New site!


Right, so back by popular demand, the restaurant review site, but in a new format. Many of these reviews are old, just haven't gotten around to posting them until now. I'll try to date them where I can. You can still check out the old site here

Unlike other foodie bloggers, I however don't own any fancy camera gear - just an old Sony digital camera that works. Maybe if it breaks I'll look at getting something else, but likely just another simple point and shoot type thing that I won't break easily!

So here we go!

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.

To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.

Oh, I'll accomodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine."
― Anthony Bourdain

Monday, May 20, 2013

Pio Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken

Pio Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken

 Looking for something a little different over the long weekend for dinner, my sister and I decided to visit a Peruvian restaurant that had been rated highly by other food bloggers, Pio.   It is located in a strip mall, not far from Sunridge Mall, but in a bit of an odd location for a non-quick-serve style restaurant.
The decor of the restaurant is bright and cheery, with small pictures of Peru, but nothing really suggested that I was in a relatively generic restaurant, other than the menu, and the smell of the rotisserie coming out of the kitchen.  

We were offered a sample of both their specialty drinks, a passion fruit juice, as well as an odd purple corn lemonade.   While I enjoyed both, I chose to go with the passion fruit juice, though I know on a warmer day I'd have picked the purple corn drink.

 There were quite a few different chicken dishes, mostly the rotisserie chicken with either fries, rice, sausages, fried cassava, or a combination of the above, along with some of the house specialty stir fried beef dishes.   I went with the half pio chicken salchiarroz, which was essentially a fried rice with sausages, while my sister went with the lomo saltado, a stir fried beef sauteed with onions and tomatoes in soy sauce served with fresh cut fries and white rice.   

 The chicken was flavourful, moist, and tender, while the rice wasn't anything special, but the sausages just reminded me how much I love hot dogs.  I tried a bit of the Lomo Saltado, and found it a bit boring, but then if you're Asian and used to stir fried dishes, this wasn't anything special.   

 We finished up with a Peruvian dessert, the Picarones – Four made to order crispy sweet potato doughnut-like fried treats topped with a home made syrup.   These reminded me tremendously of beignets, just with a sweet potato middle.  Totally tasty, if totally unhealthy for me.

I think in the end, I'd go back for the chicken, it's more moist than Swiss Chalet or Nando's, at a similar price, and you can get some really odd sides with the chicken, but wouldn't touch the beef dishes at all.

Taste:   7.5 - it's good, but not stupendous

Presentation: 7.0 - good sized portions, pyramid shaped rice

Ambiance:   6.0 - boring decor, for a cultural restaurant

Service:   8.5 - friendly and fast!

Prices:   $10-15 per dish
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