Drunken Noodle

I enjoyed eating lunch at Don Pollo's curbside patio on Sunday. Wednesday evening, I decided to look for another patio for dinner. But the setting sun was blazing down on the ones along Bloor St so I ambled over to Dufferin Grove to wait it out. The park tonight seemed more active than usual. There were still people sitting around chatting including a large birthday group. But most were involved in physical activities: playing ping-pong on the concrete table, working out at an outdoor Yoga/fitness class, practicing Capoeira in a large circle, running soccer drills, or off in their own world in a sort of free movement/contact improv exercise.

Finally, I made my way back up to Bloor and sat down at Idle. This bar started 10 years ago as Drift, part of the influx of trendy/hipster businesses to the Bloorcourt neighbourhood. It was packed early on, but the crowd dropped off after a few years. Then it was usually as empty as the older Portuguese bars. There were likely several owner changes since then, with a new name, and changing food menu.

Perhaps the new proprietors were Vietnamese since the menu was mostly this cuisine including spring rolls, pho, and banh mi. But there were also "Viet tacos", quesadillas, and pasta. Unfortunately the Vietnamese dish I wanted was only available on Friday so I opted for Singapore noodles ($12) and a can of Woodhouse lager ($6).

It was a good dish with a nice balance of flavour between curry powder, fish sauce, and sriracha. You can't go wrong with fried noodles. The only misstep was using chicken instead of tofu per my order. Unless they have some vegan secret that outperforms Beyond Meat.

These curbside tables are great for people-watching whereas normal patios usually cordon you off from pedestrians. The beer buzz was a mellow bonus; like that first visit to Drift, I made the "mistake" of drinking before eating. On my way here, someone complimented my band t-shirt. We had a quick convo about where we saw Tank and The Bangas (me: Danforth and Mod Club; them: Adelaide Hall a year earlier) and Sweet Crude (me: headliner at Drake Underground; them: opener at Adelaide Hall). I was patting myself for still being "with it" when they congratulated me on having great taste in music, "sir".