Tsujiri Toronto (Dundas Street West and Bay Street)

Hey Everyone!

I finally did it and thankfully without having to queue for an hour. Today my friends and I went to Tsujiri, the new all matcha Japanese café that opened up in The Discovery District. Let me just say this visit has seriously been a long time coming. Ever since one of my friends mentioned this place to me back in March I’ve been seeing bazillions of pictures posted on Instagram (@naheedzzz, if you’re not following already -_-), and have been experiencing major FOMO. But yeah, I finally got some now so everything good in the hood.

This brand is spread all throughout Japan and has been open since 1860. Isn’t that crazy?! Just take in the fact that they’ve been open for one and a half centuries! The location I went to, which is the only one in Toronto, was a small little place which harboured a few two-person seating arrangements and one cute little seiza-style seating in the back of the restaurant. For those of you who don’t know, “seiza”-style seating is basically the tradition Japanese way of sitting on the floor.

I got the Matcha Chiffon Cake Parfait with Matcha Ice Cream on top. For your ice cream, you get a selection of matcha, matcha and vanilla twist, chocolate, or plain vanilla. The actual parfait had a matcha chiffon cake, layers of ice cream and frosted flakes with red bean, which I omitted and overall I really liked the parfait. After just having a bite of ice cream I could tell the matcha they used was really high grade. Good matcha always tastes pretty sweet, which is a result of the complexity of the amino acids in the powder they used. The bright green colour was lovely to look at and the chiffon cake nor the ice cream in the parfait had that fake bitter overwhelming grass flavor. If you love matcha this is a must try dessert.

The company even has a philosophy they’ve been keeping up with for more than 155 years:

TSUJIRI's philosophy of offering the best quality green tea remains the same by painstakingly selecting the best green tea leaves from the renowned harvest of Uji in Kyoto, using the traditional grinding method to bring out the best aroma and flavour.

Lets just say they basically had me at “155 years”, like seriously one and half centuries… still can’t get over that.  So yeah based on the treat I tried today, if you asked me I would definitely recommend you to try Tsujiri… just don’t expect me to pronounce it for you.

Happy Hump Day,

Naheeda

Fun Fact- Matcha is the only form of tea where the entire leaf is consumed.

My New Obsession with Gerry Weber Shoes

Hey Everyone!

So I just made a discovery on the most comfortable shoes ever and had to share.

GERRY WEBER.

Sound familiar?

It’s a famous and successful German fashion and lifestyle brand that’s popular all over Europe. I mean, there is just something so unique about European style that is right, compared to what we have on the western side of the hemisphere. Everything’s about good quality well tailored effortless clothes which are also very practical. From my experience, overall the brand takes a very feminine yet edgy cool grasp to fashion. About 10 months ago Gerry Weber moved into Canada and lucky for us Torontonians most of the Canadian stores are in this area, yay us!

Now yes, there have always been some privately owned boutique locations around the Downtown area but because Gerry Weber has opened up some corporate stores here we get the luxury of being able to shop everything that’s in the current season. The stores are stocked very similarly to what the Europeans have. Not to mention, a major bonus of having these new corporate stores also mean good prices and a guarantee for quality assurance.

Back to shoes… I love Gerry Weber shoes! I think everyone can agree that having comfortable shoes is super important. You literally need them to step into the outside world and on most days, you wear and walk around in them for over 5 hours. Anyone that loves shoes like me knows that the sacrifice is real when you’re trying to look cute because often times good looking shoes quite frankly feel like death on your feet …unless you’re willing to dish out the big bucks, not me. I would even go as far as to say the pursuit for comfortable heels can be a lifelong quest for some women. But I’m telling you, Gerry Weber is doing it right!

Many brands have variance of comfort depending of the style but all shoes from Gerry Weber feel amazing on. I’ve head the pleasure of wearing almost all of their winter shoes and I can say from first hand experience I don’t think anything else on the market is as comfortable and chic for the price. Most of their boots are made of real leather, and the stiff yet soft feel not only holds its shape but also gives amazing support. I have this one pair that I bought on their amazing 50% off deal, that’s been majorly racking in the complements. Every time I’ve work them people are dying to know where they’re from. Like my pair, most of their shoes have a platform that will give you that edgy height and support, which us girls need for the icy streets of Toronto.

But considering it’s been super hot for the past week, why be stuck in the past. The Gerry Weber new Spring and Summer Collections are especially very unique for shoes. Trendy, modern and most importantly comfortable. Overall all their footwear has this sporty yet feminine aspect which can be dressed up or down. There’s new flats, wedges, sneakers and a particular pair of black heels that totally deserves a shout out. Literally I sprinted in them because I was so surprised how supported my feet were. Everything is made from high-quality materials with remarkable detail that embodies the general casual and down-to-earth vibe the 2016 Footwear Trends have.

Overall I would definitely go and check out these shoes. There are many locations where you can find a combination of style and comfort from Gerry Weber that is stress-free on your sole, but also easy on your pocket.

Talk to you guys later,

Naheeda

“How can you live the high life if you do not wear the high heels?” ~Sonia Rykiel

Ichiban Sushi House (Wellington Street East and Church Street)

Green Dragon Roll

Hey Guys!!

Ahhhh, I’m done my exams, so exciting.

So yesterday a friend and I went on a little exploring session around the city. Though our initial plan was to get coffee, we of course got hungry and decided to grab some food first. We spontaneously stopped at Ichiban Sushi House on Wellington.

Firstly, its pretty crazy that the founders opened the first Ichiban Sushi House Restaurant in 1983 on Bloor Street. Today they have over 31 Ichiban Sushi Restaurant all around Toronto so considering I LOVE sushi, it’s pretty weird that I’ve never been to one before.

Seaweed Salad

For appetizer I got the Seaweed Salad, which was different than others that I have tried. Their seaweed is not the usual kind you get at most Japanese restaurants, it’s a fresh seaweed that is blacker in colour. It was served with sliced cucumbers, crab and garnished with toasted sesame seeds and daikon radish strips. While the salad did have that sweet and sour flavour, I found it a bit too salty. Personally for me I also missed that crunch you get from the usual seaweed salad.

I also got a Green Dragon Roll, which by the way is my favourite kind of sushi. The roll at Ichciban was absolutely delicious. I was filled with really crunchy tempura shrimp, cucumber, masago and lots of fresh avocado… yum!