4 Girls Roti Shop, Roti Hut

A guilty pleasure of mine is the occasional Trinidadian style roti.

What is a roti? A roti can be curried chicken, goat, beef, potatoes, pumpkin (virtually any combination of meats and or vegetables) wrapped in a dhalpuri roti. A dhalpuri roti is type of wrap similar to a tortilla, with a stuffing of ground yellow split peas and spices. The stuffing is pushed into the roti dough and sealed. When rolled flat, the filling is distributed within the roti.

I recently tried a local roti joint called 4 Girls Roti Shop (113 Dundas St W) in Whitby and one I have visited quite a few times in the past, Roti Hut (351 Pitfield Rd.) in Scarborough.

I ordered a potato and chickpea roti from 4 girls and it was ready in a couple of minutes. Even though their location has a steam table out front, all of the preparation is done in the back. Actually, they have no food prepared out front and the steam table has been unused both times I have been in.... Instead, I'm pretty sure the rotis are assembled cold and microwaved on order, a little sad.

The roti after taxes came to $7.50 which is a little expensive for a vegetarian roti in my opinion, but, it is a generous portion. The dhalpuri itself has a homemade quality about it. It's very tender and the outer layer of flour is very thin and delicate. The filling is very nicely spiced and moist with a somewhat complex flavour, I thought I could pick out sage and thyme notes. I added hot sauce which gave it a pleasant tingle of heat without being too hot. I really liked this roti, price withstanding.






The potato roti from the Roti Hut was $5.60 after taxes, a little more reasonable, but, it was smaller than the 4 Girls roti. The roti is ordered and prepared in the back, the fillings are in pots on the stove and the dhalpuri is taken from a warmer and prepared on the spot, no microwave involved. The dhalpuri was much more tortilla like. It had a tougher skin which did hold together better than the one from 4 Girls, it seemed a little more commercial to me. I guess it's a matter of personal preference...

The filling was much thicker and pasty than that from 4 Girls, it had a nice bite of curry but also has a somewhat vinegary taste to it. Overall, I think the consistency was a little off putting and the vinegar taste (possibly from the hot sauce) knocked my overall opinion of this roti down a little bit. I hold the Roti Hut near and dear to my heart but I sadly didn't like this roti all that much....

Oyster Po' Boys

I picked up a 2 pound tub of shucked British Columbia C. gigas oysters from Beaver Fishery Inc. in Scarborough to make fried oyster po' boys.

What is a po' boy?

A po' boy is a Louisiana specialty. A sandwich usually made with fried seafood (oysters or shrimp but can be made with roast beef, chicken, or even burger patties) served on a baguette or french style roll. Additional toppings can be lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

I recently found a recipe by Sunny Anderson from her show Cooking For Real and decided to try it out. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as written. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and used a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt in the flour dredge.

The coating was excellent, only, I felt it needed a little more seasoning and a touch more salt. The remoulade was great, I didn't have capers so I added a second tablespoon of dill pickle juice. I didn't find it to be spicy at all, so, the title is a touch misleading..... Whatever! With a few tweaks next time the recipe will be a definite winner.






These oysters were absolutely massive! I bought 2 pounds thinking I'd make a pile of fried oysters for the sandwiches and have a pile leftover for dipping. It turned out I got exactly 12 oysters in the 2 pound tub. Yikes!

Curing Bacon

Curing? Wha?

Curing is the addition of salt, or, in my case, salt, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate to aid in preserving meat by inhibiting bacterial growth. Curing also draws moisture out of meat and allows it to retain an attractive pink colour when finished. The curing of meat has been practiced for centuries, salting and smoking has been used to preserve meat since Ancient Greece.....

Why haven't I tried it? If the Ancient Greeks could to it, what's stopped me? Fear of the unknown....

Over the last year I've compiled curing agents and all the ingredients I'd need to make bacon, I was hesitant to splurge on a pork belly and fail.... But, Chris you say, remember the Ancient Greeks?

