The Tuesday Taste - Tut's Egyptian Street Food

 

 

Stay out super late tonight

Picking apples

making pies

Put a little something

in our lemonade

and take it with us 

 

Another Tuesday... another Taste!  

Okay... I have to get this joke out of the way.

 

 

Lets all presume that aged extremely well and nobody is cringing. It is stupidly silly at the very least...

Also lets have some historical factual fun. Did you know King Tutankhamun only lived to the age of 18 or 19? And yet still had two children? He married his half-sister? (and yeah gross). I'm no expert these are literally (literally indeed) the introduction notes on a Wikipedia page... I just find stuff like this randomly fascinating. 

Tut's Egyptian Street Food, while utilizing the name of the perhaps most famous ancient pharaoh (at least for musical comedians), offers a cuisine that is not super well known here in Toronto. I personally, off the top of my head, would not be able to tell you anything distinctive about Egyptian street food. As such, coming into this I did not know what to expect whatsoever. Which is genuinely fun and a little scary, but mostly fun. 

Tut's, by my lazy research, operate four locations and three quarters of those are in the western edge of the GTA (Mississauga and Oakville)... the lone downtown Toronto outpost sitting near King West and Bathurst. This particular location is also open until 3am everyday? Astonishing, and also excellent for my specific schedule. 

I was working Stone Temple Pilots down at the Amphitheatre on a Sunday but was finished with plenty of time to take a King West detour. Considering the presence of TIFF as well, which was most definitely popping even on a Sunday... this made for a memorable post-work meal experience. Window-watching, you observed a compelling blend of folks dressed up to impress (likely for a film afterparty) alongside aging film hipsters with their own 'unusual' brand of style, to put it politely.         

Tut's (apologizes I keep opening every paragraph with the name of the place) is a joint focused on mini-sandwiches. Ideal for a reviewer like me who wants to try everything, and so the fact they offer a three sandwich combo with fries... where you can pick any two or three or four of their offerings... I approve of this system. Choose your own adventure as it were, and there were a couple of creations I did not get but were tempting enough to sniff the final cut (looking at you, shrimp one).  

Anyhow, the three I went for: the grilled chicken (Ferakh), the beef sausage (pictured above with the fries, the Soguk) and the fried falafel (the Taameyah). 

But I'm gonna start with the fries. Full stop: they good. A light beer batter (or something similar), these are wonderfully crispy on the outside with perfect potato goodness inside. The dukkah seasoning doesn't stand out insistently, but it is a nice subtle addition that is different than your usual salt/pepper seasoning (this here more like a nuttier paprika). 

 

  

A photo so nice I took it twice.

Told ya. 

This is the falafel/tameya and yes I'm certain I've misspelled all those words. So straight off the bat I have to mention the negatives with Tut's here, and this particular sandwich was indeed the weakest one. The biggest issue for me: the bread. Too firm and too much of it. Showing up at 11:30pm on a Sunday, maaaaybe isn't the ideal moment to get the freshest stuff... but nevertheless there is just an excessive amount of bread here that distracts from the real attraction, and this is a consistent issue with all three sandwiches I sampled.

That said... the falafel itself is awesome. Fabulous flavour, perfectly precise crunch on the outside... and while normally falafel is made of ground chickpeas this particular style (tameya) can be made with dried fava beans. Personally... I couldn't compare or describe the difference but! These falafels were incredible. Lots of lasting flavour, sharp and distinctive, with nice fresh crunch. 

I wish the sandwich itself had more: it's on the drier side despite the tahini sauce you see... it's begging for turnips or cabbage and the sauce can only do so much. A minor shame. Decent-to-good overall, but lost in a bready dominance that robs it from being elite. The falafel balls are that tasty... I'd eat at least ten of these as a snack. 

 

 

This here is the Sojuk, the beef sausage sandwich, which is very much like the Egyptian version of a hot dog. The wieners are thin (actually there are two in here) and the dressing is a mint mustard, with some grilled onions underneath. 

I mean that ballpark dog comparison very intently: the mustard itself has that classic bright sharpness you get with normal yellow mustards (I'm a honey or dijon man myself) with a genuine subtle minty hit that elevates it a few levels. The sausages themselves have a peppery, greasiness to them (a quality I find consistent within south eastern Europe/Middle Eastern cuisine) and are quite juicy. These are all positives, beyond once again there being way too much bread-to-everything-else. Very tasty. 

