Showing posts with label Donut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donut. Show all posts

Monday, January 21, 2013

Experience the Different Taste

In 1951 Fooad Haba did an Aliyah. That is to say, his father Sason packed up the family and moved them from their native Iraq to the holy land, Israel. A baker by trade, Sason brought his taboon and established the first Iraqi bakery near Mahane Yehudah Market (referred to as The Shuk) in Jerusalem. Sason also brought with him generations of experience as a baker. Which he would pass on to Fooad. The bakery specialized in the popular Iraqi bread, Laffa. 
Eventually Fooad's son, Sasi would settle in Canada. First in Montreal and eventually, Toronto. Having turned his back on his baking heritage Sasi worked many different jobs. In the fall of 2008, while working for a pool company, the jobs ran out. At the urging of his father, he decided to get into the bread business. He brought the taboon with him and his father would teach him the ropes. With his business partner, Yoram Gaby (a baker as well) they opened Dr. Laffa. Serving some of the most authentic Israeli food in the GTA. In fact some say the best anywhere outside Israel.

Dr. Laffa sits in an industrial area just inside Toronto’s northern boundry.
There’s a fairly small dining room and plenty of room for those there to get take away. The star of the show though is the taboon that's in the open kitchen. So let's get a look at what's cooking.

LaffaLaffa, for those who don't know about his unique and rare bread, is of Iraqi heritage and is cooked on a taboon. It's a fair bit larger than a regular pita, is quite light and fluffy on the A side and crisp and golden brown on the B side. It doesn't tear easily and is, if flattened, rather thin. It puffs or blisters, up quite a bit when baked and doesn't have much flavour. It really doesn't need much though, it's more or less a canvas on which other things shine. Seeing as how bread is my favourite food, I still love it.

PicklesYour greeted at the table with a selection of pickles. Cucumbers, carrots and cabbage. The slaw is fine as are the carrots. The pickles are quite nice though. They’re half sour and have some nice crunch.

Shakshouka Shakshuka is a dish that's North African in origin and very common for breakfast in the Middle East. It's name is derived from a common last name in Tunisia, Chakchouk. That said, Turkey and Yemen also lay claim. Given that it reminded me of the Merguese sausage dish I had at a Tunisian restaurant, I'll go with the former.
Basically, it's eggs poached in a mildly seasoned (with harrisa) tomato broth that's loaded with chilies (mild ones), onions and roasted garlic. Quite frankly, there's a ton going on in this dish.
The Shakshuka Special, which is what I had is the basic dish with the addition of Merges sausage. This Middle Eastern lamb sausage is highly seasoned and incredibly tasty. Pretty much every bite with this dish is different. A deep, rich tomato flavour permeates, sometimes a bit garlicky, other times rich from the egg yolk. A hint of spice once in a while or sweet from a different chili. Just an incredible dish that's comfort food at it's best. Mostly served in the winter months in Israel.

Turkey ShawarmaThe Shawarma meat was something I've never seen. Instead of the usual chicken, Dr. Laffa was using turkey. The turkey was embedded with lamb fat as it's basting agent. The meat wasn't heavily seasoned but more left to stand on it's own merits. The sandwich was stuffed into a laffa with a nice mixture of sauces and vegetation. I think my bread of choice for shawarma is still pita but this was a nice change. All in all, this was a great sandwich. And big too. No, not big, HUGE!!

SufganiyotIn the run up to, and during Chanukah, Jews will often eat things deep fried.
Commemorating the miracle of the temple oil. Sufganiyah (SOOF-gone-ee-AH) are traditional jelly filled donuts that fit this bill nicely. Dough balls are fried, filled with jelly and topped with powdered sugar. These specimens are good but I think could be better. For me, there wasn’t enough jelly in them. Outside of that, I really liked them. I found them a bit more savoury than most donuts and to a degree, a bit more like bread than donut. These are totally not like the light, airy Krispy Kreme Original Glaze donuts. They’re denser and savoury balanced out the powdered sugar nicely. I rather enjoyed the chewiness.

FalafaelBaklava is a traditional dessert all over the Middle East. Chopped pistachios are sandwiched between layers of phyllo or, as in the case here, dressed up a bit more nicely. There’s plenty of sugar, usually in the form of honey to sweeten these up. While I really like baklava, I don’t love it. These specimens here are among the best I’ve had though.

Well there you have it folks, a little taste of Israel right here in TO.

You can find Dr. Laffa at 401 Magnetic Dr in Toronto.

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Well that’s all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court.

