Santouka Ramen

Price: 2/5

Taste: 3/5

Authenticity: 2.5/5 

Atmosphere: 4/5 

Service: 4/5 

Santouka Ramen, another famous ramen place located in the heart of Toronto. It's a small but cute restaurant and when we went at 5:00 pm, it was starting to get busy already! 

One thing that I really admire about this restaurant is the fact that they understand women's frustration when it comes to their purses. When it comes to cramped spaces in restaurants and chairs with huge holes at the back, girls ultimately turn to holding their purses in their lap and reaching OVER them in order to eat their food. Santouka provides a simple solution to the predicted eating discomforts by offering a basket to put our bags in which then is placed either beside or underneath our table. It is a very simple but greatly appreciated solution! 

This is what I ordered: 

Shio Ramen

• menu description: mild and creamy soup seasoned with salt topped with a Japanese pickled plum 
• thoughts: 
• Their ramen noodles are chewier than other ramen places I've tried and I personally like the extra chewiness that comes with it. 
• Their soup was nice and cream, but there was nothing special about it; I've had better soup bases at other ramen places like Kinton Ramen or Sansotei Ramen
• There was less toppings (like beef for example) than I expected and I personally wanted more of that
• the size is SMALLER than expected and simply one bowl of ramen would not be enough for the average person 
• luckily, they offer larger sizes for the ramen AND combos that come with rice, salad and other components (but of course all of that comes with money) 

Overall, I don't think this is the best ramen place that downtown has to offer. For the price that you're paying, I would expect more in that bowl that would fill me up. I definitely LOVE the noodles here because of its chewiness but other than that, I would prefer other places. 

Prairie Girl Bakery

Price: 3/5

Taste: 4.5/5

Authenticity: 3.5/5

Atmosphere: 3.5/5

Service: 4.5/5

I decided to try a Prairie Girl Bakery after seeing many pictures of their cute cupcakes on my Instagram feed. 

When I walked in, I was amazed by their cupcakes display because they were on placed on sliding drawers for easy access and organization! 

You can order either regular sized cupcakes or mini cupcakes. I recommend ordering the mini cupcakes because the regular cupcakes are MASSIVE and I personally would be overwhelmed by the sugar by the time I get to the last bite. 

The prices are the following: 

Regular Size: 

• $2.95/each
• $16.95/half a dozen
• $31.95/dozen 

Mini Size:

• $1.75/each
•  $9.95/half a dozen
• $18.95/dozen

Here are the flavours that are available and the ones I ordered were: 

(to make things simple, all the cake bases were nice, fluffy, light, and none of them were overpowering the flavour of the icing)

1) Vanilla Vanilla

• The icing was DELICIOUS! It wasn't super heavy and had a nice vanilla bean flavour that stood out

2) Carrot Cream Cheese

• This was my favourite flavour out of the bunch. I'm a huge fan of carrot cake and I loved how they had small pieces of carrot still in the cupcake. Because the icing is cream cheese, it is a bit heavier but nevertheless, still yummy! 

3) Banana Peanut Butter

• This was also yummy but it was more on the sweeter side due to the peanut butter icing but the banana flavour in the cupcake easily stood out of the peanut butter icing. 

4) Red Velvet Cream Cheese 

• The classic Red Velvet. I think the difference between the one made here and other red velvets was the fact that their cream cheese icing was LIGHTER than other bakeries so I enjoyed it more. 

5) Flavour of the Week: Maple

• The maple flavour was a bit too strong for my liking to be honest. 

6) Flavour of the Week: Blueberry 

• I loved how the blueberry flavour was prominent and not lost in the cupcake. Much appreciated! 

Overall, these cupcakes are TO DIE FOR and now I understand why there's such a huge hype around this bakery! Definitely check this bakery out because though these cupcakes are a sinful dessert, they are worth the extra push you will be needing  at the gym the next day. 

Yoko Japanese Restaurant

Price: 3/5
Taste: 4.5/5 (for their sushi at least)
Authenticity: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Service: 4.5/5

This is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE Japanese restaurant (so far) in Toronto. When I say Japanese Restaurant, I'm talking about those restaurants that serve typical dishes like generic bento boxes, sashimi boats, spider rolls etc etc. For example, restaurants that I'd compare Yoko with would be Gal's Sushi or Hana-Bi Sushi (I mentioned this in an earlier post), NOT restaurants that are unique/fusion like Guu.

Why do I like it so much?
Simply because of their fresh fish and their ROLLS!!! Their spider maki rolls, spicy salmon and green/black/red dragon rolls are the best sushi rolls I've had in Toronto. 

Spider Maki

Let's take this Spider Maki for example. It's so delicious and MEMORABLE because:

1. The amount of rice:
• They give you less rice around the roll and more stuffing inside so the yummyness inside is what fills you up, not the unnecessary extra rice. 
2. The stuffing itself:
• For example, in this spider maki, the main ingredient that you taste is their crispy (and juicy) fried soft shell crab. They give you such a large portion of it. Also, I'm a HUGE fan of yam and in their spider maki, they have a nice piece of fried yam inside which pairs well with the soft shell crab. 
3. The size: 
• each piece of the roll is so large that stuffing the whole roll in your mouth is a challenge (but it is do-able if you want to look like a chipmunk) 
4. Their Special Sauce 
• Though you can't see it in the spider maki, if you ever order their Spicy Salmon, they serve it with a special restaurant sauce that is both spicy and sweet. 

Love Boat A Combo

Here is a picture of one of their Sushi Boat combos and they are delicious! You can taste the freshness of the fish and again, they limit the amount of rice for each sushi in order for the customers to enjoy the flavours of the raw fish more.

If you don't feel like eating raw fish or rolls that day, they also offer traditional Korean Dishes like Bibimbap (and others that I don't remember) and the sides dishes (edaname, sweet potato, bean sprouts etc) that come with that are delicious too!

They have great service. Each table is equipped with a bell so calling for waiters/waitresses couldn't be easier. They greet you happily when you come in and when you leave and in my past experiences, they have NEVER messed up an order or given you the wrong dishes.

Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant for their rolls. Though it may seem quiet and deserted sometimes, don't be afraid to go in! You HAVE to try this place out :)