Tender Is The Bite

It was a slow Wednesday. I stayed mostly at my rental except for several trips to grab food. In the morning, I stopped by Uncle Sid's. It has gone full deli: opening at 8 a.m. and offering breakfast fare. I opted for the breakfast special ($7.95 all in) consisting of 2 eggs, sausages, toast and home fries. It was your typical diner food like you'd get at Billy's.

I visited Roll and Bowl for a dine-in lunch. I upgraded my usual order (veggie bibimbap) to a kimchi bibimbap ($13.45). The kimchi added crunchy fermented goodness but the veggies were a tad overcooked. That detail plus the fact that they didn't recognize me or my order (I always pick veggie bibimbap with no sesame oil) made me wondered if these were new owners. I could swear that, in previous visits, the proprietors were younger.

I risked a constitutional by walking to Ossington along Bloor and then circling back to the rental via the Dufferin Mall and College St. I thought that the massive construction at Bloor and Dufferin was the rebuilding of the high schools along with some new commercial spaces. But when I saw a massive banner for condo developer Fitzrovia, I realized bigger things were in store. It turns out there will be six massive buildings at this corner. With an additional 4 buildings planned for the parking lots at Dufferin Mall, Bloordale and Bloorcourt will be completely gentrified in 5-10 years. The buildings at Bloor and Dovercourt have also been torn down to begin construction on an 11-story condo. They might be keeping the walls of the corner building as a façade.

For dinner, I went to Island Hot and Spicy. I noticed this Jamaican spot the last time I stayed here. It was on the "wrong side" (less foot traffic, railway tracks, etc.) of the Bloor and Lansdowne intersection. My dinner seemed questionable with an empty restaurant and the sound of a microwave after I ordered. But I was wrong as my small jerk chicken meal ($11) was delicious: melt-off-the-bone chicken that was nicely spiced along with soft and fluffy rice and beans. Despite the quality of their meat, many Caribbean joints often have dry rice. The only negative note was the salad complete with Kraft ranch dressing instead of coleslaw. But it came with fresh carrots and tomatoes so it wasn't all bad. This was vastly superior to Jerk King and even the nearby Caribbean Queen of Patties.