A Taste of Mexico: El Catrin

Today I had planned on going to a Mexican restaurant in the Distillery district that I had been to before.  I "knew" they did not have a TV so decided to go for a late lunch but not too long into the first half of Mexico’s game I wondered if they would have brought in some TVs for the game.  I called and found out that they were in fact showing the game so at halftime I made my way over. 

The place is called El Catrin and my understanding of the place is that the owner took a trip to Mexico and fell in love with the cuisine.  As a result he/she revamped the restaurant to serve an authentic Mexican cuisine.  When I arrived I realized that by accident I was wearing a green top similar in colour to the Mexican green so I blended in well with the Mexican fans.

I started by ordering a drink called the Hibisco Rosa. It had two types of tequila in it, hibiscus syrup, rosewater and citrus.  I really liked it because it was so different from what I’m used to drinking.

As I reviewed the lunch menu I knew I wanted to try at least two things.  So I settled on pork tacos and a shrimp, mango and papaya salad called Ensalada Destileria.  The waiter was kind enough to inform me that I could order two tacos and a side salad of my choosing for a lower cost which was perfect because I really didn’t need all the food I was expecting with my original order.

The restaurant and large patio seemed a little over half full but my waiter was quite busy running between customers inside and outside.  Only a fraction of the customers were there for the game and the restaurant is set up to show all the games.  I’d say if you are looking for someplace to hang out and watch some games then this is a great spot, especially for last minute plans.

I really enjoyed my lunch today.  The salad was delicious.  I don’t know how they managed to slice the mango and papaya so thinly.  If you’ve only ever had Canadianized tacos/tortillas then you really should try these ones out.  The tortillas are different from any typical tortilla shells you get at most places, unless of course you’ve been eating authentic tortillas somewhere else.

Given that this was no less than my fourth visit to the restaurant it is safe to say that I will continue to return here.  If you want to try various tequilas  a) be careful with that stuff as it could have you doing unexpected things later  b) this is a good spot given all the varieties they have behind the bar.

A Taste of Spain: Barsa Taberna

I had planned on trying out a new Spanish tapa place in the neighbourhood on Market Street during the World Cup called Barsa Taberna.  It just so happened that some friends had planned a dinner there so I went there sooner than I expected but got to try a lot more dishes.

The patio isn’t open yet but looks ready to open at any time.  The interior was nicely done with grey exposed brick and a colourful glass bottle mosaic in the main room where we sat.  I was too busy engaging in conversation to notice much of what was going on around me.  I also have to admit that the food didn’t get my full attention.

Half of the menu is tapas (sharing plates) and the other half is some larger plates that you can either share or eat as a main.  We tried a number of sharing plates including two orders of the Iberico croquettes, a citrus calamari, lobster and scallop pogos, patatas bravas, pork tortita, manchego churros, braised beef short rib, pok pok prawns. 

The waitress said that people really love the croquettes. Although I wasn’t paying as much attention as normal to the food, I found them to be average.  Perhaps I expected more based on the waitress’s review.  The calamari on the other hand was quite good.  I’m not sure what the spice was on them but I liked it.

The lobster and scallop pogos I don’t think I would order again.  There just seems like better ways to eat lobster and scallops.

I wasn’t excited about the patatas bravas the way I was with them at Patria.

I didn’t try the pork tortita but it looked pretty good. 

The churros with cheese tasted good but I don’t eat a lot of churros so I don’t know how they compare to others.

The braised beef short rib had an unexpected presentation as it was stuffed in small roasted red peppers.  The pok pok prawns were good but I was expecting more from them since the waitress said that people really like them too.

For some of the larger plates, the broccoli salad, hamburgesa, cumbraes striploin and lobster linguine were ordered. 

The broccoli salad was a nice side.  The hamburgesa is a little difficult to share given it’s a hamburger but I got to try some.  It had some decent flavour happening but was a bit dry.

I did not try the cumbraes striploin.

The best dish of the night for me was the lobster linguine.  The sauce was very light and if memory serves me correctly, it seemed lemony even though I didn’t see lemon in the list of ingredients.

