Epi Breads Ltd.
1526 Bayview Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4G 3B4

416-488-1952
www.epibreads.ca

I drive by this place now and then and have always wanted to go inside. Today, after an early morning rock bathing treatment, I decided to head on over for some freshly baked bread.

Being a carb-lover, I’m always excited to try new bakeries out. So as soon as I stepped inside epi breads, I was pleasantly surprised at their extensive bread selection. Granted, it took me a while to figure out where their freshly baked loaves were. The store is actually quite large, with a cafe filling up half the premises.

I made my way over to the north side of the store, where they displayed all their freshly baked breads. At a mere 2 hours after opening, some of their goods were on the brink of selling out… although I suspect more was coming, as right behind the counter, trays and trays full of freshly baked bread and goods were waiting to be showcased on the shelves.

A woman behind the counter greeted me with a smile and asked what she could get for me. Naturally, I asked her what their most popular loaves were. She mentioned the multi-grain flax, and the pecan fruit loaves were their popular ones. I looked on the counter top and noticed a plate with bite-sized morsels of bread, which looked very much like the pecan fruit loaf sitting on the shelf. I asked her, and sure enough, it was. I took a piece and enjoyed the sweetness of the fruit that contrasted nicely with the flavour of the bread.

After much thinking, I ordered 1 butter croissant, 1 almond croissant, 1 white cheddar and chive scone, and 1 loaf of pecan fruit ($6.75). Totaling $13.47 in all, I made my way out the door, before quickly scanning for anything else I may have been interested in. I noticed at the last minute that they did have a small selection of organic tea leaves for sale as well.

The outcome:
I have to say, the croissants were wonderfully baked, with crunchy crust, moist innards, and best of all, not overly buttery. I was in fact quite surprised at how little the butter taste was. My fingers weren’t all buttered up as well, after handling the croissants. I enjoyed this croissant quite a bit, and was just as satiated with the almond croissant. I love a good almond croissant, and this one, with its non-butteryness, gave just the right balance. These are likely the best croissants I’ve tasted in a long time.

The pecan fruit loaf also didn’t disappoint. Although the crust isn’t overly crunchy, the innards were moist and springy, and with the abundance of fruit inside, this was also a great eat. The varying kinds of fruit was a nice welcome as it improves the flavour profile of the overall bread.

Another thing that impressed me was the large variety of ingredients they used for all of their breads and baked goods. With a variety of herbs, cheeses, nuts, and fruits, there was plenty of selection to choose from.

I have a feeling the next time I drive by this bakery, I will have a strong urge to go inside again.

Elite Moving Services

On a tight deadline, we were in need of a moving company to move some furniture across town. We opted to go for a relatively inexpensive moving company that we had found in the Yellow Pages.

At $40/hour, given a two-three (max) hour estimate, we thought this should have been sufficient for our needs. We wanted to move:

1 Queen size bed, already disassembled
1 Single size bed, already disassembled
1 dresser
2 bedside tables
1 circular living room table
4 cushioned chairs
1 iron shelving unit

Knowing well that this company operated on an hourly basis, we wanted to minimize their time as much as possible, as we had two different drop-off locations.

What happened?

1. They arrive 1 hour late. With only an apology after we grilled them with questions, they didn’t even have an excuse as to why they came so late.
2. Upon reviewing the contract that they gave us, it wasn’t what was agreed upon during the phone conversation beforehand. Extra charges that were in the contract and never disclosed to us included:
a. $50 second drop-off location
b. $15 per person per flight of stairs
c. $40 travel costs added on
d. 4 hour minimum charge

Unfortunately the manager we had talked to on the phone was not available until the next day so we were at a point where the guy on the phone working at the moving company didn’t know what to do, the movers wanted to start moving, and we wanted to change the contract.

We ended up negotiating a deal, which in hindsight, they ended up with the better half. I suppose it’s better to make them happy as they’re the ones who were about to handle our furniture!

Now if I can move your attention back to clause 2b above, this makes for an interesting point. The front entrance to our home has 4 steps totaling a height of no more than 3/4 of a meter. We wanted some of our furniture moved to the basement, which obviously involved a flight of stairs.

After a quick look, the movers told us that they would have to charge an extra $60 to move the furniture up and down TWO flights of stairs.

My brother pointed at the 4 steps at the front and asked, “you count this as a flight of stairs?” to which they promptly responded, “yes.”

It was utter ridiculousness, but since we had already signed the contract, it was a done deal. We told them to move the furniture off the truck, and put it at the bottom of the steps, at which point, my brother and I would carry the furniture up the 4 steps and leave the furniture at the top of the steps. At that point, they can carry the furniture down the flight of stairs to the basement. That saved us $30.

From loading the truck to unloading at our first destination, to driving to the second destination across town, and unloading the remainder of the furniture there, it took us no more than 2.5 hours in all, just as we had expected from the get-go. However, we had initially negotiated a set price so that didn’t really matter.