Well, today I threw caution to the wind and went for it. I picked up a 13 pound belly, sliced it into three and got to curing..... Each of my belly portions are around three and a half pounds after trimming some bone and scrappy bits off.

Belly #1

Is getting a brown sugar cure from the Sausage Maker located in Buffalo New York.

Belly #2

Is getting a maple cure, again, from the Sausage Maker in Buffalo.

Belly #3

Is getting a cure of Morton's Tender Quick and honey.

What has worried me has been the ratio of curing agent to the amount of meat. Using Tender Quick, the package says to use a tablespoon per pound of meat, easy enough. With the packaged Sausage Maker cures I was informed to "Thoroughly rub the dry cure into the bacon." Ummm ok, again I used about a Tablespoon per pound, maybe a tiny bit more, we'll see how it turns out.

I decided to keep my recipe simple, I'd love to make a paprika or peppered bacon, but, I figured I'd better keep it simple to begin with. If these turn out well, I am going to be in trouble....

Update Day 6

Almost immediately the cures drew out quite a bit of liquid from the bellies. I massaged the packages and turned them over once every day to ensure that the curing liquid was evenly distributed in the Zip Lock bags. I had a minor incident part way through the curing of the brown sugar bacon. For some reason the seal on the bag leaked and let some of the cure out. Luckily it was the thinnest and still had some liquid in the bag. After 6 days in the cure I decided to prepare the bellies which had all firmed up nicely.





I rinsed the bellies well under running water and dried them off with paper towels and let them sit for half an hour while the smoker warmed up. I placed them on my Traeger Lil Tex smoker set on the "Smoke" setting which should run between 180°F and 200°F, but, with my luck a heat wave began today. The outside temperature was 28°C (82°F) at 9am when I started smoking the bellies and the cooker ran at 230°F most of the time.





They took just over an hour and a half to reach 130°F internally (I am not eating the bacon right from the smoker, I am going to fry it first). If I was going to sample pieces straight from the smoker I'd take the internal temperature to 150°F to make sure it was cooked through.







The bellies did develop some nice colour, they would have been darker if the cooker had run a little cooler. I cut off the rind when I took the bacon from the cooker and let them cool. They are now in the fridge getting ready for BLTs for dinner.

I didn't want to overload the Traeger so I did the Sausage Maker bellies first and when they were finished I did the Tender Quick/honey belly. The outside temperature was 33°C (91°F) when I put the last belly on the smoker. The Traeger was in the shade and ran a bit cooler than in the morning, varying from 195°F to 230°F. The pellicle seems a bit thicker than the pre-made cures and the didn't darken as much as the maple and brown sugar cured bellies. We'll see what the taste is like when I fry some up.... All in all, it was a very simple project, to this point I don't know why it appeared so daunting...






The results? Very good bacon. The Sausage Maker cures turned out on the salty side, next time I will use a little less and be more precise in my measuring. The main issue I had with these cures is that I couldn't pick up any brown sugar or maple notes once cooked..... As a curing agent they were fine, I would have to say as flavoured cures they were a miss.

The real winner was the Tender Quick and honey cure. It had the perfect amount of salt and once cooked, I could pick up the aroma and taste of honey right off the bat. The only thing is that I'll need to remember to cook it over a lower heat, the sugars in the honey tended to darken in the pan quicker than the Sausage Maker cures when cooked side by side.

As a side note, I let the bellies firm up in the fridge before trying to slice them. I used a 14 inch granton edge slicing knife to slice the bacon. A long, sharp knife and some patience is all you need to cut thin, uniform slices of bacon. If I was to do a lot of production, a meat slicer would be handy, but, for now I'm set.

Is it wrong I am itching to head to the butcher for more bellies?

Pizza Pino's Restaurant & Tavern

As part of my new excercise regimen, I broke my mountain bike out of storage last week. I quickly realized that the tires needed to be replaced and my trip computer was broken. Time for some repairs! As I drove down to the local bike shop I noticed Pizza Pino's Restaurant & Tavern (855 Westney Rd. S.) in Ajax, a place that I had heard about a few times but had never tried. Today I stopped in.

