I occasionally get a craving for Ethiopian food, for the fragrant blend of spices but more for the spongy sheets of injera. A friend and I met up at African Palace, one of three Ethiopian restaurants in the neighbourhood and chatted over a vegetarian platter for two.

On the rare occasion I stray from my carnivore lifestyle, I don’t find myself missing meat if the meal is savoury and rich. This was the case at African Palace. For two of us, we ordered a Vegetarian Combo that came with 6 dishes and salad, served on a large round of injera and another on the side. I don’t know enough about Ethiopian cuisine to be comfortable ordering a la carte, so this was a comfortable and easy option.

Of the 6 dishes, my favourite was the Silsi (tomatoes, onions and garlic in berbere sauce) and Gomen Wot (spinach and carrot cooked with onion, garlic and ginger). Both of these dishes had strong flavours, a good hint of sour and sweetness that was enhanced by the injera. The lentil dishes were cooked to a soft texture, but not mushy. The fresh iceberg lettuce was lightly dressed with lemon juice and a refreshing palate cleanser in between bites. I found the Tikil Gomen (cabbage and carrot in mild turmeric sauce) to be the weakest feature and a touch bland. The injera was soft, porous and perfect for soaking up the many sauces.

Service at African Palace was relaxed and friendly. Walking in, I was the first customer of the evening and was invited to choose my own seat. Relative to their neighbours, I found the portions at African Palace to be smaller and the seasoning milder, but overall a more pleasant experience with no wait.

Leading up to the Kampai Toronto Sake Festival this year I was invited by That’s Life, a Sake and Wine importer, to a Sake Saloon held at Cafe Bar Pasta. I had the pleasure of tasting a few of the award winning Sake’s imported by That’s Life at the Kampai Media Launch and was happy to continue expanding my sake knowledge.

Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

I walked by Cafe Bar Pasta at first. After consulting Google Maps on my phone, I noticed the hanging sign with a pictogram of coffee beans, a bottle of wine and a bowl of pasta, cute idea. The red, black and white colour scheme established with the sign and bright front door continued throughout the restaurant. Exposed brick walls were painted white and decorated with large pieces of red wall art. At the front of the dining area, a collection of wine corks are displayed behind plexiglass.

Our first stop was the bar where deletable sake cocktails were being assembled. The drink was sour, sweet and one of my favourite sips of the night. That night, we were poured samples of 7 sakes produced by two breweries from the Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan. Representatives from both Tengumai and Fukumitsuya breweries along with That’s Life’s Sake Specialist, Mariko Taijiri, were on hand to answer questions and speak to the sakes. I sipped two glasses of chilled Kagatobi Gokkan Junmai and Kagatobi Ai Junmai Daiginjo. Both sakes were clear, crisp and easy to drink.. Between the two, I actually preferred the Junmai, which I found was a touch sweeter with a rich flavour. The Daiginjo was very smooth.

Servers circulated the room with bites from Chef Jay Scaife, including housemade pasta, lamb meatballs, teriyaki octopus and fried smelt. Each dish was elegantly presented in easy to grab portions. I really enjoyed the lamb meatballs, smelt and housemade pasta. All of these dishes were nice compliments to the sake with rich, savoury flavours. I had a great time at the Sake Saloon and enjoyed the preview to the food at Cafe Bar Pasta. I’m looking forward to a return trip and digging into a full plate of their housemade pasta with a beautifully crafted cocktail.

For some reason, my brain kept remembering The Whippoorwill as The Whirlpool. This made for some confusing Google Map searching while on our way to brunch with my best friend. I then started calling it The Whip-poor-will. Better, but it wasn’t until my friend’s mom, a biologist, pronounced it correctly (whiper-will) and described the bird to me that the name finally stuck.

Atmosphere: Much of the interior furniture is the same from when the space was The Bloordale pantry. The restaurant is long and narrow. The front is split between a long bar on one wall and cozy single person booths along the other. Larger booths and tables occupy the back of the restaurant. Fresh cut flowers adorned each table and the servers were casually dressed.

