Dear & Fro

A cute and comfy place to enjoy some bingsu!

Bingsu is a Korean dessert made with shaved ice and a variety of different toppings. Dear Fro uses milk in their bingsu which gives it that velvety texture and a creamy taste.

Dear Fro offers all the classic bingsu flavours such as injeolmi, strawberry, mango and matcha. The ice is so finely shaved it just melts in your mouth. It's creamy, fluffy and refreshing!

The classic injeolmi bingsu is my favourite. Injeolmi is a type of tteok (Korean rice cake). It was described to me as mochi and it makes sense cause I love it very mochi!

I love how the flavours are mixed in the shaved ice so each bite is so flavourful. 

Dear Fro also serves honey toast! It is perfectly toasted and sweetened with honey. It comes with a scoop of matcha ice cream and a scoop of black sesame ice cream too! I personally think that it's never too cold for bingsu, but sometimes you just need to warm up with one of these toasty treats!

Cluny Bistro & Boulangerie

Such an amazing French restaurant located at the distillery district

I've been a fan of Cluny ever since I discovered their chocolate croissants. This time I decided to try their brunch menu. I had such an amazing experience I actually contemplated moving to one of the condos nearby so I can eat here every day! Apparently all it takes is good food/mimosas to make me relocate.

Everything from the decor, music, service, and most of all their delicious food, remind me of France. Even the waitress addressed me as "mademoiselle". I half expected my cutlery to start singing "be our guest" (this may have been the effects of the mimosa).

In the dining section there's a whole island of just fresh bread and an assortment of pastries. I had to resist the urge to grab one of everything! The garlic rosemary bread is definitely my favorite and I highly recommend it! 

For brunch, I tried the baked vanilla and chocolate french toast (emphasis on the chocolate - they definitely did not skimp on the chocolate part). I love the vanilla and cinnamon combo in the french toast. It felt like I was having dessert for breakfast which just happens to be my favorite kind of breakfast.

Brunch tip: restaurants are not legally allowed to serve alcohol until 11:00 AM. Don't make the same mistake I did and try to order a mimosa before 11:00 AM. Luckily I had a non-judgmental waitress and I still got my mimosa (after 11:00 AM that is).

Can't wait to come back and try more from their menu!

Guschlbauer

Austrian cheese buns. Where have you been all my life? 

Words cannot express how much I love these perfectly light and cheesy buns. They're basically a sweet bun stuffed with layers of melted cream cheese. There's no seating area in this tiny bakery but these buns are perfect for snacking on the go. Or maybe they knew that these buns would be devoured so fast there's no need for seating!

I have not stopped gushing about this place! But to be fair, these oozy cheese buns deserve to be gushed about. I've been stuffing my face with these yummy buns almost every day since I discovered this place. 

I tried 5 flavours: original, chocolate, sweet potato, strawberry and mango. The mango is refreshing and there are actual mango chunks in the cream cheese filling. It's hard to pick a favourite but if I have to choose, my favourite is the chocolate cheese bun. The chocolate is so rich and I love the chocolate chunks. It's perfect for any chocolate lover!

Guschlbauer also have cream puffs stuffed with the same cream cheese filling.

Who would've thought that cream cheese filled buns can bring so much joy?!

Dazzling Cafe

Beautiful & delicious food = happy food baby!

I first fell in love with Dazzling Cafe during one of my trips to Taiwan. The elegant decor and giant desserts made this a high priority food adventure spot on my food map (yes, I have a food adventure map for different cities).

Some people say a specific scent can bring back certain memories, but for me it's food. Certain foods/flavours can bring back a lot of memories for me. In this case, the honey toast really made me reminisce about my visits to Taiwan, however short my visits are each year. The honey toast is just as delicious and beautiful as I remembered.

The lava chocolate crispy toast was unique and oozed chocolate! I don't know how they do it but the center was still crispy even with the chocolate "lava".

I enjoyed the honey toast very MATCHA! This stack of toast is actually hollowed out and filled with mini pieces of crispy and buttery toast, ice cream, whipped cream, matcha sauce and red bean. I've tried multiple items on their menu now and the honey toast is still my favourite. It never disappoints. 

Normally I'm hesitant about floral flavoured beverages because it always tastes like perfume to me. But I liked the subtle hint of rose flavour in the rose latte. So yummy and perfectly sweetened. 

So happy that Dazzling Cafe is in Toronto now and with multiple locations. I've only been to the Markham location but I always leave there with a happy food baby!

Can't get over how cute the bunny ears are on the chairs!

Royaltea

The most aesthetically pleasing bubble tea place!

The light bulb bubble tea is actually the reason I wanted to try this place. I've always been one to fall for fancy marketing and pizzazz. It doesn't always work out, but this is not one of those times! The bubble tea is as yummy as it looks! The tapioca here is cooked just the way I like it - chewy and not too sweet.

Ice cream + tea = milk tea!
Such a creative way to make milk tea. I would recommend getting it less sweetened. Even with my sweet tooth, I found that the ice cream made the drink a little sweeter than the average bubble tea.

When there is dessert on the menu I simply cannot refuse. Especially when the dessert is bubble waffle stuffed with ice cream! I got the matcha bubble waffle with a scoop of green tea ice cream and a scoop of black sesame ice cream. Normally I love all things green tea/matcha, but in this case the black sesame ice cream was the winner.

It was definitely a bubbly night!

Royaltea currently has 2 locations in Toronto. One in Scarborough and one in Chinatown (Spadina and Dundas).

Apple picking

I'm happy to report that my first apple picking experience was a success!

Being a vertically challenged person, I was a little hesitant about how I was going to actually be able to pick the apples. Luckily all the trees at this orchard were pretty short so no ladders were needed!

I learned quickly that apple picking is actually quite simple after a demonstration by one of the staff at the orchard.
"Eye to the sky and twist" - point the bottom of the apple (the "eye") to the sky and do a quick twist. If it comes off the branch easily then it's ready for picking! Pulling it off the branch before it's ready may damage the branches for next year's harvest.

With that quick lesson in mind, I was able to pick my 12 pounds of apples! The rest of my time at the orchard was spent stuffing my face with their delicious baked goods.

It was relaxing to get out of the city for the day and to be surrounded by all the greenery. The yummy apple pies were an added bonus!

Check out Pine Farms Orchard!