GTA – Page 7 – Around the World in 196 Plates

Country 024 – Ethiopia (Ethiopian House)

Published on January 10, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4 Irwin Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://www.ethiopianhouse.com/

See, this is one of the big reasons I started this blog: I have zero experience with Ethiopian cuisine. And who knows when I would have tried it otherwise — the inspiration for this particular excursion was entirely blog-related.

The moral of this story? If you want to try new things, start a blog. (and ignore the fact that you could easily try new things without the hassle and work of maintaining a food blog — where’s the fun in that??)

My dining companion and I shared both the meat and vegetarian Bayaaynatu, which the menu translates as “of each kind,” and is essentially a sampler plate. It all came on one enormous platter bearing a kaleidoscopic assortment of tastes and textures. I’m not even going to try to describe them all, but I will say that there wasn’t a weak selection in the bunch. I was particularly impressed by the diversity of flavours here; I sort of figured that everything would taste similar, but with few exceptions, each selection in the assortment had a personality of its own.

I really enjoyed it, though the meat in the dish at the top of the header photo was a bit tough, and the whole spread felt like it could have used more spice (hot sauce was provided, however).

There’s no classy way to eat this. There’s no cutlery to be seen; you just tear off a piece of injera — a wheaty Ethiopian flatbread that’s kind of like a thin, spongy pancake — and start scooping. The whole thing is served on a piece of that same bread, so eventually you’ll start tearing pieces off and eating that too. Only one napkin was provided (though I’m sure I could have — and should have — asked for more), and without getting into too much detail, I’ll say that by the end of the meal that napkin had seen better days.

It’s also an intimidating amount of food. My dining companion and I were defeated by the enormous spread, and neither of us are exactly dainty eaters. Still, we did our best; when the food is this good, how could you not?

Country 023 – Finland (Fanny Chadwick’s)

Published on December 27, 2015 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 268 Howland Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://www.fannychadwicks.ca/

I’ll bet you didn’t know how multicultural pancakes are. Check out their entry on Wikipedia; apparently about half of the countries in the world have their own variation on pancakes, which have been a staple at least since the time of the ancient Greeks.

And, yes, apparently Finland is one of the many pancake-loving countries out there. Their take — at least based on what Fanny Chadwick’s is serving up — is kind of like a crepe, only thicker and with a more substantial chew. Topped with a mango passion fruit compote, lightly sweetened ricotta and a bit of honey, and rolled up into dense, multi-layered rolls, they make for a hearty, satisfying breakfast.

The compote adds a nice balance of sweet and tart, with the blob of creamy ricotta on top rounding things out. The honey is sparingly applied, so if you like your breakfast to be closer to dessert, you’d be best advised to look elsewhere.

I found it a bit too eggy both in texture and taste, but then I’m not crazy about things that are eggy that aren’t eggs (I’m indifferent to French toast for the same reason). Despite that, however, I still quite enjoyed these pancakes.

You have a few choices for the side, but I went with the smoked fish, thinking that it was probably the most authentically Finnish. I think it was salmon, but don’t quote me on that. It was really, really good — perfectly tender, with a pronounced smoky flavour that didn’t overwhelm. It was hot smoked rather than cold, so it had the flavour of traditional smoked salmon, but the texture of perfectly cooked fish. It was great.

Country 021 – Italy (A3 Napoli)

Published on November 29, 2015 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 589 College Street, Toronto
Website: http://a3napoli.com/

Given that A3 is a collaboration between Porchetta and Co.‘s Nick auf der Mauer and Pizzeria Libretto‘s Rocco Agostino, you’d just sort of assume that it’s going to be really good. And you would be correct. You would be 100% correct.

The menu is an even split between crispy goodies coming out of their fryer and piping hot pizzas from their enormous, impressive 900 degree pizza oven (which is pretty much the centrepiece of the restaurant).

We started with the “Land” assortment of fried deliciousness, which came with decadently gooey arancini, flavour-packed meatballs, fried mozzarella that would put any mozzarella stick to shame, and perfectly cooked slices of sweet potato. It included a little cup of marinara for dipping, but everything was so tasty on its own that it was mostly superfluous.

They serve a sandwich that changes every couple of weeks, served on what is essentially an undressed pizza that’s folded over. It was meatball when I went, but it’ll probably be something different by the time you read this.

First and foremost is that bread, which has an addictively chewy texture and just the right amount of char from the inferno-hot pizza oven. Can I have all of my sandwiches in this bread? Because I want all of my sandwiches in this bread.

The inside of the sandwich was a perfect mix of rich tomato sauce, creamy pesto, and peppery arugula. That’s not to mention, of course, the toothsome and abundant meatballs. If I had to come up with the top five meatball sandwiches I’ve had in my life, this one would probably be on there.

We finished with the Zeppoli — little cinnamon-and-sugar-dusted doughnuts that are essentially like the best Timbits you’ve ever had, which come with a heady chocolate hazelnut sauce for dipping. That sauce, I should note, was so good that my dining companion was compelled to drink the remains.