 

 

Last and certainly not least, the grilled chicken (Ferakh), lathered in a garlic sauce (which is the same sauce as the dip in the lead picture). Hey, in my eyes (or mouth) it's extremely hard to screw up a creamy garlic sauce (Pizza Pizza's garlic dip remains the only non-horrible thing they make) and this one from Tut's is certainly delicious. Not aggressively garlicky, nor overly creamy... very accessible and with a thicker kind of texture. A fabulous dip for the fries I described above. 

As for this chicken sandwich itself... this was easily the star of the Tut's show. Delicious shaved chicken (rather like one you find in a shawarma) that is well seasoned and flavoured, mixed in with thin strips of fried onion that work fabulously together. Difficult to tell where the chicken ends and the onions begin, in the best possible way.

All of these sandwiches are quite simple: the headline item, a secondary support with a sauce... that's all. The beef sausage one is quite tasty, the falafel one rather dry and limited despite the excellence of the falafel balls themselves... this chicken one rises high above those just via how full and flavourful this chicken is, and the tender texture of it adds to the enjoyment. 

 

 

Again... and I keep saying this but there's just too much damn bread, and it lessens the overall texture of these sandwiches when half the bites your mouth is overloaded with a firm bun (insert joke here). Unfortunate especially because, and this chicken sandwich in particular, the main portions are memorably tasty. If the bread itself were softer or exceptionally fresh I'd be fine with it... but this is just very okay. It's also just firm enough that lots of these wonderful things within will spill out and get on your beard, if you (like me) happen to adorn your face with one of those. 

It's still an awesome sandwich, don't get me wrong. That chicken is truly the perfect balance of oily and tender, easy on the stomach, loaded with flavourful seasoning, and surprisingly filling.

 

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Overall! There are far more positives at Tut's than negatives, which are mostly this particular reviewer complaining about the 'meh' level of the bread (the bread-to-filling ratio is just so extremely off balance).

Would I recommend Tut's? You know... yeah I think I would. The mini sandwiches are sneakily filling (I'm a tall fella and could barely finish the three sandwich-plus-fries combo, and this was after working a busy concert) and those fries are indeed fantastic. That battered flavour and great crispiness, the dukkah seasoning (a subtle presence) alongside a quality garlic dip? Very much my jam. 

There are some flaws. The falafel sandwich especially was very dry (despite the upper-tier falafels themselves) and all three of these sammies were just a bit too simple... lacking a crucial extra element to truly elevate them. Still, that grilled chicken one was real damn tasty... while the other two have their charms as well. Solid stuff!

 

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Tuesday Tune

For the second straight week, I'm seeing a concert and so using a song from said band I happen to be seeing (at the very venue I happen to work at also, always fun to be on the other side). 

 

 

And that's all for another week! Not feeling super well as I edit this (the changing of the seasons are often rough on my constitution) but! We will be back with another edition seven days from now, same internet channel, same internet time. Until then... stay safe, stay cool-ish, and do not spill that (minty) mustard. 

This Week In Pizza: Pizzeria Via Napoli

 

 

Not to be confused with the Via Napoli pizzeria that is located in Walt Disney World down in Florida! Seriously, if you Google "Via Napoli" there is a good chance that's the first place popping up in your feed. 

I've never been to Disney World, or Florida for that matter (not in a particular hurry) but I have been to the Via Napoli pizzeria we have here in Toronto. Like Capi's, Via Napoli is a semi-hidden pizza spot on the hilarious Dundas West street (seriously, if you're reading this and are unfamiliar with Toronto, look at a map and you'll immediately wonder why a major west end street detours like a drunkard forgetting their signature).

Unlike Capi's, Via Napoli is a relatively recent arrival to the Toronto pizza scene. Born in 2020 (what a great year for us all), they've established your stylistically warm and cozy casual sit-down wood fired pizzeria. Relaxed vibes, sports on the television, cool little back patio (more on that later) and a TARDIS-like 'it's much larger on the inside than it looks from the street'.

