Sunday, August 1, 2010

Munching on Toronto - La Merceria | Le Gourmand | North

I introduced La Merceria in my blog 'A Stroll Down Queen Street' last month and showcased a few photos of the inside of the cafe and the area where they sell merchandise. The other day, I decided to get out of the office and read. Initially I was thinking about going to the park to read but all the benches in the shaded area were taken. It was way too hot to sit in the sun, so I decided to go to La Merceria. They have a little table outside on the sidewalk but I decided I needed some air conditioning (yeah, I don't really enjoy the heat that much).
I ordered a Yerba Mate Lemonade and two mini Alfajores. The lemonade tasted a lot like iced tea and it was very refreshing. I decided to do a little research on Yerba Mate and found out that it is a herb that was introduced by 'Guarani Indians of Paraguay and Argentina'. It is used to "boost immunity, cleanse and detoxify the blood, tone the nervous system, restore youthful hair color, retard aging, combat fatigue, stimulate the mind, control the appetite, reduce the effects of debilitating disease, reduce stress, and eliminate insomnia". (taken from Yerba Mate: the Ancient Drink for Health and Friendship) Very interesting. If you like ice tea, you would like this refreshing lemonade.


Le Gourmand. (their site isn't working, I guess that's not a great sign?) Not sure what happened but they seemed to have closed down :( Well, the one and only time I was there, I enjoyed a really good salmon salad and my friend had a yummy squash soup (can't remember what he got exactly anymore).
Salmon Spinach Salad with Strawberries
Looks like pumpkin tomato soup..can't be sure though.
Anyhow, not sure if they will revive and open their doors again. If they do, try them out. They are on west side of Spadina north of Richmond (I hope that's right, my memory is a little wonky).

North Restaurant is a Persian Restaurant located on Steeles west of Yonge. I can't seem to locate a website for them, if you know, please post.The food was actually pretty good but unfortunately I can't remember the names of the dishes we ordered but do enjoy the one picture I took of our meal. Again, we ordered way too much "eyes too wide, stomach too narrow" (its a Chinese saying - straight translation). I remember we also had a jug of yogurt drink and it was very different than anything I've had before.
I recommend all three places in this post as they represent very different cultures, countries and tastes.

1 comment:

  1. Whoa a lot of good eats here. I haven't been to any of the restaurants but now I guess I should add them to my "to-eat" list ^_^

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