Delicious Italian Sandwiches at Flora’s Deli

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Flora's DeliLocation: 1276 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.florasto.com/

Flora’s Deli is a delightful little shop that offers a takeout menu (they also have a couple of small tables outside) of Italian sandwiches.  It doesn’t have the most exciting menu ever, with the usual veal and eggplant sandwiches, various cold cut assortments, etc.

The sandwiches are so well executed, however, that this never feels like an issue.  The Norma Gina is generally what people talk about when they talk about this place, and yeah, I can see why.  Served on a fresh sesame seed roll and featuring a generous amount of fried eggplant topped with hot honey,  creamy whipped ricotta, and fresh arugula, it’s a great sandwich.

Flora's Deli

The eggplant is perfectly cooked, the ricotta adds a delightful richness, the arugula is nice and peppery, and the honey adds a subtle sweetness that contrasts nicely with the savoury sandwich.

I also tried the Sofia, which the menu describes as “prosciutto, coppa, sopressata, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, arugula, 6yr balsamico.”  This one’s a pretty standard cold cut sandwich, but when you’ve got top-notch ingredients that all complement each other so well, there’s absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel.  I sort of figured the eggplant sandwich would be the more interesting of the two, but I’d honestly have a hard time picking a favourite; they’re both so good.

Flora's Deli

(I should also note that since I wrote this, the restaurant’s pop-up location is no more, but supposedly a permanent spot is in the works.)

Decent Ribs at Brickyard BBQ

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Brickyard BBQLocation: 120 North Queen Street, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.brickyardbbq.ca/

Brickyard BBQ is a ribfest vendor with a permanent location (or semi-permanent at least — I can’t imagine they’ll still be around once winter hits), so if you’re in the mood for a mini ribfest experience, it should hit the spot.  There’s even a Tiny Tom’s truck parked across from it, but alas, it was closed when I visited.

They have the usual assortment of ribs, pulled pork, and chicken, though ribs are obviously their specialty (they have a huge sign boasting about their “legendary ‘double-smoked’ ribs”).  I ordered a third rack with coleslaw and baked beans on the side (rice and peas is also a choice).

Brickyard BBQ

It was fine.  I’ve never had ribs from a ribfest that particularly blew me away, and these were far from the best ribfest ribs I’ve had (how many times can I say ribs in a sentence??  Ribs ribs ribs).  They weren’t smoky at all, and they had a mildly leftovery flavour, but mostly they were decent enough.  The texture was okay, with a nice bite that wasn’t overly tough.

The most noteworthy thing about them was the sauce they had slathered them in — the spicing was quite unique, with a really distinctive flavour that was unlike any BBQ sauce I’ve had before.  It’s different enough to be off-putting at first, though it mostly grew on me.

Brickyard BBQ

As for the sides, the baked beans had the same distinctive flavour as the sauce, but were otherwise quite good — hearty and not too sweet.  And the coleslaw, oddly enough, was the highlight.  It’s a pretty by-the-numbers creamy coleslaw, but it’s well executed and tasty (hey, not every dish needs to reinvent the wheel).

An Interesting Flavour at Boho Gelato

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Boho GelatoLocation: 160 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/boho.gelato/

Kensington Market seems like the kind of area that should have a whole bunch of ice cream shops, but it’s surprisingly slim pickings.  There’s a location of Dolce Gelato, a temporary outpost of Good Behaviour, and now this place — but that’s about it.

(There have been other shops over the years, of course, but the turnover in this area is bad even when there isn’t a pandemic to deal with.)

Boho Gelato

Boho Gelato has a pretty standard assortment of flavours, though there are a couple of unique ones.  Rosewater particularly caught my eye; I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in gelato before.  It’s a common ingredient in Middle Eastern desserts, with a very unique flavour that’s somewhat of an acquired taste (I hated it with a passion as a kid, but it eventually won me over).

The gelato itself is definitely above average, though it didn’t knock my socks off.  But that rosewater flavour is clearly a winner.  I got it with a scoop of pistachio, and not surprisingly, the two flavours go perfectly together.

Great Fried Chicken and Pie at Aloette

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AloetteLocation: 171 East Liberty Street (Unit 127A), Toronto
Website: https://aloetterestaurant.com/

Aloette was forced to become a take-out joint last year (for obvious reasons) and I guess that’s worked out for them, because they’re leaning into it; their second location, in Liberty Village, is take-out only, with a selection that mostly consists of fried chicken, burgers, and a handful of salads.

Aloette

I ordered the fried chicken sandwich, which is simply topped with aioli and pickles.  It’s a top-notch sandwich; the chicken is satisfyingly crunchy and very nicely seasoned, with what seemed like an Asian-inspired flavour that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but that I thoroughly enjoyed.  The zingy pickles and creamy aioli complement it well, and the bun is nice and fluffy, with just enough heft to hold up to the substantial piece of fried chicken.

Aloette

The chicken itself is ever-so-slightly on the dry side, and the crunchy exterior is maybe slightly too aggressive (it actually cut the roof of my mouth), but those are both minor complaints.

Aloette

They have a couple of tempting sundaes for dessert, but I couldn’t resist the lemon meringue pie; it’s a mainstay on Instagram, but is definitely more than just a pretty face.  It’s luxuriously rich and creamy, and has a perfect tart/sweet balance.  My biggest problem here is the crust: it’s mostly decent enough, but then you get to the big hunk at the end and it’s thick and gummy and, eaten on its own, kinda unpleasant.

Shockingly Tasty Plant-Based Ice Cream at Honey’s

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Honey'sLocation: 1448 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://honeysicecream.ca/

I’ll admit that I tried Honey’s — a dessert shop that specializes in “premium plant-based ice creams” — more for the novelty value than anything else.  I mean, isn’t plant-based ice cream an oxymoron?  That can’t possibly be good, right?  Right…?

Wrong, it turns out.  And I’ve never been so delighted to be wrong.

Honey's

They have about a dozen flavours to choose from; I went with peanut butter & saltine, and I was shocked at how good it was.  The consistency was probably a bit thinner than traditional ice cream, but if you just handed it to me without context, I don’t think I would have guessed that it’s dairy-free.

It’s rich, creamy, and intensely peanut buttery, with nice pops of flavour from the saltines; their texture has been transformed into something almost cakey, and they work perfectly with the peanut butter ice cream (“ice cream”?  Should that be in quotes?).

Honey's

I’m very curious to come back and try some other flavours, because how is ice cream without cream this good?  Has my whole life been a lie??