Davwud

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Gourmet Hot Dogs

In the late summer of 2012 a rather interesting mural took shape on the side of a building just outside Toronto’s downtown. It would portend a new hot dog emporium. Dedicated to one of the latest food trends sweeping across the United States. Gourmet hot dogs or Haute Dogs as their known. Better quality dogs topped with a wide array of toppings from the simple to the extravagant.

Fancy FranksLocal restaurateur, Angelos Economopoulos knew the hot dog craze would thrive in TO. Our hot dog carts are are rather ubiquitous and considered among the best. Simply put, we love ‘em. His plan, take them indoors and dress them up. Angelos would venture south on some scouting missions and craft his own Haute Dog strategy. In October of 2012 he threw open the doors of Fancy Franks and was an overnight sensation. The hype created by the mural had done its job. The city was instantly hooked.

Interior (1)Outside of the mural mentioned above, Fancy Franks is just another in a series of storefronts.
Inside the mix of exposed brick, wood and a collage featuring vintage photos of people eating hot dogs, including a cameo of JFK, dress the place up.
Interior (2)There’s a long communal table in the middle and a ledge around the front windows. Stools numbering about 20 provide seating.
Following another trend these days there are two kitchens. One in the back where the prep work is done and another in front of that where some cooking and final assembly takes place.

I should point out that these types of dogs, weighed down with toppings aren’t really my thing. A chili cheese dog is about the high end for me. That said, I still love this concept and am glad to see this type of place in the city. It’s also great that I can build my own dog from the bun up. So there’s a little something for everyone here.
Let’s have a look shall we?? 

Fancy Franks SignI got a sample of the dog just plain and lemmie tell ya, it's great. Not as garlicky or spicy as I like, (like Nathan's) but terrific otherwise. They're made by a local butcher to the recipe supplied by FF. I'd like to see it cooked just a bit longer. Maybe get some charring on that baby for added flavour. I think, and this is just me personally, that a more robust dog may stand up to some of the more assertive toppings a bit better. What is likely to have doggie fans excited in the city is these franks have natural casings. For that added snap.You can substitute a a sausage for an extra dollar as well. I have yet to try one so I can not attest to it’s taste.

Chi-town FancyThe Chi-town Fancy (tomato, pickle, mustard, relish, peppers, celery salt) was my first Chicago Dog and it was pretty much what I expected. (Keep in mind it’s not a "True" Chicago dog. The sport peppers and neon green relish are replaced by pepperoncini and Heinz relish). It's good but for my tastes, too much with the vegetation. “Drag it through the garden” as they say. The dog is almost lost in there. If you like Chicago dogs I'm guessing you'll be happy with this incarnation but in future, unless I'm in Chi-town, I’ll pass. It's also quite messy, which I'm sure you know doesn't bother me in the least, which is surprising considering this is basically a street dog in the Windy City.


Franko Fancy-aanoThe Franko Fancy-aano (wrapped prosciutto, arugula, reggiano, balsamic Dijon mayonnaise) is not really a favourite nor was it of my friends Vicky, Nancy or Peter. Not that there was anything wrong with it per se. It just didn’t work for us. Others may love it. As they say in the Twitterverse, YMMV.

Franks Got SeoulA definite favourite is the Franks Got Seoul (beef rib, kimchee, sesame seed, green onion). The kimchee isn’t as assertive as you’d think and the beef rib somewhat steals the show. That said, the dog can still be tasted and all in all, it’s quite good. I think next time I’ll add some hot sauce to kick it up a notch or two.

Frankie Goes to BuffaloFrankie Goes to Buffalo (deep fried in panko, carrot, blue cheese, Buffalo wing sauce) is a terrific contrast of tastes and textures. The deep fried, panko crusted crunch is nice though I think a little more of the wing sauce would be good. It smelt a lot more vinegary that it was.

FrankaphoneThe Frankaphone (smoked gruyere, horseradish cheddar, squeaky curds, honey dijon mayo) was certainly the favourite among the group of us. It was closer to a hot dog in general and as such, was destined to be my favourite. It really let the wiener shine. The toppings nicely added creaminess and tang.