All in all, when it comes down to moving, you get what you pay for. Some movers come with full service, courteousness, no hidden fees, and start with a more expensive price tag, while others charge a minimal rate, and tack on hidden charges left, right, and center. Looking at the contract, I noticed another clause stating that couches and large appliances are NOT included in the $40/hour, which would only mean that they charge extra for that too. Honestly, why do you think we hire movers in the first place?

Your job as a customer is to make sure you know exactly what you are getting charged for, right from the beginning. Ask questions, or view the contract from the start, is all I can say.

Buyer beware.
Another lesson learned for the day.

After Rain
Fusion Thai Restaurant
Located in the parking lot of the T&T grocery store in Mississauga

Dubbing itself as a Fusion Thai restaurant, I walked inside to a modern – classical decor restaurant. Looking around I notice large parties scattered within. A staff walks closer to me and greets me, “anyung haseyo.” Noticing that this isn’t quite the greeting Thailanders use (that means hello in Korean), I smile and say, table for three please.

She walks us through the restaurant, past the bar with a brick backing to it, past a table of 10, turning a corner that bends away from the private closed rooms, and onto a platform that overlooks another large party. We finally get to a table, beside a party of 8 Koreans.

I sit down sunken in my seat, noticing the table is much higher than it should be. I open the menu and find a plethora of options to tempt my taste buds. As I was fairly hungry by this time, I wasn’t too picky as to what to order. I did, however, have a craving for something hearty.

I chose the Thai red curry, which had the two chili pepper rating beside it. With an appetizer of chicken and vegetable spring rolls, I was all set. We place our orders:

2 spring rolls, $4.95
Red Thai curry with beef, $10.95
Tom Yom seafood noodle soup, $11.95
Kalbi (beef ribs), $13.95
Tom Yom soup, small portion, $3.95

It wasn’t long after they took our order that the first plate came to our table. Interestingly enough, this was edamame beans, which were typically Japanese styled. Salted to the right amount, but slightly over-boiled, this was still a good beginning.

I look around the room to see that the entire place reminded me somewhat of room in a royalty’s house. The plush couches that lined the booths were velvety red, the chairs, a deep brown sturdy structure. The private “rooms” each had their own chandeliers, while the golden wallpapered walls matched nicely to the dark chocolate brown wood of the bottom half of the walls. Besides the chandeliers, sunken pot lights lined the ceilings all around.

After my brief observation, a man came to our table and served us a plate of what looked like a round pancake of fish roe. We asked what this was as it was evident none of us had ordered it. He quietly says, “it’s service” and leaves as quickly as he had come. After further inspection, it turned out to be sushi pizza. Something I did not see on the menu, and something we were not at all expecting. The pizza consisted of a fairly thick layer of rice in pancake form, deep fried to golden perfection. On top were various thinly sliced raw fish (salmon most likely) smothered in some kind of mayonnaise-based sauce, and covering those was a generous layer of tobiko (flying fish roe). A great appetizer – free at that – but one that would easily fill you up with that thick layer of rice.

Shortly thereafter, our salads came. The vinaigrette dressing was slightly on the mild side and I wished for something more substantial a taste. However, the cold and crisp iceberg lettuce, mixed with tomatoes and cucumbers was refreshing after the sushi pizza. Alongside these sides also came a side order of kimchi and takuan. All these are typical complimentary side dishes in a Korean restaurant, and therefore we felt this no different than one.

The Thai Red curry, in its steamy hot bowl, was deserving of its two chili pepper rating as I found it almost too spicy to my liking. While I can withstand a relatively high amount of spiciness, this one got to me… at the beginning. With the dish being so hot to start off with, it accentuates the spiciness. However, once I let the dish cool down a little, I found it more bearable and was able to eat it without any fuss. The large portion of rice was more than enough for me, and the delicately cut full length sliced carrot was a nice garnish to the dish. Overall, the taste was very creamy, rich, with large chunks of vegetables. While some may complain that it was too sweet, I thought otherwise, thinking back to my visit to Spoon and Fork, where their dishes seemed overly sugared.

The Tom Yom soup with noodles was also a pleasant one with its equally large chunks of vegetables in a spiced soup with a hint of sweetness to it.

And finally, the kalbi. Ever so tender, medium thickness, and a tad on the sweet side. Nonetheless, the BBQ hint was there and it was well marinated to my likings.

At the very end, while most places would serve you a portion of an orange to refresh your mouth, this place generously gave us three thick sections of an orange, which was a great way to end off all the sweetness we had in our meals.

Overall, I found each dish to be plentiful. Almost too much at times. I felt the portions could have been slightly smaller and at the same time, lowering the prices accordingly wouldn’t hurt either.

Nonetheless, it was a good experience in my book, and I certainly wouldn’t mind going there again to try out their other dishes. I missed out on their great looking desserts like fried peach and ice cream, since I was too full by the time I finished my dinner.

One last note about their service. Definitely nothing to complain about here as our waitor was super friendly always attending to our needs. Water was always filled before even having to ask for a refill, and the other waiters and waitresses were equally helpful and willing to help. Note, all of the waiters and waitresses were Korean!

Looking forward to a next visit!