I can’t believe we are at the end of another year.
Is it me, or is time flying by? So much food, so little time. Mike and I were lucky enough to enjoy so much amazing food in 2025, but these are our top 10 bites. This is our 2025, wrapped, food edition!
Japanese Musk Melon
2025 was the year that my Japanese musk melon dreams came true. We got one of those insanely expensive melons from a department store, on sale, nonetheless, and carefully carried it home on the subway. Slicing into it released an intense wave of sweet melon aroma and was instant melon love. Aside from a slice that Mike ate, I consumed the whole thing in one sitting, full of melon and happy beyond belief. Read more about musk melon here.
Same Day Fresh Corn
If you haven’t had freshly picked corn – I’m talking about corn picked hours, or even minutes just before you eat it – you haven’t had corn. The feeling of a warm from the sun ear of corn wafting with the sweet smell of corn is amazing. Fresh corn is snappy and sweet. It’s almost like it’s a completely different vegetable. You can eat it raw, right off the cob and it makes me appreciate living in driving distance to fresh corn fields. Read more about our fresh corn drive-thru experience here.
Takja BBQ House
Mike and I both love Korean BBQ and Takja, in Toronto does KBBQ right. If you love high-quality marbled beef, you’ll love it here. Unlike those all-you-can-eat places, Takja does not let you cook your own meat. It’s too precious. Once you have Takja’s perfectly cooked kalbi with house-fermented ssamjang and kimchi, you’ll be forever spoiled and never want to wield the tongs ever again. Read more about Takja here.
Butter Tart from Bà Nội
If you’ve never had a butter tart and you have a chance to, I would skip it because to be honest, butter tarts are rarely good. But when they are, they’re transcendental. Such is the butter tart from Bà Nội, a tiny bakery in Toronto. The tart crust is firm, flaky, and almost crunchy. The filling is the perfect amount of squishy yet firm deliciously buttery caramelized butterscotch. I dream of this butter tart. I wish I had one right now. Read more about Bà Nội here.
Kakigori at Azuki to Kouri
If you’re obsessed with kakigori (Japanese shaved ice) like I am, you NEED to go to Tokyo. The shaved ice is on another level. I told Mike about Azuki to Kouri in a “we’ll never get in but I dream of going” conversation. But! He surprised me by somehow scoring a reservation. I ordered TWO kakigori and trust me, it was the right move.
I had the azuki (sweet red bean) and kabocha (pumpkin). Both of them were amaze but the kabocha was what I dream of. Layers and layers of perfectly airy, flaky ice, sweet and creamy roasted kabocha, crunchy caramelized puff pastry, candied nuts, and a crown of brûléed chiboust pastry cream all come together into a brilliant dessert filled with complementing and contrasting flavors, textures, and temperatures. Truly, it was one of the best desserts of the year and maybe even my life? Take me back!
Sushi Mugen∞
Sushi just hits different in Tokyo. Combine omakase sushi with a vinyl listening bar and you get Sushi Mugen. Located in the backroom of an unassuming glass block adorned cafe space, the eight seat sushi counter is intimate and feels almost like you’ve been transported into the future, to what they think a modern retro sushi bar would look like.
I love omakase and Mugen is an excellent example. You sit down, relax and enjoy as you eat your way through the ocean. The fish is incredibly seasonal and the shari (sushi rice) is firm, slightly warm, and pleasantly vinegary. Good music, good sushi, good drinks, and good company. This was, hands down, one of our favorite meals of 2025.
Homemade Dubai Chocolate
Everyone’s forgotten about Dubai chocolate, but here I am, stuck in 2024, still making homemade Dubai chocolate bars, just mini. Somehow I convinced myself that I could be a chocolatier and got some acetate chocolate molds and a semi-professional chocolate smoothing paddle. Lil mini dark chocolate shells filled with pistachio goodness and crispy kadyif are so incredibly addictive. I have a supply in the fridge because I like my chocolate cold, like a monster. Make your own Dubai chocolate here.
Udon in Tokyo
If you’ve ever perused must-go-to restaurants in Tokyo, you’ve most likely seen the viral wide udon located in Ginza. Mike and I have been there and it’s very good, but waiting for udon when there are so many other places to eat always seems like a tragedy. One of our favorite bowls of udon was in Ikebukuro at Himokawa-Kiryu. They specialize in himokawa udon, which is wide and slippery, thin, and chewy. At Kiryu, you can get a duo of udon, extra-wide and regular. The himokawa udon at Kiryu is extremely wide. We’re talking wider than a lasagna noodle wide. The tsuyu (dipping sauce) is delicate yet flavorful, the tempura is hot and crispy, and everything is just chef’s kiss.
Yakiniku in Tokyo
If you love beef, you NEED to go to Japan for yakiniku. Yakiniku is the Japanese take on Korean BBQ. It’s same-same, but completely different. The quality of beef is insane. You know those stories you hear about cows being massaged and happily enjoying the best grass ever? They really are tastier.
We ate our way through all of Tokyo’s yakiniku restaurants (more on that soon) but our favorites were the misuji at Yoroniku, all the good vibes and creative dishes at the Ushigoro chain, and, just like the kakigori, Mike used his reservation scoring superpowers to get us a spot at the bar at Jambo and it lived up to all the hype I heard about and more. We had so many plans and restaurants to go to and somehow we just ended up at yakiniku every night in Tokyo.
Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
Shout out to our air fryer chicken thighs. Super simple air-fried chicken thighs was our most go-to meal in 2025 when we were lazy and couldn’t come up with anything creative to make. Crispy, juicy, super simple and super satisfying with a side of rotating vegetables and ricej. Mostly we just seasoned bone in, skin on thighs with salt and pepper and popped them in at 390ºF for 23 minutes, but if you want a lemon-y, garlic-y version, we have a recipe for that!
That’s it. 2025 was full of good food and I’m looking forward to 2026 being delicious too. Happy New Year and I hope your 2026 is full of deliciousness!
-xoxo steph
