New York City Summer 2026 Travel Log: Day 2 — Prime Steak Tartare, Poulpe Grillé, Moules Frites Marinières, and Croque Madame at Match 65 Brasserie

Met up with my brother and his family at Match 65 Brasserie this morning for a most délicieux brunch:

Prime steak tartare: Black Angus sirloin, quail egg, cornichons, and toasted baguette

Poulpe grillé: Grilled octopus, olive oil, lemon, herbs, and capers

Moules frites marinières: Mussels, white wine, shallots, roasted garlic, fresh herbs, and toasted baguette served with fries

Croque madame with fries

Yep, that's a lot of calories and fat grams to consume before noon... And that's not even including the leftover piece of brioche French toast from my nephew's plate that I shared with my mom for "dessert"... So we'll have to walk a lot today, rain be damned. (Good thing I wore my new Hokas.) But it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. 

Match 65 Brasserie

29 E 65th St.

New York, NY 10065

(212) 737-4400

New York City Summer 2026 Travel Log: Day 1 — Market Vegetables and the Steak Sandwich at Westville

Greetings from NYC! We're back for our annual trip to visit my brother and his family — and finally meeting my 8-month-old niece, Amelia, for the first time! (She is, objectively, the most adorable baby I've ever seen with the smiliest face, squishiest rolls, and most perfect milky skin. No bias, of course.) We arrived late afternoon so, to see the kids before their bedtime, my brother suggested an early dinner at their favourite NYC chain, Westville. They're known for their fresh produce, with a menu featuring over 20 different vegetable sides. Outside of vegetarian/vegan restaurants, I don't think I've ever actually heard of any restaurant that specializes in vegetable dishes, but here are. So we ordered 6 veggie plates to share:

Beets with goat cheese and walnuts

Brussels sprouts with honey dijon

Yuca fries with chipotle mayo

Roasted mushrooms with fresh herbs

Esquite (Mexican roasted corn kernels with chipotle mayo and cojita cheese)

Roasted carrots with fresh herbs

Steak sandwich with caramelized onions and horseradish mayo on a club roll and a side of sweet potato fries

And I got the steak sandwich as my main because, you know, balance. All the vegetable sides were delicious — my favourites were the beets and yuca fries — but I'm happy to report that Westville does their other dishes equally well because my steak sandwich was excellent. The steak was tender and cooked perfectly medium rare, the bun had a good chew but didn't hurt the roof of my mouth, and the horseradish was just spicy enough to feel a clearing in the nasal passages but not enough to overwhelm. It was the perfect accompaniment to a vegetable feast.

I can see why Westville opened up so many locations in NYC. Honestly, it's a great concept — delicious but (mostly) healthy dishes that also promotes fresh produce and local farmers — and the prices are reasonable. I wish they would open one closer to home. I can see this doing really well in the Toronto area. Then again, it took Shake Shack two decades to come to Canada, so I'm not holding my breath. 

Westville

1359 1st Ave.

New York, NY 10021

(212) 257-2133

Take Out: Classic Banh Mi and Iced Vietnamese Coffee at Banh Mi Queen

Classic banh mi
Okay, I am apparently not a good sandwich ripper but do not let that take away from the fact that the classic banh mi at the newly-opened Banh Mi Queen is truly excellent. I'd been wanting to try this place since it opened, honestly (it's inside the food court at New Kennedy Square, where my mom's go-to Chinese restaurant is, so we pass by it all the time), and the chance finally came today when I had some time to kill while I got my winter tires changed. Minji and Daniel picked me up for lunch, so I asked if they wanted to try this new banh mi place and they replied with an immediate yes. 

