Toronto eats Archives - Page 6 of 10

Mandarin (Yonge and Eglinton, takeout edition)

How a buffet restaurant adapted admirably in the times of COVID-19

Mandarin is known amongst Toronto residents for their all-you-can-eat buffet, with vaguely Chinese dishes and mishmash of dishes like sushi and pizza. Long-time Torontonians still bemoan the loss of crab legs from the line-up. Despite online criticisms, food quality is decent and is perhaps the best place to try Canadian-Chinese food. People don’t go there just for the food. Nostalgia plays a factor too. Mandarin prides itself as a family restaurant and surely many a celebratory meal went down at its restaurants.

Mandarin Building — Mandarin restaurant, on the ground floor of Canada Square

I was curious about how Mandarin was doing at a time when buffets are not allowed to operate. They held back during the initial months of the pandemic but quickly pivoted to takeout. Is there still a reason to patronize Mandarin when they have lost their main value proposition? Thankfully, the answer is yes.

For this review, I went to the closest Mandarin downtown, at Yonge and Eglinton.

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The Suya Spot

Savoury, smokey Nigerian grilled meats

Suyas are easily the most accessible Nigerian food. Unlike other traditional dishes like slimy cow foot soup (nkwobi) or mud-like amala (yam flour paste), barbecued meat is a crowd-pleaser. It’s no wonder that the majority of Nigerian restaurants in Toronto offer suya. The Suya Spot is one of the best places to sample this meaty delight.

Exterior of The Suya Spot — The Suya Spot

Do you want your West African meats well-done or extra well-done?

In my travels to West Africa, I’ve sadly never had revelatory food experiences. Grilled meat is popular and goes by different names: suya in Nigeria, soya in Cameroon, and brochette in Niger. However, quality ranges from ho-hum to bad at most places. I’ve never been to Nigeria (I blame unreasonable visa fees), but my experiences in surrounding countries indicate a philosophy of overcooking meat. It could be for hygiene reasons or a local preference. But it does tend towards dry and tough proteins.

Suyas are no exception. Good suya places will grill them just under the verge of being overdone. Bad places will just give chewy or burnt meat. Suyas have a unique flavour profile compared to other meat-on-a-stick delicacies from around the world. It comes from the use of West African spices like uda (a type of pepper, also known as grains of Selim) and kuli kuli (deep-fried groundnut flour). I recommend trying them at least once to broaden your horizons.

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Athens Pastries

Stalwart of Greek pies in Toronto

When I think of Greektown in Toronto, I think of tourist traps. Sure, there are many Greek restaurants but they all have nearly the same souvlakis and grilled seafood. If I go there for Greek food, I usually end up at Athens Pastries. It stands out as one of the few specialists of Greek pastries. Perfect for a quick bite.

Exterior of Athens Pastries — Athens Pastries: original and flagship store on Danforth Avenue

Athens Pastries has been in Greektown for over 40 years. They’ve become a neighbourhood fixture and admirably kept up with the times with renovations. Part of their success lies in having a small menu that it can perfect on. There are just 3 savoury options and 4 sweet ones. Hasn’t changed in years. Furthermore, their savoury options are really just variations of the same thing: filo pies. Go in the morning to get the widest selection.

Pastry counter at Athens Pastries — Pastry counter

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Bang Bang Ice Cream and Bakery

Best ice cream in Toronto

If you didn’t know, the best time to get ice cream is in the dead of winter. Go during the night if you can. That way, you can avoid summer lineups. It might sound like a joke, but not until you see the queues at Bang Bang Ice Cream during warmer months.

Exterior of Bang Bang — Bang Bang Ice Cream

Bang Bang seems like any other boutique ice cream store on the surface. Indie, takeout only, free samples, some creative flavours, but not eyebrow-raising like Death In Venice. Their strength lies in perfecting what they do. I am no ice cream connoisseur but Bang Bang is superior to chi-chi ice creameries I’ve tried in foodie American cities.

Their unique claims to fame include ice cream cradled in Hong Kong egg waffles (鷄蛋仔) and signature flavours like Totaro (ube and coconut) and London Fog (Earl Grey). “Bakery” is in Bang Bang’s full name, though they really only produce confections that can be slathered with ice cream. This isn’t a knock on their baked products. They are good but ice cream is really Bang Bang’s raison d’être.

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Onnki Donburi

Skillful and generous Japanese rice bowl dishes

Donburi (丼) is a general term for rice bowl meals. Literally a bowl of rice with stuff on top. There is no rule on what goes on top, but traditional combinations are gyu don (牛丼; stewed beef slices and onion), ten don (天丼; tempura), katsu don (カツ丼; schnitzel), and unagi don (鰻丼; grilled eel).

Oddly enough, the best donburi restaurant in Toronto eschews these classic bowls and goes for modern interpretations. It’s still recognizably Japanese though.

Exterior of Onnki Donburi — Onnki Donburi

Onnki Donburi has the elusive winning combination of taste, presentation, portion, and price. The cooking and plating is like a mid-range to top-end restaurant, yet the portion sizes are perfect and don’t leave diners wanting. It hasn’t forgotten the casual roots of donburi either and is moderately priced.

Sake Lover don bowl from Onnki Donburi — Bowl of Sake Lover don

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Nannu’s Pastizzi

Crispy pastizzi and Maltese café eats

There aren’t any Maltese dinner restaurants in Toronto. The Maltese food establishments here are cafeterias that offer the national pastry, pastizzi, among other things. Nannu’s Pastizzi is the best of the lot, has the largest variety, and even has decent Maltese lunch options.

