We have pretty much been frequenting the same restaurants and the new ones we tried, we weren’t quite impressed with.
On a friend’s recommendation, we decided to try Broast Inn in Mississauga (approx. Dundas & Confederation). We found the dining area to be clean and nicely maintained.
We were recommended to try ‘Rooster Eh!’ (boneless chicken breast sandwiched in fresh jalapeno & cheddar waffle, with coleslaw, chipotle and dill mayo sauce). We were pleasantly surprised with how crispy and good the waffle tasted! The deep fried chicken breast was also very tasty and tender, unlike what we have experienced at many other places. We particularly enjoyed dipping our sandwich in Revenge Sauce. In fact, we plan on requesting that this sauce is added to the sandwich next time around!
We also ordered chicken tenders, fries, and biscuits for the kids, which they were very happy with.
If you’re craving deep fried chicken and waffle and are in the vicinity, we recommend you pay them a visit! For details, please visit: https://www.broastinn.com.
The blessed month of Ramadan is the busiest month of the year for Muslims, with all of us trying to juggle fasting and night prayers with our family and work commitments. This is where Zabiha Halal comes in with their new line of frozen products. When you are in a time crunch in Ramadan, what better to save time than to prepare and serve your family a delicious meal from Zabiha Halal’s range of products. We believe that Ramadan is not the time to spend in the kitchen, as we should be using our time wisely to increase our acts of worship. The best part about all of this is that Zabiha Halal has partnered up with Islamic Relief Canada for the ‘Do Good, Eat Good, Feel, Good’ campaign and proceeds for selected products go towards helping the needy.
We had the opportunity to try out Zabiha Halal products for our Iftaar Party, which included the Puff Pastry Hors D’oeuvre’s Collection, Chicken Fries, Homestyle Hawaiian Pizza, Homestyle Pepperoni Pizza, and the Chicken Lasagna. We were pleased with how easy it was to prepare all of these products; just stick them in the oven, put the timer, and they were ready!
The Chicken Fries were the perfect finger food and were a hit with all the kids at our party. We saw our two year old nephew with chicken fries in both hands and he was happily munching away on them. The crunch on the Chicken Fingers also made them a popular iftaar item with the adults. We served ours with ketchup and chipotle mayo and these made for ideal dipping sauces.
The Puff Pastry Hors D’oeuvres Collection was our personal favourite. Each box consisted of 40 pieces in total, with individually wrapped packages inside with the four different flavours. The Fresh style puff pastry comes in four varieties: Buffalo Chicken (our favourite), Chicken Sausage, Cheese & Spinach, and Sweet Potato & Goat Cheese. These appetizers were ready in 15 minutes and were devoured by our guests in minutes! They were so light and flaky, and were the perfect size for appetizers. We highly recommend these.
For the entrees, we served Chicken Lasagna and the Homestyle Pizzas. We absolutely loved the Chicken Lasagna. It had the perfect ratio of sauce, to minced chicken meat, to cheese, to noodles, and it was perfectly seasoned. The lasagna came out very easily from the container to serve: just flip it over from the container onto a plate and it came out clean.
The Homestyle Hawaiian Pizza had smoked chicken strips and pineapple, and it was a combination that our guests found different, yet exciting. The Homestyle Pepperoni Pizza was a classic, and a kid favourite. Both pizzas had a generous amount of cheese and toppings, and were crowd pleasers.
Overall, we found that Zabiha Halal’s frozen products were not only incredibly easy to prepare, but they were delicious and filling. The portion sizes were generous and justified the price. We salute Zabiha Halal for taking part in the ‘Do Good, Eat Good, Feel Good’ campaign, as consumers can feel good about their purchases as the donation will add to their good deeds.
Eid is just around the corner and if you’re like us, you probably like making a desert and taking it over to other peoples houses or serving at your own.
We tried mating English Toffee and it turned out pretty darn good! Again, a fairly easy recipe and we found it’s enjoyed best after letting it settle overnight in the fridge.
It may not be the most picturesque, but tasted really good! We hope to use a different pan for next time.
We love baking and trying out new recipes. We had pistachios on our minds and wanted to bake a pistachio cake. After a couple of attempts, we came across the following recipe that’s easy to make and super delicious!
Our apologies for the quick pic; it’s not the best. We didn’t wanna wait around, as we wanted to gobble up this cake right out of the oven.
