Opinion
10 Toronto Restaurants and Dishes Recommended by Hioe 2.0s
By Pierre Monké at 7:12 pm on Thursday, July 15, 2010 // 3 Comments
Guest blog post by Mickey Hioe
Kids love McDonald’s and pizza, but those are not the only foods they are willing to devour. We like to encourage our children to try something different and introduce them to the richness of our Torontonian (and GTA) multicultural cuisines. Below are 10 awesome restaurants/foods (in no particular order) recommended by my sons Kevin and Nick, 9 and 6 years old, respectively.
1. Kenzo Ramen – 6180 Yonge St.
Kenzo Ramen (Yonge & Steele) has very good ramen. According to Kevin and Nick, the portions are humongous (Kevin can eat more than I do), and SPICY!
2. Naan and Butter Chicken
We cook butter chicken using pre-made sauce bought from grocery stores. I forgot the brand, but it comes in a thin box. Combine chicken with potato and carrot. Mix with the sauce and cook until the chicken is fully cooked. Voila! Naan bread can be bought from Costco. I know, it’s not as good as the authentic one, but they like it and its super fast.
3. Chili Chicken
The best chili chicken you can get is not far from our own kitchen. They love home-made chili chicken (originally made by their dad but perfected by their grandma). Chicken, lots of PD chili, ginger, and coriander. Hot and yummy! Otherwise, the one from Chung Moi Chinese Hakka Restaurant (Eglinton – Kennedy, Scarberia) is pretty good too.
4. Grandma’s Sambal Goreng with Nasi Kuning
Their grandma’s specialty. Sambal goreng is a type of dishes in which potato & shrimp stewed in an aromatic, spicy, coconut-based sauce. Nasi Kuning a.k.a yellow rice is an Indonesian rice dish, cooked with coconut milk, turmeric and spices.
5. Hand Pulled Noodle – Pacific Mall, 4300 Steeles Ave E
****Pork alert***** A popular northern Chinese cuisine from Sun’s Kitchen (Pacific Mall, 2nd floor in the food court area). The one with dried minced pork and cucumber is the best. [Khalid says: Thanks Mickey for the pork Alert! ]
6. Jim Chai Kee Noodles – 270 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill
Another noodle, surprise? Noodle is very similar to spaghetti, and kids love spaghetti. You will wonder where Marco got his recipe.;) Jim Chai Kee Noodles located in West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill. The menu is very simple since they only serve noodles. Their shrimp wanton is HUGE, imagine ping pong ball and you get 4 in a bowl!
7. Cheese Cake Factory, 1 Walden Galleria # Th170, Cheektowaga, NY
Okay, not even near Toronto, but a must have on the list. Cheese Cake Factory is one of their favourite restaurants. Their cheesecake is great and the atmosphere is very family-friendly. The food is great and the portion is super huge; you can feed a family of four with one plate.They will give you a pager, since the line-ups are rather lengthy.
8. Mom’s Steamed Fish with Ginger
Another family cuisine: My wife uses fresh rainbow trout, marinated in ginger, garlic, lemon and soy sauce and steamed for 15 minutes. Who says healthy food cannot be delicious?
9. Nino Diversa 3120 Rutherford Road, just across Vaughan Mills.
Okay, another out of towner spot but my kids insisted I add this to our list. They love Nino’s gelato, panini, and oven baked thin crust pizza.
(Lannie says: That didn’t sound right.)
10. Daddy’s Scrambled Eggs
Sometimes, I make scramble eggs for breakfast. Eggs, milk, parsley, pepper, a little bit of cayenne pepper, a pinch of Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning and olive oil. Kids love it, and easy brownie points with the wife. Have fun with your eggs, you don’t need my recipe to get the brownie point effect with your significant other.
(Pierre says: That didn’t sound right, either.)
