BuskerFest

Location: St. Lawrence Market
Website: http://www.torontobuskerfest.com

BuskerFest

Pasta ($3): in rose sauce from The Old Spaghetti Factory. (J) Hit the spot. It also came with a $5 off coupon at the Spaghetti Factory. I need to learn how to make my own rose sauce. (S) I'm a big fan of the thicker tomato sauce. This was good.

Sweet Couscous ($3): raisins, dates, cinnamon and other things from The Sultan's Tent. (J) Tasted better than I thought it would. The dates were filling. (S) Yea, I agree. It wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, and I really like cinnamon.

Kettle Corn ($6): large bag from Hand Popped Kettle Corn. (J) We didn't get a warm bag, but it still tasted good. (S) It's got better flavouring than the other Kettle Corn place.

Angus Beef Burger ($5): from Buster’s Sea Cove. (J) A seafood place selling beef burgers eh? I liked the crispy bun. (S) OMG...I really wanted to get another one. The bun was soooo good!

Ap Ku Jung

Location: 6309 Yonge St, North York ON M2M 3X7
Phone: (416) 229-6248

Boiled Whole Chicken with Noodle and Congee Meal

Side Dishes: (clockwise from left) seaweed, hot sauce, zucchini, potato, bean sprouts, kimchi. (J) Simon was right; the hot sauce was good and not too hot. (S) I like the potato and zucchini.

Chicken: whole chicken boiled with ginseng, green onions, dates and other good stuff. The chicken was then cut up (scissors!) and served to each person. (J) Boiled chicken was not boring because of all the side dishes, and the hot and soy sauces. I also got steamed cooked with the portable stove right beside me. (S) Yup, you came out all red. Very tasty yet healthy chicken.

Noodles: flat green noodles were then added to the pot and cooked in the chicken broth. (J) Good wholesome dish. I'd eat this on a cold day, or if I was sick. (S) I agree with Renee that the noodles is the best part.

Congee: rice added to the remainder of the chicken/noodle broth. (J) The rice soaked up all the good flavours. (S) I was super full by congee time.

Yogurt Drinks: (J) I used to drink these all the time. What an interesting complimentary dessert. (S) Yummy bacteria.

Gal Sushi

Location: 324 HWY 7 East Unit 3, Hoview plaza Richmond Hill, ON
Phone: (905) 882-9959

Tea, Miso Soup & Salad: (J) I got the lucky cat cup this time. (S) Salad dressing is good.

CL8: 8 pcs sashimi, 6 roll, salmon teriyaki. (J) I enjoyed the spicy rolls. Didn't get a crazy amount of rice like at other places. (S) That tofu tempura was really good! The salmon and sashimi were pretty good too.

L12: unagi, rice, 6 pcs roll. (J) The gyoza was good. (S) Awesome tofu! The unagi wasn't as soft and nice as the one from Cafe Michi, but it wasn't bad!

Messini Authentic Gyros

Location: 445 Danforth Ave., Toronto ON M4K 1P2
Phone: (416) 778-4861
Website: http://www.messini.ca

Pita bread and salad: pita bread with crushed olive dip. Messini salad: green salad, dill, tomatoes, red onions, olives, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (J) I didn't eat much pita bread because I knew a lot of food was coming. I chose the garden salad because I had too much cheese during my last visit. (S) Onion breath...haaaaaaaa.

Pikilia: a traditional platter for two consisting of tirokafteri (spicy cheese dip), tzatziki, cheese pie, spinach pie, dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with rice) and greek butter beans in a tomato sause. (J) Good variety, but next time I just want spinach pie. (S) I <3 spinach pie. The other stuff wasn't bad either.

Grilled Calamari: (J) I had a craving for calamari with lemon sprinkled on top. The calamari pieces were huge, and grilled just enough so they were tender. My pieces were slightly too salty for me though. (S) I had to eat all the tentacles, but despite the way they look, they were super super delicious.

Double Gyros Pita: pita dinner plate. Lamb shaved from the spit and served in a pita topped with onions, tomatoes, tzatziki and french fries. Served with salad (above) and rice. (J) For only $2.45 more you got a second gyro! The lamb, the fries, the fluffy pita...everything was soo good. (S) I really wanted to eat the 2nd one, but was waaaay too full.

