Foodiepages Dec 2016 Tasting Box Review!

Hope that everyone is having a great holiday season!
I just ordered and received the December 2016 Foodiepages tasting box.
The December edition was curated by Toronto Life magazine.
During the summer, there was also another box I had managed to buy that was curated by Toronto Life- it was a BBQ box then.
Now, I do not mind too much that this is a "curated by Toronto Life" box, but it would be nice if there was someone else to curate the box.
I'm not too sure who should be the next person or "thing" to curate a box, but I am sure there are a lot of interesting people who would do it (maybe I could) ,I buy a lot of Canadian foods and local foods from Ottawa.

Now onto my unboxing of the Foodiepages Dec box:

Opening my Dec 2016 Foodiepages Box!

Opening this box, there are always paper shreds that get everywhere!

Now here are the contents of the December box!

There are quite a few full-size items, so this is quite nice!

Dec 2016 Foodiepages Box Contents!

The first item I tried from the box was Neal Brothers' Montreal Steak Spice Kettle Chips.
The bag of chips was 142 grams and you can buy these chips online for $3 and in local Ottawa stores for around $4+.
The chips were very crunchy- as expected from kettle chips. The Montreal steak spice was quite spicy. I found it more like a spicy bbq seasoning, the chips were quite salty compared to what I usually buy.
I was a bit surprised to see Neal Brothers' products in a "Canadian" food box, as I do know the Neal Brothers' were born in Canada- but most of the products I have bought have all been PRODUCTS OF THE UNITED STATES.Now I do buy a lot of the Neal Brothers' pretzels and other flavours of chips all the time and really like their honey mustard pretzels (and those are from the US also).
I do buy food from every country, but do not really think these chips should have been an item in this box. Maybe they should have found a Neal Brothers' item that is made in Canada?
Now, I know they also make some salsa, and I have never tried that.
I am going to Whole Foods this weekend and I will make sure to look at the Neal Brothers' products while there.

*Shoko Chocolates Signature Bar: This was another full size item that is 90 grams and costs $8.50.
The chocolate bar smelled amazing and looking at the bar and trying it without reading the description I would have guessed it was 50-60% cocoa and not quite dark chocolate, but not quite milk chocolate either.
It reminded me of the Dolfin and Valrhona 60% bars I buy quite often (but not in months since no place I go to carries them).
If you know anyone who likes chocolate, this would be a great bar to give to anyone!

*All Mine Caramel Cayenne Caramel Corn: The bag for this was 75 grams and I was afraid that it would be too spicy. But as soon as I opened the bag and tried some I did not find that it was overly spicy. The spice shows up more after you have eaten the caramel corn.
The bag of caramel corn was finished almost as soon as it was opened.

All Mine Caramel Cayenne Caramel Corn!

I will finish the rest of my review later this week, still need to try the rest of the items and am working on that!

Fried Ice Cream in Ottawa South! Mexigo Cabana food truck!!

Hope everyone is keeping cool in this weather.
I really wanted to try the deep fried ice cream from Mexigo Cabana on earlier visits, bit was always too stuffed to get a dessert -finally I went there just to get some ice cream and it was quite good!
The portion size for the ice cream was enough for two people or else someone enjoys a lot of ice cream.

Deep Fried Ice Cream from Mexigo Cabana!

The ice cream that is used for this only comes in vanilla, it seems like a classic flavor.
It is just regular vanilla ice cream, nothing too fancy- but still good!

The menu describes this item as "A ball of ice cream smothered with cinnamon sugar deep fried covered with a sweet chocolate sauce whipping cream".
I think that is a pretty accurate description- except the ball of ice cream is also coated in  cereal like corn flakes or something else.
The whipping cream is most likely the canned stuff and quite sweet. The chocolate sauce was good too and is like the sauce you would put on a sundae.
Overall the fried ice cream was quite sweet and not something I want to eat every day, but will surely have more of them this summer.
I was also told there is a caramel sauce that you can ask for now!

