786 Halal Restaurant
1330 Gerrard Street East
416-406-0786
Dinner for two, with all taxes, tip and a mango lassi: $55

The mammoth Lahore Tikka House erupts on Gerrard Street floor by floor, dwarfing the smaller establishments dotting the neighbourhood of Little India. It is unfortunate to see so many of these places repeatedly shut down and reopen in the shadow of one or two that have come to epitomize the Great Indian dining experience on Gerrard Street.

Of the new restaurants that have recently opened, however, there is one in particular that comes as exciting news for lovers of North Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Montreal’s famous 786 Halal Restaurant* opened its doors last year in Toronto, diagonally across from the Lahore Tikka House, and is sure to give the monolith a run for its money.

Continue reading Montreal’s Famous Pakistani Eatery Comes to Toronto »

Udupi Palace
1460 Gerrard Street East
416-405-8138
Dinner (no dessert) for two with all taxes, tip and mango lassi (unlicensed): $40

Everyone who visits Little India inevitably has their favourite place to eat. Mine happens to be a chain. Yes, a chain. Udupi Palace has locations in Maryland, Illinois, Seattle, Queens and Mountain View, California to name but a few. All focus on South Indian vegetarian food, and all are located in areas with a concentrated Southeast Asian population.

The Toronto location, smack in the middle of the Gerrard India Bazaar, is a basement space that disconcertingly resembles a banquet hall. Tile floors, granite tables, and trompe l’oeil paintings on the wall combine to make the space feel somewhat cold and stark. It’s freakishly clean to the point of being almost clinical, and while it doesn’t actually smell of bleach, I always have the impression that the whole place is “sanitized for your protection” every evening at closing.

Continue reading Treated Like a King at Udupi Palace »

South Indian Dosa Mahal
1284 Bloor Street West
416-516-7701
Lunch for two with all taxes, tip and drinks: $26

South Indian Dosa Mahal has the ambiance of a fast food joint, in all its formic and linoleum glory. The tables are crowded together and it’s hard to move around them — you really get to know your neighbours, for better or worse (it was a pretty cool crowd on my latest visit, truth be told). The lighting is bright and glaring. They have no liquor license. The Bloor and Landsdowne neighbourhood, aka Bloordale, is the kind of place I usually get asked for change several times in a couple of blocks. But inside South Indian Dosa Masala the clientèle seems to have enough scratch for great food at cheap prices, so discreet gawking and eating became the happy orders of the day.

Continue reading For Me, It’s All About The Dosas »

Indus Junction
811 Queen Street West
647-428-7119

If I say “let’s go for Indian food,” to any of my friends, their first thought is going to be buffet, where we all fill our plates over and over again with passable but not especially memorable food. Sure, there are some upscale Indian restaurants in Toronto, but even there, the focus is on traditional, with the compartmentalized plates reminiscent of a cafeteria. Like so many ethnic cuisines that are now part of the culture of our city, we have this idea that Indian food must be traditional. But India as a culture has embraced the 21st century, and there’s no reason why Indian food can’t be modernized as well.

Enter Alka and Poonam Dhir, whose month-old Queen Street restaurant Indus Junction serves up beautiful Indian food, laced with authentic flavours and techniques, but with a modern twist. It is the junction where east meets west, old meets new, and the traditionally male-dominated industry gets a feminine touch that is as breath-taking as a jewelled sari.

Continue reading Restaurant Profile - Indus Junction »

I bought my wife a spittoon for Christmas, a genuine antique spittoon. I considered it a unique, charming and romantic present. She certainly didn’t. Ironically enough, she tried to spit on me. Well, things eventually calmed down. I talked her out of a divorce and the spittoon makes a lovely planter for our African violets. And when she’s not looking I spit in it.

Well, tobacco spitting isn’t an activity I should have promoted within my family. It is uncouth and unhealthy. Snail spitting is not as unhealthy, but contains an element of cruelty. Yet, for some reason, the urge to masticate (hey, I said masticate) and expectorate overwhelmed me this Sunday. I walked jauntily into Little India for exotic chewing experiences well beyond the simple pleasures of Juicy Fruit or Red Man.

Continue reading The Paan Handlers »