R&D ..... Modern Asian Cuisine In Toronto

 On Saturday night, I was treated to
a fun night at one of Toronto's newest restaurants
in the heart of Chinatown...
R&D

The two restaurant owners met on MasterChef Canada...
one as a Master Chef and the other as the winner of the
first season of this popular show in Canada.

Alvin Leung is the Master Chef and is the only Canadian
to have 3 Michelin stars from his Hong Kong restaurant
"Bo Innovation."  Eric Chong was a home cook who was
hoping to change his life by winning MasterChef Canada.

Both Leung and Chong were Engineers by trade with
a love of creating great food. Both were self taught chefs.
 R&D doesn't stand for
Research and Development as one would suspect 
from two engineers....  
Leung is known as the "demon chef" and
Chong saw himself as the "rebel" ... thus,
Rebel And Demon .... R&D.
 I loved the space of this restaurant ...
especially the big Mao on the wall.
 Blog TO
 The decor of the restaurant is very current
and the wall collages were colorful and interesting.
Large banquettes would hold a large group of
friends celebrating an evening out.
 Eric Chong runs the restaurant and
it was great to see him overseeing the food
preparation in the open kitchen.
Eric also took the time to stop by each table
to make sure his customers enjoyed their meal.
I met him.

The CSB are the specialty of the house.
They are the most delicious and light bbq pork buns.
They just melt in your mouth.
This is R&D's interpretation of a 
modern dim sum.
Highly, highly recommend these treats.
 Another favorite dish was the Ceviche...
which consisted of spot & tiger prawns, bay
scallops, daikon, and "jolo" butter.
Totally yummy.
And this Dim Sum dish is Eric's Grandpa's
Fun Guo dish which is a dumpling with chicken
and black truffle.

I always love the appetizers at most restaurants and can
usually make a meal of those but we also shared a half order
of the Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs that were tender and crunchy 
at the same time.  We also shared the Salmon Belly which
was accompanied with 5 grain rice and bok choy.  That dish
was a little too salty for me as was the black bean Brussels
Sprouts. 

Love sharing dishes at restaurants because you have the
opportunity to sample lots of delicious treats....
but our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.
 Even the washrooms had fun art on the walls.

If you live in Toronto, 
go sample a delicious twist to great Asian cuisine.
241 Spadina Avenue
416-586-1241




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