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Roselle Toronto – Cafe Review

November 27, 2016November 27, 2016Uncategorizedbakeries, blogger, caramels, clothes to food, clothestofood, cookies, food, foodie, rosaalyn, roselle, Toronto bakeryLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

I’d like to introduce you to Roselle. I am sure many of you have heard of Roselle before but for those of you that haven’t… You’re welcome.

Roselle is a bakery located in the east end of Toronto at King St. and Parliament St. The space is small and minimalistic with only enough seating for about 8 people. They do have a patio but I’m not sure if it’s open now since it’s starting to get chilly here in Toronto. They offer an assortment of delectable treats that aim to make you happy. Hence the “dessert makes you happy sign”. They have seasonable offerings so make sure to check these out while you can. Of course, some of these are available year round (I think). Don’t quote me on that.

From back to front (left to right), there is the lemon tart, the chocolate one, latte tart, apple pie eclair, turtle tart, and banana cream pie eclair.

Lemon Tart: Silky tart lemon cream, toasted meringue in an almond tart shell

The Chocolate One: Dark chocolate mousse layered with dark chocolate biscuit, ganache and chocolate crispy pearls.

Latte Tart: Milk cremeux, espresso cream, roasted white chocolate whipped ganache, espresso soaked vanilla sponge in an almond short crust.

Apple Pie Eclair: apples, spiced cream and brown butter almond crumble.

Turtle Tart: Milk chocolate mousse, rum soaked chocolate biscuit, salted caramel and candied pecans in an almond shell.

Banana Cream Pie Eclair: Rum caramelized bananas, vanilla custard, and whipped chocolate ganache.

Their cookie selection is pretty impressive too. (From left to right): Earl grey shortie (my fave), double chocolate sea salt cookie (also really good), classic chocolate chip, and ginger(?).

New to the menu, Roselle offers a banana milk, which warms my belly in a way I cannot explain. It is just the right amount of sweetness with a heavy banana flavour. Love. The chocolate souffle cookie is also good. It is chocolately but somehow manages to be “light”. On the top right, is a slice of spiced pumpkin chiffon cake which is (no surprise) delicious.

Of course, a trip to Roselle would not be complete without some house-made/handmade caramels. Seriously, the best caramels ever. When I went, they had salted caramel, passionfruit caramel, and raspberry caramel flavoured caramels available. Sadly, they ran out of the apple pear vanilla which sounds so freaking good. I will have to try my luck another time I suppose.

Have you visited Roselle? I bet you want to now. You better hurry before the menu changes again. xo, Rose

Planta Toronto – Review

November 22, 2016December 14, 2016Featured, Reviewsclothes to good, desserts, eat clean, flatlay, foodie, foodporn, interior design, planta, planta Toronto, rosaalyn, vegan, vegan food, vivalaplanta, yorkvilleLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

On Sunday I went to Planta for brunch with a bunch of my instagram friends. In case you don’t know what Planta is, it is a newly opened plant-based restaurant in Yorkville (Yonge and Bay). Basically, they are a vegan restaurant that focuses on creating inspiring dishes without the use of any animal products.

Let’s first start off by admiring the beautiful decor. Swings, rose gold flamingos, and plants galore! Seriously, such a stunning space with pockets of natural light for you to chase in order to get some instaworthy pictures. I managed to get some empty shots of the restaurant right when it opened at 10:30am before it started to fill up with people.

There is ample seating in the restaurant, and I hear they host events too. I wouldn’t mind having a little shindig here. Like I mentioned, the restaurant is pretty specious and is perfect for larger groups. Sometimes brunch places are tough for groups because they tend to be small but this is definitely not a problem at Planta!

Moving on to food, pictured below we have the cauliflower tots with truffled parmesan ($9.75) and nachos with fire pit beans, queso, avocado, and crema ($12.75). I kid you not, these were probably some of the better nachos I’ve had in the city. Even though they are vegan, they are full of flavour and each chip had a generous coat of toppings. I hate when the topping to chip ratio is off but there were no problems here. Tots, A+.