A Taste of Brazil: Rio 40

Today is the first day of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil so what better way to start than with a Brazilian lunch.  I was hoping to stay downtown by going to the new Copacabana on Adelaide but the related Asian part to the restaurant was only serving sushi on their menu and the Brazilian meats have been temporarily removed, or so the hostess informed me.  If I wanted to eat there today I would have to eat an all you can eat dinner buffet.  To get my money’s worth I really would have to stuff myself and that’s the last thing I want to do right now.  I’ve already been eating out more than I wanted to in the past few weeks and will be eating out a lot for this blog for the next little while.  I’d like to be able to fit into my clothes at the end of the World Cup.  So I headed up to St. Clair to Rio 40.

When I arrived just after 12:00 I took a walk through the interior and noticed that almost every single table had a reserved sign on it and not a single customer was inside.  So I walked out to the patio where they were finishing mounting TVs to the exterior wall.  I took a seat and enquired about a few items on the menu.  The waitress made a few recommendations including a rump steak.  Based on what I saw on the menu, it didn’t seem very Brazilian even though I know Brazilian meats is a thing, so I upgraded to the rump steak and Brazilian sausage just to make sure there was something Brazilian about my lunch. 

I also ordered a Brazilian drink called a Caipirinha.  It has liquor in it called cachaca which is made from sugar cane.  I’ve had this drink before and really enjoyed it, so much so that I previously went out and bought a bottle of cachaca.  When I buy a bottle of liquor I always like to try it on its own before mixing it, just to see what it tastes like.  I can say without a doubt that cachaca is not good on its own, at least not to me and I can drink things like whisky, scotch and brandy without compliant.   Caipirinha has as much or more sugar in it as it does cachaca which would be why it tastes so good.  It also has limes in it for a fresh flavour.

As I waited for my food, the staff wandered around serving the patio patrons and setting up for the onslaught of revelers while wearing large hats, headbands and sunglasses in the Brazilian yellow and green.  A few early partygoers showed up in what I will call their Brazilian boom boxes.  The music coming from a car and pickup truck was loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss if you stood too close.  They drove up and down the street a few times honking their horns with the music blaring, then kept trying to park their vehicles as close to the patio as possible, re-parking them as other vehicles left the area.   Every time they moved a vehicle the music boomed out of it.  A woman walking her infant yelled at them and that was the last I heard of it.  Then the pickup owner dropped the tailgate reveling why it was so loud. The entire opening was filled with one massive speaker.  Brazilian boom box indeed!  If you like loud music with your soccer then that was probably the patio to be on today as long as you don’t mind some hearing loss! 

My food arrived and I was delighted by the presentation.  The meat was hanging on a skewer.  The waitress pulled all of the meat off the skewer at the table and presented it on a side plate.  It was served with fries, rice, beans and farofa which is something that resembles bread crumbs.  The sausage was good but I found the rump steak to be rather chewy.  Is that normal?

I couldn’t finish my meal and as I said, it’s probably best that I didn’t in hopes that my clothes still fit me in a few weeks.  ;)

Lisa Marie

I went for walk along Queen West since it was such a beautiful day on Saturday and made my way over to Lisa Marie.  I was hoping to try something from a lunch menu but when I got there they were only serving brunch.  I wasn’t in the mood for brunch but I had my mind set on trying something there so I went in to give it a try.  When I walked in I noticed everyone was sitting in the front half of the restaurant.  The back half was strangely empty.  I can only assume that everyone wanted to be close to the open facade facing the street to feel like they were outside or enjoying a patio.  I took a seat near the back at the bar.

The bartender gave me a menu and went back to making various brunch cocktails while I perused the menu.  I noticed an item called “The Peameal, EH?”.  It was braised peameal bacon, American cheese, fried green tomatoes (which I’ve always wanted to try) caramelized onions and a fried egg with a choice of salad, duck fat home fries or pad thai fries.  That sounded good to me and I had heard good things about the pad thai fries served from the original food truck, Fidel Gastro’s, so I went with that.

After ordering I took a minute or two to look around the place, observing the patrons packed at the front, the Elvis Presley bust behind the bar, the one staff member glued to the computer behind the bar and the cooks in the kitchen at the back.  Then I turned my attention to my phone and started reading the news while I waited.  At some point Matt Basile, the owner, came out from the back and started having a conversation with staff member at the computer about rearranging the space at the back.  I didn’t catch much of the conversation but it gave me a chance to see that she was on some restaurant site called Restaurant Center.  I later noticed that she was entering information from their menu into the site.  It looks like it all appears on Open Table.