Coney FriesI opted to create my own fries. I thought for sure they'd have Coney Fries on the menu and they didn't. They do have Chili Poutine but the thought of both chili and gravy didn't appeal to me. So I opted to swap smoked gruyere (yes I know it should be cheddar but they don't have plain cheddar) and hold the gravy. I ended up with a pretty reasonable facsimile of Coney Fries and they were great. The fries themselves are fresh cut. Not the best I've had but solid none the less. The chili is really good and a bit unique. It tasted like there was a hint of curry powder in it. (Now, before you go getting upset that there's curry powder in it, should it actually be there) just keep in mind that curry and chili powders are basically cousins. They work very well together. In hindsight I think the addition of chopped onions would have made it even better.
Another new trend that is popping up is a donut robot. A machine dedicated to cranking out tiny donuts. Their is right there in the kitchen and spits out warm, soft, delicious dough rings. They come with a variety of toppings. Some of which are as follows.
Chocolate Sauce & Caramel DonutsChocolate Sauce & Caramel: These babies are just about everything I could’ve hoped for. The sauces, while inherently sweet aren’t too much. I thought, though my dining partners disagreed, that it was missing a little something to put them over the top. Upon reflection, I think whipped cream would’ve done it. That said, the others were happy there wasn’t any more sweetness added.
Lemon Curd & Strawberry DonutsLemon Curd or Strawberry and Powdered Sugar: These are a really nice combination. Pretty much like a lemon filled donut. This sampler of the two flavours, in my mind could’ve used a tich more sugar.

So there you have it. A great place to get your hands on some dogs in the city.

You can find Fancy Franks at 326 College St in Toronto, On.

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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.
Fancy Franks Gourmet Hot Dogs on Urbanspoon

Well that’s all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court.

Davwud

Monday, October 29, 2012

Smmmokin’


StackYou’ve probably heard this story before. Boy’s father is in the restaurant business, eventually boy opens up his own restaurant. Well, meet Bill Panos. The son of a restaurateur he opened up his own place with his wife. Unfortunately for Bill, being a franchisee meant doing things one way and one way only. The corporate shackles just didn’t work for him.

Stack2Armed with a love for and knowledge of food, Bill went into business with Todd Savage. Eyeballing the burgeoning smashed burger market in the GTA they found a spot and set up shop. Freed up from the constraints of a chain restaurant Bill and Todd filled out the menu as they saw fit. The result was Stack Smmmoked. Basically, a slightly upscale sandwich shop, which just happens to have a smoker. Burgers, tacos and BBQ round out the menu as well as donuts and shakes.

What first put this place on my radar was the S’mores Donuts. My friend Abbey raved about them on her blog. So when the Smashed Burger Showdown came about, Stack made the itinerary. We purposely placed it as the anchor so we could finish with the donuts for dessert. What I found when I got there was a really terrific restaurant with a dedicated and enthusiastic owner. 

InteriorThe uptown restaurant has a bistro meets sports bar look with plenty of seating and some flat screens sprinkled in, in a clean, modern space. The feel though is more laid back. Reflecting the owners. There’s murals on the wall and it even has an upstairs. The two tops beside the window up there look to be great seats. There's also a small patio out front. Downstairs, in front of the kitchen you’ll find the smoker. It has its own room and is vented outside so you don’t get that great smoker/meat aroma that so many great BBQ joints have. Sigh.

In the kitchen they use top quality ingredients from right here in Ontario and craft them into some tasty food. They also tinker. Constantly trying to improve their wares. With dedication like that you can rest assured that what comes out of there is first rate. Not just slapped together, jumping on a craze.

So let’s have a look shall we??

Fresh-Cut FriesStack fresh cuts their fries in house every morning. That’s nice but if you don’t do things right, you’re better off with a good frozen fry. Too many places use the wrong potato, don’t cook them long enough or fail in some other way. Not Stack. A good size, nicely crisp and lightly salted. Perfect for those who like ‘em a little less salty. Easily salted for those who love ‘em salty. These fries are simply great. Some of the best. They also can be had with BBQ seasoning on them.

Mac n CheeseI'm a big fan of the Mac n Cheese. This is not likely to bring about some noodle epiphany, being a typical old school, creamy example but that's perfectly fine. It's served in a small cast iron skillet and topped with bread crumbs. I found it slightly loose (soupy) but that's probably more a preference thing. Typically that would make it watery but not so in this case. It had a good cheese taste that was nicely rounded. The pasta wasn't over cooked either. Al dente the way it should be.

BurgerBack in June during the Showdown they produced a good burger but it wasn't without it's flaws. Most notably, the bun. Well that old bun is gone. Replaced with a gorgeous poppy seed burger bun from Ace Bakery. The gind on the burger seems a bit better as well. The result is a fantastic sandwich. Their smashed burger 2.0 can rightfully take it's place with the likes of Burger's Priest, Holy Chuck and Stockyards now. I got the simple Applewood Smoked Bacon Cheeseburger.  I'm a believer that a smashed burger needs American cheese but for those who hate the stuff, this is for you. They use real cheddar on it. The bacon gets a second go ‘round on their smoker so it’s extra good. It's juicy, tasty and as you can see, pretty photogenic with that bun. 

