Pearl Diver introduces WeChat Wednesdays

Pearl Diver TO

There's another Social APP that originated in China that is rapidly becoming the new thing and it's being introduced to the Toronto market.  I attended a fabulous media dinner at Pearl Diver seafood restaurant for WeChat Wednesday.  I have been to Pearl Diver before but we were introduced to some new special menu items that will be on the menu this spring.  The Pearl Diver restaurants originated in Asia and is fairly new to Canada, there will soon be 7 restaurants in total.

Let me explain We Chat first.  WeChat is a new app that is also a loyalty program. It's a hybrid type app like whatsapp, twitter, instagram and facebook combined.  It was developed in China and has over 600 million users.  A lot of the users in China use it to communicate for free to family members in Canada so this is why they are looking to expand to North America to grow the number of users and therefore grow the benefits of using the app.   Unfortunately because my cell phone is so jam packed with images I didn't have the storage space to load the app but all of my fellow diners did and they were able to connect with each other in the room with the location feature.  I wish I could tell you what the experience using it is like but I won't be able to until I get a new phone that can keep up with me.  So you will have to check it out for yourself but my foodie friends seemed to like the features they were playing with.

PEARL DIVER – WECHAT REWARD PROGRAM

• 1 point for every $1 spend at PD (not including tax & tip)
• Points are transferable – $20 per transfer
• REWARD POINTS (valid until March 31st of every year)

There are multi levels and you can even earn a trip to Shanghai or Beijing. You can make free calls and have group chats and also post moments which are like instagram/facebook posts is how it was explained to me.

Pearl Diver will be introducing a series of WeChat Wednesdays where you can get 10% off your bill if you use the WeChat app.  They will also teach you about oysters with a special of 3 oysters, a glass of beer or wine or a highlighted cocktail for $8.88. They will also have an Oyster special for $28.88 which has 4 different kinds of oysters which change every week.

The dinner we had on WeChat Wednesday was delicious.
The Menu:

• A selection of oysters from the East Coast and the West coast.

• Seared Diver Scallops with watercress, house smoked pork belly, rhubarb and brown butter vinaigrette

• Atlantic Lobster tiger salad, PD ponzu sauce

• Menonite Pork Chop with summer potato bacon hash, braised red cabbage with blackcurrant glaze

• Steelhead Trout with avocado, edamame, broccollini & tomatillo

The flavours are fresh and bold and you can get a really great selection of seafood dishes from this Steelhead trout to a bowl of mussels to their huge selection of freshly shucked oysters.  I think I like the tiny little oysters from the East Coast the best.

Dessert:

• Dark Chocolate Delice with cherry compote, passion fruit coulis, cocoa nib & peanut brittle
• Hibiscus Poached Peach & Hazelnut cake with mascarpone, blueberry compote and toasted pine nuts.

This Dark Chocolate dessert was my favourite thing.  I could have eaten 2 platefulls it was so good.
The pastry chef has been working on trying to use less butter and sugar in desserts while retaining full flavour from natural ingredients.


For more information about Pearl Diver

Pearl Diver 100 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON M5C 1K6

Reservations 416-366-7827

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pearldiverto/
WeChat: PDToronto
Twitter:  @PearlDiverTO
Instagram: @pearlDiverTo
Website: http://pearldiver.to/pearldiver/

Hours of Operation

Mon to Wed - Noon to 12am
Thurs & Fri - Noon to 1am
Sat - 4pm to 1am
Sun - 11am to 12am

Hate the long lines in the CNE food building? There's an APP for that.

Have you ever gone to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) and ventured into the Food Building to get food and have decided on what to get based on the shortest line?  Well what if you could just pick the food you want and skip the line?  

Well there is a NEW APP for that.  

The team at Grabb (an app that allows you to pre-order & pay for food at your favourite downtown Toronto restaurants) created the app that will allow you to pre-order your food while you are busy walking around the CNE and it will notify you when your order is ready. You can also order through Grabb's regular app.

You can download the APP for your IPHONE from the APP STORE and for ANDROID from GOOGLE PLAY.

When you place & pay for your order it goes to the restaurant on an iPad that is solely dedicated to The Food Building app orders. You will get a notification through the app when your food is ready. There is also a countdown that shows you approximately when you will get that notification so you can go on another ride, use the washroom, or continue spending time with friends until the moment your food is ready.

There are The Food Building signs at each partnering vendor so you can walk right up to that sign and get your food instead of waiting in the regular line! It's designed to make sure a lineup doesn't occur! 

The app can be used for these select vendors inside The Food Building

Vendors include:

• Pho 88 
• Fran's Restaurant 
• Pull'd 
• Epic Burgers & Waffles
• Jake's Lobster 
• Far East Taco 
• St. Louis 
• Mac N Cheesery 
• Just Cone It 
• Ye Olde Fudge Pot 
• Bouchard's Poutinery
• The Funnel Cake Shop 

This covers some of the new and most likely most popular vendors in the Food Building and foods such as  - Deep Fried Red Velvet Oreos, Pizza Cones, Double Bacon Grilled Cheese, Donut Burgers, Funnel Cake, etc.

 This is what the App looks like.

The Food Building is one of the most popular and most talked about features of the CNE. It’s predecessor, the Pure Food Building, was demolished in 1953 and the $1.5 million dollar structure, we know as the Toronto Star Food Building, was built in its place.

The building has become a hub for innovative and quirky food experiences. With local restaurants serving cuisines from around the world and vendors who return to serve traditional fair favourites every year, there really is something to suit every taste and every budget. 

I haven't been to the CNE yet this season but I am curious to see how this new APP works out for the convenience of people attending the EX.  If you try it let me know your experience with it.  I am going to try and go this week and will do another blog post on the foods I check out.

*Information provided by The Food Building Blog.  

For further info check out The Food Building website: http://thefoodbuilding.ca/