Seven Lives Tacos Y Mariscos *.

Seven Lives Tacos is a hot spot at Kensington Market!
During the time that we ate here, lines kept building up (even though we didn't come here during prime time) 
I really like the cat logo for this place :D

Cool graffiti art around the area - a completely different part of Toronto! We sat beside a really nice Mexican lady who told us the proper ways of "how to eat a taco" lol and about her hometown - so cute and friendly :)

For drinks, we ordered the Mexican sodas:
* MANGO
* GUAVA
* GREEN APPLE

Best. Fruit. Sodas. EVER! (I've established that I like Mexican juice sodas from now on muaha)
We loved it!! We ordered an extra soda afterwards because we liked it so much :)

* BAJA FISH
(Battered & Deep Fried Mahi Mahi | House Sauce)
My favourite taco out of all - the deep fried mahi mahi was so crispy.

* GOBERNADOR
(Smoked marlin taco | Shrimp and Cheese)
Shrimps were delish!

* CATCH OF THE DAY
This was just as tasty but when comparing this the catch of the day taco with the deep fried mahi mahi, the mahi mahi wins by a mile :P

You can see a glimpse of the cute cat logo I was talking about earlier :D

Friendly tip:
Their hot sauces are ranged from mild - regular - spicy.
Spicy was EXTREMELY spicy for us (We died a little trying this sauce...). So be warned!

Seven Lives Tacos Y Mariscos

$  Mexican, Seafood

69 Kensington Avenue
Toronto, ON M5T 2L6

Las Vegas - VLOG *.

I finally remembered to upload my vlog from my trip to Las Vegas :D

Here's a mini snippet from my trip :)
* IG highlight - Arizona, Nevada *.

The full vlog #travelwithcherie :

* Hoover Dam - I actually watched the movie San Andreas a few days before my visit here so that made things more interesting haha. The place is incredibly huge - incredible engineering.

* helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon (definitely recommending this!! ❤ It was so much fun - the pilot was great at explaining things on the way and there wasn't much turbulence.)

* Coca-Cola factory - we tried out the flavours of the world! Although some flavours were pretty gross, it was so much fun trying this! I debated on whether I should add reaction videos but ended up not doing that haha :P 

xx

Amsterdam BrewHouse *.

P and I came to Amsterdam BrewHouse for drinks (honestly just to kill some time before our next event haha) and the waitress recommended us these beer selections:

* (416) LOCAL LAGER * 4.2% ABV, 20 IBUS

* NATURAL BLONDE LAGER * 5% ABV, 15 IBUS

It was displayed in two rows in mini beer glasses, it's cute. We ended up making up a chess-like drinking game and I won *smirk ;)

The drinks were okay but service was extremely slow (all the tables around us were trying to flag down the same waitress lol -_- ).

Amsterdam BrewHouse

$$  Bars

245 Queens Quay W
Toronto, ON M5J 2K9

Byblos *.

Pb took me to Byblos for a #monthlyanniversary surprise haha ❤ ty ty

.* iG highlight - crispy eggplant dish *.

I mentioned I wanted to come here a little while ago but I completely forgot about mentioning it (nor do I know where it was located) so it was definitely a surprise :D gj gj! Yummy Mediterranean food.

P booked it in advance - apparently it gets booked out quickly (during prime-time) so reservations are recommended!

Such a cute and modern atmosphere :)

Snapped a pic of the menu while P is away :P

DRINKS:

Bubbly x 2

APPETIZERS:

CRISPY EGGPLANT (5/5)
(Tahini Aioli + Bayildi Sauce + Basturma)

Loved this! The eggplant was crispy and sizzling hot - so delicious. The sauce etc. were also good. Not dry at all!

LAMB RIBS (3/5)
(Dukkah + Buttermilk Sauce + Carob Molasses + Red Chili Schug)

I was "meh" for the lamb ribs haha. P loved this dish and said its one of this top votes of the night. The lamb taste / smell was a little too strong for my liking :P

MAINS:

CRISPY SQUID (4/5)
(Bandari Spice + Schug + Toum)

This was savoury. Very crispy - it tasted like marinated fries lol.

WHOLE BONELESS BRANZINO (5/5)
(Vine Leaf + Chemoula + Saffron Toum + Eggplant Pickle)

My favourite dish of the night! The fish being boneless made it so easy to eat. The way they marinated it was very unique - lovely flavour. Would definitely order this again when I revisit.

DESSERTS:

TURKISH DELIGHT (Black Tea) (2/5)
(Turkish apricots, pistachios and hazelnuts in organic earl greyblack tea with Bergamo)

I thought this was lacking flavour.. :( could be better. If you're looking for a very light tasting tea to end the night off, this would be your pick.

ROSE NOUGAT (4/5)
(with saffron cotton candy)

We didn't expect the dessert to look / taste like this at all - pleasantly surprised :). A light dessert to enjoy - not too sweet. The rose flavour made the dessert have such a nice aroma. Yummy!

