Café 668
668 Dundas Street West
Dinner for two, including taxes, tip, and pop or fruit juice: $45

Three major signs that Café 668 is genuinely family-run: 1) it is decorated with domestic foliage; mostly spider plants, 2) it is staffed by two shy teenaged servers who call “Mom? MOM!” into the kitchen and 3) a glass jar filled with complimentary candy waits for customers after they pay their bill.

I peered into this much-lauded spot soon after it had opened at 12:30pm. For a place that invariably receives high praise from other reviewers, it was starkly empty during the lunch hour. The construction on Dundas Street may be to blame - Buddha’s Vegetarian next door was closed completely until the scheduled completion of the road repair.

In a way, it was nice to have the place to myself. There is nothing quite like hogging the services of a kitchen staff all to oneself. It is the closest most of us will ever get to having a personal chef. I had time to lean back and squint at the pueblo-coloured walls and sip my tea. The menu offered a wide range of Chinese vegetarian dishes far beyond the standard “General Tso’s Tofu.” A chalkboard covered with day-glow listings assaulted my eyes with the Chef’s Specials.

I chose two of the more unique appetizers- curry spring rolls ($4.99) and mini taro rolls ($6.99). The curry spring rolls were surprisingly literal- they seemed to be green curry paste inside a rice paper wrapping and not much else. While good for someone who simply can’t get enough of the taste of curry, the homogeneity in taste became boring. The mini taro rolls were slightly better, with a pastry-like crust, but somewhat bland without the accompanying red sauce.

Next was a main dish, one of the Chef’s Specials: wheat gluten fried with peppercorns ($9.50) This was my favourite out of everything I had, for one simple reason: when cooking, especially with a strong sauce, it is easy for vegetables to lose their flavour amidst whichever “base” flavour is chosen. Here, however, even the peas retained their individuality, and were firm enough that even my clumsy self and my amateur chopsticking skills could pick them up individually. The gluten and mushrooms complimented one another superbly, and sections of whole peppercorns floated in the excess sauce and clung to the gluten pieces.

I also had the Spicy Tofu with Coconut Cream ($9.90) which succeeded in being both richly creamy and spicy. The sesame seeds on top turned out to be more than decoration, adding a noticeable crunch. Here the veggies were still good, but not as crisp as in the fried gluten.

The ginger beer I ordered turned out to be the exact same product advertised on the poster on the wall directly to my right. It was sharp but not “ginger”-y enough for my palette, tasting mainly of sweetness and carbonation.

Perhaps it was due to my heady youth of adding copious amounts of red pepper to nearly anything, or perhaps it was the invariably high praise other reviewers had given, but Café 668 did not live up to my expectations. It got major bonus points for being utterly family-run, (not to mention the free candy - “Take as many as you want!” I was told. ) but I simply couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm for my meal that so many had expressed.

(Editor’s Note - Cafe 668 will be moving west on Dundas to a location near Trinity-Bellwoods Park in the near future. We’ll have updated info in our Monday news column once the address is confirmed.)