Country 006 – Japan (Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Cheesecake)

Published on April 26, 2015April 26, 2015 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 598 Bay Street, Toronto
Website: http://uncletetsu-ca.com/

Uncle Tetsu’s opened last month, and almost instantly became notorious for its perpetually long line-ups that snake out of the store from morning to night.

I didn’t particularly want to write about any of the usual suspects in Japanese cuisine (sushi, ramen, katsu, etc.). So why not stand in line for a ridiculous amount of time and see what the fuss was all about?

My would-be line-mate stood me up, so it was just me, the line, and tedium for a solid ninety minutes.

It was an interesting experience. Standing in that line, it quickly becomes apparent that you are now an object of curiosity, subject to countless bemused stares from gawking passersby.

There are the hushed questions: what’s that line for? followed by the obligatory chuckles and raised eyebrows when it’s revealed that yes, it’s for cheesecake.

There are the ersatz photographers commemorating your poor judgment for all eternity (I witnessed at least three people photographing the line, and those are just the ones I noticed).

And of course, there are the muttered grumblings of “this better be good” by those of us foolhardy enough to while away a Saturday afternoon standing in a barely-moving queue.

I also saw triumph: a man holding a tiny, shivering dog, greeting his cheesecake-clutching girlfriend with palpably emotional squeals of joy; a woman emerging from the store as if reborn, sighing with relief with a wrought exclamation of “ninety minutes!” Who was she talking to? Nobody. Everybody.

This isn’t just about cheesecake. It’s about the wait. The experience. You’re paying for the cheesecake, sure, but is that why people are flocking here? If you could just stroll into the shop and buy a cheesecake whenever you want, would people care?

Clearly, it’s not about dessert, or at least it isn’t just about that: it’s about the shared communion of the line. It’s about standing in the cold and inching forward slower than you thought possible. It’s about sweating in the cramped, claustrophobic heat of the store. It’s about doing something.

But yes, after all that, you do get a cheesecake. A tasty cheesecake?

It’s unique, particularly when it’s still warm from the oven. The fresh cake is very subtly sweet, with an airy souffle-like lightness and an almost custardy flavour that’s fairly irresistible.

It’s seriously eggy though; it’s almost like eating the lightest, fluffiest (and sweetest) omelette that you’ve ever had. It was a bit much for my taste, but then I’m not a huge fan of overwhelmingly eggy desserts in general.

Oddly, I couldn’t detect any cream cheese flavour at all — at least not when it was still hot and fresh. If you had given me a slice of that cheesecake blind and asked me to guess what it was, I never in a million years would have guessed cheesecake. Is it souffle? Some kind of custard cake? A weirdly sweet omelette?? My mind would have never gone to cheesecake; it is about as far removed from the dense, richly sweet New York variety as you can possibly get.

When it cools, however, it becomes more recognizable as a cheesecake; the texture congeals into something denser and less cloud-like, and the cream cheese flavour pokes through a little bit. It’s subtle, but it’s there.

In fact, subtle is a good word for this cake in general; nothing here is assertive. It’s light and fluffy, with an ethereal taste and texture that defies the boldness of flavour that you typically expect from a dish like this. A lot of desserts are full of flash and pizazz, like that needy coworker who just cannot stand it if you don’t like them. This cheesecake is the opposite of that.

It’s tasty. But was it mind-blowingly good? Was it terribly memorable in any way, other than the experience of getting it? Was it worth the insane line-up? No, no, and no. Does it matter?

One of the points of contention around Uncle Tetsu online is that, well, T&T sells ’em cheaper, and without the indignity of standing in line-up the approximate length of a Woody Allen movie (or on a busier day, a Judd Apatow movie).

This is true. I went to T&T so I could do a side-by-side comparison, and found individually-sized cheesecakes for $1.79, and larger ones (which are a little bit bigger than the Uncle Tetsu version) for $6.49. It’s cheaper, but not dramatically so (Tetsu’s version is $8.88).

The T&T version is denser, richer, and sweeter than what Uncle Tetsu is serving up. It doesn’t have the pillowy airiness of Tetsu, or the delicate complexity of flavour. It’s much closer to a traditional cheesecake. It’s also not nearly as off-puttingly eggy, which is a plus.

It’s different enough that I can conclusively put the T&T-as-an-Uncle-Tetsu-substitute talk to bed; if you want the Uncle Tetsu experience, you’re going to have to suffer through the line. T&T’s version is a different beast altogether.

That’s not to say it’s bad. The flavour is less nuanced and more one-note sweet, but if I’m being honest with myself, I enjoyed it more. It has less to offer, but it’s simpler, more familiar, and to my palate at least, easier to love.

Country 005 – Dominican Republic (Mi Tierra)

Published on April 12, 2015 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 828 Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: None

I was watching the Dominican Republic-centric episode of No Reservations, and a hearty soup called sancocho was highlighted as that country’s quintessential dish. After a quick consultation with my good friend Google, I found myself at Mi Tierra — though it’s technically a Colombian restaurant, they’ve got the ‘cocho on the menu (what’s that? No one calls it ‘cocho? Okay fine. Your loss).

