SpiceCityTo

Journalist Sarah Efron explores strip malls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants in search of the city's best ethnic food

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Roti Time

We made a long trek out to the junction to see a spin off of Gandhi Roti called Roti Time, 2542 St. Clair Ave. W. near Runnymede Ave.

The place looking comfortably minimal, more sparse than another Gandhi spinoff, Mother India. You order at the counter and they call out your order. The menu is literally the same as at Gandhi and so is the signage.

We ordered two of our Gandhi favourites to see how they compared with the real thing and we weren't disappointed. Chicken roti and chicken jalfrizi roti--both had that perfect texture of the wrap surrounding a wonderfully spicy Indian-style curry.

Great place for Gandhi roti lovers living outside downtown!

All photos in this post by Dana Lacey


Look familiar, Gandhi lovers?
Amazing roti! Don't miss it.
Spice City Doggie Bag Index: Five stars
★ Don't bother taking any leftovers home
★ ★ Take leftovers home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?



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Saturday, October 9, 2010

Matahari Bar and Grill

The Matahari Bar and Grill serves "nyonya" cuisine, a blend of Chinese and Malaysian. It's located in the solid block of restaurants on Baldwin Street near Spadina (39 Baldwin Street). This is a good little strip to bring indecisive visitors to town because it's like a food court of real sit-down restaurants of various types of international food.

This is the first Malaysian resto I've been to in Toronto and it didn't disappoint. The menu was full of interesting things and we settled on eggplant malay, nasi lemak and the Matahari curry chicken.




The malay eggplant cooked with shrimp paste was a surprise. Crispy and sharp tasting, unlike Thai eggplant dishes.  Worth sampling.
This nasi lemak was wonderful and serves as a nice sampler of regional tastes. It's centered around coconut rice and comes with tamarind prawns and a fried egg. It's also served with ikan bilis sambal, a garnish made of dried anchovies. Variations of this dish are popular street fare in Malaysia. 
A solid Malaysian-style curry with potatoes. Pretty good. 
Spice City Doggie Bag Index: Four stars
★ Don't bother taking any leftovers home
★ ★ Take leftovers home and stuff in the back of the fridge indefinitely
★ ★ ★ Tomorrow's lunch
★ ★ ★ ★ Proudly present the leftover as a present to significant other or roommate and then wait impatiently for them to eat it so you can steal some
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Midnight snack. Is it midnight yet?



View Larger Map