Previously on Adam Riff™: Eater's Digest: Toronto
September 2014
fat pasha / big crow / 416 snack bar / the black hoof / la carnita / sneaky dee's / banh mi boys / second cup / linwood essentials / oddseoul / seven lives / chantecler / patois / bar isabel / hero certified burgers / poptopia / beast / porchetta & co. / this end up / big smoke burger / smoke's poutinerie
Thanks to Nick the Butcher for his tips.
Gold Stars
Sweetbread Karaage (The Black Hoof)
compressed watermelon, white anchovy, scallion mayo
The Black Hoof has become my go-to restaurant in Toronto. No duds yet.
[Ancho Chili Powdered] Tortilla Chips (La Carnita)
guacamole, corn salsa, serrano and cashew bean dip
"Poutine" (Beast)
fried gnocchi, bbq beef brisket, cheese curds, creme fraiche
Porchetta Sandwich (Porchetta & Co.)
4 oz. of porchetta, crackling
Basque Cake (Bar Isabel)
sherry cream
Spicy Popcorn Shrimp (Chantecler)
popcorn, morita pepper
Shrimp breaded in popcorn and deep fried – EH?!
This was the best thing I ate in Toronto this visit. So wonderfully crunchy. All deep-fried food should be breaded in popcorn.
I effort to try a chocolate pecan pie in every city I visit.
Chocolate Pecan Pie Popcorn (Poptopia)
chocolate and caramel coated kernals, crunchy pecans
Twist!
This mostly just ate like caramel corn.
Whole Sea Bream Ceviche (Bar Isabel)
Fish served in the fish from whence it came.
Fat Pasha is the Middle Eastern / European Jewish third of Anthony Rose's "Dupont Holy Trinity," which also includes a diner (Rose and Sons) and a barbecue joint (Big Crow).
Nanaimo Bar (Big Crow)
—Heavenly.
Chopped Liver a la Sammies Roumanian (Fat Pasha)
schmaltz, gribenes, onions, radish, egg, grateful bread challah
A gut-buster of a spread, done in the style of Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse in New York City, and mixed tableside. That yellow dispenser in the photo is schmaltz [liquid chicken fat], which the contents of the bowl are doused in.
I really dug the addition of gribenes [chicken crackling].
Ice Cream Sandwich (Fat Pasha)
caramelized chocolate matzoh, boreal gelato, manischewitz jelly
Not sure how to eat. The treated matzoh is adamantine and the jelly is…garnish?
Nutella Babka Bread Pudding (Fat Pasha)
maple syrup, vanilla yoghurt, hazelnuts, shredded halva
The halva was seductive-tasting.
The Breakfast Sandwich (Beast)
grilled pork belly, pickled onions, kozlik's sweet and smokey mustard, lettuce, and a fried egg in an apple fritter, with house potatoes
Sounds way better in print. The apple fritter was a feeble apple fritter – and a dry one – and the pork belly was tough.
Patois is an Asian-Caribbean fusion restaurant. The chef is a Chinese dude who grew up in Jamaica.
Kimchi Potstickers "Pierogi Style" (Patois)
caramelized onions, bacon, kimchi sour cream, scallions
Dirty Fried Rice (Patois)
red sausage, sweet soya sauce, cajun trinity, peas, farm egg
—Didn't taste Cajun-y enough for my liking.
O.G. Fried Chicken and Watermelon Pickle (Patois)
thai basil, sweet sriracha
Toronto is straight killing the fried chicken game right now.
Eat also:
Catalan Fried Chicken (Linwood Essentials)
dark meat, prunes, almonds, brandy
Eggplant Double Down (416 Snack Bar)
quinoa-studded fried eggplant, buffalo mozzarella, arugula, housemade tomato sauce
Missed Connections
Jamaican Patty Double Down (Patois)
two cocktail patties, bacon, swiss cheese fondue, sriracha
Jerk Chicken Chow Mein (Patois)
Pineapple Bun Bread Pudding with Boozey Raisins (Patois)
Crispy Frog Cobb Salad (America)
avocado, cactus, smokey blue, sauce piquante
Chicken Liver Agnolotti (Porzia)
honey mushrooms, 15 year old balsamic
Blood Taglietelle (Porzia)
'nduja, zucchini sofrito, burrata
Labatt Breakfast (Beast)
your choice of smoked beast bacon, grilled luis suarez chorizo, or peameal bacon served with two eggs any style, toast, house potatoes, and an ice cold bottle of fifty
Crackie (Porchetta & Co.)
pork crackling, chocolate chips
A chocolate chip pig skin cookie. Yessir.