The Road Got Taken

Since I've been working from home during the pandemic, I always include a break in my work-day by getting take-out and eating it at a park. With value-for-dollar and location as the main criteria, I usually default to a handful of businesses and even the same dishes. But this week, I decided to visit the same stores but choose a different item. How adventurous!

So instead of a slice from 241 Pizza, the veggie lunch from Pam's Roti, vegetable bibimbap from Roll and Bowl, and the vegan meal from Dosa Mahal, I opted for a panzerotti, some doubles, veggie rolls combo, and some curry with naan. They were all pleasant surprises: at $7, the panzerotti was quite large and cheesy; I've had better doubles but these had good chew and were cheap ($2.25); the sushi combo was all right but they screwed up the jap chae noodles; finally, I wanted thicker curries but these still made excellent sauce dips for the fresh naan.

On Friday, I went completely off-script and got oysters. Island Oysters had just opened up in the location of Mediterranea. In that tiny space, I can't see them ever offering any indoor dining even after lock-down. In any case, there was a take-out window and a large chalk billboard. With only 4 options, 3 of them oysters, I chose the Shucker's Dozen ($25). After the shucker got shucking, she presented me with a round tray with 3 Kusshi, 3 Fanny Bay, and 6 Raspberry Point oysters. There was also a variety of different sauces.

It felt like a decadent lunch to have at the park. But I haven't had oysters in about a decade so why not splurge a little. My palate wasn't refined enough to detect the notes of popcorn, honeydew, or cucumber as spelled out on the paper tags. But these oysters were definitely fresh and tasty. The 90-cents rye roll from nearby Nova Era Bakery rounded out the meal (I'm hoi polloi). It was a very good lunch and that made all the difference.