Tea: Kusmi Almond

The last time Connie and I were in Banff we stopped in at our favorite tea shop and picked up a few favorites plus a few new things  One of the things that she tried was Kusmi Almond Tea, and I loved the scent too – so recently she brought it by for me to try.

While I loved the tea in the store, I found the scent this time around a bit strange, almost too strong of an almond scent – as though it were a bit chemical.  This might be that it was a fresh container (versus the container in the shop) or just my mood on the two different days.  There is a very strong almond scent, and a slight bitterness with the green tea.

When I steeped it up, the scent remained, though the green tea scent was more predominant, and the almond scent was significantly less.

In taste, I found this tea a bit too bitter for me, so I added sweetener, and yes, skim milk (I know the purists will clutch their pearls at adding milk to green tea – but it improved it for me!) The green tea flavour definitely took over the tea, and the almond flavour wasn’t hardly noticeable at all to me.  (Perhaps because I am so sensitive to the taste of the green tea…?)

Overall, like the Kusmi Violet tea that I tried, (which I’ll blog about later!) I found that there wasn’t enough of the flavour in the tea – that the addition seemed mostly scent rather than taste.

Have you tried the Kusmi Almond tea?  What did you think?  Let us know in the comments below!  Are there other Kusmi teas that you prefer?

Tea. Photo by Modomatic

 

David’s Tea summer collection contest

The wall of tea behind the counter at Edmonton’s David’s Tea location

Did you hear, David’s Tea is having a summer collection contest, where you can win their Summer Collection along with an 18oz Steeper.

I haven’t tried the Steeper yet, but it looks a lot like Teaopia’s Perfect Tea Maker - though 18 oz is similar in size to what I already have – one large mug or two small ones.  (Pst.. Canadian companies, please put your units of measurement in mL!)

The summer collection includes Mint Julep, Mango Fruit Punch, Coconut Grove, Pink Passionfruit, and Tropicalia… I haven’t tried ANY of the new summer teas yet (ah, alas, I haven’t been to their SouthCentre location in a while – thank goodness a new Chinook Centre location is coming soon!) but I think that Mint Julep (a black tea with mint, pineapple and citrus) sounds amazing! The piña colada inspired Tropicalia sounds great too, and I think I’ll also be looking top ick up Mango Fruit Punch with pineapple, mango, and tangerine!

All you have to do is “like” David’s Tea on Facebook for your chance to win! Enter here: http://t.co/k0mN9B7hxN  If you win – promise to invite me over to sample some of your new delicious teas!

Did you say Chinook Centre location?

Yep! I was down at Chinook a few days ago, and saw that right near the Food Court, a David’s Tea will be opening soon. I took a super-fast photo with my iPhone, but it will be great to have one so much closer than SouthCentre or Market Mall!

David’s Tea will be opening soon in Chinook.

 

La Merceria

Another place Connie and I visited while in Toronto in February was La Merceria. It was Sunday, and we were flying home that evening, so we were wandering down around Queen Street, suitcases in tow. Since our hotel didn’t have a restaurant or cafe, we were on the lookout. A sign on the main street directed us a street up, where there was a vintage-feel diner, and beside it, a cute little cafe.  The cafe looked incredibly small when we first popped in – with only three tables visible.  Since we had our luggage, we picked the closest one that had a small amount of room out of the way from regular foot traffic, and parked our bags.

Cafe and shop in Toronto

I headed up to the counter first and picked out a tasty Argentinean-style ham and cheese sandwich-like-thing (I forget the name of it) along with a bottled water, and also got a cup of the lemon water on the counter.  When my order was placed, I sat down so Connie could place her order.  Our dishes both came with a little dish of olives (yum!) and I thought mine was delicious!  (Sorry, we were so famished that I didn’t get a photo!)

Cafe and shop in Toronto

When I went to use the restroom though, I discovered how deep the shop was – and that there are little pods of seating throughout the back as well – although it looks very small from the front- there is actually a nice amount of seating scattered throughout the space. This strikes me as a great place to come with a small group – since the little scattered pods allow you to sit with a small group, without bumping elbows with other patrons there too.

