Her Chef
Where? Her Chef (Koreatown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Map Menu
When? Saturday August 27, 2022
Who? Me
Food Style? Home-Style Korean Fusion
I’m back at Her Chef, because I’m craving something quick and hearty before Sunday afternoon badminton. I’ve been exercising a ton lately, mostly to get rid of all the excess fat from eating out over summer, so it feels like today should be Cheat Day. I’m here for another of Her Chef’s interesting dishes, the chicken croffle. The crispiness and butteriness of a croissant in waffle form, this is touted by the chef as “brunch perfection”, and I wholeheartedly agree. Even as it’s cooking, I can smell the aroma of cooking butter emanating from the kitchen. I am so looking forward to this.
Mains
Chicken croffle: Buttery croissant in a form of a fluffy waffle, served with crispy chicken and home-made honey mustard sauce
There’s something amazing about the way Koreans fry their chicken. Texturally perfect, crispy on the outside, and juicy and tender on the inside, it’s also full of flavour. The croffle itself is a culinary wonder, and although the combination of chicken, honey mustard and icing sugar looks strange, everything comes together beautifully. Really my only complaint is that I want more croffle, a half is not enough to go with all that chicken.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:38am on Sunday January 29, 2023 :: 0 comments :: 
Her Chef
Where? Her Chef (Koreatown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Map Menu
When? Saturday October 16, 2021
Who? Me
Food Style? Home-Style Korean Fusion
Her Chef is one of my favourite restaurants in the entire city. It’s a small, cozy place near Bathurst and Bloor run by a Korean chef who started cooking for international students because they missed their mothers’ cooking. The signboard on the restaurant wall talks about how food is his love language, and he brings attention to the “Konglish” names on his menu. This restaurant offers truly some of the best Korean fusion comfort food you’ll find in Toronto. Do take some time to read the signboards, I find his story fascinating and heartwarming.
I’ve tried a lot of the items on the menu here, and I love the chicken mayo (chicken karaage with kewpie mayo), the pig bulgogi (pork with spicy gochujang sauce), the sogogi (sous vide sirloin steak with Kalbi sauce), the kingkatsu (pork tonkatsu) and the chicken croffle (chicken and waffles made with croissant batter!!). There’s no shortage of delicious food but today I’m ordering one of their more unique dishes.
Mains
Sun, Cloud, Rock and Snow (SCRS) Original: Sunny side up cloudy egg, beef + pork + zucchini + carrot + onion burger patty (rock), with Her Chef’s katsu sauce on top of rice (snow)
Called the SCRS, or Sun Cloud Rock Snow, this ingenious dish is a sunny side egg yolk (the sun), with a savoury fluffed egg white (cloud) on top of an onion burger patty (rock) and rice (snow). You can also order a version called the High Mountain Tauren because of the addition of beef bulgogi, and I absolutely love the Warcraft reference here.
The fluffy cloud meringue gives way to the molten egg yolk as it seeps into the rice below, adding that delicious richness to the meat. It’s hearty and rustic, and really does feel like my parents could have cooked this if they were Korean. It’s a well made dish with lots of flavour and interesting textures. It’s the perfect size for lunch before badminton; if you want something a bit more substantial, definitely throw in an appetiser or go for the chicken croffle.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:26am on Monday January 17, 2022 :: 0 comments ::
Rustle and Still
Where? Rustle and Still (Koreatown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Map Menu
When? Saturday January 11, 2020
Who? Me
Food Style? Modern Vietnamese Cafe
It’s a rather wintery day and the ground is icy and slippery. I usually walk to badminton on Sundays, grabbing something quick on the way, but today I don’t want to risk injury so I’ve taken the TTC instead to Bathurst Station. Rustle and Still is a relatively new, trendy cafe with a warm, welcoming interior and lots of plants. It’s bustling with millennials here to enjoy some Vietnamese coffee while Instagramming or Snapchatting their banh mis.
The traditional Vietnamese banh mi showcases some of the French influence on the region - the most obvious being the baguette and the pâté. It can be filled with a variety of ingredients and today I’ve chosen a mixture of pork and chicken with lemongrass, an important herb in Vietnamese cuisine.
Mains
Combination Banh Mi
The baguette is nice and crispy, slightly toasted and warm. The taste of mint is pronounced and goes well with the coriander and lemongrass, which is not as strong as I would like. There is a noticeable hit of chilli with the meat though, just the perfect level for me. The carrot and cucumber have a nice acidity from the pickling and it gives the sandwich a lovely freshness. All in all, a very solid banh mi, though a bit pricey for what it is.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:54pm on Sunday January 16, 2022 :: 0 comments ::