The cost for the deep fried ice cream was $6.50 and does seem fair as the portion is quite large and was enough for two people.
*let me know if you do try the deep fried ice cream from Mexigo Cabana!Also where do you get fried ice cream from in Ottawa,I want to check out a few more places to see how they make them.
(I did have the Lone Star one before....)

Mexigo Cabana is located at Walkley and Bank st, in the parking lot of Mr. Lube.
-there are 2 picnic tables and an umbrella to sit under as well!

The hours for Mexigo Cabana are: Mom-Fri 11-7, Sat 11-5 Sunday Closed.

 

NEW FOOD TRUCK IN OTTAWA:MEXIGO CABANA!! BANK AND WALKLEY

I recently spotted a orange colored food truck in the parking lot of the Mr. Lube that is at Bank and Walkley.
Looking online I did not find any details about this truck or any reviews about it.
Passing by on the bus I did see they were open and the sign said MEXIGO CABANA!

I could not check it out until earlier this week and found out the truck is serving Mexican food, along with fries and burgers.
The owner/cook is a French-Canadian man, and he gave me a copy of his menu with descriptions without my even asking.
That was very helpful and the descriptions are very helpful. The hours they are open are also listed there.
There is also now a picnic table and umbrella, and the truck will be there all season or at least until the fall I would think!

Menu posted on the truck!

Earlier this week I had a poutine and it was really good. The fries were very hot and fresh, my only small complaint is the portion was quite small and I expected more fries.
I was supposed to share the poutine or at least the fries part and it was almost not enough for one person.
The portions for the mexican food are great, that is why I am surprized the fry portion is smaller.
Still, I will order fries here again, they were tasty!

Poutine:earlier this week.

This picture above was taken before I even ate any of my food.
Next time I will order just plain fries-hope there will be more fries.....




Earlier today I went back to try the Mexican food and ordered the Flautas and an order of guacamole.

Tasty Mexican food!

This was the Mexican food I ordered earlier. The Flautas were very tasty and had only white meat in them. The size was very good and filling. I did not realize they came with guacamole and would maybe have liked something else, as I did order a whole separate order of guacamole.
The order of gaucamole was quite big and I would say had at least 3 or 4 avocado in it and would be more than enough for 2 people.
The tortilla chips were also really good and fresh, they had no salt on them- but that is nice as often they are too salty when you get them at the store or other places.
You can add your own salt if you really want,but I do not think they need this at all.

Inside of chicken flauta!

I will definitely be back to try more of the menu. My food was tasty and well priced.
There is even fried ice cream on the menu and I used to always order that when I see it on a menu, but have not eaten at any place that has that in quite a while.

Here is a copy of the menu with descriptions I was given.
Also, the food is made to order, but came quite quickly-which was really nice.

MENU AND DESCRIPTIONS

I am curious to know if you try the food here and what dishes you ordered.
There is not really much info I could find about this food truck when I did look online-so hope this does help some people!
The hours for the food truck are: Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Saturday 11-5 SUNDAY CLOSED.
**I was also told they will be accepting credit cards soon....

June 2016 Topbox review!

Hi!
I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer and that it is not too humid in your area!
The weather here (Ottawa,Canada) has been quite hot and sunny-you can get a sunburn very easily.
If you wear sandals, remember to put sunscreen on the top of your feet,as they can burn quite easily too.

By now I have used to products in my June Topbox several times and thought the items sent are a good choice for summer.
One small annoyance is that I did not get a product info card and had to look up all the products-and some of the sites were making it hard to locate the correct product.

This month my Topbox came in a lovely metallic padded envelope.

Chic and festive envelope

Inside the envelope the contents of my bag were presented in a mesh bag.
I find these bags are quite useful- you can use them to wash small items in your clothes washer or just to organize your items.

My samples were packaged like this!

The contents of my June 2016 Topbox:

June 2016 Topbox!