Next up, avocado toast on rye bread with olive oil, lemon, and puffed wild rice ($12.25) and their Harvest Salad which had brown rice, caramelized squash, chickpeas, roasted pears, cranberries, napa cabbage, and pecans, with balsamic dressing ($17.00). I have to say, I did have a bit of trouble with the avocado toast. The rye bread was super toasted and was a little tough to munch on. The flavours were nice though, with a generous amount of creamy avocado, and tomatoes that burst in your mouth. The Harvest Salad was really good and I loved the squash the most.

Next, I want to mention the banana pancakes ($13.25) which were also really good. I normally don’t order sweet brunches but I’m glad I got to try these. They were nice and fluffy (as pancakes should be) and who can say no to maple syrup and pecans? Not me.

Finally, we had 4 different desserts which consisted of a coconut jelly and passionfruit sorbet served in a coconut, avocado lime cheesecake with raspberry sorbet, a chocolate terrarium, and a smoothie bowl. My favourite was definitely the coconut dessert which was nice and refreshing with a great crunch because of the coconut chips sprinkled (generously) on top. My other friends seemed to enjoy the smoothie bowl and chocolate terrarium so I suppose it all depends on what you like. You can read Isabelle’s review of Planta Toronto which goes more in-depth.

Overall, I had a great experience at Planta. It is a great spot for brunch even if you are not a vegan. The dishes are packed with so much flavour that you won’t even miss having eggs or meat. (Okay, maybe a little bit of the eggs).

Let me know if you plan to go or any other vegan restaurants around the city you recommend. xo, Rose

Light Cafe in Toronto – Baldwin Village

November 14, 2016November 13, 2016Foodie Adventures, Reviewsbaldwin village, blogger, brunch, clothes to food, clothestofood, food, foodie, light cafe, light cafe toronto, rosaalyn, rose macaron, toronto, toronto foodLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

I finally got the chance to check out Light Cafe in Baldwin Village and I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Good news, the place is super cute and some of the food is really good. Bad news, the lighting is awful and some of the food could be better.

I got the mushroom truffle croissant sandwich which was amazing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone…unless you don’t like mushrooms of course. Just thinking about it is making me salivate. The croissant was nice and flaky so expect lots of crumbs. To drink, I got the iced southberry herbal tea which is beyond beautiful. I love the effort they put into presentation! Definitely makes it Instagram worthy. It is light and refreshing but might come off tasting medicine-y to some. You’ve be warned.

My friend got the lobster bisque soup which I have to say was quite a disappointment. The soup was very watery and did not taste like lobster at all. It’s a shame because it looked promising, especially in that rose gold mini pot. She got an italian soda to drink which was refreshing as well. Perfect for those who like a little fizz.

Here is a close up of the beautiful drink. Bonus, you get to eat the fruits after or while you’re drinking!

Sadly, I didn’t get to take pictures of the restaurant because the lighting was horrible. We actually waited specifically for the only window seat in the restaurant. If you’re looking for a nice brunch spot and don’t care for photos, I would suggest going to Light Cafe. If you’re like me and need to have pictures of the food you eat, be ready to wait.

They’ve got a bunch of interesting looking desserts that I didn’t get to try this time around but I’ll have to go back sometime to try them. Let me know if you’ve been to Light Cafe or if you plan on going.

xo, Rose

The New Teriyaki Experience

November 5, 2016November 7, 2016Collab With Rose, Foodie Adventuresbake code, black sesame, blogger, chicken teriyaki, clothestofood, foodie, matcha, matcha hunt, matcha puff, matcha roll cake, new teriyaki experience, rosaalyn, teriyaki experienceLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

A little bit of a story time today.

When I used to work near Union Station in downtown Toronto, I would often go to Teriyaki Experience for lunch. It was easy, quick, and not to mention delicious. The teriyaki sauce is what really makes the dish I think. It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty. You can imagine how expensive it gets to eat out every day though. So when I stopped working near Union, I inevitably stopped eating at Teriyaki Experience as well.

Chicken Teriyaki

Recently, it came back onto my radar because I had been told that they were looking to rebrand and now offered sweets from Bake Code. Anyone who knows me or has taken a peek at my instagram would know that I am a huge fan of anything matcha. So, I obviously decided I would revisit memory lane and taste the new teriyaki experience.