It’s alright, I guess. It’s perfectly tasty, but I have a hard time imagining anyone getting too hot and bothered over it (but again, like with my recent experience with doubles, it’s possible that I got a mediocre version of an otherwise great dish).

The base is a pretty basic chicken stock; it’s a nice clean broth, but there isn’t a whole lot of flavour there. It’s filled with some fairly sizable chunks of potato, plantain, cassava (which is like a starchier potato), oxtail, and roast-beef-esque chunks of meat.

It’ll certainly fill you up, though I wish there was a little bit more meat in there; there was only one piece of oxtail, which was really tender and probably the best thing in the bowl. There were maybe three or four chunks of beef, which were a bit dryer than I’d like, but otherwise pretty good. The rest was all potato and cassava and plantain. It was hearty and very filling, no doubt about it, but a little bit ho-hum. The dish primarily consists of starchy vegetables that all taste like starchy vegetables; there’s not much here that elevates them.

It came with a coleslaw-esque salad on the side, which had a bright, citrusy flavour, but which was a little bit too strong on the onion for my tastes (but I’m admittedly not a huge fan of raw onion).

Country 004 – Trinidad and Tobago (Leela’s Roti & Doubles)

Published on March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 900 Rathburn Road West, Unit 1, Mississauga
Website: http://leelasroti.com/

Well, that was disappointing.

I’ve never tried a double before (a doubles? Does it have to have the S?), and I’d certainly heard good things about Leela’s. Trying something new? At a reasonably acclaimed restaurant? Yeah, I was excited.

And the place was packed — so packed that I couldn’t even eat in the restaurant (I ate in the car, which is always fun).

If nothing else, it’s crazy cheap. I got a double ($1.25), an aloo pie ($1.50), and a bottle of Trinidadian soda ($2.00), and the whole thing came up to just over five bucks. And it was a fairly substantial amount of food, I should note.

I tried the double first. A double, for the uninitiated, is essentially a chickpea curry sandwich made with a special type of fried bread.

It was actually pretty bad. It probably didn’t help that it had obviously been sitting around for quite a while, giving the bread a mushy, unpleasantly sodden texture that was really unappealing.

The filling is essentially bland curry mush. It’s just kind of there, without any real personality: a gentle, ineffectual poke to your tastebuds. Nothing about it pops.

It also had an unpleasant undertone that I can’t quite put my finger on. The closest thing I can compare it to is particularly ripe boiled cabbage. That flavour wasn’t too strong, fortunately, but it was definitely there, and it was definitely off-putting — to me, at least. I think it’s safe to assume that, in the process of updating this blog, I’ll be eating dishes that would be classified as acquired tastes. So I don’t know if this was just a bad version of a double, or a taste I simply haven’t acquired.

The aloo pie was clearly the superior of the two items. Featuring a spiced potato filling surrounded by a crispy fried pastry shell, it was nothing particularly mind-blowing, but it was tasty at least.

The filling is essentially like a smoother, less dense version of what’s in a samosa. It tasted okay, but again, it was kind of bland. It was spicy, at least, which helped give it some personality.

The fried pastry shell had a crispy exterior and a pleasantly chewy bite, but it also tasted very strongly of stale oil.

So no… not a fan. But if you’re looking to get full on very little money, then sure, come here with a few bucks in your pocket and go nuts. Just don’t expect anything that great.

Country 002 — Colombia (Las Delicias)

Published on March 2, 2015March 15, 2015 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 59 Dundas Street West, Mississauga
Website: None

Hidden away in a sketchy little plaza in Mississauga, Las Delicias is pretty much the very definition of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

The friendly proprietor quickly sussed out that it was my first time in the restaurant — and my first time eating Colombian food, period. She recommended the Bandeja Paisa, a decadent smorgasbord that pretty much dares you to finish it (I did).

Clockwise on the picture above, starting at 12:00 – a fried egg, Colombian sausage, fried plantain, crispy pork belly, corn biscuit, and steak, all served atop white rice and beans, with an addictively spicy bowl of hot sauce served on the side.

Nothing here was particularly great — in fact, I suspect that almost all of it is probably better served elsewhere. The pork belly was tough, and bordering on leathery. The corn biscuit was almost rock hard. The steak was overcooked and chewy. The plantain was soggy.

And yet I enjoyed it more than you’d think. Everything taken together, and topped with that great hot sauce, added up to something surprisingly satisfying.

The sausage — which had an odd, yellow colour on the inside and a unique texture — was a highlight. And it’s hard to mess up a fried egg. The beans, too, were quite good — kind of like a less dense refried beans.

I was disappointed at first, but the dish slowly won me over. It was a huge amount of food and I cleaned the plate. Of course, that probably speaks to my gluttony just as much as it does to the quality of the food, but still. I enjoyed it.