The shop also had a delicious array of home ware and bath ware which was tempting… if we didn’t have to think of how to pack things for our flight home!  (Especially those adorable mugs with squirrel’s tails!) The decor is beautiful, clean, kitchy, inspiring, and quirky.  Think Etsy meets Pintrest meets an Apple store. We also were amused to hear Spanish, French, and English during our short visit in this tiny shop. A Toronto Blogger wanted to keep this place a secret – but photos show how much the interior has changed since he or she posted to when we visited.

So, Calgary readers – have you found a place like this in Calgary? Let us know about it in the comments below! (Oh, and if you know the name of the Argentinean sandwich thing!)

La Merceria
506 Adelaide St W
Toronto, ON
(416) 848-0057

 

Sushi: Kuni Sushi Ya Toronto

While in Toronto in February, our hotel front desk clerk suggested “Sushi Hiro” and described the location on Baldwin Street now occupied by Kuni Sushi Ya, which I can only imagine was confusion his part. Still, we were pretty happy with Kuni Sushi Ya, and I took a few photos to share with other sushi lovers!

(Yes, this is another scheduled post… I have so many things to write about and so many great places and things to share!)

Interior of Kuni Sushi Ya (iPhone photo)

The outside is fairly easy to miss, but the interior is spacious and well-decorated, with discreet lighting that changes colour (which is kind of interesting, and kind of funny.. it means each of my photos might have a certain different light cast upon them. While we were there the roads were still very bad due to snow, so the restaurant was largely empty, though a few other customers came in while we were there. There was very little staff as well, but they were prompt and attentive.

gyoza (iPhone Photo)

We went for the All You Can Eat (AYCE) sushi, and decided to split a few rolls so we could try a little more. We started out with an order of gyoza that came with sauce already drizzled over it.  They were a little over cooked, but alright.  I wouldn’t order them again – not that I imagine I’ll be in Toronto looking for sushi anytime soon again!

A selection of choices (iPhone Photo)

We shared a mushroom roll – we had tried this ages ago at a place in Calgary and really liked it – but I found this a little tough and chewy. I think that I like the flavour more than the texture – though the mushroom might be really nice with something else (if a little more tender).

We also shared a Fuji Mountain roll – this is a spicy tuna and tempura bits roll with white tuna on top. The spicy tuna was fantastic, but I really didn’t like the white tuna at all.

Also pictured above is the sashimi we ordered – one piece each of tuna and salmon, and Connie ordered two pieces of mackerel as well. The salmon was good, but we both agreed that we really didn’t like the white tuna at all. I had this earlier at Gallery Sushi (see previous post) and didn’t actually know what it was – but it was strange and we weren’t too fond of it.

Pretty roll (iPhone Photo)

Finally, from our AYCE sushi roll selections, we had a Shichimi Maki roll – this was spicy tuna, avocado, tempura bits, wasabi tobiko, and spicy sauce. I don’t really love the tempura bits, and thought this could have had much more tobiko in it, but it was certainly pretty and tasty!

Ice cream for dessert (iPhone Photo)

Our AYCE meal also came with ice cream – I chose ginger while Connie had mango and green tea. It was lovely, with little chunks of real ginger, but I really like an AYCE menu that includes dessert!

Kuni Sushi Ya menu (iPhone photo)

I also took a few photos of the menu. The regular menu is above showing the regular (not the AYCE) prices.

Kuni Sushi Ya menu (iPhone photo)

Many selections on the All You Can Eat menu above and below. (Aka the Buffet Menu)

My experience here was wonderful, apart from one small issue – the washrooms are in the basement (accessible only through a narrow stairwell – not suitable for anyone with issues with stairs) and it was FREEZING. I couldn’t believe how cold it was down there!

Kuni Sushi Ya menu (iPhone photo)

Kuni Sushi Ya
(416) 260-3188
20 Baldwin St
Toronto, ON

 

Sushi: Gallery Sushi in Toronto

In February, I headed to Toronto (for a concert by Battle Metal band Turisas from Finland!) and after getting off my airport shuttle and heading to the hotel, I popped into a little sushi place for a late lunch.

Gallery Sushi was empty when I went in, and although that might otherwise discourage me, it was during a crazy snow day, and the streets were far less busy than normal, so an empty resturaunt wasn’t a worry.