Academie Beaute: moisturizing cream. Sample size 15ml, value $20/full size product 50ml, $60.
The Academie Beaute had a ton of products on their website and it was hard to locate this exact product.
The moisturizer is nice and light-like a gel and I think it would be good for summer as it is not a heavy-feeling product.
There is a light floral, kind of cosmetic scent to this cream. The brand is also made in France and seems to have very good quality skincare.
The only minus is that there is no sunscreen or SPF in this product,so you should use something with sunscreen if you are out during the day.

ORG SKINCARE: Mineral Peel Face: Sample size 5ml, value $5.00/full size 59ml, $44.I have never heard of this brand before and that it is a peel you use before doing your makeup in the morning.
Most other peels I have tried ,I use them at night-so this is quite a unique sounding product.
The instructions tell you to spray this on your face and leave it on for 3 seconds, use your fingertips in a circular motion to exfoliate, rinse with warm water, Repeat if desired.

I tried this and the peel, much to my surprise was not harsh at all.
My skin did feel and look much smoother and that was quite impressive.
What I did not like was that my cheeks felt a bit rough and had some kind of tiny bumps all over.

Each time I used the peel, it was the same thing-you could not really see the texture,but it was very noticeable to me.
Now that I used up the sample and am back to my usual peel (Exuviance 20%),the skin on my cheeks feels "normal" again.
The brand ORG SKINCARE is also based in Korea-the sample did not state this, but looking online.
Overall I did like this product,but undecided if I will purchase it.


Morgan Taylor: Professional Nail Laquer. Full size product 15ml, value $15
The shade I was sent is Postcards From Paris.
The laquer is made in the United States,so that is a plus.
The colour of the polish is a light turquoise with a bit of mint green. I think this would look really nice with a tan.
The bottle also feels expensive and not cheap looking. This would actually make a nice gift if you know someone who uses a lot of nail polish.

*I tried this polish on one finger with no base coat and no top coat and it chipped after one day.
If you use a topcoat,it should be more durable.

Second finger from left is Morgan Taylor lacquer

The second finger from the left is the Morgan Taylor lacquer,I only put on one coat and it chipped a bit the same day.
My other green polish-that is an Asian brand and that was on my nails 5 days with a topcoat.


Amika: Perk Up Dry Shampoo: travel size 21.3g, value $15 aprox.
It was hard to find this size for sale online in Canada.
I was pleased to try more products from this line-I did not know they had so many new products now.
Quite a while ago I tried their hair oil and really liked it.
The dry shampoo was easy to use and did refresh my hair. I would buy this product in the future.
Also the packaging looks very nice and colourful!

Final Thoughts:

The value of this box was quite good and was $60.
I like how there was some products for hair, skin and nails,but it would be nice to see some more face creams with sunscreen considering how sunny it is during the summer.
The only issue I have is that I seem to get quite a few nail polishes in the green family- light green, dark green, bluish green.

If you receive a Topbox, how were your selections this month?

Fairouz Restaurant Tasty and Modern Middle Eastern Food in Ottawa!

Fairouz Restaurant on Somerset!

There is a new Middle Eastern restaurant in Ottawa!
Now Fairouz does not serve the typical shawarma, falafel, regular hummus kind of foods you can get on every corner.
The cuisine is more refined and modern.
There is no regular hummus or tabouleh on this menu- also Fairouz is only open for dinner after 5pm.
The "new" Fairouz is located where their previous location was- in a cute house on Somerset St.

My mother from out of town treated me to this dinner, it is better to go with another person-that way you can try more of the dishes.
The meal was started with the Muhammara- a walnut, red pepper and pomegranate molasses dip.
There was also some fresh pomegranate seeds in the dip- that is quite different from other dips I have tried.
We were also brought a basket with with 2 nice pieces of warm homemade pita bread.
The pita had some herbs in it and I forgot to ask what they were.
The drink here was a "mocktail" of fresh grapfruit juice, cucumber, tonic water and not too sure- my mother ordered it and it was something the bartender made up.
If I have one negative thing to say, it is that you just get 1 piece of pita bread per person, then have to pay $2 for each extra piece.

