Everything

Burger Review: Bymark Burger, Bymark

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Ricky in Everything | Leave a comment

bymark burger

Hello, it’s been awhile since we last reviewed burgers here on the site.

As a reminder, this is a series based on a top 10 list of burgers published in Toronto Life.

However, this burger isn’t on the list. To be completely honest, I forgot about this list – I just thought I was really into burgers a few years ago.

This is the Bymark Burger and at $40, it may be one of the most, if not the most expensive burger in the city. It is certainly the most expensive burger I’ve ever had. The thing I’ve learned in life i that when life gives you free work dinners, you definitely order the most expensive burger you’ll probably ever order.

The Burger
– 8OZ BYMARK BURGER, brie de meaux, shaved truffle, grilled porcini mushroom

From my shitty internet research, it appears that the beef is from grass-fed strip loin. The cheese is obviously a fancier version of brie and anything with truffle is obviously next level.

The Verdict
Presentation wise, it was super pretty.

However, I was not impressed. At a 40 dollar price range, this burger came with sky high expectations and it definitely did not meet them. The burger was a decent size and bun was pleasant. However, the patty seemed like it could be salted a bit better and I think could have used a bit more fat.

In terms of togetherness, truffle and brie both have very strong tastes on their own and combined, it was unique but I would say occasionally overwhelming in that sometimes when I had a bite, I could taste the truffle, sometimes the cheese, sometimes the mushroom. It didn’t all come together. As a result, it was an unbalanced eating experience.

Complements:
The burger came with a choice of greens / fries / onion rings. OBVIOUSLY I picked onion rings. Only a monster would choose fries over onion rings.

The onion rings were delicious in all their greasy glory. I wanted more, but it’s a fancy place so I guess four onion rings is enough.

Handfeel
The burger had a good weight to it, but the sauce quickly soaked through to the point where I had to switch to a fork and knife halfway through so that my hands didn’t become super greasy. I personally like eating burgers with my hands so this was disappointing.

Overall
If this was a 20 dollar burger, I probably would have been more generous in my review, but as a 40 dollar burger it didn’t meet my standards.

Burger Scale

Amarillo Burger, Casino El Camino – 10$ USD
The Burger, Wickson Social – 19$
Bombolone Burger, Bar Buca – 15$
Burger, Rasa – 17$
Prime Beef Double Cheeseburger, Museum Tavern – 19$
Skyline Burger, Skyline Diner – 14$
Brisket Cheese Burger, Carbon Bar – 22$
Bymark Burger, Bymark – 40$
Game Burger, Antler – 18$
Vegan Mac Daddy, Doomies – 16$

Preview: Riptide Music Festival

Posted on November 6, 2019 by halley in Everything | Leave a comment

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As much as I love my hometown (#chicitymycity) and I know all our Canadian readers love theirs, I would hope we’re all mature enough to acknowledge one small – flaw? quirk? reality? – about our residences: the winters can be a beast. I think it’s especially on my mind as Daylight Saving Time has descended on the world, making it pitch black at 5 PM. While I respect that ye olde farmers may have needed that extra hour to… do whatever farmers do (harvest? reap? sow? sew?), I’m of the strong belief we should do away with everything that brings more darkness, cold and general discomfort to our modern population.

Since doing away with Daylight Saving Time may be a LITTLE outside my power of influence, I’m happy to spread the word about a more feasible opportunity to soak up some sun, surf and songs later this month. The Riptide Music Festival on fantastic Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida is almost upon us! The two-day festival on November 23rd-24th will feature over 20 musical performers including Jimmy Eat World, The Killers, The 1975, The Revivalists and Judah & The Lion (who I just saw and fell in love with), among others. Tickets range from $29-$79 at www.riptidefest.com, and are going fast.

If you’re looking for more than a tan and tunes (hard to fathom you’d need anything else, but just in case!), the festival is also featuring Festival Fashion Make-overs with Tan France, fashion expert from “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and a runaway fashion show with designer George Styler. The event will also feature an enhanced art exhibition celebration and a robust array of culinary food demos by celebrity chefs on the Maximus mobile kitchen, as seen on Gordon Ramsey’s television show “Hell on Wheels.”

Still debating whether to spend a weekend on the beach? Let me give you a quick gut check: I just pulled up the weather on my phone. Chicago? 31 degrees (-0.5 C for all you Candians). Fort Lauderdale? A sweet 80 degrees (26 C). I rest my case. See you in Florida.

Ricky’s Soup Noodle Rankings

Posted on August 14, 2019 by Ricky in Everything | Leave a comment

Bowl noodles are all the rage. They come in different forms, depending mostly on nationality or language. In the end, it’s the same concept – a bowl of broth, filled with noodles made from rice, wheat, egg or whatever, and then a variety of flavors. What annoys me is how everyone loves ramen and thinks it’s the best when in my opinion, there are many bowls of noodles that are much better. Don’t get me wrong, ramen is amazing, but let’s look at my favourite type of soup noodles … because this is a music blog.

