Pop quiz: how many Saskatchewan food specialties can you name? There are only two.
Saskatoon berry pie and Regina-style pizza. Other foods like perogies and cabbage rolls can be found outside Saskatchewan. Foods like spudnuts (potato doughnuts) and Doukhobor bread are only available during summer fairs. Sure, these invoke loving memories for Saskatchewan residents but the casual tourist might be interested in something more unique.
The answer is found in Regina.
Regina
Pizza as deli sandwich
Regina-style pizza has a small but dedicated following. It’s a minor variation of pizza that is unknown in other parts of Saskatchewan, let alone Canada. Heck, even some Regina residents don’t know that their pizza is a style on its own.
The defining characteristic of Regina-style pizza is its stack of toppings. It’s like a deli sandwich or lasagna. Different ingredients are spread on the dough in tiers and finished off with cheese as the top layer. When one cuts into the pizza, one should clearly see all the layers. Other than the distribution of toppings, it’s pretty much a normal North American pizza. Thick, doughy crust, smothered with mozzarella and non-gourmet ingredients.
Typical toppings are cheap and the same as national restaurant chains: ham, salami, pepperoni, bacon, green peppers, onions, mushroom, olives, pineapple, and more. The signature combination is “all dressed”, which includes all the deli meats and some token vegetables.
A good Regina-style pizza shouldn’t be overstuffed. A tendency is for the bread to become soggy and weighed down by all the ingredients. Connoisseurs talk about meat quality, but frankly there isn’t a big difference in cured meats at that price point. Don’t expect charcuterie. It’s mass-market processed meat.
In this series of iconic Canadian foods, we travel to Calgary, the birthplace of ginger beef, Caesar cocktail, and mostly meh Canadian chains like Hy’s, Joey, Moxies, and OPA! of Greece.
Calgary
Elements of Canadian comfort food
Southern USA has fried chicken and hush puppies. Canada has ginger beef and poutine. They are unhealthy, easy to make but difficult to master. There is no set recipe for ginger beef but it’s generally deep-fried beef strips with a ginger sauce. The most apt description I can think of is “beef candy”.
When done well, the exterior is crispy and the meat has a jerky-like quality. The beef is on the lean side, on the verge of dry. But the meat should flake easily. It’s a tricky texture to accomplish. Ginger pieces are incorporated into the batter or during frying. Sweetness, lots of it, comes from the gooey sauce.
Ginger beef is a Western Canadian thing. It rarely appears in Toronto or anywhere east of Winnipeg for that matter. Not sure why because the cooking style is similar to General Tso’s chicken, sweet and sour pork, and other Westernized Chinese dishes.
With so many awesome smash burger joints opening in the past year, I thought it would be good to spotlight good ol’ burger places that have been in Toronto for decades. Jumbo Burgers is one of my favourites for classic burgers.
Jumbo Burgers
The building and decor hasn’t changed since the 1970s. It sits in a dilapidated location by the railway tracks in The Junction. Just like in the 1970s, it’s cash only unless you order from food apps. One good thing is that it opens early and closes past midnight.
Side profile of Jumbo Burgers. I’ve blurred out boring graffiti tags.
The OG burgers of Toronto
There are about a dozen or so burger restaurants in Toronto that have been around for decades.
Apache Burgers
Burger Shack
Dairy Freeze
Golden Star
Harry’s Drive-In
Johnny’s Hamburgers
Jumbo Burgers
Lick’s Home Burgers
Real McCoy
Shamrock Burgers
Square Boy
They seem to follow a common theme. Interiors that haven’t changed since they first opened (though prices have), diner or bar seating, and a backlit fast-food-style menu above the counter in all-caps letters. As for food, the patties are thick and grilled, the buns are of unknown provenance, and burgers are complete with sad-looking chunks of iceberg lettuce and big slices of tomato. In what might be a Toronto peculiarity, more than a few of these places also make souvlaki (Greek grilled meat skewers). I suppose that since they have a grill, they might as well use it for all sorts of foods.
Yes, you read that right. This is one of the few places in Toronto that has tongue on its regular menu. Beef offal is difficult to prepare correctly and can easily end up tough and rubbery. Also, parts like tongue and heart have a strong beef taste that can be a turn off. I, for one, am thrilled that FAMO is gutsy enough to offer it and make it palatable to the masses.
