The McDonald's McRib Sandwich

I've never had a McDonald's McRib Sandwich before and wasn't planning on trying it either. According to McDonald's, it's a "legendary sandwich" that was first introduced in the 1980's and was last available in Canada as a limited-time offer in 2008. Well obviously I ended up trying the McRib anyway. Why? I guess the kind folks at McDonald's were impressed by my McDonald's DIY Quadruple Filet-O-Fish Sandwich + Bonus Burger blog post as they emailed me and asked me if I would be interested in trying the McDonald's McRib Sandwich with these "Be My Guest" cards. Ok sure then!


However, even before receiving these "Be My Guest" cards, I've heard from many that the McDonald's McRib Sandwich wasn't too great. Having said that, the general consensus was the same - "if it's free then why not?" Needless to say I did not have high hopes for this "legendary sandwich".


Too lazy to go out, I asked my boyfriend on Saturday if he could bring home a McDonald's McRib Sandwich for me. He brought back three; two for himself, one for me

As per McDonald's, the McDonald's McRib Sandwich consists of "marinated BBQ sauce topped with pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun". I got one small pickle O_o

My reaction to the McDonald's McRib Sandwich:

Let me put it plain and simple: the McDonalds McRib Sandwich is most probably the worse sandwich I've ever had at McDonald's. 

The boneless pork patty was horrendous! I know full well that it wasn't gonna be like Ribfest ribs or something and that it was processed meat, but honestly, it was the worst piece of processed meat I've ever had in my life. It was like chewing a piece of thick cardboard, not wood, but cardboard, or even laminate like the ones from Ikea. It had zero resemblance to a "rib" and had zero taste. The only taste from the whole sandwich came from the "tangy BBQ sauce" which the "rib" was practically swimming in. It was way too tangy.  It shouldn't be a surprise either when I say I couldn't taste the pickles (nor the onions really). The McDonald's McRib Sandwich was a basically a tangy sauce sandwich with tasteless meat. 

I had two bites and gave the rest of my McDonald's McRib Sandwich to my boyfriend. Even he, who is not picky with food at all, thought the McDonald's McRib Sandwich was disgusting (it was his first time having it too). I'm just thankful that we did not have pay for this terrible tasting thing.

Conclusion: There will be no "Tangy Temptation" from me, ever. 

Oh yeah, and I want to address the following. Many people say "What do you expect? It's McDonald's!" or even better is "What? You go to McDonald's?!" All I gotta say is this 1) I have a different set of expectations for different kinds of foods, 2) I can also like McDonald's and fine dining at the same time, and 3) I am flexible and I am not a food snob =D

A Chef's Tour of Little Italy [VLOG]

Several weeks ago, The Culinary Adventure Company (@culinaryadvco) invited both Nicki from View the Vibe (@ViewTheVibe) and I to their Little Italy Tour. This tour did not consist of menus nor wine lists; everything was planned and set up for us beforehand by Chef Scott Savoie, owner of The Culinary Adventure Company  We basically left our taste buds in the hands of some of Toronto's finest mixologist and chefs, and all we had to do was just show up! It was also exciting because we had no idea where we were going - each stop and venue was a mystery =)

Nicki's vlog below captures our whole adventure in Little Italy~ Hope you enjoy it (you better still read my post afterwards though =P)

By the way, thanks Nicki for putting my sticker from Stickeryou (@StickerYou) on your flipcam! 

Our first stop was at Toronto Temperance Society ("TTS"), a private, members-only drinking establishment. This venue was pretty cool because if you watch Nicki's vlog above, there is no sign whatever outside TTS; just a black door, that's it. Very hidden and secretive~

Food Network Canada's Casting Call!

Lorna, Casting Coordinator from Architect Films, emailed me last week and told me about a brand new game show that the Food Network Canada is coming out with~ They are looking for Toronto foodies, people who really love food, who are comfortable in front of the camera to be on a trivia-based game show! There's no cooking / judging involved - just questions, answers and $$$ awarded to the correct answers~ Loads of fun, right? ^_^

My fellow food lovers...if you have always dreamt of being on TV, this is your chance! =D

Casting Calls - Food Network Canada
Food Network Canada's Facebook Page
Email Lorna

Pangaea (Summerlicious)

Pangaea was my second and also my last Summerlicious dinner this year. I've been to Pangaea several years ago, both for their regular menu and Summerlicious, and I remember that both times my meals were fantastic. Although I don't recall exactly what I had back then, I remember I walked out happy and satisfied. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same this time around. 


I went with my boyfriend and two other couples and all of us came out really disappointed, except for one person. My friend Nancy, a fellow foodie, and I both had high hopes for Pangaea (Nancy also had great experiences at Pangaea before). We mutually decided on Pangaea for our group dinner that night. Let's just say that we felt bad we picked it  =( Nancy and I were both shocked at the food and the service throughout the night. My dinner at Pangaea was certainly polar opposite to the great meal I had at Luma the night before.


Our reservation was at 7:30pm last Wednesday. Almost all the tables were filled.