We first heard about Paramount Fine Foods’ donation cookies in the beginning of Ramadan. It took us some time but we decided to drop by and pick up a packet for $2. A dollar from each packet goes to Sick Kids Hospital.
Gotta say they taste good and were finished within minutes! Please show your support and purchase their cute Ramadan cookies for a good cause!
If purchased towards the end of Ramadan, they will make an excellent present for the kids on Eid!
We love trying out new recipes, especially if they’ve been previously tried & tested. We have tried many of Ikhlaas Hussain recipes in the past, so we instantly decided to try the Banana Pudding recipe that she shared.
It was fairly easy to make, as it didn’t involve any cooking or baking. The ingredients were fairly easy to find as well. Since Loblaws is closeby, we picked up everything from there.
It’s best if you make it the day before serving. The banana pudding was an instant hit!
Haze Lounge seems to be a popular place to chill in the Mississauga area. We heard good things about their food for awhile now, so we decided to check it out for lunch recently. What held us back from visiting this restaurant was the fact that it is primarily a shisha lounge, and hence, we were a bit uncomfortable of how the ambiance would be.
The restaurant has a nice patio, which we would have preferred but the day we visited was a bit chilly. Inside the restaurant, it was a bit dark. While we did like the antique lamps and the the lattice separating the booths, the ambiance really wasn’t for us (even in the afternoon time) and the smell of shisha was everywhere (second hand smoke alert). However, we were there for the food, so we proceeded with ordering our meal.
We started with BBQ chicken wings ($11.50). The chicken wings were exceptional and had the perfect crunch to sauce ratio.
For the entrees, we ordered the Philly Cheese Steak ($11), Portobello Chicken ($16.50), and the Half Rack of Lamb ($19). The Philly Cheese Steak lacked the wow factor. We wished it had more cheese and more seasoning. There was a generous amount of steak, which we did like.
The Portobello Chicken was our favourite. It was a juicy piece of chicken on a bed of buttery mashed potatoes, topped with roasted mushrooms and asparagus with a generous serving of sauce. We were in love with this dish and highly recommend it.
Next up was the Half Rack of Lamb with mashed potatoes and vegetables. There were four lamb chops around a bed of mashed potatoes, and drizzled with gravy. While we enjoyed the mashed potatoes and the gravy, the overall dish did not impress us.
We were given complimentary dessert (two plates of them) because one of our entrees came a bit late. We appreciated this gesture by the staff. We were presented with Sticky Toffee Date Cake with Ice Cream. My oh my, this cake was a piece of heaven. The date cake was warm and the toffee sauce on top was incredible, and paired with vanilla ice cream, this dessert suddenly turned our lunch into a pleasant experience.
All the food at Haze Lounge is made from scratch, and there are definitely delicious options on their menu. While we would want to go back for the food, the ambiance of the restaurant is not really for us. Perhaps, opting for the patio in the summer would be a good option for us.
Please note: Haze Lounge is open to Families every day until 6pm. They have a strict 19+ policy after 6pm.
You may remember our 2013 post on Zem One. Since our last review, the restaurant has moved to a new location with new management (but the same owner). It is the same great halal Japanese food, but with a new sushi chef on board and everyone we know has been raving about his sushi. We were in for a pleasant surprise.
Located at 51 Village Centre Place in Mississauga, Zem One is a hidden gem in the Square One area but away from the hustle and bustle. We loved the quaint nature of the location, which had a nice brick patio and water feature.
The inside of the restaurant had a serene ambiance, which we quite enjoyed. We liked how it was not as crowded and loud as some of the other sushi restaurants. The simple and well maintained decor contributed to the ambiance. It a perfect place for dinner with your special someone.
Since Zem One is located in an area surrounded by executive buildings, it is quite busy during breakfast and lunch hours. We visited the restaurant for an early dinner and went for the All You Can Eat menu. If you have read our 2013 post, you may remember that we were not huge fans of sushi back then. However, all that has changed in recent years, and we can be found munching on Dynamite Rolls.
We started with Chicken Corn Soup, Hot and Sour Soup, and Tom Yum Soup. The Chicken Corn Soup is our all time favourite, and always lifts our mood. The Hot and Sour Soup had a a generous serving of chicken in it, and we loved the spicy kick it had. The Tom Yum Soup was hot and tangy, just the way we like it. The soup servings for the AYCE menu were generous, and quite filling.