Service: Reservations are not taken for brunch on the weekends. We arrived at around 11:30 and were the only ones waiting for a table. It was only a 15 min wait and we were able to grab the two tables at the front window of the restaurant. The tables were meant for couples but so close together that we had no issues enjoying our meal and passing plates back and forth to sample. We were there at the right time as by the middle of our meal there was a crowd of people waiting for tables. The service was friendly and relaxed.

Food: It’s nice having a boyfriend and friends who like to order together and share dishes. I really wanted to try the “best of Toronto” burger but then I also love poached eggs. My friend and I decided to split the two dishes and the BF ordered the Two Eggs any style with scrapple, beans and wedges.

The poached eggs were served on buttermilk biscuits with a brown butter hollandaise sauce, maple bacon and fried brussel sprouts. I appreciate the popularity of brussel sprouts these days. I’m sure after being fried they’re not the most healthy, but they still make be feel like I’m having a more balanced meal. The biscuits were buttery rich and flakey and great for soaking up hollandaise and egg yolk. It was a great breakfast dish.

The Whippoorwill burger really was very good. The ingredients are simple but fresh and assembled perfectly; melted cheese, leafy lettuce and a loose packed patty. I snuck a few bites of the BF’s scrapple and potatoes, which were delish. My only other experience with scrapple was at Grand Electric and while both were flavourful, at The Whippoorwill the texture was looser packed. The BF has continued to rave about the crispy potatoes so needless to say, they were a hit.

After my post on Ethiopian House, a friend mentioned that she was interested in trying out the cuisine. This was a great opportunity to try out Nazareth, which had been recommended to me by a regular blog reader.

Atmosphere: The interior is busy. There’s a lot of hanging foliage decoration, dim lighting and little natural light. The space is also quite compact and has about 20-30 seatings by my estimate. We were lucky to sit by the front windows and had a nice secluded table. Otherwise you’re within elbow reach of your neighbours and it seemed like there was always a queue of new customers eyeing your spot.

Service: I have to admit after reading reviews my expectations for service at Nazareth were fairly low and I wasn’t surprised. We didn’t have a bad experience by far but it was slightly below par. In general the feeling was one of indifference.

I had been warned of long wait times, so two of us lined up early but their policy is to not seat without your full party. When we reached the front of the line, our last member was still parking. We were allowed to move aside and wait at the bar until she arrived and kept our place in line, which was great. Once we were seated, the wait time was long to get our order in and then longer for the food to arrive. It looked like there was only two servers working the dining area which included taking orders, bringing our dishes and clearing up.

Food: Apologies for the low quality pictures, I forgot my camera and the restaurant was dark even at a window table. Prices are amazing with every dish being $10/$12 and filling enough for two people. We ordered the vegetarian combination and Kitfo. Originally we had wanted to try the chicken, but they were out for the day. I didn’t do my research before hand and did not expect the beef to be so rare (basically raw). While I enjoyed the dish, the strong herbs and hint of sour taste, it isn’t to everyone’s palate. If you’re not a fan of steak tartar, Tibs (sauteed beef or veal in seasoned butter) is a far better option.

Of the vegetarian selection, each dish was heavily seasoned and maintained the original texture of the chickpeas, lentils and cabbage. I would say relative to Ethiopian House, the flavours at Nazareth were stronger.

The topic of Ethiopian food came up recently at a friend’s place and the majority of people  were inclined against the cuisine because they didn’t like injera. The combination of the sour flavour and spongy texture was not a crowd pleaser. It would be hard to enjoy the rest of the dishes if this was the case. Like trying Japanese and not liking sushi rice. One of the things I love about Toronto is the accessibility to international cuisine and I think everyone should take advantage of this. The possibility to try injera and see how your taste buds react is there and that’s pretty cool.