This week's #FoodPornFriday post comes all the way from Toronto

Two weekends ago I took the family up to Toronto. This was our first trip with the entire family. We stayed at the Eaton Chelsea (used to be the Delta Chelsea). I've always liked the place due to being right downtown in the middle of everything. It's right off Young Street just a bit south of the Eaton center (just past the World' Biggest Bookstore, a place I loved growing up).

As part of our stay, the Eaton Chelsea was awesome enough to throw in complimentary dinner at their Bb33 Bistro & Brasserie restaurant. This is one of three dining areas at the Chelsea and the most high end of the three. Something I was worried about with the kids. For no reason.

The place was great with the kids. Even awesome enough to bring the kids food early so they didn't have to wait as long. I don't think I've ever had better service for our girls. That was awesome.

Even more awesome though was the food. They had a great kids menu that wasn't just frozen fish sticks and chicken fingers. Fresh prepared Grilled Cheese (with real cheese, not processed crap), Pasta, personal pizzas and more. The normal, adult menu was filled with lots of great sounding meals all made with local foods as much as possible. What you see here was the house steak, served with garlic mash, local mushroom gravy, veg of the day and onion crisps. It was the best steak I have had for some time.

Have a great looking food picture of your own to share? Link up with me and join in the #FoodPornFriday fun.

That's no Kraft Dinner #FoodPornFriday

That right there, in that drool worthy #FoodPornFriday picture, is the best Mac & Cheese I've ever tried. Sadly it wasn't even mine.

What you see was the Macaroni and Cheese of The Day for yesterday at The Twisted Apron. Yes you read that correctly. Mac & Cheese of the Day. I'll say it again:

Mac   &   Cheese   of   the   Day

That's right, the amazing chefs at The Twisted Apron come up with awesome new Mac & Cheese every single day! This particular beauty was Ham and Sweet Potato Macaroni and Cheese and it was divine. Oh it had some green stuff next to it, with some fresh apple and nuts and stuff on it. I didn't pay much attention to that. This huge plate of food only costs $12 and you can get it all day as it's on both the lunch and dinner menu.

We went to The Twisted Apron to celebrate my wife's birthday. This is is what we ordered for the kids. I managed to grab a picture before I dug into it with that spoon and split it over a couple of plates for them. They devoured the stuff. I was lucky enough to get a small taste in without having a finger bitten off. 

We've gone to The Apron many times but this is the first time I've ever tasted their Mac & Cheese and let me tell you: it won't be the last.

Try anything awesome this week? Get a picture of it? Link up below and join in the #FoodPornFriday fun.

Mini-Donuts from Route 42 for #FoodPornFriday

We were supposed to be heading out of town to Toronto this morning but things didn't work out. On the way out of town I wanted to stop in at Route 42 Diner & Dairy Bar for some breakfast. After breakfast I was going to pick up some fresh made mini-donuts for the drive up.

This week's #FoodPornFriday features those Mini-Donuts. Sadly not picked up this morning. I've been addicted to this kind of donuts since I was a kid and my parents used to take me to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. The last thing we would do before hopping on the Go Train back to my Uncle's house was buy two dozen hot fresh mini donuts.

Do you have a drool worth food pic to share? Link up with us! You can use the #FoodPornFriday tag or #FoodPicFriday if your readers don't like that P word ;)

This #FoodPornFriday we look at the drool worthy Autostrada from Motorburger

This week's #FoodPornFriday features one of my favourite local burger joints: Motorburger. This place is amazing and you can check out my full review, originally posted back in January.

What you see here is my favourite burger from MotorbugerL The Autostrada. Chipotle rubbed northern italian sausage, gorgonzola cheese, sliced apple slaw for $7.50 or $11.50 for a double patty (something even this big dude does not need).

Have a great food picture you want to share? Join in the #FoodPornFriday fun and link up below. If you are one of those bashful types you can use #FoodPicFriday. Feel free to save some twitter characters by using #FPF as well.

It's been a while since I mentioned beer

It's been a long time since I've shared some of my recent beer tastings. This is something I intended to do more often when I launched the blog. That's something I hope to get back to starting today.

Here's some of the most recent new beers I've tried. Note these are new to me, not necessarily new beers. One of these is an Ontario Craft Beer. Windsor Essex is turning into a hotbed of craft beer activity. WindsorEats recently posted an article where they note that as many as 7 new breweries may be opening in the area.

The reviews:

For this post I'm going to feature some great draft beers that you can get locally. I'm one of those people that would much rather be drinking freshly poured draft beer over anything out of a bottle.

Note all of these are written live as I'm drinking the beers. Usually on my iPod. So grammar spelling and autocorrect sometimes get in the way, as does previously reviewed beers that night ;)

Sam Adams Cold Snap - They currently have this on draft at Rock Bottom Bar & Grill. If you haven't been there and you enjoy a good beer now and then I seriously suggest you check the place out. They have the most beers on draft in the city and a huge amount of awesome Ontario Craft Beers (Though note that this isn't actually an Ontario beer). They always use appropriate glassware which is something I appreciate.  

Very hazy orange pour in an awesome glass. Check out that glass.

Weak scent overpowered by the scent of chicken wings. What an odd beer. Very not beer like. Lots of odd spices. Reminds me of a hard cider. Or maybe a mulled wine. Very unique. Very drinkable. Love the aftertaste.

Wasn't expecting much but really like this.

Big Rock Saaz Republic Pilz - You can get this one out in Kingsville at Jack's Gastropub. Another great place for good beer. They have an Ontario Craft Beer menu that is dropped off on the table for every set of guests.

Brownish red pour. A bit rusty. Clingy thick tan head. Weak scent, hoppy a bit grassy. Mouth is not nearly so subdued. Sweet start. Like a sweet European Pilsner but better. A touch of hops in the finish. Not too bitter. Easy to drink.

Unibroue Noire De Chambly - This is my last beer for today.

I'm a big fan of Blanche De Chambly from the same brewer and had no idea that they did a Noire until we saw the draft menu at Jack's last weekend. Yep this one is also available on draft out in Kingsville.

My wife was the one that ordered this while I got the Saaz mentioned above. Thus the picture of a partially finished beer. They didn't serve it
like that.

Very dark black pour as expected. Pretty much no head. Distinct smell I cannot place. Thick, with low carbonation. Very thick. Stout like. Nutty and fruity. Raisins, plumbs and more. Lots of different fruits.

Its okay. Not great, but in no way bad.


If you want to see more of these beer reviews from me, I post all of my reviews on my +Big Dude Likes Food Google Plus account. You should circle me over there, then you won't miss any of this beer snobbery.