I'd been meaning to try them for some time (to the point of being shocked they opened just four years ago) and I was beyond fortunate to have some excellent company willing to join me on a Tuesday evening just after Labour Day. As we went in, there was an instantly pleasant welcoming vibe that made this east-end reviewer who is extremely unfamiliar with this part of town, feel like I'd been here for years. Cliches I know (it's hard to describe such feelings more elegantly) but the truth is I barely know this Islington part of the city and in such cases I do think myself a stranger in strange places. Akin to being in a completely different city. I'm keen to explore for this very reason: the feeling of simultaneous awkwardness and eye-opening magic.

Via Napoli has a quaint boxed-in patio in the back (a "modified parking space" as our sweet server described it) and so we settled in and chatted until our appetizers arrived: a burrata salad as one and a squid ink infused arancini as the other. Hey, here they are:

 

 

Pardon the lighting (been saying that a lot lately, sorry) but these arancini balls were indeed quite dark and black. And yes, if you've been bad Santa would give you these lumps of coal for Christmas. Okay jokes aside, these were indeed very delicious. Some unmistakable mushroom flavour within, tasty crunchy exterior and the rice was delightfully soft. Different textures very on point, a rich full taste, and the squid ink? Bit of a novelty I suppose, with the colour and all, but I did get a bit of an unusual flavour I cannot quite describe. Malty? Syrupy? Inky? Inky is kind of the only adjective that really fits here... unusual for a flavour but common in the world of ghosts chasing a hungry dot chomping circle.

 

 

Burrata salad! This is less my thing, as I find tomatoes are usually just tomatoes while olive oil with herb sprinklings can only do so much. That's just my personal taste, though... and for what this is I will say the presentation and execution is very nicely done. Personally I enjoyed the sun-dried and cherry tomatoes the most... that condensed dry but punchy taste and great sweet bursting flavour respectably have always been more preferable.

Burrata itself... reminds me of a poached egg without a yolk, where it's a little slippery and very much about that enjoyable texture. And it's a marvelous texture: semi-rubbery without any awful chewiness, delicate on the palette, perfect on a bit of toasted bread with some olive oil... spreadable in a pinch. Quite fond of this as well, and excellent to share. 

 

 

How about reviewing an actual pizza, Mister Pizza Person? Okay quiet down back there everybody... I can see those paper airplanes flying in the corner. My delightful companion ordered Via Napoli's "Oro" pizza (the one in the top corner of the lead photo) which had sausage, pepperoni, thinly sliced garlic and basil (with your usual tomato sauce and fior di latte). This was the superior pizza to mine, which you see directly above: same sausage, but with rapini and sliced red chilis.

The biggest mistake (as also noted by my partner in pizza crime here) was the blahness of the rapini. There was a lot of it and normally I love that good bitter taste alongside other big flavours, but here the rapini was fairly damp and just dominated this entire pie via its sogginess... which doesn't help a wood oven pizza which are almost always floppy by nature to begin with. 

Despite that very unfortunate flaw, this was an extremely good pizza. Amazing full flavoured cheese (love that feeling where it expands in your mouth like a buttery grenade in slow motion), terrific crust with a well considered puffiness and char. Can't really say much about the tomato sauce, nothing jumped out at me beyond it serving its purpose. Bit on the sweeter side I'd say. A good house-made ground sausage... very simple in terms of the seasoning or memorable aspects to it, but juicy with texture and held up well on the reheat. 

 

 

How about that reheat? I am learning that thin slices like this sometimes don't work in the 'frying pan on low heat' method, particularly when they're loaded with toppings such as this one. Toaster oven, medium heat, on bake with a baking sheet was the only way to make this wonderful cheese sing again. The rest... there's too much piled on and the crust is already dry (a shame because that crust is a strength of Via Napoli... fresh from the oven the balance of soft breadiness and char was truly exceptional).

And, because this was a special request... how did it taste cold? Answer: still quite good! I'm not at all a "cold pizza guy" (I just find the elements and flavours so numbed in that state) but I do agree it is a sign of quality if a certain pizza holds up without the benefit of heat. Via Napoli does: it's not the same and that poor crust gets chewy, but the rest of the taste and texture is still vivid and enjoyable.

