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

A few weeks ago, our spice-craving tastebuds found Hubby Dear and I at a remote little establishment called Thai Cuisine Experts. Tucked away in the heart of the city of Mississauga, this fresh, fast food Thai restaurant took us by surprise. I was most intrigued to try it out after I heard that the owners, Celine and Naresh Sharma especially travelled all the way to Thailand to find authenthic and experienced help. They came back with Chef Jongkol Sringern, who worked at the prestigious five star Shangri-La Hotel. Accompanied by Celine herself, who has been trained in traditional Thai cuisine, the two promise to serve you the best of Thailand. And boy, did they deliver!

The ambience is very casual, and the place - bright, neat and tidy. Due to its small space, it’s serves as a perfect choice for take-out when you want something fresh and delicious. One of the best things I noticed, is how how they ask every customer their spice-tolerance level and any nut allergies they may have. Each dish is made fresh, as you order it, and catered to your requests.

We started with subtly flavoured Chicken Satay and side of Papaya Salad. I truly believe we hit a jackpot with the salad. Thinly shredded slices of papaya and mango smothered in a tangy lime dressing, this salad had to be one of the best I ever tasted. I’m not lying when I say that this salad has got me looking to try out papaya in other forms, something which I would have never thought of doing otherwise.

We then went on to the main course. We ordered the Garlic Chicken and the Chicken Pad Thai. Although much to my dismay thet Garlic Chicken tasted like any normal oriental stir-fry, the Pad Thai was simply delicious. It had the perfect blend of hot, sour, salty and sweet flavours, and was truly exceptional. Although we were stuffed to the brim, I couldn’t resist trying their special ice-cream for dessert. Boasting of traditional tropical flavours such as Mango, Coconut, Lychee and Pistachio, it would’ve been a shame to leave without so much as a spoonful. We had the pistachio, which was just wonderful.

If ever you’re craving from some good, authentic Thai food I would definitely recommend dropping in and giving it a try. And if you do, do not skip the Papaya salad!

* Image courtesy ThaiCuisineExperts.com