Black Sesame Roll Cake

Currently, they offer the black sesame roll (see above), matcha puff, matcha roll, and japanese cheesecake. I got 3/4 because I like my desserts and two are only shown here because I devoured the matcha roll before I could shoot it (Whoops). #sorrynotsorry.

Matcha Cream Puff

Even Haru wants a piece!

Thank you to Teriyaki Experience for sponsoring this post.

Are you excited to try the New Teriyaki Experience? Let me know. xo, Rose

Trying to Find the Best Matcha Latte in Toronto

November 2, 2016November 2, 2016Featured, Foodie Adventures, Reviewsbest matcha, butter avenue, clothestofood, duo patisserie, green tea, matcha, matcha latte, neo, neo coffee, rosaalyn, tandem, torontoLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

I have been trying to find the best matcha latte in Toronto and have been curating this list for a while now. The problem was, that I kept stumbling across more and more places that started to offer matcha’s (because they are trendy AF) and so I never ended up posting. I have decided that I’m just going to post this list, and when I visit more places, I’ll just have to curate another one. You can never have too many posts about matcha right?!

Petit Nuage

Taste: Strong matcha taste and sometimes pretty latte art

Price: $5

Location: Dundas and Bathurst (Market 707)

Recommend: Yes! Petit Nuage uses high quality matcha so the taste is smooth without having any grit that some places have. Plus they have delicious macarons which are super instagrammable 😉

Tandem Coffee

Taste: Weak. Tastes a lot like milk but the art is better than most places so I can appreciate that.

Price: $3.25

Location: King and Trinity

Recommend: Sort of. I would not recommend the matcha latte but instead I would suggest you order the Matcha Cortado ($3.80) that they have. It is better because it has a stronger matcha taste since there is less milk added. I should also note that their matcha is not sweetened (at least to my recollection) so you might want to add some sort of sweetener if you like it sweeter.

Neo Coffee Bar

Taste: Like Milk

Price: $5.60

Location: Frederick St. (King and Sherbourne)

Recommend: Meh. I would not recommend Neo’s matcha latte. It is way too pricey for what it is. You could get a better matcha elsewhere. It is a shame because I hear a lot of people love Neo’s matcha latte but every time I go, I get ugly art and matcha that tastes like milk.

Pastel Creperie and Dessert House

Taste: Nice strong matcha taste with slight bitterness and super cute latte art.

Price: $5.60

Location: Yonge and Finch

Recommend: Yes! I don’t think a lot of people know that this place exists or that it has deliciously cute matcha lattes. It’s great for those of us that live uptown and don’t want to trek all the way downtown for a matcha.

Himalayan Java

Taste: Very light, not even sure if I would consider it matcha. Floral tasting…wtf?

Price: $4.10

Location: Yonge and Eglinton

Recommend: No. I would not recommend Himalayan for their matcha lattes if you are looking to have a good matcha latte. If you just want a cute drink to take photos of, then go ahead and get it. They have that going for them at least.

Butter Avenue

Taste: Light matcha taste with no bitter after taste. Latte art is sometimes existent.

Price: $5 something

Location: Yonge and Lawrence

Recommend: Sort of. If you are in the area, and really craving matcha, it might help curve the craving. However, I would recommend the almond tea they have more. Not sure what it’s called but it’s pink if you add milk to it!

Black Canary (Silver Snail)

Taste: Slightly bitter but sweeter than other places. The flavour is definitely there though.. the latte art could use some work.

Price: $4.30

Location: Yonge and Dundas

Recommend: Yes! If you want sweet tasting matcha and don’t care for latte art or if you want to sip on something while browsing collectables and comics.

I know I’ve missed a bunch of places but I will eventually write about more. I have a bunch in mind already. You’ll just have to keep coming back to see who I write about next.

