Out & About #230 | Nanashake + Lobster Fest at Apricot Tree Cafe

Don't tell me you don't love bananas; I know that's a lie.
An efficient source of fuel in the form of complex carbohydrates and fibre, there really isn't anything about the fruit that one can complain about - except, of course, the fact that it can bruise easily if simply tossed into a bag. 

Did I mention that I'm especially fond of monkeys? Yes, monkeys.
While your favourite animal may be a furball of a Tabby or a cuddly little Malteser, mine is a primate, and an adorable one at that!

Making waves among the vegan food community, Nanashake is the first soft serve joint of its kind to serve up icy, entirely dairy-free concoctions made up of - you guessed it - bananas.

After years of scouring Pinterest, the concept of blitzing up frozen bananas to produce a quick and easy, "guilt-free" mixture of ice cream-like smoothness was nothing new to me. I have even dabbled in this technique myself, though can't quite conclude that I've had much success in creating a dessert of satisfaction to me. (The ever-popular avocado chocolate mousse wasn't a winner either...)

It was largely because of my own failures that I was very intrigued to try Nanashake. Along with the flavours listed on their website, they also carried a vast selection of banana-based ice cream popsicles, some drizzled with peanut butter for enhanced texture and flavour.

Sampling of their six soft serve flavours was permitted - encouraged even - so I opted to try Minty Chocolate and Rosey Pistachio. The former was extremely smooth and chocolatey, though a tad lacking in mint flavour; the latter was bit more nutty than I would have liked, but then again, I'm not the biggest fan of pistachio. Both had an interesting consistency incapable of being accurately described other than a firm gelato; it wasn't melty though, and that was a characteristic that I appreciated ever so dearly.

It was clear that I wanted something a bit more structured to munch on for the journey back home, so I chose the Chocolate Nanapop with Peanut Butter Drizzle.
"100% Vegan, 200% Yummy" is their slogan, which might I add, is exceedingly accurate. Had I not entered the premises fully aware that the dessert house solely utilized plant-based ingredients, I don't think I would have been able to decipher the difference between the Nanapop and a regular (ie. dairy-/cream-based) popsicle. Maintaining the same smoothness and depth of chocolatey flavour as their soft serve, the only difference was that it was undeniably firmer than your standard ice cream popsicle. That isn't a problem for me though, since I detest runny formulas anyway.

View the full album HERE !

The Nanapops were reasonably priced at $3.49 each, though the soft serve cups, which were available in two sizes, were a tad costly. Nonetheless, I'm more than excited to return to try them, especially when they are constantly whipping up new flavours to please both the vegan crowd as well as the non-vegan market.

Both members of staff were friendly and welcoming, even gifting me with a monkey finger puppet upon inquiring about their Instagram photo.

There are essentially no flaws to Nanashake, except for the location. Many reviewers had expressed difficulty in finding the stop "at the back of a new condo". Even with the assistance of Google Maps, I must admit that it wasn't the easiest to maneuver to the entrance during rush hour.
The store is indeed somewhat hidden, facing the west side of the LCBO building at Yonge and Sheppard. Parking is relatively close by, but it's far from being free. Depending on the hour at which you decide to stop by, the parking fee will range from a $4 flat rate to $5 per half hour - not the most economical soft serve trip if you ask me.

Nanashake is accessible from inside the building as well. Majority of the interior is still unfinished, with large traffic barrels situated in the main corridor and a large portion of the shops featuring "Open For Lease" signs. This setup doesn't pose too great of a problem for me, however it's the lack of functioning bathrooms that does.
The single bathroom stall directly across from Nanashake was locked, meaning that the only other solution to maintaining hygiene was to take the elevator to the third floor, where there were more bathrooms. This didn't solve the problem either, as toilet paper was nowhere to be spotted in any of the stalls. This left us with no other option than to trek to McDonald's, or simply head home. All in all, the situation wouldn't have been nearly as dire if the building was more populated, and if custodians were present to solve customer requests. As of the current situation, I don't believe that there is anything else holding back Nanashake's dominance in the North York food scene otherwise.

Heading back for dinner, we agreed on revisiting The Apricot Tree Cafe for their Lobster Fest dinner special.

The small restaurant was extremely chaotic for a Friday evening. Though we received our water and appetizers shortly after ordering, the appetizers failed to make an appearance until some forty minutes later. Even taking into consideration the hectic environment, it was unacceptable conduct. Our waitress had her emotions plastered across her face: she had forgotten the appetizers completely and showed fear instead of sincere remorse.

Soon following our confrontation denoted the arrival of the Lobster Chowder. To my dismay, it was a watery, gravy-hued pool consisting of more corn kernels and baby potatoes than lobster. There were a total of four 1-cm pieces at the bottom of the bowl, and no lobster flavour was detected within the broth itself.

Another twenty to twenty-five minutes later, the main courses finally made an appearance. By this time, we were famished and also significantly frustrated at the restaurant's lack of procedure in dealing with an evening rush.

< Pictured above and below: Lobster Chowder, Pale Ale, Pappardere, Surf & Turf, and Lobster Stack >

View the full album HERE !

The Pappardere was plate of  thin, flat noodles slathered in a satsifying tomato cream sauce and topped with a small lobster tail. The bits of bacon were a nice touch, as was the fragrant blend of herbs used in constructing the dish. It was probably the better of the three choices, as the Surf & Turf and Lobster Stack were evidently less appealing in appearance.

While I did not personally try the Surf & Turf, it was observed that the steak had been cooked to a Medium instead of Medium Rare. It didn't appear particularly tender, though I had been informed that its taste was more favourable than portrayed by its seemingly dry surface. From the information I was able to gather, it wasn't extraordinary, but decent enough to justify its price tag.

The Lobster Stack was likely the most depressing dish of all. Utterly lacking in appearance, the "stack" was a pile of odd ingredients layered with no particular aesthetic guidance. On top of haphazardly squirted apricot and a Hollandaise-hued cream sauces lay a small round of poached sweet lobster meat on top of mushy, shapeless green pea puree. Partially wilted salad greens had then been scattered on top. While the dish was acceptable in terms of taste and flavour combination, no cohesiveness was witnessed whatsover. The idea of the stack had been interesting, though the product yielded was no more intricate than an omelette formed from kitchen leftovers.

It pains me slightly to confess that the highlight of the meal lay in the desserts. I took to reserving a Creme Brulee prior to the end of our meal as our waitress had noted that there weren't very many left. Along with the small pot of burnt cream, we took to sharing a slice of decadently rich chocolate cake that was part mousse and part cheesecake.

Admittedly, I was surprised that the Creme Brulee managed to impress me as much as it did. The layer of caramelized sugar was of ideal proportions to the remainder of the ramekin's contents; the custard itself was sweet and silky smooth, but devoid of the richness found in many other restaurants. There were bite-sized pieces of lobster towards the bottom of ramekin; they provided an unexpected twist to the dessert.
Presentation, on the other hand, was still lacking: strawberry slices should have been placed with the seeded side up and any streaks of custard should have been cleaned off prior to blow-torching.

The Chocolate Cake - also called the Toblerone Cake I believe? - was tasty, though excessively rich. More suitable as an afternoon snack accompanied with java, we ended up taking a large portion of it to go for later consumption.
Dinner lasted approximately three hours, with at most one hour used for the actual dining process and the remainder resulting of poor organization and lack of experience in dealing with an evening rush. 

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