Houston Steaks & Ribs

Houston Steaks & Ribs
Address: 1 Bass Pro Mills Drive, Unit R1, Vaughan (Rutherford & Jane)
Phone: (905) 760-8412

we were here for their Prime Rib.. as Z&A recommended to us..
so, LG & MM tried their Regular Houston Prime Rib au Jus..
it's $23 for the Prime Rib, + soup of the day, or a house or Caesar salad..

also it came with your choice of: baked or mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, vegetables, rice pilaf; or two of the following: fries, coleslaw or hot cinnamon apples..

both MM & LG said when they first ate the Prime Rib, they felt that it's very salty.. & later on, they said the Prime Rib 沒有了牛肉的鮮味..
& the vegetables on the side which should be cooked, but now raw..

i tried their Famour Houston Baby Back Ribs.. which also served with baked/mashed potatoes/creamed spinach/vegetables/rice pilaf; or two of fries/coleslaw/hot cinnamon apples..

the Baby Back Ribs was very tender.. the meat would fall off the bone easily.. but the fries.. it seemed like it's not "fresh", have been "re-fry".. which made them so "hard".. it broke into 2 pieces easily when i tried to pick it up with my fork..

MM said maybe coz we went there on sunday night which not many customers were there.. that's why the food was not fresh.. hmm..

The Grotto Noodle House 山窿粉

The Grotto Noodle House 山窿粉 (Closed!)
Date: June 8, 2007 (Friday)
Address: 398 Ferrier Street #60-63, Markham (New Century Plaza)
Phone: (905) 470-8772

it's a big seafood meal.. thx EC for bringing us for dinner.. we didn't know that 山窿粉 did 私房菜 & it's very good.. EC pre-ordered the food for us already..

first came the very rich soup.. 蟹肉冬茸鮑翅..
then we had 上湯溫哥華蟹伊麵.. 十分鮮味..

方魚芥蘭.. 好爽, 好嫩
乳鴿 .. 肉質好嫩, not too salty, 味道適中..
.. 老板娘說, 乳鴿有 16 両, 有一隻雞那般大.. 是本地農場養的, 不是急凍的..

Stir Fried Crab with Chilli Paste 香椒膏炒蟹..
.. it's a bit spicy but with a hint of sweet taste..
.. 粉好好味, 是用越南檬粉.. 非常濃味, 尤其是檬粉吸收了香椒膏那味道.. 特別好味!
芝士炒龍蝦
.. 老板娘說, 炒龍蝦時, 芡汁滲入龍蝦內, 所以好鮮, 汁可以保存到.. 而且炒得好乾身, 汁並沒有流出來..

帶子雲吞麵

Dessert is 黑糯米芝麻芋頭.. 內有 "鴨答子".. they said it's Viet. food, & it tasted like jelly..

老板 (即大廚) is Vietnamese.. & they are very nice..

they put up a poster on the wall stating their「 私房菜宣言」--「有住家風味, 不設固定菜單, 隨時節或材料而轉換茶式. 要預訂以便控制材料新鮮及食物品質, 收費以每位計算.」

unfortunately, we heard that they just sold their business as they will be moving back to Hong Kong soon.. we are glad that we had the chance to eat here before they leave..

Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill (Revisit)

Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill
Address: 100 Adelaide Street East, Toronto
Phone: 416-366-STAR (7827)
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 12-3pm, 5-11pm / Sat 5-11pm / Sundays Closed

we were targeting at the $100 for 100 oysters when we decided to come here this time.. 7 of us went there & we made a reseravation for 8pm (we could only choose either 6pm or 8pm)..

b4 having oysters, each of us tried their soup of the day.. it's Manhattan soup with crab & bacon.. very good for starter.. we actually found "crab shell" in the soup..
we ordered some appetizers too..
Pan fried soft shell crab on crostino of preserved lemon & arugula aioli with a fresh fava bean & spinach salad (pic above), & Grilled calamari on a spicy chorizo panzanella salad, spiced tomato vinaigrette (pics below)..

the calamari was just so-so, but the soft shell crab tasted good! actually when we was about to order it, the waiter told us that there were only 4 left & if we wanted it, he would hold 2 for us.. seems like people like this a lot..

the gents would like to have some wine to accompany the oysters.. & the waiter suggested them having the White Wine, Reisling Reserve 2006 - Henry of Pelham, Niagara.. after they tried it, they said it's a perfect match with the oysters..

& for the $100 for 100 Oysterlicious Plate, we could choose two kinds of oysters (Malpeque, Fanny Bay) & 1 kind of scallop.. since we like Fanny Bay more, we ordered 50 of them & then 25 Malpeque & 25 Sea Scallops.. in additional to the 100 Oysters/Scallops, we ordered a dozen of Razor Clams..



the Clams were a bit salty.. but everybody loved the Scallops.. very fresh.. Fanny Bay Oysters were very yummy..as usual.. hee hee..


according to the waiter, their oysters were from PEI.. & he told us that, the Scallops came from Nova Scotia.. & near that place, there's a place called Oak Island & there is a myth.. about some treasure buried under the tunnel.. but when ppl wanted to dig into the tunnel in order to get the treasure, the tunnel collapsed.. it's interesting to know some background about the food we ate..