CNE

Location: The Canadian National Exhibition
Phone: (416) 393-6300
Website: http://www.theex.com

Corn Dog: regular size from Mitch's Monster Dogs. (J) They were out of regular sized dogs, so we got a freshly made batch. (S) You could feel the freshness through the napkins, it was steaming!

Free Samples: carrot cake, pizza/quesadilla (?), pickle, and water. (J) We caught the end of a cooking demonstration and just lined up for the free food. (S) Yep, good timing!

Regular order: honey garlic wings, fries, and dill dip from St. Louis Bar and Grill. (J) I don't even like St. Louis wings, but I go anyways for the really good fries and dill dip. (S) I like the wings, but the fries and dip are awesome!

Pizza: vegetarian slice from Pizza Pizza. (J) The slice was tiny. (S) Yea, I don't know why I was craving pizza.

Hot Ice Cream Waffle: (J) Perfect balance of hot and cold. (S) I was tempted to get another one.

Buffalo Burger: 100% pure Canadian bison 6 oz. (J) I was confused by the two animal names on the sign, so I looked it up and North American bison are called buffalo. Good burger with that wild meat taste. (S) I like the taste of wilderness.

Beaver Tail: Killaloe Sunrise (cinnamon sugar and lemon juice) from BeaverTails. (J) Hot right from the fryer. Good sugar particle crunch and lemon tang. (S) Texture was good, lemon fit in well with cinnamon.

Wimpy's Diner

Location: 443 Danforth Ave, Toronto ON M4K 1P1
Phone: (416) 466-9595
Website: http://www.wimpysdiner.net

Drinks: Diet Coke and water. (S) Free refills!

Hot Roast Beef: 8 oz. Served on bread (rye) with Wimpy’s gravy, vegetables & potatoes. (S) Sooo much meat, omg... (J) There was a slice of bread hidden under that pile of meat! Beef was a little salty. I liked the variety of vegetables.

Wimpy's Famous Hamburger Combo: the original 10 oz. burger with all the trimmings (except onions and mustard) and onion rings. (S) Burger is soooo huge and juicy...onion rings are good too! Yumm. (J) Burger was cooked well... mmm charbroiled. Pretty good onion rings.

Hana Korea

Location: 45 Baldwin St. (Basement), Toronto ON M5T 1L1
Phone: (416) 979-9453

Side dishes: kimchi, glass noodles, potato and cucumber. (J) They gave each of us our own dish instead of many little dishes. I like the water jugs. (S) Good sides.

Dolsot Bibimbap: beef, vegetables and egg. Rice and hot sauce on the side. (J) Filling. (S) I like crispy rice, so yummy!

Combo A: chicken teriyaki, beef dumplings and vegetable tempura. (J) The teriyaki sauce was good. Some pretty unusual tempura that I've never had before, such as mushroom and pepper. (S) I like veggie tempura, the chicken was pretty good too!

Dumpling King

Location: Unit 23 - 15 Northtown Way, North York, ON M2N 7A2
Phone: (416) 226-6818

Cucumber with Flavour: side dish. Cucumber with carrots, garlic and chili flakes. (J) The description was pretty vague. What would "flavour" be? I liked the garlic and chili flakes. I prefer their tofu side dish though. (S) Felt refreshing.

Steamed Dumplings: seafood and pork & napa. (J) Both plates of dumplings look exactly the same, so that's why there's only one picture. Good skin and lots of filling. (S) We always get the same ones, they're both so good. We liked ours Steamer; Boiled and Pried (Fried) aren't as yummy. I dunno about the Vegitanian ones either. Ohh engrish.

Downsview Park Market

Location: 40 Carl Hall Rd, Downsview, ON M3K 2B6
Phone: (416) 638-2525
Website: http://www.dpmarket.com

Strawberry Pineapple: large juice blended with sugarcane juice from Juicy Hut. (J) Pretty good. I didn't even know there was sugarcane juice in it until after. (S) Yup, I read the sign, it said, "made with sugarcane juice" :P It was so hot that the smoothie turned into juice pretty quickly.

Bolani: vegetable pie from A Taste of Afghanistan; hot sauce on the side. (J) Longer and thinner than I thought it would be. The hot sauce was pretty good. (S) Interesting, a little bit spicy, but I managed it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was pretty good.