 

 

Overall! It's an interesting, funky little spot. When I worked at Pizzeria Libretto (I hear you groaning in the back, and stop throwing those airplanes!) several centuries ago, they were and likely still are, so into their brand/product and their concept of what pizza should be that, while excellent and obviously knowing their stuff, it could be rather overbearing. Like they were rescuing the very concept of pizza from the fires of the inferno. I can understand that type of specific obsession (perhaps you're reading it now) but there is also a line where you have to ease on the throttle and take yourself a bit less seriously.

Frankly, on my re-evaluation of Libretto I gave them a B+ and I'm giving Via Napoli a similar 'B+', but I think I like Via Napoli considerably more within this grade. Both for the reasons I explained above and also that I just think there's a bit more happening here. The crust is excellent, poofy and charred in all the right places... wonderful cheese, and if not for that rapini needing more beyond bitter and soggy... this would be knocking on the door of the next level. 

Regardless, my experience at Via Napoli was truly fantastic, the company exceptional (love to do it again) and I give them a solid "go try them" recommendation. This style of pizza is particularly hard to critique as places consistently do the exact same thing and mostly get it right, so it is in the details where the exceptions really flourish. Via Napoli isn't quite an exception but a strong quality showing nonetheless.        

      

The Tuesday Taste - The Real Jerk

 

 

Metal detector ringing

as I'm walking through the door

With every chance I take

I can feel it start to break

 
 

Another Tuesday... another Taste! 

 

As we slowly approach the 100th episode (mid-October if the schedule stays true), we've covered a helluva lot of typical North American fast food/take out staples and chains here on the weekly review show. Plenty of your cheeseburgers, your fried chickens or submarine sandwiches... oh and that rare delicacy called "pizza" (only tried it once or twice). Those are (usually) all delicious but it's also always good to veer out of that familiar zone and explore something different. Especially when the place in question happens to be a legendary one within the Toronto food scene. 

The Real Jerk Toronto can themselves be celebrating an notable anniversary here in 2024, and quite a distinct run it has been. With their initial roots in St. Anns, Jamaica as "Little River Jerk" co-founders and owners Ed and Lily Pottinger opened up their first Toronto restaurant in 1984 at Greenwood and Queen Street East. Their migration to the iconic Riverside location right on the south-east corner of Queen and Broadview would follow five years later, its unmistakable colourful facade with the huge smiling sun with shades adorning that corner for the next two decades (diagonally across the street from a grimy strip club, with notorious greasy Dangerous Dan's inbetween on the northside... what an era). 

The term "cult favourite" gets rather abused I find (especially when every single article you read when researching Real Jerk uses that exact term)... so instead lets use the term "off-stream popularity" to describe them. Never widely heralded as a must visit restaurant, but those in 'the know' definitely knew... the likes of which included several members of the Raptors over the years, the late Jack Layton, Wesley Snipes... even Michael Jackson by some accounts. In the meantime during this first heyday, Real Jerk had expanded their brand with a few other ventures that had modest success: a downtown live reggae bar, and outposts in Oshawa and North York. 

Alas, like so many things in this frustratingly short-sighted city... the developers licked their chops at such a prime location and in early 2012 the building changed ownership and was quickly slated for demolition for... condos! Oh... joy. Can't get enough of those. 

Even grosser was the single month of notice the restaurant had to vacate, all while the owners were visiting Jamaica over the winter holidays. The Real Jerk at Queen and Broadview indeed closed in early 2012, although that original building was never actually torn down. Hmmmm. Eventually it became a forgettable pub, then the Brickworks Cider House (which did last a few years but has now also closed). 

Back to The Real Jerk story: after being jerked around (sorry couldn't resist) so unceremoniously, it took well over a year for the restaurant to find it's new and current home: the fairly large plaza-like corner of Carlaw Avenue and Gerrard. The reputation of the place certainly never skipped a note, soon featuring in a Drake/Rihanna music video, and Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes (himself with strong Jamaican roots), Dalano Banton and musician Kardinal Offishall all famously visiting and posing for a picture. 

The brutal speed bump that hit with the Broadview location didn't stop them from again attempting expansion: a location in the Upper Beaches lasted for some time while their "Real Jerk Legacy" spot on College Street is still going strong. The wildest notation here, however... their third location is in London. Not London, Ontario... nope... the London across the pond, bowler hats and crumpets all that jolly goodness. 