Although the sign outside said that the All You Can Eat (for 18$) started at 4pm, I wasn’t offered an AYCE menu – but decided rather than asking about it, I really wanted a bento box instead.

Bento Box from Gallery Sushi in Toronto (iPhone photo)

I really loved the sushi and sashimi bento box that I ordered.  Along with tea, the bento came to just over $15.00, and included a salad, miso soup, fantastic noodles, rice, a california roll, four pieces of nigiri sushi and eight pieces of sashimi. I didn’t like the white tuna much, but the rest was quite good, and the noodles were excellent – I’d really like to try them again!  (A glassy kind of noodle with slivers of green and red pepper.)

If only I knew what those noodles were called!  If you know, let me know in the comments below, so I can order them again!

Gallery Sushi
275 Dundas W, Toronto, ON
Phone:(416) 597-2580

 

Dining at The Hub

First off, I won’t REALLY be reviewing (as in saying it’s good or bad…) The Hub, because I have a personal connection to someone who works there, and it would be totally biased, however I thought I’d still include a quick photo and some information about The Hub.

The Hub is the pub and restaurant in Mount Royal University.  The menu is intended to be student-friendly, and I selected the Smoked Salmon Salad.

Salad from The Hub

I usually think of smoked salmon as being raw-ish (like the smoked salmon I have when enjoying sushi!)… this is definitely cooked.

The Hub
4825 Mount Royal Gate SW
Calgary, AB   T3E 6K6
403-440-6403

 

 

Sushi: Ichiban

So here’s a case of the scheduled posts!  I had a number of posts queued up, and didn’t want to inundate the readers of Happy Sushi Belly with too many posts at once (let alone my poor Twitter followers!) so I actually wrote this long before it was posted… still, it seems like it was ages ago that Connie and I went to Sushi Ichiban on MacLeod Trail for sushi…  For those of you who read Happy Sushi Belly for the Sushi – I hope you haven’t minded all of my tea posts!  Here’s some sushi for you!

All you can eat from Sushi Ichiban

We had wanted a sushi fix, but were in the mood for something other than our long-standing favourite places, and didn’t want to drive TOO far to get to some of the places we’ve been meaning to try (or rare visits we’d like to return to).  So, we headed to Sushi Ichiban on MacLeod Trail. Unlike their Westbrook location, the MacLeod Trail location offers All You Can Eat (AYCE) which was great because we were hungry! 

All you can eat from Sushi Ichiban

We started off with an order of Agadashi Tofu, and Connie had a shrimp tempura while I had a yam.  The tempura was fine – and I really appreciated that they brought us each our own dipping bowl instead of making us share one.  It makes double-dipping more friendly that way. I found the tempura a bit oily – but I usually do, which is why I usually only have a few pieces these days.  The Agadashi Toful seemed to be lacking a bit of flavour though – I think because the first place I tried it was MomoYama, I’ve just come to expect it to taste a certain way…

Sushi Ichiban

The decor in Sushi Ichiban is pretty nice – there are a LOT of small ‘rooms’ for groups of people, and then regular booths in the middle.  I’ve been here once before with a group, and it really does make for a fantastic group experience, being in the private booth. Near the end of our meal, a very noisy group of people were seated behind us – and although I don’t deny them their joyful conversations, I got to learn a LOT more about one of the members of the group than I would want to know about a stranger… so this was a bit of a downside to how busy and active the restaurant is. 

All you can eat from Sushi Ichiban

 While I ordered my favorites; Ikura and chopped scallop, Connie ordered an assortment.  I really liked the Ikura, however they mix their chopped scallop with chopped crab meat as well, and I didn’t like it nearly as much. 

All you can eat from Sushi Ichiban

Connie had a cone, while we also shared a roll.

All you can eat from Sushi Ichiban

Of course.. since it was All You Can Eat, we also had a second order of sushi – Tuna for both of us, more of my favorites for me, and Connie’s favorites for her to end off the night.

All you can eat from Sushi Ichiban

The bill – since we didn’t have anything other than water to drink, it was just over $50.00 for the two of us.

Sushi Ichiban
4014 Macleod Trail S
Calgary, AB
(403) 243-1000