Out & About #148 | Thanksgiving Pt 2: Allandale Waterfront + Markham

After recharging from the previous day's adventures, we headed to Allandale Waterfront for a late breakfast.

View the full Barrie album HERE !

Our destination of choice was The Farmhouse, a family-style restaurant that served up dishes created from locally-sourced (and/or locally grown) ingredients. In addition to offering an outdoor balcony patio that provided a stunning view of Lake Simcoe, the two- (or was it three?) floor restaurant also housed a bar area located at the very back as to transform into a sports bar come nighttime.

Having yet to take one step inside, I was already considerably amazed at the dining environment and superb choice of location - this was certainly a most serene getaway from city life!

View the full album HERE !

Only one other table had sat down prior to us, and unfortunately had chose to occupy the sole booth with access to natural lighting. The rest of the available options were rather dim, with the exception of a few incandescent lights sources.

The restaurant was spacious, with partitions to separate the bar area, and two smaller dining areas. I quite enjoyed the home-y aura; while previously having been told that The Farmhouse was essentially a large home that had been remodelled for food industry usage, it was consisted of none of the chipped wall paint or ancient, rickety stairs that I had been expecting. This was clearly no Vintage Garden Tea Room!

Our server came around approximately ten minutes after we had sat down and comfortably arranged our belongings. As I had been going full-on tourist mode, I had yet to glance over the menu. She didn't seem to be particularly impatient, but a slightly unenthusiastic attitude radiated about her.
I scanned the sticky, double-sided laminated sheet of text and selected the Farmhouse French Toast with Dad's Maple Syrup and Berry Compote. ​Two Classic Farmhouse Breakfasts were also ordered.

​Before making her depart from the table, she asked if I would like to order a drink.
"Do you have lattes?" was probably the wrong question to ask.

She responded with a nod and a "Yes, we do have lattes.", though I should have known better and opted for orange juice instead.

I stood up shortly after to take a quick peak into the bar area, and was absolutely appalled to observe the lack of an espresso machine. Per contra, a large juicing machine was displayed just underneath one of the back windows. Evidently, I had made a grave mistake.
A lukewarm, almost foam-less white liquid arrived in a medium-sized, cylindrical glass cup a few minutes later.
"It's not hot." I thought, "But let's try it anyway."
The first sip confused me - was this just milk that had been heated up? There was no hint of espresso whatsoever, and the drink was completely bland to taste. I understand that I shouldn't be comparing to Milano standards, but this four dollar order was simply just too disappointing to even earn the title of a "latte".
I did ask our server if the drink had been made using an espresso machine, to which she returned a puzzled expression and slowly uttered, "Yes...that's how lattes are made...." Well, clearly this one wasn't made properly if that was the case.

​​Thankfully, the food items shared no similarities in quality.

The Classic Farmhouse Breakfasts arrived first - one with scrambled egg whites, and the other with two sunny side up eggs. Both included two slices of toast, bacon, sausages, apple pomegranate salad, and homefries.

While I didn't try any other elements of the breakfast plate, I can confirm that that the "homefries" were great! Instead of greasy, twice-fried strips of starch, the bite-sized pieces of potatoes were crispy, well-seasoned, and not the teensiest bit oily.
It's no surprise that they had been deep-fried, but the oil had been grained away meticulously, revealing behind a tasty, satisfying product. A variety of unidentifiable seasonings had been combined to provide the irregular cubes with flavour, but all had been done within moderation to ensure that sodium levels were kept to a minimum.
With a crunchy exterior and a warm, fluffy interior, these homefries surpassed JOEY by miles.

The last to make its appearance was the French Toast, which featured three slices of fluffy, multi-grain toast covered in homemade berry compote, along with a side of homefries.
I couldn't taste much of "Dad's Maple Syrup", which was apparently sourced from Feltis Farms, but thoroughly enjoyed the toast slices. The berry compote had been concocted from fresh berries, allowing for the fruit to retain plumpness in addition to a vibrant intensity. Its tartness was a perfect complement to the chewy french toast. (I could have done without the blue staining of my teeth though.)
​
Truthfully, I had anticipated a thick slice of excessively sugary and eggy white bread, but couldn't hide my joy upon discovering that Farmhouse French Toast utilized texture-hefty multi-grain that was happened to be almost indiscernibly eggy.

The Farmhouse is guaranteed to earn a spot on my Next-Time-I-Visit-Barrie-Again list, but it's ascertained that I'll be choosing freshly-squeezed orange juice over their depressing latte.
​
My last remark would have to be that their washroom was unexpectedly pristine. Located at the foot of a flight of stairs covered in thick, red carpet, the interior was painted a muted blue with white polka dot and bow accents. In addition, the stalls were unusually roomy - a very uncommon aspect of washrooms in the suburbs/city.

