So, I work in Downtown Toronto, which has TONS in terms of great restaurants...but the one thing I always have trouble finding downtown, is good Indian food.

Now, I LIVE in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto. Brampton has a MASSIVE South Asian population and as such, we have more Indian restaurants per capita than we do McDonalds or Tim Hortons! (I'm not exaggerating here, I actually did a Google Maps comparison once)

So as it happens, one of my coworkers was asking me over lunch that since I was from Brampton, if I knew the best Indian restaurants out my way. I told her I did, and ended up compiling a nice long list of my favourite places, and I thought I would share the same with all of you:

Mint Indian Bistro: http://is.gd/8WgqYB

These guys are a bit less traditional, and a lot more modern/funky...great little place to go for lunch or for a laid back dinner. Cool atmosphere there too.

Minar Fine Indian Cuisine: http://is.gd/n2QAZb

These guys are the real deal. Straight up, no nonsense, authentic South Indian fare. Their Biryani is addictive, as are their samosas, and their sweets are ALWAYS fresh. (Protip: get the Jalebi and some Gulab Jamun and thank me later.)

Tandoori Flame: http://www.tandooriflame.com

Decently good buffet, I say "decently" because I will admit I'm kind of a snob when it comes to Indian food. At any rate, this place is kind of a big deal as Indian restaurants go in B-Town. Ironically though, I would avoid the tandoori chicken...it's a bit too bony (however it HAS been a year or so since I was there last, so maybe they've improved on that). Everything else there is good though, and their vegetarian offerings are great. I would liken this place to the Indian equivalent of Mandarin. It's not strictly authentic...but if you're a newbie to Indian food, this is the kind of place to check out. That said, perfect place for a date, the ambiance and decor is spectacular.

Also, not Indian food at all, but if you want some REALLY good thai food (especially pad thai), check out Bamboo Garden on Kennedy Road: http://is.gd/FvVo6I (I also highly recommend their seafood congee)

Also ALSO not Indian food, but a couple other restaurants to check out in Brampton, both right in old Downtown Brampton (aka "the four corners") right across from the Rose Theatre

Green Cup Roastery: http://is.gd/H9Htzm

Cool little cafe, steps away from Rose Theatre and Gage Park, their French Macarons are ridiculously good, and they serve French Press coffee like pubs serve pitchers of draught beer. :P

Poutine! Dare To Be Fresh: http://www.poutinedaretobefresh.ca/

Stupidest name ever, but if you love poutine, this place has the best I've ever had aside from Smoke's Poutinerie here in Toronto.

So there ya go...contrary to what many will tell you, Brampton is not entirely boring (pfff, yes it is, I'm lying through my teeth here...:P)

So, I'm a foodie. This much my site will tell you. I also love to cook, and as an extension of my culinary tinkering, I also love coming up with new drink and cocktail recipes whenever I get the chance. However I'm notoriously bad for coming up with really great cocktails but then forgetting to put them into a written recipe form. However, this is going to change with this blog post.

This past weekend, my girlfriend had a BBQ at her house, and I got to play amateur bartender again. The party was BYOB, and since we're all a bunch of broke twentysomethings, BYOB meant "don't spend actual money on booze, just bring what you have sitting in your cupboard". Now I love a challenge, and believe me my foodie/mixologist muscles got a workout, but here's what I came up with.

Drunken Blue Something:

• 2 parts blue curacao
• 2 parts Soho Lychee liqueur
• 1 part bar syrup
• 1/2 part lemon juice
• 1/2 part lime juice
• Club Soda (or Tonic Water, if you want a little bit of a bitter bite)

Fill martini mixer half way with ice, pour ingredients, and shake vigourously. Pour into highball glass and add as much club soda as desired. This drink can also be a shooter if the club soda is not included.

