Qu'est-ce que c'est cuisine indienne?

Tuesday night, I went down to the TIFF Bell Lightbox for the quintessential French New Wave movie Au bout du souffle (Breathless) as part of a Jean-Luc Godard retrospective. Unlike 3 years ago, the theatre was packed to see Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a charming Italian-French roue who professed that "between grief and nothing, I choose nothing." It was a wonderful 90-min immersion in 60s Paris: the bistros, the streets, the cars. But what makes the film so mesmerizing is the American student Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg). She is probably the uber-pixie with her large cat eyes, chopped blonde hair, and slim figure wearing a Givenchy dress.

Afterwards, I quickly headed over to Khao San Road. But the restaurant was also packed: every seat taken, even at the bar. Yet there was a line-up of about 10 people. Discouraged, I headed further north to Queen St. Luckily, one the "Cheap Eats" places that was inexpicably closed on Saturday was open. So I stopped into Saffron Kitchen for a bite.

Though they had dishes from both North and South India, I opted for the rarer Sri Lankan dish Kothu Roti ($7.50). Inside a bowl of chopped fried roti, you find a mixture of onions, green onions, cabbage, basil, and in my case  lamb. It was a filling meal but unfortunately, one of the blander versions I've had. Although I asked for spicy, it barely had any heat. Also, the distinctive South Asian flavouring is quite muted and lacking fragrance.