The Week in Yum Aug 23-Aug 29 Nakayoshi Izakaya and prepping for Awestruck

age dashi tofu at Nakayoshi Izakaya


This was another light week and I am sure my body is thanking me for that. I was sick all weekend so apart from water, tea and handfuls of potato chips, my sustenance of choice when I have any type of flu like ailment, I abstained entirely. I am sure The Kid ate something here and there but I can't even remember anything apart from hearing ramblings of ramen and sprite.


Nakayoshi Izakaya

I finally broke my fast with a bowl of spicy miso ramen from Nakayoshi Izakaya on Danforth. Shack and I have both driven by this place a thousand times but, for some reason, I just assumed it wasn't going to be any good. The sushi places in the Greek area of the Danforth tend to be pretty pedestrian, all you can eat places so I guess I thought this would be the same but with noodles.


Illness will make you desperate though and I wasn't up to a drive to Markham or downtown so we popped in to check it out. Only two other tables were occupied and I almost bailed but the spotless, warmly lit interior, not to mention that delicious smells coming from the kitchen, convinced me to sit down and give this place a chance. If I could find a decent bowl of ramen in the east end, it would greatly improve my life.
The Kid drained his bowl of tempura udon and the salad was big enough for two

Our server was a lovely,  young lady who was clearly full of enthusiasm but appeared to be mildly overwhelmed by the task of taking care of her three tables. A couple of service snafus like forgetting to give us any sort of utensil to eat with or bringing water to the table after we asked her for it were forgiven once that steaming bowl of spicy miso ramen was set in front of me. It really was everything you could want. There was a generous amount of thinly sliced, tender roast pork, half a hard boiled egg, corn and some bamboo shoots. The noodles were chewy and properly cooked, the miso broth was appropriately thick and it , as advertised, spicy which is not always the case. I have discovered Japanese spicy is not my spicy but it was actually hot enough to warrant a dab of the nose with my napkin....oh wait, she never brought us any of those. No matter. Shack got up and swiped the place settings from a nearby table and really, she was adorable, but I wouldn't like to see what happens when the joint is jumping.

california rolls were fresh, light and exactly as they should be

We all thoroughly enjoyed our noodles, a really fresh, oversized green salad and perfectly done age dashi tofu. In fact, the only other time I have seen The Kid finish his whole bowl is when we eat at Kinton because the silly bugger says he prefers my noodle bowls. At under $10 per bowl, prices were  totally in line for everything we ordered although Shack remained obsessed with the $15 pricetag on the dragon rolls, which does seem pretty steep but we weren't there for the specialty rolls. In fact, many of the non noodle bowl menu offerings did seem a bit on the steep side, with lunch specials going for $12.50 in a neighbourhood were you can get the same deals for almost half the price.

Bottom line is that there is finally a decent ramen to be had in the east end of the city and that should make everyone just a little bit happier.



Nakayoshi Izakaya on Urbanspoon




The only other dining experience I had this week was at The Hard Rock Cafe at Dundas Square to celebrate a dear friend's birthday with a gaggle of kids in tow. It is actually the very first time I have ever been to a Hard Rock Cafe and the food was pretty much what I expected. My wings were not the worst I have ever had, our server was fabulous, the company was amazing and a great time was had by all. Will I ever go back there the next time I am peckish and I find myself a stone's throw from The Salad King?

Is that really a question?

I am just saying, I ate there, nobody died and I had a great time with my friends and I scored a fabulous pair of pewter Vans on the walk back to the car.

even mom needs new back to school metallic kicks


I spent the rest of the week tinkering with my recipe for Keftedes for the Blend and Extend campaign that will be appearing soon on the blog for Mushrooms Canada. This will be my very first offering as a guest blogger for Mushrooms Canada so make sure you pop over there and check it out when it goes live.

Next week is Back To School, which means back to making tasty lunches for The Kid, TIFF coming up for me and the continued hope that summer is going to finally make an appearance at some point in September. For now, let's enjoy the sun and I am going to enjoy my weekend loaner dog, Stella.

Our loaner dog, Stella, is so sweet and lovely that I could almost see myself getting another

Oh, and don't forget that next weekend is Awestruck, a giant food truck extravaganza that always brings the yum. Stop eating Thursday to get yourself ready to gorge on Saturday in Mississauga's Celebration Square. As a thank you to everyone who has come out and supported this event, admission will be free this year so you can spend more of your hard earned cash on delicious treats.

If you can't make it out to Mississauga  next week, there is an Awestruck Pop Up event going on today in the parking lot at 495 Wellington Street West from noon til 8pm. Even if you can make it out next weekend, go today anyway.

Happy eating!


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Post by Carole Nelson Brown.

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Comments

  1. ikbarcanadaJune 26, 2024 at 6:28 AM

    Potato bar mississauga puts a cool spin on quick casual dining. The potatoes are consistently cooked to perfection, and the staff is amiable.

    ReplyDelete

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