Archive | July 2012

Mambo Lounge Summerlicious Menu – July 14, 2012

Jul18

So, my hubby and I chose to try out Mambo Lounge, for Summerlicious. The menu looked pretty good, and we had never had Cuban food before. It was a quaint little restuarant, near the beginning of Greektown, on the Danforth.

WOW was it ever hot that night though!! They didn’t have their A/C on, for whatever reason, so I asked to be moved to the patio – in hopes of a little relief. Unfortunately there wasn’t much relief outside, though the minty fresh mojitos we ordered helped a little!! 🙂

I ordered the Ensalada de Chef, consisting of  baby spinach with pears, walnuts, roasted red peppers, and blue cheese, dressed with lemon vinaigrette. My hubby ordered the Tropical Salad, consisting of seasonal mixed greens, tomato, avocado, and fresh mango tossed in a sweet mango-balsamic dressing. Both were tasty, and a good way to begin our evening. I love, love, love blue cheese so it really hit the spot 🙂

For our main course we both chose the Mero Antártico, consisting of filet of sea bass served with coconut rice and salsa tropical with vegetables. Though, there was nothing ‘tropical’ on our plates when they came, so I assume the they ran out of the salsa or just never made it for that evening. The sea bass was perfectly fried though, with a nice crispy skin underneath…omnomnom!! Also, the vegetables were sauteed nicely, and the coconut rice was nummy.

For dessert I chose the Torta de Chocolate, which was a chocolate mousse cake. My hubby chose the Flan de Coco, which was a Cuban crème caramel with coconut. The mousse cake was nice and light, with lots of chocolately goodness, and my hubby’s flan wasn’t too sweet and creamy.

Other then the crazy heat that night, it was a pretty nice dinner out with my hubby. Not sure I’d go there and pay full price though, but that’s just me. To be honest, I’m all about the hole in the walls and little Bob’s shack types of places, with simple yummy food at decent prices…

Bon Appetit Everyone 🙂

Hot House Cafe Summerlicious Menu – July 9, 2012

Jul12

My BFF and I went to Hot House Cafe, to try out their $15 pre-fixed, Summerlicious lunch menu. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to eat outside, on the patio under the shade of a big umbrella 🙂

We decided to start with the Louisiana Crab Cake with Chili Lime Aioli. The crab cake itself, was fried to a crispy golden brown. It was seasoned perfectly and tasted just like a good crab cake should – simply flavourful. The chili lime aioli was ok, but that’s only because, I’m not a particular fan of mayo-based dipping sauces. After taking the aioli off the shrimp chip, it was nummy, but when is it not right?  The mixed greens was a nice accompaniment to the crab cake as well.

For our main, we both decided to go with the  Grilled Cheese Supreme with Sweet Potato Fries. The sandwich consisted of  Gruyere, Aged Gouda and Fontina cheeses, Proscuitto di Parma, fresh tomato slices in between thick sourdough bread. The combination of the 3 cheeses culminated in ooey gooey goodness!! The proscuitto was too salty for my taste, and could’ve done without it really. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong, with tomato in a grilled cheese either. The sweet potato fries were surprisingly crispy!! It’s usually so hard to find them that crispy, as they tend to be soggy most of the time.

To end our meal we both decided on the White Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pie. I have to tell you, if you’re a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate, like I am – you will LOVE this pie!! The white chocolate was light, which is good, because I’m not that big on white chocolate. The peanut butter mousse was definitely the star of this dessert!! OMG…I could’ve had another piece it was so good!! I loved it so much, I ate the whole thing, instead of taking half home for my hubby LOL

Everything we ate was really good and om nomnom-worthy. The service on the other hand, not so much. It took them 3 different trips to finally bring me a completely clean cloth napkin 😦 Not sure where they get their napkins cleaned, but wherever it is, they need to change it. As it was lunch time, they did get quite busy, and seemed a bit under staffed. Not sure if that was a fluke or not though. I would recommend Hot House for their food, but not sure what your experience may be with the staff though!!

Bon Appetit Everyone 🙂

Am I Alone in My Love for Kiddie BandAids?!

Jul8

I just have this thing for them. Mind you, we don’t have kids of our own…yet. But I’ve got LOTS of these bandaids LOL They’re just super cute, and whenever I use one, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside 😀 My Little Pony and Curious George were bought today, at the Downsview Merchants Market REVLON Warehouse Sale. They join my collection of Hello Kitty (2 different kinds), Strawberry Shortcake and SpongeBob ones 😀

CARTOON BANDAID POWER!!