With so many Dumpling houses in Toronto, you can very easily be disappointed with any that are anywhere below average. Mother's Dumplings are just one of the many, located at Spadina and College, on upper-North side of the usual, situated shops on the busy Spadina and Dundas. The name 'Mother's Dumplings' brings high expectations of love and care with all sorts of juicy deliciousness in each bite. On the menu, you'll find the usual, extensive list of Housemade Dumplings either being Steamed, Boiled or Pan-Fried. As any Chinese 'Mom and Pop' sort of restaurant, they also offer Housemade Noodles, Buns, Soups, Rice dishes, Congee and, of course, Pancakes!

The restaurant seven days a week, 11:30AM until 10PM, and up until 10:30PM on Fridays and Saturdays. There is plenty of seating, we were only to wait a couple of minutes to have set up at table for three on a Friday evening.

MOE'S DELI & BAR

Trudeau International Airport

Dorval, Quebec

H4Y Canada

Pub Food - Sandwiches

$

Groaning over the 5:30AM ungodly hour wake-up is a group effort. I narrowly snuck in thirty minutes of snooze after falling asleep awaiting my hair to dry, sitting on the over flowing chair of towels in our hotel room. It was still too dark to have my final moments taking in the beautiful view over Miami. Memories of just hours before, sitting down on a step leading up to Bayside, down the road from our B2 Hotel (most positively the worst experience at a hotel, ever, by the way). The beautiful canopy of palm trees towering above us, and hours would pass. The moment was so serene, we needed no substance to keep us at this high. It was at this moment that I decided that this is exactly what I've ever wanted, nights of deep and meaningful conversations, experiencing beyond my imagination.

The two hour stop-over landed us in Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. My first thought was to snatch up a plate of dirty, dirty poutine with the squeakiest of the squeaky cheese curds. After running through two food-stops, we were disappointed when we were finally told that there was no poutine served at this airport. Are you bloody kidding me? Down for eating just about anything, we headed to next first sit-in restaurant we spotted, Moe's Deli & Bar.

We were seated with famous portraits on various chairs parallel to us. The service was lacking, and the speed of the dishes, even more. Thank golly we had a bit of time to kill.

High, high hopes expecting to bite into the best Pulled Pork I've ever had. Entering Lou Dawg's with a basement-esque feel with country music blasting, this scene was already not my kind of jam. Free Wi-Fi here, so that got a few things a tad more exciting. 

1. Meat Combos - 1 Meat + 2 Sides ($11.95)

Pulled Pork w/Deep Fried Pickles & Sweet Potato Fries

This was certainly underwhelming, such small portions. I would have been much better off trying a sandwich, but, damn my no-burger/sandwich misfortune. The Pulled Pork was of such a small portion, and wasn't great at all - I expected more from the sauces, very little flavour. The Deep Fried Pickles weren't fantastic either, the thin, fine breading was an irritating combination as well.

The second periodontist consultation appointment, and a fine treat by my Aunt. Ichiban Sushi House is located inside the Empress Walk complex in North York, there really wasn't any other option for lunch. We were promptly seated and attended to for the rest of our stay, the decor was truly a pleasant sight. I love the cozy and comfy feeling of sitting in wooden booths with low ceilings, it makes everything so much more intimate.

We all went for a Bento box each for lunch, a no brainer.

My first memories of the franchise, Ajisen Ramen, was in Sydney. It was the Spring of 2009, and like every other youngen' my age at the time, I would make a 40-minute train ride out to the city to celebrate any occasion. This was the beginning of time when I was just starting to emerge myself into new flavours of the world - 'world', meaning, anything that wasn't Vietnamese or Laos food. I didn't know many places in the city. I only knew how to get from A to B - Central Station to Capitol (Capitol is a building, on the upper floor, it's filled with rows of Claw/Skill-tester Machines, Gapachons and is an absolute Sticker Machine Heaven). Before rampaging Capitol, we needed a place to eat! Walking through the busy streets by Haymarket on a Saturday afternoon, myself and my boyfriend and the time found Ajisen Ramen. The Pucca-lookalike character drew me closer, but the 'Snow Ice' Dessert seated me in the restaurant. It was here, at Ajisen Ramen, that I had my first few bites of Ramen.

Ajisen Ramen in Markham was the second Ajisen Ramen I have come across in Canada, and with each sight of the Happy character, I would get the same warm, fuzzy, carefree-2009-Alice feeling that I had when I initially walked into their doors in Sydney. But, this time it was different.

We walked in at 10:00PM, giving us an hour before closing time. There was only one table here besides us, who finished up and left as soon as we finished ordering. The prices for a bowl of Ramen are about $6~10. The walls had lights upon vibrantly schemed murals of Sumo-wrestlers on one side, and rows of a neat collection of bowls on the other.