It's a heck of a story! Truly one of the more interesting tales in the annals of the Toronto food scene... so how about the far less interesting part: me reviewing them! See, my experience with Jamaican food (or West Indian cuisine in general) is very limited (yes I am extremely white, if you hadn't yet guessed 95 episodes in). It took me until my twenties to be able to handle any kind of spice (now I love it, making up for lost time I suppose) but most importantly I just didn't a lot of exposure to these types of food growing up. If not for an old friend of mine who has generously and selflessly hosted an annual jerk chicken BBQ every summer for nearly two decades (and his chicken totally rules, his mother's fish cakes also unbelievable)... well coming into this review it's possible I could count my number of experiences with Caribbean food on two hands.

Nevertheless I will do my best, despite being not completely ready for the test nor wearing my most comfortable vest. I digress! On a Wednesday evening I made my way into The Real Jerk on Gerrard, and as the lead photo obviously shows the colourful exterior is impossible to miss (even the London one has it as well... I'm just imagining some higher class Englishman taking a different walking route home from his/her's barristers office and exclaiming "my word!")

The interior is not quite as sunny or garish (either definition depends on your own feelings... personally I love the brightness and warmth). Plenty of simple tables and chairs all around, straw paneling on the walls, framed photos, a bar stocked with plenty of various rums (of course), sports on the various televisions about and an air of conversation at the counter despite the slowness of a post-dinner rush Wednesday. A relaxed, have a casual meal and/or drinks with friends kind of vibe. 

As I often do, I politely got my food to go. Despite friends telling me otherwise ("they'll treat you to extra stuff!") I really prefer places not know in the moment that I intend to review them. Unfortunately taking photos at night and outside is... challenging... so I apologize for the 'lesser than ideal' quality of these shots (especially when you're utilizing the hanging light outside a FreshCo). 

 

                  

I went for the jerk chicken and oxtail dinner, with rice/peas and coleslaw as the choice of offered sides (the alternatives were curried potatoes, steamed veggies and plain white rice) with a side addition of their hot sauce. Going in, I knew these were the two entree items I most wanted to try (the jerk chicken and oxtail)... although there were multiple others that were very tempting. Curry goat, jerk ribs, island pizza? Nah, the most tempting of all were truly the cod fritters... the right hour of the day for an oily, crispy fish cake is every hour. Alas, I have only one (very unpredictable) stomach.

 

             

The chicken dominates the photo so lets get into that one first. As chicken, it's objectively quite good: not a dry bit anywhere on this whole bird, the cook and texture is consistent and juicy throughout, and the skin has that nice edge/layer that peels off delectably. Not much else to say beyond the jerk flavour itself, which is a milder spice wherein I got a lot of a syrupy brown sugar-like flavour, possibly some cloves as well (that particular type of sweet herbal). 

 

 

Honestly... it isn't totally mind blowing chicken but it is very tasty and enjoyable first bite to finish. You put this in front of me for dinner, I'm extremely pleased. Also appreciate the two pieces of chicken as a portion size rather than one: throwing in a drumstick is a nice touch.

 

 

I'll touch on the side dishes briefly. Coleslaw! Very... forgettable. I love a good creamy green slaw but this one doesn't have a whole lot to it beyond the crunch and fairly watery cream. As an included side? Totally fine, but I wouldn't order this by itself. 

The rice! This is more your fried, greasy style of rice and there is a ton of it. I was expecting peas (meh) but these were more like dark beans (nice) and the overall soft greasy texture of this combined with bites of chicken (really the only way to do it I figure) made for a fine one-two combo. Very filling and very much a "coat your lips in a film of grease" type offering.

Hot sauce! It definitely has that same brown sugary taste the chicken is covered with, except you get none of the cloves/herbs and way more of the hot peppers. Spicy? Definitely, but more of an initial punch than a dangerous creeper that slowly and methodically moves in. I quite like it a lot: sweet and spicy without any overt sugary taste. And it has some nice lingering feel (unlike a methodical creeper... yeah weird metaphor lets move on).