Taco Combo: two tacos (steak and chicken), Mexican rice, garden salad, fried beans and guacamole from Sol Azteca. (J) The steak was really salty, and the weight of it broke through the tortilla. The salad was refreshing, and easy to eat because the lettuce was shredded. (S) I like guacamole.

Summer's

Location: 101 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto ON M5R 1C1
Phone: (416) 944-2637
Website: http://www.summersicecream.com

Pistachio (top) and Toronto Pothole (bottom): scoops in a waffle cone. (J) Big scoops of soft ice cream. I liked the crunchy waffle cone. (S) I really really liked the real pistachios and I liked the peanut butter and chocolate in the pothole. Soooo good.

Amadeu's

Location: 182-4 Augusta Avenue, Toronto, ON M5T 2L6
Phone: (416) 591-1245

Fish Platter for Two: crab gratin, salmon, halibut, squid, octopus and shrimp. Served with potato and vegetables.

(J) I didn't want to like this place because of the slow service and high prices, but the food was really good. The fish were perfectly seasoned, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The squid was tough though. Nice live band playing jazz and other oldies. (S) I didn't want to like this place either, but the food really surprised me. The crab was definitely the best. The halibut was really good as well. The food made up for the wait.

Sushi Garden

Location: 3 Wellesley W, Toronto, ON M4Y 1E8
Phone: (416) 922-8868

Chirashi Don: (S) I liked the rice a lot, especially texture and the sweet vinegar taste. (J) I liked the sweet rice too.

Bento Combo #1: california rolls, vegetable tempura, and salmon teriyaki. (S) Salmon was pretty good, I liked the veggie tempuras, nice and crispy. (J) Nice big piece of salmon.

Swiss Chalet

Location: 801 York Mills Rd, North York ON M3B 1X7
Phone: (416) 449-9194
Website: http://www.swisschalet.ca

Chocolate Milk. (S) Refreshing after a double header in 40 degrees C weather.

Summer Sensations: quarter chicken, spinach salad and fries upgraded to a poutine. (J) Poutine was alright. Chicken was salty. Salad was really good. (S) Poutine was nothing special, the cheese curds were cold. Chicken was really salty, bit into a cluster of salt. Salad was super good though.

Chocolate Sensations Sundae: ice cream, fudge and whipped cream with a cherry, cinnamon powder, and chocolate biscuit roll on top. (J) A good combination, so of course it tasted good. (S) Yumm, so good!!

Taste of the Danforth

Location: Greektown
Website: http://www.tasteofthedanforth.com

Appetizer

Spanakopita: spinach and cheese pie from Europa Fine Pastries & Bakery. (J) I was starving so this tasted really good, especially the cheese. (S) I really liked this, it was so crispy outside and spinach & cheesy inside. Mmm...

Meat Phase

Chicken Gyro: from Messini. (J) Fries in a gyro is the best thing ever. (S) OMG, so good!

Lamb Chops: from Louis Meat Market. (J) We got a bonus baby piece of lamb too (not shown) yum. (S) Lamb is always so yummy!

Pork Souvlaki: from Astoria. (J) There was a long curving line for this but it was worth it. Very big and moist pieces of meat. Bread was suprisingly soft and soaked up the pork juices nicely. (S) Yea, I was surprised at the soft bread, pleasantly surprised. The meat was so big, bigger than the other souvlakis along the Danforth.

Calamari: from Taste of the Silk Road. (J) The lineup here went right across the street! I enjoyed these calamari fries, but I would have liked more batter and crispiness as well. (S) Not super impressed, way greasy and not crispy.

Sweet Phase

Hazelnut Gelato: from Mocha Mocha. (J) We asked for pistachio but ended up with hazelnut?! Still tasted good. (S) Man, I said pistachio.

Loukoumades: honey balls from Athens Pastries. (J) These crunchy balls burst with honey when you bit into them. One would have been satisfying; I ate four and I was done for the day. (S) I ate one and that was all I could down...way too sweet.

Cream Pie: custard pie from Athens Pastries. (J) This tasted like nothing after eating the loukoumades! I think I tasted some custard. (S) This was SO GOOD. I'm glad I got this, it was so good compared to the honey balls.