I must admit, I am a creature of habit. I loathe having to change my ways even if it means I get a better deal out of doing so. My cell phone company has remained the same for the past four years, mainly because I believe they give me a good enough deal so why bother shopping around for another and going through the pains of switching. Ditto for my food haunts.

As an enthusiastic food lover and an over-obsessed food blogger, I have my favourite eating joints penned down to the tee. These are places I go to regularly when I’m in no mood for experiments and simply want something I would absolutely love. Most times, these are also places we drop in to when we want to celebrate. It takes the pain out of deciding on some place new and appropriate for the occassion. But then again, every now and then we look to expanding our list. Sometimes even your most favourite place in the world can seem very mundane and it’s in times like these when we venture out in search of new finds.

To be honest, I had almost given up on finding a new Hakka place close to the area around where we live. The few we did try out didn’t quite seem to peak our over indulgent palates, and so we resigned to the fact that we were destined to stick with our regular hangouts. Our current favourites make us drive across town, which kind of dampens the spirit when there’s bad weather and we craving Hakka noodles! But little did I know how soon things were going to change.

I first read about The Ming Room in a recent issue of the Toronto Life. They carried a special piece on the top 100 must-try-before-you-die tastes in the area. The Ming Room’s classic dish of Manchurian Paneer featured at number 10. Being a die-hard fan of paneer in any shape, size and form, Hubby Dear needed no convincing and off we went to check it out.

Tucked in corner by the side of a Burger King, the Ming Room was a definite treat! Though small in space size, the ambience was great for a quiet casual weekend dinner. We were served complimentory crisp wonton chips on arrival and nibbled on it as we read through our placemats which happened to have the Chinese horoscopes printed on it.

Our order of soups came quick, in perfect one-serving bowls. My wonton soup had fresh wontons wrapped and boiled to perfection in a light broth. Though not an big fan of sweet corn soup, I had a taste off Hubby Dear’s bowl and was surprised to find myself impressed by it smoothness and delicate hint of sweetness.

For our main meal, we deicided to stick to the classics. We kind of figured that if they were any good then the rest would simply fall into place, and so we settled on the highly recommended Paneer Manchurian and Chilli Chicken. Each came with a side order of white rice, and both dishes were equally lip-smacking good.

The paneer was, simply put, absolutely delicious! Doused in a rich spicy sauce, the little cubes of paneer had a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth bite to it. The chicken, crisp on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside found me nibbling on it even after I decided I had already had my full. Needless to say, we enjoyed every bite and devoured every morsel we could. And if that wasn’t enough, there was enough left over for us to pack and take home, which we happily did of course!

My verdict: It has definitely earned a place on my regular pit-stops.

Next on my list: everything else on their menu, except things that have brocolli in them. I don’t like brocolli. Or I could just be that little food snob and request no brocolli. I’ll be sure to update you when I do!

* Image courtesy The Ming Room

Okay. I know. It’s been long. Oh so long!

I won’t bore you with the details of my long disappearance, except to say that we were on a wonderfully long vacation, and then back to the dreadful weather here which kind of took me off guard and made me sick to my core. And while the recovery has been slow, I kept my bored self busy by coming up with some creative ideas for HoH. I hope to share some fantastic news with you soon, so stay tuned!

The past few weeks have been, to put it straight, simply dreadful! The snow just keeps accumulating and I shudder to think of what one more snow fall would bring. We’ve tried to keep ourselves warm by cranking up the heat inside, and not to mention, eating lots of warm soothing comfort food. Aah food. There’s always a good time for food.

It’s funny to note that I may have made more soups and stews over the past two weeks than I would’ve made all of last year. And yet, when I think back, none of them seemed extraordinary enough to pass on to you. Most of my soups are made with whatever I have in the fridge, and so it’s very rare that I’m able to replicate the flavours exactly the next time I attempt to. And maybe that’s just how I like it to be. Nothing beats throwing a bunch of things into a big pot and watching it simmer into a bowl full of delicious goodness.

One dish I did most enjoy recently, was this spicy lamb creation. It started out like most of my dinner rush meals. I open up the fridge, stare into it for a long couple of minutes, and then start mixing and matching flavours into a pot. I would suggest saving this for a sunny winter Sunday afternoon, when all you want to do is cuddle up with a good book while your stove slowly hums the sweet music of lunch in the making. Or maybe save it for that special dinner by the fireplace with a soft serenade in the background. No matter how and when you decide to try it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. But may I insist you tackle it when the temperatures are low into its negatives. ‘Coz that maybe the only way I can defend it’s heat level.

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