So Then

Thursday night, I went to the Ossington Strip for dinner. I do miss the Karaoke bars and modest shops that were here but you can't fight progress. I walked past old-school record store Rotate This (although it was also a recent transplant from its long-time spot on Queen St. W.) as they were closing up. I recognized some familiar faces and thought that they must really love music. To come back after more than a year to a job that probably pays minimum wage, and involves long stretches of standing around without customers, well there are other retail positions. Its contemporary Soundscapes on College St. has closed up shop. But there are always new contenders (Dead Dog Record, Grasshopper).

Japanese sushi bar Shozan Room never caught the buzz of the other restaurants so there was a table free right by the window. I enjoyed looking at the pedestrians passing by as I had some Kinpara Gobo ($9), Squid Tempura ($6.50) and a 10-piece chef's choice ($34). The Kinpara or burdock root was good though I've only ever had it as a small side dish with lunch during my yoga training. It was perhaps too much roughage as an appetizer. The squid came out as a mass of tentacles skewered on a wooden spit. It looked intimidating but turned out to be a nice balance between crispy tempura and chewy squid.

By its appearance, the 10-piece sushi plate obviously used better-quality fish. It was a wonderful main with good rice and mouth-feel. But I have only been eating cheap sushi (like here) over the last year. So the rich flavour and texture were a bit overwhelming. A thought occurred to me that paradoxically you'd want to start with the cheap, bland stuff for a newbie. Because I can't see someone who hasn't had sushi being able to eat this or would want to try again.

Bar None

Wednesday night, I headed over to Houndstooth at College and Ossington. This bar existed briefly in Chinatown before taking over a former Portuguese bar (Carlos) that closed in 2013 (briefly replaced by Lifetime Sports Bar until 2015). I remembered the old clientele since I've often wondered how did the mostly male, mostly older locals choose which side-by-side Portuguese bar (Carlos or Rosa Branca) to patronize. Rosa Branca is still around for those men but it was obvious Houndstooth is catering to a young, white crowd looking for a cheap dive.

Before the pandemic, I thought the new joint wouldn't last long even if it had an espresso bar during the day. But either word finally got out or the street patio program was a blessing because Houndstooth has filled up since then. It was amusing to see two different groups hanging out next to other. Lately, the owners even got around the ban on live music by having bands played inside while they angled the speakers out the window. Now with indoor concerts allowed at reduced capacity, you could sit inside.

Tonight was a different vibe with Emilie Mover doing a solo set. Given the noisy, more punk shows played here, I wondered how she will be received. Rather wonderfully, as it turned out. There were a few chatty folks at the back near the pool table and arcade games, but the really talkative ones stayed outside on the wooden benches. The rest of us enjoyed her great fretwork and dulcet voice on some old tunes (Be So Blind, Out of Shape, Alex) and some new ones (New York City, Water, Paradise). The latter song was dedicated to her new love who, Mover informed the crowd, she won over after chasing after him in spite of advice columns and internet posts. Appropriate for this location's past, she played a fast Chuve Chova. Townes van Zandt's Only Him or Me made an excellent closer but at the crowd's urging, Mover played as an encore Walking Through. She quipped that this song, being used in an Amazon commercial ("Alexa, play some morning music"), paid for her pandemic period.

Unlike the recent show at Monarch Tavern, there was no attempt to check vaccination receipts or do crowd management. This is likely the situation going forward as we get back to "normal". So I hope we get those vaccination numbers up. In any case, Emilie Mover is my favourite singer/songwriter. Given how rare her appearances are, and usually only in Toronto or NYC, this could be the last time I see her live. So kudos to Houndstooth for an excellent sound mix tonight.

Counting Down

On a bright, warm Tuesday, I went over to The Revue Cinema for a slow-burn psychological drama. Oscar Isaac played former soldier William Tell, convicted of prisoner abuses in Iraq, who has been released from military prison after 8 years. He now spends his days staying in motels and travelling from casinos to casinos, winning just enough at cards to fly under the radar of their security personnel. Outside of some casual acquaintances he meets on the gambling circuit, Tell has no human contact. He likes the fixed, non-changing routines but the question is whether or not this constitutes "living"? Well, that certainly hits close to home (not the violence or incarceration parts).

Even when The Revue was part of the Festival Cinema chain of repertory theatres, I only attended a handful of times. My preferred venues were The Paradise and The Royal. The Paradise shut down but has recently undergone a renaissance thanks to the deep pockets of its current owner. The Royal continued as a film editing studio during the day and movie theatre at night. Since the pandemic, it might have permanently converted to an Italian restaurant/market. As for the Revue, today was my first visit in more than a decade.

It seems that the people of Roncesvalles Village has supported it, financially and otherwise, as a not-for-profit cinema. Looking over its offerings for October, there were of course plenty of spooky movies. But there were also new movies, classic flicks, even silent films with live accompaniment. It was interesting fare and I should have come by more often.

Heading backing to Little Portugal along Dundas St. W., I noticed a photographer with quite a fancy set-up standing on the bridge spanning the rail-lines. I wasn't sure what he was looking but it was likely the skyline. Spread out below me was the old buildings of now gentrified Brockton Village. In the distance, the high-rises and CN Tower shimmered. The sunset lit everything in a warm orange glow. It was a beautiful view of Toronto.

Conjunction Junction

I was looking for a place to eat Monday evening when I found out that Kanto had opened a small restaurant in The Junction neighbourhood. I had previously only eaten at the shipping container at Dundas and Bathurst. Given the cooking limitations there, I have wondered what kind of food they could serve with a full kitchen.

It was bad luck that the proprietor opened in March 2020 just before the lock-down. They lamented about all the challenges that have happened over the last 18 months. They wanted to only do delivery for now (despite the hefty 30% cut by the various companies) but people wanted a dine-in option. So they compromised and had a small street patio and communal benches inside with cafeteria-style order instead of full service.

I looked over the menu at the counter and settled on fish balls ($5.50) and Bangsilog ($12.95). The first was a bigger item than the 3 pieces shown in the picture. In fact, there were close to 10 freshly fried but fluffy dough balls with a hint of fish inside. As for the entrée, I've had the fried rice and milk fish (bangus) dish before at La Mesa. I mentioned it to the owner who described that restaurant as fine-dining.

It was true that it was more home-cook here than kitchen razzle-dazzle. The rice was tasty but didn't have that deep, fragrant, garlic flavour. At first, the milk fish was a bit soft and so had a much stronger sea tang. But the rest of it was sufficiently firm and flaky. In the end, I quite enjoyed the food here. I promised I'd be back to try the filipino congee but given my tight schedule, I don't know if I can find the time.