I’ve been babbling about tongue so far but that’s not really FAMO’s key strength. Their mission is to craft creative sandwiches. Their fillings are certainly not run-of-the-mill ones like BLT or cold cuts. Unconventional as they are, the combinations work.
Top-notch, approachable Modern Canadian food (COVID-19 takeout edition)
Just a block south of Queen subway station is Richmond Station. Except it’s a restaurant, not a subway station. The choice of name is deliberate. Its logo even features a subway train. Think of Richmond Station as a stop on the metaphorical culinary train.
Richmond Station
It’s difficult to put a finger on the cuisine served here. It ranges from pasta to braised meat to ethnic inspirations like mulligatawny (British-Indian curry soup). They are dishes that you might have seen in other restaurants but with Canadian twists. The menu changes seasonally. So, I would say Richmond Station is the exemplar for Modern Canadian cuisine.
Yonge-Dundas Square is a mixed bag when it comes to food choices. There are a few great restaurants but there are many more mediocre chains that survive on tourist and shopping traffic. Well, if you are in the area around lunch time, it’s worth seeking out Elm Street Italian Deli for their subs.
Elm Street Italian Deli
They sell Canadian-Italian subs, or at least that’s what I call them. They are not traditional Italian panini because they come loaded with more meats and ingredients. Also, the ingredient combinations are not something one finds in Italy. It’s closer to American/Canadian-Italian sandwiches. Regardless of origin, I recommend them for a quick, quality bite.
It’s been just over a year since COVID-19 exploded in Toronto. For future historians, here’s a retrospective of how the restaurant scene changed over the last 12 months.
Order fulfillment changes
Of all the changes, those regarding order fulfillment are the most likely to stick around after the pandemic. Order fulfillment is everything between making an order and receiving food.
More contactless payment and ordering
Cashless restaurants existed even before the pandemic, with places like iQ FOOD accepting only card payments and online orders. The pandemic drove more places like Baguette & Co and PG Clucks to go cashless.
2020 saw the introduction of two automated cubby restaurants. Diners order and pay at a touchscreen kiosk. They pick up their order from one of the cubbies (compartments) at the back of the restaurant. No human interaction necessary. Regardless, both restaurants have one human staff to help confused customers. The concept has been around in other countries for years, but these are the first in Canada.
Finished orders are placed in open cubicles at Cubby Smart Kitchen
Touchscreen cubicles at Box’d
Human-free ordering, payment, and pickup at Box’d
Automated restaurants make their appearance in Toronto
Increased online presence
One positive outcome of the pandemic is how it has pushed businesses to digitize. When I did a refresh of my restaurant list at the end of 2020, nearly all the restaurants that did not have a website in 2019 had one now. Or at least a Facebook page.
Even old school restaurants like Wei’s Taiwanese Food created a shockingly modern website. Customers can pick up orders at designated spots around the GTA, an innovation I haven’t seen elsewhere. It makes the best of a small delivery team.
Online store of Wei’s Taiwanese Foods
More convenient ways to order
During the early months of the pandemic, there was a scramble to get on delivery apps. Foodora exited the Canadian market in May 2020, leaving behind Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes, and DoorDash as the only big food apps in Toronto. Deterred by high commission fees of up to 30%, some turned to smaller alternatives like Ambassador AI, Ritual, Tock, and TouchBistro. Tock is especially favoured by high-end establishments. Not all these platforms offer delivery though.
A few resourceful restaurants set up their own e-commerce stores using Shopify, Square, or their own bespoke site. Mandarin and Cafe Landwer rolled out their own digital ordering services, complete with phone authentication and online discounts.
These apps make it easy to order, pay, check availability, schedule orders, discover new restaurants, and reduce miscommunication when ordering. I hope that restaurants continue to invest in them after the pandemic.
Pre-ordering enters mainstream
With online ordering, it’s a breeze to plan a restaurant pickup after an outdoor stroll. No time wasted on waiting.
Another use of pre-orders are for special meals. You know, those that have to be ordered a few days in advance. High-end restaurants like Alo and Edulis switched to this format for their multi-course meal kits. Restaurateurs benefit from forecasting demand so they don’t end up with wasted produce.
Product changes
When the pandemic struck, many restaurants were suddenly in trouble because their business model could not be sustained by takeout. Fine-dining restaurants, buffet restaurants, bars, and any restaurant that sold quickly-perishable food (e.g. tartare, sundaes, soufflés) were hit hard. They had to turn to the buzzword of the startup world: pivot.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
