A few weeks ago I received an email about a new clinic called West End Mamas. I clicked on the link and had one of those moments where I said to myself – “Wow! What a great idea”. I immediately replied that indeed I would be happy to blog about this clinic as I’m always excited to share creative and entrepreneurial initiatives!!

This clinic is founded by Dr. Sarah Mickeler, Canada’s leading expert on prenatal and postnatal chiropractic care. The mission of the clinic is to is to provide total wellness for motherhood. 

When you click on the website (which I hope you do)…you will find that this clinic offers everything a new mama would need for total wellness. There’s a wide range of services being offered at West End Mamas. For example: Chiropractor Care, Acupuncture, homeopathy, registered massage therapy, nutrition and dietician counselling, naturopathic medicine, doula services, pelvic floor physiotherapy, lactation and postpartum support and more!!

I have no doubt that each and everyone of these health care professionals, were carefully selected!

Two of their staff really intrigued me. The first is Allison Martineau, who believes in helping families cook and eat for health throughout the entire motherhood journey – something any parent knows can be a struggle, especially in those early days. I couldn’t help but think how valuable this would be for expectant moms trying to navigate a nauseous pregnancy while eating well!
The other is Tanya Smith. We hear a lot about reproductive health and technology these days, but not a lot about holistic solutions. Tanya is an acupuncturist and Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, with specialized training in supporting clients through their fertility treatment in partnership with a fertility clinic.

I also loved that this clinic offers child minding, lockers for your strollers, water in the waiting area, and a really easy to use website! Not to mention the location of this clinic is on the subway line.In their beautiful, light-filled 400 sq. ft. studio, they offer classes such as prenatal and postpartum yoga, childbirth preparation, breastfeeding and lactation support, and parenting skills such as Introducing Solids, Baby Wearing, and Mother Wellness.I really wish there was a clinic like this back in 1996 and 1999!! #LeSigh

Last week I took the subway and went to check out their space and to enjoy a massage. I was really impressed with the warm welcoming staff and the comfortable space they have created.  Not to mention that my massage therapist was skilled and asked all the right questions to ensure that I was comfortable and a happy client.

For more information: 

Website: www.westendmamas.ca

Address: 2477 Bloor St. West (2nd Floor) at Jane St. Toronto, Ontario

Phone: 416 960 5656

Email address: hello@westendmamas.ca

Disclosure: I was compensated for this blog post however all opinions are my own.

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It’s that time of year when I return to my favorite restaurants so I can enjoy some comfort food.  I generally want soup but sometimes I want a different type of soup like the one I order at: Buk Chang Soon Tofu.

I use to pass this restaurant all the time on Yonge (just south of Finch on the east side). It took me years to actually check it out as I could see thru the window that it was always packed. One day I finally made it and I was blown over!!  a) it’s cheap and cheerful (my fav type of restaurant) and b) it’s pure comfort food without a ton of calories.

I also found out why it’s packed. You simply can’t make this at home.

So what do I order?

I order the Vegetable Soon Tofu. (#6) It’s basically a bowl of flavourful broth that is served in this piping-hot stone pot (in Korean, this is called dolsot) and is packed with vegetables and soft, fresh tofu.

#6

It arrives with 4 different types of appetizers (soybean, kimchi, radish, and a bean sprout dish) and an egg for you to throw into your stone pot. All of this for $8.50 WITH TAX. Could life get any better?

Now if you want a meat soup – there’s a few options:

Sadly there is no website, no facebook page and no twitter presence. However you can find lots of great reviews on Urbanspoon, BlogTO, and Yelp.

For more info:

Buk Chang Soon Dong Tofu (north) 5445 Yonge Street (416) 430 7458

Buk Chang Soon Dong Tofu (south) 691 Bloor St. West (416) 537 0972

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I was invited to a media dinner at Noka a few weeks ago. We tasted a selection of amazing specialty rolls and I was impressed enough to return in order to eat “Chirashi”. I have been eating Chirashi at Ichiban (in North York) for well over a decade and was curious to check out the Chirashi at Noka. I went on of of those nights when I had nothing in the fridge (sound familiar)?

Our meal started off with a decent bowl of salad and miso soup. I appreciated the addition of some mushrooms in the miso soup and the salad was crisp with just enough dressing.

A great start to our meal.

Then the “main” attraction appeared at our table. If I were handing out Presentation Points…I would be giving this dish a 10/10. The chirashi  arrived with a bed of perfectly seasoned rice and 12 pieces of sashimi. I had called in advance to see if they would accommodate our needs: (no shrimp, eel etc) and the chef gave us exactly what we wanted: 8 pieces of salmon and 4 pieces of salmon. Bonus points to Noka for amazing customer service.

Stunning.

Speaking of “special requests” – if you are a vegetarian then you are going to love their selection of rolls. Check this out:

Impressive selection of Vegetarian Options

Seeing as I am on a carb free diet, I just nibbled on the chirachi (ie the fish) and ordered their Spicy Salmon Salad:

Spicy but Nice.

I really enjoyed it but then again I like spice and can understand why it’s a popular item on the menu.

Sadly I didn’t take a picture of the space but Noka is really inviting, clean and comfortable.  Seeing as there are so many sushi restaurants on Bloor St. – these small things make a difference. Not to mention that they have gluten free options available as well as gluten free sauces and salad dressings. Plus they are nut free and vegetarian friendly.

One more thing: they totally “get” social media. Super impressed to see them on twitter (@nokatoronto) and on facebook. On my way out I even noticed a contest that they are running on their facebook page.

Noka 513 Bloor West, Toronto 647 351 1188

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