corn – Around the World in 196 Plates

Country 080 – El Salvador (Tacos El Asador)

Published on October 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 689 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: None

My one sentence summary of Tacos El Asador: tasty, but bland. I tried a couple of things, and they were both good, but neither really jumped out at me. Which is fine. Not everything can be a taste bonanza. Some things are just good.

It’s probably at least partially my fault. “Tacos” is right there in the name of the restaurant. I did not order a taco. I wanted to stick to El Salvadorian specialties, so I ordered a tamale and a papusa.

My dining companion, on the other hand, ordered a couple of tacos and thoroughly enjoyed his meal, so I think that’s the thing to get.

I started with a corn tamale (well, technically I ordered a chicken tamale, but they brought me a corn tamale. Things have to be pretty dire for me to complain at a restaurant, so I just ate what was in front of me).

It’s a good quality tamale, though flavour-wise there wasn’t much going on. It was basically just plain corn meal with pops of sweetness from the whole kernels of corn. The two hot sauces on the table helped to bring it some flavour, as did the little cup of sour cream that comes on the side.

I also tried the pork chicharron papusa, which was kind of like an arepa, but with meat baked right in. And again, it didn’t exactly explode with flavour, but the pork was nice and tender and the exterior was satisfyingly crispy. It also came with a little cup of hot sauce that suited it quite well.

Country 071 – Ecuador (Comedor Popular Ecuatoriano)

Published on June 17, 2018June 17, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 9 Milvan Drive, North York
Website: None

Though I’ve already written about a restaurant in the Plaza Latina food court, another visit was probably inevitable. That place is an absolute treasure trove of Latin American food.

This time, I visited an Ecuadorian restaurant called Comedor Popular Ecuatoriano. I wasn’t sure what to order; the woman behind the counter recommended a dish that came with a hearty soup and churrasco, an Ecuadorian take on steak and eggs.

The soup came out first, and it was really, really good. I didn’t see it on the menu, but I’m pretty sure this was sancocho. I had this particular soup at a restaurant called Mi Tierra, but this one was clearly the superior version. The broth had a really satisfying chicken-infused flavour, with a nice hit of cilantro and a zestiness that kept me coming back for more.

It was also seriously hearty, with huge chunks of cassava, carrots, plantains, beef, and corn. This alone would have been a satisfying lunch.

But of course, there was still the main meal: a huge plate piled high with steak, rice, fries, two fried eggs, and a salad. If you’ve got a big appetite, this is your place.

Oddly, I really enjoyed this even though most of the individual components weren’t all that great. The steak was tough, the fries were run-of-the-mill, and the rice was fairly bland. But once I started eating it all together, it coalesced into something surprisingly tasty. The perfectly runny yolks on the two eggs essentially becomes a sauce that improves everything; if you get a little bit of multiple elements in each mouthful, it’s delicious.

Country 063 – Moldova (Moldova Restaurant)

Published on February 18, 2018February 18, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

It would have been nice if my first post-hiatus restaurant had been a little bit better than this, but then my pre-hiatus restaurant wasn’t great either. So I guess there’s a symmetry there.

And I won’t say that Moldova Restaurant was flat-out bad. The meal had its moments.

It started out uniquely enough — the bread basket came with a side of some kind of sweet, intensely garlicky salsa. It was interesting.

I started with the zamma — a Moldovan take on chicken noodle soup. Aside from the pronounced dill flavour, this tasted like it could have come out of a can. The hearty chunks of chicken and potato added some substance, but the flavour was just generic saltiness.

Next up was the chebureki, which the menu describes as a “fried meat pie.” This was fine. The thin pie shell was nice and crispy, and the sausagey filling was mild, but satisfying. I feel like it was missing something, but it was enjoyable enough.

Finally there was the mamaliga, which is essentially a Moldovan polenta. I like polenta, but I wasn’t crazy about this version. It was pretty tasteless (hence the sour cream and the feta cheese), and the texture was overly thick and gluey.

Country 043 – Venezuela (El Arepazo)

Published on October 21, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 181 Augusta Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://arepazo.ca/

A good way of figuring out what to order for this blog is Googling “[Insert country here] national dish.” In the case of Venezuela, their national dish is pabellón criollo, which consists of braised beef, rice and beans, and is typically served with fried plantain.

The version at El Arepazo is a bit untraditional– for one thing, it’s served on an arepa, which is essentially like a corn tortilla and a pita had a baby. Steak is substituted for shredded beef, and given that it’s served in bread, rice has been taken out of the equation entirely.

I quite enjoyed it, though any notion that it could be eaten like a sandwich went out the window almost immediately. The arepa itself isn’t exactly substantial, and they’ve filled it with a lot of stuff. I took one bite and the whole thing collapsed into bits like a meat-and-bean-filled pinata.

Still, however you eat it, it’s good. The steak is a bit on the tough side and all the flavours are probably more muted than they should be (though the two sauces that come on the side — a red and a green salsa — add some needed zip), but it’s otherwise pretty tasty. The beans, the beef, and the creamy plantains are a good combo, and the gooey cheese helps to bring it all together.