In my previous 'fatter guy' life, I'd tell you how much I loved pizza, that I could probably eat it every day and never tire of it. Nowadays I don't eat it often. Some of my favourite holes in the walls have been pizza joints like Antonio Pizza just outside Montreal, Calabria Bakery and Fratelli Village Pizzeria in Scarborough, and Bocce Club Pizza in Buffalo. Each have their own style, Bocce Club and Antonio Pizza come heavily topped with a hearty crust while Calabria and Fratelli's are thin crusted, wood burning oven pizzas.

Pizza Pino is very similar in style to that of Bocce Club and Antonio Pizza, probably more so the latter (Montreal style) because of it's crisp crust (Bocce's is more breadlike).

I got a large (14") pizza with pepperoni, bacon and green olives ($18.85). I was told the wait would be 25 minutes, a good sign.

When my order arrived the box was very heavy for it's size. When I got it home I was met by this:





Impressive, loaded with toppings and very well cooked, the crust was nicely browned and it smelled heavenly.





I tugged a piece loose and went at it. The crust had stayed amazingly crisp, the cheese was extremely thick, and there were piles of bacon, pepperoni and olives hidden underneath.

How was it? The sauce wasn't spectacular, actually, it tasted somewhat like spaghetti sauce but it was perfectly fine. The pepperoni was similar to what you can get in a supermarket. I prefer a harder, more zesty pepperoni but this is fine as well. The bacon was diced (unlike the pictures on their website). My only complaint is that the cheese doesn't have a great melt to it. It retained a rubbery texture once cooked. It's amply applied, it just seemed like a 'cheese product' to me.

Overall I really liked the pizza, it fills a niche that's definitely lacking in this area. Price wise, it's not too much more than local chains and the product is far superior. When I'm craving a Montreal style pizza it'll be my go to place from now on.





Author's note: Dear Pizza Pino or their webmaster, I have no problem sharing my photos. It would have been nice to have been asked to use the first photo in my blog post (of the complete pizza) rather than simply taking it and posting it on your web site.

Charbroiled Garlic Parmesan Oysters

About 10 years ago I tried my first oyster on the half shell. A plump, sweet, fresh-from-the-Gulf of Mexico, Apalachicola oyster. I was hooked.

Living toward the middle of the country, I have always been wary of the freshness of seafood. This has kept me from purchasing my own oysters. Instead, I have relied on one of the few oyster bars we have in the city for my fixes (which have, sadly, been few and far between). The problem with an oyster bar is their markup. Having inherited a touch of my mom's frugality, the oyster bar is basically a once a year trip. I'm always amazed how quickly costs soar for a night out. I frequently wondered how many oysters I could buy from a seafood distributor and shuck myself for the equivalent of night out at the oyster bar.

Earlier this winter I was directed to a local seafood purveyor (Diana's Seafood) that gets in a wide variety of fresh oysters and I went to check them out. They had numerous east and west coast oysters (Crassostrea virginica, Crassostrea sikamea, Crassostrea gigas) and Irish Flats (Ostrea edulis) with trade names for most.

On my oyster scouting visit to Diana's I tried some Kumamoto (C. Sikamea) and Colville Bay (C. virginica) oysters and was very impressed with the freshness of their wares. This past week after reading Robb Walsh's Sex Death and Oysters, I had to try some charbroiled garlic parmesan oysters which Walsh talks about in the book. I headed back to Diana's to get a couple of 33 count boxes of Standard grade Malpeque oysters which were on sale.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Drago's Seafood Restaurant, located in both Metairie and New Orleans Louisiana.

Charbroiled Garlic Parmesan Oysters

Ingredients

36 oysters
1/4 pound room temperature butter
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
4 Tbl grated parmesan cheese

Procedure

Fire your charcoal in a chimney starter while you get to work on the garlic butter and oysters. Mix together the softened butter, parmesan and garlic. Shuck your oysters trying to reserve their liquor in the bottom cupped shell.* Place the shucked oysters on an aluminum sheet pan for easy assembly and transport. Add a dollop of the butter to each oyster and take them to your grill.