Exterior of Nannu's Pastizzi — Nannu’s Pastizzi

Counter and display cases at Nannu's Pastizzi — Counter and display cases

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The Maids’ Cottage

Best butter tarts in the Greater Toronto Area

Butter tarts are one of the few food specialties of Ontario and indeed, Canada. It’s not famous because it’s not much different from other tarts nor is it a craveable food. But if you want to taste what the fuss is all about, head to The Maids’ Cottage or anywhere that carries their goods.

Exterior of Maids' Cottage — The Maids’ Cottage

Butter tart components

Although butter tarts contain butter, the predominant flavour is indistinct sugar. A butter tart is made of shortcrust pastry and a filling of butter, egg, and lots of sugar. It is almost identical to sugar pies from Quebec or American pecan pie. From this basic recipe, it is not unusual to add other ingredients like pecans or raisins. At commercial bakeries, they are usually palm-sized so that customers can mix and match flavours.

The most difficult component to pull off is the filling. Nobody likes a liquid filling, so the key to getting a right consistency lies with temperature control and ingredient mix. Personal preferences may vary but I think the best consistency is one where the filling has just set. No liquid should run out when one bites into the tart, but the filling should bulge a little.

The pastry is just standard shortcrust pastry. Any decent baker should be able to create a crumbly shell while still being solid enough to hold the filling and withstand slicing. Traditionally, the pastry shell is thick.

The food

The Maids’ Cottage has the largest variety of butter tarts in the country. They have seasonal specials and gluten-free (GF) options. When I went, there were these flavours:

Butter tart display case at Maids' Cottage — Butter tart display case

Top row: Raisin GF, Plain GF, Pecan GF, pumpkin GF, plain, pecan
Middle row: Blueberry crumble, raspberry crumble, apple crumble, mincemeat, raisin
Bottom row: Ginger spice, currant, pecan chocolate chip coconut, coconut, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pecan/raisin

They also offer discounts on “imperfect” butter tarts.

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Battle of crossing-the-bridge noodles in downtown Toronto

A head-to-head comparison of Dagu, Fudao, Shi Miaodao, and Yunshang Rice Noodle

For some reason, four specialists of crossing-the-bridge noodles have opened withing walking distance of one another in the past few years. They are centred in downtown Chinatown. I don’t quite understand the appeal of this dish but apparently the market is large enough to sustain them all. So, I decided to go on a taste test.

This review was done over the course of a year because of interruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a dish that has to be eaten on-premise for a fair assessment.

The most famous specialty from YunnAN

Crossing-the-bridge noodles (过桥米线; guoqiao mixian) gets its unusual name from a fable about a devoted wife bringing her husband these noodles. She had to cross a bridge to reach him, hence the name. Traditionally, the soup has a thick layer of oil to keep it warm. Restaurants in Toronto (and most in China) don’t bother with that because no one is doing any lengthy bridge crossings.

This dish originates from Yunnan province in Southwest China and is the representative dish. The novelty lies with diners quickly tossing raw ingredients in the boiling soup just after it is served. It’s an interactive affair. Deluxe versions can be an impressive feast. Other than that, it tastes like regular soup noodles.

I was remarkably underwhelmed by the everyday versions sold in Yunnan. It’s as sad as it looks.

Guoqiao mixian from Jian Xin Yuan — Crossing-the-bridge noodles from Jian Xin Yuan (建新园), Kunming

Enterprising Chinese from outside Yunnan spiffed up this ancient dish and packaged it for the modern market. It now comes with an earthenware pot and better presented ingredients. This is the style used by Toronto restaurants.

Original guoqiao mixian soup from Fudao Noodle House — Guoqiao mixian with original soup from Fudao Noodle House, Toronto

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Rasovara

North Indian thali fit for royalty

This restaurant closed in late 2023. Thanks for the memories!

Rasovara is my favourite vegetarian restaurant in the Greater Toronto Area. Heck, it’s one of my favourite restaurants of any type. Vegetarian cuisine usually conjures images of organic salads and mock meats. But don’t forget that South Asians have been perfecting it for centuries. Vegetarian dishes can rival any meat dish, given the right ingredients and technique.

Rasovara is a specialist in premium thalis. That’s a pretty bold move considering that thalis are associated with cheap daily specials. Even better, their dishes hail from Rajasthan and Gujarat, which are under-represented in Toronto. They also have a smattering of Punjabi ones. I rank Rasovara highly because they manage to make every dish taste different from one another and of course, sumptuous. No mean feat considering there are 8 different curries in their thali. Each ingredient had a different cooking time and they were able to achieve perfection.

Thali—the original Indian buffet

Thalis are multi-course meals served at once on the same platter. The arrangement is invariably rice and breads in the middle and small bowls around the perimeter for the various curries. They may be vegetarian or not. Traditionally, refills are unlimited, so they are the original all-you-can-eat meal.

Thalis are an affordable way to sample a bit of everything. Items in a thali change often, on the whims of the chef. Kind of like a tasting menu for the masses. But cafeteria quality. I have eaten dozens of thalis across India and none of them were memorable. It’s difficult to find a premium version of something that is associated with a lunch special. Rasovara bucks the trend.

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La Morena

Artisanal Ecuadorian street food

Ecuadorian dishes are mostly the same as its neighbours, Colombia and Peru. There are a couple of unique ones, but none of them has captured the attention of South America, let alone the world. If you would like to try this lesser-known cuisine, La Morena is a good place to start. It specializes in snacks but offers special entrées on weekends.

Their most popular finger foods are South American empanadas. Argentinian, Chilean, and Colombian varieties are on their regular menu. Strangely, Ecuadorian ones are absent. More on that later.

Empanada window display at La Morena — Empanada window display

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