 

 

Now, the final and main attraction: the oxtail. I'll confess: I'd had oxtail in my life possibly three (thrice) times coming into this, and never once in this bone-in form. Most of my enthusiasm upon sampling oxtail here was based on a (increasingly vague) memory of my Pizzeria Libretto days: we had an oxtail gnocchi as a special for a week, at a pre-shift meeting we all sampled it and I was completely blown away, younger me having never tasted anything like it. Italian gnocchi is a little different than a West Indian pot/grill... so doing this a dozen years later was fun in just not really knowing at all what to expect.

As you can see, these are little half-hand sized chunks of meat, much of it bone, with the good/non-skeletal bits sort of in a hexagonal pattern around. Real Jerk covers it considerably in sauce, which still has some of that brown sugar sweetness but is also a bit looser and maltier, like a soy sauce mixed in (yeah I looked up a random recipe for that observation). 

Whatever Real Jerk's oxtail cooking sauce is, it really works but most importantly of all: this meat is just ridiculously good. Fall off the bone, tender and soft, loaded with that saucy sweet malty taste. Each bite (and there aren't many... even in a portion of three this, by its nature prepared this way, is like 60 percent bone) is incredibly precious. 

Succulent! There's a word I need to use more, or rather use it in rare instances where it applies perfectly like it does here. This just melts in your mouth... unlike gnawing on a good chicken leg here you want to savor and enjoy every moment your tongue encounters this. Definitely take your time anyhow because bones pointy! That same tongue will have to dust off the gymnastic gear to avoid a sharp spot (no choking hazards, more stabby hazards). 

 

           

Overall! Kind of a mixed bag of okayish-to-outstanding quality. The rice and slaw are pretty basic supporting pieces, the hot sauce and the jerk chicken both very good in their specific lanes, and then the oxtail is simply sublime. 

I'd recommend trying them on that oxtail alone (it solo will not be filling, but they have a bunch of different combo dinners) but I'd say Real Jerk is probably best experienced doing it the opposite way I did it. Go with a group and get a bunch of things the table can pass around and share. Some items might really hit, some might be simply okay but enjoyable... regardless the vibe of the place will be fun and positively welcoming. 

Is it among the very best food Toronto has to offer? That's a high bar: this is a great food city with so many different options. What The Real Jerk really is (see what I did there): a classic Toronto food institution that is satisfying, tasty, with quite a history (in case you missed the first 80 percent of this article) that still somehow maintains a fairly cult-I-mean off-stream following and status, and also oh yeah celebrities visit them and they have a location in freaking England! 

It's quite a magic trick, but like with any good magic you have to be a skilled magician... and the strong quality of The Real Jerk is no illusion.      

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Tuesday Tune

It so happens I'm publishing this article on my birthday, and by brilliant happenstance one of my very favourite bands is in town this very night playing at the Danforth Music Hall. As I eagerly anticipate seeing them again, enjoy this wicked tune (that they still often play live) from their very good sophomore record A Series of Sneaks.

 

 

That's it for this week! There's a pizza review in the chamber but until next time, stay cool, stay safe and most of all don't spill that mustard. 

The Tuesday Taste - Revisiting Dave's Hot Chicken

 

 

She said "you dream too much

You're dreaming now

while I'm talking to you

You dream too much

it's gonna end bad" 

 

Another Tuesday... another Taste! On this occasion, I went back to Dave's Hot Chicken (they've added a few more locations in Toronto since my initial review in 2021) with the precise intention to try one of their spicier offerings. See, on my first visit I'd elected for "mild/medium" just to get a better sense of the fried chicken and sandwich itself (and not have it potentially clouded by my tongue being on fire).

Well, no safety gloves this time. I ordered the fried chicken slider (with the crinkle-cut fries you see) at "Extra Hot" (the second spiciest below "Reaper", but on an empty stomach I was not feeling a visit from the Angel Pepper of Death). 

This was also my first time having these fries just 'as fries' (on the first review I'd gotten the cheese fries). To be honest, crinkle-cut fries have never filled me with a whole lot of enthusiasm... perhaps the result of as a child enduring them many times in the "McCain's undercooked, unseasoned from a freezer bag" version. As such I've always had a hiccup perception in my mind of crinkle fries either being limp and soft in the middle, or so baked on the outside that they occupy a spot on the Periodic Table. 

Here, this is how you do them right. Lightly crispy on the outside, fluffy potato in the middle, and well seasoned to liven up the flavour a bit (with the ridges adding their usual astethic charm). Even the thinner and larger fries didn't veer off too far into "too stiff" or "too floppy and soft respectably. 

