The Moxie's Experience

On my twelfth and final restaurant experience I decided to go to Moxie’s Grill & Bar located at Square one Shopping centre at 100 City Centre Drive in Mississauga. I had not been to Moxie’s for quite some time so I figured I’d try it out. When I got there I noticed every table had a bottle of their house Red wine to set the atmosphere. The lights were dimmed but still allowed visibility. Upon entering we were greeted kindly by the hostess and taken to our seats where or server introduced herself and took our drink orders. They had many drinks to choose from but I got a Moxie’s classic White Peach Bellini. I noticed they had enhanced their menu since I last ate there so I was excited to try some of the changes.

I started off with their Brushetta as an appetizer. It changed since the last time I had it. The Brushetta came out and it was breath taking. It arrived on a channel plate with six pieces of olive oil toast. The toast was topped with Moxie’s house made Brushetta mix as well as three pieces of marinated bocconcini cheese on each piece of toasted crostini. It was delicious. The key component was the Basil reduction placed under the Brushetta to give it an added zing. I was excited to move forward with the meal.

For the entrée I tried their trademark herbed over-roasted chicken. The server let me know that they had made changes to the original but I was ready to try something new based on the Brushetta. The plate arrived and it looked stunning. The chicken, which was a 9-11oz breast, was golden brown and came with a piece of herbed goat cheese on top. It was above a bed of oven-roasted potatoes as well as a mixture of cherry tomatoes and steamed green beans. Overall, the ingredients mixed well together and the plate was very satisfying. Once I finished the plate I asked the server for a desert menu.

For dessert I got my all time favorite Sticky Toffee Pudding. It is a moist date based cake with Moxie’s signature hard sauce, which is their spin off of caramel. It also had a strawberry and a scoop of french vanilla ice cream and garnished with oven-roasted almonds and a mint spring. I give it a 10/10.

Overall I had a great experience at Moxie’s Square One. The changes they made to the menu items I tried worked really compared to what I’m used too. I would definitely go back there to grab food when I am around the square one area.

The K&B Experience

On my eleventh restaurant experience I ended up going to K&B Sushi Bar & Teppanyaki in Oakville located at 2045 Winston Park Drive. I was with a group of friends and we were trying to figure out what to eat. We all agreed on sushi but didn’t know which sushi place to try. We were all sick of 168 Sushi and one person suggested K&B. No one else had ever been to K&B so we thought we would give it a shot. 

At first glance we thought it was closed, as it was pretty late and it wasn’t that busy. The decor and atmosphere is very modern and unique. The lighting is bright with high ceilings and amazing lighting fixtures. We were seated at a booth and they were comfortable with high backings. The server came over and got our drink orders and placed a iPad in front of us. At first I was a tad confused but realized that is how you place your order. It was great! Each item had an explanation and picture to make ordering easy. We ended up ordering a lot more than we thought since the food came out in waves.     

At first I started off with a miso soup and the kaiso salad. The miso soup is a soy bean soup served with tofu, wakame seaweed and green onions. The kaiso salad is a seaweed salad, which was quite good. 

We ordered a bunch of appetizers to share. We got the edamame beans which are boiled fresh soy beans with salt, Ebi mayo which is deep fried shrimp with a garlic butter and soy sauce, Beef short ribs are grilled marinated sliced beef short ribs, Shrimp tempura is deep fried shrimps, Yam tempura is deep fried sweet potatoes, Chicken teriyaki is char-boiled tender chicken with teriyaki sauce and the Atlantic salmon is char-broiled with teriyaki sauce.

We also got the White tuna, shrimp and salmon sashimi as well as the Ebi and maguro sushi.

Then for the sushi rolls we got the spicy tuna sushi which is tuna, tempura bits, avocado and spicy sauce and the spicy salmon sushi which is salmon, tempura bits, avocado and spicy sauce. The dynamite roll is shrimp tempura, tobiko, avocado and cucumber. The green dragon is a dynamite roll with avocado on top. The red dragon roll is a dynamite roll with salmon on top. The volcano roll is salmon, asparagus, tempura and their special house sauce. Finally, the caribbean roll is mango, shrimp, mayo and avocado. 

