Lasa by Lamesa

Brought to us by the same team as Lamesa, Lasa by Lamesa (Instagram: @lasabylamesa) is a quick-service Filipino eatery on St. Clair West at Wychwood Avenue. Unlike Lamesa, which is known for its modern and creative take on Filipino food, owner Les Sabilano and executive chef Daniel Cancino focuses on traditional Filipino fare at Lasa. 

Even though Lasa is a fast-casual spot, rest assured that they still make everything fresh to order. The 3-month-old eatery has no servers so both ordering and picking up food happens at this counter. Choose from water, pop or juice to accompany your meal (Lasa is not licensed). 

Previously occupied by Kaibigan, a grocery store ran by Sabilano's parents, Lasa has been completely transformed. The 24-seat space is casual, yet quaint and welcoming. I specifically like the wicker lamps and the cute accent pieces on the wall.

Notice the different pops of colours and the custom wood work on the door. The room has a chill tropical feel to it, which is really inviting on a cold winter's night.

Campagnolo

Finally! I finally understand why it is so difficult to get a reservation at Campagnolo. Okay, so the fact that the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday may have something to do with it. It's not a huge deal, but still, a contributing factor. However, having named as Canada's Best New Restaurant in 2011 by enRoute Magazine and being Mcleans' pick as one of the 50 best restaurants in Canada last year is, by far and foremost, the biggest reason why snagging a table at Campagnolo is such a strenuous exercise. But hey, don't get me wrong, all the effort and patience was totally worth it. After my meal there, I realized that yes, although the accolades from critics and audiences alike is a big reason why getting a reservation at Campagnolo is so difficult, the real reason is because the food at Campagnolo is truly outstanding; it is chef and owner Craig Harding's talent that keeps bringing Torontonians back to his restaurant time and time again.

Located at the corner of Dundas and Euclid, Campagnolo (@Campagnolo_) is warm and cozy. A very romantic atomsophere, a great date night spot in my opinion.

The open kitchen at Campagnolo. Hopefully I'll get to sit at the chef's rail next time.

Ox Tail Stew with Tomato & Red Wine

My Mom made this at home one night and I immediately fell in love with it. I love stews to begin with because they are so warm and hearty. Added to that is my love for ox tail; ensuring I get all the meat from those angular bones is just so... fun; a sense of satisfaction comes over me when I know that I've gotten every shred of meat possible from those bones ^_^ Because of the long simmering time, the ox tail meat here is extremely soft - I know the following sounds totally cliché but the meat was really, literally, "fall of the bone" tender. The onions and tomatoes  become a "mush" with all their flavour transferred to the stew and the meat. 

My Mom assured me that this dish was is easy to make. I was weary at first because she says most things are easy to make which is usually the case for HER but not for ME. She then gave me a photocopy of the recipe, taken from one of her many Chinese cook books, and I gotta admit guys, this is a very easy recipe. If I can do it, you can do it =D So go ahead and try this. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!

Oxtail Stew with Tomato and Red Wine (serves 6)

Ingredients

• 3 cups of beef broth
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 tomatoes (skin removed after slightly boiled)
• 4 onions
• 2 carrots
• 3 tbsp oil
• 3 cloves garlic (mashed)
• 3 shallots (mashed)
• 1 ox tail (parboiled)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Soak tomatoes in boiling water for about 1 minute. Tomatoes can then be peeled easily by making a criss-cross slit at the bottom. Roghly cut tomatoes and dessed.

2. Cut carrots and onions into chunks.

3. Heat oil in a casserole and fry garlic & shallots till fragrant. add onions and fry until golden.

4. Add tomatoes and carrots. Cook until soft.

My Chinese New Year's Eve Feast

Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous Year of the Rabbit =) 恭祝各位, 新年快樂! 心想事成！身體健康！That's not a direct translation at all, but much like going into a Chinese restaurant and seeing the specials written only in Chinese, only the people that can read Chinese will have the luxury of understanding what I wrote haha~


Wednesday night was Chinese New Year's Eve. Every year, my Mom would cook a very extravagant meal, a menu full of delectable Chinese dishes. We never go out to a restaurant for Chinese New Year because we enjoy wining and dining in the comfort of our own home. But of course this is only possible because my Mom is such a brilliant cook (see my post here dedicated to my Mom's crazy cooking skills). 


My family is not traditional nor superstitious. As in, we do not decorate our house with Chinese New Year decorations or do any rituals, ever. We actually do not do much at all during Chinese New Year besides getting together and eating. We haven't bought Chinese New Year candy in ages so I was pretty surprised when I saw this in the kitchen the other day:

Mom bought it at T&T, probably to make it feel more like Chinese New Year in the house. I must say that is one sad looking candy box though; the sesame chips in there has absolutely nothing to do with Chinese New Year (they are sold as snacks at T&T all year around). The picture below is an example of how a traditional Chinese New Year candy box should look like:

But whatever. When we were living in Hong Kong I remember we can never finish the stuff in the box anyway, even weeks after the New Year; a lot of the stuff in there is way too sweet for our taste. It also doesn't help that my family don't snack much in general.


What we do eat every year is pudding. My mom sometimes makes them and sometimes buy them. This year, she made the Water Chestnut Pudding (馬蹄糕) and bought the New Year pudding (年糕) and Turnip Pudding (蘿蔔糕). Mom pan-fried these for us after we came back from shoveling snow =)

Fantasy Eatery

Fantasy Eatery (銀星小廚) has been around for many many years. I remember going with my family to its original Scarborough location at Midland and Finch when I was still in elementary school. To this day I still remember how we had to wait so long for a table! Fantasy Eatery was a very popular place back then because of the lack of competition for good and cheap Cantonese style food.


I haven't been to Fantasy Eatery in recent years, but an opportunity came up this summer when a friend from Calgary was visiting. Due to the mediocre-at-best Cantonese style food in Calgary, he really wanted to go for some delicious Cantonese food in Toronto, and that's when Fantasy Eatery came to my mind (another option was Big Mouth Kee). Essentially, I was looking for places that:

1) Provided decent portions, preferably not too big so can try more dishes;

2) Appropriately priced dishes (i.e. a good bang for the buck); and most importantly,

3) Served dishes with good "wok hay" (鑊氣). 

For those who don't know what "wok hay" means, here's a picture that may help:

"Wok hay", literally translated as "breath of the wok", is essentially that elusive flavor that comes from cooking on a properly hot, seasoned wok. This is a wok so hot that flames erupt from it the moment the first morsel is introduced to the steel.