Noodly Doodly

Having eaten relatively blandly for the last few meals, I thought that I had room for the sodium overload of a bowl of ramen. Thursday night, I decided to check out the 2nd location of Kinton Ramen. They have set up shop around Bloor and Clinton in Little Korea with the noodle house on the 1st floor and an upcoming izakaya on the 2nd.

It looks like the trend of cheaper daily specials have spread. For appetizers, I got takoyaki ($3.80) and a spicy karaage salad ($3.80). The battered octopus tentacle came dipped in sweet sauce and flakes of bonito. They were tasty bite-sized treats though heavier on the batter than the seafood. The salad combined fried chicken with a citrus-flavoured salad. Good but the chicken could be crispier.

For the main, I opted for the miso bowl ($9.80) with thick noodles and pork belly. It was a bit disappointing. Everything was just slightly off. The noodles could be cooked just a little bit more to get the perfect chew. The pork was fatty but not richly flavourful. Perhaps the kitchen was having an off night, but it was a middling effort.

Hello, Toronto

Saturday night at Lee's Palace was a big night for local rock band The Balconies. It was the CD release party for their 2nd album. I was in fact one of the backers for their crowd-funding on Pledge Music. With the money, they hoped to have a more professional release than their first effort. However, local alt weekly Now Toronto gave Fast Motions a negative review, decrying the "glossy production".

It was a night of pedal to the medal rock music, with no indie-pop reticence or equivocation. Alright Alright started the night with some furious 2-minute songs. The singer had a growly strangled yelp that took some getting used to. They then settled down to tunes that had an early 60s feel. Say Yes, on the other hand, channeled prog-rock metal. The bassist, with his long wavy hair and bushy sideburns, could have travelled straight from the 70s. It was head-banging music with numerous sectional changes.

It has been a long time coming for The Balconies from playing to empty room and passerbys. Tonight, they got the "rock star treatment", as a nearby attendee commented. It was true. From custom mics, to a meticulous sound-check, to a roadie to help with the set-up, it was a change from rushing to plug in all your gear. The capacity crowd was anticipating a big show, and they got it. From the first to the last number including a raucous version of Lady Gaga's Applause, The Balconies played tight and fast. I suppose with numerous catchy hooks and sing-a-long choruses, it could be labeled "glossy" or perhaps "radio-friendly". But the energy they brought to the songs got the crowd rocking and dancing all through to the encore. Of course, the spotlight remained Jacquie, the singer/guitarist. With her struts, lunges, head-bangs, and dancing, she drew most of the attention and cheer. But the other members also got quite animated tonight. It was no doubt because of the special occasion. As Jacquie pointed out: "There's nothing quite like selling out a show in your home-town".

Eternal Recurrence

It has becoming something of a tradition over the past few years that a wet snowstorm would occur on Groundhog's Day, and I would make a trip to Italian resto Black Skirt at College and Dovercourt. Since they are closed on Sunday, this year I visited on Saturday night instead. It's a popular spot, although not as hip as Bestellen next door. In fact, with Hotel California on the speakers, and a gaggle of well-maintained 50-something doyens arriving, that's Black Skirt in a nutshell.

The complimentary bread is a good start here. With a pestle filled with freshly diced tomatoes in olive oil, you grind up your own "bruschetta" topping and dolloped it on the bread. The arancino ($5.50) arrived as a large golden ball of fried rice, with a crisp golden shell and a gooey mozzarella center. You won't find much of the veal and pea stuffing though.

The arancino came with a tomato sauce, but I used it mostly on the white sicilian ($9.95). This was an antipasti plate of 4 slices of grilled bread, some chopped tomato and basil, and white anchovies. It was light and refreshing, though I moderated the fishiness by adding some tomato sauce to the mix. For the entree, I ordered a steak salad. Their pasta is known for the large portion so I was curious if it was the same for non-pasta dishes. Apparently, yes. In this case, I was presented with the largest bed of arugula salad I have ever seen. Even with the tangy balsamic sauce and pungent goat cheese, this was hard-going near the end. Three steak medallions were done medium-rare. This was no-fuss comfort Italian.

Unmoored

Friday night at the Rivoli, Anchor Shop presented a mix of local bands. First up was Ivory Hours. They were notable for doing a male-female harmony for almost all their vocals. This worked best on straight pop songs like I'll Stay Away and Two Keys. Their other numbers had more unusual arrangements that weren't as catchy.

Solo singer/pianist Stacey was unsuccessful in reducing the noise of the barflies with her low-key music. Slender in a lace black dress, she played plaintive love-sick songs that often consisted of two chords. It was a hard sell to the raucous crowd.

Air Marshall Landing brought back some high energy with their pop-rock tunes, with hints of funk and reggae. They also did dual singing, but usually alternating between guitarist and bassist. The drummer had trouble controlling the bass drum, as his furious playing kept pushing it away. At one point, he was simply trying to rein its escape with his toes.

It was the CD release show for newly formed band For Esme, a new endeavour by Martha Meredith. Their first song was played in darkness. It was an appropriate introduction to their meandering, experimental pop. Meredith sometimes added an electronic, distancing aesthetic by singing through a megaphone.