Foodaholic!: Sandwiches

Fresh East is a new fast-casual sandwich shop from the growing Paramount Fine Foods chain. This is their third locations in Ontario, as there is one in London, and another at Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga. Their third branch is conveniently located on Yonge/Dundas; a busy district near the Eaton's Center, and Cineplex. Fresh East offers casual Middle Eastern inspired food at relatively affordable prices, and perfect for those on student budgets (as it's also near Ryerson). Like all of the Paramount chain restaurants, Fresh East caters to serving only halal-certified food. Halal is meat (excluding pork) that has been prepared according to Islamic guidelines. Although, they are a halal-certified restaurant, many of their menu items also cater to health-conscious diners as well.

Fresh East has positioned themselves as a quick-serve restaurant, and does not offer full-table service. Rather, they are more focused on providing high quality, and freshly prepared food. The halal sandwich shop simply occupies a small storefront where they only do take-out orders. Essentially, customers get a taste of the aromatic flavour of the Middle East with a mixture of Western influence (with the sauce, and toppings). It is here where customers are able to customize freshly baked sub or shawarma to their liking using only the freshest ingredients and toppings. All of their items are clearly displayed on the menu screen on the wall, and the toppings are openly display at the counter top area. Their menu items range from pitas, submarines, sandwich in a bowl, soup, salads, and breakfast.

Similar to several submarine sandwich chains, customers can choose from either a 6 inch or foot long (12 inch) sub. They also have the option to change it to a wrap, or shawarma. The concept entails the customers having the ability to customize their sandwiches to their liking - from choosing the bread type, toppings, and sauces. I opted to try one of their submarine sandwiches, which are made with daily fresh-baked bread, and halal deli-fresh meat. The 6 inch sub starts at $4.29 on top of which you can add additional toppings. After going through the menu, I opted for the 12 inch turkey submarine ($7.89); an offering from their FreshEast Delight menu. For an additional $2.49, I made it a meal by adding a fountain drink with a bag of chips. The deli roast turkey style slices was good, and I liked that it wasn't loaded with sodium. Now, I didn't go crazy with my selection of toppings, and instead chose the bare minimum. However, I must say that the options available for the toppings, and sauces were pretty good in terms of variety. There are many ways that one can customize their sub and shawarma here. Overall, it was a solid submarine sandwich with a good amount of turkey slices, and filling.

J got the 12 inch roast beef ($7.29) as his choice of submarine sandwich, and also made it a meal for an additional $2.49. The amount of roast beef that they give you in the sub was abundant, and the sub itself was rather filling. The only thing that I wished that was done differently was that we weren't asked if we wanted the buns to be toasted, so it was left untoasted. That was a minor issue for us though, as we headed home, and re-heated the buns. Overall, I'd say that Fresh East is a great spot to grab a quick meal, as they offer a healthier alternative to the array of fast-food options in the area.

Address: 334 Yonge St, Toronto ON, M5B 1R8

Social Media:

Website: http://fresheast.ca/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/fresheast_ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreshEastCanada

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fresheast_ca

Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary courtesy of Fresh East. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.

I have been to The Happy Hooker a few times now as it's literally a 5 minute walk from J's house. As I have mentioned before in a previous blog post; the place has an outdoorsy feel with its wooden panels, paintings, random items like a Pacman machine, and even a washroom marked "outhouse".

I was invited to a media tasting in late October at The Happy Hooker to preview some of their new menu items. Chef Bethany McBride now heads the kitchen of The Happy Hooker and is originally from the South. She has incorporated and brought a lot of southern influence from back home to the seafood-centric establishment.

To start off the menu tasting, we had the Southern comfort chowder. I am not a huge fan of chowder, but I absolutely enjoyed this bowl of hearty goodness. Normally, I find that chowders tend to be really chunky. However, I found this dish to be comforting and creamy without being overly thick. In addition to the veggies that are mixed into the chowder; there are also three types of clams (Maine, Nova Scotia and Edmonton). This dish is perfect for the extremely cold weather that we're experiencing on and off in Toronto these days.

The next dish was the seafood popcorn ($9) which consisted of breaded calamari, shrimp and mahi mahi. This appetizer comes with three different dipping sauces; Chipotle aioli, Chipotle adobo and lemon aioli. This is a great starter to get, especially if you're a fan of deep fried seafood like I am.

This is how the seafood popcorn looks like when you order it.

Another starter that we were introduced to was the lobster spring roll. Chef Bethany McBride wanted to create an appetizer that was slightly different from the traditional lobster roll that they already offered on their menu. The fresh Maine lobster meat was wrapped in traditional rice papers, and deep fried. Instead of aioli, there is cream cheese in the filling which complements the taste of the lobster. The lemon honey sauce that was served with the spring roll was brought over from Ireland. I just think it's a matter of preferences, but I did think that the sauce was a little too strong in taste.

The Happy Hooker offers a few sandwiches on the menu as well, and we got to taste both the Louisiana Black Cat and Creole Shrimp Po Boy.

The chef's take on the Louisiana Black Cat ($9) offers a taste of the South as Chipotle aioli and lime were used to complement the blackened catfish. The catfish was lightly battered and tasted good with the Portuguese bread. The bread was a debated issue within the small group of bloggers who attended the event. Some thought that the doughiness of the bread overwhelms the texture of the catfish,while others liked it. The bread used is from a neighboring Portuguese bakery so they're not baked in-house.

The Creole Shrimp Po Boy ($11) seems to be an updated version of their previous po boy sandwich, which was fried. Unfortunately, I have never tried the previous one, so I can't really offer a fair comparison. The one that I had that day contained a good helping of shrimp and it was topped off with a lot of spicy Creole sauce (mustard).

Lastly for dessert, we were served key lime pudding. While thinking of a dessert that could be perfectly paired with fish; the chef thought of key lime. I thought that the light citrus dessert was good to end the dinner with. The dessert was made fresh from scratch, and contains 6 lbs of key lime and topped off with whipped cream.

Although their menu may be limited compared to other places; it's one of the better places in Toronto that does seafood right. They also have a full service bar with a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Additionally, their bartender also likes to create plenty of creative mixes that are often featured on the menu.

Address: 887 Dundas St West Toronto, ON, M6J 2P8
Website: http://www.happyhookerfish.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/happyhookertdot

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyhookerfish

Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.