Once all of your charcoal has lit, spread your coals evenly in your grill and place the oysters on the grate directly over the hot coals. Depending on the distance from the coals, the oysters will take three to five minutes to cook. You want to remove the oysters once the gills have curled and they have charred a little around the outside of the shell. Don't be alarmed if they flare up! The oysters will bubble and spit and some butter will fall on the coals, this is normal. Actually, it's desirable as a little extra char adds flavour to these beauties.

Enjoy Hot!

*I don't recommend using a premium oyster (save them for eating raw on the half shell). A Gulf Coast C. virginica is perfect here because they are relatively cheap, plump and large enough to still give you a decent sized finished product. The oysters will shrink a lot while cooking, so, if you're going to shuck 'em, make it worth your while!

Here are some shots of the Standard Malpeques I did over the weekend, they were small and many were tough to shuck, but, man were they good!

Update #2

I've been slipping recently, sneaking in a few of my previous vices and being a little lax on my caloric intake. Saying that, I finally hit the 40lb mark this week. I've been yoyoing around the 38 pound mark for the last month and will have to recommit myself to the cause....

Down 41 and feelin' good!

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

I am a huge fan of the tandoori chicken from my local Indian takeout (Cheetal Indian-Chinese Restaurant) but, I've never had success making it myself at home. When I've tried jarred tandoori pastes they have ranged in taste from bad to terrible, and I always feel like I've ruined the meat.

A while back a fellow BBQ competitor (who goes by the username Roxy on various BBQ forums) posted a recipe that he had adapted from his experience working in an Indian restaurant. I decided to give it a whirl and have really enjoyed it.

I have made a couple of tweaks to the recipe myself, so here it is:

Tandoori Chicken

4-5 pounds of chicken pieces
375g (half a 750 g container) of plain yogurt
5 Tbl Oil
3 Tbl Vinegar
5 tsp Tandoori Masala
4 tsp Garam Masala
4 tsp Paprika
4 tsp Salt
3 tsp Ground coriander
3 tsp Garlic puree
3 tsp Ginger puree
2 tsp Cayenne pepper or 1.5 tsp. traditional Indian chili powder

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and add chicken pieces, toss well to coat chicken completely. Marinate chicken pieces overnight. Grill over low heat (covered, turning often) until chicken has reached a safe internal temperature. Serve with raita, naan, and your choice of vegetable.

Note: This seems like a lot of salt, it is. The chicken will absorb it as it marinates. If you don't plan on using the whole 4 to 5 pounds of chicken, cut back on the salt accordingly. The rest of the ingredients can remain the same even if using less chicken.

Onion Buns

I love onion buns and have, in the past, taken sandwiches on them for lunch for weeks at a time.

The other day I was browsing a bread making site I found called The Fresh Loaf and found a recipe for Norm's Onion Rolls and decided I must make them.

I followed the recipe pretty much as directed (I did rehydrate 1/2 cup of onions instead of 1/4 cup because I'm an onion lover). I didn't have bread flour so I used all-purpose, and I used all sugar because I didn't have malt syrup.

They turned out beautifully, but after they cooled they turned into little rocks..... I am not a pastry chef so I'm not sure what I did wrong, I'm assuming it was cheap, all-purpose flour. The same thing has happened to my pepperoni rolls using this flour. In the end I threw them away; such a waste of time...

Next time I will use bread flour and make sure I follow the directions to a T.






With more practice and patience these will improve.

Pepperoni

My name is Chris, I am a pepperette junkie. A pepperette is a small snack sized pepperoni which is either dry cured or cured and then smoked and dried. I recently got into sausage making and tried my hand at a simple pepperoni recipe I found at Tammy's Recipes.

This was for a full sized pepperoni that was oven baked, but, I will easily be able to adapt it to fill a small collagen casing and then smoke it naturally. I had never used liquid smoke and was worried how potent it would be as it seemed to overwhelm the raw meat. In the end the finished pepperoni was wonderful and comparable to commercially available sliced pepperoni here in Canada. The best part is that 2 pounds of pepperoni cost a little over $4 to make..... Cha ching!