Muhammara Dip and Grapefruit Drink

The next dishes I tried were the lamb neck Falafel and the Monforte Halloumi.
The lamb neck falafel, I was told is a mixture of 50% lamb neck meat and 50% vegetable falafel.
There was no all vegetable option for falafel on the menu.
I usually only like vegetarian falafel, but did try this just to see if I would even like it.
The falafel was very hot and fresh, not greassy at all.
The lamb meat was well ground up for the most part and not overly noticeable.
The falafel was also served with "spicy radish", that was 2 thin slices of watermellon radish with a sauce on them and some dill tahini.
You got 5 golf ball size falafel and it was $12.
There was no pita bread included with this dish.

Lamb Neck Falafel and Halloumi Appetizers

The Monforte Halloumi cheese was also really different and very good!
The cheese was nicely browned on top and served with pressed apples with some kind of Verjus, a beet emulsion was splashed around the plate and then some sumac and other spices.
There was also some very fresh pistachios on the plate.
Overall, all the tastes blended quite well- if I have to give one criticism it is that the cheese portion was very small for two people.
The cheese wedge was around 3" x2" and 1/2 an inch thick. It was maybe a couple bites of cheese and cost $13.
I think they should make the cheese part a little bigger. But then this place has only been open 2 weeks,so their menu is quite new.

Eggplant Mashi Sharing Plate $24

The main dish was the Eggplant Mashi- this is supposed to be a sharing plate.
I could eat this size of dish by myself, but with some appetizers it was a good size to split with another person. There was nothing left on this plate in the end!
The dish was served with chic pea balilah-this was chic peas with tomato (not exactly sure),there was also bulgur,fresh pomegranate,eggplant, also rice I think.
There was quite a few things in this dish- the outside of the eggplant was nice and crunchy. That is different from what I usually eat.
This dish kind of reminded me of a dish I buy at a store that has chick peas, eggplant,tomato- except this version was much more presentable.

Jawaher Rice $12

The Jawaher rice dish was also really good and so pretty to look at.
The rice was topped with some edible flowers, fresh pomegranate seeds,pistachio and there was a slight taste of orange in the dish.
The rice dish was very tasty to eat and I would order it again.

My Own Creation!  Falafel Miriam

This next dish was my own creation. I had quite a lot of time to sit and there were many dishes on the table- the dinner took around 2 hours at least.
So I thought I would try and make a mini Falafel pita sandwich.
This had the lamb neck falafel, dill tahini was already on the falafel and I added some Hibiscus Gel, topped with a piece of watermellon radish on a piece of homemade pita!
I thought all the tastes and textures of my creation went quite well together- the falafel and savory dill sauce, the sweeter hibiscus gel, the crunchy and spicy radish and the fresh bread!
I wonder if anyone will notice this dish I made??

Halwat II Jben $12

Finally the dessert that was ordered was the Halwat II Jben-that was made of "Sweetened Cheese • Rose Water • Semolina Custard • Black Sesame Nougatine".
There was also some maple drops on the plate, a fresh fig and edible flowers.
This was an interesting dessert. I would go back to try the other 2 desserts on the menu.

Lastly when we got our bill we were given a small plate with petit fours on it- there was a chocolate covered date that was cut in half and a shortbread-like cookie that had a whole apricot inside and was sprinkled with sesame seeds.
This cookie was cut in half so you could see the filling-this was a nice was to serve these two extra sweets!
*I can not get my photo to load,hopefully my description is good enough.