Some of the guys wanted beer. There was a beer Pangaea had on tap that the guys never had before, and our server was nice in that she gave them each a sample of that particular beer to try =)

The bread was probably the second best thing that night. It had a nice crust with a pillowy-y soft middle.

It came with regular butter and also beet butter, which I quite liked as it gave a hint of sweetness to the bread. A few others in the group liked it as well so we asked for more beet butter~

APPETIZERS

Lamb Sausages - Grilled, on pearl barley with Stilton, grape tomato and wilted mustard greens.

My boyfriend ordered this. I had one bite of it and wow, it had a really strong lamb flavour; it was very, very gamey. I would only recommend this to people who absolutely adore lamb and gamey because even for me it was still a bit too gamey....and I love lamb. And believe me, I can do gamey too.

Luma (Summerlicious)

I wasn't too keen on going to any Summerlicious dinners this year because I think I had more disappointing / mediocre dinners than good / memorable ones during the last several Winterlicious + Summerlicious. Also, when I go through the list of restaurants and their prix-fixe menus nowadays, nothing really jumps out at me like they used to (I know this is only natural as time goes by). However, every year, I still end up going, like some kinda ritual. The only difference is that the number of restaurants that I visit decrease as time goes by.


Luma was one of the two restaurants I went to this year for Summerlicious. I've never been to Luma before and initially thought it could be a potential Summerlicious pick. My choice was confirmed when I checked out their menu; a pretty decent 3-course dinner for $35. Not bad at all, considering a lot of high end restaurants these days are charging $45 for their 'licious menu.  


It was blazing hot during the day! Thankfully it cooled down a bit during the late afternoon so we asked for a table on their rooftop patio. 

Personally, one of my criteria for choosing a restaurant for 'licious is that their menu must offer a fish and a red meat as mains (because those are the two things I like the most). I do not care for chicken or vegetarian dishes! This is precisely why I like Luma's Summerlicious menu this year =D

Bread to start. 

APPETIZERS

Saigon Salad - Iceberg lettuce, braised pork, crispy noodles and chili dressing. 

My friends thought the dressing was nice as it wasn't too salty. The lettuce was crunchy and fresh. They said it was a nice refreshing salad. 

The Mott's Clamato Caesar Kit Giveaway Winner Is...

@mekewpieis 

Congratulations! =D Please email me at foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com with your shipping information. I will then forward your info to Mott's Clamato (they will be sending you the kit). Congrats again and I hope you will enjoy this awesome kit ^_^

I also want to say a big THANKS to the 35 contestants who participated in the contest! Many of you may not know this but this Mott's Clamato Caesar Kit Giveaway is actually my first ever giveaway / contest on my blog~ It is certainly not my last (there will be another one coming in a few weeks time, so look out for it =D).

Having said that, with more giveaway / contests coming up, I want to ensure my followers that I am 100% honest when I say the winner is picked RANDOMLY. To back that statement up, I want to quickly show you guys how I went about tracking this particular contest. Even though my contests in the future may not be exactly the same as this one, be rest assured that I will go through the same process and due diligence ^_^

After the contest was over, I copy and pasted the #foodieyucaesar Twitter stream onto a Word document. This was 10/19 pages shown as an example.

Using Excel, I entered all the the valid entries. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first ballot entered right after the contest went live and #138 was the last ballot entered right before the contest ended. The Entry ballot was given for each contestant that tweeted "I want to win the #foodieyucaesar kit! http://bit.ly/ohu7Qj" [entry rule]. Each subsequent tweet or retweet by that contestant (with the #foodieyucaesar hashtag) was given an additional ballot (people tweeting or retweeting tweets but did not submit an entry ballot was not entered into the contest). Once all 138 ballots were accounted for in my spreadsheet, I went to check if the 35 contestants actually followed me on Twitter [entry rule].

I used the "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to randomly pick a winner for me from 1 to 138.

And that was how I tracked and determined the winner for this giveaway. The End =)

Food Junkie Chronicle's 1-Year Anniversary Cake

So, why? Why did we not order dessert at The Big Ragu (see my dinner post here)? Especially when they have tiramisu (yum!), white chocolate mousse cake (yum x 2!), and chocolate cake with real Nutella cream (yum x 3!) on their dessert menu? Well, little did I know, my friend Tracy totally took me by surprise that night when she brought in a cake for me! A cake that she made for Food Junkie Chronicle's 1 Year Anniversary!!!


Tracy, an Apprentice Cake Decorator for Cakestar and also owner of Chibicakes, made me this beautiful pink cake~ It had a criss-cross pattern all around (which totally reminds me of Chanel bags lol) and was adorned with silver  and pink beads. On the top was me, with pink hair *of course* with one hand doing the peace sign (V^_^) sitting behind a few of my favourite foods including a burger, a piece of cake, and a pizza. How fitting! How cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute?! 