I made a couple of minor changes to Tammy's recipe in that I used 75% lean ground beef and 25% lean ground pork and cooked it at 170°F until the meat temperature reached 152°F internal (about 7 hours).

I must send a huge thank you to Tammy, this pepperoni is excellent.

An Update.....

Well, I've been laying low for a couple of months, definitely eating better and mixing in some guilty pleasures from time to time. In the end it's all about moderation......

As of March 14th 2010 I'm down 28 pounds and I'm feeling much better. The ankles and knees are feeling great, the back is getting back to normal, and the pants are sliding off (who needs buttons and zippers anyway).....

I promise some more posts in the near future. For now, just a quick update.

The State of Affairs

As you can tell from my photos, I tend to live the good life with little regard for calories. This has, unfortunately, led to some self-diagnosed health concerns. Some constant back pain and occasional knee/ankle pain has led me to conclude I need to make changes in the way I live my life.

Life is all about choices. I'm hoping to start making some better ones.

From now on I'm going to monitor what I'm eating and plan out my menu more closely so I'm not resorting to food on the run quite so often. I will still strive to post my food adventures, but, recently I've been cooking mostly chicken and lean meats at home. Boring stuff for the most part.

Anyway, because of this I am proud to say I've lost almost 10 pounds and taken in the belt one notch since the 7th of January! Hopefully this will be the start of a lifelong trend.

Wendy's - Bacon Deluxe

Alright, it's a chain, sue me.

I have been bombarded by ads for the 'new' thicker applewood smoked bacon commercials Wendy's has been putting out recently and decided to see if it's worth the hype. I had a Bacon Deluxe (formerly called the Big Bacon Classic) which is billed as: "Four strips of Applewood smoked bacon piled high atop a hot 'n juicy beef patty, made to order every time. Add American cheese, cool and crisp veggies with a little condiment love and you've got a burger to satisfy your senses."

Ok.

Here what arrived for my $5.80 (after taxes):





Not too shabby! One of the better looking fast food burgers I've seen.

How did it measure up? In a word, meh! The most pronouced flavour of the burger was onion. It's thinly sliced but it still managed to dominate the flavour profile of the burger. The beef was dry and underseasoned, what was supposed to be the star of the show (the bacon) had no real pronounced smoke flavour even though it did look fairly thick.

For close to $6 for a burger, no sides, you can do much better.

Stanley's Fish & Chips - Haddock & Chips

Virtually a neighbour to Krispy's Fish & Chips in Brooklin is Stanley's Fish & Chips (67 Baldwin St N).

I dropped by for lunch today and took out an order of Haddock and chips ($8). The filet, is cut very similarly in size and shape to that of Krispy's. The haddock itself was outstanding, fresh and flaky. The batter was very thin, probably the thinnest I've had on any order of fish and chips locally. It was not at all greasy but became soggy very quickly. It was so thin, the piece of fish began falling apart as I ate it. I can't really fault the fish, but, the batter could use a little work. the bits that remaned crisp were quite nice.

The chips were a bit of a let down. They just weren't very impressive. They were cut in store, and double fried, they were just ho-hum, a little dry in texture, pale looking and not all that crisp.

An excellent piece of fish dampened by a weak batter and ho-hum chips.

Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

Back in October I happened across a blog called Inn Cuisine which features recipes submitted by Inns and B&Bs around the USA. I stumbled upon a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins. The photos taken by Sandie, who runs the site, were striking. They made me want to try the recipe out right away.

I'll let you browse the recipe from Inn Cuisine as I have not gotten permission to duplicate it here.

I made the recipe as stated and got the 12 muffins, I seemed to have almost half the cheesecake filling left over when I had finished. I should have used more of the cheesecake filling as it melts and leaves hollows if you don't use enough (see photo below). I made a second batch of six muffins using up the leftover filling by making them in large muffin tins and they were much better. I still think there is too much filling for a single batch of batter.

