Location:
(Yorkdale Mall) 3401 Dufferin Street, Toronto
www.michelsbaguette.com
One of my favourite "go-to" bakeries in Toronto is Michel's. It's an European-inspired cafe/bakery and there are several locations in Ontario. It reminds me of Paul's in Paris. No nonsense pastries, sandwiches and cafe lattes.
It's the perfect spot for a giggly group of girls women to go without bothering anyone.
The pastries are delicious.
Perhaps not as good as in Paris, but when you're with a group of good friends, who knows where you really are?
Gandhi's Roti
Location:
554 Queen ST W, Toronto
Cost: $6.95 - 12.95
www.gandhicuisine.ca
* A huge thanks to Lurgee from My Little Sweatshop for lending me the use of her Canon to capture these shots.
There's no reason to really review a place as well known and loved in the city as Gandhi's.
'Cause if you're willing to wait 1.5 hours for your roti, then you must like it.
All I can say is that when we finally brought our 14 (!) pre-ordered rotis back to work, there was absolute SILENCIO in the kitchen while we ate.
Oh yeah, and we got a free juice-box for ordering 14 rotis! For $150 worth of roti business (not counting all the other business we've given them) they could have at least thrown in another juice-box, come on!
Frooti
Chicken roti $8.95 + tax = $10.50, a great alternative to the creaminess of the butter chicken. I like the medium hotness.
Chicken roti, medium
Butter chicken roti - very creamy and rich.
Butter chicken, mild
Malai Kofta roti - veggie/cheese balls in a creamy curry in a roti
Take-out container
Malai Kofta
Needless to say, it was ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz around the office after that!
Moxie’s, Yorkdale Mall
Location:
Yorkdale Mall, 1 Yorkdale Road, Toronto
Moxie's has the lowest lighting possible, which is really no excuse for bad photos, and these really are the worst pics ever, so I'll just leave you to them whilst I turn away.
Oaks Gardens Restaurant
Location:
128 Speers Road, Oakville, ON
Cost: $25 for 2
For chinese take-out this place is always reliable. Consistently tasty and they always use good cuts of meat - chicken breast in everything! The orange chicken (sweet or spicy; had both) is delish! And the portions are huge - and they're not stingy (ie. always loads of shrimps in the fried rice!). We've never sat in, only always done take-out or delivery...but we've never been disappointed.
Inexpensive and yummy chinese in the Ville!
Lots of shrimp in the shrimp fried rice
Chicken
Shanghai noodles with chicken
Orange Chicken
Nando's
Locations:
939 Eglinton Ave E
Toronto, ON
815 Britannia Rd W
Mississauga, ON
Growing up in Africa, I remember eating Nando's chicken and absolutely loving it, so when I first discovered a Nando's in the east end of the city, I was thrilled about the prospect of once again tasting the flame-grilled Peri Peri saucy chicken. Now this was pre-Foodhogger but I recall it not being as tasty as my memory had me believe...I walked away disappointed a little.
Then recently, I found a Nando's in Mississauga and those same childhood memories came flooding back; I just had to try it again. This time it did not disappoint...there was heat, there was flavour and there was plenty to go around.
The spicy fries were mighty deeelush.
The rice was nowhere near as good as it was back in my childhood days.
And there's definitely nothing spectacular about the salad...definitely could have done without it entirely!
But it's possibly the sauces that make Nando's Nando's. The sauces! First the garlic...
And then the all-important hot sauce...
The chicken was great...and we'd ordered some skewers as well...
We got a hot and a medium spiced chicken, but either they'd gotten mixed up or it was all very hot (although not hot enough for some).
All in all; satisfying and a fair recreation of my fond memories....I suppose the only thing missing was the African scenery...
PYO: Pumpkin Pickin'
This was our first time visiting Andrews' Scenic Acres and it seems to be the most popular!
Afternoon Tea
Location:
Langdon Hall, 1 Langdon Drive, Cambridge, ON
Cost: $27.00 per person, plus applicable taxes
The correct definition for Afternoon Tea is:
"a light meal typically eaten between 3pm and 5pm, originating in the UK and consisting of loose tea served in a teapot and accompanied with mini sandwiches, pastries and cakes served in a tiered stand."