When I first saw the cake, I couldn't help smiling like a little girl (my friends can vouch for this). I just couldn't take my eyes of it! It was just too adorable and so...ME ^_*

A dilemma soon occurred when I realized it was time to eat the cake. I didn't want to eat it, nor anybody else to eat it for that matter. It was too beautiful! I secretly wanted to keep this forever in some vacuum and just look at it once in awhile. I really didn't want to make the first cut but I had to, it was my cake. Anyway, after taking a gazillion pictures of it I knew it had to be done. I didn't feel as bad about it after my first bite because it was DELICIOUS! It was a caramel rum cake;  it was soft, moist and just perfect because it wasn't too sweet and I could definitely taste rum *yum*

My arm with the peace sign was strong and prevailed the cut LOL

There's me lying down with my food heh~!

Showcasing some of Tracy's cakes. Aren't they incredible?!

Thank you, Tracy, for being so incredibly thoughtful and making me this cake for my blog's anniversary! I will never forget it ^_^ *xoxo*

Contact

Twitter: @chibikuma

Website: www.chibicakes.com

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traceofcakes/

For cake orders: traceofcakes@yahoo.ca

Summer Social Party: 100% Waterfront at il Fornello Queens Quay [VLOG]

I love the Harbourfront. I love the breeze. I love the water. I love patios. I love cocktails. And of course, I love food. 


I was invited to the 100% Waterfront party at il Fornello Queens Quay on Thursday, July 7th. 

PERFECT

With the red carpet rolled out and the white canopy at il Fornello, I felt like I was in Miami; not that  I have ever been to Miami but having watched CSI Miami it gave me some idea lol~ Food lovers and fashionistas mingled while sipping on Italian cocktails; some skipped the mingling and went right to Hooked Inc's oyster bar. Endless hor d'oeuvres were served to us~ With DJ Sokes providing beats, it was an awesome party!

After hor d'oeuvres on the patio, there was a whole buffet waiting for us inside. SO.MUCH.FOOD.


I've got to say though...I have never been impressed with the food at il Fornello before, but with new Executive Chef Ryan Kowalyk at this Queens Quay location, that night's food totally exceeded my expectations. My favs were the beef carpaccio with truffle mayonnaise on parsnip chip, fried zucchini flowers, and the grilled portobello mushrooms. 


Here's View the Vibe's Eye On The Vibe Blog capturing that night's...well...VIBE! =D Check out my little dance after having the fried zucchini flower ^_*

Andrew, a fellow foodie from www.dobbernationloves.com, also wrote a post on the party - check it out here.

Mott's Clamato Caesar Kit Giveaway - CLOSED

Mott's Clamato has kindly offered me a Mott's Clamato Caesar Kit in which I am able to giveaway to one of my lucky followers ^_*

A huge box full of everything that you will need to make your very own Caesar, including:


1 - 945 ml Mott's Clamato Cocktail
1 - 142 mL Worcestershire sauce
1 - 148 mL hot sauce
1 - 75g sea salt
1 - 75g seasoning salt
1 - 48g black peppercorn
1 - Recipe booklet
2 - Drinking glasses

HOW TO ENTER?


1) You must be following me on Twitter, @foodieyu; AND
2) Tweet the following "I want to win the #foodieyucaesar kit! http://bit.ly/ohu7Qj" (You can only tweet this once)

THIS EARNS YOU ONE BALLOT

3) To increase your chances of winning, you can include "#foodieyucaesar" in any tweet or retweet any tweet that you see with "#foodieyucaesar". Each tweet or retweet earns you ONE ballot and you can tweet and retweet as many times as you wish. You MUST have done 1) and 2) for any of your retweets to count. A random winner will be chosen.


WHEN DOES THE CONTEST END?
Thursday, July 21st at 12:00pm. I will announce who the winner is on Monday, July 25th.

GOOD LUCK! ^_^

The Big Ragu

The Big Ragu (@TheRealBigRagu) was introduced to me by my friend Tracy (@chibikuma). Tracy told me  that The Big Ragu is one of her favourite restaurants in Toronto, a family-run restaurant with an intimate and cozy atmosphere. She said it simply serves really good Italian food. Sure, I'll go, why the heck not? And to be honest, I was already sold after "one of her favourite restaurants in Toronto". So Tracy and I invited a few friends to come along with us for dinner at The Big Ragu on a weeknight after work.


The Big Ragu is located at the corner Lansdowne and St. Clair. The restaurant may not look like much on the outside but I love the inside. The restaurant really has the look of an Italian trattoria with its textured paint and the numerous photographs, paintings, and bottles of wines against the wall.

The owners of The Big Ragu, Barb & Carm Accogli, are friendly and welcoming. Barb (@CakeStarGirlz) is also the co-owner of CakeStar where she creates cakes that are unreal! Don't believe me? Check out some of CakeStar's masterpieces here.

A Very Bloody Caesar - Vodka, Clamato juice, celery salt, tobasco, horseradish & lemon juice.


Seeing all that horseradish makes me smile. I ♥ Caesars with horseradish - personally, I think horseradish should be mandatory in all Caesars =D