A Little Piece of Home...

I've been home for the past week and when I compare NYC to my home in Toronto, NYC has my hometown beat in almost every category from food, to shopping, to nightlife and entertainment.
But thankfully, Toronto has a couple things that outshine NYC....
#1 Chinese food:
Chinese food in NY is just plain bad. It's wrong on so many levels....which is something I just don't understand. Food in general is AMAZING in NY whether it's Venezuelan food from Arepa Arepa, southern food from Pies'N'Thighs, Japanese soba from Soba-ya, and the list goes on and on. Everything is stellar except for Chinese food which is sub-par.
A few weeks ago, I ordered delivery from a dumpling place that had great reviews on GrubHub and I seriously couldn't eat it and chucked it. I can eat whatever is in front of me usually and hate wasting food but I literally couldn't eat what I ordered. Nasty.
Here's what Chinese food is supposed to look/taste like.... #2 Soia & Kyo & Mackage
Excluding sample sales in NY, Mackage/Soia & Kyo merch in Canada retails below what it does in NY since it's a Canadian based company (go Canada!). I've been scouring NY for the new KYO line (click here to see our previous post on the line) but haven't been able to find it anywhere. Toronto Eaton's Centre
Low and behold, the very first mall I hit up in Toronto carried the line which was awesome to see in person. Quality wise - Kyo's wool are ok. They're not the best but they're not terrible. Their puffers on the other hand are amazingly warm. I was getting really hot just trying it on in the store so I picked one up for myself for this winter. The puffy jackets have some great detailing including multiple zippered pockets (all lined with fleece for added warmth), removable hood and a removable elastic piece that lets you wear your jacket like a backpack when you're indoors. When carrying the jacket like a backpack it looks a bit awkward but it frees up both of your arms up which is super practical.
Posted by Jeffo at 3:55 PM Labels: KYO, Mackage, Soia and Kyo, Toronto Where are you getting your Chinese food in NY dude? Hit up Flushing or 8th Ave in Brooklyn for the best places (and better grocery stores too IMO). Chinatown is usually a miss for me. There used to be an amazing (and cheap, like 5 for $1, cheap) dumpling place on Allen St, but they actually relocated to Flushing.

November 12, 2010 at 3:24 AM On this I gotta agree with Jeff..I used to live in Queens and had Chinese food in Flushing about once a week for a year and a half. So, I've eaten in Flushing and Chinatown but unfortunately NYC's best is only Toronto's mediocre for Chinese food. From Toronto to NYC there are Chinese shopping tour buses but from NYC to Toronto there are Chinese eating tour buses. So many NYers are offended of not being the best in everything...but trust me I wish I could say NYC has great Chinese food too. btw we've had those dumpling from Fried Dumpling too! not bad at all ;-)

November 12, 2010 at 8:03 AM Jeffo said...

Hi Kelly
I'll definitely check out some places in Queens once I get back!

November 12, 2010 at 9:16 AM How much are the Kyo jackets retailing for in Toronto?

November 12, 2010 at 10:43 AM The short puffy one is $275 CDN and the wool ones ranged from $350-$385 CDN.

Here's a price list if you're interested in checking it out.

If you're in TO, Style Exchange has them and so does Bleu Marine Co. (Eaton's Centre). Style Exchange has very few styles/sizes left at the Yonge & Queen location though.

November 12, 2010 at 12:14 PM come back anytime you miss chinese food! we miss you when you're not here (which is most of the time).
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