Where’s your favourite place in the city for matcha lattes? Let me know.

xo, Rose

The Dime Toronto – Restaurant Review

September 21, 2016September 21, 2016Featured, Foodie Adventuresblogger, budget friendly restaurants, cheap eats, cheap eats toronto, clothestofood, dime on queen, dime toronto, drinks, foodie, Queen St warehouse, restaurant, rosaalyn, the dime, the dime on queen, the dime restaurant, the dime toronto, toronto, toronto foodLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

I stumbled across The Dime on Queen while walking on Queen St. W. the other day. It was just around lunch time so I was looking for something to munch on. What really drew me in were the tiles that said “Made in Canada” in front of the restaurant but alas, I could not take a picture because there was a big sign in the way. As I looked closer at this sign, I realized that everything was $4.95! What?! So upon investigation, it turns out that The Dime is a brother/sister/cousin/whatever you want to call it company to Queen St. Warehouse which we all know is a budget friendly (read cheap) place to eat but usually with massive lines. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Dime was relatively empty so I of course snagged the window seat in hopes of being able to get some nice pictures.

Like I said, everything on their menu is $4.95 so being the little piggy that I am, ordered 3 dishes for myself. I got the avocado toast, street tacos, and cajun carbonara. The avocado toast was made with avocado (duh), toasted focaccia, chilies, feta, radish, balsamic reduction, and peppered greens. I definitely am a huge fan of the balsamic reduction and the flavours overall were really nice. My only wish was that it had a tiny bit more avocado since it seemed to be swallowed by the peppered greens.

There are 3 options for the street tacos and each order comes with 3 tacos. Unfortunately you can’t order one of each and have to pick between the Al Pastor (slow cooked, spiced pulled pork, grilled pineapple, red onion, cilantro), Baja shrimp (battered shrimp, avocado, carrot-cabbage-broccoli-honey miso slaw, toasted brioche bun) or the Jerk Chicken (jerk marinated chicken, roasted red pepper mayo, fresh cabbage, pickled onion, cilantro). I ended up getting the Al Pastor and boy was it spicy. I liked the flavours but it was definitely too hot for my palate. Be WARNED!

The Cajun Carbonara was what I looked forward to most since I am a huge fan of carbonara pasta. This one came with smoky bacon, fresh cream, cajun spice, parmesan, black pepper, linguine, and fresh tomatoes. At $4.95, it was such a steal. I would definitely get the Cajun Carbonara again.

Lastly, I could not resist getting some donuts when asked if I wanted some. Pro Tip: NEVER SAY NO TO DONUTS! This is the only dessert they offer at The Dime but I’m okay with that. Made fresh to order, they may take a bit of time to get to your table if they’re busy but I can tell you, they are amazing little balls coated with cinnamon sugar with some having strawberry filling served with a side of chocolate sauce.

All in all, a great restaurant with cool vibes and the nicest wait staff. I can’t wait to visit again to try some more items. I would definitely recommend you check out The Dime on Queen before more people find out about it. I anticipate there will be massive line-ups like their sister/brother/cousin company.

Let me know if you try out The Dime on Queen or if you have any other recommendations for cheap eats around the city! xo, Rose

Butter Avenue Newly Launched Afternoon Tea

August 25, 2016June 29, 2016Collab With Rose, Foodie Adventuresblogger, butter, butter avenue, clothes to food, clothestofood, event, food, foodie, love, macaron, macarons, toronto, toronto foodLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

For those of you that don’t know yet, Butter Avenue has launched a new afternoon tea menu. I got to try it in May, the weekend before Mother’s day, but haven’t gotten around to posting until now (whoops). I’m sorry I’m so bad at blogging (haha).

Anyway, you can see that we started off with some tea, there is a selection of tea you can choose from. They have some that are specifically for afternoon tea or you can choose something from their regular menu. What are the options you ask? Well, I forgot to take a picture of the menu so I guess you’ll just have to go and ask yourself.

As for now, here are some lovely pictures of the tantalizing desserts that they offer for the afternoon tea set. I can guarantee you that even the biggest sweet toothed person you know will be completely satisfied with the offerings.

We start with a savory quiche type thing. I think there was ham or bacon or some type of meat in it. It was delicious. I highly recommend the almond tea option (it’s my favorite). There are apple slices, cinnamon, and chai in it as well if I recall correctly (don’t quote me).

Next, we moved on to the dessert portion. A.K.A this tower of goodness. Really, are any words really needed?