Sandie's description of the finished product is spot on: "Surprisingly well-balanced, these muffins are a chocolate lover’s delight and stop short of being cloyingly sweet".

The only thing I might change in the future is springing for quality cocoa, the store brand that I used didn't give the same striking contrast in colour that Sandie's had.

Duff's - Buffalo Wings

On my last food stop during my stay in Buffalo I had to end it with Buffalo wings. In my opinion nobody does it better than Duff's in Amherst NY (3651 Sheridan Dr).

Whenever I go I get the same thing - 20 wings (medium), large fries, and a large pitcher of Diet Pepsi ($21).

The wings are classic Buffalo style, very large, fried until crisp and served tossed in a buttery vinegar and hot sauce (Franks Red Hot more than likely). Some complain they're too vinegary, some that they're too salty, I find the flavour here to be the gold standard for Buffalo wings. I've been going since I was a teenager some 20 years ago and still try and head back whenever I can.

The fries are frozen shoestring fries and are again, nothing special. You do get a massive pile of them in this combo. I dip the fries in Duff's excellent blue cheese dressing, a mild dressing teeming with chunks of blue cheese. I always make sure to order an extra container of it ($0.80) so I can take a fresh one home with my leftover wings.

Fuddruckers

Another burger chain I have frequented in the past is Fuddruckers. I visited the Amherst location (4300 Maple Rd) last week during my stay in the area. Again, I try and avoid chains, but, when they do something well I have to give them credit.

*Please note* As of March 2011 this location has closed and there was a For Lease sign in the window. It always seemed busy, I'm wondering if they found a new location?

I had the 1/2 pound original burger combo with American cheese ($8.99) on this visit. They offer to cook to order which shows confidence in their product. I get mine medium well anyway so this isn't a huge issue for me. The burgers are griddled and arrive with a slight char on outside. The meat is always juicy and flavourful. The buns are fresh and soft, topped with sesame seeds. A nice addition to the burger.

The side in the combo is wedge fries, they are cooked from frozen and are then hit with a seasoned salt, they are fine but not anything to rave about.

What I like about Fuddruckers is that you get to dress your burger yourself from a condiment bar. You're able to dress the burger to your exact specifications. I chose lettuce, onion, pickle, hot peppers, mustard and mayo. I usually like to get nacho cheese from one of their dispensers for my fries, but, the last couple of times I've been they've been empty, cost cutting or lazy employees? You can see a tiny drip of the cheese on my fries in the pic below....

Charlie the Butcher - Beef on Weck

I stopped by Charlie the Butcher (1065 Wehrle Drive) in Williamsville NY for a beef on weck ($5.65). What's a beef on weck? I explained it in my review of the Bar Bill Tavern.

The hand-carved beef was perfectly cooked but was on the tough side. I had a tug of war going on with this sandwich and often slices of beef pulled out because I couldn't bite through them.

The bun was fairly average in my opinion as well. It seemed like a hamburger bun topped with rock salt and a tiny bit of caraway. It's a shame because many see Charlie the Butcher as serving the best beef on weck in Buffalo. I can't agree on this one. Bar Bill easily topped this sandwich with their excellent roll and tender beef. I'd even rank Anderson's beef on weck ahead of this one.....

The Original Pancake House - Apple Pancake & Potato Pancakes

I stopped by the Original Pancake House (2075 Niagara Falls Boulevard) in Amherst last week while in the area doing some shopping. Another online recommendation had us in to sample a couple of their specialties, the apple pancake ($9.35) and the potato pancakes ($7.65).

Upon order we were advised that the apple pancake would take 20 minutes to cook. We were in no rush so it was perfectly fine to wait. The staff seemed pretty friendly and as we waited I sipped my coffee and my dining partner had an overpriced apple juice ($3) for a 'large' six or seven ounce cup.... Oh yeah, on the point of expensive, four strips of thick sliced bacon were added for $4.05. Yep, a buck a slice....