 

 

Now, for the sandwich. I've reviewed this exact same slider before so instead of repeating what I already wrote, I'll focus on the spice specifically. Mainly: it's definitely there and not open to negotiations. Like any good intensely spicy item, its full power is not immediate. With this, it took a couple of bites before the first real kick on the mouth. Like with their "medium", there is an earthy, roasted pepper taste to this and chicken doesn't drip with any liquid hot spice... rather it has been more soaked or marinated in (meaning there is truly no escape).

I'd say if you are a big fan of spice and spicy chicken in particular, this is probably right at the level in your wheelhouse. It brings more flavour than just pure heat, which is nice, and there will be enough of the latter to bring some sweat. This is certainly not for novices. Conversely, my dear friend I was with during this took a taste of it and was quite impressed, her tolerance for spice notably exceeding mine I have to say (she was visibly unfazed, unlike myself). Most importantly, it's just a tasty sandwich that while called a "slider", is large enough to feel more than just a snack (like that weird zone inbetween snack and meal).

 

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Overall... Dave's Hot Chicken... still good! Again, not extremely crunchy and it isn't your typical type of spice... something which gives it both uniqueness among the considerable number of fried chicken options in Toronto, and a hint of the unexpected. Pretty tasty! And definitely a spiciness that isn't for the faint of mouth. 

Tuesday Tune

An artist I've loved and appreciated for a longtime, perhaps one of the most unhearalded/unknown brilliant songwriters and guitarists of the past sixty years. He's performing in Toronto sometime this fall and I'd love to see the old fella one more time (I did see him with my dad back when I was in high school).

That's all for this week. Bit of a shorter review this week (the past few days have been quite an adventure) but we'll have some more stuff that's more exciting in the near future. We are about half a dozen weeks until the 100th episode, just saying... so there will definitely be something special for that. Until all that! Stay cool, stay safe, and most of all don't spill that mustard.

            

This Week In Pizza: Mamma Martino's Restaurant

 

 

Recently these pizza reviews have been a lot of new places that opened in the past couple years, or trendy spots that deserve my attention merely via their popularity, or (in the case of Mercatto) an established mini-chain that has a reliable base standard for their offerings. 

It's been a while since I checked out the kind of place that really was the driving origin story of this entire endless pizza project: the old school, local hidden gem that keeps chugging along without much in the way of viral fame or common knowledge. 

If you live or have lived in south-east Etobicoke, or Mimico, however... Mamma Martino's is no hidden gem. It is a well known and well visited institution of the neighbourhood: huge, decorated with excessive flair and like Tom's Dairy Freeze next door simply impossible to miss when heading down the Queensway in either direction.

Mamma Martino's has been doing their thing for over four decades now, all in the same location (which they've expanded upon over the years, resulting in a massive multiple room restaurant). The ownership has remained in the Martino family throughout their history, as BlogTo (yeah, I know) does quite a fine job of getting into those details in the introduction of this article.  

It's a strangely quirky place, at least from the outside... a fact I'd completely forgotten about from my first visit half a decade earlier (let the records of that harmless evening be lost in the haze of history). The exterior of Mamma Martino's is like one of those shops that sell sculptures and such by the side of the road... there are flags and statues and plants and the large stone brick facade is striking, the full scope of which is difficult to fully appreciate with the many parking spaces out front of the restaurant all occupied (at 4pm on a Wednesday). 

Whereas the inside of the restaurant? Imagine 'homey tiled Italian restaurant that's been around for almost half a century" and you've pretty much got it. Not quite akin to stepping back in time, like Il Paesano for instance... but there are numerous odes to a storied past that permeate throughout the air of the place.

Despite those records lost to the "haze" of history (*cough*)... coming into this I remembered enough of what Mamma Martino's pizza was like and so knew the level of quality to expect. Indeed my accuracy shocked me, but more on that later. I had to work later that afternoon so the timing was tight: I called in my order while the GO train was leaving Exhibition towards Mimico, certain that with my bike I could be at the restaurant within twenty minutes (which is generally how long your usual non-deep dish or wood fired pizza takes in an oven).