What are you waiting for? Catch you at Butter Avenue. xo, Rose

Clocktower Bar Toronto

June 4, 2016June 3, 2016Fashion & Beauty, Foodie Adventuresajfernando, alexa, blog, blogger, boxcar social, clocktower, clocktower bar, clothes to food, clothestofood, cocktails, drinks, fashion, food, lauren, summerhill, this renegade love, thisrenegadelove, toronto, toronto bloggerLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

If you’re looking for a new spot for drinks this summer, I highly recommend the newly opened Clocktower Bar in Midtown. Situated just outside of Summerhill Station, it is a quick walk to some yummy cocktails (literally across the street). Have you heard of Boxcar Social? If you’re a coffee drinker in Toronto that doesn’t solely rely on Timmy’s and Starbucks then I am sure you are familiar. Well, Clocktower Bar is run by the same guys! So while you may be doing some work during the day at the coffee shop next door, you can make your way over (next door) for some pre-drinking before dinner.

Prosecco with a hibiscus flower (that you can eat and tastes like dried fruit!)

Grab the gang and head on over. Yummy cocktails await!

Thanks for the pictures Alexa!

Catch more on her blog here

Special thanks to Lauren for the invite!

Can you spot who these peeps are?

xo, Rose

Kitten and the Bear

May 25, 2016May 17, 2016Foodie Adventuresafternoon tea, bear, best scones and jam, blogger, clothes to food, clothestofood, foodie, jam, kitten, kitten and the bear, queen west, saucer, scones, shop, tea, teacup, teatime, toronto, vintageLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

Today’s post is on Kitten and the Bear a.k.a the BEST place to get scones and jam in Toronto.

Situated in the West end at 1574 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6R 1A6, it is quite the trek for those that live in the East but well worth it.

Kitten and the Bear specializes in artisan preserves and buttermilk scones. When I say specialize, I mean totally dominate the game. Is it no wonder that there aren’t many other places that sell scones and preserves? It’s because, they would fail because Kitten and the Bear sets the bar so damn high.

They are a relatively small space with a very small seating space available (usually reserved for the tasting menu which is what you see below).

How cute are all the vintage teacups and saucers? The answer is too freaking cute!

For the tasting menu, you get a pot of Sloane tea that you may choose (I would suggest the Darjeeling), 3 scones, clotted cream, and the special jams of the week to taste.
After the tasting you will probably want a jar of some preserves to go. Luckily they have a whole wall filled with them to satisfy your urges.

Are you planning your next tea party yet? Let me know!

xo, Rose

Nome Izakaya Toronto – New Patio Preview

May 20, 2016May 17, 2016Collab With Rose, Foodie Adventuresblogger, clothes to food, clothestofood, cocktails, drinks, food, friends, nome, nome izakaya, north york, patio, patio weather, rosaalyn, sashimi, summer, summer vibes, sushi, torontoLeave a Comment

Hello Loves!

I was invited to the grand opening of the new patio at Nome Izakaya and I was not disappointed. There were delicious cocktails and sake galore, freshly shucked oysters, amazing little apps, and sashimi! I didn’t get to picture everything though because everything went so fast but I tried my best for you guys.

All of the cocktails were nice and refreshing, all of them having their unique tastes. If you were to ask which ones were my favorite, I would probably say the blue samurai and sumo sour. I can’t tell you what’s in them exactly but they are delicious and you just need to go try them for yourselves. The blue samurai tastes like a vacation if you ask me, so if you need one but can’t afford one, might as well just drink your sorrows away with the blue samurai (haha jk, sorta).

Besides it being a bit chilly, because Toronto didn’t get the memo that it shouldn’t be hailing and what not in May, it was a great event and I will definitely be back for more.

There’s going to be a lot of drinking this summer, I can already tell. Cheers to friends, food, and chill vibes!

Catch you on the #NomePatio
xo, Rose

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Chicken Teriyaki

Black Sesame Roll Cake

Matcha Cream Puff

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Petit Nuage

Tandem Coffee

Neo Coffee Bar

Pastel Creperie and Dessert House

Himalayan Java

Butter Avenue

Black Canary (Silver Snail)

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