We all got the classic banh mi — no cilantro and no spice for me, no cilantro but with spice for Minji, and lots of cilantro and no spice for Daniel — with iced Vietnamese coffees for $10 a person. I don't even need to tell you what a fucking steal that is in this economy. I was actually surprised at the size of the sandwich because I'm used to places serving banh mi at half this size for the same price. Each sandwich was absolutely stuffed with pork sausage, ham, pork belly, pickled veggies, and, most importantly, pâté. The bread had a good amount of crunch on the outside but was still soft on the inside so it didn't hurt my mouth like most baguettes. All three of us were genuinely impressed with our respective sandwiches. The coffee was intense and strong, but sweet and creamy as one would expect. Would absolutely not hesitate to get the same combo again.

Oh, and the service was phenomenal. Everyone that worked there was just so damn personable. While the lady at the front was making our sandwiches, the chef at the back asked if we liked pho, and we were like, "Duh, of course we do." So he came back with little paper cups of his house-made pho broth for us to try and it was truly delicious — rich and flavourful and super beefy — so we will have to come back for the pho next time. But just the fact that he offered it to us was so genuinely welcoming and wholly unnecessary and it's these gestures that really make me want to visit again and again. And so I will.

Banh Mi Queen

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd.

Markham, ON L3R 9W4

(416) 456-0298

Dining Out: Hendriks Crispy Chicken Sandwich and Brisket Ruben Fury at Hendriks

Went down to the Eaton Centre today with Carmen to do a little shopping (work clothes for her, the BTS Pop-Up: Space of BTS for me — haul post coming tomorrow). We wanted to go somewhere nearby for lunch and decided to try Hendriks based solely on their ratings (4.2 stars across 1,026 reviews on Google) and also because it's literally connected to the mall.

Hendriks Crispy Chicken Sandwich

Brisket Ruben Fury

We agreed that steaks are a little too heavy for lunch (we still had shopping to do, after all), so we got two sandwiches to share: the Brisket Ruben Fury and the Hendriks Crispy Chicken Sandwich. The Ruben had a perfect meat-to-coleslaw-to-bread ratio; the meat was tender and flavourful, and the coleslaw provided such an amazing creamy texture and crunch. The meat in the crispy chicken sandwich was perfectly fried — I usually don't like white meat because it's so dry, but this was surprisingly juicy — and the tomatoes and lettuce were delightfully fresh. That sesame bun was so damn good, too. On the pricier side for what they are (sandwiches), but to be expected for a downtown restaurant. Surprisingly good for a tourist spot, which are usually overrated; in this case, I actually think it deserves its rating. 

However, what I've really learned from this meal is that coleslaw on sandwiches is totally underrated and underutilized. 

Hendriks Restaurant & Bar

218 Yonge St.

Toronto, ON M5B 2H6

(416) 593-9667

Cooking at Home: Golden Halloumi Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions and Potato Coins with Smoky Aioli

Golden halloumi sandwich with caramelized onions and potato coins with smoky aioli
Hello, halloumi! So I made golden halloumi sandwiches with caramelized onions and potato coins with smoky aioli for dinner and IT WAS AMAZING. It was my first time having halloumi and now I'm wondering where it's been all my life. This was like grilled cheese except the cheese is way thicker and has crispy edges and it's in burger-form and it's AWESOME. So yes, I need to have more halloumi in my life ASAP. (Also, potato coins > wedges any day.)

Canadian National Exhibition: Summer 2022

After an hour of getting through rush hour traffic to get downtown, another hour of getting through downtown traffic, and another 30 minutes of finding a parking space, Ronsee, Val, and I finally made it to The Ex.

No dilly-dallying. We went straight for the food. Unfortunately, so did everyone else. And it was way more crowded this year than previous years. Nearly every stall worth getting food at had a minimum 30-minute wait time. It was already 8:00PM by the time we got into the grounds, so we only had 2 hours to get any kind of food. However, our goal was to get foods that were both appealing and that we had never tried before, which was harder than expected. Since the last time we went to The Ex (in 2019, pre-COVID, the last time it was open), we also eat significantly less. (The worst part about aging. I swear we used to be able to eat at least double the amount we do now.) So we had to make our choices count:

Funnel cake and fried chicken sandwich from Deep Fried Chicken Sandwiches

1. Funnel Cake + Fried Chicken Sandwich from Deep Fried Chicken Sandwiches: Yes, that is a piece of fried chicken in between two funnel cakes with strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. Plus a side of coleslaw. (Even shared between the three of us, this is easily over 1,000 calories per person.) Funnel cake was crispy, chicken had good flavour and remained juicy, and it actually worked really well with the strawberry sauce and the whipped cream. But what really surprised us was how good it was with the coleslaw on it, too. It sounds like the grossest combo but it totally works. If only they gave us a knife that would actually cut through the damn thing. Rating: 7/10

Seoul-ful Taters from Get Your Own Taters

2. "Seoul-ful Taters" from Get Your Own Taters: This was exceptional, the unanimous favourite of the night. Perfectly golden, crispy tater tots with fluffy, potato-y innards. Flavourful, nicely marinated, tender beef bulgogi. The combination of these with the spicy, tangy flavour and crunchy texture of the kimchi was perfection. And this might be controversial, but I gotta say: Tater Tots work better than fries. Rating: 10/10

The Tiramisu and Signature Croffles + Lychee Strawberry Soda from Fuwa Fuwa

3. Tiramisu and Signature Croffles + Lychee Strawberry Soda from Fuwa Fuwa: Croffles are the latest craze in the pastry world right now and I am obsessed. So when I saw that Fuwa Fuwa, who are known for their soufflé pancakes, opened an entire stall just for croffles, I had to get some. We decided on the Signature (topped with whipped cream and berries) and the Tiramisu (topped with whipped cream, cocoa powder, and chocolate syrup). It was insanely hot in the Food Building so the whipped cream was pretty much melted by the time we actually sat down, but I gotta say, they were still really good. The croffle was buttery with a good chew and still had crispy edges despite the melting whipped cream. Both flavours were excellent, though the Tiramisu held up better in the heat. Rating: 8/10

Okay, so we didn't go as wild as we used to. Previously, we'd go The Ex just to try the weirdest or grossest new foods, but there was nothing particularly exciting this year (mustard soft serve and pickle ice cream splits just didn't intrigue us), so we just went with what looked interesting but would still taste good. And I think we did pretty well considering the time constraints. We only wished we could eat more. 

Canadian National Exhibition

Exhibition Place

210 Princes' Blvd.

Toronto, ON M6K 3C3

(416) 263-3330

Cooking at Home: Grilled Italian Sausage and Bell Pepper Ciabattas

Grilled Italian sausage and bell pepper ciabattas
Tonight's dinner: Grilled Italian sausage and bell pepper ciabattas. Okay, so this recipe technically requires a grill but I don't have a real grill, so I used my air fryer instead and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS AS HECK. I skipped making the warm marinara dip because I just find dipping burgers in sauce to be tedious, so I cooked the peppers and onions together in the marinara, melted the parmesan in it, and spooned it on top of the sausage patty instead and I honestly think it turned out even better. Plus, the ciabatta works perfectly with the Italian flavours and with holding up all the saucy veggies. Would definitely make again and maybe add some mozzarella to create a pizza burger or something.

Dining Out: Satay Beef Soup Ramen and Beef Club Sandwich

Satay beef soup ramen
Beef club sandwich

I usually eat really healthy at lunch and indulge for dinner, but it's been a kind of weird week because I've been doing the opposite since Monday. Like today, I had to get my car serviced so I got my mom to pick me up at my mechanic's and take me out for lunch. So as per tradition, we went to Phoenix to get some HK-style food. (Partially because it's close to my mechanic but mostly because it's the ultimate comfort food.) Between the two of us, we got the satay beef noodle soup with ramen and the beef club sandwich. Never mind that it was fucking hot as balls outside today or that there was a line-up to get a table or that the service was fucking awful — Phoenix still serves up some of the most consistently tasty HK-style food around here.

Phoenix Restaurant

1 Raymerville Dr., #10

Markham, ON L3P 5J5

(905) 471-6536