Surprise! It would actually be 35 minutes, and they warned me how for pick up orders they only accept cash. Wuh-oh. Picture a scene of a hapless fella, who has to be at work in an hour at a completely different part of town, riding a bike down a particularly unfriendly stretch of Queensway for cyclists... praying there's a TD bank at Parklawn (there was not). 

Wasn't the most fun I've had going for a pizza, but all of that difficulty is surely no fault of Mamma Martino's and when I at last arrived for my pickup order with money in its paper form, the vibe of the place and staff wiped away my instinctual awkwardness with seasoned ease. Exhibit A: when paying for the pizza (I got a medium two topping that was about 17 bucks) I hazily pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to the server, only realizing my mistake right as it was inches away from her outstretched hand. One of those green twenty dollar bills was obviously the correct one, and I lamely joked how "dang, almost got away with that!". They laughed! Perhaps politely or genuinely, such corniness only deserves so much rope, but in the moment it certainly put some positivity in the mind of a stressed out, time crunching pizza reviewer. 

 

 

Onto the actual pizza. I went for bacon and garlic as my two toppings, because both of those things are awesome citation not needed. Garlic especially... I'm a fiend (I've put raw chopped garlic on hot dogs and I'll do it again) and while keeping vampires away is all well and good, I'm always hesitant when places offer garlic as a topping. I've been burned so many times with cheaper pizza places that use 'garlic' precisely within those quotations I just used. Like a topping freebee, it'll be a dusting of dry-ass garlic salt, or a single tiny chopped bit in each slice. That'll be an extra three bucks! Meanwhile they snicker in the back "this idiot ordered garlic? Hahahah! That's the cheapest thing we stock!"

So yeah, you can tell I'm skeptical despite my love of garlic. Pizza Nova once upon a time did it right (the considerable decline of Nova is another story). When you offer garlic as an actual topping not an additional side thing, you have to do it right. Whether it be roasted and oily soft cloves, or a consistent baked presence in tiny bits throughout... it has to be there. It's a topping! Nobody would happily order a pepperoni pizza that has just a couple of cups on the entire freaking thing. 

Rant now aside... Mamma Martino's read my mind because they do indeed treat garlic as a topping seriously. It is chopped up in bits and nesting within the cheese so you can't really see it... but it is present throughout very centimetre of this pizza and it is wonderful. Baked just enough to be oily and softened, the flavour oozing into the nearby surrounding cheese, and there's quite a lot of it that you get a full dose of that distinctive sharp garlic taste. Maybe not an ideal 'first date' pizza, perhaps...

 

 

Taste-wise, there isn't a whole lot else to say about this particular pizza. Very thick with the cheese despite a thin floppy base, decent-ish tomato sauce (bit of a herby kick to it) and all are of a pretty strong quality. Bacon strips! Always a good sign when a place avoids the crumble and you get quite a generous amount of them (more of a softer bacon than a crispy one)

Also... this pizza was freaking huge. An absolute steal/bargain at seventeen dollars. Loaded with toppings and cheese, those are the flavours and textures that definitely dominate... a very simple but effective formula. Also good on the reheat (low heat pan on the stove for sure), although the crust gets a bit chewy/stale for my liking. 

 

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Overall! Simplicity is the name of this old school pizzeria game... flavours that aren't innovative or mind-blowing but just reliably enjoyable. Despite my "hazy" recall of the other time I tried Mamma Martino's in 2020... this pizza was exactly the same quality and taste here in 2024. 

The dough is is bit too tough at points (the pan reheat helps add some much needed crispiness) but that is the only glaring weakness here (I'd also prefer the sauce be more of a presence, but with a pie this devoted to the church of heavy cheesiness... clearly they've comfortably chosen their faith).

It's a good pizza! Tasty, somewhat oily (in a good way) and satisfying. An Etobicoke institution that deserves the praises and legendary status. There isn't quite enough there for this to be among the true elite pizzas of Toronto... it's rather two dimensional... but this is still a strong 'B' in my eyes. 

Normally I only recommend trying a place if they score a 'B+' or higher, however I make an exception for classic, long time places like this. Much like Fresca and Bitondo's (which is extremely ordinary, sorry) this is just a place I think people should try via its longtime reputation... and Mamma Martino's is better than both those spots regardless (Fresca is equally charming of course). Good stuff!