Made in China - BANNED

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Date visited: November 26, 2012

Time: 1:30 pm

Party Size: 5

Price: $7.99 before tax and tips

Food consumed: Baked Pork Chop with tomatoes, cheese and onions in tomato sauce. Served with choice of soup and coffee/tea.

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

As always Russian borscht FTW! But this picture makes it so unappetizing.

Main course. Baked pork chop in tomato sauce. Doesn't look appetizing, eh? They served it in a plastic plate, how did they bake this? The cheese had burnt marks, probably burnt using a torch?

Always hot lemon tea. Got to be consistent so each restaurant is rated evenly.

Review of Restaurant: I already banned this place from my prior visits. I came here twice before and twice I got upset stomachs. It was an instant experience both times. My friend also got an upset stomach in one instance.

The food is cooked in lots of oil, too much oil for your own good. Wouldn't it be cheaper for the business to use less oil? This logic does not make sense to me. I'm not a cook, so I could be ignorant. I clean my plates each time I eat out. You can clearly notice the pool of oil lying at the bottom of the plate. It's really disgusting.

THIRD VISIT

I would like to thank my friends (CLam, FChik, JChang and LPang) for eating at Made in China with me. I told them that I had already banned it but need to document the food. Thanks again!

Did you notice the sheer amount of oil in the Russian borscht? Pure disgusting. I got to admit that the soup was filled with lots of ingredients.

On to the main course. I already told you guys that I absoloutely hate onions. Surprisingly, I ate them all. ALL of them. The sauce helped masked the flavour. Sometimes I do this or would gobble lots of tea when I eat onions.

Right afterwards, I felt my stomach churning inside. This was a familiar and expected experience. I am still feeling it as I am writing this entry, it is 12:20 am (almost a 12+ hour experience). This is how bad it is. It is just an upset stomach, no diarrhea.

CITY OF TORONTO INSPECTION REPORTS

The City of Toronto recently updated their website and now the inspection reports are imbedded in Google Maps. It will take me more time to combine the printscreens in Paint. Here is a printscreen of how it looks now.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/#inspectionResult

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/index.htm?show=detail&id=106495

I also brought up Korean Grill House Restaurant's inspection report. The reason for this is because they share the kitchen, washroom and offer each other's menus to the patrons. In plain English, it's the same restaurant.

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/#inspectionResult

VERDICT: GO BACK TO CHINA! I am pretty sure the chefs are Chinese spies who implanted chips into the food to spy into the customer's lives. Must be some indestructible chip that will survive stomach acids. Cheap is not always good (They have $4.99 extra value deals)

Update 1: November 26, 2012
I called in sick at work. My stomach was still in pain. This is how bad the restaurant is.

Why So Serious?

This past week, I went out and bought a compact camera,Sony NEX 5R.

This is how serious I am with this blog.

This blog is no jokes. Martin Lawrence couldn't have said this better:



Some of you may ask:



The answer is simply. Gotta close down all the dirty and under the table restaurants.

From now on, some pictures will be taken with this camera, the rest with my cell phone. I will try to use the NEX camera as often but will not always be possible. Depending on where I go, if I feel like getting robbed or not.

Szechuan Legend Restaurant - I survived another ML restaurant

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Date visited: November 15, 2012

Time: 7:30 pm

Party Size: 2

Price: $10.98 before tax and tips

Fortune cookie in an authentic Chinese restaurant?

Food consumed:
- Deep Fried Tofu - $2.99
- Lamb Noodle Soup - $7.99
- Spicy pork on rice - $7.99 (I ate a small bowl from my friend)

Website: http://www.sichuanlegend.com/

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Lamb noodle soup

Spicy pork on rice

Deep fried tofu

Review of Restaurant: Here's the story of how I stumbled upon this restaurant. A co-worker of mine said he frequents this Chinese restaurant at Commerce Gate and really enjoys it. I tried to find it but my Chinese is not the best. I narrowed it down to 4 restaurants south side of Commerce Gate, they were all mainland restaurants. So what I did was look at the inspection signs at each restaurant. I went to the one with the latest inspection (Sept 27, 2012) which was this restaurant. It was half full so I thought to myself, it must be safe to eat here.

After 4 days, no problem. Let's check the YorkSafe reports before coming up with a verdict.

(Click on images to enlarge - in reverse chronological order)

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

September 27, 2012 and November 2, 2012: Food was not protected from potential contamination. People are either forgetful or don't care about basic sanitation. YorkSafe, database is not as good and information as the one from City of Toronto's DineSafe.

