1000 Tastes of Toronto

I know, this post isn't about what I did with my CSA share - but it is about eating in Toronto, so I feel like it fits within the parameters of the blog.

P and I ventured down to Queen's Quay around noon today for the second day of the 1000 Tastes of Toronto part of the Luminato festival. I had looked at the whole Luminato program, but deemed myself too boring to enjoy any of the arts presentations, and (not surprising for anyone who knows me), planned only to go for the food. Cash in hand, we stood in a surprisingly fast-moving line for our tickets ($5 each, with each ticket buying one thing at each booth.) Eight tickets in hand, we checked out the selection.

We first stopped at the booth put on by Prohibition, a gastropub that was offering a verion of poutine with cheese curds, gravy, and duck confit, on top of a rosti. In our excitement of eating the first dish, I did not take a picture - though it wasn't that exciting looking. I can imagine this would taste better in the restaurant; not everything was as warm as it should have been, so it didn't quite take the cold edge off of the cheese curds in the way it should have. I forgive them for this, though, given the difficulty of serving outdoors - I've seen how those guys on Top Chef struggle with tasks like this!


Next stop, Indus Junction, who was serving a chicken curry with cilantro (sorry, Mom) and coconut milk, chickpeas, and basmati rice. The chickpeas probably have a more official name, but it wasn't posted - but I know I've eaten this type of chickpea before because they're spicy. The flavors were all fantastic - the chickpeas were spicy, but not too hot to taste the flavor of the spices and the chickpeas themselve, and the curry was delicious. The chicken was a tad overcooked, but again, I'm forgiving under the circumstances. I will definitely put this restaurant on our list of those to visit.

P then chose to visit the booth hosted by Mariposa Cruises because they were serving a blackened sirloin sandwich. The picture does not do this justice - the meat was moist and very flavorful, and the grain mustard and horseradish on the sandwich was present in just the right amount. Even the bun was squishy but substantive enough to support the meat. If this is what they serve on their tours, we might have to go - we did get a handful of $5 off coupons from their promotional people standing around the booth.


Near the Mariposa Cruises booth, there was a booth with a very long line of people waiting for the food. The booth was selling BBQ beef, chicken, and fried plantains. I couldn't see what the name of the restaurant was - if it was posted, it was to small to see, or behind the crowd. Having no idea what we were in for, we figured that anywhere there was a line, the people probably knew that what they were waiting for was good. While the BBQ beef we ended up with (a cube steak slathered with BBQ sauce) was tasty, we could have lived without the rice. The fried plantains, however, were very good, with the ricotta they added to the plate making a delicious combination. If anyone reading this knows what restaurant this was, please let me know.

Almost near the end, we hit the Dos Amigos booth for chicken empanadas and chicken tamales. This is definitely a restaurant I want to visit for a true sit-down dinner: both were delicious. The chicken empanadas in particular were fabulous: the chicken was moist, the cilantro (again, sorry Mom) really added some flavor to the filling, and the pastry surrounding it was flaky. It was a shame we were ending our eating spree: both of us were too full to finish the tamale.

Too full to think about real food, we stopped for some gelato. Oddly, this gelato was being served on brioche buns - a sort of ice cream sandwich - that completely did not work. The ice cream was too soft, and just squished out of the sides when you bit into it, and the brioche had nothing going for it. We both ended up just licking the gelato out of the buns and tossing them away. The gelato was chocolately and cold, and a perfect ending to our eating expedition. I did take a picture, but it looks kind of like poo on a bun, so I opted not to include it.

We'll definitely go to 1000 Tastes next year, and try to bring more of an appetite, or maybe more people to share the plates with - there were other things we would have wanted to try!