Other Asian

East Asian restaurants are ubiquitous in North America now, especially Toronto. But they typically belong to the main categories of Chinese (Cantonese), Japanese (sushi), Vietnamese and Thai. There are some minor forays into Hakka, both the Chinese and the Chinese-Indian versions, non-sushi Japanese, and the odd Filipino restaurant. So it's always nice to see something different.

At St. Clair near Oakwood stands a little diner serving Cambodian and Thai food called Khmer Thai Restaurant. It looks to be family run; a professional restaurant would not have dinner hours limited to 5-9 pm. Despite the protestation of the young waiter that every dish is Cambodian, at least 1/3 of the dishes are Thai. But I'm there to sample some Cambodian dishes. First up is something called Cambodiana Soup. It's a green curry soup with chicken and vegetables served with rice. More liquid than a standard green curry, it retains enough curry flavour, spiciness and saltiness that it tasted best poured over the rice. Though the menu listed "egg plant", the green, slightly chewy vegetable looked to be some sort of asian/chinese melon. In contrast, the Phanaeng Kai is a thicker chicken curry than the Thai equivalent. You can still see the coconut milk in the sauce. It's a rich, creamy dish. The weakest of the lot is Samlaw Khmer, a lightly fried vegetable/shrimp/chicken combination. The tamarind paste adds an odd tangy taste to the dish. The main draw (and perhaps drawback) is that every dish is complete in itself with a generous serving of rice. This is great if you are eating by yourself and just want a quick meal, not so great if you are sharing. I will be back to try the pork tender loin and the khmer pancake which sounds like the Vietnamese dishes of com tam and banh xeo. Given that these Vietnamese dishes belong to South Vietnam, which used to be Khmer countries, I wouldn't be surprised if they originated from Cambodia.

Wandering through my own neighbourhood, I see that there is a new restaurant, "Grand Opening" sign still up, near Dufferin and Bloor with the odd moniker Motherhome. But what's this? Myanmar cuisine? That's different and awesome! My eagerness deflates when I step inside and see that the food is served food court style, sitting under heat lamps next to the cash register. An affable middle-aged couple runs the place. Incongruously, the place is spotless, with nice tables and chairs, and better dishware than most Asian restaurants. I tried their martim roll and a combination plate with my choice of rice, vegetable, and 1 meat dish. The martim roll is an odd beast - a chinese-like fried spring roll stuffed with spicy potatoes, peas, and (tiny) pieces of goat. It tastes like a samosa with a bit of a corn taco flavouring. I like it, but I wish it hadn't been sitting under that heat lamp. The stir-fried vegetables is ok, though different than the Chinese version. Best of all is the meat dish as I had picked the vandallo pork. Now if that sounds suspiciously like Vindaloo, it's also described as a spicy and sour dish. It does taste a bit like vindaloo, though sweeter. And of course, unlike Indian dishes, it' s made from pork - specifically pork belly. Perhaps these echos of samosas and vindaloos coloured my perception as I thought that the language of Myanmar spoken by the owners sounded like non-tonal Cantonese with an Indian lilt. The food is good and would be even better if made to order but maybe with only the two of them, the owners felt that they didn't have enough people to staff a real restaurant. Being neither a true sit-down restaurant nor a quick takeout place, and with sufficiently unusual dishes, I'm not sure how long Motherhome will last. (Hmm, A quick search reveals a 2007 chowhound post about a burmese restaurant called Motherhome located on Front St.) Anyway, I'll be back to support them and to try the other items.