Two If By Sea

Near College and Dufferin sits 3 Vietnamese restaurants. I sometimes go to the least busy of them, Pho Canh Buom. It had a nautical theme with blue paint and naval decorations: sailboats, etc. It specialized in dishes from the central and northern regions such as Mi Quang and Bun Cha Hanoi. Unfortunately, it suffered from menu-itis and listed pages of "typical Vietnamese fare". But its pho was the worst of the three and being the default option for diners, that resulted in few repeat customers.

With new restaurants settling into the gentrifying area, Me & Mine has taken over the spot, headed up by the chefs at Zocalo. The polyester-covered booths are gone, replaced with Scandinavian-ish wooden chairs and tables. The walls are unadorned, except for an abstract blue and green piece. I dropped by Thursday to try their short menu of light dishes.

 The daily cup of soup ($4) was spinach and leek. The pureed spinach was pleasant but could have had a thicker consistency. I've been making leek soup this week but this version lacked its distinctive flavour. More leek, please! The torched cured trout ($15) was an odd dish. I didn't detect much torching and the soft, chewy texture was rather unpleasant. It tasted better with a liberal dosing of the yoghurt cheese. The grilled cucumber was good but the scallions, which were almost raw, didn't have the fragrant scent of cooked onions. The salted chocolate truffle tart ($7) had a good balance between the gooey filling and crumbly crust. A lighter touch on the salt would leave a nicer after-taste.
Overall, given the wallet-friendly prices and casual atmosphere, this place is a good fit. But I'll have to try another dish or two because there was no outstanding choice this first time around.