Pulled Pork w Lexington BBQ SauceThey do a really  nice Pulled Pork. Normally served in a sandwich, this sample shows the nice barque and smoke ring. It’s very piggy, nicely smoked and quite simply, great as is.
The accompanying Lexington Vinegar Sauce was very nice but totally unnecessary. This stuff just didn’t need it.

Brisket w Chipotle~Jack Daniels SauceThe Brisket is some of the best I’ve had. Very moist, tender, smoky, beefy and with a magnificent crust. It had just enough fat on it as well. Again, usually in sandwich form but here for photographic and sampling purposes.
The Chipotle/Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce was really good but again, this meat didn’t need it.

Smoked Chicken w Peruvian Pepper SauceAn “Airline Breast” is, in the restaurant biz, a breast with a wing (or part there of) still attached. Here we have it smoked and slathered with a Peruvian Pepper Sauce. OMG this is incredible. The meat on its own is very moist, tender and smoky but the sauce just kicks it up another couple levels. Best chicken breast in the city.

Smoked Meat SandwichI just really can’t say enough about the Smoked Meat Sandwich. Plain and simple, it’s incredible. NOT Montreal Smoked Meat but an homage to it, at Stack they use their own spice blend, brine and then smoke it in the same manner as MSM. This tastes more like a heavily smoked, overly tender, juicy ham. (Yes I know it's cow and not pig but that's what it reminds me of) It comes on rye bread with regular mustard but Bill tells me he’s looking to bring in Keen’s. The ultimate mustard for smoked meat sandwiches in my humble opinion. Hard to believe this could get any better.

There's a donut maker in the kitchen and you can have them in a number of different ways. All served in a cone shaped vessel.
I’ve had the pleasure of trying a few of them plain. (Well, dusted with cinnamon sugar that is). To be honest, they really don’t need any sprucing up other than that. Slightly crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. There's sometimes no better way to enjoy something than au natural.  But if you like all the fixin's......
Strawberry DonutsThe "Strawberry" is simply the donuts with strawberry sauce and whipped cream. While I would never in a million years think that these could outdo the Rocky Road donuts, I may be willing to concede it may be a toss up as to which is better.
S'mores DonutsThe "Rocky Road" donuts are incredible. Crumbled graham cracker crumbs, whipped cream, toasted marshmallows and chocolate sauce dress these babies up beautifully. Every bit as good as they look. There's a decadence to them however they're not too "Over the top."
Oreo donuts 
The “Oreo” donuts  are certainly the best in my books. Crumbled Oreos, whipped cream and vanilla sauce these babies are just incredible. If you love Oreos, you’ll love these.

You can find Stack Smmmoked at 3265 Yonge St in Toronto.


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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.

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Well that's all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court.

Davwud

Monday, August 13, 2012

Fried Chicken and Donuts

No, this is not some reworking of Chicken and Waffles. This is a tiny take away place in Toronto cooking up two of the hottest new food trends in TO.

20120810_111110With the success of Delica, owner Devin Connell was getting painted into a corner. Trying to keep a popular restaurant stocked with all home made foods in a tiny kitchen is a daunting task. So, much like Holly Hill Inn did in Kentucky with Wallace Station she set her eyes on a remote kitchen to do some off site baking. A little storefront with a large kitchen was found and in June of 2012 Devin threw open the doors of Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken.

20120810_111121Named after her grandmother this boutique place in Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood supports the big restaurant from it’s kitchen as well as offers up some delicious “to go” fare for the locals.

Paulette herself is said to have loved to cook and it sure seems it’s in the family genes. Her daughter, Linda Haynes, along with her husband, Martin Connell, founded the popular ACE Bakery in 1993. Now servicing over 300 restaurants and stores and expanding to the US South East. Then of course it was grand daughter Devin’s turn in the restaurant game. The mother and daughter also penned the cook book Two Takes.

20120810_111146On the outside Paulette’s powder blue paint job has it stick out like a sore thumb.
Inside the place is not much more than an order window and a lobby. You go in, you order, you wait on one of the handful of stools by the front window. Employees are decked out in 50’s diner style attire, are very friendly and eager to serve. The menu on one side and the donut line up on the other side frame the order window. Bright, clean and functional.

