Furusato

Love Boat: SU1; Boat A (28pcs sushi, 12pcs maki). Served with salad and miso soup.

(J) All of the boats must have set sail because instead of a boat we got a love plate. Just the right number of pieces to refuel without being overstuffed. I didn't like the squid due to its slimy texture. Everything else was great. (S) I liked the squid! Bring on the weirdo textures! This meal didn't feel like a waste of a day of workout (snowboarding). I especially liked the yellow tail fish and the eel, they both melted in my mouth.

Location: 10 Fairview Road, Barrie, ON L4N 4P3
Phone: (705) 792-1435
Website: http://www.furusato.ca

IHOP

Drinks: grapefruit and orange juices.

Pick-A-Pancake Combo: two Cinnamon Apple pancakes, two eggs, hash browns and two bacon strips. (J) With nothing to do on a Saturday, we drove over to Buffalo to shop and eat. My first time trying IHOP, so had to get some pancakes. They were so fluffy! I didn't expect whipped cream on top. (S) The eggs and hashbrowns were alright. The pancakes were really good! After scraping off the whipped cream, I really enjoyed the apple and cinnamon topping on the fluffy pancake...yummm.

Garden Stuffed Crepes: two crepes with Swiss cheese, eggs, spinach, mushrooms and onions. Topped with hollandaise and tomatoes. (J) Our food came out really fast and I wolfed this down. Hollandaise was so good. (S) The crepes were so good! I liked how stuffed they were, they didn't skimp on the spinach, which made my mouth super gritty afterwards.

Location: 4003 Maple Rd. Amherst, NY 14226
Phone: (716) 446-1117
Website: http://www.ihop.com

Casa Manila

Lumpiang Shanghai: pork and vegetable spring rolls; calamansi (sparkling lemonade) drink. (J) So crispy and good. I liked the drink, it reminded me of Sunny D. (S) The rolls were so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I could have eaten so many more.

Pancit Canton: egg noodles with chicken and shrimp. (J) Very satisfying. A bit too salty for me though. (S) This dish is pretty similar to Chinese style fried noodles. Although it was a bit on the greasy side for me, it was tasty enough.

BBQ Chicken Skewers: served with java rice and pickled papaya. (J) I liked the sweet glaze of the chicken. I'm not sure what java rice is. I don't like papaya, but the salad was good! (S) I really liked the texture of the salad, it had bite. The java rice was very soft and mushy, I personally like some bite in my rice. The chicken was nice with the sweet glaze.

Halo Halo: mixed beans and fruits on shaved ice. (J) So many flavours; perfect for dessert ADD. I liked the ube ice cream and beans. (S) I liked the variety of flavours and different beans. I could have had more beans and aloe and less ice cream. It got much too sweet for me near the end; it was a good thing we shared.

Location: 879 York Mills Road, Toronto, ON M3B 1Y4
Phone: (416) 443-9654
Website: http://www.casamanila.ca