Bonus comment:
If you noticed the fortune cookie right beside the bill, you would be wondering:

Source: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/wtf-is-this-shit

No authentic Chinese restaurant would EVER EVER give out fortune cookies. Read it on Wikipedia, the most reliable source on the Internet, that is why I quote from it so much. I don't know how the association between fortune cookies and Chinese food came about until I read it on Wikipedia, but it's not authentic.

The French is not even an accurate translation. When a woman speaks to you, smile but don't answer back.

 VERDICT: For giving out fortune cookies, I will BAN this restaurant.

Blue Ocean Cafe - As blue as the ocean

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Date visited: November 11, 2012

Time: 2:30 PM

Party Size: 8

Price: $8.50 before tax and tips

Type of restaurant: Hong Kong cafe style

Food consumed: "Baked Mini Steak Rice w/ Cream Sauce (with Cheese)" (Direct quote from the menu, who proof reads these menus?). By steak, Hong Kong people uses a thin slice of beef and cut it into several slices. It's not your typical steak portion that you get at the Keg, so be warned if you ever get steak in a HK restaurant.

It is served with choice of soup and hot drink. I selected Russian borscht and hot lemon tea. I really like HK style cafe because they give you value for your money. I pray hard that I don't end up at a restaurant similar to Sugar Sweet Cafe.

Website:  http://www.blueoceancafe.ca/
It's rare for a HK restaurant this small to have their own website. Something is fishy. I will ask for their accounting records for the last 10 years.

Pictures of food consumed:

Hot lemon tea - Yes, I stirred it then took the picutre

Complimentary tea

Russian borscht

Main course - cheesy

Review of Restaurant: I ate at this restaurant the day after the house party at Mr Ho's, still waiting for the pictures. My stomach was not in the best shape. But..there was no BP oil spill with this restaurant. It did not take more than one day to clean up. It was as blue as the ocean. (For the young Padawans, this is a metaphor)

This restaurant obtained my seal of approve, a very rare and prestigious award. Only a select few can get this. Think of this like winning the Tour de France, but this is the Tour of Jer. As with the real Tour de France, the honour can be stripped off like how they did it to Lance Armstrong. So don't go running to this restaurant thinking you'll never get food poisoning.

This is the first restaurant reviewed that is located in the York Region area. It is a different region in Ontario. The program is called YorkSafe. Only two types of signs are issued. The green pass one and a red closed one. Not much is provided with regards to this program. On to the nitty-gritty reports:

(Click on images to enlarge - in reverse chronological order)

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

The biggest concern to me is separating raw food from ready to eat foods. It least it was corrected, hopefully they don't forget.

 
VERDICT: SEAL OF APPROVAL

I think this is how he died

I don't agree with the decisions this man made, but I understand how he felt in his last few hours.

When is this blog usually updated?

This blog is usually updated on Sunday evening EST. If you dread your Monday mornings, be sure to check out this blog and hopefully will give you the runs for your life (Sounds lame, but I tried).

I will have the occasional post during the weekdays.

p.s. This was posted during lunch time. I had a late lunch. I am not a slacker, my productivity is relative to my peers.

Even a toilet gets diarrhea

From Borderlands 2 (available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

I wouldn't want to pick up the gun from the toilet.

Bad Luck Brian

An original meme

Destiny Tea and Cafe Lounge - People forget, I don't

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http://forums.redflagdeals.com/what-will-you-do-if-happens-you-destiny-bbt-670083/

http://www.facebook.com/groups/42811155282/

Remember this incident back in 2008? Let me remind you again,a group of people went to Destiny to enjoy their bubbletea on a weekend like what most Asians would do. One person ordered a drink and found 2 cockroaches in her drink. She complained to the waitress and was offered 13% off the bill. (Hmm, 13% is an odd number. The tax rate was about 15% at that time, so it's very peculiar. Usually they either give you a 10% discount or you don't pay the tax cause the restaurants don't report the taxes). Eventually, the drink was on the house but not the other food items, that may have come in contact with the cockroach. The cops were involved because the group of friends took videos of the waitress and refused to delete them. As such, the group was held at the restaurant until the po-pos came.

News spread as fast as the population growth rate in China. Soon, the whole Chinese community stopped attending Destiny.

Destiny was a popular hangout place, for people to refuse to frequent that place is a big deal.The corporate company owns other establishments as well (http://www.godestiny.ca/ - pretty crappy site).  The way they dealt with the situation is absolutely substandard. They need to learn from Joey Don Mills (I still refuse to return to that place).

Anyway, the place was closed for renovation and as time passed, people forgot. Now it is packed like a cockroach's nest.

I did my research as usual and here is the latest City of Toronto inspection report:

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/index.htm?show=detail&id=105053

3 separate incidents within 1 year! 3! That's three, trois! The report only shows up to Jan 2011, so who knows how many conditional passes were issued since it was established.