When the food showed up I must say it looked impressive:






The apple pancake was still bubbling and puffed up as it arrived on the table. Cutting into it revealed lots of cinnamon laced apples, butter and I'm assuming brown sugar. The first few bites were great, the mixture worked well and it was more than enough food for the two of us to handle. After a few more bites, we were left with the sensation of chewing on sugar. The cook must have been heavy handed because as the pancake cooled we were left crunching on more and more of it. It was rather off-putting. I will admit it was a great, tasty start, but, chewing on sugar doesn't do it for me.

The potato pancakes looked impressive but tasted like fried, leftover mashed potatoes. No seasoning, not much of anything actually..... We chose sour cream as our side (we could have had bacon or apple sauce). I guess I should have saved $4 and had a couple of slices of bacon with it.....

The server who refilled a water glass for me and my coffee cup while we waited, disappeared for the duration of breakfast after we were served. I was left with empty cups waiting for refills for the remainder of our stay. I had no option of washing down my sugar other than sucking on rapidly melting ice cubes.

I wasn't really impressed, for $30 plus taxes I'm sure I could have found a better mom and pop place in the area. Heck, Bob Evans was down the street, it probably would have been a better option.

Bocce Club Pizza

I happened upon an online review of Bocce Club Pizza (4174 Bailey Ave.) in Amherst NY which touted it to be the "Best Buffalo Style Pizza" in Western New York. I'm not sure what exactly classifies as a Buffalo style pizza but I will admit it was good.

The Bailey Ave location was doing a steady business as I walked through the door. I counted no less than 32 pizza ovens behind the order counter. I didn't see anyone making pizzas which I thought was a little odd. I then noticed that pans were appearing through cutouts in the wall where a couple of guys would grab the sheet pans containing assembled uncooked pizzas and place them in one of the multitude of ovens. Every so often one of the guys would slide a nearly finished pizza off it's tray and let it finish cooking directly on the bottom of the oven.

We ordered a large (18 inch) pizza with pepperoni, bacon, onion and green olives. The total cost was $21.50 before taxes. Once the pizza was assembled and cooked we eagerly took it away. This was what met our gaze upon arrival:






The toppings were very good, they were fresh and generously applied. The cheese ran over the outside of the crust leaving charred bit of cheese at various points around the edge of the pizza. What made the pizza stand out was the sauce, it was sweet and not overly acidic (something I find with many tomato sauces). This is what made the pizza unique. The crust however, did not. I thought the crust was very 'bready', similar to a chain crust like Domino's or more locally, Topper's pizza. If you've ever tried a Domino's bread stick, you'll know the flavour and texture of this crust. I was impressed with the overall flavour profile of the pizza, the addition of what I believe was a herbed oil was a nice touch as well.

I feel that a different crust would make the pizza amazing, as it was, I found the pizza to be solid but not outstanding.

Upon returning to Bocce Club on a second visit I tend to stand by my original assessment. The pizzas are very generously topped and I love the sauce, the crust is a little bready for me. This was a 1/2 meat lovers pizza, the perfect amount for 2 hungry people or three lighter eaters.....

Krispy's Fish & Chips - Haddock & Chips

Krispys Fish & Chips (53 Baldwin St) in Brooklin was established in 2008 and I've driven past it many times on my way through Brooklin. I'd always meant to stop by and last week popped in for dinner and was really impressed.

I stopped in again for lunch this afternoon and was equally impressed with their fish and chips. I had the haddock and chips ($7.50). I received a generous portion of haddock in a light beer batter. The fish was fresh and cut rustically (a thicker, oblong shaped piece, as opposed to the rectangular, flat, paper thin slices many fish & chip places offer). My only complaint is that the fish is thinner at the ends than in the middle, the batter tends to stay crisp there more than it does in the thicker, middle section of the filet. I am nitpicking here though, overall it's an excellent product.

The fries are thinner than many fish & chip places I've tried. They are very good, nicely browned and cooked perfectly throughout. The cook seasons the fries on order which is a nice touch, many places don't do this. Who likes a fried potato with no seasoning? Even fast food places do it.....





