We all know I'm a lean mean baking machine. If there's any occasion to bake, I'll seize it. And naturally, all my friends are my guinea pigs (whether they like it or not, which most of the time I guess they don't mind). Cooking on the other hand, seems less exciting to me. I'm usually a one trick pony when it comes to cooking. Not to mention how impatient I already am, if I have to cook something that requires waiting along with those cookies I'm already waiting on in the oven, I might explode (a virtue I sorely have to work on).

Luckily, the only waiting required in this dish is for the tofu to marinate in really good lemony pesto. And I guess I made an exception since my toe nails needed painting in the mean while. Oh, and did I mention I am really slow at julienning? How quickly time flies when you're sitting there making match sticks out of vegetables . . .

Pesto Tofu and Stir Fry Vegetables

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• asian cooking dinner gluten free health lunch recipe rice sugar free vegan vegetables •
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• by Aya S
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As you guys read in my last update, I've been working and working out a lot. I decided to reward myself and go out to a highly rated Chinese food restaurant with Oli last Wednesday. I don't know if it was the heightened expectation I had from the glowing reviews on Yelp, but in short, it was quite an average experience.


Green White Pool

Toca Rouge is a trendy Asian fusion restaurant on Torstrasse in Mitte. We happened upon it on a weekday evening and boy, was it packed. We're talking elbow to elbow, I-know-every-detail-of-your-date-last-night-neighbor packed. We grabbed a seat right under a suspended bicycle and commenced ordering.


Yasming Dynasty
Service is aight. As a waitress in a centrally located restaurant, I get it. Busy days mean busting your ass and not a lot of time for anything else. There was slight confusion at one point where the beer Oli ordered went to the table next to us, but I wouldn't consider that a biggie. I do wish they smiled just a bit more but now I'm just nitpicking.


Mao's Darling


Sticky Orange Love Pudding

Let's get down to what really matters: the food. This is where the whole experience just lay flat on the ground. The menu itself sounded amazing. The name of every dish was like the title of an Asian parody movie and the descriptions made my mouth water. However, the food itself did not deliver.

Appetizer/Soup: Bland and salty.
Entrees: My pork was too chewy and unnecessarily fatty. The goji berries didn't really enhance the flavor either. The best part of it was the mango salsa. Oli's dish was also average. His fish almost had no flavor while the sauce was too salty. It could've been more balanced.
Dessert: It tasted really good but was gone in seconds due to the fact that they put two small rice cakes in a little puddle of sauce. The upside is that I know where to get these dumplings to recreate at home.



I'm not saying this is a bad place. It's just not the place of my dreams. I also take into consideration that maybe the dishes we chose were not their better ones. If I do go back someday, I'll definitely try something else.

And use the bathroom again because this:



Disco lights and a hip hop playlist should become a mandatory thing while taking care of business.

Toca Rouge
Torstraße 195, 10115 Berlin

Toca Rouge Restaurant Review

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• by Aya S
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It was after the food poisoning that I was battling my desire for trying new things with my actual need for comfort. My friend and host Sophie told me that I should go to Rue Saint Anne near the Pyramides Metro stop because there I can find many Japanese restaurants and shops. I did just that and found Aki, a restaurant which also has a Boulangerie (bakery)!

The chalkboard menu outside is super cute!

Alas I only got a Onigiri (riceball) with sour plum. It felt good to eat rice . . . 

The place was very popular and there was a good mix of French and Japanese people. They also had lovely looking bentos but they all had meat and it made my stomach do back flips. If you are ever in Paris and looking for some Japanese food, go down this street! And look for Aki!

Paris in Snaps IV

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