Seven Lives Tacos

This is one of the many gems in Kensington Market. If I ever had to recommend locals a place to try a variety of different of different restaurants, Kensington Market would definitely be one.

In terms of Seven Lives Tacos, let me preface it with the fact that I am not a frequent taco eater. I however, love seafood, so there is some prejudice in this. I really liked the tacos that didn't steal the show from the seafood, so like the Blackened Mahi Mahi, where I could taste the fish and the awesomeness of the spices. On the other hand, the Gobenator? uses cheese in it which made it taste like a steak and cheese and was totally not up my alley.

All said, I loved the tacos that showcased the seafood. The Tacos were small and good, and two was enough to make a meal. Typically, try the lighter seafood ones first, and only the heavy ones I would only recommend if you were looking for a full meal.

Mexican Soda

Pineapple and Mango Soda!

Blackened Mahi Mahi Taco

The best one we tasted by far!

Gobernador on the Right and a Baja Fish on the Left.

Seafood Ceviche!

This was amazing as well, very good seafood with a light feel due to the lemon/lime juice.

Burgenator @ Kensington Market

Burgenator is one of the places nestled in the heart of food heaven - Kensington Market. Don't let the military looking helmet near the cashier fool you, the burger tastes nothing like military rations. The patty was juicy and the flavours are amazing and very satisfying. Though it is a very messy burger, so I don't really advise bringing a girl on the first date here. I would definitely come back here to try again, though I might save up a little more due to the somewhat expensive pricing.

Bulldozer

Best Lamb Burger I have ever eaten.

French Macarons in Toronto

It is surprising that I would have a post regarding French Macarons when I personally don't like really sweet food. There is just a special thing the texture and variety of flavours that makes me want to try them.

Here are a couple of the different stores in Downtown Toronto that serves them. My personal favourite was Nadege, but mainly due to my lack of sweet tooth.

Nadege

Nadege, I reviewed this place before, and praised them for their flavourful but not overly sweet cakes. Their Macarons are very similar, one of the better places I have tried, and with a very soft center that just melts in your mouth.

Butter Avenue

Butter Avenue had a very appealing packaging. The flavours were more pronounced, and flavourful than Nadege, but it was overly sweet for my tastes. In terms of texture, maybe due to the very cold walk outside, but it wasn't as soft as Nadege on the inside.

Delysees

Delysees was one of the bakeries that I found with a very similar taste to the Macarons I got on my Paris Trip. Amazing texture and melt in your mouth centre-ness and much sweeter than what I like. The flavours were pretty good too.

Raijin Ramen

Ramen, one of the several cravings that I get all the time. And when you get the craving, it just doesn't go away. It so happens that this is also a new fad in Toronto. Being the ramen craving guy, I decided to watch some ramen related videos on youtube(yes, very smart idea to watch food videos before you sleep... lol), where I discovered Tsukemen Style ramen. For those who don't know what it is, it is a type of ramen where it provides the broth on the side, to be used as a dipping sauce instead. The broth is therefore made much richer, and the noodles don't get soggy. After finding this, I looked all over Toronto for it to no avail. One day, on one of my walks in Toronto, I found Raijin which served Tsukemen as well as normal ramen, and put it on my "must try" list.

Overall, I found that this place really good all around. It was flavourful and the broth was amazing. Their portions are also fairly large, a small ramen was fairly filling for me. A Tsukemen Combo will run you around $14.50 before tax, while a Shio Ramen was $12.50(Small Don, Small Ramen, Salad). Warning, if you get this, be prepared to eat, because I was definitely full after this.

Appetizers

I rarely comment on the appetizer of a ramen shop, but the Takoyaki at this shop was really good. A good chunk of tako, with amazing crispy shell and flavorful sauce. The salad that accompanied the combo was also really good. It makes use of Japanese mayo, corn and some fresh greens, and was a great way to start the meal.

Takoyaki

Try it!

Salad

Good.

Ramen

The ramen was amazing, their flavour was good and it wasn't overly salty. It was hands down one of the best ramen I tried in Toronto so far. But when it came to the Tsukemen style, I found that my this style wasn't really my cup of tea. The problem for me was the fact that the broth wasn't hot enough, meaning the noodles don't get warm enough, which was personally a bit of a turn off. On the other hand, the flavour was amazing, it was very strong in bonito flavour, which I personally loved it because I am a seafood addict. I tried to drink the broth seeing as it was so tasty, but bad idea, the concentrated broth tasted really salty when you drink it in spoons.