Tag: North York

PB and J Goodness at Bake Code

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Bake CodeLocation: 4910 Yonge Street, North York
Website: http://bakecode.com/

Hey.  Do you like croissants?  Of course you do, who doesn’t?  How about peanut butter and jelly?  Again, I’m going to have to assume the answer is yes.  Of course you like PB and J.  You’re not a crazy person.

Well then, you’ll be pleased to hear that Bake Code has a PB and J croissant, and yeah, it’s good.  How could it not be?

Bake Code

It’s not even that the croissant is that great.  It’s fine.  It’s a bit too dense, and it’s not quite as flaky or as buttery as you’d like; it’s a decent, middle-of-the-road croissant.  But then they fill it with an absolutely absurd amount of peanut butter and strawberry jam, and how could that be bad?  It can’t be.

Bake Code

The crispy croissant, the crunchy peanuts on top, and the gooey PB and J turn out to be an irresistible combination.  It almost feels like cheating — you could put gobs of peanut butter and jelly into pretty much anything, and it’s going to be delicious.  But tasty is tasty.

Scratching my Head at Konjiki Ramen

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Konjiki Ramen
Location: 5051 Yonge Street, North York
Website: https://konjikiramen.com/

I think ramen might just be my favourite food on the planet.  Burgers are obviously a strong contender, but there’s something about a truly great bowl of ramen that’s incomparable.

That’s why the ramen at Konjiki — a seriously acclaimed Tokyo ramen joint that has just opened their first outpost in Canada — was so disappointing.  Their specialty is ramen made with clam, shellfish, chicken and pork.  I was exceptionally excited to try it.

You can either get shio (salt) or shoyu (soy sauce); I went with shoyu, which was clearly a mistake.  The flavour was all salty soy sauce, which completely wipes out all of the nuances from the broth.

https://tastyburgers.ca/

The thing that’s so irresistible about a great bowl of ramen is how complex it is; it feels like you’re discovering something new with every mouthful.  But there was nothing new to discover here after the first slurp.  It certainly wasn’t bad, but the first sip was exactly the same as the last.

The noodles were quite good, at least, with a satisfying chewiness.  The texture was slightly off in a way that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but that’s a minor complaint.

The chasu, on the other hand, wasn’t great.  It was super dry, and just didn’t add much to the bowl.

I also tried the gyoza (which were pork, shrimp, and cabbage dumplings) and the karaage (fried chicken), and they were both tasty, if nothing particularly mind-blowing.

Konjiki Ramen

I should also note that there were some service issues.  I was with a group of four, and two bowls of ramen came fairly quickly.  The other two took an extra fifteen minutes to arrive.  The waitress was extremely apologetic once she realized what was happening, and I got a free egg out of the deal (which was nicely cooked, with a gooey, just-barely-set yolk — but like the ramen itself, it was too salty).

Overall, not the greatest experience ever, and certainly not worth waiting for when there are several other ramen joints right nearby.