where jess ate

While shopping at a mall, do you ever find yourself looking for an option other than the typical food court fare?

Located in Mississauga, Square One Shopping Centre is currently running a campaign until September 3rd featuring summer-inspired menu items at many of their restaurants. Participating restaurants include Alice Fazooli’s, Canyon Creek Chophouse, Earls Kitchen & Bar, Jack Astor’s Bar & Grill, Moxie’s Grill & Bar, Open Kitchen by Richtree, Panera Bread Bakery and Whole Foods Market.

During a recent shopping trip at Square One, I stopped by Earls (@EarlsSQ1) for a bite to eat. The restaurant is conveniently located inside the mall which makes it an easy spot to fuel up during your shopping excursion.

What I like about Earls is their upscale yet comfortable atmosphere. I’m from the west coast myself so it’s really nice to see a west coast chain expanding into Ontario.

Earls has an extensive menu with something to suit everyone’s tastes. With so many options, I had a difficult time narrowing down my choices. After much deliberation, I started with their summer addition to the menu, the Dominical Fish Tacos – two flour tortillas, grilled lime and coriander marinated wahoo, mango and avocado salsa, spicy Valentina crema ($11.50). They can also be ordered as an entrée which comes with fries.

I liked that the fish was grilled as it was a nice change from the usual deep-fried fish found in fish tacos. With the sweetness of the mango and fresh chunks of avocado, I really enjoyed the lightness of the dish. For those of you who like a little spice in your food, the Valentina crema served on the side gives the tacos a great little kick.

For my main, I went with the Dungeness Crab and Asparagus Linguini – saffron, cream sauce, tomatoes, asparagus, lemon oil, prawns and Dungeness crab ($19.50). The linguini was cooked to a nice al dente and despite the sauce being cream-based, I was pleasantly surprised by how light the dish tasted. While subtle, the lemon oil gave the pasta a nice citrus flavour. Another great summer dish!

After grabbing a bite to eat at Earls, we dropped by Moxies (@Moxies_official ) for a drink and desserts. Similar to Earls, Moxies is also located inside the mall.

I was craving something fruity and went with the Kiwi Orange Mojito ($5.99). Fruity and refreshing – exactly what I was looking for.

Since there were two of us, we decided to share two desserts. The first dessert was the Banana Caramel Xango (Chan’go) – cinnamon-sugar, warm caramel, light banana cheesecake wrapped in pastry with ribbons of chocolate & French vanilla ice cream ($6.99). If you’ve ever tried this, you’d know why this is a dessert I always have to order at Moxies.

I prefer my cheesecake on the lighter side and find that Moxie’s fluffy banana cheesecake is exactly to my liking. The deep-fried pastry contrasts the cheesecake nicely and gives the dessert a nice crunch. Served piping hot with a large scoop of French vanilla ice cream, what’s not to love?

The second dessert we decided on was the White Chocolate Brownie – warm chocolate sauce, French vanilla ice cream & real whipped cream ($7.99). A large square of brownie topped with two scoops of ice cream and whipped cream – this dessert is a plate of pure indulgence! It’s a very shareable dessert and I wouldn’t recommend trying to conquer this on your own. Luckily, you can also get the smaller version of this dessert which they call a “bite of brownie” for $2.99.

After the pit stops at Earls and Moxies, you can bet we went home with satisfied stomachs!

So, let me get to the best part about Savour the Season… you can enter to win one of ten $100 gift cards to your favourite participating restaurant. You can enter the contest online at www.shopsquareone.com/contest or via the SQ1 mobile app.

Good luck and happy eating!

*Note: This is a sponsored post*