live . love . indulge

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire

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Sushi Love

Sushi is one of those foods I cannot get sick of. If I can have sushi for the rest of my life and eat Sushi everyday, I think I'd die happy. Although all the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants here in Toronto are far beyond close into being authentic and lacking quality, this one that we went to for my birthday dinner was pretty good.

NineUp Sushi is located at Midland and Finch Avenues in Scarborough, and the sushi they served, well, got all devoured. It was alright, it wasn't amazing. It was good and I will definitely go back. I recommend trying the Nine Up Sushi Roll and also their spicy tuna roll, big huge chunks of tuna - yes. Here are more pics to drool about.

Bunch of random sushi, they were all good. That is all I can say, especially this one: 

Nine Up Sushi roll, with some spicy mayo shindig in top and some faux crab meat, I know. It was actually goooooood. And don't forget dessert! Banana Split with green tea ice cream, OH LAWD!

I can't wait to go back, that is all I can say. 

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A sandwich that is almost as good or even better than sex.

Yes, the title is not an exaggeration. You gotta try this one for sure. I've been going here for years ever since my dad had brought this home for me when he used to work downtown. Their veal sandwich is their most popular item and all I can say is, it is almost as good or even better than sex. The place is called California Sandwiches, a family-owned sandwich joint that serves these mouth watering sandwiches. They have multiple locations in Toronto and recently opened one in my 'hood', Scarborough ghettoland.

Here's Kimmie, enjoying her steak sandwich, and above was my eggplant one - I recommend ordering it with extra sauce! Each sandwich is just divine but not recommended for ones who are watching their calorie intake (like me, hahaha that is why I am only trying to have an indulging day once in every two weeks)! But if you just want to indulge, this hot, saucey, and messy - yet tasty sandwich is for you. For those of you downtown bitches, there is one located at Claremont at Dundas and Bathurst!

Cheers!

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Broke and Hungry?

This place is for you. All of these only for $10.72 with taxes. Don't believe me? Go to Ikea. The quality is not like 'omg amazeballs orgasmic' but hey, where can you go wrong with a 15 piece swedish meatball dinner with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce on the side, a drink, a side salad, two garlic toasts and a dessert? Girl, you're broke and hungry? Go to Ikea.

Cheers!

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I'm revamping this, I'll make it shorter this time. Can't wait to write more!

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Mediterranean Wedding Anniversary

My parents are old. Not old, meaning "its time for you to be put on a home" kind of old; but old, meaning they are pretty old. Being born during the baby boom times, yes that makes you old. However, it's actually not a bad thing at all. I think they look very fabulous for their age and can actually fool people in to thinking that they are ten years younger than how old they really are. It's amazing because it reminds myself that since my parents are this good looking at their age, I myself would be fabulous once I reach their age. (LMAO). Aside from my rant of them being old, the reason why I started off with that is because we just celebrated this past week their 31st wedding anniversary. I know, right? 31 years of loving and building a family to what I see now as....... an okay family. (LMAO). My sister and I decided that we should take them out for dinner and give them wonderful presents to show our love for them. Picking a restaurant for dinner however again became my task which ticked me a little bit because of my parent's taste. My parents grew up in the Philippines which is a third-world country. Growing up with a lot of deprivation and mild poverty made them have this mentality of making sure quantity is good (the more the better, it doesn't matter about the quality as long as there is a lot), thus why I think they have such a bad taste in restaurants. Ultimately, that meant that I had to pick a place that is all-you-can-eat or some kind of buffet restaurant. There is nothing wrong about buffet restaurants but the quality is always a bit shitty. This place that we went to however, was alright. The money that I paid for was worth it, I have no complaints. The restaurant was called Jerusalem Restaurant, A Mediterranean buffet and take out joint which is family-owned that has been open for many years long before my parents actually got married. The atmosphere of the restaurant, it's pretty obvious that the place is trying hard to be Mediterranean looking, it's kind of old and drabby but I was starving and half the time anyways, I really do not care about the decor as long as the food is decent. Is it authentic? You be the judge. Let me remind you that this joint is a buffet restaurant. Authenticity of the cuisine that is being offered in their endless selection of food is the last thing I think of especially if you are only going to pay $25 dollars for your meal.

