Upper Beaches Archives - Global Toronto Eats

Discover the starchy delights of spätzle, knedlíky, halušky, and nokedli in Toronto (and finding the best)

The iconic Central European food is undoubtedly the schnitzel, a thin, breaded slab of meat. It’s filling and easy to make, which explains its popularity outside the region. Witness cotoletta (Italy) and milanesa (Argentina and Brazil).

But we are not here to talk about something that is famous enough already. Today, we go on a tour of the second-most iconic food of Central Europe: dumplings. These are the underappreciated workhorses that give the cuisine a reputation for being heavy and starchy. Not to be confused with Asian dumplings, these dumplings are bite-sized lumps of flour, potato, or egg. They are also universally bland, so the skill comes in the texture and shape.

Toronto is blessed to have full representation of the dumplings of Central Europe: Germany/Austria/Switzerland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. (I left out Poland because their most famous dumpling, pierogi, is too divergent from the others. But if you are interested in Polish kopytka, Café Polonez is a good bet.)

One can easily go on a taste test around the city and debate which is the better variant. And that is exactly what I did.

Continue reading “The Central European dumplings of Toronto”

Yes, the humble Bosnian somun bread is the star here

To be honest, I don’t crave for Balkan food. This cuisine is shared by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia. It’s heavy on meats, dairy, sugar, and preserved vegetables. Light on spices and fresh greens. It’s the sort of food to eat after a day of shovelling snow. The places that offer these foods in Toronto are traditional, no frills establishments. Somun Superstar is one of the few that packages it in modernity while still preserving tradition.

Without doubt, the star of this restaurant is somun, freshly made on-premise. Somun is a Bosnian wheat-based flatbread, like a thicker and more bread-y pita. Honestly, I think the bread can stand on its own but I imagine it would be hard to base a business around one product. So, it’s a smart move to pitch the restaurant around somun sandwiches.

Exterior of Somun Superstar — Somun Superstar