We will return to try a completely different set of dishes soon.

Byblos

$$$  Mediterranean

11 Duncan Street
Toronto, ON M5V 3M2

After Queen Tea Shop *.

Came to After Queen Tea Shop with my friend for a really girly afternoon tea session. 

We both love afternoon tea so we decided to check this place out. The decor is so cute and detailed! 

Snapped this picture before my friend came.. haha 

Everything in the shop is tea/British themed - even down to the nightlight on a random plug. It's very cute.

The tea sets are real china.

We ordered the HIGH TEA set:

* Scones with Devon cream & jam

* Sandwiches (cucumber, smoked salmon, apple)

* Quiches with mixed green salad

* Desserts

We called in advance to book for high tea - they make the quiches in advance, so it is recommended that you book beforehand. It was very filling but everything was delish! 

The service was excellent - they checked on us in good intervals. We ended up staying for 3hrs+ (we talked A LOT..) but now that I look at the menu, it says it's max 2hrs sitting hahaha but that's okay.. no one was waiting anyways.. :P

I'll revisit again :)

After Queen Tea Shop

$$  Desserts, Tea Rooms, British

7355 Bayview Avenue
Markham, ON L3T 5Z2

Omescape *.

Omescape gets 5/5 stars!! 
It was the first place I've ever escaped the room - soooo happy.. FINALLY! haha 
(I've been to other escape places before but I'm always a clue/two away.. urghh)
Came with a group of 7 - prior to the game, Karen and I were already like - if we don't escape, we will be disappointed in Alex LOL #peerpressure

Our team "SUCCESS COMBO" (LOL) tried the MYSTERIOUS STUDY room.

All the clues were sequenced so we were able to escape - without any hints! Karen enjoyed the walkie talkie conversation. Whenever we used it, they asked us "Did you want a clue?" and Karen was like "No, time check please." Haha
Don't want to give any spoilers out - but I can say that this room is very techy and the way they "unveil" the next room is super cool. Scared Monique so much though hahaha too funny.

They have a very spacious board games and bubble tea area too - I like how the set up is more spaced out unlike typical bubble tea places (usually packed together).
We will come back for more board games / escape the room games!

Omescape

Arts & Entertainment

7501 Woodbine Avenue
Markham, ON L3R 2W1

Pai Northern Thai Kitchen *.

Had a great time at Pai! 
Our friends told Peter and I how good their curry is so we had to give it a try. 

Came here for an early dinner so we got our seats right away. The decor was so colourful and cute.

Funny thing is that Pbb asked me if it's like that in Thailand because I went for vacay there before and I'm like yaaa it's the SAMEE~ (I was like 4 - #noclue hahaha)

DRINKS:

OKANAGAN Beer (not mine haha) & Thai Iced Tea (5/5)

STARTERS:

CHICKEN WINGS (3/5)

Nothing too special - it tasted like grilled chicken wings, that's all.

TOM YUM SOUP (with shrimp) (5/5)
I loveeeed this - It brought up a good appetite since the soup was both sweet and sour (and a little spicy). Next time I visit Pai, I will order the large portion of this (I got the small one this time).

MAINS:

GAENG MASAMAN with braised beef (4/5)
(Sweet and sour, ginger curry. Served with steamed jasmine rice.)

The curry has a lot of coconut flavour to it - creamy and smooth. Very delicious!!
The braised beef could be more tender though!

KHAO SOI (4/5)
(Fresh egg noodles in a golden curry topped with crispy noodles, coriander, green onions.)

The braised beef was sooo good and tender in this dish! 
(Which we thought was weird because we thought they would use the same type of braised beef in the curries).

DESSERTS:

MANGO STICKY RICE (3/5)
It's yummy. I would've preferred a mixture of purple/black rice and white rice for texture.

Pai Northern Thai Kitchen

$$  Thai

18 Duncan Street
Toronto, ON M5H 3G6

Home of Hot Taste *.

Came to Home of Hot Taste for spicy chicken after my friend, Dan, recommended it to us. We came here during prime dinner time so it was hard to find parking around the plaza. Be warned - drivers were pretty vicious hahaha. Peter sped for that one precious parking spot which 3 cars were about to snatch.. Anyhow, we felt so successful after we parked LOL

BLAZING FIRE CHICKEN WITH CHEESE
This was delicious - I love the melted cheese that goes with the chicken. It would've been even nicer if they added instant noodles with it but we ordered fried rice, which was good too. First few bites wasn't as spicy but once you chowdown on this - it's spicy alright.

KIMCHI FRIED RICE (with oyster)
We thought the kimchi fried rice won over the spicy chicken. So flavourful and not overly spicy. They could add more oysters though (total count of 3).

Home of Hot Taste

$$  Korean

5 Glen Cameron Rd
Markham, ON L3T 2A9