We went on a Tuesday night. The selection of food was alright. The best part, was the salad and appetizer bar. I wish I took a lot of photos but I ended up taking a photo of my plate. There were endless selection of grilled vegetables, middle eastern and mediterranean style salads such as tabbouleh (my fave), couscous, endless hummus and fresh pita breads, random kinds of cheeses and fruits. If you're vegetarian, I think you would like this place. The salad bar alone, as you can see from my plate, already got me full. There were also plenty of meat selection including lamb (of course, mediterranean remember?), fish (a whole fried tilapia was one of the ones that made go, ooooh!), chicken and etc. I am kind of hesitant to give this place a really detailed review only because of the fact that its a buffet restaurant. We all know that restaurants with this kind of theme are all okay, not amazing, but just okay. So with that, I think I had an okay time. The fun part was, there was a belly dancer prancing around the restaurant. It was kind of awkward though however. It was a little bit poorly executed. I think they should just do live entertainments like that on weekends where there's a lot of people, not when the restaurant is half empty then you go dance around like an idiot while everyone just wants to eat. I still found it amusing and entertaining however, especially when the dancer pulled Kim and forced her to dance with her, which I thought was HILARIOUS. Kim was embarassed as hell for her ass but I give her koodos for being a sport. All in all, I had a great time. My parents who we all know are buffet restaurant lovers seemed like they enjoyed themselves and with that, I have no complaints. Would I go back here anytime soon? I don't know. Would I recommend it? Yes, only if you're really hungry, on a tight budget and on weekends where there's more food and people. On weekdays, only if you are willing to watch a belly dancer dance around an empty restaurant while you eat like what happened to me.

Jerusalem Restaurant has two locations, one is located (the one that I went to) at 4777 Leslie Street, one light north of Sheppard Avenue and another is located at 955 Eglinton Avenue West, a few blocks west of Bathurst. For more dining recommendations, just keep a look out as I have more reviews coming up in the near future. I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it! If you want to contact me, hit me up in twitter! Eat well lovers! Cheers! XO ZKP <3 

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Christmas Coma

My Christmas this year was a bit boring but I am not complaining as I got to spend it with people that I love. Christmas dinner was definitely the highlight of my holidays as I get to have some amazing food, although not traditional GARBAGEturkey, I might be the only person out there that despises turkey and the way it smells and tastes.

  My mother was obviously in charge of cooking and she prepared some amazing yet simple looking dishes such as the following you see in the photo above. She made Chicken Ala King, an amazing Beef Pot Roast that was on the slowcooker ALL DAY, a succulent Honey Ham, a bunch of other h'ordeurves (sp?) however the f--- you spell that word, F---!, APPETIZERS, lol such as samosas, a bunch of different cakes, salads, desserts and of course, the rice (since I am Filipino and that rice is a mandatory food item in any meal of the day). All I can say is, nothing can ever beat home made cooking especially if you know it was made with love by your own mother, not unless if you're mom is some lazy bitch that does not know how to cook for the life of her, oh wellz! After eating, I felt like I was in a coma and I fell asleep and next thing you know, it was Boxing Day and I worked. The end.

Tune in for more dining recommendations in the future and for more mouth-watering and tasty adventures!

Eat well lovers! Cheers! XO, ZKP <3

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Fatty Food Craving

Upon reading other food blogs such as this one, I learned about this restaurant that is conveniently located where Kimmie (my sister) works at. I was a bit excited to go and try their heavily noted and reviewed items as this restaurant that we visited has been receiving some rave reviews, and we're talking about HUGE reviews here. They were voted to have the best of the best this city has to offer by numerous of food blogs and even food critics. With those credentials, Kim and I were definitely excited to go here. 

Kimmie and I have been planning to go here for a while now but luckily, due to the fact that I still had some last minute Christmas shopping to do and that Kim is working today until 3:00pm, we decided to have our late lunch/dinner at this place.

