Today marks my family’s 30th anniversary of moving to Canada. My mother, father, a little 3 year old son and a 3 month old baby made their way from Tokyo, Japan to Ottawa, Ontario. I don’t remember much from that day… or year for that matter, but I can say I’ve lived quite a satisfying life so far. I’ve travelled afar, met many people, accomplished many things, and have gone where no Taku has gone before.

I’m quite excited about what lays ahead for me. I have many things on my plate and hopefully this year I will see them grow to fruition as I move onwards with my life.

I just read on one of my other friend’s blog about having a full schedule and being more productive as your shedule fills up more. I’ve seen this happen to me as last year this time I was quite involved in many things, finding myself doing all sorts of things. I took it slower this summer but noticed I hadn’t really been all too productive in anything. Sure I had fun, went out here and there, but really, what do I have to show for it? Not a whole lot. Now I’m thinking, should I put more on my plate so as to get things done in a more productive manner? I know if I force myself to do things, I’ll get them done. It’s better than just sitting here wondering what to do next, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

Restaurant: Spoon & Fork
Address: 1971 Lakeshore Rd. West, Mississauga
Website: http://www.spoonandfork.ca

Guests: 3
Reservations: None
Total meal: $82.20 plus tip – see cost breakdown below

From the outside you wouldn’t think this would be a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant of any kind. The standalone building was once a steakhouse, and that’s exactly what it looked like. However stepping foot into this newly redecorated place (this location opened in July), you sense something else. Something that is yet not quite Thai nor Vietnamese for that matter.

It is yet again the Asian Fusion invasion as the d̩cor lends itself to something out of a Home and D̩cor book. Its clean and simple design makes it a refreshing place to sit and eat your meal. The dark brown walls, white tableclothes, chairs, and dishes all make this a relatively simple Рyet a little mundane Рenvironment. The odd flower vase and picture on the walls are about the only thing that adds to this d̩cor Рin addition to that oddly located fireplace in the far wall of the dining room.

We are seated in the southern most half of the room as the restaurant is divided somewhat. This part has windows all on the south side of the wall making it brighter and a little less cozy. But that’s ok.

I start off ordering my meal:

Me: “I’ll have the chef’s special salad…”

Waitor: “Are you sure you want that?”

Me: “um… yes?” [ At this point I'm thinking, why are you trying to make me change my mind? ]
Waitor: “The mango salad is really good. Or the grilled squid salad is really good too. But of course, if you still want the chef special salad, that’s ok. I’m just letting you know.”

Me: “Yes, I’ll have the chef special salad.”

I continue my order, fortunately without any more disruption. I ordered the Thai green curry with beef. Thai spring rolls, Ginger chicken, Bangkok style pad thai, and hot and sour soup were also ordered at the table.

Only a short while after, the spring rolls come. Sure enough, they were quite large, cut into two pieces, and accompanied with worcestershire sauce with peanut pieces on top. This didn’t disappoint as the shrimp was substantial and the noodles inside were more than plentiful. The sauce was a tad on the sweet side however.

Almost immediately after the “chef special salad” comes. I look at it but didn’t really notice it until I dug into it. No plump cherry tomatoes, as was written on the menu. I still eat it wondering what that odd tasting dressing was all about. Is that possibly why this is called the “special salad”? It was missing something, yet, I couldn’t quite pick out what it was.

Our main courses came after we had finished up with the salad. All three plates came at the same time. I dug into my Thai green curry and noticed how tender that beef was. It was oh so very tender! Tenderized for sure, but it tasted really good with that cocunut milk curry sauce. The vegetables were cut into thick chunks, and were indeed fresh.

I look towards the other dishes. The ginger shrimp with a medley of vegetables were quite substantial as well. Again, the shrimp and veggies were as fresh as anyone would have liked them. The taste? Not too gingery but more on the sweet side.

Next was the bangkok style pad that. I wondered what really made this Bangkok style. Just by the looks you could tell there was no ketchup sauce used in this, as is most common with the pad thai’s you order elsewhere. Instead, it used a much sweeter sauce, possibly mixed in with soy sauce. The consistency of the noodles were slippery rather than sticky and thick, and the vegetables and shrimp were well, there again like the other dishes at our table.

I did eat each dish with some satisfying results but it only occured to me after-the-fact, what this place was all about.

Sugar.

The sweetness of every single dish we ordered got to me. It didn’t quite occur to me while I was eating it, although there was a moment when I thought the green curry was too sweet to continue eating. The ginger shrimp sauce was sweet, as was the pad thai, granted the latter did have some sort of spicy kick to it.