My food eventually came and I wasn’t initially sure how to eat it.  I was just about to cut into the egg and peameal piled on a bun when I noticed the greens were also sitting on a bun.  It was actually a sandwich so I put it together giving it a bit of a squeeze.  I figured it was going to be messy with that egg yolk.  I bit in and it was delicious, and messy!  It’s the type of food where the less you put it down the better, otherwise you’ll just be spending a lot of time wiping your hands and face.  I really liked the braised peameal in the sandwich.  The fried green tomato blended in with the overall flavour of the sandwich.  The pad thai fries were good too with a little bit of bite.

For not wanting to have brunch I feel like going back to have this again.  Since this was the first time I had been to the restaurant I don’t know if they regularly change their menus.  Given that the staff was entering them into the website I’m going to assume they do.  I just hope this stays on the menu for a while or at least if there is something with braised peameal and fried green tomatoes, I’d be happy.

The finishing touch came with the bill.  The bill was presented in an old tape cassette case with the original cover.  It was Shadowfax, Shadowdance.  I had never heard of it but it gave me something else to look up when I got home. :)

A Taste of Greece: Olympos Crow-bar

There is a Greek place in my neighbourhood called Olympos Crow-bar that I’ve known of for years but just never went too, mostly because of their short hours.  They are only open Monday to Friday for breakfast and lunch which is generally when I am away from the neighbourhood but not today.  So I took a walk over to check it out.

It’s a small mom and pop place that seems to be run by some older Greek gentlemen or at least I assume they are Greek.  The place has a Greek name and one of the guys was named Jimmy so it seems a safe bet.  Both of them are quite friendly but in what I would call an old man friendly kind of way.  Like if you ask for something they will initially say no but then hand you what you asked for with a half-smile.

I got there at the end of the lunch hour so there were only a couple of tables taken and a few people sitting at the counter on the bar stools.  The menus are all on the wall behind the counter with a few additional items printed on smaller posters on the walls.  I ordered the gyro platter.  It was exactly what I expected it to be and was quite satisfying. 

I’m not sure if it is a regular menu item or a special of the day since it was on one of the small posters that can easily be removed.

Two women sitting at the counter ordered a milkshake.  It looked really big and even they commented on the size.  They seemed to enjoy it.  I’d say if you have a thing for milkshakes it might be worth checking theirs out.

I don’t know how long the place has been there but they clearly have a number of regulars which is always a good sign.  If you like mom and pop restaurants or a greasy spoon then this is definitely worth checking out.  Make sure you bring cash or your debit card.  They don’t take credit cards.

Market Street Catch

We are less than three weeks away from the start of the world cup so it’s time I got back into the swing of things on this blog.

This past weekend I decided to try out a relatively new location in the neighbourhood called Market Street Catch.   It’s located beside St. Lawrence market on the recently revamped Market Street.  There are a number of new restaurants on the street, all with patios.  It will be a great strip this summer for enjoying a meal outside and Market Street generally isn’t that busy unless it’s Saturday.

At this restaurant you are meant to order at the counter from the menu that is posted on the wall.  You then pay for your food and grab a seat.  The thing that always bothers me with this sort of set up is the tipping part.  I’ve always understood the tip to be based on the level of service received.  Here, at the point of paying I would not have received any more service than I would have from a cashier at the grocery store or McDonald's and I don’t tip the cashier at the grocery store or McDonald's so should I really tip here?  After ordering my food and with the credit card machine in my hand, I decided to make a decision on the tip later.

I grabbed a seat and noticed two girls sitting a couple of tables over from me.  They were both busy doing things on their cell phones.  My initial thought was that if they were going to have dinner “alone” they should have just come by themselves.  I then noticed one girl was flipping through a bunch of pictures on her phone.  I assumed they too must be blogging about their food or at least tweeting about it.  They eventually both put their phones down and starting eating.

When my food was ready they called my name but came directly to my table and delivered it.  I had decided to go all out and ordered their grilled seafood platter for one with salad.  There was grilled shrimp, calamari, octopus and swordfish.  It also came with some coleslaw and two sauces.