Next up for appetizers were Shrimp and Sweet Potato Tempura along with Edamame. We love anything deep fried, so tempura is always in our good books. The crunchy panko coated seafood and vegetable tempura, dipped in sweet sauce is a match made in heaven.
Pad Thai is by far our favourite carbohydrate-laden food. Stir fried rice noodles with shrimp and flavoured with tamarind and fish sauce, this Pad Thai did justice to our taste buds. We would order this again in a heartbeat.
We also tried the Szechuan Shrimp, which had a rich sauce and generous amount of vegetables and shrimp. The chili paste and the use of Sichuan peppers made this dish spicy.
Next up was the star of the night, sushi! We started with California Roll, Red Tuna Sushi, Salmon Sushi, Shrimp Sushi and Sashimi pieces. We found the seafood to be fresh and flavourful, and the sushi was devoured within minutes.
Our absolute favourite is the Spicy Dynamite Roll, which has shrimp tempura, cucumber, crab and avocado, topped with spicy mayo. The combination of the spicy sauce with the crunchy shrimp and cool cucumber is what elevates the Dynamite Roll. We highly recommend this dish.
The Torched Mississauga Paradise was the best sushi we had that night. It had spicy salmon, avocado, cucumber, crab, cream cheese topped with spicy mayo and teriyaki sauce. The use of the blow torch allowed the spicy mayo and teriyaki sauce to melt right into the sushi, and created a heavenly roll.
Check out the video we made of how this roll was made.
And because we can never get enough of sushi, we ordered sushi to-go. Pictured below is the Rainbow Roll, which had cucumber, avocado and crab, topped with tuna, salmon, butterfish and shrimp. We enjoyed this thoroughly for lunch the next day.
We also ordered the Crunch Roll, which had cucumber, avocado, crab, shrimp tempura and topped with tempura flakes. This, again, was munched away the next day.
Given our sweet tooth, we couldn’t leave without dessert (although we were already in food coma). We ordered Coconut and Mango Ice Cream. These were the classics we love and provided a sweet ending.
The Tempura Cheesecake was hands down the best dessert ever! We are HUGE cheesecake fans, so imagine our delight when we had this deep fried cheesecake. It was everything our sweet tooth could have asked for and more. It was creamy cheesecake, dipped in batter and coated with tempura, and fried to perfection . We can’t even begin to describe the epic-ness of this cheesecake. A definite must try if you visit Zem One.
Zem One is one of the few Japanese restaurants in the GTA offering halal food, so kudos to them for this. The friendly service, freshly prepared food, and the cozy atmosphere allowed us to wholly enjoy our dinner at Zem One. Do we recommend this restaurant? Yes (and please take us with you)!
Our little one enjoys watching Dora and Friends. In one episode, they were making a coconut cake and ever since then we had a major craving for it. So Pinterest came to the rescue. We found a super duper easy recipe for coconut poke cake.
The recipe is from mybakingaddiction‘s website. We loved how it used simple ingredients.
Here is the recipe from the website:
INGREDIENTS
1 package white cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box to prepare cake
1 (14 ounce) can cream of coconut <– We used a can of coconut milk instead
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container fozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup shredded coconut
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare and bake white cake mix according to package directions for a 9×13 inch cake.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk.
3. Remove cake from oven and place on a cooling rack. While still hot, use a skewer to poke holes all over the top of the cake.
3. Spoon the cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk mixture over the cake while the cake is still hot.
4. Let cake cool completely. Top with whipped topping and shredded coconut.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.
Ok, so we know the pictures look unimpressive but we didn’t really think it would turn out all that great. But we were wrong. We LOVED it. It was so light and refreshing.
The blessed month of Ramadan is the busiest month of the year for Muslims, with all of us trying to juggle fasting and night prayers with our family and work commitments. This is where Zabiha Halal comes in with their new line of frozen products. When you are in a time crunch in Ramadan, what better to save time than to prepare and serve your family a delicious meal from Zabiha Halal’s range of products. We believe that Ramadan is not the time to spend in the kitchen, as we should be using our time wisely to increase our acts of worship. The best part about all of this is that Zabiha Halal has partnered up with Islamic Relief Canada for the ‘Do Good, Eat Good, Feel, Good’ campaign and proceeds for selected products go towards helping the needy.
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