SpiceCityTo

Exploring strip malls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants in search of the city's best international food

Monday, August 30, 2010

Bamiyan Kabob

This was a recommendation from a Pakistani cab driver--an Afghan restaurant called Bamiyan Kabob. There are several locations--this one is at 62 Overlea Blvd.

The place looks like a standard fast-food restaurant in a strip mall, but it's adorned with posters of classic images of Afghanistan. It's a busy place at dinner time, with people lining up. 

The grilled lamb was wonderful--super tasty with a strong marinade flavour. The kofta kebab was pretty good--spiced ground beef. 


Right next to Crescent Dental Health Clinic.
National Geographic Forever.
Lamb kabob is amazing, served with salad and yummy rice with some spice and cinnamon.
Kofta kebab, similar to an Iranian koobideh kebab
Naan bread--not as fluffy as the Pakistani/Indian variety, but it has those nice black seeds you get in Arabic twist cheese.
Spice City Doggie Bag Index: Four stars
★ Don't bother taking any leftovers home
★ ★ Take leftovers home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?


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Friday, August 20, 2010

Gandhi's Indian Cuisine

Gandhi's, located at 554 Queen Street West near Bathurst, is one of Toronto's best loved hole-in-the-wall restaurants and one of my personal favourites. The genius is the roti--a hybrid creation, it wraps an Indian-style curry (not Caribbean) in a fresh roti shell.

There's a dozen or so kinds of roti reflecting classic Indian meals such as butter chicken and mutter paneer. Each one (particularly the meat ones, like lamb) is a huge brick, worth two meals. Be warned--if you like spicy food, a medium is seriously spicy. Any spicier and it literally becomes difficult to eat.

This place is tiny and most people get take out. Sadly, the place is no longer open on Saturday and Sunday, so expect big line ups and long wait times on Friday night. Best to phone ahead for take out orders. The menu is on the restaurant's website.

Gandhi has a few sister restaurants--Mother India in Parkdale (1456 Queen Street West), New York Sub (520 Queen Street West) and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Babur is also part of the family (273 Queen Street West).

This time I decided to try the chaat papri--I've seen photos of it on the wall before and always been curious.


The chaat papri (left) was very strange--cold fried dough chips covered in yogurt, tamarind and hot sauce. Probably best to stick with the roti. The tandoori chicken skewer and pakora with tamarind chutney is pretty good.
Gandhi's amazing roti--this one is chicken.
Spice City Doggie Bag Index: Five stars
★ Don't bother taking any leftovers home
★ ★ Take leftovers home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?



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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen

This cozy, clean resto is a nice place to go if you're trying to score some cred with your vegetarian friends. The food is Thai and Malaysian, and everything is veggie and garnished with fake meat. Drinks include some homemade ginger beer that tasted like a sweet ginger lemonade. It's at 1262 Danforth Avenue near Greenwood.




This is Malaysian Kuay Teow, a noodle dish was all kinds of fake meat, even a realistic looking (if not tasting) fake shrimp.

The mango salad had shredded coconut in it--interesting twist.

Very intense, flavourful curry.


Spice City Doggie Bag Index: Three stars
★ Don't bother taking any leftovers home
★ ★ Take leftovers home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?


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Monday, August 16, 2010

Mission Burrito

This may be a controversial statement, but Mission Burrito (109 McCaul Street) is hands down the best burrito in Toronto. Yes, better than Burrito Boyz (rotten Guac--gross!), better than Big Fat Burrito (quantity over quality), better than the Tortilleria on Wales Ave (too liquid) and even better than the very respectable Z-Teca and New York Sub.

As Mission Burrito's name indicates, it follows in the venerable tradition of the burritos from the Mission in San Francisco. It's located in a dingy, '70s-style food court at the Grange, across from OCAD on McCaul Street. While many of the greatest ethnic restaurants in the Toronto area are located in suburban strip malls, there are a few tucked away in urban food courts. If any of the other restaurants in this food court are good, please let me know.

You can't actually enter from the outside--you have to go in the skanky food court. Note the revolutionary San Fran-style mural art.
Actually located right next to a McDonalds, no kidding.
 
This is the small steak burrito--my fave. A steal at only $5.65.
All fresh ingredients--good quality beef, real cheese, black beans, rice, guac at no extra charge! One of the only places in town where the "hot" is too spicy for me--first timers should go for medium. 





Spice City Doggie Bag Index: Five stars
★ Don't bother taking any leftovers home
★ ★ Take leftovers home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?


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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Lin Garden

Scarborough is the home of a bunch of Indian-style Chinese restaurants--cuisine developed by Chinese ex-pats living in India. Lin Gardens (1806 Pharmacy Avenue) has a menu of mostly Chinese dishes but some "spicy" dishes that are more of a fusion.

I had the chili chicken and wasn't impressed. (Full disclosure: I was nursing a brutal hangover so I cannot say that I was in the best mood to appreciate the food.) I liked the spiciness but the chili chicken had a kind of bitter taste, like it was oversaturated in soy sauce. The hakka-style chow mein was better, but nothing special.


Chili chicken...not the cure for a hangover
Three meals worth of average noodles

Lin Gardens received two stars on our new scientifically developed Spice City Doggie Bag Index. The Spice City Doggie Bag Index indicates what happens to your leftovers:

★ Don't bother taking them home
★ ★ Take home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?



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Thursday, August 12, 2010

New Bilan

New Bilan is a Somali restaurant at Dundas and Jarvis (183 Dundas St. East). You have to walk through a internet cafe to find the restaurant, where you'll see a cement "grass hut" and a room full of plastic-covered tables. Eventually someone will come help you. By then you may have found the paper menu. There's only a few things on the menu: "goat," "chicken stew," "chicken steak," and "king fish." I had the goat and Dusty had the king fish.

The meal started with a very good curry-type soup
Both the fish and goat were served with rice. The fish was good but bony, and came with veggies. The goat was very tender and flavourful.
They also brought us mango juice and at the end, fresh fried donuts.

A great place! We'll definitely go back.



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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Hoppers Hut

This gem of a place is tucked into a plaza beside a grocery store at 880 Ellesmere Road in Scarborough. Friendly service and great Sri Lankan food--it's kinda like Indian food but definitely has its own style. Hoppers are fried thin pancake, kind of like a crepe.


They have take out and you can eat in.

These are hoppers. The first one has milk, the middle one is plain and the last one has a fried egg in it. Good with curry.

Sambal is a type of hot chili garnish. The waiter let me try both kinds, onion and coconut. Mmmm.
This was great! Kothu Rotti--it's cut up roti with mutton and a bunch of other goodness.

This was like a burrito with spicy chicken and egg--so good!



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Lahore Tikka House

Lahore Tikka House in Little India (1365 Gerrard Street East) is one of my favourites, and seems like a perfect place to start this blog.

It's been under renovations for as long as anyone can remember. It's covered in tarps and never looks the same at each visit. An army of staff serve you on paper plates and with plastic forks.

But the food...absolutely amazing! Spicy, thick sauces. Butter chicken doesn't taste like sweet Campbell's soup like at some buffet style places. It's super intense. Everything they serve is greasy, but in a good way, full of butter and goodness. Biryani, is great, lamb skewers, and fluffy naan. You can even see them making the naan when you walk between the two sections of the restaurant.

Don't plan on doing much after your visit because you'll be too stuffed!


They have a giant tent in the parking lot in the summer
Best part is peeking into the kitchen where they make naan


Beautiful bike rickshaws outside
Tikka House's attempt at a tranquil fountain




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