Slurp-worthy Sichuanese dishes and it’s not just noodles
This humble restaurant in a nondescript plaza doesn’t even have a website, but is thriving through word-of-mouth. The draw is their authentic and tasty Sichuan food.
Sichuan cuisine is the second most prevalent Chinese cuisine in the world, after Cantonese. It’s no exception in Toronto. Many Chinese restaurants here have a token Sichuan dish or two. The cuisine’s signature ingredient is Sichuan peppercorns, which has a numbing effect on the tongue. It might be a good thing because it distracts from the burn from the thick layers of chilli oil and slew of dried chillies.
Sichuan dishes are easy to make but hard to do well, so one has to travel out of the Toronto core to get good Sichuanese food. The best places are cheap and cheerful establishments, like Szechuan Noodle Bowl.
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.
Rasovara
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.
