The Korean treat of bungeoppang (or taiyaki in Japanese). A fish-shaped waffle with red bean inside and finished on the grill. A likely suspect at the Korean Harvest Festival this weekend.

I’m slowly getting through my backlog of photos. I’ve been pretty slack since March and there’s been a lot of eating all year long. Suffice it to say, you’ll see a whole bunch of photos I’ve been sitting on from the past few months coming up. There are even a meals from the year before (you know, that Switzerland trip I only half-blogged about?).

In the mean time, there are more events (13/09/2012: Added three more events) and restaurants that popped up on my radar.

Korean Harvest Festival, September 15-16

Thank goodness for facebook. How else would I ever know about events being run by old high school chums? With Korean food becoming more prominent in the city and PSY’s Gangnam Style blazing through the local airwaves (I can imagine the hope of other K-poppers doing so well in North America), this event is pretty well-timed. I asked about what kind of food we’d see and here’s what event co-host Stan Cho (hi Stan!) replied with:

There’s pretty much going to be every type of Korean fare from the traditional street foods you find in the markets of Seoul to the bbq dishes that have popularized the cuisine here in North America. Expect items such as french-fry battered corn dogs, Korean blood sausage, fish-cake soup, marinated bbq short-ribs, kimbab (like fishless sushi rolls containing an assortment of vegetables and beef) and many other items.

I’m somewhat double-booked, but I’m hoping to make it out regardless. I figure if it’s like a Korean night-market, it’ll be worth a visit.

http://www.koreanharvestfest.com/

Savour Stratford, September 21-23

Mercer Hall’s tasty tartare. Hand-cut beef tenderloin, shallot, caper, mustard, and ancho chile on a potato chip. Topped with a 65 degree sous-vide egg yolk.

I’d been to a preview event for Savour Stratford last month (an 86’d Monday at The Drake – you should go sometime) and had been on the fence about going to the actual event in a couple of weeks. It had been penciled in my calendar for some time now, but it’s a bit out of my roaming range. But the PR girls at Siren hooked me up, so I figured I’d commit and give it a go. This is a multi-day event with classes, talks, and tastings. Looks very Family-friendly with all the kids’ programming too. Mix it in with a festival-like atmosphere and some music (Emm Gryner!) and it should be a nice & relaxing weekend.

http://www.visitstratford.ca/culinaryfestival/

TO Underground Market, September 30

It’s TUM’s 1st anniversary in September, and this time, the kids are invited for a new day portion of the event. Tickets on sale tomorrow at 10am. Don’t be slow; this event sells out within a half-day usually. Don’t know what TUM is? Read my thoughts on the inaugural event and some tips if you go!

http://www.yumtum.ca/

AGO’s 1st Thursday, begins October 4

Not too many details, but seems patterned after ROM’s ultra-successful Friday Night Live (more info below).

http://www.ago.net/1stThursdays

Friday Night Live @ ROM, begins October 12

Drinkin’ with the Hadrosaur!

There’s something about roaming the museum with a cup of wine in the shadow of dinosaurs to a pulsing beat-driven soundtrack that makes me love attending Friday Night Live @ ROM. Past events included food from Fidel Gastro, Loic, JK Fries, and C5. But really, it’s about dinos and winos and beats. Excited to have this start up again. Every Friday night from October 12th until they stop (there’s only a little note about it starting again on their page).

http://rom.on.ca/

Openings and on the horizon

Just some notes of restaurants that I’m eyeing. It’s Asian madness. Japanese ramen chain Santouka is coming. Hapa Izakaya seems to be open. David Chang’s Momofuku Toronto at the Shangri-La is rumoured to be opening soon. On the non-Asian front, there’s Museum Tavern across from the ROM that I’ve been reading good things about. French-Carribean place Le Ti Colibri in Kensington has also been getting good buzz. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all that currently comes to mind!