ZT happened to have the "scallop" snack with her & we took a pic of that together with the fresh scallops.. =P

we were worried that the gents would not be full enough if we just had oysters; therefore, we ordered two main courses as well..
Crisp skinned wild Copper River sockeye salmon on sauteed escarole, wild rice, leek & double smoked bacon spring roll, french beans with a mushroom accented red wine jus

Seared Atlantic halibut fillet on a dungeness crab cake, organic aspiration, purple sunrise carrots, runner beans & a lobster reduction

we all think that the Halibut tasted better than the Salmon..

finally it came to desserts.. they had 3 choices & we ordered one each.. we love all 3 of them!!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with chocolate ganache, Creme Brulee with almond biscotti, & Lemon Tart with a citrus sabayon.. all 3 of them tasted very good.. & the waiter told us that his favorite is the Lemon Tart..

it was a great dinner.. the food was great, the waiter was friendly & very attentive during our meal.. everybody was very happy with it.. (except that it took us 2.5 hrs to finish everything..)

talking about oysters, i suddenly miss my dear "oysters-saving" buddy, CT, very much!!

Ngau Kee Chinese Cuisine 牛記

Ngau Kee Chinese Cuisine 牛記 (Closed!)
Address: 3235 Hwy 7 East, Unionville (@ First Markham Place)
Phone: (905) 479-9988
Opening Hours: 11am-2am

many friends went there & recommended this restaurant to us.. but it seems like nothing much we can try if only the 2 of us going.. & this time, 7 of us went there for dinner & hoping that we could try some special dishes..

we had 潮式花鰂魚湯 & 班腩煲.. DD 說有點失望, 因為魚並不新鮮..

Sweet & Sour Pork (咕嚕肉).. we found "喬"頭 & 檸檬頭 in it..
Fried Tung Choi with Preserved Bean Curd Sauce & chili Pepper (椒絲腐乳通菜)

"The Original" Crab in Supreme Rum Sauce (冧酒蟹)..
this one was good, we ordered extra bread for dipping the sauce..

蜜汁生蠔.. MM 說這些生蠔是炸過的.. 並不好吃.. 再者, 我們吃不到蜜汁, 比較像豉汁!!


these were what we tried on our 1st visit..
金腿瑤柱浸津白 & 招牌牛記米酒雞

醬爆豬頸肉 & 蒜茸磨菰炒班球

for our visit last time, all tasted good except the 津白 was just so-so..

李白

當我第一次聽到這首歌時, 真的很 surprise!!
這是我小學時很喜歡的一首詩, 亦是我到現在唯一還記得的課文!!!
我仍然可以一字不漏的背出來呀!
所以現在聽到這首歌, 真的感到十分親切!

朱凌凌借這首詩/歌來諷刺填鴨式的教育制度.. 實在很有創意!!

FYI: 朱凌凌是由五個演藝學院的學生在 2005 年組成的 Indie Band.

歌手：朱凌凌
作曲 / 填詞: 朱凌凌 / 編曲：朱凌凌．Edmund Leung

李白小時很懶惰　天天不願呀去上課
然後街上看見一個老婆婆拿著鐵棒係咁磨
李白心裡很驚奇Why走上前去問仔細
婆婆話她說要磨一根針
李白聽了 What a nonsense！

李白佢心裡想鐵棒粗壯針而小　一輩子也磨不了
但係婆婆話只要你略有恆心　鐵棒定能磨成針！
李白聽了很感動從此讀書很用功
後來成為一個大詩人　多虧婆婆的好教訓

一首偉大一首世人傳頌警世嘅詩過咗咁多年依然
係街知巷聞係中國人都會知
每次背起上嚟個個都啷啷上口
記得小時候陸陸續續一句一句將佢背到滾瓜爛熟
但係首詩教訓寓意就從來都唔入肉
我係咁背我係咁讀
呢個教育制度不斷向我地落毒
最緊要知道考試題目答中Model Answer就會被取錄答錯就定被否出局
搞到雙失青年邊緣青年每年五六萬個傑出青年每年最多咪係又嗰十個

我俾佢玩到傻
唔係我諗多咗
你同我我同你你同我我同你你同我我同你你同我我同你都俾呢個大染缸荼毒過
俾你餵咗咁多歲月我食Mom Mom我食到嘔血
我唔再係你嘅小寶寶
唔好撥煽情太老土　喺呢個世界度要怪就要怪呢個無情嘅制度
不斷倒模不斷製造痴線佬我地唯一可以做嘅就係嗌唔好

俾人取錄、俾人否出局
劇情發展人人會有唔同嘅結局
你地哩班鴨仔前途是否光明就視乎你地哩班鴨仔嘅消化系統
係咪老馮
係咪趙完鬆
係咪成日食扎肉檬

李白小時很懶惰
天天不願呀去上課
然后街上看見一個老婆婆拿著鐵棒慢慢磨
李白心裡很驚奇走上前去問仔細
婆婆話她說要磨一根針，
李白聽了嘩 What a nonsense！
鐵棒粗壯針而小
一輩子一輩子也磨不了，
但係婆婆話只要你能有恆心　鐵棒定能磨成針！
李白聽了很感動從此讀書很用功
後來成為一個大詩人
婆婆呀　我想訓覺呀！