The Stockyards Smokehouse and Larder, a small and tight little joint that has a menu that boasts a great selection of their spin on southern barbecue and southern comfort food classics that are not just delicious, but are also reasonably priced as well. If you're a kind of person that would just love to have some pure, down home, fatty food or if you would like to go to a memorable place on your "cheat day" on your diet, then this place is definitely for you. To those who have not visited this place before, I have a quick tip for you guys. If you're not comfortable sitting on a bar stool in front of a mirror while eating greasy fatty food and not comfortable seeing yourself devour a meal that contains a days worth of calories, then you might as well have it to-go or not have it all. But if you're like me that simply do not really give a damn where they it as long as you leave full and satisfied, then eat in the premises and go for a really hard work-out in the gym afterwards.

French fries are one of those foods that I am trying to avoid due to a diet that I am trying to stay on but if they are freshly cut fries, I'm sorry but I am really going to have some of them in a heartbeat. Kim decides to order the Barbecue Pulled Pork Sammie which was a terrific choice. There are only two word to describe this food. "Beyond Orgasmic." I was preventing myself not to scream or moan around other diners as this sandwich from the gods was definitely beyond orgasmic and just plain delicious. I wish there was a little bit more barbecue sauce though however, but it was that good. The pork was tender and flavourful and the fries were fresh off the fryer. The coleslaw on top of the sandwich, which I believe was home made, was also fantastic.

My craving however was different from Kim's. I was really excited to try this one as this menu item is one of the best rated and highly acclaimed dishes they have in the restaurant.  Their fried chicken dinner is so highly reviewed that it is also noted as the best in the whole city of Toronto according to critics at Blogto.com. This restaurant is has also been labelled as number one in other dishes as well such as their barbecue and their ribs. I've tasted the other entrants in the list of the best fried chicken in the city and I would have to agree to that particular list of that food blog. This is definitely the best that I've tried so far. The chicken was fresh out of the deep fryer, well-seasoned, juicy and definitely delicious, not dry and bland! It was perfect and cannot be compared to any others. For merely $14.95, the cast iron pan they used as a serving platter was liberally filled up with freshly cut french fries and four delicious pieces of fried chicken serviced with hot sauce and ketchup and their house made coleslaw. This is definitely something you have to try when coming here and in my opinion, should be a mandatory menu item to order because it is really too good to pass up. And just like the previous positive reviews this dish alone have received, I definitely agree with all of them. 

Based on what you just read, I'm guessing it is clearly evident that I really loved this place and that I would definitely go back here any day. But with the fact that I am trying to prevent myself from consuming too much fatty foods, I would come back here again once I get the craving again. I recommend all of you to visit this place, although it maybe a little bit of a trek to some of you to get to this area, it is definitely worth the travel. Next time I visit here, I'll try the ribs and their brisket sandwich, which I heard was also good.

The Stockyards Smokehouse and Larder is located at 669 St. Clair Avenue West, a few metres west of Christie Street and does not take reservations and has limited seats. For more dining recommendations tune in for more reviews coming in the near future. Hope you enjoyed reading it and give this place a try, it is definitely worth it! Until next time.

Eat well lovers! Cheers! XO, ZKP 

Rating: 5 stars.

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Confessions of a Foodie

Growing up as a child, I was always teased by others of being chubby and a bit overweight. Why? It's because I grew up eating the best of the best. Did I care what others thought? Absolutely not, even until now. Food is amazing. Having it is a combination of undeniable pleasure and is a necessity, just like what the quote above stated (which is so true). Nothing compares to it, so if you're anorexic, bullimic, or just does not want to eat, I am sorry honey. But you are truly missing out.

My mother, who is the youngest of eight was raised in a family that for some reason are all good cooks. Every single one of my aunts had a careers in the line of catering businesses, restaurants and eateries, and even dietetics (my mother). I never had one single bad meal served to me growing up and with that, I've became a tough critic.

I realized that food is not just another need in our lives obviously in order to keep ourselves alive and healthy, it has become one of the most important things in my life. Excuse me, before you judge, it is definitely not because I am such a fatty, but because of the joy I experience it with and how it brings me together with the people that I love the most. Food brings us all together, whether its my family, my friends, my co-workers. Every single meal has a memory to me and I thought to myself, why don't I start writing about them and how I love the food that we ate, and how much I love the time I spent with whomever I spent it with. With that, I created this.

I hope you all enjoy what I am about to share with you all, and if you don't like it? TOO BAD. GTFO. Merci.

Eat well lovers! Cheers! XO, ZKP