That's precisely what we wanted when 'Afternoon Tea with the Ladies" was planned.
After a bit of research was done for tea places in Toronto, I finally discovered that Cambridge's Langdon Hall offered a desirable spread of goodies in a gorgeous setting, and it then became our destination for not only an afternoon of tea but a full day's outing.
After carefully synchronizing our two vehicles to travel together (in light rainfall), eight of us (lovely maidens) arrived early for our 2pm appointed sitting. Langdon Hall offers Afternoon Tea at 2 and 4 o'clock.
Although I had requested for all of us to be seated together, we still found ourselves directed to two tables of four at opposing ends of the room. However, the staff were gracious enough to rearrange the tables and chairs so that we were finally sitting down together.
I imagined sitting at a giant round or rectangular table (for eight) at elbow-level but we were in fact seated in a veranda at tables closer to knee-level instead. Nevertheless, the table settings, decor and natural sun-light (finally) pouring into the room were all distinctly charming and all of us were quite pleased.
The menu at Langdon Halls consists of the "Traditional Afternoon Tea" for $27 (plus tax) and the "Langdon Hall Royal Tea" which begins with a glass of champagne followed by the traditional tea for $49.00 (plus tax). We opted to take the traditional route and the vast selection of teas (English Breakfast, Rose, Pear) kept us engrossed in the menu for quite some time. I picked my all-time favourite, Earl Grey and all the teas (loose-leaf) arrived first; in pretty flowered tea pots (served by a, contrastingly, burly male waiter). The tea, with the honey and sugar cubes provided, couldn't have tasted any better!
Then came the tiers!
First tier: Four each of cucumer/radish curry swirl sandwiches, apple chutney pastries, shrimp puffs and salmon squares/tarts. The curry sandwiches were especially tasty.
Second tier: was a assortment of Madeleines and scones galore! With the Devonshire/clotted cream and jam, these were divine.
Third tier: the lemon cakes, chocolate macaroons, shortbread cookies and blueberry tarts, were all very decadent.
It was all very very tasty and beautifully presented!
After our delicious tea party, we headed off onto the Langdon Hall grounds to take in the sights. The outdoor pool, croquet field and massive vegetable garden were beautifully tended.
Afternoon Tea at Langdon Hall is especially great for girlie get-togethers. Whatever the celebration, the surroundings make the trip to Cambridge worthwhile.
PYO: Cherry Picking
Locations:
E.D. Smith Cherry Farm
980 Highway #8, Winona, Ontario
Puddicombe Estate Farms & Winery
1468 #8 Hwy, Winona, Ontario
All summer long I'd been meaning to go strawberry picking...which by late summer had turned into peach-picking. Finally, when the opportunity for anything-picking came up, our GPS was eagerly set up to locate the E.D. Smith farm. Unfortunately, E.D. remained a mysterious location on our GPS, but our old-fashioned road-trip technique of stop-and-ask-for-directions worked out perfectly and brought us to E.D's gate which...was CLOSED?!?! You had to be kidding me.
Good thing our GPS located another farm close by. Puddicombe!
For cherry, apple and pear picking.
Didn't look like there was anything to be picked when we got there though. We were too late for cherries and too early for pears or apples. The boy behind the outdoor stall mentioned heavy rainfall having ruined the cherry crops, but the Puddicombe railway and petting zoo was open. None of us were five years old however, so we decided to taste some wine, instead. Blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and pear. Deeeellliiiiicious! Our journey wasn't completely wasted; we bought a couple of bottles of blueberry wine and called it a day.
As for pear-picking? Maybe next year.
PYO: Apple Picking in Milton
Location:
6063 Fifth Line
Milton, Ontario
An apple a day.....is what I've been having ever since we went apple picking on Sunday at the Willis Family Fruit Farm in Milton. 
Jonagolds, Golden Russets, Empires, Courtlands and Mutsus were all ready to be picked...and pick we did. 
I think it really does make a difference picking your own fruit - the apples are crispy, juicy and delicious and the Empires are still waiting to be made into an apple crumble!