by all the spices. So... just a suggestion out there, unless you really know the restaurant well, avoid the fried rice.

Monday:
Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu Korean Restaurant (on Yonge Street) - This was a really quaint restaurant. The servers here actually scoop the rice into your bowl. What service. And, the menu only has like 8 items. Everything tasted really good, but you have to be good at waving down the employees to get service.

Ten Ren Bubble Tea - Barley Milk Tea. They don't have any in Ottawa. Barley tea tastes really good - reminds me of Ovatine or Chocolate tea! But, the best place to have barley milk bubble tea is @ Go For Tea because they have EMBYRO barley milk tea! Delicious~

Toronto a la cart (Korean) - There is a Korean a la cart place right in our neighbourhood on Yonge Street. This is the menu: Bulgogi with seasonal Kimchi ($2); Tokbukki w/ EomukGuk ($2); Fried Squid Balls ($1); Fried Chicken Balls ($2); Pan Fried Rice Balls ($1); Red Bean Waffle dessert (3 for $2). Whenever you are cravin' for a snackin' this is a good place to try something new. I'm going to try and find other Toronto a la carts!

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Thing to note: you can really tell you're living in a metropolitan city because they give out free samples of Pantene shampoo, bottles of diet Coke, and sell Pizza Pizza slices in the subway.

Purchase List for the Weekend:

Beige lace up boots - Forever 21 $35

Knitted blue loop scarf - H&M $15