Chai Côté

Back in the aughts, the stretch of Bloor between Dufferin and Lansdowne was more working-class. There was a Vietnamese Karaoke called Lang Man, its' next door neighbour was a Croatian Credit Union, across the street sat Portuguese BBQ spot Churrasqueira Aveirense, and next to Sweet Pete's bike shop was pho diner My Duyen and then Pho Jade. With gentrification, the karaoke bar became the popular hipster hangout 3-Speed and the BBQ joint transformed into the even more popular concert venue/microbrewery Burdock. Pho Jade was shuttered for a few years until it recently became a ghost kitchen during the pandemic, hosting close to 10 "restaurants".

The Credit Union turned into the quirky Intergalactic Travel Authority: part coffee house, part children's playground/charity. ITA lasted a good while and remained a coffee shop as Charlie's Friend Art Café. This was a short-lived venture due to a late-stage career change from a desk jockey. I think he underestimated this area's readiness for subtle Italian coffee. For all its' changes, Bloordale is still not yet a supercharged trendy neighbourhood. Great news for folks like me, perhaps not so much for some business ventures.

Mr. Milenkovic's renovation revealed exposed brick which was a definite upgrade (retrograde?) from bland white walls. New owner Caravan Café And Tea House inherited that homey touch. As a non-coffee drinker, I never visited ITA, nor Charlie's and probably not Caravan either except that I heard they were hosting ghost/pop-up kitchens.

So I went on Sunday evening, looked over Hotay's menu of mac and cheese offerings and settled on the "baseline" 4-cheese main. How does it compare to Bobbie Sue's? The latter just beat Hotay's for toothsomeness but the contender had the better cheese crust. You can actually taste the individual cheeses. As for portion size, I'm not sure. Although I ordered a regular ($8), I was charged $11.30 which would be a large ($10 + tax). So was I given a large size portion instead? If so, it's not very big. If it was the regular, then it's a good deal for a sub-10-dollars meal (when they don't overcharge you).

Given the screw-up, I would not normally return to a business. But the person who actually handed me my order seemed like a nice chap. He had his own ghost kitchen here as a personal venture. So I'll return to give him a chance.