Green Monster:

• 1 part Sauza Tequila Silver
• 2 parts McGuinness Melon
• 2 parts Soho Lychee liqueur
• 1 to 2 parts bar syrup (per personal preference)
• 1/2 part lemon juice
• 1/2 part lime juice

As before with Drunken Blue Something, pour contents into martini mixer filled half way with ice, shake and pour into scotch glass. Also as before, this drink can be served as a shooter.

Fruit Bomb Daquiri:

• 1 part Soho Lychee liqueur
• 1 part bar syrup
• 1/2 part lemon juice
• 1/2 part lime juice
• Daquiri mix, thawed

Combine ingredients in scotch glass and stir, garnish with an orange slice or rim glass with brown sugar.

So, my girlfriend and I were bored and hungry today...so I decided to treat her to a meal at my favourite little Vietnamese/Thai place here in Brampton: Bamboo Garden. If you live in Brampton, or anywhere in the GTA, and have not been to Bamboo Garden, I STRONGLY URGE you to go. Their pad thai is second to none in my book; easily the best I have ever had. But I will admit...I have played it safe for a long time with Thai and Vietnamese cuisine...but I blame their pad thai for being so damn awesome.

Now normally, if I go to a restaurant, my first impulse is to try the most exotic thing on the menu. However so comfortable I have become with Bamboo Garden's pad thai, that I rarely ever give anything else on their menu (aside from their pho) a second look. However today, armed with the knowledge of their stellar past track record of amazing pad thai and pho, and a week of googling vietnamese food after a former co-worker posted a bunch of recipes and photos on Facebook, I decided to branch out a little and try what has become my new favourite Vietnamese dish: Congee.

Congee, for those who don't know, is more or less a simple savoury rice porridge flavoured and filled with either seafood, beef, or chicken, along with scallions, parsley and shredded ginger, served piping hot...and it is MAGNIFICENT. To look at it...it looks like someone overboiled a pot of rice and tried to compensate for screwing it up by tossing random ingredients in haphazardly at the last second. However, it's far from that...Congee is like a party in your mouth. Between the buttery smooth texture of the rice porridge base itself, to the flavourful gestalt of the other ingredients...I can think of no better dish that would have just hit the right spot on a chilly November day here in the Greater Toronto Area.

On the subject of the GTA and Brampton especially, Bamboo Garden and its spectacular menu exemplifies my favourite thing about Brampton, the food. We have some AMAZING restaurants here (a lot of them Indian due to the immense South Asian population in this city), and over the next little while, I'm going to be blogging about all of them and encouraging all of you to come to Brampton and give them a try.

If you're Canadian, you know what Poutine is (you damn well better, anyway... :P). For those of you outside the Great White North who know nothing of Quebec's greatest contribution to comfort food, Poutine is french fries smothered in chicken gravy and white cheese curd. It's also Quebecois-en-jouale for "Disgusting Mess" (true fact, not even lying here). And to look at it, you'd probably see why the Quebeckers call it that. However, "Disgusting Mess" is far from how it tastes...and at Smoke's Poutinerie in Toronto, you can get true Quebec-style poutine for a pretty decent price, given the portion size.

They don't just stop at authentic-style poutine though...ohhh no, a quick look at their menu shows that they put their own little spin on poutine to the point where it more or less reaches the mentality of "what crazy toppings could we possibly put on top of french fries that would still look like a 'disgusting mess' but taste freaking awesome??"

That wacky mentality doesn't just extend to their menu selections either, their staff are just as colourful. When I was there my first time, I was greeted by a dude sporting sunglasses with dinosaur designs on the lenses and hair that looks like he'd stuck his head in a cuisinart. It was a bit like watching a cooking show starring Zach Galifanakis. Having said that though, the dude definitely makes a mean poutine (hey that rhymes...), And with two locations in the downtown core plus a catering truck at the CNE last year...this is one franchise to watch (I'm hoping someone has the good sense to open one here in Brampton in the new Bramalea City Centre extension...that'd be awesome!)

food·ie

 (fd)