I had requested the menu again after the meal just to see what was missing from the chef special salad. And there I noticed it said Chinese mandarin oranges. Now that’s what I was craving for in the salad, but never got. I questioned this to the waitor. I told him that the salad didn’t have any tomatoes or oranges in it.

The waitor replies, “yes, that’s the chef’s special salad!” Apparantly, the chef’s special means the chef gets to put in whatever he pleases according to what the kitchen has that day.

They shouldn’t write down every single ingredient on the menu if that’s the case. This is too misleading and I wasn’t very pleased at all with the salad.
We passed on the dessert although I did have some Vietnamese coffee throughout my meal. Again, major sweetness to add to the already sweet sauces of our meals.

Final Thought

This is the second store opening in Mississauga, with the first one on the corner of Eglinton and Rakeley Ct., and a third one opening soon at Trafalgar and Dundas in Oakville. What more? This is opened by the same owner as the Prince Japanese restaurant on Eglinton and Spectrum. A Chinese owner opening every kind of restaurant but Chinese.

The décor, while is simple, it just doesn’t go with the Thai and Vietnamese theme. The white dishes and uniquely shaped bowls are actually quite nice, however. The taste? Too sweet to my palette. Anything and everything must have had a good dose of sugar in its sauce. While some things are ok with sugar being added to it, there are limits that one should be aware of. In this case, I felt the sweetness just took over the taste of each dish.

If the Chef Special Salad had things missing from it, you should say so from the very beginning. Don’t try and persuade the customer in choosing a different salad. Simply give them notice by saying something like, “some of the ingredients today are not fresh therefore we will not put them in.”

Unfortunately Spoon & Fork comes out to be a restaurant that tries to be Asian for those that are not too afluent with Asian taste. It is a place much like Spring Rolls, Asian Legend, or Izakaya in downtown Toronto that tries to jump on the bandwagon with Asian fusion styled décor and menu. Sadly, I have to say Asian Legend, Spring Rolls, and perhaps even Izakaya do a better job at it (even though my review of Izakaya was quite disheartening for me).

I won’t rate this restaurant, nor will I recommend it to anyone wanting good authentic Thai or Vietnamese cuisine. Will I go back? Probably not. I’d much rather spend less money and get more Asian tasting food at the Thai-Viet Restaurant, closer to my home.

Did I mention the price? Following the trend of Asian Fusion dining, the prices are about average to above average for Asian fare.

1 Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Roll: $3.00
1 Chef Special Salad: $12.00
1 Hot and Sour Soup: $5.00
1 Thai Green Curry with Beef: $12.00
1 Ginger Shrimp: $12.00
1 Bangkok Style Pad Thai with Shrimp: $12.00
1 Vietnamese Coffee: $3.00
1 Pina Colada: ?

The Relationship book. The Birthday book. The Destiny book.

Those where the three books that consumed a lot of our time last night at a post-bbq get-together I went to with DT. It was held at the condo units in Etobicoke just by the lakefront. A great little place, except for the fact that there’s really nothing else there. The theme was blue and white. Everybody was supposed to bring in something blue or white, in addition to wearing something blue or white. Those who did not obey the rules were wearing white garbage bags as capes. haha… I had to laugh at them as they looked quite comical. I tried out a new recipe of blueberry yogourt cake, which was very simple to bake, yet quite satisfying to eat.

The BBQ was interesting as I knew nobody there except for DT. I talked to a few people here and there, took some pictures around the area, and then ate my fair share of BBQ goodness. I have to say I really liked those chickens; they were so folavourful! The BBQers did a great job BBQing so much food. It seemed like there was a never ending supply of food to BBQ. Even at night as everybody was leaving, they tried to BBQ all the leftovers so they wouldn’t go to waste.

My friend and I helped clean up and bring back things to her condo. which was quite the unit. Very spacious! By that time it was us and one other couple where helped with the cleanup. Grace brought those three books for us to look at. We were all instantly amused by them, reading up our designated pages and seeing who we were compatible with and so on.

The night continued as we chatted about most to do with relationships, while at the same time grilling the other couple as to how they first met and how they are now the bride and groom to be. It was nice to hear their stories and to hear their point of view on relationships. Before we knew it, it was alrady 1am. Still a little consumed in the conversation, we had to call it a night as I still had to drive my friend home and then get back home myself.

All in all it was a good BBQ as I often enjoy meeting new people. You meet so many different types of people in many walks of life, and those you get inspired and motivated by as well.

We all realized that with so many million people in the city, it’s still quite a small city after all.

So, when’s the next party?