PART 2
STUFF WE DON’T HAVE MUCH OF IN TORONTO
Singapore does not have a strong presence in Toronto, so we explored Urban Hawker for a quick dinner before a concert at nearby Carnegie Hall. We have no ability to discern “authentic” Singaporean cuisine, so all we can comment on is tastiness. First up was Hainan Jones for their poached chicken rice (moist chicken, richly flavoured rice, fragrant broth, and a garlicky hot sauce with plenty of kick). We also enjoyed the #1 at Mr. Fried Rice (pic below), with many layers of fermented/preserved flavours and sweet Chinese sausage. The White Bee Hoon at White Restaurant featured supple rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, and egg in another wonderful broth. And dessert came from Lady Wong’s - Musang King Durian Mille Crêpes (delicate crepes infused with that typical garlicky-and-yet-buttersctochy durian flavour) and Pandan Serimuka (smooth pandan egg custard, complemented with lightly salted coconut glutinous rice cake).
NYC seems to excel in intercultural mash-ups. We first tried Hav and Mar, having enjoyed Ethiopian and Swedish cuisines respectively in their home countries. Overall we appreciated the creativity and the food was all enjoyable, but we didn’t find the food as exciting as other places on this trip. Swediopian (berbere-cured salmon, with apple water, avocado, fennel, avocado, and ash oil) was light and fresh, but the berbere was barely detectable. Branzino was served ssam-style with misir wot (lentil stew), which also had very subtle Ethiopian flavouring. Addis York was more of a marriage between Ethiopian doro wot and southern U.S. cooking, with shredded chicken and collards in injera served with a sweet sauce that was more chicken and waffles than berbere. The bread basket was the best thing, with teff biscuits, shiro hummus (the most Ethiopian tasting item), and injera crisps. We do give them respect for serving locally-made tej (Ethiopian honey wine), which was lovely.
KJun was a more satisfying and interesting venture. While the space is cramped, the cooking is vibrant and very overtly mixing Korean with NOLA traditions. Japchae boudin balls (replacing the rice with japchae noodles) were crisp and enhanced with a Korean anchovy aioli. Crawfish beebimbap (pic below) featured sweet tails with egg, collard greens, daikon, napa cabbage, gochujang vinaigrette, and rice was complex, sweet, and spicy. Kimchi provided lovely counterpoint in an otherwise fairly traditional jambalaya. Particularly enjoyable was the gochujang andouille sausage over very cheesy grits. Dalgona bananas foster was the most fun dessert and the Creamsicle (candied kumquat, whipped yoghurt, fermented plum) was a dessert in the guise of a drink.
Our third hybrid experience was Shalom Japan. Cocktails ranged from great (Ume Rosa - joto plum wine, blanc vermouth, ginger liqueur, cocchi rosa, topped with sparkling rosé) to OK (Shiso Fine - tequila, mezcal, cumber-shiso shrub, togarashi, and a spicy orange rim salt). The food was all very good, even with the cultural juxtapositions. An okonomiyaki studded with wagyu pastrami, sauerkraut, and bonito flakes was great (pic below). Lox with capers came over sushi rice and Japanese pickles also worked well. But the real hit was a fine bowl of matzo ball soup (rich chicken broth) with lovely ramen noodles, scallions, and soy-marinated egg (pic below). The less fusion-y dishes were also very enjoyable, including a Scotch egg variant covered in falafel mixture, a Japanese sweet potato cheesecake, and a cherry blossom panna cotta.
In earlier years, Sylvia’s was our place to go for soul food. This time we thought we’d try a couple of different options. We were very impressed by the honey fried chicken at Amy Ruth’s, with great frying and lots of flavour (pic below). The gargantuan appetizer of fried whiting was a bit salty, but otherwise delicious. Mac ‘n’ cheese and corn bread were also excellent, but the collards seemed a little lackluster.
On our last day, we went to our second Marcus Samuelsson establishment, trying the brunch at Red Rooster. The chicken and waffle appetizer was a fine rendition, as was the crab cake (lots of meat) with charred tomatoes and a collard slaw.
Also Toronto has lots of great Japanese food, including many outposts of Japanese chains, we have a few gaps. Yakitori Totto filled one, with a dizzying array of mainly chicken-based skewers, all smokey from the grill. Our favourites included heart, liver, thigh, smelt, king mushroom, eggplant, and steamed chicken meatballs coated in sticky rice. We also don’t have a place like KazuNori, serving one freshly made handroll at a time. We also appreciated that they appear to be sourcing sustainable seafood for the most part. Favourites included the albacore tuna, sea bream, scallop, and particularly the monkfish liver. And our local Beard Papa closed shop years ago, so we had to hit one here. Chocolate custard-filled remains a favourite, although the new pineapple and whipped cream was also nice.
Lastly, we had some tasty snacks from Dominican Cravings, including the herb-inflected beef empanadas and some kind of hearty breakfast dish with fried salami, fried cheese chunks, fried longaniza sausage, a fried egg, and pickled onions, all over a tasty hash of potato and possibly plantain.