Let's analyze this. The second conditional pass should have been avoided. They were given 1 week to rectify their problems, but guess what, they still failed. On Feb 15, 2011, they were told to provide washroom supplies. You would think that they would use buy it from No Frills (the supermarket is a 5 mins away).

You would also think they would evaluate their sanitation after the cockroach incident, but let me tell you this. Chinese people are selfish and greedy. Money comes before the well-being of others. To this day, I refused to buy a bubbletea from there. Who cares about sanitation, it is an obstacle to generating undeclared income.

I have to admit, I stepped foot in there twice this year. Once, I was waiting for my friend to order a take-out drink, which he threw out cause it was disgusting. The second time was for a friend's farewell. I just sat there to chat. I inhaled the air inside the restaurant, which probably caused an upset stomach. It also smelled like cockroaches.

Chinese people don't remember, so I hope this post will make you think twice before setting your foot in Destiny again. Their lack of sanitation procedures is simply amazing.

Do not copy this meme without my permission

Yokozuna - Doesn't taste as good as the ones in Vancouver

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It is located right beside: New Northern Dumplings

Date visited: June 15, 2012

Time: 1 pm

Party Size: 2

Price: $10.50 before tax. I would like to thank my manager, AA, for treating me. Sorry that there wasn't anything to your liking.

Food consumed: 
- Curry Chicken Bento Box ($7.99)
- 6 pcs of California Roll (+$2.50 to bento box)

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Dumplings, Tempura Yam and cutlet chicken. Top left: some potato ball with mayo

6 pcs of California Roll

Second Documented Trip

Date visited: July 1, 2012

Time: 7:30 pm

Party Size: 4

Price: $8.95 before tax

Food consumed: 
- Red miso soup ramen

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
If you want ramen eat here. If you want real ramen served by Japanese, don't eat here, eat in Vancouver. I will post the ramen place in another post. Yokozuna is served by Chinese people pretending to be Japanese. Price is cheap and didn't get food poison me yet. So far this restaurant is a-okay.

City of Toronto Inspection Report

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Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/#inspectionResult

Not sure if City of Toronto made a typo or the restaurant is making the inspection report hard to find. Chinese people are sly.

VERDICT: Safe for now, but not the best place for ramen

Congee Town - Congee helps with your diarrhea

Isn't this artistic?

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Date visited: May 27, 2012 (first documented trip)

Time: Around 1 pm to 2 pm

Party Size: 5

Price: $34.75, before tips (split evenly between 5 people)

Food consumed:
- Fried turnip patties - $5.50
- Chicken and salty fish fried rice - $8.75
- Mongolia chicken chow mein - $7.25
- Sweet and sour pork chop - $9.25

Website: http://www.congeetown.com/

Pictures of food consumed: (Click images to enlarge)

Mongolia chicken chow mein

Chicken and salty fish fried rice

Sweet and sour pork chop

Fried turnip patties

Review of Restaurant:
Food was good and cheap. No unusual washroom experiences. Why am I saying unusual if it happens frequently. But you get the idea. The washroom experience was so pleasant that I visited it the following month.

Second Documented Trip

Date visited: June 16, 2012

Time: 8 pm

Party Size: 7

Price: Don't remember the price, I think it was about $70-80 after tax.

Food consumed: (Click images to enlarge)

Bonus: Free chicken piece at the bottom of my plate. How did I notice this? Accountants have good analytical skills. Off to a great start!

I see chicken, green peppers, chili peppers and onions. Chinese dishes are named after the ingredients, so I think name of the dish is accurate.

Deep fried tofu

Duck and BBQ pork

Some vegetable soup with carrots, turnip. I think I found Waldo!

King mushroom (or oyster mushroom, mushroom regardless) and baby bok choy

Green beans, mushroom and pork chunks.

Deep fried pork chop. I call this porky pork pork.

Eggplant and pork chunks in a hot pot

Review of Restaurant: Despite the chicken piece stuck on my plate, the restaurant is a safe place to eat. Congee is good for you if you have diarrhea. It is very cleansing. It also replenishes your lost fluids.

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/index.htm?show=detail&id=104279

They did not wash their hands before commencing work!!! I don't think they will wash their hands if they were not taught to do so in school.

I need to install cameras in the kitchen to ensure the employees are washing their hands. Sometimes, they dip their hands in your food so I need to be careful.

I will give out Purrell containers for FREE (they will not refuse it for sure) and make sure they use it in front of my eyes before they are allowed to serve me. If they refuse, they will feel the wrath of my stomach.

VERDICT: I am speechless after seeing the infractions. As a customer, you are never aware of what happens in the kitchen. I never got food poisoned from this place. Hopefully the employees learn to wash their hands before they commence their shift.

Safe for the time being, although I hate to give them a safe passing.