Krispy's makes excellent hand-dipped onion rings as well ($2.95). A fair portion of super crisp, hardly-at-all-greasy rings in a light batter. This contrasts the 'donut rings' offered by Starr Burger and Shamrock Burgers. These are very light, I'd compare it more to Krispy's fish & chip batter. Best of all, you get a decent portion for the money! Most places charge close to $4 for six or seven pre-manufactured onion rings, here you get a handful of house-made rings for under $3. Good on ya Krispy's.





Author's Note September 25th 2011: Sadly Krispy's closed down earlier this spring and has become a burger joint. I will try and review it in the coming weeks......

Starr Ave Burger - Starr Burger and Onion Rings

I stopped by Starr Ave Burger (900 Brock St N. in Whitby) last week for a burger and rings. Starr Burger has been my go to place since I moved into the area last year. I have found them to serve consistently solid burgers and onion rings. They are very similar to Shamrock Burgers which I reviewed a while back.

I had the Starr burger combo (with cheese and bacon, an additional $0.50 each) onion rings and a fountain drink which came to just under $10. The Starr burger is their version of the homeburger. A pre-formed steakette can be had for a lesser price.

As I stated earlier, I've been to Starr Ave Burger quite a few times over the past year. It's always busy which is a good sign. The last couple of times I've been, the burger patties have been par-cooked and taken from a warming tray on the grill and finished to order. Again, I am disappointed that places have started doing this. I know you want to get orders out, but, c'mon! Does the extra couple of minutes it takes to cook a patty on order take THAT much longer? The guy that operates the grill does a great job, he had a pile of patties on to par-cook while getting out multiple orders of homeburgers and steak sandwiches.... Save yourself the headache, cook on order!

Anyway, onto the buger.... I ordered my Starr burger with bacon, cheese, sauteed onion, hot peppers, pickles, mayo and mustard. Despite the par-cooking the patty was cooked very well, it was still very juicy and actually made the bottom of the bun a little soggy. Ok, I can somewhat forgive the par-cooking if it's still got moisture, Jetsun Juicyburger take note! The beef was a fine grind and well seasoned. The lightly toasted bun was fresh and soft, unremarkable, but, did the job well.

Please excuse the pictures, I didn't realize how bad the glare was until I looked at them on the computer.






The onion rings are hand dipped and can be best described as 'donut onion rings' as I find the batter they use makes the rings look like and have a similar texture to a donut. They are pre-cooked and then fried again on order. The only issue here is that depending on the thickness of the batter, the coating on some remains soft, others get pretty crunchy. The onion inside seems to melt away with the double fry as well. You end up with a decent ring, but they would definitely benefit a single fry.





The fries at Starr Ave Burger are very solid as well. They are house cut and double fried, I feel they could use a little longer in the oil. The fry cook needs to be a little more selective as to what gets served, check out the nice black spot on that top fry......

Pete's Big Bite Burgers - Cheeseburger and Rings

I've driven past Pete's Big Bite Burgers (817 Dundas Street W, Whitby) quite a few times in the past. It looked well decorated and funky with a classic diner theme so I decided to check it out.

On the menu was a 4oz cheeseburger ($3.75) and onion rings ($3.35). The burgers are flame-broiled which is my preferred cooking method, because, in my opinion nothing gives meat more flavour than a lick of flame. Upon witnessing the burger getting tossed onto the grill I immediately wanted to cancel my order.... A steakette similar to a commercially available Schneider's product was the meat of choice. UGH!

I avoid chains in order to support the local guy, the mom and pop places in hopes of some home cooking. For these guys to bust out a steakette nearly made me shed a tear.... The burger once assembled was pathetic. My lettuce, pickle, onion, mustard and mayo overshadowed the meat by a wide margin. The patty was thinner than the bottom of the Toronto Bread style kaiser bun. In fact, the patty didn't come close to reaching the edges of the bun. It should be renamed the Pete's Big Bite Failburger.

The onion Rings were once again standard pre-manufactured onion rings. Just plain lazy.