This "feel good" breakfast was an undeniably much-needed contrast to the previous night's calorie-laden wings and nachos. And what better way to end brunch than with a short stroll along the waterfront?

Once again, feel free to check out the full Barrie album HERE !

The relaxing stroll was then succeeded by a trip down south to meet up with friends in Markham.

The group met up for lunch at Green Tea Lounge in J-Town.

The restaurant is slightly odd in that half of the space is occupied by a ramen restaurant by the name of Niwatei, while the remaining space belonged to Green Tea Lounge. Despite their name, their menu wasn't exactly tea-themed.
Interior decor elements also proved to be on the odd side: I found neither the Alice in Wonderland chair covers, manga-like murals perceptibly completed by an art major, nor small homeware section to possess any sort of cohesive property. That being said, the pumpkin decorations and tabletop bloody handprint stickers didn't enhance the dining experience either.

The group's orders consisted of Katsu Curry, Chicken Curry, and Udon with Karaage and Inarizushi. As I was still much too full from brunch, I was conflicted between ordering a more satisfying savoury dish, or opt for dessert instead.
The verdict was to order a small, overpriced platter of boiled spinach stalks doused in soy sauce and topped with a sad sprinkle of bonito flakes, in addition to a Coffee Mille Crepe cake slice (as the last slice of Matcha had been ordered as I was snapping a photo of it).

The spinach lacked both presentation and a distinguishing element; the dish could have been easily recreated in the comfort of my own home for under 50 cents.

The Coffee Mille Crepe Cake was displayed in a much more pleasant manner, accompanied with a single strawberry and a lone raspberry hidden behind a squirt of whipped cream. The heart detail on the fork also added a nice touch.

Unfortunately, the taste did not up live up to same expectations: each layer consisted of an inconsistent amount of cream, with the first smothered in excess. The coffee flavour was evident enough to satisfy the basic flavour profile requirement, but there weren't any factors contained to elevate the taste. Dusting cocoa powder on top would have been a suitable finish for the chocolate-flavoured variation, but I found this detail to be unsuitable given that the cake was not intended to resemble a tiramisu.

Frankly, the cake slice would have been considered a pass in my book had something not caught my eye:​

Indeed, a sly attempt to conceal a burnt slice in the multitude of layers had been discovered. Would making another slice really have been that challenging? Never would I have suspected the restaurant to serve burnt food items to customers, as this is hardly acceptable in any type of cuisine.

Service was mediocre for the most part; our waitress failed to crack a single smile throughout the entire duration of our stay. Once the bills had been split and the card machine had been brought to our table, I found her ignoring my outstretched hand until all six other transactions had been completed. When she finally decided that she would allow me to pay, my card was snatched from my hand and thrust into the machine without warning.
Having worked in the same position as her, I was stunned that she was touching my card at all. It's common knowledge to allow customers to handle their own cards as much as possible, including the insertion and removal process. Clearly, this wasn't the case for her. I punched in my tip amount before gently handing the machine back to her, just to have my card aggressively withdrawn and almost thrown onto the table. She turned her head and strode away without another word. (Where was my "Thank you"?!?!) Needless to say, I regretted not being able to revert my actions and provide her with ANY tip at all.

Shiso Tree Cafe and  Izakaya Ju were both largely positive experiences, but I believe it's time to scratch Green Tea Lounge off my list.


After engaging in afternoon activities and a quick pho dinner, we arrived at zenQ, primarily due to my unceasing request to try out their expanded dessert menu.

Like Cha Me. Cha, the minimum order requirement was one per person; between us, a Winter Melon Tea, Red Bean Tofu Drink, Tapioca Tofu Drink, and Salty Crispy Chicken were ordered, along with two of their new desserts.

The Roasted Sesame Frappe, which came with toppings of peanuts, tapioca, Q-balls (which were switched to fresh strawberries as they were out of mango), and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, proved to be more satisfying than initially anticipated. Fragrant and lightly sweet, the bowl of snow ice combined a variety of textures for a heightened flavour profile. It was also large enough to share between a portion of the group.

While I had longed to try their Fresh Fruit Chocolate Fondue Waffle, I was informed that they were unfortunately sold out. The Matcha x Red Bean option was chosen instead, and boasted an abundance of red bean paste with two scoops of melting storebought green tea ice cream. The waffles, while crisp, where exactly fresh off the grill, but it's my belief that the waffles had been purposely allowed to cool down completely so as the ice cream would not melt when both were placed on the same plate.

I must admit: ordering two desserts was a tad excessive for a small group, especially when only half is helping out. The fondue-less waffle wasn't as great as I had hoped, so it's likely that I'll just try Mango Mango during my next visit.

---