Mary T.
Yelp
It's crazy that I have hit 2,100 reviews with this one. It's cool that I am reviewing an eatery in my own city of Markham.
I will admit that this review has some twists and turns. It parallels my Yelp experience of trying to figure out a rhythm of checking in, posting photos, and writing reviews. Luckily, I finally do have my act together these days.
For a while, I have flagged eating at Black Bear. I have seen Groupons and such over the years, but never made it here.
Yes, this review is under Bo Tree. I'll explain in a bit.
I did a search on Uber Eats last Wednesday and decided to get some takeout from here after running errands. There was a buy-one-get-one-free deal happening.
I said yes to the following BOGO items:
- Angus beef supreme burger with mixed greens
- Bolognese spaghetti
I was running my usual errands in Whitchurch-Stouffville. It would take 25 minutes for my order to complete, which was perfect for me to casually drive back to Markham.
I got to the plaza and I couldn't find Black Bear. I drove around the plaza like a tourist. Nope, nothing.
Luckily, I was able to look at the unit number. It was 3. It matched Bo Tree Plant-Based Cuisine. Really? Interesting.
I walked in. A cheerful, energetic woman greeted me. I asked if this place was Black Bear. She said that it was through Uber Eats only, as it's now a virtual kitchen. Ah! Mystery solved!
I said my name and provided my order number. Sure enough, two plastic bags with food were mine. I was so thrilled. I thanked her and was relieved to have fetched my dinner from the correct eatery.
After putting away all my groceries, I went to town on my food. Yes, I bought a lot, but I was thrilled that I didn't need to cook the following day.
I started with the bolognese spaghetti. The portion seemed smaller than I had imagined. I am so used to the large Hong Kong-style spaghetti that I had to adjust. The spaghetti was al dente and cooked perfectly. The tomato sauce was fresh. The description mentioned veggies in the sauce, but I didn't get a whole lot. It was more tomato sauce to me. It was also more acidic than I had anticipated, but it was still yummy. The place was not generous on the parmesan. I ended up making my own parmesan cheese rain on my spaghetti to compensate for the dash of it that I got.
The spaghetti came with miso soup as a starter. Weird? Yes. It's a first for me! It worked, though. I loved the generous tofu cubes and seaweed. The soup wasn't salty, which I appreciated.
I had half of my angus burger. The bun was so fluffy. It was toasted. The burger was a pretty good size. I enjoyed the sauteed mushrooms, cheddar cheese, tomato slice, mayo, and more as toppings. The downside was that the beef patty was super salty. It was flavourful and done perfectly. It was like the beef patty was balancing out the lack of salt in the miso soup.
I also had the salad. It was essentially a lot of finely spiralled carrots over mixed greens. The greens were fresh and crunchy. The dressing was so good! I tasted miso and sesame in it. I loved it so much. The side salad was excellent!
Both dishes held up well as leftovers. The bolognese tasted much better the following day. I still had to put more parmesan over it.
The Bo Tree part of this restaurant offers vegetarian and vegan options. Black Bear has some vegan options, but it mainly features meat options. I managed to get a purple power drink (strawberry, banana, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry) with almond beverage. It tasted pretty good. I felt that the size was small for $9.99, though.
It was definitely a weird experience, but everything worked out pretty well. I may give Bo Tree's menu a try next time, as I like going meatless now and again. I had a good experience at Black Bear after the virtual kitchen mystery was solved!
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