1. Bun Bo Hue
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A Vietnamese dish, this magnificent bowl of noodles comes from Hue, which is in central Vietnam. A beef broth heavy with lemongrass and other ingredients, it’s a flavour bomb that hits all the right notes of sour, savoury and spicy. The rice noodles are refreshing given the strength of the broth and it’s usually paired with all sorts of meats, mostly beef shanks and even cubes of congealed pig’s blood which is not as gross as you think.

Best place I’ve had it – Orange County
Favorite place in Toronto for it – Pho Linh

2. Dan Dan Noodles
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This one is less soupy but more dippy I guess, and a lot of different countries have a variation on this. However the Dan Dan noodles from the mainland are absolutely delicious. This is one of those bowls where the noodles don’t matter as much as the sauce. The sauce is amazing, usually a combination of sesame, sichuan peppers, chili mixed with ground pork, preserved veggies and green onions. It’s a hella thick sauce and basically you coat the noodles with the sauce before slurping it down in a tasty package. The mix of sesame and sichuan pepper is an amazing taste and this bowl has the exact combination of flavours to leave you wanting more.

Favorite place in Toronto – hard to tell, sometimes Asian Legend is good, sometimes not. Probably other places in Markham are better but I never know their names

Best place I’ve had it – Hong Kong. There’s a restaurant in Whampoa that specializes in it.

3. Beef Brisket Noodle Soup
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You are probably thinking I only love complex flavors but the simplicity of the beef brisket noodle soup is what makes it amazing. A Hong Kong staple, it’s a taste that simply defines what home is for me. A simple beefy broth with a bit of anise taste, paired with spring noodles and brisket that has been cooked for hours and hours, the combo is just hard to beat. The texture of the brisket is usually offset by the crispness of some lettuce that’s included and it’s just a great bowl of noodles. People in Hong Kong are obsessed with it. Sometimes you can get tripe and tendon in it, although that’s often just called beef tendon noodle soup. The broth is similar flavour.

There are some variations on this from other places, you can make an argument that Taiwan has a similar beef noodle soup, but I think that’s a different flavour.

Places to have in Toronto – Any HK syle cafe in Markham is good.
Best Place I have had it ever – Hong Kong

4. Thai Boat Noodles
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I’ve only had it a few times in my life but it is delicious and unfortunately really hard to find in Toronto. Frequently sold from boats in the Canals of Thailand, this bowl of soup is absolutely packed with flavour. The broth is dark, rich and complex, it typically includes pig or cow blood which, as you could probably guess, adds to the richness of the broth. As with all southeast Asian dishes, the heaviness of the broth is balanced out by an assortment of fresh herbs and the dish is usually complemented by variety of meats, fried pork skin and meatballs. It’s got this tangy richness to it that I really enjoyed.

Best Toronto place: ???
Best place I’ve had it – Sapp’s Coffee Shop, Los Angeles

5. Laksa

Probably the most iconic noodle dish from the Malaysia-Singapore-Indonesian area, Laksa is a rice vermicelli dish that’s broth is a curry-coconut flavour. The ingredients for Laksa are much different than most of the other noodle dishes, as it is comprised mostly of seafood, fried tofu
and an egg. The broth for this noodle smells amazing and the taste is equal to the smell.

Favorite in Toronto – Gourmet Malaysia
Favorite ever – Probably some place in Hong Kong

Song of the Day: My Morning Jacket – I Will Be There When You Die

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Gary in Everything | Leave a comment

 
New and old are highly relative terms. The Earth is likely not old compared to the atoms in that egg you ate this morning. But regardless of how you look at it, My Morning Jacket has news: it’s the 20th Anniversary of The Tennessee Fire and the band has reissued the album for the occasion.

I still cannot believe how people could qualify this as “alternative” country. Unless one uses “alternative” as a code for cynical, it is not country music. It is just heartfelt and honest, and if what radio stations have been paddling as country in the past decade is anything to go by, honest country would be an oxymoron.

The Tennessee Fire is a sprawling 16 track mass going in many different but mostly playfully calming directions. From a 30 second guitar solos in the 3:00 long “Evelyn Is Not Real” to the oddly retrospectively mature sound of the first track “Heartbreakin Man” to the starkly poetic “I Will Be There When You Die”, My Morning Jacket never ceases to surprise you at the variety of possible musical and melodic dimensions that you COULD find enjoyable.

The Tennessee Fire is an antithesis to the formulaic AI music catalog of the Bender persuasion. And it’s always worth a revisit, or 20. Below you can listen to a live version of “I Will Be There When You Die”. Keep a straight face and carry on.

P.S. This post is not related in theme to Paul’s Dido concert review.

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