Final thoughts on my meal at Fairouz:

Overall the meal was very good and had many new combinations of flavours I did not expect.
My mother who often eats middle eastern food actually wondered where the Tahini sauce was, not realizing the version here was tahini and dill.
The pita bread was super good, but that you have to pay an extra $2 per piece and that there are so many sauce- adding an extra pita per person would be nice.
Also, that there is no vegetarian Falafel on the menu?
My mother is a "vegetarian" but decided to try the lamb Falafel for once anyways.
She did find the falafel amazing,I thought it was good-but I only really like vegetarian falafel.
If you are in a rush for dinner- this might not be a place to eat at- our meal was around 2h30 from start to finish- we got there at 6:20pm and left at 9:15.
But maybe for some drinks and some snacks like the dips it would be good to stop in- the bar area was very nice with high tables and chairs.

I will surely be back to sample some more of the dishes, the whole menu looks really good!

The Fairouz website can be found at:

http://fairouz.ca/contact/

The restaurant address is:

343 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, ON K2P 0J8

If you do eat at Fairouz, let me know what dishes you like and what drinks you have!

Foodiepages Tasting Box Review Jan 2016!

 Finally!
My box was a little late getting here and I was happy my box was not lost or taken off my front steps!
Everything in the box looked amazing and it was hard not to eat everything as soon as the box was opened.

It looks like there is a new box design for the FoodiePages boxes.
My earlier boxes always came in a plain brown box- this makes the box look much more fancy and very visible.

The New Packaging!

This is what I saw as soon as I opened my box.
They are always well packed with shredded paper and an info card.

Opening My FoodiePages Box!

Here are the tasty items that were sent in the January 2016 FoodiePages.ca tasting box:

Jan 2016 Tasting Box!

The first item I tried from this box was the Sapsucker Maple Tree Filtered Water!I was not familiar with this brand, but have bought some bottled maple water from the market in Montreal. It is very refreshing with a light maple taste- so I was looking forwards to trying this.
The Sapsucker packaging is much more practical to send by mail and not likely to break, as it is in a carton like the fruit juices that are shelf stable.
There is a small amount of natural sugar in this product and also some minerals that are good for you.
The maple taste is extremely light if you were to compare this to maple syrup- this is what they boil to get your maple syrup in the bottle. Except that with maple syrup it is much more concentrated.
I read that Whole Foods carries this product,I will look for it next time I am there and will surely buy a couple cartons for myself and gifts!

Maple Water in my Cup!

This is what the maple water looked like in my cup- pretty much like water!
When this is chilled, it is so refreshing!


**The rest of my tasting notes will be up shortly. I need to catch some sleep before continuing....

Harvey's new dougnuts are AMAZING!! Finally they are back!

Doughnuts at Harvey's??
Yes, at the hamburger place. This is quite unexpected and I hope they stay on the menu this time!
I first tried these last year and was so dissapointed to see them go.
But then I got a printed notice with sandwich coupons a few weeks ago and there was an ad for the mini doughnuts on the back!

I rushed to the closest Harvey's and they did not yet have the doughnuts.
But last week they did have them!

Harvey's Doughnuts!

The doughnuts seem to be fried right when you order them and then then sprinkle them with a ton of cinnamon and sugar!
These were served to me in a paper bag- kind of like when you get the mini doughnuts at the fair!
An order of four mini doughnuts is $2 or you can get 8pc for $3.
The only "problem" I can see with these is it is much too easy to eat an order of eight and still want more of these tasty doughnuts.

The rest of my Harvey's order is quite healthy,so it is ok to splurge on these.
Usually I order a veggie burger with lettuce,tomato,mustard,relish and have a salad instead of fries.
Also instead of soda I get juice or plain milk-they also have chocolate milk that is quite tasty!

Have you tried the new doughnuts at Harvey's? What did you think about them?

Eggnog French Toast or Eggnog "bread pudding"! Fun in the Kitchen...I made this!!

Eggnog French Toast or "bread pudding"!

This is the first time I have posted a recipe that I made myself!
I happened to have a bunch of things here and really wanted some french toast- or something similar.
There were some leftover croissants that were a bit too dry and hard,some eggnog in my fridge and local eggs.
I've made french toast in the oven before and used to make bread pudding at a local restaurant- so kind of figured I would combine all these things.

