I Contain Multitudes

Walking past a rather desolate section of Dundas St. W and Bathurst Friday morning, I spy a series of tiny storefronts housed inside metal shipping containers. After talking to the proprietors, it turns out that this was a year-old Toronto initiative to provide cheaper start-up alternatives for entrepreneurs. Although there used to be a mix of businesses, most are now eateries serving "street food". As such, we have Middle-eastern, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Montford Cheese, etc. A Mexican pupusa joint and Indian "burgers" will open in a few weeks. This seems like a wonderful alternative to the food-cart fiasco as well as the trend-du-jour of food trucks. Let's have lunch.

Korean snacks

First up is Kim's A La Cart. With a plethora of cheap options I settle on gimmari (3 for $2): glass noodles stuffed inside fried laver (seaweed), a pork skewer ($2), Korean pancake ($1.75), squid balls (3 for $1), and pan-fried rice cake ($1). Next time I'll have to ask that they put the spicy sauce on the side, otherwise it's slathered on everything. The gimmari has an unusual taste and texture, like a fishy spring-roll. The pork resembles more a bacon slice: so fatty and tasty. The pancake and squid balls are rather bland. The rice cake is a delicious hit of browned carb.

Next is Le Casbah serving Tunisian food. For $6, I get the "sandwich maison": 2 small merguez (halal lamb sausage from Montreal) with caramelized onions, harissa (spicy chili garlic sauce) in a demi-baguette. The bread is soft and chewy and the merguez has a nice texture. The meat itself is a little mild and could use more spice. I will have to come back for the camel slider/burger.

For dessert, I order a vanilla ice-cream crepe ($4) from House of Jaffles. It's a cool, slightly sweet way to finish off lunch. Next time, I'll probably add nutella or other toppings to give it a little more variety. One concern is that the crepe is served in a small paper bag and not on a plate. There wasn't any leakage but it wasn't conducive to lingering over dessert.

Merguez sandwich

Vanilla ice-cream crepe

I will definitely be back to try out the other stores. Come summer, there will be a Food Truck Rally to highlight these tiny eateries. Of more interest is a new Farmer's Market nearby that will take place every Wednesday. In addition, there will be Night Markets as well. The first takes place this Friday (May 11th). See you there!