Won't You Be My Neighbour?

There are a number of regular haunts in my neighbourhood that I frequent for food: El Jacal for Mexican, Vena's for roti, Caribbean House for Jamaican, Rikishi for Japanese (or Mazz Sushi if I'm feeling light in the pocket) and so on. However, there are even more restaurants between Lansdowne and Ossington that I usually walk by. As the area is gentrifying, I decided that I better check out some of these other places before they disappear to make way for hipster-friendly hot spots. Yes, it hasn't escape me that since I only go to restaurants and not to other local businesses, it's rather ironic of me to decry hipsterism. In my defense, I own so little consumer goods that I can't use these other services.

The Empire is a shawarma place a few doors down from the defunct Paradise, once a repertory movie theatre. It's been around for at least a decade but I'm sure it has probably changed hands a few times. I've eaten there once about 10 years ago. Since it looks like every other shawarma place, I tend to pass it by. The $3.49 chicken wrap didn't interest me so I went upscale and got the $4.49 lamb wrap. To my surprise, the lamb was a juicy chunk of meat still wrapped around a bone. The meat is shredded and added to a large pita wrap (if you get it with the works). Quite a tasty and filling meal, though the second time the lamb wasn't quite as juicy. First time round, I got a salted lassi drink, which was a mistake as my taste buds simply could not get used to the sour + salty + silty flavour. Second time round, I grabbed the bottle of Coke (imported from the Middle East) I had spied on my previous visit. Not being a cola connoisseur, I can't tell you if it was made with cane sugar or HFCS.

South Indian Dosa Mahal is a non-descript (except for the bright pink walls) restaurant that specializes in thali platters, dosas, and a variety of fried food (to go) near Lansdowne. Customers look to be locals with a fair number of older indians in traditional garb. I usually get my dosa fix at Madras Masalas and only come to Lansdowne for some roti so I've given this place a pass. For my first visit, I tried the chapatti chicken thali which comprises 3 chapattis, 2 vegetarian curries, and a chicken curry. Everything was delicious except for the chicken. It had that greasy, cartilage taste of cheap meat. I should know - I've eaten more than my share of it growing up. You might want to try the lamb/goat or stick to vegetarian options. My second visit was a take-out of kottu roti: chopped up roti with egg and spices. A delicious and filling (2-day) meal when augmented with some vegetables and leafy greens at home. I shall have to return for the dosa (Dosa Mahal is ranked 1 spot higher than Madras Masala at blog.to) as well as the fried take-out.

Holy Oak came to the neighbourhood in March 2009. It is a small restaurant that does brunch on week-ends and have a dinner/lunch menu. It also hosts some local acts at night. As such, it caters more to the hipster crowd but I won't fault it for that. It reminded me very much of Grapefruit Moon down to the art on the wall, the mismatched tables and chairs, and even the estrogen-rich atmosphere (the owners and staff seem to be all women.) However, the brunch offerings were better prepared. I had an egg omelette with zucchini and eggplant smothered in harvarti, with a side of fruit salad and some herb-dusted potatoes. At $9, it's cheaper than Mitzi's on College though pricier than dear old Billy's Souvlaki House. I'll probably be back to try the organic beef sliders (mini-burgers).

Kathy's Kitchen serves country-style hungarian cuisine. This is stick-to-your-ribs schnitzel and other food low on greens and high on carbs and protein. I came for the chicken praprikash but they were all out. I settled for the beef stew on a dumplings. Some beef cubes were slightly cold and some were hot and a bit black - a sign of microwave reheating in my opinion. It wasn't bad but the reheating didn't do it any favours. The dumplings were actually little white balls of dough (photos here) and had no flavours of their own except to soak up some of the sauce. Without any vegetables, I can't imagine this dish (and others like it such as the aforementioned chicken praprikash) being a draw outside its original ethnic group. For dessert, I had langos, a fried dough slab (a bit like Ottawa's famous beaver tail snack) slathered in garlic and cheese. It tasted like a chinese You Tiao and a Vietnamese Banh Tieu. Fried dough always taste good, of course, but this was a little bit too much of a good thing. I'll head back here for one more round but nothing is really catching my eye here (except possibly Kathy's grown daughter). The owner mentioned to a customer that business has been slow. I wish them the best but I don't have much hope for this place - neither the food itself (e.g., Hungarian cuisine) nor their version of it hold that much appeal.