So how was everything you may ask?? Well good. Maybe even very good but sadly, I think could be even better. I should point out that I was there just as the first batches of chicken were coming out of the oil. So they were as perfect as they could be.

20120810_110851First off, we’ll start with the donuts. Made in house (by a robot) with all natural ingredients these cake donuts are tender yet hearty. All come with the same base dough but have different frostings and condiments. There are 7 daily options that change and/or rotate. I sampled 6 offerings and all were good but unfortunately none blew me away. Starting top left and heading clockwise.
Raspberry Rose w/ Graham Crackers: Not bad. The tartness of the raspberry nicely offset the sweetness in the icing.
Cinnamon Latte: Nice cinnamon flavour with a hint of espresso. Good for the “Not so sweet” crowd I suspect. Great I imagine, with coffee.
Mojito: The only flavour I could really pick up here was lime. That said, it was nice and one of the better specimens. Mrs. Sippi’s favourite.
Vanilla Bean Nutmeg: Probably my least favourite. I got nothing other than “Old Fashioned Sugar Donut" from it. No vanilla flavour which I love.
Dark Chocolate Pretzel: If I’d picked the pretzel off I’d have loved this. Chocolate and pretzel as a combo isn’t a favourite of mine.
Rootbeer Float: Definitely my favourite. A nice mild rootbeer flavour with some creaminess to it.

20120810_110839The fried chicken seems to be either very divisive or they’ve been watching the internet and people’s comments. I’ve read people saying the batter is so hard they were worried they’d break a tooth. Either their hyperbole is a million times worse than mine or the fine folks at Paulette’s have it dialed in now. Also, this is not traditional southern fried chicken. It's roots are more in Korea than in Kentucky. The meat was tasty and juicy (Although not overly) and the batter is a tempura that is as crispy as it could possibly be. I thoroughly enjoyed the crispiness and really wish that right out of the oil they’d hit it with some S & P. Served straight up like that I think it would be fabulous. The philosophy seems to be that the chicken comes "plain" and you customize it with a variety of sauces or seasoned salts. A very interesting concept that perhaps just needs some time to iron out all the wrinkles. 
I tired one sauce and one salt.
Hot Sauce: This sauce wasn’t overly hot but did have a nice flavour. It's seems to be meant as a dipping sauce. As such it was too thick and ended up over powering the chicken.
Garam Masala Salt: This was a much better match. If you lightly seasoned your bird with it, it provided some balanced flavour and seasoning. While Indian flavours aren't associated with fried chicken, I thought it worked really well.
So all in all I liked the chicken but think they’d have a real winner on their hands with a few tweaks here or there.

20120810_111819The big home run for me was the Mac & Cheese. The use of “Scoobi Do” (Cavatappi) is a great choice. In particular the textured outside really helps hold on to sauces. The pasta was also an absolutely perfect al dente. Add to that a nice, smooth cheese sauce and top it all off with crispy bits of tempura batter for crunch it’s some of the best Mac & Cheese I’ve had in the city. 

So there you have it folks, one of the newest additions to the burgeoning Leslieville food scene.


You can find Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken at 913 Queen St. E. in Toronto, Ontario.

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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.
Paulette's Original Donuts and Chicken on Urbanspoon

Well that’s all for now folks. We’ll see you next time in the food court.

Davwud

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Uncle Betty’s Diner (Toronto, On)

Eat Well and Smile
In 1950, die hard perfectionist and butcher Rudy DeSanti Sr. started offering donuts to his Dreesen's Excelsior Market clientele. So popular they were that people started shopping just for the donuts. "Hand made" by a robot they would gain such a following that Rudy Jr. started licensing establishments to not only sell Dreesen's Donuts but prepare them on site. The recipe and robot were sold all over the metro NYC area and eventually neighbouring counties and states. The robot would be displayed prominently and customers could watch their goodies made fresh before their eyes.
When Toronto ex-pats Rob Lewocz and Samara Melanson returned home from a  life in New York City there were two things they missed. Dreesen's Donuts and the neighbourhood diner. Face with the reality that those two things were sparse to unavailable they decided to fill their particular void. In spring of 2011 they started second careers as restaurateurs and opened Uncle Betty's Diner. Named for Melanson's "Take charge, no guff" mother, Uncle Betty's is doing diner fare with it's own unique, gourmet twist. The menu is a blend of classics and nouveau diner foods featuring home made Twinkies, meatloaf, sloppy Joes and Toronto's first, Dreesen's Donuts. Hand made by their very own robot.

