MILDRED'S TEMPLE KITCHEN

I’ve been searching for a new breakfast/brunch type of restaurant for quite some time now as I’ve been getting sick of eating at breakfast chains all the time, so I was very excited to try out Mildred’s Temple Kitchen which seemed very promising. I first learned about this place through my Instagram community and just seeing some pictures of its dishes that some other people posted had me sold. As I’ve said before, I eat with my eyes first and if you’re able to present a visually pleasing dish to me I’ll be the first person at the door.

Mildred’s Temple Kitchen is located within Liberty Village in downtown Toronto. Lots of new condos, high end shops and restaurants are starting to be built here so I’m sure in around 5 to 10 years this area will be one of the hottest spots in the city.

I visited them for their brunch menu on the weekend which runs from 10am to 3pm. They do not accept reservations on the weekend for brunch which is probably their most busiest time of the week so it is a first come first serve basis. My friend and I arrived just before 1:30 at the restaurant and by the time we got there we were told it was going to be about an hour wait. I was determined to eat here since I didn’t drive all the way from Scarborough for nothing so I still provided them with my name and waited.

A tip for anyone who comes here by car is to get dropped off at the entrance to leave your name with the hostess before parking in the plaza. I say this because parking will cost you $2 for two hours at their parking lot. Not knowing that the wait time would be so long, I already paid the $2 for parking and because of the wait time for our table, 1 hour was already killed off before we even got the chance to sit down. I ended up paying for more time at the parking lot to compensate for the lost time we had waiting to get seated.

We finally got our table after about 75 minutes of waiting, shortly before the brunch service ended all together at 3pm. Unlike most new restaurants I go to where it takes a while for me to choose a dish, I came prepared and knew exactly what to order. I started off with a coffee and then ordered two of their most famous dishes.

The first brunch item off of their menu we got was the Veda’s Choice. It is their classic poached eggs on a flaky croissant with a choice of smoked salmon or rosemary bacon. It is then topped off with bearnaise sauce and served with a side of mixed greens. I chose the smoked salmon version to try. The mixed greens it came with was nothing out of the ordinary and more of an after thought compared to the main star of the dish. The croissant was extremely light and flaky which adds a nice texture to the two poached eggs sandwiched in between. The runny yolk came flowing through once you got your knife to cut it open and the already layered bearnaise sauce mixed together came drenching over the salmon and croissant. With all the pieces coming together the outcome was remarkable and it tasted heavenly. This is a beautifully crafted dish.

Poached Eggs, Salmon, Croissant, Mixed Greens, Bearnaise Sauce - Cost $14.50

The second dish and must have in my opinion at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen is probably their most famous dish of all which is called Mrs. Biederhof’s Legendary Light & Fluffy Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes. It is called legendary for a reason because it truly is. The term “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die” made popular by the movie Despicable Me has been re-created in the form of a pancake. Fresh blueberries are topped off on the oh so fluffy i’m gonna die pancakes served with Lanark County maple syrup and whipped cream. A funny story to this was a little boy who looked like he was about 5 stopped literally at our table out of nowhere and just stared at this pancake with his eyes and mouth wide open for about 5 seconds before his mom and a waitress came over to grab him. We all started laughing and it was the highlight of my day. I can’t say I could blame that little boy though. I mean just look at the pancakes, I think anyone could understand.

Blueberries, Pancakes, Maple Syrup, Whip Cream - Cost $14.00

The restaurant itself was very spacious inside and because of the large windows that outlines the back of this restaurant there is lots of natural sunlight that seeps in which I love. Although I didn’t sit close to the kitchen this time, this is also another restaurant that has an open concept kitchen for everyone to see. Service was top notch and our waitress was never shy from having a conversation with us. Out of the two dishesI got to try here, those pancakes would have to be my favourite. Was this restaurant worth the over one hour wait? Yes, it definitely was. My recommendation though, come to this place for brunch on the weekend only when you are not in a rush to go anywhere else after. If you like good food and you don’t mind a high chance of waiting for a table than you will not be disappointed here.

MILDRED’S TEMPLE KITCHEN

85 Hanna Avenue, Suite 104 Toronto, ON, M6K 3S3

(416) 588 5695

Hours:

Brunch: Monday - Friday: 11 am to 3 pm; Saturday & Sunday: 10 am to 3 pm

Bar (Snack Menu Available): Monday – Saturday 3 pm –to 5:30 pm

Dinner: Monday – Saturday: 5:30 pm to 10 pm

The Everyday Foodie Report Card

Atmosphere: 10/10

Service: 10/10

Food: 9.5/10

Presentation: 9/10

Value: 8.5/10

Overall: 94% Everyday Foodie Satisfaction

DON DON IZAKAYA

A few weeks ago I’ve had the opportunity to try out another Japanese Tapa style restaurant located about a 5 minute walk from Dundas Square in Toronto. It’s situated right beside Chatime which has blown up in this city over the past year or so. The more famous and well known Japanese Tapa style restaurant in Toronto is Guu (which I reviewed here) so naturally this was going to be a restaurant where in my mind I would be comparing it to the high standards that was already placed by its competitor.

Like most restaurants downtown, if you are not taking public transit you will have to find public parking nearby. My friend and I found a Green P underground parking lot with a $8 weekend flat rate after 6PM nearby on Victoria Street. The restaurant is located at the top of the building so there will be a flight of stairs you will have to climb before you reach it at the top. A reservation was made before hand but it didn’t seem like we needed it even though it was a Sunday night since there were quite a few empty tables throughout the restaurant.

