The Week In Yum - Fishman's Lobster Clubhouse and My Next Mexican Destination

Covarrubias demonstrated this whimsical chocolate dessert honouring Cacao , native to Guadalajara 

This week has been a crazy week in my world. We don't really celebrate Easter and usually use it as an excuse to visit with friends and family because we are all forced to take a couple of days off but this year, Easter Sunday also happened to be The Kid's 20th birthday. That meant some fine eating occurred.

My Friday Sous Weed class at The Depanneur sold out AGAIN, so we added a second class on Wednesday so I was busy getting everything ready during the week, alongside much tasty eating and celebrating.

Fishman's Lobster Clubhouse

The highlight of the birthday meals was our first trip, at long last, to Fishmans Lobster Clubhouse in the heart of Scarborough. This iconic Lobster (and crab and lots of other seafood) emporium is so popular that people fly to Toronto just to eat there. With walls lined with tanks that are fully stocked with lobster and crab, this rite of passage absolutely requires reservations if you plan to go for dinner, but it's easier to snag a table if you go at lunch.

soon to be lunch

Best experienced with a large group so that you can eat more stuff but we still had a great lunch. We got about 6.5 of lobster - they drag live lobster and crab around in bins with ropes attached so they can show it to you first and then you have to take the requisite photo of one of you holding up the giant crustaceans or else I think they might kick you out. We order the Hong Kong style lobster lunch special, with the lobster priced at $17.99/lb, fried rice made with the tomalley, steamed greens and dessert. We added a $28 full sized bottle of sake and a $14 order of bland noodles and the final bill came to $200 for three of us and we could have easily fed a fourth person. My recommendation would be to skip all the sides, order the seafood a la carte ($20/lb for lobster and $50/lb for king crab leg). The rice and noodles were bland and neither here nor there so budget between $70 and $100 per person to eat your face off. We had a late lunch and none of us wanted anything else to eat for the rest of the day.

The spectacle of your piping hot, perfectly cooked lobster jenga, smothered in crispy shallots, garlic chips and fries, makes the slightly more expensive than regular Chinatown lobster worth the drive.

Fishman's Lobster Clubhouse
4020 Finch Ave East, Scarborough
416 321-0250
Open seven days a week from 11am to 11pm
reservations a must for dinner but you can usually snag a table at lunch if you walk in

On Sunday, The Neighbours had us over for a birthday/Easter dinner of delicious ham, scallopped potatoes, green and yellow beans with pancetta and a yummy trifle dessert. We busted out the remaining bottle of the 1999 Beringer that we bought the year he was born and after decanting, we were relieved to find that it was delicious - I was afraid that if we opened up a corked hot mess of a wine that it would be pox upon his coming year. Whew.

On Monday, Shack had to work so that meant that The Kid and I went to Pho Hung on Spadina for lunch because that Vietnamese is usually a pretty hard sell for Shack so we take advantage of his absence to indulge. I have been eating at Pho Hung since I was 20 years old and here I was, sitting with MY 20 year old son, the soup just as flavourful and addicting as it was 35 years ago.

OMG< HOW AM I SO OLD???

Visit Guadalajara

My week ended with a Travel Massive event, hosted by the Visit Guadalajara. My love of Mexico is apparent to all who know me but I have never been to this wonderful sounding city and so I signed up for this one. Travel Massive is a community for travel writers and people involved in all aspects of the travel industry and this was my first sponsored event in a couple of years.

Award winning pastry chef and her award winning, Irish expat by way of Paris, London and NYC

Renowned chef power couple, Chef Darren Walsh (Lula Bistro) and his wife,Pastry Chef Fernanda (La Posteria) Covarrubias were in attendance, providing us with these beautiful bites. Based on what I tasted, if this level of culinary talent is any indication of what Guadalajara has to offer, sign me up. I am already looking into flights and researching what other delights await.