Dessert Trends
154 Harbord Street, Toronto
416-916-8155
http://www.desserttrends.ca

While entertaining a guest from overseas, I chose Dessert Trends to go to for dinner. While I hadn’t gone there in a long time, and in hindsight had never gone there for dinner as I was originally accustomed to going there for lunch or dessert, I was eager to finally try out their dinner menu.

Out of luck, they were having a fixed price menu where $25 or $35 gave you a three course meal, which included coffee or tea, and a choice of one of their popular desserts. It was a deal and as one of the waitresses put it, was probably one of the best deals in town. And at that price and for what you get, I have to agree.

Going on a Wednesday evening, they were unusually busy. Even with a reservation that went amok, the waitress was quick to her feet to assemble us another table. Service was quick, efficient, and always with a smile that it made our table feel warm and welcome.

The pre-appetizer bread that came with a selection of creamy humus and house tomato and bean salad was a subtle indication of things to come. With four people at our table, we were fortunate enough to try out a myriad of choices from their menu. Appetizers ranged from shrimp bruschetta (my favourite of the four) to wild mushroom and goat’s cheese on phyllo tart to seafood springrolls. Each with their own flavour profile, was not over powering one or the other. My favourite, came with a rather generous portion of shrimp mixed with tomato sauce, sun-dried tomatoes tucked inside, smothered in olive oil and garnished with a sprout. My only comment with the mushroom in phyllo tart was that I wished for a more substantial flavouring from the goat’s cheese. The combination of taste and texture of the mushrooms, cheese, and phyllo was impressive.

For the main, I had ordered the orange roughy on vegetables and wild rice from the $35 menu. The roughy was wrapped in prosciutto, which made it a little too salty to my liking, and the skin on the bottom of the fish was too tough to bite through. Despite it, I did enjoy the flavouring of the actual fish, along with the medley of vegetables on the rice. The rest of the table ordered crab and cheese cannelloni (great combination), lobster chorizo with mushroom pappardelle (probably my next favourite with yet another generous portion of seafood mixed with perfectly al dente noodles), and wild mushroom pappardelle (with just enough mushrooms so as not to be too overbearing).

Desserts were accompanied by tea or coffee, which when drank black (which is how I always take mine), was very bitter. However, with the sweetness of the desserts, it matched quite well, and I couldn’t help but ask for a second cup. Taking recommendations from one of the staff members, we opted for the tiramisu with figs on top, raspberry cheesecake, the berry box (chocolate mousse with blueberries, raspberries, and wild berries on top), and the flourless chocolate cake. Our table’s favourite was the berry box. The light and airy chocolate mousse with equally light cream and berries accompanied by the white chocolate was a perfect combination. The tiramisu with its thin wrapping of chocolate and a rather dominant flavour of rum came a second along with the raspberry cheesecake (with a little too crunchy of a crust) and flourless chocolate cake rounding the top four.

I can easily say that I have never been disappointed coming here so far. With a wide variety of dishes to choose from, coming here for brunch, dinner, or just tea and dessert, you will never have a shortage of things to order from. With its simple decor and scattered and seemingly random decorations on the walls, it’s a place where you can come to relax and take the time to appreciate what’s in front of you.

Chef Don Duong was even kind enough to drop by our table to make sure everything was ok. Once you experience Dessert Trends for yourself, you’ll wonder why you’ve never come here before.

One of the great things about Toronto in the summer (spring too) is that there are no shortages of things to do. Come (officially) summer, there is something to do every weekend, keeping everyone’s agenda busy, busy, busy.

Just recently, Toronto had its door’s open, and I took this chance to see inside one of the buildings that I’ve always wanted to see for myself. At first sight inside the Commerce Court North building, I thought it was quite small. I was expecting something more dramatic and epic, however, I soon remembered that I was in little old Toronto, Canada.

Despite my original thinking, I soaked in what was in front of me and ended up liking what I saw. With the intricate details seen even from the floor, it was in fact quite a spectacular site to see. I made sure to have my wide angle with me that day, so I took some quick snaps.

If you ever encounter a Door’s Open in your hometown or visiting town, be sure to take advantage of it by visiting some of the city’s historic and interesting buildings… and don’t forget to take your camera with you too!

I received an email today from someone by the name of SH. This wouldn’t be such a strange thing, had it not been that I just photographed a SH the other day. I thought it strange though, that she would email me; after all, I never really disclosed my email to her to begin with.

When I opened the mail up, I read what it said:

Guess what? There is a fellow GlobalFreeloader that wishes to stay with you!

I was puzzled for a little bit, but then realized what this email was all about. Several years back, 2004 to be exact, I went on a 2.5 month backpacking trip to Europe. In preparation for that, I signed up on a couple of couch-surfing sites just in case. The whole concept of these couch-surfing sites are rather interesting. People sign up and advertise their humble living quarters as available space for travellers to use, whether it be a simple couch in the apartment, an entire bed, or whatever else is available. Travellers are grateful for these opportunities because not only does it give them free accommodation, but they also get to meet new people, and share their travelling experiences wither like-minded individuals.

I thought it was great, so I signed up on a couple of them. I ended up contacting one person in Milan, Italy while on my trip, only to find out that he was out of town that day. I remember that day clearly too. I looked and looked for a place to stay. I came up to this one place run by an old and friendly Chinese woman who didn’t speak a lick of English. However, she knew exactly what I was in need of (what would you think if you came across a lone asian guy with a big backpack with a Canadian flag slapped on it, walking aimlessly in the streets of Milan, wearing low-fashion items that probably wouldn’t get you into any establishments in town?).

She was clearly out of any rooms-to-let, but she was kind enough to offer me the bathroom to sleep in. Yes, no joke! I passed and eventually found a place to stay. Where? I don’t quite remember now.

I digress. So this email from SH came as a surprise as I no longer updated my profiles on those sites, and was not even remotely active on them. I logged on to the site to check what my profile had said. It actually said that I wasn’t available to host anybody since I was travelling this summer myself (which happened to be true in 2004).

So why somebody actually requested my place, I have no idea.

Nonetheless, I will have to politely decline the request, although I still do think it’s a great way to meet like-minded international travellers.