LUXOMME

My friend Angie and I made a quick pit stop at a Hotteok place while waiting for our friend Crystal to arrive downtown. We realized halfway through our first bite that her cellphone had actually died, so we rapidly gobbled the rest of the pancake up so we could go find her.



These girls have a crazy busy schedule though, so after our lunch date we all headed on home since they both had places to be, people to see!  On the way to the subway station, I spotted this restaurant with a massive orange sign that said "buk chang dong soon tofu".

Naturally, I whipped out my phone and texted my friend Clara to see if she was up to head downtown with me the next day. 

Soontofu? I am so down. 



For those of you who may not know, soon tofu is a spicy Korean soup with tofu. It's also my absolute favorite type of Korean food and here they have soontofu with beef, soontofu with veggies, soontofu with seafood!  You get the idea.

This place also lets you crack your own egg into the hot boiling soup when it comes (something I liked) and they made their rice in hot stone pots which they scooped out and then filled with water to create burnt rice soup which you can drink afterwards.

Not the most appetizing sounding thing but it was comforting. 

I ended up getting soontofu with mandu and beef. 



We decided to head on over to Eatons to walk off our lunch, but found ourselves at Chatime instead..







We ended up going from Koreatown --> Eatons --> Koreatown --> Yorkville --> Queen's Street --> Koreatown --> Eatons that day. Don't ask me why, but we definitely made use of our transit pass.


My cousins and my brother had gone to a raptors game that evening and it's tradition for us to meet up at Kinton Ramen afterwards, but once I found out that Clara had never been, I had to drag her over and make her try their ramen.



They had JUST opened their Koreatown branch so the place was still fairly empty since not many people knew about it. I definitely did a double take when I first walked by it unknowingly.







I was going there later with my family so I just grabbed a light tofu furai. 



 Because we finished dinner around 6 and my cousins weren't going to be downtown till 10, Clara and I head BACK to Eatons for a night stroll.



We ended up standing in front of this Christmas tree just talking and reminiscing about our crazy first year days and how far (or not far) we have come since then.







naomi

This is a really dated post but it's been crazy busy, so here I am trying to make up for it!

The last two weeks in Toronto have been a whirlwind. I arrived late on the 18th and woke up bright and early the next morning to head downtown with Tiffany. 



I needed to bring my bag over downtown to get it fixed so we stopped by Bloor street first and then decided to freshen up at Eatons first since both of us were a little tired post exam recovery and weren't ready to brace the cold that is Bloor's street shopping.







We didn't end up buying anything other than a pair of matching earrings, but this coat was definitely tempting. 



Defeated and exhausted we decided to retire for lunch and were greeted in the lobby by these breathtaking Christmas trees which look a multitude times more impressive in person.

We stepped into the elevator and zoomed all the way up to the 54th floor of the TD center to Canoe.


Our server brought us two kinds of fresh steaming bread and a side of kidney bean spread.




There are three things I love about this place; the food, the service, and the amazing view right outside your window. 





Because we went on a Friday, most of the clientele there were businessmen and women dressed to the nines in suits and pearls. Not going to lie, it was a little uncomfortable being the youngest ones there, and in Uggs to boot, but our waiter was so patient and the service was absolutely impeccable. 

I'm always a little skeptical of these places because you are expected to hold your fork properly and put your napkin down in the correct way, which almost takes the fun out of food, but if you haven't tried Canoe, do it. There's a great deal of hype surrounding this restaurant and I feel it's one of the few places that actually live up to it. Their attention to detail is amazing, not just in the dish but also in the service as well.

Just don't get the salad, and go for something more adventurous ;)

It's also a great place to sit down and have a conversation. With strangers, with acquaintances, with close friends.  

Great company makes the food even better.