Restaurant Review – Page 61

Amazing Lamb and Rice at Mandi Afandi

Published on April 23, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5120 Dixie Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mandiafandi.ca/

I’ll admit that I was skeptical about Mandi Afandi. The spot they’re in formerly housed a Popeyes Chicken; since it closed down in 2013, that location has been home to a revolving door of failed restaurants. The last one — Mandilicious — also specialized in mandi. I didn’t have high hopes for what I assumed would be the latest in a string of shuttered eateries.

But then Suresh Doss highlighted the place in his column for CBC, and of course, I had to sit up and take notice. If Doss writes about a restaurant, you can be reasonably assured that the food will be tasty.

They have a handful of things on the menu, but of course, mandi — a traditional Yemini dish which features slow-cooked meat and rice — is right there in the name. They serve it with either lamb, chicken, or both.

I tried the lamb. Even with the Doss seal of approval, I was still fairly skeptical about the place, and I could not have been more wrong. It was shockingly delicious.

The lamb is delightfully tender and absolutely crammed with flavour from the spices they cook it with and the meat itself. I love lamb, and this is some of the best I’ve had in a long time.

You’d think that the rice would take a backseat to the meat, but surprisingly enough, it’s just as good. You can tell its been cooked with the meat because its infused with that flavour, and it’s fragrant with the same delightful spices that make the lamb so tasty.

The crispy fried onions only amp up the flavour, and add a nice textural counterpoint to the tender lamb and fluffy rice. You also get little containers of yogurt sauce and hot sauce on the side, and while neither are particularly necessary (it’s already so damn good on its own), they both compliment the dish quite well.

Tasty Jerk Chicken at Roywoods

Published on April 8, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 65 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Union Station)
Website: https://roywoods.ca/

It’s been a while since I’ve had a sandwich from Toronto Life’s list of the 25 best in the city, but clearly, the list is still cranking out the hits. The jerk chicken sandwich at Roywoods is good eatin’.

It’s quite simple: cocoa bread, jerk chicken, coleslaw, sliced tomato, and onion (I skipped the onion, because raw onions are the worst and why anyone thinks differently will forever baffle me).

You can’t really tell from the picture, but the jerk chicken is abundant, and it’s perfectly cooked. I wish it were a bit spicier (it has a mild kick, but not much more than that) but the satisfying jerk flavour makes up for the lack of spice.

The only real issue is the slightly stale cocoa bread, but there was so much moisture from the saucy coleslaw and the juicy chicken that the dryness of the bread was just barely an issue. Eating it is definitely a multiple napkin experience.

I tried a couple of sides as well. The fried plantains had a nice combo of crispy and creamy, and the callaloo — featuring flavourful, tender greens — was just as good.

Unique Pumpkin Ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar

Published on April 1, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 190 University Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://noodlebar-toronto.momofuku.com/

The pumpkin ramen from Momofuku Noodle Bar is extremely untraditional, and extremely delicious.

From the menu: “kanpyo, cheese, scallion pesto.”

An aside: I’m not sure if I’ve ranted about this before, but menu descriptions that consist solely of a dry recital of ingredients fills me with an unreasonable amount of rage. Admittedly it’s not a huge issue in this case — it’s ramen, so you know that the dish is, at its core, soup with noodles in it. But these types of descriptions almost always tell you absolutely nothing about what the dish is going to be. I know that it’s the way that all the young and hip restaurants are doing it, but if all the young and hip restaurants were jumping off a cliff, would you do that too??

I digress. Shoddy menu description notwithstanding, it’s a tasty dish. I’m guessing the pumpkin is blended right into the soup, which is satisfyingly rich and creamy. And the add-ons are great; in particular, the crispy breadcrumbs compliment the ramen quite well. Or at least I think they’re breadcrumbs? Maybe I should check the menu to see what they are oh wait I can’t.

Whatever they are, they’re nicely seasoned and add some crispy contrast to the bowl.

Everything else works just as well, from the zippy pesto to the gooey cheese. And the kanpyo (a traditional Japanese ingredient made from a type of gourd) brings some meaty substance.

The noodles are slightly underseasoned and bland, but are otherwise perfectly firm and chewy. It’s an odd bowl of ramen, but it’s very good.

I tried the Citrus Pie for dessert, which the menu very helpfully describes as “yuzu, lemon, lime.” It’s basically a lemon meringue pie.

It’s tasty enough; the desserts here are generally not on the level of the savoury dishes, and this was no exception. The creamy, citrus-packed filling was actually very good, with just the right amount of tartness that doesn’t overwhelm. But the crust was a bit on the soggy side, and the meringue was unpleasantly grainy.

Outstanding Greek Food at Mamakas Taverna

Published on March 25, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 80 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://mamakas.ca/

I had an idea that Mamakas Taverna was probably something special when I tried their pork souvlaki at the recent OssFest street festival and was completely blown away. I was finally able to visit the restaurant itself, and yeah. Yeah. That souvlaki wasn’t a fluke. Everything is so good.

It’s the type of place where you order a bunch of stuff and share, which works out well because everything is so incredibly delicious that you want to try the whole menu.

There’s the spanakopita, which is basically the platonic ideal of that dish, with a crispy, buttery exterior and an intensely flavourful spinach filling. The filling was actually quite unique, with a mildly sweet, citrusy tang that does a great job of balancing out the richness of the dish.

There were these keftedes — perfectly-spiced beef and pork meatballs with a delightfully crispy exterior from the fryer.

This looks like a pretty standard salad, but the meaty lentils combined with the fresh herbs and the nice pops of sweetness and crunch from the pomegranate — not to mention a dressing that complements it perfectly and isn’t over-applied — made it just as memorable as any of the other dishes.

The octopus was probably the simplest dish I tried, and proof that if you’re working with great quality ingredients and preparing them well, further ornamentation is unnecessary. The meat had a great amount of char from the grill, with a mild sweetness and nice meaty bite. If you’re queasy about eating octopus, you need to get over yourself; you don’t know what you’re missing. Bad octopus can be rubbery and horrible, but good octopus is like the delicious love-child between a scallop and a pork chop.

My favourite dish of the night was also easily the least photogenic. No, this braised short rib doesn’t look like much, but holy moly it was ridiculously good. Insanely tender (but not mushy) with just the right amount of perfectly creamy fat and an intensely beefy flavour, it was basically like the best pot roast you’ve ever had.

The dessert — a walnut spice cake with yogurt mousse — was just as delicious as everything else, because of course it was. The cake was nutty and rich, and the tartness of the creamy mousse complemented it perfectly.

Delicious Boba Milk at Bubble Lee

Published on March 19, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3621 Highway 7, Markham
Website: http://www.bubbleleecanada.com/

They serve brown sugar boba milk at Bubble Lee; like I mentioned in my review of Tiger Sugar, this stuff is basically bubble tea without the tea. It’s delicious.

The secret are those delightfully chewy tapioca balls and the tasty brown-sugar-infused sauce that they serve them with. I don’t even need the drink; just serve those things in a bowl with a spoon. Serve them on top of ice cream (actually, that’s an amazing idea. Restaurateurs: feel free to steal that).

I think I liked the version at Tiger Sugar a little bit better — they serve it with a “cream mousse” that makes it indulgently rich — but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with what they’re serving at Bubble Lee. On the plus side, it’s not as heavy, so it feels more like a regular drink and less like something you have to take a nap to recover from.