For dessert I got vanilla and strawberry ice-cream with the deep fried banana. It was amazing.    

Will most defiantly be going back, one of the best all-you-can-eat sushi places in the Mississauga / Oakville area!

The La Carnita Experience

On my tenth restaurant experience I decided to try out La Carnita in Toronto located at 501 College Street.  I was in the mood for Mexican food and decided it was a better option verses my second option, Grand Electric. I heard good reviews and in all honesty, it was delicious. I loved the graffiti and the street art throughout the restaurant, it definitely gave the restaurant some character. The layout is long, deep and noisy. I would not recommend if you’re trying to socialize and have an in-depth conversation.  

I started off with a margarita which was served on the rocks, all margaritas should be! They don’t add the salted rim, instead its placed within the margarita. The margarita was quite amazing and surely I had more than one.

The server suggested ordering three tacos per person to start. She explained the Monday La Carnita Taqueria daily special, which I got as it sounded amazing. On Monday’s its the mixed mushroom empanada, which is packed with Swiss chard, queso fresco, grilled corn, truffle crema and of course mixed mushrooms topped with a chipotle sauce. 

I also got the beef cheek taco, which is ancho braised cheek with lime avocado, green cabbage, pickled jalapeño and crispy shallots.  

Lastly I got the carnita taco. It is a confit pork taco with a jalapeño sauce topped with a mango salsa, queso añejo and cilantro. 

I was surprisingly full after but, ensured there was still room for dessert. I saw they had churros and couldn’t keep them off my mind throughout the course of the meal. You get three long and thick churros that are lightly tossed in sugar and cinnamon served with an in-house cajeta sauce. The highlight of my evening by far. 

The food was great and will be going back for sure!

The Roncy Public Experience

On my ninth restaurant experience I ended up going to The Roncy Public Grill & Lounge located at 390 Roncesvalles Avenue in Toronto. I have noticed an apparent buzz since the grand opening in December. This sparked my inquisitive taste buds and lead to my recent visit to the The Roncy.  I absolutely love the atmosphere and ambiance inside The Roncy. The service is always friendly, and they make sure to play good music. Occasionally, they might even play a movie.  

Upon my arrival I sat down in the lounge where I ordered two appetizers and a main course.  For the two appetizers I got the three cheese selection and the pulled pork tacos.   

The three cheese selection is a great idea because they have a generous selection of cheeses to choose from. I thought that was a unique and great idea. I got the chèvre mariposa, applewood smoked cheddar and manchego. The chèvre mariposa is from Mariposa Dairy located in Kawartha Lake in Ontario. It is a pasteurized soft cheese made from goat’s milk. I love goat cheese, so this one was amazing. The applewood smoked cheddar is from Cows Creamery located in Prince Edward Island. It is a full-flavored unpasteurized cheddar cheese made from cow’s milk. The manchego is from La Mancha located in Spain. It is a semi-soft pasteurized cheese made from sheep’s milk.  This one was surprisingly good. The cheese selections are served with a fresh baguette cut into thin, lightly toasted slices and complimented with some honey, blackberry compote, candy tomatoes, dried apricots and dried figs. 

For my second appetizer I got the pulled pork tacos. Let’s talk about these pulled pork tacos for a second. These are hands down my favourite thing on the menu and maybe my favourite thing ever from any restaurant. I’ve gone back just for the tacos (and the friendly service of course!). These tacos are absolutely amazing and highly addictive. The tacos are braised pork shoulder served with an apple slaw topped with chèvre crema and hot sauce. They come in two flash-fried corn tortillas served warm. My mouth is watering just thinking about these delicious delights.  Since going, I have had a constant craving for them.  

For my main course I got the fried-chicken and waffles.  Buttermilk fried chicken with cornbread waffles are accompanied by maple bacon butter, blackberry compote and maple BBQ sauce. It was an unbelievably delicious dish.  The chicken was so crispy on the outside and tender on the inside; the waffles were fluffy and totally irresistible.   

My overall experience was amazing.  The Roncy Public is my new favorite restaurant in the city. I would recommend The Roncy to everyone.  It has something that everyone will like. It was definitely worth the long trip and I will be a continuous customer for sure!