One of the coolest things about Toronto’s many cultural neighbourhoods is how they’ve evolved over the years. One group of immigrants moves out, another moves in to create their own community in their new home. During years of overlap, communities exist side by side and somewhat intertwined.

The most recent example of this cultural mosaic is Bloorcourt Village. This short stretch of Bloor Street West from Christie Pits park to Ossington Avenue was at first a predominantly Greek neighbourhood, pre-dating Greektown on the Danforth. Some vestiges of this still remain in the area today with restaurants such as Menalon (841 Bloor Street West) and Astoria Athens Restaurant (865 Bloor Street West) serving up traditional Greek cuisine and the quaint Greek Corner Grocery (859 Bloor Street West) still selling tins of olive oil from home.

Continue reading Out of Africa »

Bar Nazareth
969 Bloor Street West
416-535-0797
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and soft drinks: $21

Consuming a meal with no utensils is, well, a bit strange, but it’s all part of the fun of going out to an Ethiopian restaurant. And as I learn at Bar Nazareth, eating this type of cuisine is more about the experience of communal dining than the food - although the food is pretty darn tasty.

Hidden away on the stretch of Bloor, west of Ossington, Bar Nazareth is a small (we’re talking 6 tables) Ethiopian eatery with a kitschy charm. While the exterior looks run down, the inside is cozy and intriguing. The walls are lined with mirrors and faux brick, and the glass-topped tables show intricately-patterned fabric underneath. The only downfall is the two large TVs on either end of the room, which are distracting and oversized for the space.

Continue reading A Finger-Lickin’ Good Time »

The Sultan’s Tent & Café Maroc
49 Front Street East
416-961-0601
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and beer/wine: Sultan’s Tent - $110, Café Maroc - $90

The first visit was the typical cliché – it was my birthday and I was fascinated with belly dancing, so I dragged everyone to the Sultan’s Tent. I had been warned for years, since the restaurant had been located up at Bay and Yorkville, that the food was terrible. Turns out it was the bellydancing floorshow that was disappointing (as the birthday girl I was forced to get up and take dance instructions from one of the performers), while the food was actually the hi-light of the evening.

Continue reading Maroc the Casbah »

Safari Village
1690 Danforth Avenue
416-406-0534
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and beer: $30

It’s Thursday and the drums are silent in Safari Village. By Friday, though, the Village will be electric with music and dance. King Achilla Koru will be playing the kalimba. The aroma of barbequing meat will enthral the customers. But on a quiet Thursday evening we can enjoy a fascinating talk with Tony Mbugguss.

As a photojournalist for The Nation, Kenya’s largest paper, and for Reuters, Tony Mbugguss covered wars and coups and disasters. He has a large scar running from his hand because his work displeased an African despot. Today, as co-owner and chef at Safari Village he uses that hand to make chomas and rotis and curries. And he carries on the journalistic tradition of his family as managing editor of The Scene, a magazine dealing with African affairs.

Continue reading Safari Village »

Prince of Egypt
135 Danforth Avenue
416-463-2228
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and juice and Egyptian coffee: $68

As a die-hard west-end girl, I don’t often find myself wandering along the Danforth at dinner time looking for someplace to eat. Particularly on a Saturday night. You might find me wandering Queen West, but crossing Yonge Street into bizarro-world isn’t something I do without a lot of pre-planning.

So when we wandered past the empty and forlorn-looking Prince of Egypt one recent Saturday night, we almost kept on going. Like so many people we stopped and read the menu posted in the window and then walked away. But something made me say, “you know, let’s just eat here. It looks good.” And good it was, great even.

Continue reading Princely Fare at Prince of Egypt »

Manyata Courtyard Café
55 Avenue Road (Hazelton Lanes)
416-935-0000
lunch for two with all taxes, tip and wine: $95

First, an admission. I used to be a mallrat. Back in the 80s I would spend hours on a Saturday afternoon parked by the planter outside the Le Chateau in the Halifax Shopping Centre, vying for a glimpse of a salesclerk named Philip Pilgrim, who just happened to be the spitting image of John Taylor from Duran Duran.

Once I became a grown-up, I expected that my days of hanging out in a shopping mall and people-watching were long gone. I eschewed food-courts for real restaurants, and traded in my Bonne Belle lipsmackers for MAC and Chanel cosmetics.

So it was an odd sensation this past Saturday upon finding myself seated in the Manyata Courtyard Café to realize that I was, more than twenty years later, hanging out at the mall. Except, I really don’t remember the mall of my youth being this bizarre.

Continue reading Scenes From a Mall »