February has gone by so quick that I'm actually going through a withdrawal. I may have been slacking off a bit from blogging because of long continuous celebrations for my birthday with my beloved friends and family. I am so thankful and I feel extremely loved. Unlike my previous years of birthday celebrations that involved quite some organizing and planning, I decided to just chill out this year. However, it seems like extensive eating is still inevitable.



Regretfully not being able to grab my birthday bagels last year when I went out of time to complete the list of things on my birthday gift card spending spree day trip, I made sure to include that onto my itinerary this year. A dozen free bagels of your choice from What a Bagel! Woot! I shared half a dozen of these sweet joy with my friend and we both got really excited choosing among the variety of flavours. We ended up grabbing chocolate chip, lemon poppy seed, sesame, cinnamon and raisin, blueberry, marble and everything combined.



These definitely satisfied our whole week of breakfast. Then, for a good few days, I have been injected with abundant of deliciousness. Here is a recap of my gluttonous birthday feasts:

{Izakaya Ju}

I like having tapas style Japanese dishes and Izakaya Ju is one of the few decent ones located in the Uptown area. It is not as noisy as Guu Izakaya with the exciting crew to greet you when you walk in. The vibe is definitely more toned down. A place where you can actually carry on a conversation with your friends while you enjoy their food and some drinks. My favourite dish of the night is their omelette.

{Izakaya Ju: Osaka fried rice | Yakitori skewers | Omelette pancake | Takoyaki | Chicken wings stuffed with dumplings}

{Main’s Mansion}

I love having brunch, mostly because I like to sleep in whenever I can and it makes me feel that I’ve eaten less in the day (I know that’s a wrong perception but it makes me feel better). Main’s Mansion is located at the beautiful and historical Main Street of Markham, because of that, it is reflected in their rustic décor and furnishings as well. I much prefer dining at Main’s than the family style Cora’s, it is far more quiet and feels more like home. Their portion are massive too. I especially like their large assortment of fruits. I can’t believe that they even have star fruits! I get my money worth just by eating the fruits on the plate, honestly. At times, I feel that the service is a bit slow but it’s not a big problem if you are not in a rush.

{Main's Mansion: New Orleans Egg Benedict with smoked salmon and caviar | 9oz Prime Time steak and eggs}

{Songcook’s Authentic Korean Restaurant}

There are so many Korean eateries near where I live. I can already name at least 5 restaurants that are in close proximity. Most of them don’t have much of a huge characteristic that separate themselves from all the other competitors. However, I do find SongCook’s is one of the few that has a distinctive specialty in their menu. Part of experiencing authenticity from Korean dining at SongCook’s is eating on the floor with all dishes served on a low table. What’s even better is that their flooring are all heated from underneath, it makes such a warm and cozy experience especially in winter time. Some of my friends, mostly guys, complained that it was actually quite uncomfortable to cross your legs the entire time while eating, and they had a difficult time alternating poses throughout the night. But it made for a good laugh to say the least. YOLO, right? I love their JaJangMyun and Kalbi Jim the most, both are infused with flavour and quite addictive. I order them every time I go there.

{SongCook's: Table cooking with spicy duck | JaJangMyun (black bean noodles) | KalBiJim (marinated beef ribs) | Hot Stone BiBimBap | NuRoongJiTang (Crispy rice soup)}

{Miller Tavern}

Miller Tavern caters a heavier type of brunch options than the traditional sunshine fruity type dishes. It's nice to switch up sometimes. My friend ordered the butternut squash risotto with scallops, quite filling for a brunch I must say. So I ordered a club quesadilla with roasted chicken, smoked bacon and guacamole. Perfect smokey flavour blended very well with their guacamole dressing. Their Romain caesar salad with wasabi dressing was hideous, however, literally two stalls of romaines tossed on the plate. It's my second time here already, I'd say the food at Miller Tavern is a hit or miss.

{Miller Tavern: Caesar Salad with Wasabi Dressing | Butternut risotto with scallops | Club Quesadilla }

{Peter's Fine Dining}

This is my absolute favourite steak house out of the ones I've tried. A very classic fine dining restaurant located at the east side of Markham. Their staffs are always friendly to welcome you at the door and serve you like VIPs at the table. Wide selection of steaks available, from prime rib to peppercorn steaks cooked at your table, their steaks are tremendously tender that give you that fuzzy sore feeling as soon as your teeth touches them. I've never had a failed steak at Peter's. Even their freshly baked garlic bread get me hooked! I could eat them all day but of course, I'd have to save room for the steak. Not a huge selection for dessert but you definitely get your money worth when you go to Peter's on any occasion.

{ Peter's Fine Dining: Garlic Bread | Regular cut prime rib | 16 oz Ribeye steak | Peter's cut bone in prime rib | French onion soup | Creme Brulee | Chocolate truffle cake }

That basically summed up voracious but fulfilling birthday celebrations. And now it's time to hit the gym!