I had this on my “To do” list almost since it opened but for one reason or another I hadn’t made it. Then last week I saw it featured on “You Gotta Eat Here.” Canada’s spin on the very popular “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. The grilled cheese sandwich looked far too good to resist. I made plans with a buddy and off we went.

On the outside there isn't much to talk about. It's a corner unit in a string of small mom and pop type shops on Toronto's famous Yonge St. The teal paint has it stand out from the rest of the Lawrence Park merchants.

Inside there's 60 some odd seats, a dessert station, counter and, of course the donut robot. The walls are fairly spartan and seem to be just waiting for autographed head shots and framed magazine articles. It's what a venerable old place looks like when it first opens I suspect.

In the kitchen they're doing stuff they way it should be done in a diner. In house. Practically everything is made on the premises and what isn't is top notch.
Nathan's hot dogs, perhaps the best widely available dog around and Greg's premium, all natural ice cream are notable items.


Myself and JEB paid a lunch visit on a snowy Friday. While the weather reeked havoc with their 10am opening, once inside Rob treated us with gratitude for our patience. We were in turn rewarded with an excellent lunch.

So let's take a look at the food shall we.

The onion rings are really good. Panko breaded and served with Fancy Sauce they had a good taste and nice crunch. I prefer beer battered rings but these provided a nice change. Usually served with garlic aioli they subbed out the Fancy Sauce. House made it’s pretty much Thousand Island Dressing. A pretty nice match.
Quebec’s favourite street food, poutine, is given due justice here. A terrific gravy smothers cheese curd and shoe string fries. I’d prefer a heftier fry but these tasted very good so I won’t complain. The purists will deduct points for the lack of squeek in the curds but I prefer to let the dish sit so the curds start to melt. Ya, the fries get kinda soggy but they’re going to anyway, so why fight it. The cheesy, gravy goo is worth it.
Perhaps there’s no better hot dog on the planet than Nathan’s. At least, not that I’ve tried. It’s certainly the king of the grocery store brands. It should then come as no surprise that the Uncle Betty Dog was hit with me. Sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and garlic aioli are invited along for the ride. I would never have put mushrooms on a dog but here they fit right in. A great dog all in all.
20131016_114547The Chicken Fried Steak is not exactly traditional but close and quite good none the less. A nice crispy breading envelope a piece of (not cube) steak and smothered in a milky white gravy that’s got sauteed onion and mushroom. I’d prefer they leave those out but it was good with them. A delicious take but I must deduct points for the beading falling off.
20131016_114553The accompanying Mashed Potatoes are very nice. The gravy on here was much better suited. I like that the potatoes aren’t whipped so there’s little bits of unmashed tater. They say they shouldn’t be lumpy but I like ‘em better that way. These are some good.
One of Uncle Betty’s signature menu items is the Ultimate Grilled Cheese. Cheddar cheese glues this sandwich together and it needs adhesion. Stuffed inside is mac and cheese and meatloaf. A slice of great tasting old school M&C and slab meatloaf. On it’s own it was great. The workhorse kind like Ma used to make. The whole is better than that of it’s parts which is always a good thing.
We both had donut ice cream sandwiches for dessert. JEB’s was cappucino ice cream with toffee sprinkles. The ice cream was quite rich and creamy and the toffee added a bit of crunch and some more flavour. It’s wasn’t sickeningly sweet either which was nice.
My sandwich was malteezer flavoured ice cream and oreo cookie crumbs. The ice cream was a terrific flavour and I though was matched perfectly with the donut. The Oreo sprinkles on top punched up the chocolate flavour.
20131016_120447Another of their signature items is the Twinkie. Again, taking artistic license in the kitchen this is a chocolate cake log with whipped cream injected and topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Oh my. I need a moment. Ahhhhh.

20131016_115707As for those Dreesen's donuts....they're every bit as good as advertised. Cakey but not heavy and with a slight chew. I prefer the cinnamon sugar version but both are great. I took a bag home with me and even the next day they were still good. Straight off the line is certainly the way to go. Incidentally, they come in powdered or cinnamon sugar flavours.
So for some great diner food that’s sometimes old school, sometimes contemporary head to Uncle Betty’s.
You can find Uncle Betty’s at 2590 Yonge St. Toronto, Ontario.
You can also find them on the web and facebook.
Uncle Betty's on Urbanspoon

Well that’s all for now folks. See ya next time in the food court.
 
Davwud