For anyone who has read my review about Guu or been there themselves, you will know that when you first walk into the restaurant you are immediately greeted by loud cheers and applause by the staff and patrons. Much to the same effect, instead of loud cheers and applause here you are greeted with a bang of the drum (pictured below) when you walk towards your table. Something is also said in Japanese by the host when the drum is gonged but the level of enthusiasm I found was minimal. Unlike Guu where you could clearly see the staff having fun with the guests from the shouting and claps and enthusiasm, here it just seemed like it was more forced and less genuine. However, this could be the preferred method for many as well for anyone who finds Guu to be over the top and too loud for their liking.

We got seated at the table over looking the kitchen and was given their menu to look at. It is a BIG menu. There are many food and drink options to choose from and they also have a smaller menu for their specialty dishes of the day that are not on the fixed menu. It definitely can be a little over whelming looking at all the choices but what was helpful was their “popular items” and “recommended” stickers laid throughout the menu to point you in the right direction.

While walking up the stairs to the restaurant we saw their poster advertisement of their new arrival “Polar Beer.” A creamy smooth frozen foam made of beer is put over the Sapporo which apparently helps keep the beer cold for 20 minutes. It’s not something you find everywhere so we just had to try!

Sapporo topped with a beer flavoured frozen foam - Cost $7.95

The first tapa we got was the Tako Wasabi. It’s chopped up octopus with a wasabi flavour to it. With not having much experience with eating octopus I must say I did enjoy this dish quite a lot. It’s served cold and the octopus has a tough texture to it but it was refreshing to say the least. It sits in a cold liquid base and the wasabi flavour really shines through.

Octopus, Wasabi - Cost $4.20

One of their recommended tapas was their Stir Fried Seafood Noodle. On top of the noodles are the bonito flakes which is a staple in Japanese cuisine. Bonito flakes (a.k.a. Katsuobushi) are dried flakes of fermented and smoked skipjack tuna. They are kept as dry as possible to not loose any of their flavour and when it’s served on top of a hot steaming dish, it begins to absorb moisture quickly where it will then begin to curl and shrink giving an impression that it is moving on its own. The fish is not alive and completely dead so no need to worry about that. Besides the very cool food illusion of the bonito flakes, I found the noodles to be ordinary at best.

Seafood, Garlic, Bonito Flakes - Cost $8.90

My favourite tapa of the night came in the form of the DONDON Special Black Croquette. There is minced up shrimp inside their special outer shell of black breadcrumbs, which is then fried and served with ketchup. Although the look of it screams out that’s burned to a crisp, it really isn’t as it seems to have been the second food illusion of the night created by their black bread crumbs. The shrimp filling inside was warm and delicious and was easily my favourite dish that evening. It’s labelled as their popular item and I can see why. Comfort food at its best.

Bread crumbs, Shrimp, Ketchup - Cost $7.00

Some much needed meat was needed in our meal so we opted to get their 5 Skewers Combo which consisted of chicken, beef, pork with green onion, asparagus bacon, and king oyster mushroom bacon skewers. There were two sauces for us to choose from, salt and teriyaki and the one we went with was salt. The skewers were grilled right in front of our eyes. I found the chicken skewer the worst as it was completely dry. Albeit not as dry as the chicken, the beef and pork were not that much better. The meat did not have a lot of seasoning on them making them taste quite bland. The best skewers in my opinion were the ones with the vegetables wrapped in bacon.

Chicken, Beef, Pork with Green Onion, Asparagus Bacon, and King Oyster Mushroom Bacon - Cost $8.00

We ordered one of the tapas off of the Chef’s Special menu. Unfortunately the name of this dish slips my mind and I forgot to copy it down but if I had to name it something it would be “One of the most unappetizing and unpleasant dishes I’ve ever had in my life.” The tapa is basically grilled squid and it became one of the worst things I had ever eaten, and I’ve tasted a lot! I don’t think there was any seasoning on this so it was left completely tasteless and dry. The texture was incredibly tough and chewy to the point you would need a good 15 seconds to get it down. With the combination of the above it is a dish surely to avoid.

Chef’s Special: Grilled Squid - Cost $4.80

The last tapa we got was their Ginger Fried Chicken, another popular item off the menu. At Guu we had their dish called the karrage which is almost the identical version of this so I knew going into it what to expect. This is another dish that under delivered. Calling it fried was an understatement as the chicken was very damp and soggy. The crisp and crunchy skin was not to be found and the store bought mayonnaise left much to be desired in a dipping sauce.

White Chicken, Garlic, Ginger, Mayonnaise - Cost $8.00

I knew that going to a restaurant like Don Don Izakaya would have me compare it to one of the best Japanese Tapa style restaurants in the city since they operate in such a similar fashion and serve the same type of food. Out of the 6 dishes we ordered I really only enjoyed two of them. Some of them were just mediocre at best and there is that one dish I wish to completely erase from my memory. I also wished that they put in a little bit more time and effort into their sauces and not just rely on store bought condiments. We’re not just eating some McDonald french fries here but some high end Japanese tapas.

In almost every aspect Guu is the clear winner for a Japanese tapa dining experience in Toronto. Both restaurants are similarly priced so if you just want to try a new Japanese tapa restaurant, Don Don Izakaya may be the place to go. After you have already gone once though, I’d say after that just stick to Guu.

DON DON IZAKAYA

130 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, M7A 2C7

(416) 492 - 5292

Hours:

Monday to Thursday (11:30am to 12:00am)

Friday (11:30am to 1:00am)

Saturday (5:00pm to 1:00am)

Sunday (5:00pm to 12:00am)

The Everyday Foodie Report Card

Atmosphere: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Food: 5.5/10

Presentation: 6/10

Value: 7/10

Overall: 69% Everyday Foodie Satisfaction