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