A Well of Inspiration: toronto

Rock Lobster

5:26 PM

Hello friends!

One of my resolutions for this year was to get to know my city a little better. Toronto has slowly but surely become a foodie paradise, with joints opening up everywhere. Rock Lobster would be one of them. It is the brain child of Chef Matt who started Rock Lobster at a pop up event in March 2012, and has now opened up three restaurants in three of Toronto's trendiest neighbourhoods.

My best friend Melanie (who by the way owns her very own travel blog and has been everywhere) and I decided it was about time we tried some of our own Rock Lobster.

We were in for a treat.

The decor in the restaurant is unlike any I have seen before, which only added to the "cool" feel of the place.

The menu was super easy to read and very well designed.

To add to its authenticity, trays of fresh crab legs, lobster tails and oysters greeted you at the bar, as you strolled on in from the outside.

These lights were super weird, definitely picture worthy.

That's Mel, patiently waiting for her meal.

This is what Rock Lobster is best known for, the Rock Lobster Caesar, consisting of Ketel One vodka, tabasco sauce, worcestshire sauce, steak spice and Clamato, garnished with a lobster tail. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of Ceasars, and only gave this a try (Mel and I shared it) because it was so raved about. Surprisingly though, I did enjoy it, but am glad that Mel and I ended up sharing it, as more than half a glass may have been too much for me. To each his own I say, so try it for yourself and see what you think.

The oysters however, we devoured, as they were fresh, zesty and went down oh sooo easy.

For the main, I had the fried clam roll with added lobster.

It was mouth wateringly delish. Adding the extra lobster was a wise decision, I think with only the fried clam it would have been a little to bland for me, but still delicious.

Even the fries were perfections, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just the way they should be.

Mel decided to go for the infamous lobster roll. A classic.

One of the best bits, of our experience anyways, was the super friendly folk dining around us, very eager for a chat. The couple who sat beside us were celebrating the gentleman's 50th birthday. His wife had bought him a red velvet cake. Being as nice as they were, they shared some pieces with eager eyed cake enthusiasts such as Mel and I. This piece of cake was probably the best red velvet cake I have ever tasted. Honestly. If only I knew where it was from.

Could not resist modelling the Rock Lobster Caesar, impressive not only in its taste but also its size. Look at how humongous it is!!

Do yourself a favour and go check out Rock Lobster, you will not regret it. We went to the Queen West location, but I am positive that any of the locations will be just as yummy.

Another gem, in this awesome city of mine.

Have you been to Rock Lobster yet? Whats your fav restaurant in Toronto currently?

Toronto Beer Festival 2014

8:13 PM

Hello Friends!

The folks behind the Toronto Beer Festival were kind enough to invite Clive and I back for a second year.

We were both so excited that it did not matter what previous plans we had made for that Friday, we cancelled them straight away and graciously accepted our invitations.

This year, marked the festival's 20th anniversary, and both the Friday and Saturday were sold out. Lucky for us, we had our spots reserved, pheww!

As we walked closer to the festival site, we had to trample over people waiting in a huge lineup that circled around the venue. It seemed this year, was the year to attend.

Once we gave our names to the ladies at the gate, they led us into the media area, where we enjoyed a couple of beverages. I enjoyed a yummy Somersby Cider.

By the way, those Neal Brothers chips were super delhi-licious, just like the bag says.

Once we settled down and devised our game plan for the evening, we left the media tent and put on our explorer hats. Or in my case my super pink explorer sunglasses.

We decided, since we already attended the beer fest last year, we would take a quick walk around and spot any differences. So our adventure began...

At one point I got lost in Angry Orchard(s), but don't fret I found my way out and regained my breath, chilling with my new ride.

One of the things I really wanted to focus on, other than the beer at the festival, was the food. I mean beer on its own is great, but a nice traditional pie really brings out the taste in any beer, or maybe the other way around?!

Either way, Clive and I, both being the British food enthusiast, were drawn in by The Pie Commission, and both chose the Braised Beef Rib Pie, made of "delicious chunks of slow braised beef, in homemade veal stock with sweet potato and mushrooms". It was DELICIOUS! I added some banana curry sauce to it, to give it that little bit of sweet kick. Clive opted for the Ghost Chili, which he described as a 'firm kick to the tastebuds', basically it was spicy!

Look at that happy face!

As the sun set, and our tummies filled, we decided to re-focus and quench our thirst with some alcoholic beverages. If you are curious how the sampling of the beer works, check out my previous blog on last year's beer fest here and here.

The major thing I noticed this year, was that there were a bunch more Cider stands than last year, which made me extremely excited, as you can see by my sexy face below.

The Crabbies Raspberry Ginger Beer was most definitely my favourite. So much so that I went back for a second round at the end of the night. If you like a sweet Cider, that pretty much taste like carbonated juice, this is the one for you, if you don't, I would stay faaaarrrrr away.

Clive, stuck to his IPAs, Lagers and sampled a few homemade beers from Waterloo.

This is me enjoying my Crabbies.

During the festival, I meandered over to the map of the venue and saw that Rock Lobster had a stand. After walking around for ages, we finally found the kiosk and I without hesitation, proceeded to have their lobster roll.

To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. I am going to attribute it to the fact that it was a tiny kiosk that was selling the rolls, and that I should most likely just go and check out the actual restaurant, to change my mind.

After more adventuring, we ended up back at the Angry Orchard, where I gave into the grimacing stares and tried a cider.

It was actually quite nice...and really not angry at all. Still no Crabbies, but I would say this Cider would appeal to the masses more than the Crabbies Raspberry drink, as it was not as sweet and did taste much more of apples.

All in all, we both had an excellent time at the festival this year. There were a lot more vendors this year than last year. Thank you again for the folks at Enterprise Canada for inviting us along once again. We both had a BLAST, and would go back next year.

Until then...