la bamboche patisserie

La Bamboche's website describes themselves as a place that offers Japanese and French fusion treats. I ventured out to their Avenue Rd. location (one of two) and found that the intricate presentation of their pastries couldn't make this statement more true. Everything was just so, well, pretty. But how did they taste?

* chocolate tart with chocolate truffles

This was an overall favourite. Filled with an airy chocolate mousse and topped with decadent truffles it was executed perfectly. I would go back just for this tart.

* blueberry mousse cake

This cake had a subtle berry flavour, was creamy and not overly sweet. A nice light treat, but not something I'd rush to get again.

* honey yuzu cake

Unfortunately this cake looked better than it tasted. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The flavours just didn't seem to fit together and the mousse layer, though citrusy enough, tasted a bit too eggy.

* spinach & cheese croissant

Flakey and buttery, this croissant was delicious. One of better ones in the city. I think it actually had two cheeses: one melted (gruyere perhaps?) on top and a cheesy bechamel that paired beautifully with the fresh spinach within.

* La Bamboche

4 Manor Rd. East

1712 Avenue Rd.

asian snack attack pt.2

Our Asian snack reviews continue with...part 2: the sweet

wei lin lychee gummies (Taiwan)

davis: they look like brains, but taste good

vern: these taste like actual lychee

meiji kinoko no yama kuchidoke (caramel covered mushroom biscuits) (Japan)

davis: shroom-tastic

vern: milky, crunchy...I love these

pucca creamy maple flavour (Japan)

davis: crunchy maple pancake

vern: bland pretzel shell filled with maple cream

morinaga cherry blossom chocolate sticks (Japan)

davis: tastes like mom's perfume

vern: these are ok...the cherry taste is very subtle

sakuma's moomin fruit candy (Japan)

davis: I just like the tin

vern: yup, tastes like fruity hard candy alright...ok, I bought these for the tin

tirol chocolate (4 flavours): hot cake, white cookie, chocolate almond & milk (Japan)

hot cake: like a white chocolate covered crispy, caramel-y pancake

white cookie: like and oreo, but better

chocolate almond: like an almond m&m

milk: a condensed milk filled chocolate

davis & vern: hot cake, hands down our fav!

asian snack attack pt.1

Oh Asian snacks! Your packaging is always so cute, your flavour combinations so tempting. We just couldn't resist reviewing some new-found Asian treats. Here's the first thing that came out of our mouths after sampling each snack.

Part 1: the savoury

rotong xtra cheezy cheez balls (Malaysia)

davis: they're not balls

vern: they're not cheesy

cheese corn rings (Japan)

davis: like funyuns, but funner

vern: kinda sweet, kinda cheesy, kinda addictive

calbee korean cuttlefish flavour wave cut chips (Japan)

davis: fishy ruffles

vern: tastes like old fish and bad aftertaste

jack'n jill roasted wings honey savoury flavour potato chips (China)

davis: they look really white
vern: all I taste is five-spice powder

glico comesco scallop rice crackers (Japan)

davis: fishy crisps
vern: like a shrimp-flavoured rice cracker

everyone says good good eat noodle snacks (Taiwan)

davis: I like them because of the bag
vern: tastes like instant ramen noodle seasoning

the sweet and salty cake

For Adam's birthday I made him my version of Baked's sweet and salty cake: a moist cake filled with salted caramel and topped with whipped caramel-chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. The original recipe calls for chocolate cake, but Adam requested vanilla. So I used their Whiteout cake as the base instead. Happy birthday Adam!

coconut lime crisps

I finally got to make these great cookies the other day and the recipe was pretty simple. I found this recipe at Plate Online which has a good list of recipes from different chefs. I think I wanted to make these cookies because they had the word "crisps" in them. They are crispy, chewy, citrusy and coconutty all in one.

le select bistro

The atmosphere at Le Select Bistro is perfect for a nice, casual meal so we took Adam—along with a few good friends—there for his belated birthday dinner. Their traditional French menu and bistro decor had us longing for Paris and when the food came out, it didn’t disappoint either.

* bone marrow

* french onion soup

* charcuterie platter

* escargot in puff pastry

* striped bass

* alberta leg of lamb

* black cod with mussels and alsatian choucroute

* cassoulet

* duck confit

* beef bourguignonne

* frites

* Le Select Bistro

432 Wellington St. W

new cookbooks

Getting new cookbooks is pretty exciting for a food geek like myself. Here are three that I picked up this week.

The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream recipe is my favourite one to use and as I plan on hauling out my ice cream maker soon, the first flavour on my list is his toasted almond and candied cherry ice cream. Put your flavour requests in to me now!

Takashi's Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi with Harris Salat

I bought this book because I'm planning to start ("start" because there are like a bazillion steps) Momofuku's ramen recipe this weekend and wanted a secondary source before I began my 24-hour broth-making marathon.

The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich

I needed some inspiration to get the inner-Mennonite in me motivated to do more pickling this summer. Alas, this book has no pictures...but there is a recipe for pickled pigs' ears!