The first thing I tried was the swordfish.  I don’t know if I have ever had swordfish before but I liked it.  I then tried the octopus.  I definitely don’t eat much octopus so at this point I’m not sure if I’d know the difference between good and bad octopus but this one tasted great to me!  I then tried the shrimp and calamari.  They both tasted a little too much like the grill for my liking so I tried them with the sauces.  One sauce was a chipotle sauce, the other seemed to be a tzatziki sauce.  They were both to my liking and made the shrimp and calamari more enjoyable.  I don’t know what kind of dressing they used on the salad but I really liked it too.

I was about three quarters the way through my meal and starting to feel full when one of the wait staff came by with a fresh plate of food asking if I was Bernice.  I guess the food in front of me wasn’t a good enough sign to indicate that I wasn’t.  The other wait staff that was now clearing the table vacated by the two girls on the cell phones directed her to the correct table.

I finished my meal and dropped a tip in their tip jar before leaving.  I’m hoping to go back again this summer and perhaps have the grilled octopus with salad and just sit and relax on their patio.

A Taste of Spain: Patria

Earlier this year I heard about an "authentic" Spanish tapas place that was going to open named Patria.  Having been to Barcelona last year I was excited by this news.  All the tapa places in Toronto that I've been to are actually serving sharing plates.  The tapa/pintxo (read pincho) restaurants in Barcelona serve individual snack size portions of pretty much everything on the menu.  So if I order "pan con jamon" (bread with ham) I'd get ONE piece of bread with ham on it.  Then I can order 5 or 10 or however many different things and make a meal of it.  Oh and each item costs 1.50 to 3.00 Euros.  I found it to be a perfect way to not stuff myself.

I did some research on Patria and tried to figure out if it was going to have the authentic Spanish tapas experience I was looking for.  After doing some digging it seems the authentic part was going to be the ingredients.  So I decided to prepare myself for disappointment on the experience side but still wanted to check out the food.

Finding Patria can be a little tricky.  It's on King street but it's entrance is just down a laneway.  The best way to find it is to locate the big yellow doors of Weslodge and go to the laneway just beside it on the West side.  It took me a while to figure out where it was while it was still under construction and I didn't notice any improved signage when I went, although I wasn't looking for it anymore.

So last week on Tuesday, after having a frustrating day at work, knowing that Patria had been open for a week and a half and that I hadn't been anywhere near the place, I decided I had to go.  I went for a stroll down to King West straight from work.  When I arrived it seemed that I was the first patron.  Everyone there appeared to be staff, including the people in the second level dining space that seemed engaged in a meeting.

The menu had a number of sharing plates listed so I decided to make a meal of them.  I immediately let the waitress make some suggestions so I didn't spend too much time dwelling on the details of each dish.  I was about to order three sharing plates when the waitress suggested that I order a starter so I wouldn't be sitting there waiting for the food to come out, so I took her advice.

I ordered the pan con jamon.  There were two of them.  The bread was toasted with a light layer of crushed tomatoes that was topped with Spanish prosciutto.  It was good.  Too bad the lighting at my table wasn't.  I think I got the only table by the window that had an orange light shining in from the outside.  Sorry.  I wish I would have had my better camera with me rather than just the camera on my phone.

Just as I finished my starter one of my sharing plates came out; patatas bravas.  This was potato that had been cubed and cooked and topped with some spicy tomato and a fried egg.  My waitress suggested that I cut through the yolk and let the flavours blend.  I really liked this and I have to admit that there were some flavour combinations happening in the dish that I had never had before.

As I ate my patatas bravas my second sharing plate came out; bacon wrapped dates.  I don't recall what the menu said but the date seemed to be stuffed with both a piece of cheese and a special kind of pepper that was all wrapped with a piece of bacon.  The first bite seemed like the date just melted in my mouth.  The second bite started to bite back.  The pepper had a bit of kick but not too much. I don't recall the last time I had a stuffed date and/or bacon wrapped date but this was definitely the best one I've ever had. (Again, sorry for the picture.)

Although my desire for the authentic Spanish tapas experience was dashed, the food more than made up for it.  The service was much faster than the waitress suggested it would be too.  I hope to go back soon.  A couple other sharing plates had caught my attention so I must go back and try them.  I'm going to keep looking for the authentic Spanish tapa/pintxo experience in Toronto though.