Grand Electric, A taco fiesta with a hipster twist.

My buddy David has been dying to check out this new place since it opened…reviews have been good and apparently line ups are pretty intense if you don’t arrive before 7pm, otherwise it can potentially be a very long 2hr waiting list.

Bff and I decided to meet up around 4ish to grab some Nadege and then make our way over to Grand Electric to grab seats. Just as we were beginning our journey it was side tracked via shitty TTC as one street cart broke down,  meaning we weren’t going to be able to ride the cart to where we needed to go. So we decided to walk as far as we could…our starting point was from Osgoode subway station to far Queen West.

With wind chills hitting our faces at -12, we never looked more Chinese in our lives, with our mouths cringing and eyes squinting at the bitter cold…the walk seemed pretty damn impossible, but my encouraging words (not really) gave Jackie hope and so our frozen toes trekked onward.

It was pretty hilarious, the adventure took forever, roughly every 5-7 minutes we couldn’t stand the cold and ran into whatever store was in sight…to absorb as much heat as we could and went back outside to continue. We did check out some stores we never been to before so the walk wasn’t too too bad, though when the street carts were finally running back up, temptation to catch the cart struck our cold brains pretty often.

We finally made it to Nadege, like 1.5 hours later…we grabbed a pepito croissant (delicious) and some mini madelines  and walked onward to find the next Starbucks to get a latte.

Finally, it was time to head out to the restaurant and yes we took the street cart our toes couldn’t take it anymore, we had enough…we saw the street cart and waved that driver down like it we were on the sinking Titanic and he was our savior.

The place is very small, I don’t think it can even hold any more than 30 patrons…it has a very thrown together design but it seemed to work, very hipstery but alas I am in their territory, at least me and Jackie mesh in with everyone else me thinks.

Luckily for us, we did get the last big table situated right by the window. It was a nice spot until people start opening doors…

While we were waiting for the boys to arrive, we ordered Guacamole & chips, delicious and simple a good app to start.

Dave ordered some beer and a weird egg white bourbon sour cocktail, it was really strong otherwise tasty.

Let us move onto the main event…tacos!!! Grand electric sells fancy tacos for a very reasonable and good price. $3.50 each or 3 for $10. We ordered 3 of each off the menu :)

Fish taco

Pork and pineapple

Beef cheek

Spicy chicken

I’m not going to review each taco on their own because well…they are all fantastic..!!! I have no complaints what so ever with any of the tacos, all the meats were nicely flavoured, juicy and tender. These 3-4 bite (for a girl) tacos are sooooo delicious, I will definitely return for just the tacos.

The tacos are a bit small, but it will add up if you have one of each 4 tacos can definitely fill my tummy and easy on my wallet.

Shrimp Tostada, a citrus and creamy the shrimp is raw-ish and fresh so it leaves you without a fishy aftertaste.

Tuna Cheviche a tuna tartar dish where the raw fish is soaked in a vinegary lime juice that cooks it slightly. While we were having those spicy chicken tacos, we cooled down our palettes with this refreshing dish.

Pozole Rojo $12
So far everything is fantastic, no complaints…except this dish. The soup was bland and had no interesting kick to it, kinda reminded me of a watered down korean kamjatang, which while I was having this soup…really made me craved for some pork bone soup. I would not order this dish again.

This little pie in a jar was the finisher to our meal, of course it was a lime themed dessert, very refreshing and sweet, we were way too full to have our own individual desserts and having one spoonful each was perfect.

The bill for the night was very reasonable, we had our fill and the staff were all very friendly. The food came quickly and music was all over the place but it suited the place anyway.

Oh a funny of the night, since we were right by the window, we were graced with watching the many patrons struggle and be baffled by the door entrance. The door is a PUSH in, but trickery lies in the design as it has a long vertical bar that people will naturally assume it would be a pull to open. So after a few frustrated pulls, people think the restaurant might even be closed…but eventually their brain starts working and they decide to try another option and push their way through. haha.

Anyways, I want to go back already…I really wish they had lunch hours :(

This is My Kind of Candy Store.

- Brie de Meaux, my absolute  favorite french brie cheese, it is one of the more stronger bries, so those who aren’t fond of stinky cheeses, I don’t recommend trying this  -

Every time I make the visit to my favorite place I get giddy and excited, I feel like a child in a candy store.

It’s been a while since I have gone to the Cheese Boutique near Bloor West Village, it’s a fantastic establishment and I tell anyone and everyone to check it out whenever they are in the neighbourhood.

It is seriously is my favorite market for cheese, they do not only sell cheese but have cured meats, a section for desserts (the one thing I did not photograph, surprising I know, I was distracted with cheese.) a whole section for pasta, deli section, and plethora of jarred goods…the shelves are stacked top to bottom with imported and local goods…everything is so vibrant and colorful you can’t help but feel you’ve stepped into something wonderful.

I wish I could show you the awesomeness of this place, but I don’t have a wide angle lens (yet)…I had to make due with my 50mm lens.

When you walk into Cheese Boutique you’ll see cured meats hanging from above…such a European feel.

Cheese Boutique also has a good selection of different pastas, they have dedicated quite a large section to pasta and for good reason…those who are on a restricted carb diet should be wary of this section.

I’m not going to lie, with their shelves so packed with no gaps anywhere, choosing can be kinda difficult…yes you are in the vinegar section but you have 30+ types of vinegar of all different brands and flavours. This pretty much applies for everything here…this can get really overwhelming, but it’s really fun checking out new brands you’ve never seen or heard of, those fond of design/packaging will enjoy this for sure.

Um…these bagels…are…HEAVENLY. I was extremely skeptical about trying them out…Scott’s sister told him to pick up a dozen bagels since we were there and to the touch they seemed super hard and dense, but when I took a bite out of one…this was it, this was the type of bagel that everyone should eat. Chewy, doughy but doesn’t stick to your teeth. I could eat them plain, they are that good. Please do yourself a favour and go eat one…you’ll thank me later.

Finally of course, I need to mention Cheese boutique‘s fantastic customer service, when you get to the cheese counter you’ll see a lot of workers ready to serve and help you out. Everyone is friendly and knowledgeable, thanks to them I’ve found so many delicious cheese that I love and crave. They also bring in specialty cheeses that are seasonal, and have their own store made cheeses made fresh, such as different types of Bocconcini. They don’t hesitate to let you sample cheeses that you are interested in. For me, this place is a once in a while visit because I kid you not, it can easily break the bank and I don’t hold back on buying good cheese. Go go go! Best place ever!

http://www.cheeseboutique.com/

Everything is Better Mini

I must have some sort of disorder…everything small or mini is automatically cute, I can’t decide whether it’s an innate feeling or a learned girly reaction, whatever it is I can’t resist it.

Oh the all mighty Starbucks, you’ve done it again. First the cupcakes, cute cake pops, and now this…mini cupcakes.

Of course this is nothing new, but it makes my heart ache seeing that my mini cupcake gets packaged in a mini cube.

This is the peanut butter chocolate mini cupcake, roughly 180 calories so the description says.

I think this would totally make an awesome gift to a co-worker (who you aren’t too familiar with) it’s small, cute and a nice gesture without spending a lot of mula.

The cupcake itself wasn’t bad at all, it was moist and not too sweet…I couldn’t taste the chocolate though, the peanut butter icing topping overpowered any chocolate flavour the cake had. But it does make a very nice pairing with my latte.