First I cut up some day old croissants- these came from some bakery in Montreal.
My mother forgot the name and said it is some bakery that does not have a sign??
Well I used 3 croissants in my dish.

Cut up Croissants!

Next I mixed some eggnog and eggs in a bowl.

Remember to use a larger measuring cup or bowl-this was a bit too full and messy....

Eggs and Eggnog!

Then pour the mixed eggnog and eggs on top of the cut up croissants.

Before the oven

After a long time baking,this was the final product!
It tasted amazing and also can be stored in the freezer if cut in slices before freezing.
Best served with maple syrup or some fresh fruits!

Bread pudding or French toast, maybe both!

If you enjoyed this recipe or would like the actual measurements and baking info I can post that.
This would be a good dish for a brunch, dessert, snack.
Also you could freeze this and quickly reheat it for a breakfast on the run.
You can use any day old bread or baguette. The chain Independent always seems to have a lot of baguette and day old bread for half price.

Popeye's Butterfly and Popcorn shrimp review! Ottawa locations.

I have not put up any posts in the past two weeks as I was waiting to hear back from a couple of food related issues.
As well, I was debating whether to put my pictures up. But seeing as I ordered a couple of meals at Popeye's Walkley rd location and am being told my last order was BUTTERFLY SHRIMP- when it clearly was not.
The store was closing soon, and staff were also telling people they had items-like fries,biscuits. They were ringing up people's orders then as soon as they paid "oh, we are out of biscuits,would you like some mash potato instead or some rice?".
Not very cool to do that,quite a few people seemed annoyed.
Stupidly I did not check my container or sauces when I was there, only to get home and see I was given popcorn shrimp instead of the larger butterfly shrimp.
Also got the wrong sauces- sweet heat and some honey- when I had asked for seafood sauce.
I contacted their customer service through Facebook and sent them a picture of my food.
"Popeye's replied I was given the correct item".
My other beef (or lard, maybe) was the shrimp were under the heat lamp too long and rubbery- also some bits were hard like rock and inedible.
Apparently, they do not really seem to care to do anything even after I mentioned my shrimp were rubbery and really overcooked.

I will post both my meals just to see if anyone else thinks they look like they are the same item.
To me, the first order had 8 big shrimp and they were much more spicy than expected.
My first order of butterfly shrimp had the tails on them and the butterfly cut.
-I used to work at a seafood restaurant years ago and had to butterfly and devein  hundreds of shrimp every day. Also did cleaning of other seafood, prep and made some desserts.
So, I guess you can say I know a bit about seafood.

Popeye's Butterfly Shrimp combo.

This was my butterfly shrimp combo meal. I ordered fries with it and asked for blackened ranch and seafood sauce. I was actually surprised that the seafood sauce was not a Popeye's branded item,but Lynch foods (their sauces are good,I actually buy some from somewhere to use at home).
I put a soft drink bottle cap to try and give an idea of the size of the shrimp.
The fries were ok, but quite greasy. At room temp there is a coating of shortening on them that is not very pleasing.

Butterfly Shrimp? or so I am told.....

The photo above is what I was given last week when I ordered butterfly shrimp.
To me this does not look like the same item I had gotten on earlier visits.
I was told that this is the same item. So even if my shrimp was overcooked and rubbery,they do not seem to care too much.
I have not gone back in person to address this because there is another restaurant in the same plaza that makes breaded shrimp and fried chicken.
-Shawarma house has breaded shrimp and fries and they are quite good. But you have to wait around 15 minutes as they are not prepared and are cooked when you order them.
You can always call ahead to order and usually I do that, but this time I did not bother.

During my earlier visit at Popeye's I also ordered their Mississippi Mudcake.
I will post my review separately for that,as this is about shrimp.

So, do you think these two shrimp pictures depict the same item?
To me they look quite different.
I plan on trying a few more Popeye's items. Hopefully the customer service will be better and  my shrimp will not be like rubber.

Anyways, let me know what you think of Popeye's food in Ottawa.What dish should I try next?